Power

[Guest dinger]

MR DInger????

 

 

How formal, lol

[agent_zed]

Well i am certainly not an expert so this is just my observations but if you look at production cars as a comparison of what power to aim for you can see that you will have a very fast car if you had 170bhp. The stock MR2 is only 140bhp! and probably a little heavier than most 7's. Toyota spend millions developing and testing to make sure everything works together. My brother has the 190 celica which has the same engine just 50bhp more. Why don't they put this in the MR2. my guess its probably too much for the unexperienced driver and will get people into trouble pretty quick.

 

I've only got a 1.6 pinto which has been brilliant fun trying to get more power out of and can be easily upgraded to something more potent when i get bored. As others have said its not all about power. I drive through the forest of dean to work in my 2b when its dry/sunny and spend a lot of time just learning to go round the corners faster. I can leave most people far behind as my car will just take the corners and its not even perfectly setup yet (i look forward to that day). These cars are so much fun and the whole point when colin chapman designed it was that it was a light car which didn't need a massively powerful engine.

 

If i've done my sums correctly a 170bhp engine at 600kg is 283bhp/ton which is more than a Lotus Exige 240R! have a look on here http://www.strikeengine.com/performance-car-specs-0-60-0-100-power-weight-top-speed.html for other examples.

 

hth

[Bob Tucker]

Rule of thumb.....easy things to try first

to cure understeer, soften the front shocks, or stiffen the rear, or add negative camber ,

to cure oversteer, stiffen front, or soften the rear, or add positive camber .

 

BUT not all at once....make just one change & try it out.

 

& remember, more power will only make the car faster in a straight line.....

Less weight will make it accelerate faster in a straight line, brake quicker, & corner faster...& usually cost far less...

 

If you want to go faster on a track, trackday tyres will be the single biggest contributor.

HTH Bob

[speedtripledan]

My westy has 340odd bhp per ton and it goes like stink in a steight line look at 1 of my videos of the day streight line i was matching the atom through the corners i was left for dead even though i was on the edge of grip. my money is going on getting my car set up properly

[Guest snowy2]

99.9% of people cannot drive half as well as they imagine they can, that said you dont need mental power in such a light weight car. even standard the Zetecs will make any cosworth sierra look slow and daft.... i have built to date 5 kits now. One with over 200 hp in a chassis that weighed 600kg on the road, it was fast but not more fun to drive, i have driven a car with 450hp and that would black line at over 100mph but was a souless car to drive. one kit i owned only had 38hp and was an absoulute blast to drive, once you got it going you would do anything not to slow down. Its the car with my fondest memorys. my present car is a standard Pinto 2.0L at about 100-110hp and it handles very very well and stops better....you will have to spend a lot of money to be faster round a twisty track...or on the open road. dont blow your budget on some he man engine for a car that will likely never be finished but instead build with the donor engine. finish it and drive it get it sorted fully then modify it it wont cost more and will likely cost you less.....but, and this is the point you will be likely to finish it and drive it.

[Guest sandy77uk]

so on the subject of getting it professional setup, what do you even google for? I've not got the first clue and had GBS do mine, I've no problems with paying someone to spend a day setting it up so its balanced properly

[Guest dinger]

so on the subject of getting it professional setup, what do you even google for? I've not got the first clue and had GBS do mine, I've no problems with paying someone to spend a day setting it up so its balanced properly

 

 

You wont go wrong with these guys

 

http://www.northamptonmotorsport.com/default.asp?id=20

[Guest dinger]

99.9% of people cannot drive half as well as they imagine they can, that said you dont need mental power in such a light weight car. even standard the Zetecs will make any cosworth sierra look slow and daft.... i have built to date 5 kits now. One with over 200 hp in a chassis that weighed 600kg on the road, it was fast but not more fun to drive, i have driven a car with 450hp and that would black line at over 100mph but was a souless car to drive. one kit i owned only had 38hp and was an absoulute blast to drive, once you got it going you would do anything not to slow down. Its the car with my fondest memorys. my present car is a standard Pinto 2.0L at about 100-110hp and it handles very very well and stops better....you will have to spend a lot of money to be faster round a twisty track...or on the open road. dont blow your budget on some he man engine for a car that will likely never be finished but instead build with the donor engine. finish it and drive it get it sorted fully then modify it it wont cost more and will likely cost you less.....but, and this is the point you will be likely to finish it and drive it.

 

I disagree,

 

Build what you want to build, otherwise you will end up with something that hasnt met your expetations, If you want to see it finished then you will, if you get bored half way through it doesnt matter if its a fully race built engone or 1.3 OVH you still would of lost interest,

If your pocket allows for big power then ensure you have the chassis drivetrain and brakes to match that power.

 

I dont agree that the reason kits are not finished because the origonal owner had chosen a big powered engine.

 

I do agree that 99.9% of prople think they can drive better than they actually can and over endulging yourself in a power plant that exeeds your talent is a pointless excercise,

If your a novice level driver then build for that, if you are an experienced driver (and I dont mean on the road) then build for that.

 

Anyhow,,, the only way to find your limits is to go past them!

[Longboarder]

99.9% of people cannot drive half as well as they imagine

That's terrible news. I always thought I could have been the new Lewis Hamilton if I was 45 years younger, black and could drive but I just never got the breaks.

But seriously, I have known for a while I'm rubbish and now you tell me I'm not even as good as that. Rats. I will be bringing my bicycle to Barkstone.

 

Nigel

[Snapperpaul]

Being a driver 1 in 1000 (that's 00.1%) I revel in driving my car faster than those with more power.

Seriously I have gone from 130bhp to 170+ bhp to now 100bhp as engines have been improved then expired under duress.

I NEED more power but have uncovered some handling and set up issues, new shocks need setting up, tie bar conversion has given the front a more compliant set up but I have quite severe low speed understeer.

It's this I am going to set up whilst rebuilding the monster Pinto. When the car is set up I will test it with the lower power, when I'm happy with that in goes more power.

A mate of mine has a Fisher Fury with a 1660 Crossflow, fairly standard and probably 80bhp on a good day but what a great little car and very quick to 50/60 then I swish past

Edited April 20, 2012 by Snapperpaul

[Guest tom-zero]

i think im a better than average driver compared to most the idiots u see on the roads, but certainly not a good driver.

 

i think as soon as shes built im going on a few driver training days

 

i have already done a couple of track days in my fiesta zetec s lol just for a laugh and done a few laps on a track day in my brothers lotus exige

 

the lotus showed me how low my talent really is lol

 

but hopefully some traing days and a few track days and i should be able to keep my zero out the ditch lol

[Guest greenwood03]

Tom, there's a world of difference between driving a tin top and a 'kit' - so worth buidling up slowly or as you say doing a few days. I've driven with a lot of competant drivers of ordinary cars who haven't a clue when it comes to our types or car. To my mind there's a raft of factors to think about aside from whether its possible to get around teh next bend without braking - has the car at the side road seen you, is that bump in the road going to affect the handling or cause a ground out of the sump and a load of others.....

as for how much power is right, well thats open to debate - personally i prefer more than less: ok its not possible to use all of it all the time, but given drivers of equal standing a sorted 200brake car will leave a 130bhp car for dead , there's also the factor of having that bit extra to call on if needed to complete an overtake safely.

In the winter or wet you'll learn to drive smoothly, in the dry when its really dusty down the backroads you'll learn the same just as you'll be feathering the throttle over humps n bumps.

 

IF you want the biggest bang for your buck i'd suggest.......stay away from tuning any engine excessively, pound for pound its a waste of money. Concentrate on the brakes, suspension, tyres. and then think about a nice light flywheel and when you've picked your engine and have an idea therefore of the power/range then maybe a diff that gives nice acceleration ( which with the flywheel as well means a nice amount of engine braking when slowing for corners).....and a gearbox that has decent ratios to mesh wit the power of the engine and the final drive of the diff.

zetec or similar set up well will throw out 170ish which with the bits n pieces above will be a nice drive.

 

just my 2 penneth, and if you're bored with building and want a run out one day as a co-pilot then Tony B or i ( or prob others ) would be happy to take you on an early brekkie run.

chrs

mark