Itchy

How come? i'd be out enjoying the damp roads :)

If you wanna do motor club rallies, then smaller cars are the way to go. A

360 is a big bigger than i would have liked, but cheap RWD action and masses of fun. I could still turn it round in 1 go down a single track road. But of course small RWD cars arent easy to find. But i'm sure a sierra will do the job well enough as long as its got the right engine..

Also consider 325s. You can pick an early one up cheap as chips and they're nice and quick out the box.

Unlikely that you'll find any of these, but a Sunbeam is ideal. Or a Chevette, or even a Manta/Monza. Mk1/2 Escort. Triumph Dolomite.

In news: snipped-for-privacy@uni-berlin.de, Carl Gibbs decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

If you get a good Twink, they're really very good indeed. Capable of 140bhp / 140 lb/ft with total reliability..

Indeed, but you are talking about cars over 20-30 years old. Most of them are happily... rusted away.

Not the GTT but R5 Turbo and Turbo 2. A decent one sells at about 20000 UKP.

I am building a trackcar. First tought was something like a Peugeot 309 16V (I have the engine). A fax to Peugeot Sport for gearbox, LSD and some competition parts made a Porsche 928 look cheap... cheap to such extend that I have now 2

928 trackbeasts (one ready, one preparing for endurance racing)

It seems that when you start off with a cheap car all spares come at the price of the complete car (pe racing gearbox 309 2500 UKP...) whereas the more expensif car has allready those bits on board. A 250 HP-2 litre engine costs about the double of a 400 HP 5 litre V8, maintenance is also a mayor difference.

As to the difference in driving between a 309 and 928...

The 175 HP 4x4 Mazda was the schoolcar for a generation of rallye-drivers. Due to their pricetag they were never very popular in 4x4-turbo trim. Also on this car: 1985-era.

Except for the Starlet you have a taste for -now- quite expensif cars with as good as no spare parts (those made in gold excluded) available for them.

Suddenly 4x4 Cosworth power seems cheap and abundant! :)

Tom De Moor

Damp roads are fun indeed, freezing yer balls off is not ;-)

TDM

The very same idea has crossed my mind on several occasions and I do like the UK a lot. But then I know Belgium and I don't know the UK to the same extent.

Seems as in both countries there are too many rules, to many people for not enough space. Not enough warm days either ;-)

Tom De Moor

In article , snipped-for-privacy@removethis.hotmail.com spouted forth into uk.rec.cars.modifications...

I don't know. I think my celica is very sensible, and because of it's age, emminentley hackable without feeling too guilty.

Should get some decent power out of it with a little play arround.

If I use Use Mongoose exhausts instead of Blitz Nur spec R, and Simota instead of K&N, and Dastek unichip piggyback instead of a full on replacment Motec, I think I will still have reasobale performance with a fair price and it isn't as if I'm out to race anyone, just to have fun experimenting and learning.

Why? I remember a BMW M3 E30 with a tuned Rover 4.9l V8-engine in it. It drove circles (litterally) round other M3's.

The engine fitted as a glove, weighted less and had a bullet-prove 380 HP on the tap. Oh, and the price was half of that what you would need if the 220 HP BMW-engine was to be tuned to 380 HP. Sadly: on Belgian roads such a modification is prohibited. The installation was top notch however.

Believe it or not: a car with a 380 HP-engine drives nicer, swifter than the same car with 220 HP. To be precise: 14 seconds on 1 lap at Spa-Francorchamps without even pushing it to extremes.

Tom - fan of the M3 e30 - De Moor

I've never once said that it's not a good modification it's just not one i'd do to a BMW.

and i'm sorry but OF COURSE such a mod would cause it to run rings round a standard M3! thats a bit of an obvious statement it's nearly double the BHP with not much more weight.

I'm al for engine conversions (i own two cars with it done myself) but if your a true fan for a particular marque the you dont do it to that particular marque...

I want a BMW/Ford/insert name here to be true to the marque.

At the end of the day the rover engined BMW isnt's a BMW. it's a reshelled rover with BMW running gear :o)

may seem like i'm splitting hairs but there you go.

What exactly *are* you allowed to do in Belgium?

If the laws in belgium are anything like when i was there last....f*ck all.

There was an article in some car mag or otheer a few years back.....he was puching the limits with an induction kit and remap!

If the laws are still the same as afew years ago then...f*ck all. I knew somone who was pushing it with an induction kit and a remap. He then wnet silly with 19's and coilovers and was constantly pulled. I beleive the first time they inspected his engine he got fined/ordered to remove the mods.

Oops! lloks like our usenet server had a slight stutter...i thought i'd allready replied :o)

better go see if it's ok.

To put it plain simple: nothing.

A car comes with a certificat of homologation. In theory you are not allowed to change anything. If an inspector on the Belgian version of the MOT spots a modification he can declare the vehicle unfit for the road.

That goes far: I changed the steering wheel of a Porsche 356 Roadster and put it a Nardi-wheel. First visit at MOT = red card for the non-conform steering wheel.

Since then rules have ever increased, their application declined. We have also our part of "tuners" which clad a car in poly-ester and big wheels.

But as far as power modifications go, they are strictly no go. In theory you must obtain a written autorisation of the constructor of the car. More invisible power modifications (chipping, etc) glide through the net but when in an accident insurance people are keen to spot them. As the are forbidden, your insurance can be void.

Tom De Moor

get the V6 in the first place if you want some fun fuel consumption is terrible though

the twinky is great, but does lack grunt, but if you keep it below 3k rpm it won't trouble you for fuel for around the 3 or 400 mile mark perhaps more if you do a steady cruise down the motorway without being silly the V6 is about twice as thirsty as the twinky don't bother with the zetec conversion, it's not worth the money the pinto's only came in injection form in the ghia and the gls

In article , snipped-for-privacy@spamtroNspidar.com spouted forth into uk.rec.cars.modifications...

If it is anything like the German basis of law, not a lot. Germans pretty much express it as, "if it isn't expressly permitted, it is illegal". Whereas the Dutch go the opposite way, "If it isn't expressly prohibitted, it's legal".

No, because in Germany when the modification passes the TUV you can mount them on the car. TUV-specifications exceeds standard specifications but on tuning that was on the cards from the beginning.

In Germany an upgrade (brakes as exemple) is autorised, in Belgium it is not: non-conformity with homologation sheet.

Haven't been in Holland for a while, have you? The Dutch know as much stupid rules as we do but at their disadvantage they are applied. In the Netherlands you can be booked for 54 kph when the limits is 50. Lots of speedcams hidden in bins, innocent looking trailers etc

Tom De Moor

WTF ?

There is already a 200bhp 3-Series of that era. And a 240bhp, and a 280bhp and a 320bhp...

Cosworth engine ? Carlton engine ?

In a 3-series ?

Did you know that BMW already make engines ? And that they fit them to the

3-series ?

So why do you want to ruin one with a nasty old Vauxhall lump ?

BMW make nice engines !