Thread on gtplanet.net "Did You See Anything Good Today?"

[ohzone]

These won't be "Buffed" out









Check out the other pages on this thread, some interesting cars!


http://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?p=5762846

[XW-BAXR6T]

Some really decent cars in that topic......

[mcnews]

I had one for a few days and it certainly struck me as lethal in wrong hands. No safety aids and huge twitchy power, they are mega hard core. I still have what is left of the rear tyres I burned off one up the shed :-)

[TC200six]

They would be a real rocket I'd imagine. Supercharged 5.4 in a small car. That's a Ford I wouldn't mind test driving.

[2011G6E]

Yes...as fun as massive power is, you really do appreciate modern safety advances in chassis design, both passive and active.

The one thing that really annoys me about shows like Top Gear is that the first thing they do is switch off the traction and stability control and drive an exotic supercar as if the only thing that matters is if you can get the tail out and rear wheels smoking for the camera...that's not the idea of those type of cars.

In fact, the one car that really annoyed them was the McLaren MP4-12C...it has "hard wired" stability and traction control, and Clarkson seemed upset that it just carved into corners as hard as you liked and did it all with poise and control, absolutely sticking to the chosen line neatly and easily. It wouldn't come unstuck. They seem to labour under the mistaken idea that a "perfect" supercar should try to kill you are every corner, instead of screaming around a twisty road or track, never putting a foot wrong, smoothly and easily leaving its less settled and composed opposition behind.

American muscle is usually good at this sort of thing...masses of power, with the chassis refinement of a bullock dray. Lately they've gotten a lot better, but still work under the idea that a spirited driver enjoys using up half his time trying to control a wayward rear end and get the thing settled in a corner while his possibly less powerful opposition is flying ahead of him after smoothly turning the corner and powering away instead of snaking all over the place in a cloud of tyre smoke, all out of shape...


I remember many years ago reading a review of some "special" that had been built with a twin turbocharged alloy Chev V8...can't remember any more about it unfortunately. It too had no traction control or other safety aids, and the one thing that sticks in my mind about the review was when the test driver came back from a track day and also a real world road test drive, and said "It's quick, shatteringly so, but I honestly think it would be quicker if it had 100 less horsepower"...

[lucas2]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

They seem to labour under the mistaken idea that a "perfect" supercar should try to kill you are every corner, instead of screaming around a twisty road or track, never putting a foot wrong, smoothly and easily leaving its less settled and composed opposition behind.

The term "perfect" is very subjective, what they may consider perfect may not be what you consider perfect.

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by lucas2

The term "perfect" is very subjective, what they may consider perfect may not be what you consider perfect.

Oh I agree...everyone likes different things...otherwise the car movement would be boring.

However, there is a point where the drive to get more and more power stuffed into a car goes beyond the point of being "useful" and just into a bragging thing. Look at the Mercedes Black that every reviewer says is just plain overpowered...even Clarkson on Top Gear, an unashamed power freak and lover (and owner) of one, said it's just got too much power to be a pleasant controllable fast car.

The original Cobra and GT40 both has small blocks...and they were "small" blocks, of only 298 cubes or so, yet they were praised as shatteringly fast cars that could carev up race tracks and winding mountain roads with ease. Then Shelby started stuffing a 427 big block in the same little English chassis and by christ, they were fast cars...but hardly the same corner-carvers that they once were.
I've been lucky enough to go for a ride in two Cobras kit cars (factory built ones, not home made jobbies), and they couldn't have been more different. One was fitted with a 460 on LPG with an auto. Great jumpin' Jesus, that thing would frighten you every time the guy put the foot down. It felt like being strapped into a cruise missile, off the line he had to feather throttle to prevent wheel spin because of the massive torque and power of the worked big block. However, in tight corners he would have to back off and take it a little easy...you could feel through the seat of your pants that the thing was unsettled and very nose heavy, wanting to run wide or understeer or both if you got it wrong.
The other was an "oddball"...it was purchased finished, but minus engine, and had a Ford SOHC two liter (as you saw in old Cortinas) that was worked to buggery with a huge cam and twin side draft Webers, backed by a five speed manual Celica box. Off the line it was quick, getting nearly all the power down with little wheel spin. With the right tyres, the big block version would of course kick its backside off the line...but we're talking street tyres, not slicks.
In corners, the two liter one was composed, felt balanced, and only got unsettled over bumpy bits in tight corners, as most short wheel base vehicles do. I honestly think it was a lot quicker through corners than the big block one. Scratch that...I'd bet money it was heaps quicker around a corner.

Which one would I own? The heart says the big block...the sound, the noise, the thrust, the way it could smoke tyres at the twitch of a toe, it would be heaps of fun...but hardly practical. The head says the two liter version...you could drive it quickly, and point to point on a nice piece of road, it would be quicker...the only thing that would save the big block one would be if there were a lot of straights...