Racing Fiat Of Old Won Championship Thrice

Today’s generation of enthusiasts may not be aware of it, but Fiat was once a world power in World Championship rallying. One of the company’s greatest creations was the diminutive 131 Abarth. It was based on the 131 sedan introduced in 1974. However, Abarth versions of competition Fiats were radically different and the 131 Abarth was no exception. Built as a homologation special, around 400 examples were built. From these 400, an initial 40 were selected to become works rally cars, with another 10 built up at a later date.

As opposed to the live axle rear suspension of the 131 Mirafiori from which it was based, the works 131 Abarth featured an independent rear suspension damped by Macpherson struts front and rear. The engine was also radically different, being a DOHC 2-liter featuring Kugelfischer mechanical fuel injection, dry sump lubrication and electronic ignition. Output was 215 horsepower.

The body was clad with lightweight body panels, but due to differing tarmac and gravel specs plus continued development, body weight varied from 980 kilos for tarmac to 1030 kg for gravel. Fully laden and with driver and navigator on board, weight distribution was 50/50. It’s worthy to note that a third Safari-specific body spec was also built. At the time the Safari was part of the rally calendar, all the major competitors had versions just for that rally. It was that kind of race.

If we compare the power-to-weigh ratio using our favorite horsepower calculator, its modern-day equivalent would be that of a Lotus Elise R or a Lancer Evo 8. Not too shabby for the day then. In fact, it was a terrific combination that allowed it to win three World Rally Championships. Today, the newest Fiat to wear the Abarth name is the 500. It’s a far, far cry from the glory days when European makers pulled out all the stops for rally championship glory.

Inspiration for this post here.

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What Kind Of Car Would A Bugster Be?

Engine swaps are a dime a dozen, even from decades back, although some swaps and builds are still noteworthy enough that it catches the eye of jaded car nuts, such as Honda's VTEC engines in an old-school Mini or a V8 engine in a Miata. Or even a V10 engine from a BMW M5 into the engine bay of an M3.

But how often do you hear of a chassis swap, specially one involving the old VW Beetle? Well, this build came about because a VW Beetle lover happened to glance over at his wife's Porsche Boxster S one day and realized that the Boxster chassis would fit under the Beetle's. So with the requisite research into the dimensions of both cars and some careful measuring, the decision was made to weld an entire Beetle body onto the floorpan of a Boxster S.

Twe years of work were taken up by the build, as the Boxster S is a modern car complete with electronics and other safety features. One particularly important goal of the build was to retain all the driving dynamics a Boxster S provides. In addition, it was also deemed important that the conversion make use of the ABS, ESP and safety systems like the airbags.

The builder says that output is slightly up due to intake/exhaust and ECU optimization. Performance calculations peg 0-100 km/h at 5 seconds. From afar it can lay claim to be the ultimate sleeper, but even slightly knowledgeable people will notice at once the lack of the familiar aircooled clatter and the deeper growl coming from the back of the car. Purists will say that this conversion is so wrong but to hotrodders and modifiers everywhere, it's just so right!

Source for this post found here.

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Greek Tuner Shows Engineering Knowledge That Silences Naysayers

Claiming you have the Lancer evolution engine that makes the most power will surely start a flame war on the internet where there are plenty of legitimately knowledgeable people but also keyboard warriors who don't know much except to disagree.

Understandably, the initial claims of Extreme Tuners in Greece were laughed at in some forums until the owner Spyros showed some impressive dyno charts and pictures of custom-made turbos made from billet aluminum with titanium wheels. And metal matrix connecting rods. Plus custom-machined cylinder heads sporting titanium valves and beryllium valve seats. All based on a billet aluminum engine block.

The particular Evo 8 pictured here had 1400 hp at the wheels at the time it was publicized, based on the horsepower calculations resulting from the dyno pulls. It made a 9.3 in the quarter-mile, which, while fast, is slow compared to what some Evos were already doing. But as Spyros points out, they are an engine building facility, so dialing in the car is not really their purview. And if one wants to be picky about it, there is no proper drag strip in Greece that allows drag cars on slicks to hook up properly.

It's a good thing to enthusiasts in general that tuners like Spyros have customers who can afford his wares. Even in a community that is well aware of the costs of modifying the Mitsubishi 4G63, using all this billet, custom-machined hardware undoubtedly costs a fortune. Unlike race engines built to class rules, extreme street cars follow no rules, so Spyros is free to explore the limits of design, materials and engineering. Already, he has developed 2500 horsepower kits for this type of engine and we should see more extreme feats of engineering from him in the future.

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Carbon R35 Uses WTAC For Developmental Effort

Built in time for the World Time Attack Challenge held in Australia is this Autogarage / HKS Australia R35 GTR. Stock, the R35 is a giant slayer, giving established marques a run for their money. But as with any form of motorsports, you have to match your competitor's work on their cars, otherwise your efforts will be in vain.

So with this in mind, the owner of this car started the development of this R35 with, as you can see, no expense spared. While the build was successfully finished in time for the WTAC event, the builders fully intend this racer to be eligible for other events worldwide. For starters, complete model of the front, doors and rear of the car was made in order to fabricate a complete carbon fiber body. Then, an FIA-approved rollcage was welded onto the stock chassis rails. Custom HKS coilovers, fully adjustable suspension components and Project Mu rotors and pads rolling on Volk TE37 18-inch wheels complete the chassis mods.

Although 500 horsepower, is plenty for the street, the car's time attack competition sport 700 horsepower engines on chassis 200-300 kilos lighter, so the builders' horsepower calculations showed that 800-1000 horsepower was needed to be competitive. The engine uses custom CNC-machined heads, HKS rods and pistons, ceramic-coated manifolds and a GT800 turbo kit to achieve this goal. Other stuff includes an HKS F-CON controller, a 2000-hp rated fuel pump and 2000 cc injectors. The stock transmission's internals have been upgraded to cope with double the power.

The weight goal for this car is 1250-1350 kilograms although as we mentioned, the competition will be fielding 1050 kilogram cars. Still, it's obvious that this is only the first year of the car's development and its 9th place in the 2011 WTAC can only improve with all the track and testing data the team will surely accumulate in the near future.

Inspiration for article here. http://advanwheels.com.au/racing/car.aspx?id=41&eid=5

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RX-7 Build Values Balance Over Outright Horsepower

There's a reason one of the favorite tuner cars is the Mazda RX-7. The combination of its balanced handling and turbo rotary make for a very entertaining car that with a few mods, can handle many more high performance cars. Even though the RX-7 has long been out of production, a lot of Japanese tuners still choose the last version of this platform, known as the FD3S, to showcase their wares and knowhow. In this case, this particular car is from RE-Anemiya, famous in Japan for its string of RX-7 buildups, which have put even 650-horsepower R35 GTRs in their place.

Built for the popular touge events in Japan which take place in twisty and narrow mountain roads, this car has already proven its top dog credentials by winning quite a few events. Touge cars are completely built machines which value horsepower, handling, braking and driver skill in equal measure. As an indicator of the principles guiding the build of these cars, this particular RX-7 has “only” 400 horsepower, which RX-7 enthusiasts will know is still way below what a modified rotary can produce. For this build, the OEM twin turbo setup was retained but the intercooler was upgraded and then repositioned to give the shortest possible routing through the system. The goal here was minimal turbo lag instead of outright power.

DG-5 coilovers replace the original shocks and springs while Brembo calipers and two-piece rotors make up the front braking system. The rear brake setup uses the original calipers but sees the rotor replaced with a high performance component.

The rest of the car has the requisite aero add-ons for maximum downforce, as well as a few carbon fiber bits like the hood and wing to help lighten the car. The rear end was revised to shorten the overhang although the aesthetic qualities of the mod leave something to be desired. Most of the mods performed were done in view of the requirements of the car’s chosen event but even so, the balanced upgrades were enough to make this car a winner.

Source for this article here.
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Tuner Adheres To Lotus Founder's Lightness Mantra

Forced Fed, a tuning firm out of New York, recently made the news when it offered for sale a cut-up Lotus Elise that had a bevy of aftermarket parts and mods such as an Eaton supercharger, Ohlins dampers, Alcon brakes and a Quaife diff among a host of modifications. This tuner has made a few outrageous Lotuses and in the course of doing so has garnered significant experience in tuning these lightweight cars. Stock, the Lotus Elise is a well-balanced and sprightly car, due to the company's continuing devotion to the founder's principle of making a car go faster by adding lightness.

Forced Fed offers multiple tuning packages, ranging from a 275 hp Stage 1 kit to a 400 hp kit. Whatever the package, the modifications include upgraded engine internals and better oiling to the Toyota-derived 2ZZ engine. A video of a blue Elise with the 400 horsepower Forced Fed turbo package has a reported performance of 0-60 in 3.4 seconds, with a quarter-mile time of 10.56. And since it's a Lotus, it outhandled a Ferrari Enzo in a 600-foot slalom, hitting a speed of almost 74 mph compared to the Enzo's 71 mph run. The tuner says that it has accumulated more than 350 hours developing these packages and does not plan to sell these as kits, but as complete dealer-installed packages to maintain quality.

Since this orange Elise doesn't have a publicized weight, we can't do a reliable horsepower calculation but this tuning firm has undoubtedly adhered to the principle of making the this Elise go faster by not only adding lightness but also by upping horsepower.

Source for this article here.
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Syms Impreza Wagon An Inspiration To Enthusiasts Everywhere

Although Volvo was more successful in terms of exposure and results, their wagons weren't the only cars which were raced in a top-level series. One company saw the original Impreza wagon as an excellent vehicle to market and test their products, and the Syms Impreza wagon was born. The venue for this campaign was the 1998 season of the JTCC and Syms, a Subaru aftermarket parts manufacturer, set about preparing two cars. The motivation for choosing a wagon body was very similar to that which motivated the choice of an 850 wagon in the BTCC: uniqueness and exposure. At the time, the dominant marque in the JTCC was Toyota, with their Chasers and Coronas. Nissan and Honda had pulled out for various reasons and Syms saw an Impreza built to the rules as a competitive vehicle.

Built at a reported cost of $250,000 each, these Impreza wagons were powered by a normally aspirated 2-liter EJ20 engine featuring roller barrel throttle bodies fed by a carbon fiber airbox and dry sump system. Internals were a closely guarded secret, but output was 300 hp at 8,200 rpm. Moved back for better weight distribution, the FR layout was mated to a sequential transmission, with a BMW diff driving the rear wheels.

Wheel arches reminiscent of the DTM cars of today enclose huge Enkei wheels with equally huge brakes. The car's front track is noticeably wider in the pictures, and with a gussetted and obviously sturdy rollcage filling the inside of the car. As raced, the car was fitted with a rear wing as wide as the car, which was mounted on struts.

Unfortunately, the car wasn't successful against the Toyota teams with several seasons of racing under their belt. Syms quit racing very early but the Syms Impreza wagon remains one of the coolest racing cars to ever grace a track.

Inspiration for this post here.

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Silhouette Civic Is A Honda In Heart & Soul

People will argue that the car presented here cannot be a Honda, because underneath the skin is a tube-framed, rear-wheel driven race car that does not even share a floor plan with its road-going Civic brother. But this Civic-bodied racer does derive its motivation from a Honda powerplant, so a body and engine from the Japanese manufacturer arguably makes it a Honda.

RaceEnergy built this car to run primarily in the SCCA’s GT3 division, but had in mind some endurance events to run the car in, so this car has a few build differences from a pure GT3-class car. As mentioned, a tube frame chassis with integrated cage forms the structure to which the engine, suspension and the rest of the components are mounted to. Of note is a detachable tube subframe at the front which facilitates replacement and repair should an unavoidable racing accident happen.

The engine of choice is a Honda K24, which was modded and designed for torque, rather than ultimate output, by a pair of U.S. Honda engineers, who contributed in a non-official capacity and in their spare time. Kinsler throttle bodies, a dry sump and a Motec ECU help to produce 270 horsepower, which is what you get when you put a 31mm restrictor in the inlet plenum. Output is said to be in the 350 horsepower range without the restrictor. The K24’s grunt is handled by a Tractive 5-speed sequential tranny out of Sweden, with a quick-change diff transferring power to the rear wheels.

Other notable components are Ohlins 4-way adjustable dampers, Performance Friction brakes rated for endurance racing, wiring for headlights and a driver cooling system. Note that the last two features are more for endurance, rather than sprint, racing. But the most visible and aesthetically appealing component is the 100-lb carbon fiber body, which helps trim the weight of the car to 2,200 pounds. Horsepower calculations reveal that the power-to-weight ratio of this car is equivalent to that of a Porsche 996 GT3.

Whatever detractors may say about the purity of this car as a Honda, the pictures show an incredible build that shows a lot of podium potential when the car is fully sorted out.

Source for this post here.

Impreza RS Conversion Begets A Super STI

For a lot of enthusiasts, wanting a car that the factory has chosen not to sell in a particular market is not necessarily a hindrance, but rather an opportunity to build a unique ride. This is the case with Scotty Molitor’s GC8 Impreza, which was released in the U.S. in an RS, but not an STI version. Rather than mope about the fact, Scotty chose to build up his car to approximate a Japanese home-market WRX STI.

Installing a complete 2006 WRX drivetrain would have created a pretty awesome ride already, but Scotty didn’t stop there. The turbo was swapped out and a Garrett GT30/76 with a rotation kit was put in. The list of mods is extensive, but highlights of the upgrades include an aftermarket intercooler and aluminum radiator, a retuned ECU, Tial wastegate, HKS headers and blow-off valve. Suspension was not left alone and these received upgraded sway bars, Tein coilovers and Brembo brakes.

The interior was stripped, a rollcage installed and the roof was removed and replaced with a carbon fiber roof. If you think that this is just an aesthetic mod, consider that BMW did exactly that with its high performance E46 M3 CSL to improve handling and lower weight. Incidentally, that car, like the GC8 STI, was not sold in the U.S.

With the turbo swap and ECU tune, horsepower calculations estimate 408 horsepower at the wheels. But as with any enthusiast, it’s safe to assume that Scotty will be looking for more upgrades and that power output may not stay that way for long.

Inspiration for this post here.

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Volvo Enthusiast Shows Competitors The Door

A Volvo is not a usual choice for a race car, which is why outstanding performances from Volvos and Volvo-powered cars are all the more fascinating and newsworthy.

Krister Adeen of Sweden has been active in European drag events, and has been using this Volvo-bodied drag car to pursue his campaign. Originally an 850 4-door, this Volvo has obviously been extremely modified for the business of professional drag racing. The interior is stripped, the chassis has been tied into a full safety cage, Lexan adorns the windows and the rear section has been tubbed to accommodate the massive Hoosier tires. As you will notice, the engine has been set so far back that the transmission bellhousing now sits where the console would be in a normal Volvo.

Despite splitting several blocks early in the development program, Adeen’s Volvo still use a B230-based cast iron block and 16V head. Needless to say, custom internals populate the engine, and a massive turbocharger protrudes from the hood. Information on the engine is scant, as even the ECU is being kept secret but it’s reported that multiple methanol-fed 1600 cc injectors are used and 2.6 bars of boost is used during runs. Horsepower calculations estimate output at 1100-1400 horsepower, which a Liberty transmission feeds to the rear wheels.

As netizens will have read, this car has recently run 6.8 seconds in the quarter mile, making it one of the quickest 4-cylinder cars in the world at the moment.

Source for this post here.

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