Fiat 500 Inspiration For Radical Hillclimb Racer

Subscribing to the classic formula of big engines in small packages, this Austrian hillclimbing team has made what could be the ultimate Fiat Abarth 500 racer anywhere. As you can see, the shape of this race car has been widened and chopped so much so that it resembles a melted Fiat 500 more than anything else.

The actual car has a tube-framed chassis, with body panels made from fiberglass. This makes the target weight for the car of about 500 kilos believable, given the toy-like dimensions of the car. One look at the rear of the car and you realize that this car is no front driver powered by a sewing machine. Mounted amidships in a longitudinal configuration, the engine is a Powertec 2.8 V8, producing 450 NA horsepower. Transmission is a sequential six-speed.

Suspension for the rear is pushrod type, with the coilover assembly mounted atop the transmission tunnel, helping keep the mass centered in the car. The radiators are positioned in front of the rear wheels, fed by scoops on the sides of the body. Just like any other race car, instrumentation is now provided by a single multi-page display, which also provides datalogging as well as monitoring functions.

Performance calculations estimate that this car will hit 60 mph in 1.64 seconds. As it is a hillclimb racer, top speed is academic because it is designed for the fastest cornering speed instead of outright velocity. Although a big engine in a small car is a traditional combination, it’s refreshing to see this principle applied to modern cars.

Source article here.

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700 Horsepower Factory Cars Also Made In The 60s

While the original Chrysler Hemi is more known as the the muscle car engine of choice from the 60s, it is by no means necessarily the greatest, as Chrysler itself banned this competitor engine from stock car racing because of its awesome performance. The Ford 427 SOHC engine, more popularly known as the “Cammer” engine, was Ford’s answer to Chrysler’s Hemi. Ford’s philosophy in building this engine was not to do a ground up design but to instead use as many off-the-shelf parts as possible. So, the bottom end is a 427 block with an idler shaft where the cam would ordinarily be. The crank was the original 427 forged steel version that had its mains and conrods cross-drilled. Domed pistons for a hemi head configuration were utilized at the other end of the reciprocating assemply, which was targetted to have a redline of 7500 rpm. New heads with a hemispherical combustion chamber and single overhead cam valvetrain were used for this engine, and
oil pressure was increased and the water pump upgraded to keep up the the engine’s greater demands. A dual-point distributor and ignition amplifier were the advanced electronics utilized to ignite the air-fuel mixture, which was fed by dual Holley 4-barrel carbs. Stock output was around 657 horsepower, which even today, is pretty impressive. Around 10,000 of these were reportedly produced, but only 550 were built by Ford to racing specs (others say 1,500). Today, these engines can be found in various vintage Fords, such as Comets, Fairlanes, pickups and, of course, Mustangs.

The Mustang shown here is still campaigned in vintage events, where even now, it does 9-second times courtesy of its built-up 427 SOHC Cammer engine. Given that it weighs 3,150 pounds, performance calculations estimate its rear wheel horsepower at 900.

Today’s street cars match or easily surpass this figure with turbos or superchargers. But there’s nothing like hearing a big-displacement V8 with a huge cam idling, then launching off a start line.

Inspiration for this post here.

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MRC800 Is Candidate For The Ultimate Sleeper

Station wagons used to be the conveyance of choice for the family man until minivans and SUVs turned the market on its ear and the station wagon faded from public consciousness. But this is not the case in Europe, where wagons, called estates by some manufacturers and touring by others have always had a presence.

Perhaps the most extreme versions of these haulers are the Avant versions from Audi, an example of which is the C6 RS6 Avant, which is a wagon with a V10 engine and all-wheel drive. From the factory, the engine (which is a variant of the Lamborghini Gallardo’s V10) features twin turbos, twin ECUs, variable valve timing, a dry sump oiling system, seven radiators, ten ignition coils and selective knock control. Output is 580 horsepower. Which is the perfect starting point for MRC Tuning in England, which replaces the turbos with Turbo Dynamics hybrid units, installs race type cats, upgraded intake and fuel systems and remaps the management system. Turbo calculations place output at around 820 horsepower, which makes it the perfect car to grab a box of diapers or a case of beers when you’re in a hurry.

Seriously though, this car is one of the ultimate sleepers, because the body shape is that of a family car, yet its performance will make even exotic cars look like they fell asleep at the stoplight. Top speed is in excess of 215 mph and 0-60 arrives in about 3.5 seconds. If we had the money, it wouldn’t be a particularly hard decision to get this stormer as an all-around daily driver that is sure to give sports and exotic car owners a nasty surprise.

Source article is here.

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Mazda Components Married To Produce A 7-Second Drag Car

All too often, mainstream media gets fixated on modified cars from Europe, Japan or the U.S. But even before the advent of the Internet, enthusiasts all over the world have been turning out interesting, if not crazy, builds based on their needs, parts availability and skill sets.

This build we're featuring now comes from Australia, and it would be classified as an old school build. However, the performance of this thing is such that there's nothing old school about its sub 8-second quarter mile times.

As befits a serious drag car, this diminutive Mazda R100 has thoroughly been reworked, starting with a chromoly cage inhabiting the completely gutted interior. A 4-link rearend was installed, which controls the movement of a Mitler Bros chromoly diff hoising using 40 spline axles and an alloy centre. As you can see, the diff should be quite narrow, considering the width of the drag slicks on those 15 X 15 Weld wheels. A parachute completes the requisite safety equipment for a car with this potential.

Power will be courtesy of a prepped 13B turbo, dumping its reported 1080 horsepower to a 5-speed G Force clutchless transmission. The car runs in the mid-7s consistently and the reported horsepower was achieved on a low boost (around 20 psi) setting. The engine can supposedly tolerate 35 psi, so a lot more power can be generated as long as the rest of the driveline can hold up to the torque. A turbo calculator should give us a pretty good idea of how much the engine can make.

Builds like these are quite interesting, because we see that factory-quality detail and top performance are not the exclusive domain of high-budget teams, and skill and dedication go a long way towards making a top performing ride.

Source for the article can be found here.
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Lightly Modded Pickup Beats Unlimited Diesel Speed Record

Grow it, burn it, go fast! That’s what you’ll see on the front page of Hajek Motorsport’s website. That’s because owner Brent Hajek is a soybean and maize farmer who’s proving that high performance and biofuels are not contradictory terms. He has run drag racing cars on biofuels and his latest achievement netted him two land speed records on the Bonneville salt flats.

His tool for breaking the B Production Diesel Truck and Unlimited Biodiesel records at Bonneville was a Ford F250 Super Duty truck. This particular truck had in it a 6.7 liter V8 Power Stroke direct injection turbodiesel. Unlike the typical land speed record contenders you see on the salt, this truck has comparatively minor modifications. Obligatory mods include a roll cage, five-point harness, fire extinguishers and parachute. Also added were aerodynamic wheel caps, and the pictures reveal a truck that has been lowered extensively for better aerodynamics. You’ll also notice the side view mirrors removed, an air dam under the bumper and the openings on the front bumper covered.

Engine mods include higher capacity fuel injectors, upgraded fuel pump and a larger turbo. Compression ratio was also increased but the bottom end of the engine is reportedly stock. Ford provide some behind-the-scenes support, and these basically bolt-on mods pushed engine output to 400 horsepower and torque to 800 pounds-foot.

0-60 performance calculations are useless for a vehicle like this, since it’s set up for top speed and although the vehicle is relatively stock, some gearing changes may have been done to facilitate higher velocities. During Speed Week at Bonneville, this truck broke the record for B Production Diesel Truck with a top speed of 171.123 mph, after which the tank was drained and filled with B20 (20 percent bio diesel). The subsequent run saw the previous record of 130.614 mph eclipsed by a run of 173.180 mph with a maximum speed of 182.143 mph.

In using the B20 refined from soybeans from Hajek’s farm, Brent has proven that motorsports, diesel engines and biofuels can provide exciting challenges to gearheads like us.

Source article is here.

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Remembering The Ruf CTR3's Forebear

The Ruf CTR3 is a unique car, boasting extreme performance, power and unfortunately, pricing. But the CTR moniker would be nothing if not for the original, which was nicknamed Yellowbird. The work of tuner of Alois Ruf, this car was often described as the fastest car of the 80s, boasting of a top speed 213 mph.

It was based on the Porsche 964 Turbo, but so many modifications were done by Ruf that the company itself is recognized by the German government as a manufacturer in its own right. The CTR features carbon fiber body panels, which is common nowadays but highly exotic then. This helped keep body weight down to 1100 kg, with an official horsepower rating of 460 horsepower. But horsepower calculators indicate that the actual figure would be above 500 hp. Apart from the 213 mph top speed, 0-60 mph arrived in 3.7 seconds, which even today is supercar territory.

Even then, pricing already was an issue because it cost the equivalent of two Lamborghini Countachs. But only 25 were made, and if you consider that a lot of owners still take their CTRs out to play, then the car is cheap for the performance it continues to give after two decades. And if you like comparing Nurburgring times of today’s current crop of performance cars, it all started with this car, which, without traction control, stability control or all-wheel drive, lapped the Green Hell with a time of 8:05 in 1987.

Source is here.

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Ugly Duckling Transformed Into Outstanding Goat

Like it or not, American hotrodders and their cars offer unique perspectives in automobile tuning, which reflects on their unique culture and practical nature. Our featured car here was commissioned by Raybestos Brakes, an aftermarket parts company. Built for a giveaway promo, the car is a 1964 Pontiac GTO. Unlike typical hot rod builds, the design brief was for a car built for road racing.

To this end, the builders used a unitized chassis insert and a chromoly rollcage to build the foundation for the rolling stock. The rear suspension is a 4-link design optimized for handling while the front will be a dual-wishbone suspension. Controlling those links will be Ridetech triple adjustable, remote reservoir coil over shocks. Raybestos NASCAR-spec brakes hide behind vintage-style wheels.

As you can see, no forced-induction was used for the powerplant. Instead, it relies on cubic inches, 454 of them, to produce about 700 horsepower. The LSX engine uses a Hillborn injection stack that’s sure to produce an induction roar that’s not been heard for a long time. Transmission duties will be born by a TTC Magnum T56.

The original car weighed in at around 3110 pounds, but this car has been lightened extensively. Assuming 2900 lbs. and 700 horsepower, performance calculations give this car a power-to-weight ratio equivalent to an Evo 8 or a Lotus Elise. 0-60 mph is estimated at 2.4 seconds. It’s almost a shame that a car like this is a giveaway, but one very lucky winner will have gotten his hands on this beauty as of this writing. We hope that he lavishes as much care on this car as how it was built.

Source for the post is here.

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