Clubman>GTR???

[rb26dett]

ooh yeah, just looked @ Elfin site. Cool stuff there! I know it's dear, but the MS8 looks wicked. Just imagine it with an RB26, 4WD, 6 speed Getrag, 6 Piston AP's...... there I go again, getting carried away! It's a disease!......... hey, jlnewton, can I buy your car once you finish it?

you can buy mine now if you want it.

[GTRgeoff]

Great thing about the 1600 is the low weight and a tin roof for daily driver. Technologically there is little difference to the clubby, and I would happily have both.

Don't get me wrong, there will be a lot of work to bring either up to speed, but I have found few cars more reliable and driveable than a well done 1600.

in the end i think a good clubby would destroy it though, and individuality is all important, hence my effort to make a quick GTS25t on track.

[Marlin]

you can buy mine now if you want it.

No thanks. My old 32 did 59s on Federal street tyres. I don't think anything slower would excite me. Hence I'm looking at something a little lighter and easier on the pocket.

[Duncan]

Clubman v GTR? the clubman will kill a GTR.....

eg Eastern Creek, a quick GTR will be around 1.45, clubmans about 1.41.....and EC is a high speed track, it gets even uglier on a tight track....eg a clubman has done 1.03 at Wakefield

[Lavers]

If you're looking at buying a clubman now just check on ebay.com.au type in clubman they have one on there 90% completed for $16,000 at last time I looked.

[Revhead]

I have no idea what they're worth (though I'm guessing $$$$) but in a bike mag I read about a clubman-style thing, based on a Caterham Seven IIRC, that you could option all the way up to twin bike motors (choice of Hayabusa, Blackbird or ZX12R) and 4WD. 0-100kmh in 2.8 sec, and would no doubt lap any circuit on the planet faster than just about anything once setup right. If you're interested I can dig up the article and scan it, might take a while though, I have quite a few bike magazines Bolt a turbo to each of those motors, run low boost to keep it reliable(ish), and you'd have a 700hp, 500kg racer

[GTRgeoff]

Remember the Catheram took the lap record at Nurburgring from either Porsche Turbo or GTR and they were all excited. Good stuf but they are comparing a toy with a car with full comforts so I wasn't that impressed. Still a good drive though. Almost as good ast pete (fats) in the "little renault"

Yeah one of those would be wicked.

[Silver-Arrowz]

Pete's drive was good until he backed it into a wall at the ring! lol!

I was contemplating a clubman at one stage. The biggest worry was not parts which may need to be fabricated. The instructions given to you may not list the parts which need fabrication because there are a variety of engines which you could fit in there. But most common engine is the 4AGE 16V. I was talking to the guy who distrubutes Westfield kits for NSW and he said at the time the 4AGE 20V was not legal because of emissions testing not conducted on the engine.

[GTRgeoff]

Looks as though the South African brand may have got it legalised.

Didn't the wall bit on my video, was there another lap not freely distributed? Was carsick tho from the camera being sideways

[Silver-Arrowz]

It wasn't distributed. Ask him and he'll tell you about it. Backed it up with luggage and all in the back. lol!

That's pete for you. If it's got 4 wheels it has to go sideways.

[GTRgeoff]

Just got this from the PRB Site, been getting some good sydney stories from Roy now he is down here.

Mmmmm Focus engine, but the 20V is nice too. This has got my interest for a new buildup since I am selling a house in Melb soon and want to tinker in Bris when I get there. Would be a great project with the girly involved.

Now available with 79/00 emissions compliant Toyota 4AGE-20 valve or Ford Focus engines.

[/color]

[GTRgeoff]

http://geoffwill.ozforces.com.au/AutoSpeed...Road%20Test.pdf

if your interested. Just a different model and a good educational read.

[Marlin]

I've been looking around at a few, but the quality of the build varies greatly. Some people seem to think "zip ties" make great structural braces!

A consistent difference with a lot of these kits seems to be the availability of independent rear suspension as an option. My belief that for pure circuit work, a live rear axle will be just as good. Anyone care to disagree?

As an aside, I recall reading about a "Radical" in a Euro magazine a while back. These are along the same lines as a clubman, but full bodied. GSX-R turbo & NA powered I think, and HEAPS quicker than Porsche GT3 RS, Lambo etc... But WAY too expensive for what it is. An Ariel Atom looked cool to, powered by the latest Civic Type R engine.

skylinegeoff, I kinda agree with your thought that a clubman is sort of "cheating" when it comes to comparing with "real cars", by not dragging around all the heft road cars have to.

[lwells]

Remember the Catheram took the lap record at Nurburgring from either Porsche Turbo or GTR and they were all excited. Good stuf but they are comparing a toy with a car with full comforts so I wasn't that impressed. Still a good drive though. Almost as good ast pete (fats) in the "little renault"

 

Yeah one of those would be wicked.

Caterham's are absolute track weapons -- 0-100 in 3.4 seconds:

http://www.caterham.co.uk/showroom/sevens/.../superlight.htm

But as you said, that's basically all they are good for: would be horrible to try and use one as a dialy driver.

If you flushed with cash I would probably choose a Lotus Elise: its still hard core, but at least it has a roof! Car and Driver did a track car roundup this month too:

http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?se...article_id=8202

LW.

[calvintys]

http://www.j-spec.com.au/list/index.php?ID=0531

[lwells]

http://www.j-spec.com.au/list/index.php?ID=0531

"May need engine rebuild, possibly the bearings" -- doesn't sound so promising to me.

LW

[GTRgeoff]

Good price, but they are fiercly unreliable at that power level. There is a massive amount done to it though so it would be nice just to have in the garage.

Would be worth it except for the hairdresser image.

[Marlin]

Most of you would have looked @ that J-Spec Celica, seems a lot of gear for the money, even if it needs a rebuild (that I can do myself if I get excited).

Do you think that's a reasonable car to think about? Are they really designed for that power level? Would I be able to drive it to the track legally?

I've been lookin and thinking, but would appreciate your thoughts.

Or wait for a good Clubman?

[lwells]

My thoughts are its a heavily modified car, so you could spend forever trying to work out what parts might be causing problems, particularly since you didn't make the modifications yourself and I doubt they are documented.

The owner seems to have gone all out... how much of the stuff added actually improves upon the base car you would never know without stripping it all off and trying piece by piece.

As for the legalities, I doubt it could be made road legal even if you were allowed to import it without a CAMS license.

Have you thought of an Evo or WRX race car? A number of these have come up recently and they are quite cheap: you would need a CAMS license to bring them in though and they aren't road registerable.

Edit: you could always buy a road legal Evo/WRX/whatever shell and switch all the parts from the JP car.

LW.

[Duncan]

Most of you would have looked @ that J-Spec Celica, seems a lot of gear for the money, even if it needs a rebuild (that I can do myself if I get excited).

Do you think that's a reasonable car to think about? Are they really designed for that power level? Would I be able to drive it to the track legally?

I've been lookin and thinking, but would appreciate your thoughts.

Or wait for a good Clubman?

I reckon an unknown modified jp celica with a blown motor is among the worst you could buy.

First decide what you want a car for.

If its club/open track days, then maybe buy a stock(ish) jp import.

If you want a quick race car buy something already here and proven like an improved production car - second hand race cars are great value and all the expensive and hard work is already done. Cars like the celica are not eligible for *any* type of racing in australia

If you want a long list of mods to impress your friends buy the celica.