A problem? This is thread is all about ideas and see other peoples points of views The only problem is my lack of time hehehe the downside of running your own business I guess Alex
As for torque wins races I will reply with forumla 1 To go fast you need revs - the more revs the more bhp
Deisels have great torque, but as said, it comes in a lump, and in roder to make a diesel feel quick, you need to keep it up on the gears, where as a petrol can hold it through longer. For example, i had a 306 d turbo tuned to 120bhp and 187ibft of torque, went like a bomb if kept on the gears, but if you ran over 3000rpm (full pwer) it began to tail and slow, so gear changes were very rapid. not really ideal for racing espceaily when navigating loads of twists and turns etc. bhp figures sound great, and impress chavs in saxos no end!, but torque DELIVERY wins races. My tuning knowledge on diesels is epic compared to that of petrols due to the different way the make useable power. Diesel is a slow burner, hense why they dont rev very high, because the derv doesnt get enough time to combust sufficiantly. but at low revs it has plenty of time to burn, and produces more heat than petrol (expands faster) hense where diesels get the low down grunt from. Petrols rely on revs because the fuel can burn faster, but has less stored energy when compressed, so as the revs build, the momentum builds, delivery increases and air volocity overcomes volumetric efficancy, the fuel atomises better and better and the torque level gradualy increases. Then you get into 8v low down grunt vs 16v top end grunt which is fairly self explanitory, then theres forced induction wich aids both where they lack etc etc. Diesels will only win races over petrols when auto box;s are used with extended gear ranges ie 8 gears instead of 5, to allow a constant spread of useable surge. but this is not really realistic in a road car, and difficult to handle in a track car, allthough the bcc champs (audi and pug) use 8 gear setups to great affect, but are obviously out of the scope of road cars. hope that helps a bit for anyone not understand the key difference between torque for diesel and petrol
F1 engines are engineered very close to the limits on reliability (Ferrari have had 2 engine failures in the past 2 races?), from expensive exotic materials and very carefully. They can rev high because the components are physically smaller than a VW engine - 2.4 litre from V8 means the pistons, rods, etc are smaller, lighter, therefore can rev higher. But they're rubbish at low revs, how many times have you seen a non-F1 driver have a go in one on the telly, and stall it (or the antistall kick in)? They're fast because they have lots of gear ratios (so can keep in their narrowish power band okay) and because the cars are so low and aerodynamic (relatively). Also, being very light helps.
perfect match of engine powerband and gears - we struggle very much with this in road-based tackle, the reason I haven't gone for more top end is gearing and the fact the synchros wont change above 8.5K - its all a compromise and getting the best from what you can source / buy / make / afford
to be honest tho, toyatec is right, its all about feel, i had a 205 xs, 75 bhp, 1360cc carb.... for anyone that doesnt know these, its a little known fact they can keep up with the 1.6gti's no problem in standard form, and tuned with basic mods can wip a 1.9 gti to 60. It drove fantasticly, rev its little heart out all the way to 7500rpm no problems, and was great for b road bashing, but 75 bhp?????!!!!!!!!!! i mean iv had cans with twice the power that couldnt pick up as well as this did from a standstill. respectivly, bhp.... sure, helps no end (1800bhp yes please)..... feel and driveability....... key!
If the cap fits dude Everytime we have a thread like this, you're sure to be shouting from the roof tops. I agree had that last engine given more than 2 weeks service, I may have a different point of view, but it didn't and so far am happy with the route I've taken. As for earlier comments on how much money it's taken to get it to handle to any certain degree, well not very much at all ! At the minute it's running some yellow fixed height Konis with coil over springs 'made to fit' on the front, some H+R springs for a VR6 on the back that I got from eBay, H+R ARBs 25/28mm which were on it anyway, the 'wide track' stuff that has also been debated and criticised on here, and that's about it, other than a Peloquin diff, that is de riguer for a track mk2....
if i was aiming for over 200bhp NA, id have a vr6 every day of the week. i dont remember hearing about gary having too much truoble getting the output he has lol the money you save on tuning, you could put into handling bits in case "its a vr6 itll fall over" thing is true. ive seen it go round corners briskly though
Donor car 500 Passat estate VR6 stank of dogs inside. Used engine/loom scrapped the rest. mk3 Golf subframe 50 mk3 16v gearbox 50 Peloquin ATB 500 Gearbox rebuild to fit ATB , rebearing it and add 16v ratios to make it useable on track 300 Various timing chains/gaskets/guides and bits and bobs to freshen up the 170,000 mile unit before fitting 300 Pair of Dougherty racing 268 deg cams 200 New clutch (standard VAG) 80? can't remember. Unorthodox racing alloy flywheel 200? can't remember , Chris? mk4 cable change gear shifter bits 80 Carbonio cold air intake 200. eBay 6 branch 150 de-cat pipe 50 2660, you can do it cheaper by not using the diff, having a box rebuilt, a bling flywheel and so on. No doubt other bits and bobs but thats the main parts of the swap. Ok a lot of the money went on a swap to 02A but the plus side of this is I've used the same gearbox for nearly 2 years and not had loads of failures with the fragile 020 that I've had over the years.
i think its just personal preference, i dont like vr's personaly, i think the power delivery is too smooth and predictable, i like somthing of a loose cannon when it comes to engines. but thats me personaly, i like an engine where even the traction control cant keep a leash on it
Ha, pot calling kettle black or what. I'm just sticking up for valvers as I'm sick of them getting slagged off for being no good...always someone chips in and says stick a VR in rather than do a bit of tuning to get your 180hp...like I said earlier, welcome to the flipside of the argument.
