uk.rec.cars.modifications

The Fortnight’s Events: 07/04/2002 - 21/04/2002

Sometimes, I hate examinations, which is why I’ve had to miss a week of writing the URCM review.

Dan asked about Fiat’s Uno Turbo, and several regulars commented on the Uno’s relative merits. Of course, the topic soon drifted on to the relative merits of increasing the engine size and turbocharging the donk.

Neveryoumind confirmed that he had found a car to park up all week - a dingy white Orion. His girlfriend refused to go for a ride, so it would probably be a good opportunity for another upgrade (but, heh, perhaps not the Orion). However, by all accounts, the Donny show was a disappointment. It was also expensive.

Mark Kirby provided us with some interesting reading regarding his EBC Green Stuff brake pads coming apart. We all read some items of correspondence between Mark and the company, but we’ve not heard much about it for a few days. How about it Mark: any news?

We also had some discussion about the mark ups on modified car parts, which all seemed to fizzle out after a few posts, perhaps when people realised that motor part resellers are businesses and not charities.

RM 250’s Saxo was also mentioned, but in this case because the engine is making a ticking noise. Some members reckoned that cranking up the stereo was a better solution than using lots of sound deadening material (which, under the bonnet, may also be a fire hazard). But the most entertaining part of this thread was Dan Post’s comment about “French Top Ends.” Well, I thought it funny!

MattyB asked the question of what makes a good chassis. So why does the PSA’s 106 / AX / Saxo chassis show up so well? And, for that matter, the other PSA chassis bits. The PSA group have yet to engineer out the lift off oversteer that Ford have, which makes it more (or less) entertaining (or safe) depending on your point of view. Personally, I’d rather my wife has a car that has to be utterly provoked to oversteer in the wet, rather than her take a roundabout at some speed with her foot off the power, and to emerge sideways.

On the subject of the PSA group’s cars, Dan asked which one was better - the Citroen Saxo VTS or the Peugeot 106 GTi, and why. There ensued a big row. Depending on the source, depends on which one is quicker to 60. The 106 has lower gearing and a less twitchy chassis, whereas the VTS has taller gearing (which blunts acceleration) and a more nimble, but less forgiving chassis.

Rob graced us with a few more posts, as did David Bolton. Rob still changes his project car every other week, and badly needs a new keyboard (the one he has doesn’t appear to have a space button). David let us know that he’s in Fast Car magazine, and if you’re interested, here’s the link: http://www.davidrbolton.co.uk\sideways.jpg.

Fifth Gear was universally slated, especially the Saxo boys who had spent over £30,000 on a Saxo. More so the lad who had spend £27,000 on a 1·1 and complained that he was always being left behind. Of course, once a Saxo, always a Saxo, more or less.

Finally, Ed’s turbocharger arrived. The one for the March should be here shortly!

The Week’s Events: 01/04/2002 - 06/04/2002

This week has finally seen the end of the 2001 / 2002 Fiscal Year, which probably has no relevance to most people in URCM, but does make the DervMan’s life rather less difficult. Anyway, after last week’s VTS Optimism comment, there’s a new buzz word that I’ve come up with, RST Delusion.

Simmy posted about an old favourite [sic], the Ecotek valve, which is reputed to increase the responses of a fuel injected engine. As is the way with such things, the conversation went around to Steven’s Escort RS Turbo, what a “Performance Car” is and what a “Sports Car” is, and how (sort of back on topic) the Ecotek improved Peugeot GTI engines.

Martin Sewell posted the statistics. No surprises that Steven had made the most posts during March, posting ten percent of the bandwidth. DOJJ was over a hundred posts behind, unusual considering his twin turbo Sierra, leaving Lordy choking in his wake. The DervMan’s Ka trundled up in fourth place, with Nom back in fifth. To celebrate, the regulars would have liked to have given Steven a special bottle of vintage Champaign, but regrettably it was not to be.

We welcomed a newbie, Newbie Modifier (originally Craig) and his slightly modified car. Lordy was reasonably gentle with him, in a similar way to a kitten toys with a semi-conscious moth before ripping it to shreds. Anyway, Newbie Modifier enquired as to what modifications to make to his Kia Mentor. Regulars noted that it was A Good Thing that a non-mainstream car was receiving the attention of a modifier. Later on, Newbie Modifier told us that he was hoping to land a new job with a BMW 323i as a company car. Well, one, ouch on the CO₂ taxation, and two, heh no point in touching the Kia, then!

Gary Harrison’s interestingly titled “Tales Of The Garage” post caught my eye, because it sounded like some dodgy 70s flick, but proved to be about the true nitty gritty of modifying cars, that is, spending the weekend in the garage with with a MIG welder for company.

Andy Connolly announced that, owing to emissions, the Nissan Skyline R34 was no more. It also turned out that the new Skyline R35 will cost the top side of £100,000, with the usual comments of, “heh, you can get a proper car for that money” and similar. There was some interesting discussion on the relative merits of Nissan’s sporty car line up: you can either have a fire breathing 155 mph coupe, or the “cooking model” stuff.

Spooky, one of the reasons why you’re reading this site, acquired some classic Cortina alloys for his Ka. I’m assured that they will be going on, but not in time for the Ka meet on the 7 April.

Steven asked the question - which hot hatch, the Peugeot 205 1·9 GTI, the Clio Williams or the Fiesta RS1800. The Fiesta was universally booed off stage, with a tie up between the Clio or the 205.

Some of the biker boys, still camped out in UCRM, started another post stating that bikes are superior to cars. This argument will never be solved. However, generally, more people who have both, prefer bikes. They are quicker, and they are more fun (so I’m led to believe), but they are also intrinsically less safe, especially when it’s wet or dry. But to the average 900 cc bike, it doesn’t matter if the car is a 150 PS (claimed!) RS Turbo or a 60 PS (genuine!) Ka, it’s still slow.

The DervMan is still looking for somebody in York to help with some pictures of Kermit for this site. Volunteers to the usual dervman@hotmail.com address, please!

Ed’s Micra, still suffering from “knackeritus,” was the subject of some discussion as to the relative merits of cylinder head work on “atmo” and forced induction engines. Chris made the assumption that Ed’s Micra was a cooking model 1·0, and not a 930cc, supercharged, turbocharged flying machine. Of course, at the moment, it’s neither, it’s in bits and it doesn’t work. We hope you get it fixed soon enough.

Finally, Chalkie made a return with some news of his non-working Saxo VTS. It still doesn’t work, and the current theory is that the fuel pump is deceased. But as to if Chalkie has bought a lemon, well, heh it is a Citroen! More to the point, the VTS is known to have problems of this nature. Perhaps ask in the Peugeot newsgroup?

The Week’s Events: 24/03/2002 - 31/03/2002

After the excitement of last week, things went a bit quiet. First off, DOJJ asked Steven just how much power his fabled /sarcasm/ Escort RS Turbo was producing. The consensus was that the car was producing around 150 PS, but Steven hadn’t had it checked. So of course, he could be suffering from VTS Optimism, or it could be accurate. Needless to say, the DervMan tweaked with the air ventilation system and the Ka is now producing at least 85 PS and probably nearer to 100. Anyway, thanks to the Durham Cruises site, we can now see the red Escort at www.durhamcruises.co.uk - perhaps if I get permission, I’ll upload the image to this site and make some /ahem/ modifications of my own.

Writing of the Escort, the Peugeot 309 GTI / RS Turbo debate quietened down, mainly because every issue had been regurgitated at least a half dozen times, and we were all rather weary of the debate.

I asked the question: why is the Ka quieter when running on Optimax? I’m cynical of “wonder petrols” but the results have surprised me. I’m sure they’d surprise Uncle Henry too, since the Ka’s handbook states that the car runs fine on 95 RON unleaded and that there are “no significant benefits to running on 98 RON.” Fair enough. But the Ka is quieter, it is smoother and it might be more economical. You can read more about the Ka and my Optimax experiment here, but be aware that I’m still conducting the experiment and it is far from complete.

There was also some discussion regarding a joint meet with some of the bikers. Around three dozen bikers said they’d be up for it, and only a few URCM members said they’d be up. Perhaps it was the threat of being taken for a ride on a powerful sports bike, or perhaps it was because Steven was going, who knows? Unfortunately, I have an exam coming up in the next fortnight and a web site to redesign (you’re reading it!) so I can’t organise something just yet.

Neveryoumind announced that he would be working overseas for a bit, and wondered what car he should pick up to leave in a car park during the week. There were a few suggestions, including an old Sierra, or a Cinquecento, or an old Honda. Neveryoumind did some calculations as to the relative cost of his various options, but omitted the additional expense of buying the second car - surely, it’s cheaper to get the ferry from Hull, and use the Subaru?

Shaun Sheppard has been working on his web site once more after being away for a wee while. It’s looking good, Shaun, and there’s a lot of enthusiasm going into the development, look and content.

The Metro has been discussed this week, first with the question of “what Rover K-series engines had automatics” by Marko. Cosic and later on with Steven proclaiming that his old Metro was a BMW basher. Hmm. Chalkie, of non-starting Saxo VTS fame, asked the group what we thought of the Metro GTi 16v as a runner until his Saxo is fixed, or replaced. Surely, better to get one car working properly before you pick up another!? Anyway, you can read my opinion of the Rover Metro here.

Jamesy asked the inevitable question “what’s happening to this newsgroup?” after a few days of quietness. Quoted as telling y’all that I’m a bit “fluffy” which made me chuckle, if nobody else.

David Bolton made an alleged reappearance, proudly proclaiming to be a Nova SR driver. Probably best that you don’t check out the Distasteful Cars section, then. Anyway, at least Rob and David didn’t stoop down to the lowest level of degenerative slanging matches, which is perhaps a pity because they were usually good for a laugh!

Lordy’s tale of a 406 V6 kept some of us entertained for a wee while. Both the Rover 620ti and the Peugeot 406 3·0 V6 are quick cars, with around 200 PS, with the Rover eking out a small (but probably significant) advantage thanks to lower gearing and turbocharger heave. Lordy’s been a bit quiet of late, and we’re starting to miss the cynical, witty responses to newbies.

Finally, Skodapilot’s first foray into the cruising malarkey ended in a quiet night in and a Skoda that, quite simply, didn’t want to take part. It probably fainted in sight of the Escort RS Turbo.

The Week’s Events: 16/03/2002 - 23/03/2002

It’s been one of the more exciting weeks on the newsgroup for a while. It’s good to see some of this bandwidth being used for proper Usenet purposes, i.e. slanging matches and the like.

To start off last Sunday, y’all had the chance to see the DervMan’s Ka, but via my AOL site, not via this one. Many people thought that it needed some modifications, heh, well yes it does, but we have a warranty to think about.

Then Steven proudly told us that his RS Turbo was the best in the newsgroup, because nobody bothered to accept his challenge, which was a blast about Cadwell Park. Given the state of Steven’s posts, and the fact that he claims to be a network administrator (hmm, Escort RS Turbo, in Information Technology, it’s all falling in place now!), it’s perhaps no surprise that we didn’t accept. We don’t want any untoward on-track behaviour.

Chalkie, who’d been indirectly responsible for one of the previous weeks’ big threads, announced that his Saxo wasn’t the quickest junior hot hatch anymore, because it wouldn’t start. So all the little Ford Kas that he had overtaken last week promptly caught up, and honked their horns as they trundled past. We hope that a new fuel pump, a good kicking, or whatever else the Citroen dealership do works, because it’s no fun having a car that doesn’t work.

There was some interesting discussion about quarter mile times and terminal speeds.

RM250 created a bit of a stir by wanting to convert his Saxo 1·1’s rear drum brakes to discs, and to upgrade the front discs with VTS ones. Several of the regulars spat out their tea at this, but it turned out that the 1·1’s brakes were ineffective. A huge argument ensued, and most aspects of braking, brake fade, pedal feel, front / rear brake bias and efficiency were covered for the Saxo, and a whole host of other cars. Given that RM250’s ideal is to replace the Saxo 1·1 with a 1·4, or a VTR at some stage, the regulars suggested that delaying the brake upgrade might be a cost effective idea. This was pretty much booed off stage by the hard core fans, but who perhaps could be reminded that there is a reason why RM250 has the 1·1 rather than the VTR, which is money. To cap it all, DOJJ had his Sierra’s brakes upgraded, and reported that the results were good.

There were some muted suggestions of a meet somewhere, mutterings to start with, but out of idle mutterings come good ideas.

FuzzyOrange reported that the power steering had gone on his Peugeot 309 GTI. Nobody bothered to ask where it had gone, but a huge argument ensued, primarily revolving around the relative merits of the turbocharged CVH lump in the Escort and the “atmo” 8V donk in the Peugeot. We even had “power steering dampens the sensations” comments.

But the biggest thread has to be the one that Steven started, and somehow the biker group became involved, so half of the biker boys are currently camped our in uk.rec.cars.modifications in their leathers, in defence of the bikes. The regulars gave up winding the biker boys up a while ago (it’s easily done, and by the way, I thought our group had some strange handles). The newbies to the group, well Steven, just put their heads into the sand and continue screaming abuse. Quite interesting, from a certain point of view.

All comments, observations and assessments are purely down to the DervMan, and if you disagree, heh that’s Usenet. Contact me if you will!