GTAm

Nice work JC. Any competition plans or is it just for road use?

Went to see her today. A bit dissappointed that not much progress has been made. But that's what's to be expected in SL I guess. A constant shifting of the target! At least the Alfetta is nearing completion....... Hoping to drive it within September!

Hi there buddy. Great to see the Mi 16. You were talking about it when we met in SL I recall. How is it to drive? My babe is getting into shape slowly. Everything happens in slow motion over here . Going to check her out tomorrow. Will post some pics......

Chrysler LLC is heamouraging cash like water down the Niagra falls. They're just trying to hang onto floating grass. It's only a matter of time before they go under. Only a miracle like Renault rescuing Nissan can save them. But in this market.....I'd say the odds are against it.

Yeah very true. The ZR1 is almost double the price. Everyone's waiting for the V spec. And that should be a more potent machine and will set a new record time for sure. The GTR is one of the greatest cars in the world right now. Anyway Ring times should really be nothing for most buyers.... I mean how many of them will ever driver a GTR or a ZR1 to its full potential. Some will probably never ever see a track in their life..... Btw US cars are notorious for their poor quality and crap dynamics. However the C6 and it's derivatives have been rated really well by most mags. The ZR1 review in Autocar sounds very good indeed. And it looks great too! As exciting as a Ferrari in some pics. I'm even beginning to like it . I've hardly ever liked any US muscle. Carbon fibre panels, Magnesium frames and carbon ceramic brakes. What's got into the Americans all of a sudden?

I see slight potentiel for a fire breathing Hot Rod from this pic . But unfortunatly it looks like it will fetch around 50k only in this state. Why not be brave and offer him 50k..........from a safe distance?

MRM why not check out what the Rally cars looked like and get on those lines for the exterior visual part. I recall seeing pics of Rally Lancers on the East African Safari when I was a kid. I was impressed! For the engine, may I suggest a twin weber carbie conversion (expensive but worth it) so that it is period. Maybe you can find a 1600 engine as well. Polish and port the head and get some nice SS headers and a decent diameter exhaust. These Lancer are quite tail happy aren't they? I drove my uncles car when I was quite young and very early in my driving life. I remember how torquey the engine was for just 1400cc and how easy it was to fling around as the car felt so light. But if you went even slightly overboard the rear end would try to overtake you. I had a scary experience driving back from Kelaniya once . It was the first time I ever lost traction in a car . I wonder if there was an Mitsu IRS system that would fit in easily!!?? If not just lower a bit and fit wider wheels/tyres at the rear. Nice wide five slotters will look very 70's cool. For the interior you need to have a three (holed) spoke smallish wheel with a leather or wood rim with a matching gear knob. Rev counter is a must as well I guess. And can you mate a 5 speed box from the SL model? That'll be cool. What's the braking like on these cars? Disc/Drum, booseted? Can't remember........... Like the others mentioned pls stay conservative and do it tastefully or else it will end up looking like a Thorana on wheels like that beetle that was discussed. I'd also have a small Mitsu WW2 Zero fighter model hanging from the inside rear view mirror

This car was developed by Pininfarina and the rights were sold to a few Asian manufacturers.

Yep I don't agree with it either when almost everyone else is raving over the car. That said, I just heard that the Vette ZR1 has broken the GTR's ring record!

Yes good idea....

Yes I guess most will be cautious. I heard the oil is imported from Singapore. Btw talking about Laughs. A couple of people have warned me to not pump fuel from their sheds as they pump less that the meters state. Has anyone else heard about this? I had been pumping exclusively from laughs in the recent past and I have noticed a slight increase in fuel consumption. I put this down to my air flow sensor and throttle body being dirty. I have now started pumping fuel elsewhere and have yet to verify if the mileage stays the same....... Should be able to tell by end of this week.

Ok my two cents worth..... If you enjoy driving go for the Mazda. But beware about the prefacelift BJ if it is an auto. They are known to have defective boxes. If there is evidence of recent replacement or a proper rebuild (this is rare) then it should last 50k kms. I've had a bad experience . The facelifted ones don't have this issue, or just find a manual. We also have a facelifet manual in the company and this has been absolutely great. The suspension is way more sophisticated than the Corolla and a back to back drive will make this evident in an instant. Also the steering in the Mazda has decent weighting. The Corolla feels like it was weight for anorexic frail old ladies . The Mazda also looks better IMHO. In the Corollas favour, you'll probably be able to sell it, probably the moment you think about advertising it

Oh for sure. They don't know how to spell the word "Ethic". We Sri Lankans are a lot better in that aspect. It's scary to see what monstosities they'll produce and we'll be forced to buy them! Btw have you noticed how fast Hyundai is growing? Phenomenal. They've overtaken Honda as the 5th largest!

Yes its inevitable. But that's partly due to our weak economy. If we had proper policies and lets face it we had a good head start over India to be a great nation but our leaders screwed up. But I'm not talking about cars alone. Having done business with Indians as well as other nationalities I can say that Indians are by far one of the most unethical and partial partners to have. They'll simply milk every cent away from us. It's a shame that we keep getting weaker and weaker and still continue with wrong policies that play into the hands of a predator like India. I mean only a few years ago many people could have easily afforded a brand new Japanese or European car in Sri Lanka. As someone mentione a Honda Civic was only 1.8m. Today these same people have no option but to settle for a SMALLER, LOWER QUALITY Indian or Chinese product. The quality of life has gone down badly with the economy in shambles despite bogus data the government might publish. Therefore we will only be able to stand up by holding India's hand. And India will probably bite our hand off if not our head. If we were stronger by now (the impossible idea that our politicians were competent and TRULY patriotic and the public were a bit far sighted) we would not need to cow down and accept any deal forced down our throats. Very sad. But we ought to get used to it I guess.

The RX7 RS is 4wd right? The FD is still one of the best looking Jap cars for me. Makes all those other cars except the NSX look hideous. Great video clips!!

Oh don't worry India will force it down our throats and our goverment will have everyone pre-occupied with capturing various LTTE bases and before we know it India will be controlling our economy. Yep I've heard the same about the new Corolla. Strange. The 1.8 is sure to cost a lot more if they do bring it.

I drove it. And it felt good. In fact my father almost bought one but backed out at the last moment saying he'll keep the Alfa a bit longer. This is the 1.2 engine and not the base model. It's got colour coded bumpers. The engine is quite torquey for a small unit and it felt fun to drive. Seems well put together too. The duo logic gearbox is not as smooth as a regular auto but does not sap power like an auto and a couple of friends using Puntos say that its nice once you get used to it. This is an old stock so I think you can bargain a bit and get a good deal. New imports are likely to be much more.

Don it is very very dissappointing that we have to spend so much on a half decent car. Most folk will have no choice but to settle for Chinese or Indian. Btw I just learned that there are now two agents for Fiat. Browns have just secured a non exclusive agency.

The Pug 207 is over 4m ! The Fiat Panda is 2.7m. Accent is over 3m but new i10 might be cheap.

Size matters eh?

Bit of a controversial article . http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/the-truth...ing-lap-record/ I agree with TTAC reviewer Stephan Wilkinson : the new Nissan GT-R is the old Honda NSX. Once people actually start driving Nissan’s “everyday supercar”– as opposed to simply jumping on the hype bandwagon and bench racing numbers supplied by Nissan– they’ll appreciate the parallel. Although I'm still looking forward to my first hands-on experience with the GT-R, the reality of the car’s true nature and importance in automotive history is right under the fan-boys’ noses. The GT-R allegedly 'outperforms' thoroughbred supercars at a fraction of the price. Yes, but what price? The sticker price, or the in-your-garage price? Considering the hype surrounding the car and the limited production numbers, it will be years before a single new $70k GT-R will be sold for under $100k. At the moment, comparing the Nissan to say, a Corvette Z06, obfuscates the truth. But what the [Green] Hell… No small part of the current GT-R lovefest can be attributed to the car’s 7:38 Nürburgring lap time. As TTAC has pointed out, there are real questions about the Green Hellmobile’s qualifications for the title “second fastest production car around the ‘Ring.” The GT-R's suspension was modified from the current Japanese production model, supposedly to reflect the American and European spec. Supposedly. Will anyone get a chance to compare the fabled ‘Ring runner and a final production car? I doubt it. Meanwhile, the YouTube video of the Nissan’s “historic run” clearly shows that the GT-R had a flying start. All other manufacturers testing at the ‘Ring use standing starts for published lap times. The video also proves that the car's lap time was not measured at the exact same location (start and stop). Take these two factors into account, and the 7:40 claim seems highly dubious. The icing on the cake: GT-R chief engineer Kazutoshi Mizuno’s subsequent admission from that "We used cut slick tyres." If that doesn’t cancel their claim, nothing does. In fact, a regular Corvette Z06 would probably beat the GT-R on the Nürburgring. When Road & Track tested the GT-R against the Z06 on a track much smaller than the ‘Ring, they concluded that the GT-R was fast in the corners, but they didn't shed a whole lot of light on how the GT-R performed on the straights. Although the ‘Ring has an enormous amount of corners, it also has some of the longest straight-aways in the world. In Road & Track’s technical comparo, the GT-R was just as fast to 60mph as the Z06 (despite being less powerful). What many have over-looked is the trap speed at the end of the 1/4 mile. The Z06 is about seven mph faster than the GT-R. When you look at the graph that accompanies these numbers, the GT-R’s AWD system gave it a clear advantage– but only at the start. Applied to the Green Hell, the Z06 would outpace the GT-R on the straights. The Z06’s fastest recorded lap time at the Nürburgring is 7:42.9 This lap was driven in 2005 by Jan Magnussen in 'muggy' conditions. Last year, Chevy revised the suspension on all Corvette models including the Z06. In theory, the new suspension and better weather conditions should be enough for a Z06 to equal or even better the Nissan GT-R's true time of +7:40. When you consider that the Z06 can achieve this time with a GM-standard standing start and production tires, it seems obvious that the GT-R is no match for the Z06 around the ring. But what does it all mean? Well, not much actually. Every racetrack is different and some cars are suited to some tracks while others are not. The GT-R is suited to smaller tracks like the one R&T used, and the Z06 is suited to longer and faster ones like the ‘Ring. So why did I bother ranting about this? Nissan has chosen to flaunt its Nürburgring lap times to show the world that their new, high-tech Nissan GT-R is the new bang-for-the-buck Alpha. But it’s not true. The cheaper Corvette Z06 is still the worlds best [unmodified] performance car bargain. What’s more, if the GT-R cannot handle a stock Z06, then how will it fare against the upcoming ZR1? Never mind the 'almighty' spec V model. Given the GT-R’s looks and oft-reported lack of driving feel, there’s only one reason anyone would buy the uber-Nissan: to own the fastest thing on the road. In the corners, maybe. If you were committed enough to drive at 10/10ths (never mind how “easy” it is), you could probably blow-off a 911 or similar. Down the straights (the great American pastime), there are faster and cheaper choices– and that’s without exploring relatively inexpensive modifications. In short, the GT-R is an awesome achievement, but Wilkinson’s right: it’s not all that.

Great pics Devinda. And a whole load of Alfas !!! Btw I think the Brit show did not happen for a few years because of lack of enthusiasm by manufacturers. But now it's becoming a major show again. Perhaps next year all those absent manufacturers will return.

The title says a lot http://www.topgear.com/content/features/st...ories/01/1.html

Ah that. Yes but they have not seen it in the metal in that programme. Those who have say that it looks great. For example if you read this months' Top Gear magazine, Paul Horell who reviews it says it's very good looking and attracts attention whereever he parked. The 147 was initially conroversial as well. But the looks grew on everyone.