Duncan

Hi Dilesh First of all, Bhp is the imperial unit measurment of power. The more commonly accepted unit of meansurment of power today is Kw. Torque - is the turning force of an engine. In other words the amount of force it can exert in over coming friction/resistance. This is measured in Nm. Power - is the ability of the engine to keep the momentum going once torque has done its job. This is why, in an engine's performance curves, the torque falls away as power keeps increasing. The mixture of power and torque you desire depends on the type of vehicle and the purpose for which you intend on using this vehicle. If it is a serious 4x4/SUV you are looking for then one with very high torqe at low engine rpm would be the most ideal. Such a vehicle will not have high power but it certainly will be able to over come serious obstacles with ease. Diesel engines inherently have high torque at very low rpm. High torque engines also have a very short rev range. On the other hand, high performance engines will have high power as compared to torque. Also the torque will peak at higher rpm than it is the case with a 4x4. Such engines will have a wider rev range and rev quite freely. So if it is a more road bias vehicle you are looking for with more tar mac speed than off road ability, then look for one that is more high on power than torque. However, if it is a serious off-roader you are looking for, then look for one that will have high torque at low rpm levels. Here are some examples:- Toyota L/Cruiser Diesel 4.2 - 96Kw@3800rpm 285Nm@2200rpm (serious off-roader) L/Rover Defender 2.5Td5 - 90Kw@4200rpm 300Nm@1950rpm (serious off-roader) Daihatsu Terios 1.3 - 64Kw@6100rpm 120Nm@3200rpm (soft off-roader) Honda Cr-V 2.0 - 110Kw@6500rpm 190Nm@4000rpm (soft off-roader) Rav4 2.0 - 110Kw@6000rpm 192Nm@4000rpm (soft off-roader) (the figures I have used above are for those vehicles that are ment for our South African market, so they may differ to what may be available in SL) Cheers

Thanks for that Hola. The Z cars have always been a firm favourite of mine too. I currently have a 300ZX with some serious mods and I love this car. But I always wondered why the Japs gave it such a feminie name (my opinion). Now I know better Cheers

Stock 911 Turbo S is certainly more powerful than the stock 2.0 Sti. The point is, this guy had done so much mods, it was quite a pleasure to stand on the side of the strip and watch.

During a recent drag meet here in SA there was a heavily modified STi (former generation). It was one of those "money is no object" jobs. The guy had not spared any expense and had gone all the way, both interms of cosmetic and mechanical modifications. Even had a sound system that could dwarf the mortgage of a medium sized house. As part of the event, all racers were entitled to a free dyno tune sponsored by a leading auto tuning company. The Scoobie measured in at 293kw on the dyno (awsome huh?!!). Then came the actual event. Here STi's and EVo's are generally pitted against the likes of BMW M3's and similar cars. The outcome being 50/50 either way. But this particular STi ate them all up and kept coming back for more! Eventually the STi was pitted against a Porsche 911 turbo. On the initial take off the 911 had the lead, but a few seconds later the STi pulled away by a humongus margin The only consolation to the owner of the Porsche being that it was stock standard. Cheers PS unfortunately I did not have my camera with me, so no pics to show. But it sure will be displyed in the local Drag Mags, so will try to scan it off when I can.

Hi everyone Need some info. I am trying to understand how the various racing championships work in SL. Does each motor racing club hold its own annual champioship races or is there an overall championship to which each club contributes by organising one or more races during the season? Thanks in advance. Cheers

Here in SA, as long as you have all the necessary police and CID clearance documents, engines and chassis can be interchanged and then registered without any hassels. Pics I will post as soon as the car is complete. Hopefully this should happen in the coming weeks. As we have to give priority to our regular work, we only get to work on this car when we have nothing much else to do. Cheers

Thought I'd share this with you all. A friend of mine is building himself a track racing "pipe car" on a VW Beetle chassis. This is a very inexpensive race car to build and have loads of fun with. With a few more added items the car can also be registered as a road legal vehicle. Rear mounted engine placed on the driving wheels gives excellent traction with a near 50/50 weight split. Also with the driver having his bottom (when seated ) below the diffs, an excellent centre of gravity is achieved. The chosen engine was a Toyota Corolla 1.6 multi valve engine mated to a 4 speed box. Some of you may wonder why we chose a Corolla engine. Well the Toyota motor is very reliable, spares cheap and easy to obtain and on top of it all, a complete engine is very cheap to buy. The engine capacity was kept stock sandard (class requirment) with mods to the inlet manifold only. Then a turbo was attached and the ignition system modified with a remapped chip. The work on the engine was done by a specialist engine shop. The awsome part is....the mods took the power of this puny engine from 93Kw (in stock form) to 322Kw after the mods. This kind of power with the weight of the entire vehicle (including the driver) and the close ratio box gives mind blowing performance. The vehicle is to be completed in the coming weeks and then tested. Then a few entries in some of the remaining races for the 2006 season should ready the car for next season. Cheers

Hi guys Sorry took so long to reply. I was out of town for a few days. The answer is.....Porsche Cayenne Turbo S Well done to those who got it right. Awsome vehicle, but sadly did not do well in the sales dept and not much of a capable off-roader. Then again, after spending so much money, can't expect anyone to really go bush bashing. As for the clue..."it's not a car"........it's a SUV. Cheers guys

Guess which vehicle it is......... 383Kw (521bhp) 720Nm 0 - 100km/h in 5.2secs Top speed 270km/h ....any idea?? Clue ......it's not a car.

I agree with Pila. In any vehicle simply changing the exhaust will not give any notable increase in power. However, if the entire breathing system is completed with a performance exhaust complimented with a matching performance air intake system, then some improvement will be felt. This too will not hamper your economy that much depending on how heavy footed you drive. Cheers

Hi guys Been quite busy lately with work. Wish it was time to retire However, I will be spending more time back on the site again from next month. I have to come here to Autolanka to get some sanity back As for any additions to my collection, you might have seen the thread on the off-road camping trailer I bought. It is a real pleasure for safaries. Just got back from a trip last week. Being the 4x4 junkie I am, bought another Pajero a few days ago. Its the former generation V6 3000cc LWB. The wife has the SWB of the samething. So whats new on your front? I see the drags are coming back on again. I am quite pleased to hear this. Cheers guys!

Well we actually see this translating to what we the customer want in terms of value for money as well as affordability. The motor car market is so much of a high that SA manufacturers are launching over 170 new models into market in 2006. Thats one heck of a choice for us. Because of this vibrant auto industry we also have one of the most active motor sports industries in the developing world with international events such as F1, WRC, Champ Car, A1 GP, F1 Masters and International Classic Car Racing coming back to SA. The factories have their own racing formats giving new talent loads of opportunties. With the infrastructure and technology in place, SA is also a major new vehicle testing and developing sites. The fact that SA has one of the fastest growing economies in the world is also helping in a big way. So let the good times roll !!

Hi Hola South Africa has been manufacturing motor vehicles for the past several decades. SA is now considered to be a "high quality auto manufacturing centre". We now export locally built....BMW 3s, M/Benz C's, Corollas, Hilux, Hummers and a host of other models. The export revenue generated exceeds US$2 billion each year and in turn for this the auto manufacturers get tax concessions. These concessions are passed on to the local buyers. SA is also quite popular for their military equipment and vehicles. The "Badger" troop carrier was quite a common sight in SL at one time. Cheers

Hi Hola Yes it is a good idea to get a tune up done with the belt change. Infact they should actually do it as part of the belt change.

Hi everyone Here is something to ponder over. World over an ever increasing problem is motor vehicle traffic on our roads. More and more vehicles are spending more and more time idling in one spot than actually running. So here is the question........when looking around for a used vehicle, what will be more important......milage run by the car or the actual number of hours the engine has run? Cheers

Hi everyone I am sure you must have seen used car sales adverts that read......"lady driven", "owned by a doctor", "hardly used", etc. I am sure there are people that fall for this, but I have come across quite a few such "drivers" who are the worst possible drivers around. Hardly used vehicles can actually be problems waiting to happen. Cheers

Thats a "proudly South African Product". NOBLE cars are designed in the UK, but fully built in SA. Got lots of them running around here. Pretty awsome car. Just lacks the pedegree the Italian exotics have.

Hi there Assuming you know the difference between torque and power, for a serious off-road vehicle torque is more important than power. With high torque a off-road vehicle will have the capability to over come obstacles at very low revs. This coupled with the correct gear ratios will make the vehicle quite capable. Diesel engines achieve optimum torque at very low revs in comparison to petrol engines. As such diesel powered off-road vehicles are preferred by true enthusiasts. In today's market SUV's are not full blown 4x4's. They are more cross over vehicles than the real thing. So manufacturers trade-off between the torque and power available to the driver. Furthermore, in addition to the engine, transmission and suspension also determine how capable the vehicle is. On the other hand, a road going car (depending on what its main role paly is) will have more power than torque. high power at higher revs makes the vehicle much faster and more importantly quicker. A faster revving engine makes for a quicker car. hope this answers your question. Cheers

Alonso's move is actually yesterday's news. The move to McLaren was confirmed sometime back. As for MS, nothing confirmed yet. It's all speculation for the time being. However, the romour on Kimi moving to Ferrari in 2007 seems to get stronger by the day.

A South African development company has been contracted to build off-road racing Mahendra's. The first unit has been taking part in the local off-road races and been doing quite well. Considering the differences in budgets compared to the likes of Nissan, Toyota, etc works teams, the Mahendra has performed quite admirably. African off-road races are amongst some of the toughest in the world.

Hi guys I did an article sometime back. It might help..... http://www.autolanka.com/Article_read.asp?article_id=102 Also remember, having a low milage is one thing, but if the vehicle stayes parked for long periods or does very little running, then your service intervals should be time based, rather than milage based. Cheers

Make: VW Model: Beetle 1300 Year: 1962 model Price: GBP230.00 I think I had the most fun in this car. Not in terms of performance, rather the amount of teen age stuff my friends and I had back in the days. This car took us just about everywhere we wanted to go. Never let us down. Max speed was no more than 60km/h (going down hill). At times when we could not afford petrol we ran her on paraffin. We actually used the boot/trunk/diki as a booze cellar. It was always stocked with booze and cigis. It also had a freaked out paint job (couldn't afford a proper paint job so used aerosole paint cans) and a huge sticker at the back that read - "JUST VISITING THIS PLANET". I still to this date miss this car. The sentimental attachment is way too much!

Hi there Rim size and profile is the same with the new set as the old one. What is different is the width of the tyre. This will certainly give you improved handling as there will be more rubber in contact with the road surface. However, this could result in a slight decrease in the fuel economy dept. What you need to determine is (1) the quality of the make of tyre (you have not mentioned any make) (2) whether you need improved handling or economy. If you do decide to go for the wider tyre, ensure that there is adequate space in the wheel well area for the wider tyre. Especially when the wheel is turned. Cheers

What a race!! Honda needs to work on race pace I feel. IMO they should have let JB finished in the points, rather than save the 10 place drop in the next race. Feel quite sad for my team. MS seemed so dissapointed, he walked into Toyota pits than his. I still feel that MS is the man to beat if he was in a winning car. But then again thats what racing is all about. Feel happy for my other favorite team with RS finishing third. From a F1 fan's point of view this is what we have always been looking forward to. Pure, solid racing, no matter who is winning.

Hi Andrew_GTR_7007 The trailer and the accessories (selected by me) cost US$3,000.00. You can build it cheaper depending on the type of trailer, loading capacity and accessories one decides on. South African designed and built trailers and Caravans are world famous and one of their major export markets is the US. Can get you more info if you need. Cheers