I found this very nice informational video from Porsche about the 2010 911 Turbo and Boxter Turbo.
I knew that Porsche had done some very clever things to get the 2010 911 to handle with the big old engine hanging out over the rear wheels, but I never realised how they did it until now. The video includes all of the normal stuff like the power ratings and the 0-60 times, but it also goes through the new gearbox the abs and pretty much everything else they have developed for the new cars.
If you are fan of the 2010 911 Turbo or even if you aren’t its well worth 10 minutes of your life.
Mini has confirmed the existence of the Countryman World Rally Car for the first time. Mini are going to be behind a Prodrive-built car that will run on selected rounds of next year’s World Rally Championship before starting a full programme of events in 2012.
A statement from the German owned company confirmed the months old rumors that Mini were planning on collaborating with the UK based Prodrive company to enter the WRC arena.
The car is expected to use the Mini 1.6 turbo charged engine with the first tests for the new car to start in the autumn. The car is to called the Mini Countryman WRC and it will be the first outing for Mini in rallying for over 40 years, with the last appearance being the Monte Carlo 1,000 Lakes Rally and Acropolis Rally in 1967.
No official date has been made for the launch of the car in the 2011 season, but the Rally d’Italia-Sardegna in May is highly tipped to be the first outing of the car in competition. Drivers have not been named either but Marcus Gronholm, Kris Meeke, P-G Andersson and Mads Ostberg are all being linked to the new team.
Ian Robertson, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for Sales and Marketing, said: “I am delighted Mini will be represented on one of the most popular stages in international motorsport. The success enjoyed on the rally circuit has made a vital contribution to the image of the brand. Mini customers have always shown great interest in motorsport.
“I am convinced we will add a few more chapters to our success story in rallying. The Mini Countryman provides an excellent basis, from which to create a competitive racing car for the world championship. In Prodrive, we have a strong and experienced partner. We will work hard together over the coming months to ensure we get the project on track right from the word go.”
Prodrive chairman David Richards added: “This is a very exciting new motorsport programme. During the 1960s Mini captured the imagination of the world when the tiny car took on the might of V8-powered Fords and won what was then one of the toughest motorsport events, the 4,000km Monte Carlo rally.
“I believe our new Mini will become a firm favourite of the latest generation of rally fans, just as it is adored by its millions of owners across the world. We already have a significant number of confirmed customer orders for the new Mini rally car with the first deliveries scheduled for the start of the 2011 season.”
A month or so ago i was in the position where I needed a very cheap car for a run around as I had just bought a house. You would have thought that wouldn’t be too hard, there are always old bangers around for cheap. Well, it would seem that the age of the cheap banger is gone. I searched high and low and found nothing be spares or repairs cars on eBay for around the price i wanted (up to £400).
Now, I can’t say exactly what the cause of this is, but I would have thought the Governments scrappage scheme has something to do withthe shortage of cheap bangers.
I ended up buying a 94 Skoda Felicia off of a friend (which is now knackered). Since then i ave found a couple of other bargain motors that would have been much better then the poor old Skoda, so I thought I’d share my finds with you all just in case anyone else is in the same boat as I was.
I came across this 1987 Honda Accord 2.0l 16v on a South West VW forum (of all places) and it has recently been reduced to £350.
The details are as follows,
1987 ‘E’reg Honda Accord 2.0i 16v AWS
1 family owner from new
108,000 genuine miles
Electric windows x4, mirrors, tilt:slide sunroof & aerial
Plush Velour unmarked interior
Deep shag carpet throughout
Air Conditioning, cruise control, 5 speed manual
New discs/pads/tyres fitted Jan this year.
Tax/Mot till Sept 2010
Full Power Steering (NOT PAS)
Huge Boot
Back Seat hardly ever sat on!!
There are many more photos and a better description in the for sale thread here.
I hope someone can give this very cheap, reliable, fully loaded Honda Accord a good home.
I was wondering through the internet this morning and found something out of the ordinary (A shock for the Internet i know) and felt compelled to share it with you all.
As you may have guessed from the title, what I found was something rather unique and a nice break from the norm. I stumbled across a build thread on the mk1 Golf owners club forum by a very imaginative mk1 Jetta owner that wanted to do something a bit different. What he has done is take a 3dr mk1 Jetta and convert it into a mk1 Golf estate. As you can imagine this has taken quite a bit of chopping and welding, but the end product is very very good indeed.
The thread kicks off with a single tag line and a picture to get people salivating.
“My German buddy is using a Golf rear end to make a 3-door Mk1 Jetta into an estate car. Will be an interesting project”
Gotta mk1 Estate
The thread then develops into a normal build thread with only a few updates on the cars progress through its build. The basic premise of the car is to take a 3dr mk1 Jetta (very rare in the UK as they didn’t import many if at all) and chop the back off to replace it with the back end of a normal mk1 Golf. Because of the longer body of the Jetta this basically leave you with an estate mk1 Golf.
What makes this project even more interesting is chopping and welding such a large panel as the roof is not easy at all and to get a good finish you have to be pretty good with a welder. Here are some more pics of the project in construction.
Rear quarter shot before any welding
Rear wing after welding.
Other side all welded up with some arch work too.
Even just after welding the panels together the car looks great and something very different indeed. The last picture shows how much work must have gone into the welding of the panels as all the welds are done as to try and not warp the panels with the heat of the welder. this means welding in small sections along the panels to stop the heat building up in any one section.
If you thought the car looked effective in the above pics, just look at the car after some retro inspired paint.
Mk1 Gotta with some retro paint.
Another paint shot.
Now, there is a little bit of a split as to those who like this car and those who think it looks (for lack of a better word) fugly. But i think its something different and very cool indeed. I am sure you will make up your own mind as to what you think of the Gotta, but I say, in a scene that seems to be getting a little old and ‘done’, something that breaks the boundaries of what can be done is more then welcome.
