BESTuners Gallery | Updated October 28th, 2006 - DB9 by ChromeBallz

No BMW, it's Volkswagen Golf, then Amuse S2K Street Version. I keep getting ideas and everything!!

Specs
Price: $21,800
Engine Type: L4:DOHC
Displacement: 1794cc
Power: 291bhp @ 6400rpm
Mass: 891kg
Drivetrain: MR


Exterior
For the past two decades the Toyota MR2 has been a joy for car enthusiasts around the world – offering an affordable way to experience the marvelous handling of a mid-engine sports car, and today, on my first assignment for BESTuners, I would get the chance to drive a track modified version of this beautiful little car.

When you first look at it, the Toyota MR2 really does look like a little toy – but, somehow, it demands total respect. It has some really wonderful lines, yet nothing seems unnecessary, it all has a purpose.

Although the MR2 may be a lightweight, coming in at a mere 891kg, it is defiantly no toy – with almost 300bhp sitting in the back! Let’s take it for a ride!


Pros
Driving around almost any track, this car feels at home. Well balanced, with a hint of oversteer, the handling gifts the driver with supreme confidence. Driving around Deep Forest, I noticed on some of my faster laps that the tail was coming out at least a foot – but when you’re driving, it feels so stable that you don’t even notice how hard this little car is being pushed.

It honestly does feel like a little toy – almost like a slot car on steroids! You can drive the MR2 all day and it just doesn’t get old. In fact, I managed to clock over 500kms on this little car in one afternoon, but I feel like I could do it again, and it would still be loads of fun!

Now, the other thing that really got my attention the first time I drove it was the sound – the turbocharged 4 cylinder engine gives off a wonderful bellow, it honestly sounds better than many supercars I’ve driven. You will catch yourself paying more attention to the sound than the road, at least once!


Cons
To be honest, the only thing wrong with this car is that it could use a little bit more power. It defiantly has enough to get the job done, but I felt that it could do with that little bit more power to make it more flexible on the tracks with longer straights.

With this car, the name of the game really is keeping momentum; you just don’t have enough juice to simply point and squirt, so all of the speed has to come from the corners. Not to worry, it’s more fun this way!


Overall
The one thing I can say about this car is that it’s easily the most fun you can have with a DS2 (or DFP, whichever way you swing)! This little car flies, and you defiantly won’t miss the $205,000 it costs to buy and tune this baby.

It looks great, it sounds great, and it drives like a bloody go-kart, so go get one. Now!

…why are you still reading? Buy it!


See attached files for settings and parts list.

Nice report. I'm loving the banner. It looks pretty sweet. 👍

Very solid for your first one 👍

Thanks guys. 👍 I was a little annoyed with the pictures in this one because I was trying something a bit different and they turned out looking pretty washed out.

For the next one I’ll do a Dodge Viper.

Awesome report! Now I want to get it! The review was great, and very convincing. 👍

Also, I'm doing the Chrysler Prowler, next.

And ekmatt, you really need to stop changing your name.

Last one Duck

MKthreeGTi

I'd just like to announce. It is ekmatt9, but I got a new GTP User Name. So in my Golf video I am doing and in the report, you will see ekmatt9 as the names.

Click to expand...

Now thats not going to confuse us all is it. LOL

Just out of interest, why the change of name?

Regards

Scaff

Well, for two years, people told me Honda's are the most reliable car out there. But they were turning into "Rice Rockets" easily. I didn't believe them. So Friday evening, I rode my bike, everywhere I went, I saw people with ugly Civic's. So I just got tired of people saying, "Your car is gonna stupid and POS" So I decided to go to VW's now because I heard they break in stupid situations, but I've become to like them

MKthreeGTi

Well, for two years, people told me Honda's are the most reliable car out there. But they were turning into "Rice Rockets" easily. I didn't believe them. So Friday evening, I rode my bike, everywhere I went, I saw people with ugly Civic's. So I just got tired of people saying, "Your car is gonna stupid and POS" So I decided to go to VW's now because I heard they break in stupid situations, but I've become to like them

Click to expand...

Sorry this is OT people

I thought it might be a nod towards VW's, but why oh why the Mk3. A Mk1,2 or 5 I could understand, but a big flabby Mk3? Oh well at least its not the almost UK only Mk4 (that VW were at least sensiable enough not to call A GTi in most of Europe).

Confused

Scaff

Driver: Duċk

Deep Forest Laptime: 1’13.329

NOTE: Review tested with S2s, laptime tested with R4s.


Exterior/History:
The Chrysler Prowler was a roadster, created for driving pleasure in 1997. It was under the arms of Plymouth, but when Plymouth was discontinued in 2001, it became a Chrysler, only to live another year. The car I’m testing for BESTuners is the last production year of the famous convertible.

I’m not a fan of open-wheeled cars, but it looks very stylish in the front. It resembles some of the hot rods of the 30’s, and it does it well. The grille lines are more bunched together, unlike other Chrysler products, and it makes it feel like it’s a car that is driven by enthusiasts who own Bentleys. They are hard to come by, and when I mean hard, I mean it. They’re as rare to see as Ferraris around here, but when you see them, you wish you had your camera ready.

Of course, I’m just talking about the front. The rear is butt-ugly, no pun intended. It’s “fat”, dare I say, and just plain unattractive. The fact that you can put one of PD’s ugly wings on it for downforce makes me cringe. I feel terrible for the people who drive in 3rd person. I hope they don’t go blind by looking at it.



The Good…:
It handles well on S2 tires. Sharp steering, little understeer, and lack of oversteer make this a great car to own the twisties. Ok, it may not have 700 HP to plow down the straightaways, but it easily eats up corners like a glutton eating M&M’s. If it doesn’t pass cars trying to get to top speed, it will when the opponents are pushing and threatening to hit the wall, and you are cruising past. The braking is good, since you have to wait longer to brake to hit the apex. And when you hit the gas, you’ll have all 450 horses rocketing you to the back of your seat. If you ever need to take anyone along for a cruise, you can make them pale, that’s for sure.

With R4’s equipped, it handles like it’s on rails. Literally. It’s like the whole chassis under you is a powerful vacuum. It was definitely helpful for my Deep Forest laptime.



…And the bad:
I can only think of one thing: horsepower. There’s not enough of it. On some of the fastest tracks like the Test Course, La Sarthe, and the Nurburgring, you’ll just get smoked. But, the fast tracks in the game are few and far between, so whenever you need to race on one of those tracks, get an 800 HP monster. But wait, you’ll only have to worry about 1 car, since it’s roof can’t come down. PD really screwed up on that. 👎



Conclusion:
It was built as a roadster, and it acts like one: great handling, but not enough power. You may think it’s worthless since you can’t race it. Just get it out, mod it, use my settings, and you’ll love it. It’s a Caterham in a way. Really fun, not enough power, but worth it.


The set-up:
Prowler set-up


Thanks for reading, and please comment!!!

Great write up Duck and some excellent pictures to go with it as well.

Just one issue I have, please don't compare the wonder of all things automotive that is a Caterham to the Prowler.

Regards

Scaff

agreed! 👍

Awesome pics though. You have stepped the game up with those pics man.

Scaff

Sorry this is OT people

I thought it might be a nod towards VW's, but why oh why the Mk3. A Mk1,2 or 5 I could understand, but a big flabby Mk3? Oh well at least its not the almost UK only Mk4 (that VW were at least sensiable enough not to call A GTi in most of Europe).

Confused

Scaff

Click to expand...

I think I may cry there Scaff. I love my MKIII even if it does have the heavy VR6 engine. And when compared to the Corrado, the GTI (1995...VR6 ONLY), they weigh nearly the same along with CLOSE to the same dimensions (same wheelbase). I know what you mean about being a GTI, however. For some reason VW decided to adopt a 8v Inline-4 and label it a GTI instead of a new 16v. I know there are mixed feelings on calling a VR6 Golf a GTI but without the 12v VR6, there wouldnt be a .:R32 today.

Good write up Duck 👍

Scaff

I've finally got around to working on the Monaro, which I hope to have ready for the end of the week.

Regards

Scaff

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* This is not a hurry up *

I look forward to your report as I've been doing a bit of testing with this car myself. So far just a couple of moderate normal tyre tunes with no weight off, but I've been surprised at how well it behaves in stock form and on N2 tyres. Long, shallow-angle slides are a doozy and can be controlled with light throttle back-off, with little or no countersteer.

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I spent 3 hours last night on pictures to go with the Clio V6 settings, had a look at my data stick this morning an dno pictures.

WTF thinks I?

On closer inspection the lock switch had somehow moved to the lock position, did GT4 tell me when saving, no it bl**dy did not.



Big delay while I sulk a lot.

Brock5000

* This is not a hurry up *

I look forward to your report as I've been doing a bit of testing with this car myself. So far just a couple of moderate normal tyre tunes with no weight off, but I've been surprised at how well it behaves in stock form and on N2 tyres. Long, shallow-angle slides are a doozy and can be controlled with light throttle back-off, with little or no countersteer.

Click to expand...

Stock + N2's and this car is just wonderful. Tuned its one of the natiest cars to tune I have come across, the delay on this one is simply down to frustration at the moment. I'm going to get back to it (honest) and try using sports or semi-racing, as the racing set-up just does not sit well with the Monaro.

Regards

Scaff

Everyone, please welcome kennythebomb and 95VR6GTi to BESTuners!

Welcome to BESTuners kennythebomb and 95VR6GTi!

Sucks to here about th pictures Scaff. 👎

Congratulations Kenny and GTi I hope to see a report done by you by Sunday

I'm going to take some new pics of the Amuse S2000 Street Version and I'll start the video tonight...So I'll have it posted by Friday. I don't know what car I'll do after...

Blake

Welcome to BESTuners kennythebomb and 95VR6GTi!

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I second that, welcome guys, good to have you on board.

Blake

Sucks to here about th pictures Scaff. 👎

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I've just about calmed down now, but it has put my report back, but it should be worth the wait. I'm just so anoyed that GT4 didn't recognise the lock on the datastick and acted as if it was saving.

Got it all working now, but its going to be tomorrow now before I can grab some new piccies and then I have to PS them and finish the write-up.

Sorry about the delay and all that

@MKthreeGTi - Looks like a good report, will post more after I've seen the vid (filefront seems to hate me at the moment).

Scaff

Scaff

I've just about calmed down now, but it has put my report back, but it should be worth the wait. I'm just so anoyed that GT4 didn't recognise the lock on the datastick and acted as if it was saving.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I can imagine that would be annoying.

A word of warning about my next report, I suspect the Viper will take the #1 spot on the podium.

@ MKthreeGTi – I love the pictures, they look really awesome!

Thanks guys FileFront is a good program but sucks sometimes. You might want to refresh the browser a couple of times...

1. Scaff, that's the first time I've seen you pissed. Really.

2. Nothing can beat my 1020HP Cien. Nothing. But good luck on changing the numbers 1-43.

3. ekmatt (to heck with your new name), those are the best pics you have taken. Definitely quality > quantity.

Thank you a lot Ducky

Oh, and instead of calling me ekmatt now...Can you please at least say MK3? or just Matt?

Du&#267

2. Nothing can beat my 1020HP Cien.

Click to expand...

I dunno – this Viper isn’t slow!

Du&#267

But good luck on changing the numbers 1-43.

Click to expand...

Yeah, about that, I had an idea. Instead of:

1. Car - Time
2. Car - Time
3. Car - Time
4. Car - Time

Why don’t we have:

1. Car - Time
2. Car - Time
3. Car - Time
4. Car - Time

Note: If you’re not sure what I mean, quote the post and you’ll see why this could save us so much time.

@ MK3 - I guess...

@ Blake - Ok, I see. I just implemented that, so if you like it, raise your hand.

nice reports guys......looking forward to see one of the newbies, good luck to you!!

viper

Driver - Scaff

Car – Renault Clio V6 Mk1

Deep Forest Time - 1’17.137 (no driver aids)

Swiss Alps Time – 1’43.806

Report
Another day, another job; but this one has a bit of a twist to it. A good friend of mine e-mailed me with an unusual proposition (not the kind you’re thinking of), he’d been out of racing for a few years and was looking for some helps with a set-up for his new toy. The unusual part comes with my friend’s favourite Motorsport discipline; he’s a rally-cross fan and was looking for a set-up for both tarmac and gravel racing.

I arranged to meet him for the tarmac stage at my old favourite, the Deep Forest raceway, its bumpy nature and unusual line should make for a good tarmac set-up. It also has the advantage of being close to the bizarrely named Swiss Alps rally-cross circuit (bizarre in that it’s not in Switzerland – as the country banned all forms of Motorsport in the mid-fifties). All that remained was to see what he had bought for his re-birth into the slightly deranged field of rally-cross.

As I walk through the paddock at Deep Forest where my old friend is waiting his new car is idling in the sun, a slight metallic pinging coming from the exhausts indicating a recent return from a few hot laps. And the car, a Mk 1 Renaultsport Clio V6, simply the most deranged hot-hatch of them all. As me re-aquatinted ourselves I had to mention “you do know I drove one of the first V6 development cars?”.

“Of course I do, why do you think I called you” came the quick reply’ “ah but do you remember I almost stuffed it into a wall” I retorted.

And with a wry smile and a wink he said “yes, but you missed the wall and the car lived. So who better to do this”.

He continued “the tarmac set-up is all but done, I just need a second opinion on it before we work on the gravel set-up”. “Think you can handle that?”

Without a word I strapped myself into the Clio, climbing through the roll-cage and into the only seat left in the car. The work done on the car already was impressive, with the interior bare and resembling the V6 racer more than the road car that had donated itself to this project.

Thumbing the fuel pumps into life and then firing the starter the car rumbled into life; the Mk 1 had a valid reputation for punishing the unwary, mainly due to its very short wheelbase and heavy rear weight bias, so lets see what this one can do.

Running on medium racing slicks the cars modified gearbox settings slammed the car forward as I planted the throttle to the floor, damn this has a lot of low-end grunt, its instantly obvious its been geared for rally-cross and sprint work. You’re always busy with the (fortunately) sequential shifter, ramming through the gears as the revs sweep by with startling speed.

The short little car, now ever further removed from its shopping run origins, is remarkably stable at speed as I barrel down to the first corner. The trick with the V6 is to treat it like a mini-Porsche, as although it’s officially a mid-engined car, the weight is actually right over the rear axle, making it half mid and half rear engined. So carry to much speed into a corner and it will plough straight on, instead brake earlier and adopt a slow in and fast out approach, using the weight over the rear and the low end torque to sling you out of the corner.

With this approach the car is remarkably neutral, although a large amount of that is also down to the huge levels of grip offered by the racing rubber, I’m quite sure on road legal tyres the back end would be a lot more mobile.

Not that you can ignore the back totally, its still a short car and the weight is all way out the back, forget to keep it in check and it will spin you. It also demands a tidy line and delicate touch with the steering and throttle through rapid corner changes, but keep it in line and it monsters the first complex at Deep Forest, carrying more speed that its 367bhp would suggest.

A good few dozen laps later and the tarmac set-up is in the bag, mainly requiring just a softer touch that the stock setting but this is not unusual for Deep Forest, nor was the fact that most of the work was needed in the dampers. If nothing else testing at Deep Forest gets you good with the damper set-up.

We call it a day and head off the nearest hotel for good food, beer and a long chat about our youthful indiscretions.




The following day we arrive early at the Swiss Alps track, the morning mist just starting to clear and the track still a little damp, which should keep the dust levels down. We are also more than aware that the car needs to be set-up for the gravel without loosing the balance we found the day before.

The first change is the ride height, bumps and jumps are abound here and the last thing we need is to damage the underside of the car in testing. Jacking the height by a good 30mm as the dirt tyres are fitted, we also soften the Anti-roll bars as much as we can, the lateral stiffness needed so much for cornering on tarmac will just hurt us here.

I strap myself into the now familiar cockpit and throw the car out onto the track sideways, well you may as well start as you mean to go on. One lap is all it takes to see that the springs and dampers need serious softening, and that particular attention needs to be taken with the rebound on the dampers. Soft bound is one thing, but its more important to make sure the car remains controlled as it ‘bounces back’ after it’s landed.

Dialling in the springs and dampers takes most of the morning, during which time we also lengthen the transmission slightly, the looser surface capable of spinning away all you’re power if you’re not careful. Not that the gearbox is the only ally we have here, the slippy diff that has been fitted also gives us a few options. Upping the initial torque and both the accel and decel values allows it to lock sooner, rather than just spinning torque away on a wheel with no grip.

A few final drives in the afternoon allow the final parts of the set-up to be tweaked; obviously the brakes need to be less snatchy and knocking back the brake bias a few points helps this. Finally to the help keep the now far more mobile rear end in check a smattering of rear toe-in is added into the mix.

One final lap and the car is a delight, challenging due to its short length and rear weight bias, but these very characteristics mean its easy to throw around on the dirt and changes direction very quickly.

Not the easiest car to extract the most from, but that’s what separates the men from the boys and after half the challenge of rally-cross is the car.

Once its resprayed and decal have been applied, this is going to look like a real monster, must keep an eye out for it when the Sunday afternoon rally-cross is on, even better I might have to tray and grab a few drives myself.




Scaff’s 👍
Short, manoeuvrable and with a huge lump of low-end torque its everything a rally-cross car should be. The 0-30 and 0-60 times are stunning (this little monster will beat a TVR Speed 12 to 60mph) and as long as you keep to slow in and fast out the tail is more than mobile on the dirt.

For tarmac stages its planted and stable, easily capable of high speed runs on even the most twisty of tracks.


Scaff’s 👎
While a surprisingly easy car to push on the tarmac stages, it does require more practice on the dirt. The very qualities that make it an excellent gravel weapon, are also the ones that take time to master. If you want a car that will easily get the back end out on the loose stuff, then you have to learn to be able to get the tail back in afterwards.

The acceleration past 100mph is nothing stunning either, but that no surprise given its intended purpose.




Overall
Its no wonder the Clio V6 is finding more and more homes in the rally-cross world, it’s a true successor to its group B ancestor the Renault 5 Turbo, and like that car requires commitment and skill to extract the most from it.

If you do like you’re action muddy and sideways it’s a great place to start, and given that most people avoid the rally stages like the plague, why not pick one up and give it a go. Head over to the Swiss Alps rally-cross circuit (nice friendly people I promise), you never know you might like it.




Spec
367bhp@6,000rpm
314.92ft/lb@3,750rpm
1134kg

0-30 1.32 secs
0-60 3.30 secs
0-100 7.94 secs
0-100-0 11.50 secs

¼ mile 11.721 secs @ 120 mph
V Max 166.3 mph


Modifications & Settings

See attached .pdf sheet (includes Ginetta G4 set-up)