Beater or Sleeper? FH3 Edition! Thanks for coming.

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Is the Audi RS2 a sleeper? Well, is the Pope Catholic?
A station wagon which accelerates from 0 to 30 faster than the F1 cars of its time while being almost indistinguishable, to the untrained eye, from the Passat-derived Audi 80 of which it represent a brutal performance-oriented evolution - this is the very definition of sleeper. Only the massive brake calipers sitting behind the Porsche wheels may betray its performance.
And I have to say - I've always been partial to 5-banger Audis, and to the styling of the B4 80, which to me represent the finest hour of Ingolstadt's designers.

But enough chit-chat, does the RS2 live up to its tremendous reputation?

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Oh yes. Yes it does.
The engine - which already performed brilliantly in the more civilized S2, but here received a dashing of updates courtesy of Porsche's engineers - produces unholy amounts of torque, which thanks to Audi's trademark quattro permanent 4wd system motivate the car instead of wasting precious rubber in smoke displays. A stiff suspension package and powerful Brembo brakes provide racecar levels of grip and decent maneuvrability for a car which, when all is said and done, weights over 1600 kilograms. In stock form, it easily outperforms lightweight trackday cars such as the Lotus Elise; and there is plenty of room for improvement too. A bigger turbo and stickier tires would likely be enough to make it a force to be reckoned with in its class... And if you want to move beyond the tight confines of B-class, the world's your oyster.

A sleeper by definition, yes, but also one that's very deserving of its title.
 
I'll come back and edit this post tomorrow night to update with the standings, pictures and stuff, but I need to at least be on time this week with the new car.

I'll be honest - I couldn't find the time to message someone for this week, and I'm still waiting on @Serdj from a few weeks ago.

So this week's car is...

It's the 1969 Datsun 2000 Roadster!

This week's Time Trial will be on Yard To Coober Pedy Run, a Street Race!

Yes, I know it's a very fast track and not appropriate for race conditions.

But that's race conditions. This is a Sunday cruiser car. Just have fun!
 
Apologies for the lack of a time posted, a few other time trials i'm apart of took up more time than expected. :P

Should have a run done later on if all goes well. :)
 


Turns out that track in D class wasn't as heavily contested as some other tracks as my time got me well inside the top 200. :D

As for the Datsun, quite a perky classic open top sports car with a rev happy 2.0 engine.

Overall, a very nice Neutral verdict. :)
 


Turns out that track in D class wasn't as heavily contested as some other tracks as my time got me well inside the top 200. :D

As for the Datsun, quite a perky classic open top sports car with a rev happy 2.0 engine.

Overall, a very nice Neutral verdict. :)

This was our only time for the TT this week. Congrats, Vic!

As for this week?

Congrats, @Populuxe Cowboy!

It's the...

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Courtesy of Dragnet, from the official website.
It's the 1968 Lancia Fulvia Coupé Rallye 1.6 HF!

Man, talk about a long name.

This week's time trial will be at Switchback Trail in the Outback!
 
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AWWWWW YISSSS FULVIA TIME!

Will be back with a review and a laptime soon.

P.S: I assume the track's the Switchback Trail? There's no such thing as a Switchback Scramble circuit...
 
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I love Lancias. The engineering, craftsmanship and build quality pre-Fiat are second to none. Lancia usually designed and built their own berlinas, but farmed out the design and construction of their coupes, convertibles and sports cars to specialists like Zagato, Pininfarina and Touring. The Fulvia coupe was an exception. It's a completely in-house Lancia design by Piero Castagnero, and it's a classic.

Since it won the precursor to the WRC in 1972, I thought we needed to take it to the dirt to see what it can do. The Switchback Trail is a tough little beastie with multiple switchback corners and water crossings. The engine in the Fulvia is a little jewel designed by Zaccone Mina. A narrow angle V-4 of only 13° in the standard Fulvia, the HF got a new design with only 11° between the banks. All four cylinders are in the same engine block with a single head covering both banks of cylinders. The cam on one side operates all four intake valves, and the cam on the other side operates all 4 exhaust valves, making this a double overhead cam engine despite only have one cam over each bank of cylinders. The engine is then canted a radical 45° to the side to make the engine as low as possible.

The front wheel drive makes for plenty of interior room, but it can be frustrating in the switchbacks. Pour on the power in the middle of the turn and the car will plow straight to the outside. You have to get off the gas, wait for it point the right way, and then hit the throttle. You can't just drift around the corner like in a RWD car. It makes for a new learning curve, but once you learn to anticipate it, you can really throw it around corners. Very light and very powerful, it's a joy to drive. Sleeper.
 
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As despised as they are amongst self-proclaimed purists, FWD cars still get notable consideration amongst driving and motorsports enthusiasts - enough to make the question, "which is the best FWD car ever built?" non-rethorical.
Well, there you have it - the Fulvia Coupé is not only an excellent drivers' car, but it's also gorgeous. This shouldn't come as a surprise - Pietro Castello, the designer of the entire Fulvia lineup, took inspiration for the lines of the two-door sporting version from the famous Riva powerboats. The result is a low-slung, unfuzzy car with well-defined proportions and a single line dashing across its sides.
The Fulvia was a quite advanced car in its day, featuring a gem of an engine and disk brakes on all four wheels, and the HF evolution pushed the envelope even further, being one of the first affordable road cars to make use of Peraluman body panels and plexiglas windshields to reduce weight and push the low centre of mass even lower.
This made for a quite formidable vehicle which, under the direction of Cesare Florio and with rallying legends Sandro Munari and Simo Lampinen at the wheel, kickstarted Lancia's and the High Fidelty team's domination in rally racing, beating more powerful competitors such as the Alpine A110 and Porsche 911 to win the 1972 International Championship for Manufacturers - the competition which would become the World Rally Championship the following year.

But does it live up to the legend? Well, time to put those Carello lights back in the box (sigh) and find out...

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The Switchback Trail, with its narrow downhill hairpins and blind jumps, is just the perfect venue to test such a car. A challenging, technical gravel track, it will require the driver to make extensive use of the Scandinavian flick - the technique pioneered by the flying finns of its age to make FWD cars go around tight bends faster - in order to get the most out of the Fulvia.
Thanks to its aforementioned low centre of weight and its low mass, this Lancia makes flicking almost easy - applying just a bit of handbrake and countersteer is enough to straighten the car coming out of corners, and once there, mashing on the throttle will guarantee a hasty departure. The engine's not all that powerful, but it's peppy enough to keep things interesting, and will happily answer to the inputs of the right foot with the typical punchy sound of the four-bangers of its era.

Is it a sleeper? Well, I'd say yes - despite what the hard data and the car's diminutive stature may lead the uninitiated to believe, the Fulvia HF is a fast car which can easily become competitive in its class and beyond with the right upgrades; but the initiated won't be surprised at all by its neutral handling and amenable engine. And if you're expecting it to be half as fast as the insane Stratos which succeeded it in racing duties, then you're in for a huge disappointment.

P.S. I'll have to disagree with @Populuxe Cowboy on his assessment of the advantages of front-wheel motivation: if I have to use only my personal experience as a base, I'd say the Fulvia Coupè has probably less interior space than my mother's Fiat 500, and that's saying something... :lol:
 
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P.S. I'll have to disagree with @Populuxe Cowboy on his assessment of the advantages of front-wheel motivation: if I have to use only my personal experience as a base, I'd say the Fulvia Coupè has probably less interior space than my mother's Fiat 500, and that's saying something... :lol:
I was speaking in a general sense. Sadly, I've never experienced the interior of a Fulvia first-hand.
 
I was speaking in a general sense. Sadly, I've never experienced the interior of a Fulvia first-hand.

Of course, mine was a tounge-in-cheek comment - after all, it's the reason Lancia went for a FWD layout in the first place, and the four-door Fulvia is a "bigger on the inside" kind of car, especially if compared with the contemporary FR Alfa Romeo Giulia and Fiat 1300, the latter of which is easily driven around with the knees.
But the Coupè had a much shorter wheelbase and the engine was mounted a bit further back (IIRC), and the greenhouse was also a bit narrower than on the sedan. All of this essentially meant that the traditional roominess of FF cars was sacrificed in the name of obtaining a nicer-looking car - which incidentally also had better weight distribution.
And to think the Coupè is, technically, a 2+2...
 
Of course, mine was a tounge-in-cheek comment
Oh, I know. The laughing smiley was a dead giveaway.

Slightly off topic, but the only time I've actually seen a Fulvia in the flesh was in Seattle about 15 years ago. I went by my bank and there was a beautiful little red Fulvia Coupe 1.3 in the parking lot. Sadly, this was long before everyone was walking around with a camera in their pocket. Such a gorgeous car. I've been in love with the Fulvia ever since.
 
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Took a little work to decide when to initiate some lift-off oversteer, but I got it down and unintentionally beat @FastBud in the process. :lol:

As for the Fuliva, Peppy engine, lightweight, but could do with some slightly more grippy front tyres to compensate for the 65-35 weight distribution.

But as car to drive and cruise in, It's a lotta fun and an easy Sleeper. :)👍
 
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Took a little work to decide when to initiate some lift-off oversteer, but I got it down and unintentionally beat @FastBud in the process. :lol:

As for the Fuliva, Peppy engine, lightweight, but could do with some slightly more grippy front tyres to compensate for the 65-35 weight distribution.

But as car to drive and cruise in, It's a lotta fun and an easy Sleeper. :)👍

Nice lap

Only had a few laps at it, then I've been doing the ForzaRC :lol:
 
Ok folks, @Obelisk is busy doing whatever he's doing so he asked me to announce this weeks winner and the choices he made.

Congrats @ClydeYellow !!!

Clyde decided to gives us a rather humble yet fiesty Hot Hatch for this week.

Allow me to introduce...

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(First image I saw on Google Images, sue me.)
The 2014 Ford Fiesta ST!!! :D

The track in which we will chuck this hot siesta Fiesta around is Sweeping Forrest Sprint In Byron Bay. 👍

The Prism will be back later to tidy up any loose ends, But you got this weeks picks for now so go bonkers. :lol:
 
Well let's get some reviews going shall we? :P

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The Fiesta is quite the little rocket, grips well, has a good gearbox and is quite quick once up to speed.

For 25,000cr, it's very cheap, but as it turns out there's quite a good number of cars that cost exactly the same, here's a few of those cars.

1995 BMW M5
Vauxhall Astra VXR
Mazda Savanna RX7
Both versions of the Polaris RZR
1992 and 1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four
And many more. :eek:

The point? It's a good car, but it's low price puts it in a very saturated market, almost 50 cars match it on price, some excel on power, weight, PI and so on.

But if you're wanting a Hot Hatch class car, the Fiesta is the best value for money in stock form.

Verdict: Sleeper :)👍

BTW, @Obelisk don't leave us here unoccupied and unupdated, anarchy could break out soon. :sly:
 
Well let's get some reviews going shall we? :P

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The Fiesta is quite the little rocket, grips well, has a good gearbox and is quite quick once up to speed.

For 25,000cr, it's very cheap, but as it turns out there's quite a good number of cars that cost exactly the same, here's a few of those cars.

1995 BMW M5
Vauxhall Astra VXR
Mazda Savanna RX7
Both versions of the Polaris RZR
1992 and 1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four
And many more. :eek:

The point? It's a good car, but it's low price puts it in a very saturated market, almost 50 cars match it on price, some excel on power, weight, PI and so on.

But if you're wanting a Hot Hatch class car, the Fiesta is the best value for money in stock form.

Verdict: Sleeper :)👍

BTW, @Obelisk don't leave us here unoccupied and unupdated, anarchy could break out soon. :sly:

What the hell happened on your last corner, you must of lost half a second :D
 

My goal was to get under 3 minutes and I did that handily, so I'm satisfied with my time. Hot hatches are so much fun. Light and agile, and with just enough power to keep more powerful cars looking in their rear-view mirrors on twisty roads. Sleeper.
 
If Ford UK had imported the 5-door from the beginning, I'd totally have one now and not my Swift.
 
<Reserved for announcement.>

I will be arriving at my house in 45 minutes.

Long week for me, so I'll have to make the write-up brief.
 
What the hell happened on your last corner, you must of lost half a second :D

I decided to try and keep mostly on the track and not rely on going off road too much.

Now I'm not saying you cut corners, but for once I decided to play it safe in how I did the run. :P

Will it cost me this weeks win? more than likely. :lol:

Not too concerned though, there's always the next car to go all out in. :D
 
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