It's that time again, where I kick procrastination to the curb and write about our weekly escapades which mostly include jabs at topical news, one liners and occasionally making
@McClarenDesign contemplate "justifiable homicide" against yours truly.
All joking aside, we do have a lot of fun when the servers are cooperating because as the old saying goes....
"Birds Of A Feather, Flock Together"
Yes we are starting with the 1969' (Datsun) Nissan Bluebird 1600 Deluxe (510) and this car would have more meaning than most.
The reason? It's the first car we drove after finding out our good friend
@Baron Blitz Red had recovered from a serious heart attack and was getting back up to speed ( quickly if I'm honest 👍).
So with 'The Raven', 'BloodBird' and 'Sir Campbell's Bluebird' taking up the grid alongside all the COTW regulars and newcomers, we took to the track and got to work on the Bluebird.
Powered by a 1600cc 4 cylinder engine, it made 95hp after an oil change and whilst it isn't much, it's a plucky motor and wants to be driven hard.
It helps that it also weighs 930kg and has a decent 4 speed manual gearbox to boot.
The handling was pretty good, slightly biased towards understeer, but could also kick the tail out with some effort. Thats a reason the 510 did well in the under 2500cc class in Trans Am Racing.
One thing I noticed when we rallied the Bluebird is another drawback to having an open differential, as soon as you took weight off of one wheel, it'd start spinning all the power away and when your climbing up the Eiger mountain road, you definitely notice it.
That's not to say it was rubbish off road, there's a reason we have a rally version of in the game.
It is a sleeper, it didn't really blow us away on the straights, but was good fun through the turns and provided some close racing throughout the night.
Verdict: Sleeper
👍
From Japanese simplicity to Italian Hot Hatch insanity.
'A New Day, A New Set Of Front Tyres'
Last weeks contender was the Alfa Romeo 147 GTA from the year 2002 (Christ that makes me feel old
).
Now from the outset, it looks very promising as it shares its badge, engine and drivetrain layout as last years Sleeper Of The Year, the 3.2 GT.
So will Alfa get the title for the second year running?
Afraid not.
You see the problem is that the Gran Turismo Amateur takes what the GT had and over does it.
Both have V6's upfront with the Grand Theft Auto making almost 250hp to the GT's near 230 horses.
The GT is actually slightly lighter than the Getting Tyres Already(?) too with both just under the 3000lb mark.
But the Gratuitous Tyre Annihilator handles much worse the GT.
So why the big difference in handling? I believe it's in how they set up from the start.
You see that the GT is more of coupe design and as its name suggests, setup for long drives in comfort and the engines power delivery reflects that, it's smooth enough that it doesn't immediately shred the tyres.
The Greatly Terrrible Analogies on the other hand is completely nuts, more power and a more performance oriented setup makes it beat those front tyres like they own it money.
It's quick in a straight line, but terrible going through turns ( no I'm not going to make THAT comparison as that's just low hanging fruit.
)
If I had to make an apt comparison, the GTA is the girl who'll put a big smile on your face, but also kicks you in the family jewels without warning and quite often.
The GT on the other hand is the one that can put a smile on your face and then asks if you want pizza too.
:tup:
So the 147 GTA is a Beater.
👎
Last, but by no means least, We have a Brit in our midsts, the TVR V8S.
(Off Topic, a Japanese styled car with a temperamental Italian engine and British electronics is officially my version of automotive hell
)
'Sound, Soft Top and Smoke'
The TVR brings a 4 litre V8 to the party and although is a few horses down on the nutty Alfa, it's also down on weight at just over a ton and it's up on torque as well.
Packing a 5 speed gearbox, the V8S was more than capable of over 160mph at tracks like SSR7 whilst sounding very nice.
With it being a lightweight, handling is responsive, but it's got quite a bit of understeer built into it.
When I drove it on CS tyres, it was still quite competitive against the standard cars SH tyres and was actually good fun to drive.
If one can adapt to the understeer, it is a pretty quick car to drive.
It didn't surprise me like the Bluebird, but it didn't try and throw me face first into the nearest gravel trap like the 147 GTA.
It's a Neutral for the V8S, fitting as that's the gear it'll be in most of the time due to constant break downs.