Automania meets “Rex”
I was given the opportunity to drive the
Pizza Company’s Subaru WRX Impreza ‘SuperCar’ at the Bira
circuit a couple of weekends ago. This is the car owned and
driven by Thomas Raldorf and is a very highly modified
Subaru WRX, but retaining the basic dimensions of a Subaru,
though many centimeters wider, and developing much more
horsepower than the standard vehicle. Exact numbers are
difficult to estimate as you cannot run all-wheel drives on
the usual chassis dynamometer, but a good estimation from
the technical data would indicate around 420-450 bhp.
Pizza
Company Subaru WRX
The engine features a bigger throttle body and a larger
turbocharger, with two radiators needed to keep it cool. One
radiator is in the standard position in front of the engine,
while the second sits in the boot area, complete with an
electric fan. The tractability of the engine was impressive,
but after 4,000 rpm when the turbo begins to kick in, the
torque forces you back in the seat and the car just
accelerates like there is no tomorrow. This is replicated in
every gear, though at the short Bira circuit it was not
possible to get into the top ratio of the six-speed gearbox.
Thomas
Raldorf and Pizza Company WRX
Being an all-wheel-drive car, this produces different
cornering characteristics from the usual dedicated FWD or
RWD, but the Raldorf Subaru has a neat dash control,
allowing the driver to select the balance between front or
rear drive. This can be done on the move, and changed for
different corners. Personally I like RWD and gave myself
more of a rearward bias which suits my driving style.
Despite the massive 10 inch rims and slick tyres, the
steering was not too heavy, and was very positive. However,
racing tyres do increase the sensitivity of steering
response in any vehicle.
Braking was taken care of with large rotors and six pot
callipers, and while I found the pedal pressure quite high,
it was still sensitive enough, and Thomas Raldorf, being
several kilos heavier than me, has tailored this to his
liking, including the adjustable balance between the front
and rear brakes.
This was a sensitive racing car on the track, and the best
results were gained by driving smoothly. It was not one of
the (unsophisticated) race cars you throw at the corner and
catch on the way out, but a well balanced vehicle which
handled the bumps at Bira exceptionally well.
Thomas Raldorf will be running this car at all the SuperCar
meetings this year, and will certainly be amongst the top
runners. And if he is ever unable to drive for any reason,
he knows my phone number!
Grey makes BMW see red?
You can always get interesting snippets from the
financial pages of the press, and it was reported that our
local BMW will not provide manufacturer’s warranty for BMW
and Mini vehicles imported and sold on the ‘grey’ market.
Apparently the new Z4 has been selling very well through the
non-authorized dealerships with more than 50 cars out the
door since Q3 last year.
However, BMW (apparently world-wide) are cracking down on
warranty work for vehicles from independent importers. The
reason being given is that Thailand’s vehicles, and
especially emissions and fuels, can vary from other
countries, so after March 2010, warranties will only be
offered in the country of origin, and through authorized BMW
dealers only. In Thailand, most of the grey importers handle
their own servicing.
Driving back
to Germany for its first service
Autotrivia Quiz
Last week I asked that in 1971, what was
the heaviest private car then in production? This was an
attempt by me to get round the ‘Googlers’ but I think I
failed. The correct answer was the Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman
(six door) limousine which weighed in at 2660 kg (5865 lbs).
These behemoths (and they made 140 of them) were owned by
such people as Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, Coco Chanel,
John Lennon, Jack Nicholson, Aristotle Onassis, and Elvis
Presley among others. Heads of state included Idi Amin,
Leonid Brezhnev, Fidel Castro, Nicolae Ceau_escu (and it
didn’t do him any good), Ferdinand Marcos (or him), Emperor
Hirohito, Josip Broz-Tito, and Mao Zedong.
So to this week. Wayne Eckersley was a famous F1 engineer
and one of the drivers he fettled won the world
championship. Eckersley also made a six wheel F1 car. What
manufacturer did he make it for?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first correct
answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
Mercedes-Benz
600 Pullman
Bumper technology
Have you noticed just how today’s bumper bars
just fall off the vehicles they are supposed to protect from
minor bumps? Come on, that’s why they were called “bumper
bars” in the first place. So, how many cars have you seen
recently with tape holding the bumper bar in position, both
front and rear bars? Lots, is the answer.
Of course, that is referring to new or nearly new cars. Old
cars had two dumb irons out the front, attached to which was
something about the size of a piece of railway line, but it
was chromed. It was bolted in place and it took three days
soaking in oil before you could get the nuts to move. Those
were real “bumper bars” made of steel, none of this
newfangled plastic stuff.
And when you think about it, just how much use is the
thermoformed plastic as a bumper? About as useful as a hip
pocket in a swim suit. The slightest “bump” when parking,
and the retaining clips all fly off and the so-called
“bumper” falls on the ground. In theory, if you could get
some new clips, you should be able to affix said bumper back
on the car, but like all good theories, they don’t always
work in practice. New clips as a single item seem to not
exist. They come with a new bumper, they tell me. But it is
difficult to get the actual part numbers, and every bit of
every new motor car has a part number.
Mind you, we were all led to believe that the new bumpers
would be so much cheaper than repairing the old metal ones,
with all that beating and rechroming. However, I must say
that a new one is definitely quicker to replace - provided
you’ve got the clips that come with it.
There is another problem relating to the modern bumper bar.
As well as the thermoplastic thing, there is actually
another metal bar inside it, spot welded to the metal of the
body. In a decent sort of bump, the plastic bar does nothing
other than deform, allowing contact with the metal structure
underneath, which in turn squashes and bends the bodywork as
well. There was something to be said about the old railway
line held on with two big nut and bolts. It may not have
been elegant, but it sure was practical.
Natter Nosh and Noggin
The monthly car enthusiasts meeting will be at
Jameson’s Irish Pub on Soi AR next to the Nova Park
development. The car (and bike) enthusiasts meet on the
second Monday of the month, so this time it is Monday
(February 8) at Jameson’s at 7 p.m. This is a totally
informal meeting of like-minded souls to discuss their pet
motoring (and motorcycling) loves and hates. Many
interesting debates come from these evenings. Come along and
meet guys who have a common interest in cars and bikes, and
enjoy the Jameson’s Steak night special, washed down with a
few beers.
Saab goes to Spyker
So Saab, the once proud Swedish manufacturer and
taken over by GM around 10 years ago has been bought
(apparently) by Spyker, the Dutch manufacturer of the high
end eponymous Spyker sports car. Spyker has 100 employees
and Saab around 4,000. Spyker has not made a profit since it
began manufacturing in 2000. How will this work? Or is it a
huge tax dodge? Does not make any sense to me! Or does the
Swedish government USD 600 million loan look even sweeter?
The “auto” car is
(almost) here
If you are a driving enthusiast, do not read any
further. This article is heralding the death of driving as
we know it. The world is getting ready to hand the control
of the family car to the computer. You can no longer be
trusted!
The technology that is now being offered, as far as
anti-collision is concerned, has actually been developed
over the last 10 years, but as the modern car becomes more
electronic, it has become easier to incorporate the
anti-collision technology into the car’s electronics.
Radar
avoidance
Take electronic cruise control for example. This works
through the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) and adapts the
pre-set road speed to the fuel/air mixture the engine
receives. As speed drops, increased fuel/air is called for
and the car speeds up. And vice versa when the road speed
exceeds the pre-set level. Going downhill, the ECU can even
tell the brakes to apply light pressure to bring down and
control the road speed.
So the vehicles have had the ECU ‘smarts’ for some time, and
all that is needed is to hook an anti-collision system in
with the cruise control ECU. The human anti-collision model
relies on visual interpretation of the distance and
previously stored knowledge of how much distance it will
need to pull up from that speed. Some of us are better than
others at this! There is also the problem that when you
leave two car lengths to the car in front, that space is
very quickly filled with two cars and several motorcycles!
To do this anti-collision calculation electronically is done
by using a form of radar. The message comes back to the car
to indicate that at the current road speed, there is not
enough distance in which to pull up without ‘rear-ending’
the car in front. The ECU can then shut down the fuel/air
and instead of just getting the brakes pre-charged, can now
apply the brakes (independently from the driver) to slow the
car enough to avoid the rear end collision.
Toyota have been developing their concept of this system,
which is designed to not only stop rear end collisions, but
to stop you running red lights as well (it will never be
accepted in Thailand where running red lights is a national
pastime). A friend joked the other day that he had been the
last car through after the lights turned red. I must admit I
have never done that… there’s always been at least two or
three cars behind me!
