Safe Speed Forums

There has been a recent thread asking what kind of vehicle we drive, and also some suggestions that this forum is just a collection of "petrolheads".

So I thought it would be interesting to see what the engine size and fuel type was of the cars we drive.

_________________
"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

So if we are enthusiastic about our cars we are "petrol heads"

Does the same apply to cyclists who like exotic push bikes...
Pedal heads maybe....

Or is it just another label to hang on the demon motorist..

_________________
Speed camera policy Kills

Hang on!

There's nothing wrong with being a "petrolhead", and nothing wrong with driving a car with a big engine.

I'm just on a fact-finding mission. The results so far suggest that SafeSpeed members have a broad spread of engine sizes - which could be helpful in publicity.

_________________
"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

I'm a DieselHead!

I am a dedicated "PetrolHead" from my teenage years.

I have a small problem with the poll. My everyday car is a Subaru WRX STI 2.5 litre but the standard applied by racing is that a turbo engine capacity is its base capacity times 1.7.

So, do I drive a 2.5 litre or a 4.25 litre?

_________________
Ross

Yes I'm a hoon, but only on the track!!!!

Just do it on the basis of the actual capacity. Obviously for various reasons (including turbocharging) some engines of the same capacity are much more powerful than others.

Also virtually all car diesels are now turbocharged.

_________________
"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

2.5 it is then...

_________________
Ross

Yes I'm a hoon, but only on the track!!!!

Just a 1.8 here (with a big turbo and 265BHP )

_________________
Carl Prescott

Just scrape in under the 2.0 mark (1995cc) without turbocompensation (and it's a petrol). Perhaps grading by bhp would have been better (though unfair on the Diesel mob)?

Like M3RBMW I drive a Subaru Impreza, but mine is only 1994cc.

However it has a turbocharger and PPP (Prodrive Performance Pack; Prodrive run the Subaru World Rally Car and it is +25% torque dealer fit option that maintains the warranty). This gives 265PS, a 0-62mph of 4.9 seconds, and the occasional smell of burnt rubber and tyres.

The poll is therefore slightly misleading as my 2L car performs better than most 3L cars.

Ah.. Bags of time do do the crossword then.. My 3 litre car (not my day-to-day transport though - too bloody uneconomical!) is also turbocharged, shoves out around 420 bhp and enough torque to pull up treestumps.. 60 isn't too good (around 4.5 secs) as she's not wildly quick off the mark (not AWD) but the 100 comes up in less than 8..

I also drive a diesel Golf..

_________________
"Politicians are the same the world over... We build bridges where there aren't any rivers." - Nikita Kruschev

Got you there then, because without buying a second car I can also average 30mph+

No really, if you just cruise along at 60 or 70 for miles on end, the turbo is barely working and it is just as economic as any other 2l car (but worse than your oil burner). Sensible and fun in one package, and the slightly agressive looks actually help no-end - where the Mondeo ST200 and all my previous cars were deliberately blocked and cut-up on motorways, in the Impreza everybody gets out of the way, I don't even have to break the speed limit or the two second rule.

The only time that the 0-62 gets tested is perversely on a recently "improved" road that has had traffic lights added onto what was a nice bit of rural dual carriageway. So high-grip (anti skid surface), starting lights, and two lanes side by side... Lets turn a section of relatively safe normal road into a drag strip!

For some reason it is only BMW drivers that try it... and get upset when they lose (and they always do). I set a target of 70mph maximum now after one BMW nearly failed to stop for the roundabout a mile down the road - I had lifted off well before, but they just had to get past me because their expensive car just had to be faster than my cheap jap saloon.

Perhaps I should stop now before I destroy what ever reputation I might have been building for sensible driving.

I can average an easy 30mph.. Now, 30mpG is a different game altogether.



Perversely, one of the reasons that I don't use my Turbo very often is that it's like a red rag to a bull - even redder to a lot of coppers, sometimes it seems like you've got your own personal police escort... I used to have a 4x4 Turbo Calibra (Styled by "Autocar" magazine as "The World's Cheapest Supercar") - better 0-60 than an Escort Cosworth, top speed in excess of 160mph, 30mpg... Greatest thing was, remove all the "4x4" and "Turbo" badges and shazam!! Instant "hairdresser's car" - no spoilers (none needed, the aerodynamics were superb) no airscoops, NACA ducts, just a boring old rebodied Cavalier... Nobody took a blind bit of notice of it..

_________________
"Politicians are the same the world over... We build bridges where there aren't any rivers." - Nikita Kruschev

100hp and 0-60 in 2.9 seconds......oops forgot to mention mines a bike.

_________________
Speed camera policy Kills

Machine for pansies...

I still occasionally race gearbox karts... 125Open, 48-50hp but 0-60 in 2 seconds dead - if you get it right, which is about 1 time in 3! Better than 2G on the corners and brakes too... Wonderful science rubber chemistry!

_________________
"Politicians are the same the world over... We build bridges where there aren't any rivers." - Nikita Kruschev

Ah BMW drivers. They are in a category of all their own They're very easily riled and get upset if you stay with them when they're accelerating. The worst ones are the ones with the cheapo 1.6 and 1.8s. Sometimes I admit to annoying them on purpose

I don't stay with them, I pass them.

I find my car returns better fuel figures at 90mph than it does at 70. I think it's because the turbo being properly on at the higher speed makes the engine more efficient.

Cheers
Peter

Mrs Rewolf has a customer that does a bit of racing at the weekend; his old 2L does 0-60 in 1.8. But it isn't quite a road car... his name is Pat Doran and he was British RallyCross champion in his (tweaked) RS200 (winner over the whole season in 2002. Quite a well known car in fact and the stats and a few photos can be found here http://www.ianhardy.net/ford_rs200.php. However it got a bit unreliable (OK he lost the title the following year because the engine kept breaking mainly due to regulation changes) and he now drives a Ford Fiesta that is slightly slower - 1.9 seconds! http://www.patdoran.co.uk/about.html.

There we go, we are all petrol heads really!

Sorry for earlier mistakes, meant 30+ mpg, but in the the wrong conditions (or is that right conditions) it could be 15 mpg or worse. But that is not on public roads.