clubstylus

Tango Man wrote:Did mine the hard way

It very much depends on what your intended use is going to be. If a road car is the plan then suspension needs to be compliant , chassis needs to high enough to avoid all obsticles , diff' should be high enough for quiet high speed cruising and economy , gearbox similarly matched .Engine would be better as light as possible to keep the nice carpeted beast nippy. The list is endless.

However , if you intend tracking the car competitively then it's a whole different ball game . Almost everywhere you go on a track there are fast and slow anti camber corners and not many banked corners as you find on motorways/dual carraigeways and good A roads. So speed becomes more sensitive to dynamic chassis ability/handling. Massive power will not neccessarily get the job done , unless of course you have both power and the chassis to use it effectively.
I have found out the hard way (which I think is the best way) how to be quick , mainly down to understanding what adjustment/alteration will achieve which result . I.E. I have the same power in my Stylus as when I built it in 1999.
You might of course want a compromise , to have a road car that you can drive to the track in then circuit it or to the shop. If I were going up that route then I'd probably have a nice mildly tuned Duratec in a chassis with road charactoristics(as described above)but with a set of heavier springs and shocks to suit / double adjusters if you can afford them. C/R synchro box and either 3.89 or 4.1 diff' depending on the power you've chosen. I.E. powerfull Duratec = 3.89 will be fine , a little less power then the 4.1.

Hope Iv'e cleared a few points but of course they are only my very personal oppinions on set up based on my own experience with my Stylus.

Rob. Get building

Tango Man wrote:710kg Tim's is 525kg, 200kg of difference perhaps thats what he meens the engine is to big for the car
whos good at mathes. How many bhp is required to give a car that weighs in at 710kg a power to weight of 400bhp per tone.
Also what power is requied for a car that weighs 570kg to have a power to weight of 350-380.
570-585kg is what Tim thinks a road can be built to, with a Zetec SE unit in it.

Dave.

My 710kgs includes nice seats, carpets, proper windscreen, two exhaust systems etc. Tim's orange RT is more of a stripped out racer really.

I would guess that my V8 adds about 75 - 100 Kg to the overall weight compared to a zetec engined car.

Jeff

jefferybond wrote:

Tango Man wrote:710kg Tim's is 525kg, 200kg of difference perhaps thats what he meens the engine is to big for the car
whos good at mathes. How many bhp is required to give a car that weighs in at 710kg a power to weight of 400bhp per tone.
Also what power is requied for a car that weighs 570kg to have a power to weight of 350-380.
570-585kg is what Tim thinks a road can be built to, with a Zetec SE unit in it.

Dave.

My 710kgs includes nice seats, carpets, proper windscreen, two exhaust systems etc. Tim's orange RT is more of a stripped out racer really.

I would guess that my V8 adds about 75 - 100 Kg to the overall weight compared to a zetec engined car.

Jeff

I thought the RV8 was only 20kgs heavier than a Pinto fully dressed. The Pinto can't be much heavier than a Zetec as it is still a cast iron block.

cheers George

hearbear wrote: I thought the RV8 was only 20kgs heavier than a Pinto fully dressed. The Pinto can't be much heavier than a Zetec as it is still a cast iron block.

cheers George

Yeah, but the RV8 has a very heavy gearbox, plus needs two exhaust systems, also a big rad etc. Pinto has an iron head where all zetecs have alloy heads, and I think the latest Zetec SE's are ally block too, arent they?

Jeff

jefferybond wrote:

hearbear wrote: I thought the RV8 was only 20kgs heavier than a Pinto fully dressed. The Pinto can't be much heavier than a Zetec as it is still a cast iron block.

cheers George

Yeah, but the RV8 has a very heavy gearbox, plus needs two exhaust systems, also a big rad etc. Pinto has an iron head where all zetecs have alloy heads, and I think the latest Zetec SE's are ally block too, arent they?

Jeff

True

hearbear wrote:

jefferybond wrote:

hearbear wrote: I thought the RV8 was only 20kgs heavier than a Pinto fully dressed. The Pinto can't be much heavier than a Zetec as it is still a cast iron block.

cheers George

Yeah, but the RV8 has a very heavy gearbox, plus needs two exhaust systems, also a big rad etc. Pinto has an iron head where all zetecs have alloy heads, and I think the latest Zetec SE's are ally block too, arent they?

Jeff

True

As i seem to have to much time on my hands i've been surfing again,the RV8 weighs in at 170 kgs,
and the pinto is 135 kgs against the duratec's 90 kgs,which i'm pretty sure is 18kg lighter than a 2.0l zetec

Phil.

Cerberus wrote:

hearbear wrote:

jefferybond wrote: Yeah, but the RV8 has a very heavy gearbox, plus needs two exhaust systems, also a big rad etc. Pinto has an iron head where all zetecs have alloy heads, and I think the latest Zetec SE's are ally block too, arent they?

Jeff

True

As i seem to have to much time on my hands i've been surfing again,the RV8 weighs in at 170 kgs,
and the pinto is 135 kgs against the duratec's 90 kgs,which i'm pretty sure is 18kg lighter than a 2.0l zetec

Phil.

Looking around I found the weight of the Zetec se 81kg, but it said the Duratec was 97 kg,

depends on whether fully or partly dressed --- they all quote different figures.

Rob

Tango Man wrote:

Cerberus wrote:

hearbear wrote: True

As i seem to have to much time on my hands i've been surfing again,the RV8 weighs in at 170 kgs,
and the pinto is 135 kgs against the duratec's 90 kgs,which i'm pretty sure is 18kg lighter than a 2.0l zetec

Phil.

Looking around I found the weight of the Zetec se 81kg, but it said the Duratec was 97 kg,

I think 81kg is a bare 16 SE zetec which is all alloy