Tiny

yes it was you then Phil!!!, just to make you feel a little worse we eased off as to let you past before you wrapped your £500 touch into the side of us, and then sat on your bumper all the way around brands!!

johnfelstead

my car tops out at 160MPH, i see 155MPH at the nurburgring. So no, these cars are not stupidly low geared, the very early type RA's were, but they had the ultra close ratio gearboxes for rallying homologation.

Max RPM = 8250

1st gear 5MPH/1000rpm Top Speed 41MPH
2nd gear 7.75MPH/1000rpm Top Speed 64MPH (5200rpm at 41MPH)
3rd gear 10.25MPH/1000rpm Top Speed 84MPH (6200rpm at 64MPH)
4th gear 13.75MPH/1000rpm Top Speed 112MPH (6100rpm at 84MPH)
5th gear 19.4MPH/1000rpm Top Speed 160MPH (5900rpm at 112MPH)

LEE P

Cheers Phil for dropping in!

Nice to hear what the crack was with the metro business!
On the strengh of it my mate is going to build a 175bhp metro track car for the crack!

Im sticking with the Mk2 golf as project car.

What was that on the previous page phil? were you saying a scoob would struggle to keep up with the focus RS on track??

They might struggle when the metro hits the sidc days armed weith chrome grill and a nice big ol fashioned AA badge on the front!!

Lee

PhilBennett

Sounds like fun Lee - you got to remember though there is only one track in the whole world that matters and thats the Nurburgring Nordschleife.

You're braver than me doing that in a 175bhp Metro!!!

The Fastest

I bet I'd do quite well in a £500 Metro too - 103bhp 0r 175bhp

johnfelstead

He's back. LOL

Twigster

I had a metro Gti for almost two years, and I can honestly say it was one of the most fun cars I have ever had!! You can convert them with either 1.8VVC engines (a la MGF/Elise etc) or the 1.6VTEC engines from the EG(1991-1996) civics. Both can be tuned easily to around 200bhp, and I know of a twin VVC-engine git which is runnig about 180bhp through both axles!! That's 360bhp and 4 wheel drive!! Granted the weight play's hell with the handling, and apparantely the torque steer is enough to do a u-turn!!
The thing is, they are easily tuneable and cheap as chips, so why not!!
For the record though, I now have a scoob, and for all the speed on earth I wouldn't go back to a metro!!

McScooby

Hi,
I just bought a 97 Impreza and I love it!!! I used to own (a few years ago) a Metro GTi and I've got to admit that they fly...they're basic inside and not the prettiest cars in the world (sounds familiar) but they handle well and are quick for a 1400. Not sure that I believe its better than my Scooby tho'! Perhaps David Blunkett was driving the Scooby???? Anyway, I'm not defending the Metro(t) but just saying it's not a bad car at all

LEE P

Yeah phil it will be a blast!

Never done the ring! but i would think most tracks in the u.k wil be more than enough in the wee metro! or was the ring comment a little tongue in cheek??

anyway the whole point of the thread was to point out the fun you can have for little money, i wouldnt ever compare a metro against a STi7 even if phil were driving it....honest!

The fastest i reckon you could get a metro sidways like john in his STi!?

could you imagine though...doing the ring in a 175 bhp metro!
under 10 mins i reckon!

johnfelstead

i managed the ring in under 10 minutes, 4 up in my 115BHP Sport. Wouldnt be dificult at all in a 175BHP Metro.

The Fastest

Good idea LeeP, do you know anyone who can lend me a Metro, then we can go 4 up round the Ring against John 4 up in his STi - be interesting to see who gets round quickest, if John goes as sideways as he reckons he'll be miles slower because as Phil Bennett says - sideways isn't the fastest (do you get it The Fastest )

LEE P

LOL @ the fastest! no pun intended eh!

Well it is probably the driver not the car, maybe phil would want to take some tips off you (fastest) in ring driving in a metro?

4 up sounds a tad naughty to me!

dela

I've only just spotted this thread - but feel qualified to add my 2p. I race an MG Metro and Trackday my STi v3.

Which is quicker?
Which is more fun?

Purely subjective stuff this - I drive the Metro completely differently than the scoob, I am a lot more agressive as I know its limits well and know that if the engine pops its not the end of the world. Its got a great Power to Weight ratio - similar to UK scoob/Elise, sticky rubber and vented 4 pot brakes. And for safety, a welded in cage which I know will work if I need it to. (Seen quite a few post high speed rolled metros - no injuries to date.)

I trackday the scoob because I only get to use 20% of its capability on the road. But - I need it to drive to work everyday and don't like the idea of replacing the engine, so I drive it a modicum more cautiously. (If I owned an STI7/STI8 I think I'd be driving even slower.....)

So 115bhp plays 280bhp - For the record they both lap Brands Hatch Indy in roughly 1 minute, but the Metro is more exhilarating as it brakes later and I'm more on the limit through the corners.

I really enjoyed the article in CCC btw - brought home the fact that you're there to enjoy yourself and extend your experience. The enjoyment typically comes from being on the limit of adhesion, which basically you get more of in a metro than a scoob.

johnfelstead

If you drive the scoob like a fairy.

You are comparing it with a normal STi/UK transmition system again too. The TypeR/RA is in a diferent class.

dela

thanks John - you'll spot me easily at a trackday with my hazards on waving everyone by.

Wouldn't you agree though - a non-RA/R scoob is travelling at a real rate of knots at the limit of adhesion that things can go wrong very quickly. (The above makes it sound like the more RWD balanced scoobs are slower - thats not what I mean.....)

I'm quite tempted to retro-fit RA drivetrain to my STi v3, but I guess thats a subject for a new thread.

johnfelstead

Glad you took in the humour.

Yes, you are very much spot on, taking any scoob to the limit does mean you are carrying a lot of momentum/energy. With the UK/Normal STi setup this can mean you dont have much chance of killing understeer after the fact, to get a UK spec scoob to be big fun you have to be very agresive and use a lot of weight transfer before a corner, from a driving art point of view it's a bit brutal and uninspiring for me.

A lot depends on what you want out of the car too, UK cars can be very fast on track, but they dont have the balance you get with an RA, and that is where i get the enjoyment from. To me lap times are unimportant, it's how enjoyable the car is to drive that i care about.

dela

lap times are unimportant to me also John....

...thats why I race a Metro

MGJohn

dela,

In which events do you race your MG Metro? Some of the most excitingly competitive motor racing I've ever witnessed was during the past couple of seasons ..... the cars?: MG Metros .... but not your average road going type Granny may do the shopping in ... Great stuff ! ...

dela

MGJohn,

I race in the Drayton Manor Park series, part of the MG Car Club.
I've been doing it for three years and just starting to feel really comfortable with it.

I had a break from it last year, to give the wallet break and my son was born. Looking to get back into it this year though.

dela

MGJohn

dela,

Yes, that's the Metro event I primarily had in mind .... very competitive stuff ....

dela

Glad you enjoyed the racing John.

We get sneered at a little for racing Metros, but when it comes to it, its often fantastically close racing and 'relatively' cheap to boot.

Come and say hi if you see us race next time, my car is No.84, towed by a black scooby wagon (to the track - not on it!)

dela

MGJohn

dela,

Will do No. 84 ... If other racers showed half as much commitment and effort as those Drayton Park Manor boys do, motor racing generally would be a much more popular spectator sport. Unfortunately, F1 in recent years has turned people away and spectator numbers continue to decline.

Those Metro and Maestro MGCC events: As well as the close racing, I particularly like the way drivers usually find time in the paddock to chat and exchange ideas with you even between races when busy fettling their cars for the next event. A very friendly bunch.

Good luck for the new season ...

LEE P

This Metro racing sounds like fun!

Which circuits does the series attend??

i was thinking of running my golf in the road saloons this year but i dont think my car will be ready, so just trackdays later on this year to get used to the car i think.

im interested in some of the other events availiable as the cars are cheap enough to get in to it.

What engine and suspension mods are you allowed on your metro dela?

Lee

dela

>>This Metro racing sounds like fun!

Certainly is Lee - its close and clean racing.
One of my best memories was a mixed grid race at Brands Hatch, racing against MG Midgets. I was behind a midget that had the legs on me on the straights, but I was all over him through the corners - going through the bends a foot off his bumper...
I eventually outbraked him going into Paddock Hill bend with my heart in my mouth.

>> Which circuits does the series attend??
All over the country. Silverstone, Brands, Cadwell, Croft, Donnington, Snetterton and Anglesey.
This year I'm doing a partial season - basically the events I can there and back from in a day.

>> i was thinking of running my golf in the road saloons this year but i dont think my car will be ready, so just trackdays later on this year to get used to the car i think.

A good plan, but if the cars ready, theres no shame in having some fun at the back of the grid, theres bound to be someone there to play with.

>> What engine and suspension mods are you allowed on your metro dela?

engine wise, my class (B) is full-race, normally aspirated. So we run lumpy cams and relatively high compression. The class above me is full race turbos, which tend to be 2-3 seconds a lap quicker.
As for suspension, as its hyrdro-elastic you are sort of limited.
But the ride heights are right down and decent spec dampers (well Spax - I don't think you can buy Leda for Metros) are used on the front suspension.

All in all, its a great buzz. Pound for pound you get more tracktime on a trackday. But a hectic 15 minute race is etched in your memory for life.

0ddball

If phil ever comes back to this thread, an 8v vauxhall sump ISNT a fix for oil surge, they are identicle allbeit tin on the 8v and alloy on the 16v.

grumble grumble.

Shame really, because i almost creamed when i saw the astra was included in the test, would have been interesting just to hear decent views from someone who knew what they were talking about, instead of "its vauxhall so must be sh-t"

Mike123

Yes, I was very intrigued when I read that about the GTE sump being affected by oil surge and how an 8 valve GTE one would cure the problem. None of the Vauxhall tuners seem to know about it?

Didn't think 16v was any more prone to it than other hot hatches - I suspect that one in CCC was a bit worn out anyway

TTIbiza

Any scoobies take this metro yesterday?

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mike.pmc/rebuild/rebuild5.html

seem to remember it being the 3rd fastest thing out @ donnington.

X SOOOBY

third quickest

no i dont think so i was doing consistent under 1min 30s and my quickest was 1min 28.1 and there were a couple of old mk2 escorts that were quicker than me not by a lot though

i saw this metro and no way was that thing quicker than mine if i had known it was this so called scoob basher i would of gone out there and seen who was quicker

oh i remember 1 time i was out there i was the main straight behind him within 2 laps i was with him but then the red lights came on and was not able to overtake him

yes it was impressive for a metro but b*llocks to it is quicker than a scoob

[Edited by X SOOOBY - 2/17/2003 10:18:42 AM]

0ddball

fortunately for us non scoob owning mortals, elitism does not outweigh the laws of physics. 188bhp in a metro, you do the math.

X SOOOBY

the remarks made by me were about the metro being third fastest at donny

not giving it the bigen about me and my scoob how great it is just giving it back about this guy thinking he was all so clever overtaking a scoob at brands