demonfish

Hello All...

I'm basically looking into building an autotest car than will handle some abuse...

I went along to a recent autotest, and got the bug. Having had a love affair with integrale's and the joys of 4wd - i think i need another. Sadly, Lancia's aren't known for their longevity.

Given the Imprezza seems to be quite a tough cookie, and that there are lots of tuning parts around, it seems a logical choice.

Now - power, isnt THAT much of an issue, handling and weight is. So i dont care what kind of model, what it looks like etc, just that you can get a decent wedge of good RELIABLE power, and couple it with some fantastic handling.... given that scenario what would be your suggestion?? To give a start, i'm looking at the older cars, after all, autotest may not be my cup of tea...

Thoughts?

overlord

an old cheap wrx would be my choice they seam to have a good handbrake to.

joz8968

iTrader: (13)

My choice would be the MY97/98 Version 3/4 lightweight Type RA (or Type RA STi) versions. They have the max amount of power allowed when left Japan (276bhp) and, moreover, have the best power/weight of 237bhp/ton (kerb weight of only 1180kg).

Not only do they offer the best power/weight out of the box, they also have the in-car electronically adjustable DCCD centre diff for a significantly more rear-driven steed - ideal for competion use.

KevB220

I have a UK 99 classic. I use it for all sorts of motorsport and use it every day for work. It has a standard engine but a few tweaks on the suspension to dial out the understeer.(anti lift, solid links bigger rollbar, bushes but standard suspension) and decent brakes. It handbrakes good and is plenty quick enough.

I have used it for Autosolo's (longer all forward autotest) and Autotest's and find it very good, in fact won the CMSG autosolo championship and several club autotest's against things like Lotus Elise, Caterham and Evo's.
They are also good fun to sprint.
The key is not how much power you have but how quick you can drive. Having the suspension to stiff will go against you. You need the car to give a little or you will never get the power down. The biggest difference will be tyres. Decent road tyres like goodyear or comp tyres like yoko A048's will give the biggest advantage.

Hope this helps.