matth76

Hi

I was on my way back from work last week and there were some nice pretty empty dual carriage ways and roundabouts, and the car was nicely warmed up after driving for a good 20 mins up to that point so I decided to have a bit of fun and accelerate coming off a few roundabouts (within safe speed limits of course). On one roundabout I passed a lone Fiesta ST (not focus) the 150bhp powered 2.0l fiesta. Well, he decides to keep on my tail as I go round the roundabout and I stay in 2nd and floor it as I'm approaching the exit but the acceleration is too brutal to keep in 2nd coming on to the exit off the roundabout, as there is a gradual bend, leading on the straight, so I have to go up to 3rd at about 4k rpm, and I floor it from there in 3rd, through the gears. Well I was very surprised that the fiesta kept a close distance (the distance was increasing but increasing slowly) for the first couple of seconds at least, before it became a spec in my mirror. I do know if I had stayed in 2nd I would have had much better acceleration not to mention smoother in gear acceleration but even so accelerating in 3rd is very quick.

The guy in the fiesta tried it again on another roundabout and I decided to give it a bit more beans and yet again I had to go up to 3rd gear around 4k, not being able to keep in 2nd going through the exit, but again the fiesta kept with me for a couple of seconds before slowly disappearing behind me. Fair do to the guy in the fiesta. I let him pass me shortly afterwards, to continue on my way home at a more sedate economic speed.

I looked on the net and they seem to be pretty nippy cars although not great stats but this clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CooehCKqQlc shows it keeping up well with an e46 m3. The m3 is of course increasing the gap but only slowly, like I did. I do know if it was from a standing start there would be no contest as I could use 1st and 2nd gears and importantly when I hit 3rd gear be in the power band. I supect in my situation the lack of 2nd gear hampered my in-gear accleration, rather like missing a gear I suppose.

I think once I get some upgraded suspension I can carry 2nd gear through any bend off a roundabout but at the moment don't quite have the confidence on the stock suspension.

Has anyone else had similar "surprising" encounters with other cars?

Jonny_

my mate has an ST with about 185bhp... keeps up with my scooby through 1st and 2nd from a standing start... a standard one probably shouldnt though..


edit: wait what? why couldnt you use 2nd gear... you dont have to just plant your foot to accelerate..

Henrik

iTrader: (5)

As above


Also, you have to have a significant difference in power/weight ratio to actually pull away from someone fast.

I've been surprised at what I've kept up with off roundabouts etc, and particularly the gt3 (old model) i kept up with on the brands hatch pit straight up to about 125mph.

On paper it should be a lot faster when moving, but there was no difference in straight line speed.

matth76

Lol I probably could have used 2nd gear but I was a bit scared of losing it round the bend, and my standard suspension wallows ever so slightly at high speed so once upgraded it should hopefully inspire more confidence going round bends at high acceleration. 2nd gear in this case was just a bit too brutal and risky to use. If I had been able to use it my in-gear acceleration would have been better. I assume my situation was rather like missing a gear, although I didn't, I just changed up early due to the bend in the exit, but I assumed it wouldn't affect my performance too much as I know 3rd gear is pretty brutal too. But I guess if you upset the flow of revs it upsets the performance, or isn't as smooth.

It's more the difference in pace wasn't as significant as I thought, even in 3rd gear, but as you say above you have to have a significant power weight difference to pull away noticably at speed. I suspect the fiesta was able to stay in 1st gear round the roundabout behind me and then floor it going up through 2nd etc, so effectively use all his gears due to the lower (more "usable") power. I'm surprised the M3 didn't pull away quicker from a standstill in the clip above, although the perspective is hard to judge from the angle of the camera.

s70rjw

iTrader: (2)

Hawkeye STI suspension is very bouncy. Get yourself a 24 mm ARB / 25mm lowering springs / coilovers / fast road geometry setup as a starting point. The standard STI suspension is not capable of putting your bhp to the road. Have you considered some advanced driving tuition to show you how to use your bhp. Power is nothing without control.