Penni Whitehead

Well I've looked through all the posts and no one has said anything about the Rally Spec Evo that was featured on Drive programme on Tuesday night - and driven by a woman!

Did anyone else out there see it - personally apart from the awful red & white - I thought the car was truly amazing - pricey but amazing. Although she was harping on about it's lack of ABS - I doubt really if it would make that much difference.

(Retreats and waits for attacks!)

Stu

Was it not the Zero Fighter model renamed so people in the uk don't get offended?

andymac

It's obviously a thing for "Pennies"

EvoTim

It was the new UK Ralliart developed Evo VI eXtreme.Although similar this is not the same as the Japan Ralliart developed Zero Fighter. Personally I would buy the Evo VI
Sprint and upgrade and save some money!

Richard F

But the rather impressive handbrake turn wasn't done by a woman was it? Wasn't it Penti Arrikola (sp?) or someone?

Bet they only gave that car to the woman so she'd have somewhere to put the teas after she'd made them (rear wing)...

robman

Yes, it was the former rally pro. The power slide he did was absolutely amazing.

R

Blow Dog

As was the doughnut

MorayMackenzie

Penni,

Happy New Year!

On a racetrack or a rally, ABS tends to be seen as a failing in a car, on British roads it should be viewed as an essential.

ABS counts as primary safety (aimed at preventing crashes from occuring), airbags and side-impact-this-and-that are secondary stuff that (should) only come into play when the car is already physically damaged. I know that every real type R owner (not you soon to be P1 owner sti wannabees! ) makes do without ABS, but you only need to have one incident in the car's life where the ABS saves you and the car to make it worthwhile.

I suspect that the woman who drove the Evo VI Extreme was making the valid point that such a quick road car should really have ABS as standard. The woman happens to be a rally driver, so her "harping on", as you put it, is probably not complete drivel (unlike the rest of the program!).

ABS is why I chose a 4dr STI (type RA bodyshell) over the cuter 2dr type R with it's fancy centre diff control ("What's this switch for Daddy?" "Oh, that's so you can make Daddy crash the car, dear!". ).

A friend of mine was looking for his next car a while ago. In the TVR dealership he was looking at a Griff 500, when he asked if it had traction control the salesman said "sorry, that's not an option.". Other friend says "Oh, don't worry about that, we can fit Racelogic traction control to the car using it's ABS wheelsensors." then to salesman "It does have ABS?". "Sorry sir, that's not an option!". Friends instantly made the sensible choice, which was to laugh and walk away!

Anyway, ABS makes a big difference on British roads and any new car with the Evo VI Extreme's level of A-B and all-weather ability should have it fitted, even if it is a driver switched option.

Moray
(And to think I was going to propose you as SIDC Safety Officer, shame on you )

Richard F

What, was she cooking as well?

MorayMackenzie

PS: I maybe wrong about the woman being a rally driver. I saw the last episode, not this one, and I kind of jumped to the conclusion that they would have given the Evo to the same woman (the rally driver) who tested the Skyline, Porker and whatever the other thing was rather than to the woman who does all the family cars and who seems to rate space, comfort, looks (cuddlyness?) and economy over the really important stuff.

Mossman

Just spoken to Mike Peck, the boss of the Police Imprezas here in Hull/Hell, and he was there for the filming and it was NOT Penny Mallory doing the impressive driving. It ws old Penti giving it some stick !

What a lad doing the donut waving at the same time !

WAHAY !

robski

At over 40K I would buy a real sports car. Imprezas evos etc are totally awesome value for 20-30K, but over 40k, its still just a pumped up jap saloon at the end of the day, no matter how much fun.

flame suit on

robski

dholmes

robski,

I tend to agree with you. When you get into 40/50K you want huge portions of style and looks as well as performance and handling for your hard earned dosh. Thats why I hope Lotus go ahead with the M250 for which I'm on the waiting list.

Darren

Gethin

Its easy to do impressive power tail slides when the surface is fresh smooth tarmac which is glass like with a nice carpet of wet leaves. Especially with ultra low profile rubber on 18" rims !!!!! Not very impressive IMHO !

Gethin.

Devils Advocate

For £40K I would get one of those Delfino Feroce's!

Has anyone driven one yet?

pwebb

think you are being very liberal describing said person as a rally driver ! - not one of our most successful sportspersons eh?

like calling Sue Barker a tennis player I guess :-) Or Jason Barlow/Mike Brewer a TV presenter! Driven is a **** poor program IMO but I will agree that the driving by Mr Arrikola was very neat - unlike the plonkers on said C4 program.

As for the extreme - 42 grand - what planet are they on? - this is a 19 grand car in japan - even at today's rates - just adding some different wheels and a few carbon bits /exhaust does not justify that kind of price hike!

check out the latest rash of lancers at last weekend's tokyo show...

ozzy

I mentioned it rather sneakily under

boltona

I believe the eXtreme is originally based on the Evo RS, like the Sprint, which doesn't have ABS anyway. So they didn't 'remove' it, it never had it. People who buy a car like this should understand how to brake safely without ABS - it is very much a drivers car, after all.

They sell the RS for 26k I think, and they haven't put 16k of extras on, but the stuff they have put on does add up. 18" wheels are 475+VAT each at a wheel dealer, let alone Ralliart prices. 18" tyres don't come cheap either. Add up all the prices of the extras, and it is probably at least 10k, and maybe more. Disappointing that the car featured had even more options. The big AP brake kit is an option (Brembo standard), as are the carbon fibre bits in the cabin. Personally, I don't think its worth it, but I wouldn't say no if someone handed me one .

ozzy

Gethin,

I must admit to being very impressed with the driving and yes it would be easy to do some power slides on wet leaves, but don't forget who was doing the driving - good old Penti Arrikola.

BTW how many RAC rallies and National Championships have you won recently ? Come to think of it how many has anyone on this BBS won ?

Not many me thinks.

Stefan

Penni Whitehead

Ozzy - yeah - you tell 'em !!! I agree with you, thank you.

Moray, Happy Y2K to you as well - are you the guy in the Spirito de Punto advert by any chance?!

'harping on' is tech speak for 'informative and intelligent narrative!'

(winkie icon goes here)

I'm off to join Mike Rainbird and his Cossie brigade!
kkk
P

[This message has been edited by Penni Whitehead (edited 14-01-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Penni Whitehead (edited 14-01-2000).]

Greg115

With all due respect though, it is amazing how many Girlies do drive from the passenger seat Penni!

Oh.....Must go its the wife!
Greg