djr81

Hmm, maybe the people involved in the awards included some of the following in amongst their criteria: Weight (RB's weigh a tonne) Emissions (RB's particularly the 26 are a "dirty" engine) Noise (er.....) Fuel consumption Torque etc etc etc There is far, far more to building a good motor than just a hedline output figure. I, for one, am glad that a manufacturer such as BMW still make a straight six - there are very few people who do. That they make a twin turbo version of the same is something to be celebrated. Just have to convince them to put it in an M3 instead if that dumb arsed V8 that they are wanting to use. The M series cars were a much better thing when there was less of them - hell the M3 used to have a four, the M5 a 3.5 litre straight six.

What everyone has missed is that the spectator wasn't crossing the road during the rally. The unfortunate woman was killed when one of the group N cars lost control BEFORE it had reached the start line of the stage. Two other people were also hurt. For the record the driver was Gonzalo Alenaz.

Mobil 1 5W50 is very good stuff. In fact one of the best oils around. It is fine for your car.

Actually, I always thought Kim Jones' periodic brain explosions were good for a laugh. Better yet was one of Gary Rodgers replies - "They cam down here like a bunch of sulking schoolboys." Gold & far better than the usual PR inspired/officialdom friendly content free blather you get nowadays.

Just look it up on Nengun. They posted them up after I asked about them a while back. I got sick of the DBA 4000's I had been using cracking all the time.

My 10 cents - just pay the rego. It will be much less painfull in the end & not much more expensive. By the time you take the time off work to go over the pits & go through all the hassle & costs it is just easier to take the pain of 6 months rego. The licensing/inspection system is an all day effort at the moment & the $10 Eric the Ripper chucked at it from the budget won't fix the problems in 6 months. Add up the costs for new plates, transaction fees, time off work etc etc etc & see if it does actually add up.

The "windtunnel is out of calibration" excuse has been fashionable since the Lotus team used it in 1988 to explain why their car was so hopeless compared to the McLaren. At the time they didn't have forty bazillion tonnes of CFD wizardry to confirm things, however. I agree with you about Schumacher. I never rated him & I cannot for the life of me explain why Toyota waste so much money on him - maybe they would be better spending it on an interesting road car? Nah. Trulli is atleast occassionally fast. Also I am not sure Williams has the same degree of outright pace as last year. Reliability crippled them then as did rear tyre wear, but can you honestly see them in the running for a podium place at the Monaco GP in a couple weeks time? Put that down to the Toyota motor not having the same grunt as the Cosworth. Even Alonso couldn't turn this years Renault into a winner - but he wouldn't be scrapping for 9th place atleast. Nor firing off the track every other lap.

Well the Honda outfit has been a horror story all year, hasn't it. I guess finishing laps down means your Earth Dream is that bit more attainable. You have to wonder how they produced a car that is slower than the year previous - even then it looks waaay ugly under brakes & in general. Jenson Button paid how much to stick with them? Toyota has been the usual story of tipping vast amounts of money down the shitter. Not sure how many people outside the factory are surprised at that. They are only just hanging on to Williams & Williams drivers line up is still less than stellar - if you apply the relative speeds of Webber & Rosberg from last year... Arguably you could do the same at Renault. What price a contract for Webber now?

Gees McLaren are leading both the constructors & the drivers championships (1 & 2) four races in & you reckon they are writing the season off? Maybe for Renault & Honda, but I think Toyota are still going to have to work hard to maintain their place.

The harder rubber is always going to be a gamble - particularly for McLaren as they seem to be easy on their tyres. Whilst you are right in saying they hadn't much to lose (But look how close the BMW of Kubica got to Alonso in the end!) nor did they have much prospect of a big gain. It shouldn't have come as much of a surprise that the track rubbered in over the weekend - there again McLaren, like the other teams, will have done approximately a billion laps around the place. So they should have known exactly what to expect. I struggle to believe that the harder compound is ever going to be a better - quicker - option. The prospect of bolting them onto Lewis' car for an early second stop defies logic somewhat as not only would the tyre need to be quicker (it wasn't) it would also need to make up for the extra fuel ie 20+ laps worth as against a basically empty tank. I guess the inherent problem was that McLaren lacked lap speed. When you have to start being "clever" with tyre strategy you are really acknowledging you are in trouble. Far better to hose the opposition with outright pace. Anyway, go the Super Aguris!

Well I was always a supporter ever since he had the um, intestinal fortitude to run a Mitsubishi Starion at Bathurst. Particularly so when in '94 he put in a brilliant double stint to drag the number 15 HRT Commode back into contention after some noob called Lowndes had bunkered it and put it in grave danger of going a lap down. Lowndes got all the cudos & the factory drive, but Jones was ever bit the star on the day. Also don't forget the beautiful Audi A4's they ran in Super Touring. BJR has always been somewhat of a busted arse outfit. The budgets are nowhere near what the likes of 888 & HRT run. Take for example the recent sh!tfight of the Alcon control spec disc rotors. On the one hand you have Kees Weel banging on about how there can't be a problem because all the teams change the rotors between each heat & on the other the Jones brothers saying that they always used to run only two sets for the whole weekend.... Hell I would buy some merchandise to help out, but they haven't organised any for 2007!

Was it just me or did anyone else notice how loose the back end of Hamilton's car was? Also, wtf were McLaren thinking when they bolted hard tyres onto Alonso's thing for the middle stint. I want whatever they are smoking.

Looks like Brad Jones is retiring. Hopefully he will have one last go at Bathurst & then go back to arguing with his brother on a full time basis. Atleast he signed Wills instead of Besnard. http://www.teamboc.com.au/news/?id_display=150

Have you decided which leg to affect the fake limp with?

I have it on good authority that Beer Baron is now 13. But to answer the second question it goes fvfvfv - thump. Obviously the car is posted on the website to generate a bit of traffic. Which is fine but no one would be in the slightest bit interested in importing it. Why? Because you couldn't reasonably register it & secondly because you could build a quicker track car for much less coin.

Well, back in the day people used to overbore motors in increments of 10 thousands of an inch ie 0.25mm. If you had (for example) a Cleveland V8 you binned it after 40 thou. Which is why you have to be careful with going too much over size too quickly. Like the Baron says a block out to 88mm is on its last rebuild - so why pay extra coin for something in that condition? Anyway, to anyone looking for a stroker crank & larger capacity from their RB26 - be careful about which size pistons you order. Oh, and by the way. Combustion chamber volume has nothing to do with motor capacity. But piston diameter certainly does!

I say this without knowing anything about your car and/or driving experience. So please don't flame me if I have this all wrong. A common mistake people make is to try to carry too much speed across the apex of the turn & hence run out of road on the exit. They then start on about understeer. Try a bit slower in fast out & make sure you are on the loud pedal as the apex slips by.

Hmm, baby got back. Err, anyway. I have managed to wedge my arse in a Recaro & like Humz says they are probably your best bet.

Well how much oversize are they? Oversize pistons can make a bit of a difference to the engine capacity. Remember stock GT-R Bore: 86mm Stroke: 73.7 Capacity: 2.568 litres If you overbore the thing by 1mm (Not that you would necessarily want to straight up) Bore: 87mm Stroke: 73.7mm Capacity: 2.629 litres. So a 1mm overbore doesn't make it a 2.7 litre motor - you need a longer throw crank. If you go to 2mm Bore:88mm Stroke: 73.7mm Capacity: 2.689 litres. Which can be claimed as 2.7 litres. Remember though, if you bore the block out to its limit (2mm or whatever it is) it will be a throw away item the next time you need to rebuild it. All that for 60cc's?

Another street race to add to Monaco may well be amusing (I am not counting Albert Park). Atleast Spain has discovered F1 now, before it used to be all bikes & no one could have cared less about the F1 circus.

Welcome to my nightmare. Bride do a nice recliner, but they are only for slim hipped nancy boys. Recaro are probably your best bet. Unfortunately I have NFI who is the local agent. Velo do a good fixed back seat, as do Sparco. Bail up Dick Ward from Go Gear as he can help out with the seat mounts etc.

Rule 1 Don't volunteer anything. Rule 2: See Rule 1. Cops always (or almost always) 1: Try & pretend that they are either doing you a favour (I could have booked you for blah, but I will only do you for blah blah...) or 2: "They are only doing their jobs". Both these approaches are rubbish because 1: They don't actually have to book you for anything if they don't want to. 2: Unemployment is at historic lows - which means they can get a real job. Anyway, take the pain that is coming to you & resolve to keep the car legal. That way you wont have to go through all this rubbish a second (or third, or fourth) time.

WASCC membership (Silver membership) is $210 for the first 12 months (Plus nomination fee of $50 in the first year). You get: Free admission to ALL club race meetings including V8s & SuperTrucks. (& drift stuff) Access to drive on the circuit in your road car at club tuning days for a nominal fee. Participation in motor sport as a driver. Minimum level required for CAMS competition eligibility. Voting rights. Ability to nominate ONE immediate family member or partner as an Associate Member. * Ability to nominate Junior Member(s). Newsletter The Racing Line Members' Key Ring Access to McCrackan House at the V8s. One FREE track hire voucher valued at $55 (not redeemable for cash). Which is a pretty sweet deal - particularly if you have hung out in McCrackhead house when the V8's are in town & all the plebs are sweltering in the sun - err, like I was. Damn. Anyway, you need to be a member of a CAMS affiliated car club to get a level 2 license. I think the $12 for the No limits thingo covers it.

There is thread on the subject in the WA section. The short answer to your questions are as follows (to the best of my knowledge): The circuit promoters have actually bought the land. They are supposedly developing a business park to generate the cashflow/capital to build the circuit. The periodic announcements that a race will be held this year (there have been atleast three such announcements) are complete rubbish. Work on the circuit has not progressed in any meaningful way. The website will be updated very infrequently (the haven't even fixed the spelling mistake on the front page FFS) Any linkage between the circuit & the race series listed is, overwhelmingly, in the minds of the promoters. CAMS recently tipped an absolute bucket on them for telling people formula Nippon was happening this year. Not without CAMS/FIA approval, boys. Most people in Bunbury have developed a healthy degree of cynicism regarding the circuit. In short, there is a small chance it may get up, but don't hold your breath. Allegedly, apparently, in my opinion......

Surprised? No, not really. Remember these are the same people who periodically confess they are unable to actually do anything about curbing the road toll. How long would you keep you job after you told your boss you didn't know how to do it? Or for that matter completely misrepresented something that it takes all of 10 minutes to verify (ie drifting was in Japan)? Accountability for both the police & for journalists is completely non existant.