I have a note from my mum....

[PlasticSpanner]

OK. No I don't & I've been bunking off from TPF!

A last minute decision to change my car to something a bit more competitive left me 3 weeks to build a new road rally car! So every evening & weekend I have been grinding, cutting, welding & fabricating & had no spare time at all.

Will that do for my excuse for being away?

We went from the VW Golf, 1300cc & 1200kg...

To the new Polo, 1400cc and 900kg

& crammed all this stuff into it!

Last weekend we entered it into it's virgin rally starting no 56 & finishing 37th, 11th in class. The car held up really well even on the really rough roads & didn't falter once, unlike the driver & navigator! The only damage to the car was a bent bracket supporting the tank guard!

The tyres were bought & fitted the day before the rally & the grip they gave on mud & grass saved us from the scenery 3 times, vastly making up for the drivers incompetence!

We have a couple more events this year then hope to do a full championship next year, so my attendance may be a little sporadic at times!

 

[Antarctican]

OMG, what an awesome looking rally car!!! Congrats on the finishing spot (sounds pretty good to me) and best of luck in the remaining events.

 

[Corry]

Looks like fun!!!!

 

[ferny]

Congrats.

But, 900kg??? Cars have got FAT! The MOT tester couldn't find my car in the DVLA database and asked me how much it weighed. "Not sure but I know it's between 750 and 850 kilo" was my reply. "No! An old Metro weighs a ton, it can't be that light", he responded. I went to the glove box and got out a book and in it it stated 826kg.

 

[Battou]

Last weekend we entered it into it's virgin rally starting no 56 & finishing 37th, 11th in class. The car held up really well even on the really rough roads & didn't falter once, unlike the driver & navigator! The only damage to the car was a bent bracket supporting the tank guard!

The tyres were bought & fitted the day before the rally & the grip they gave on mud & grass saved us from the scenery 3 times, vastly making up for the drivers incompetence!

A sudden change in car accounts for all or that "incompetence" of witch you speak, diffrent car, diffrent attitude. give it some time, it sounds like it's gonna work out.

Congrats.

But, 900kg??? Cars have got FAT! The MOT tester couldn't find my car in the DVLA database and asked me how much it weighed. "Not sure but I know it's between 750 and 850 kilo" was my reply. "No! An old Metro weighs a ton, it can't be that light", he responded. I went to the glove box and got out a book and in it it stated 826kg.

Actually, cars are loosing weight, My car (a mid sized sedan from the mid eighties) weighs in at close to a ton and a quarter. But still the Polo PlasticSpanner swaped into is some twenty-five percent lighter than the golf.

 

[ferny]

Nope, getting fatter and heavier due to the safety features, cubby holes and electronics. Cars are also bigger all round. A Focus ST weighs 1.8 tonne for **** sake! Golfs are bigger than Polo's. A standard 1.9 diesel '02 Polo weighs 1248kg. The golf is about the same I believe. Mk1 golfs were 810kg. My 39 year old four seater family car which is chassis based and made out of thick steel is 826kg. Race Spitfires which are based on my car but restricted to strict period mods can be dropped to 600kg with a fair bit of chopping in special areas.

So, getting lighter?

 

[PlasticSpanner]

Congrats.

But, 900kg??? Cars have got FAT! The MOT tester couldn't find my car in the DVLA database and asked me how much it weighed. "Not sure but I know it's between 750 and 850 kilo" was my reply. "No! An old Metro weighs a ton, it can't be that light", he responded. I went to the glove box and got out a book and in it it stated 826kg.

So rust does weigh less than steel!

I used to work on my cousins Spitfire & have to say the chassis is nowhere near as strong as a modern car, hence the additional weight!

The old triumphs are light though! I used to lift the back end of the Spitfire whilst he slid building blocks underneath!

 

[ferny]

The weight saving is just in the lack of electric motors. All the cavities in the car are empty. In a modern they've not. You can't really compare a chassis design from the 50's to a modern monocoque for safety.

Yes, rust does weigh less as well. Not sure about filler though. :mrgreen:

 

[Battou]

Body filler is fairly stout, even light weight body filler can measueably change the weight of a car when applied in large quantities. In general one should not go more than a quarter inch thick, but some do, and at that thickness it's heavy, on top of that when large number of repairs are made the weight adds up even if thinly applied.

It's not as heavy as steel but, it's got to be put over existing steel so it's an addition no matter how you look at it.