Great Italian car thread
Discussion
jacklewisno1 said:
The blue car is a Lola T-70.
Im not going to Goodwood no unfortunatley. Although it does look fantastic. Their is decent tv coverage of it though, so at least i will kind of see it. I might go to Brooklands Autumn Motorsport in October. In case you were not aware of the event....
'A repeat of last year’s successful event developed over the last two years. Competition cars from all ages will be put through their paces on the adjacent Mercedes-Benz World test track. Selected cars will also run up the demanding Brooklands test hill. Visitors can expect to see a wide variety of competition cars including Formula 1,F5000, GTs, Touring cars, Group B rally cars and historic cars like the record breaking 1933 Napier Railton – holder of the outright lap record at Brooklands. This is the only venue in the UK where visitors can get really close to competition cars in action.'
But it depeds on whether i could get time off.
Yeah that's sound good.Im not going to Goodwood no unfortunatley. Although it does look fantastic. Their is decent tv coverage of it though, so at least i will kind of see it. I might go to Brooklands Autumn Motorsport in October. In case you were not aware of the event....
'A repeat of last year’s successful event developed over the last two years. Competition cars from all ages will be put through their paces on the adjacent Mercedes-Benz World test track. Selected cars will also run up the demanding Brooklands test hill. Visitors can expect to see a wide variety of competition cars including Formula 1,F5000, GTs, Touring cars, Group B rally cars and historic cars like the record breaking 1933 Napier Railton – holder of the outright lap record at Brooklands. This is the only venue in the UK where visitors can get really close to competition cars in action.'
But it depeds on whether i could get time off.
Will 'hopefully' be going to the Revival, if funds allow. Gearbox bearing on my MR2 means Ill be a grand shorter than before...
iva cosworth said:
Maserati Trofeo race.
Would love to have seen these in GT4 form race more internationally, such a great looking car.
The New trofeos are really impressive, they've got the weight down to 1240kgs that's mental given the cars starting weight.
Even the old trofeos were around under 1400kg, that said a Vantage GT4 is around 1350kg, so not really that heavy compared to other class members.
jacklewisno1 said:
I got excited when you mentioned you had been driving a Stratos! But then i read further on..
But if your going to mention electronic cars then i spent yesterday driving a modified 458 and highly modified 500 1.2 lounge around the 'ring
Dropped my Abarth off at a garage today to have its cambelt done. They've given me an old 1.2 Punto shed edizione as a courtesy car. It generates a fascinating amount of under steer.
There was one of those Alfa's at Silverstone parked near my Abarth. Sounds as good as it looks.
Just a cambelt? My MR2 needs a reconditioned gearbox, hows that for mechanical failure top trumps!But if your going to mention electronic cars then i spent yesterday driving a modified 458 and highly modified 500 1.2 lounge around the 'ring
Dropped my Abarth off at a garage today to have its cambelt done. They've given me an old 1.2 Punto shed edizione as a courtesy car. It generates a fascinating amount of under steer.
There was one of those Alfa's at Silverstone parked near my Abarth. Sounds as good as it looks.
jacklewisno1 said:
Fantuzzi said:
Just a cambelt? My MR2 needs a reconditioned gearbox, hows that for mechanical failure top trumps!
Ahh damn you win, although its not a fair contest as your car is probably around 10 years older than mine. Is it worth fixing? Or would it not be better just buying a different one? Which version of MR2 are we talking about?I've been weighing up some options, but I cant think of something Id rather have apart from an elise, which would be around 8-10k plus K series issues which I don't think I could afford at the moment.
Oh was meant to ask, what did you think of EBC greenstuff pads? Need new ones soon, (and discs...) wasn't sure if I should try some aftermarket ones. I'm not psychic you mentioned them in a thread about high mileage Abarth 500s...
jacklewisno1 said:
Fantuzzi said:
Well mines a pretty tidy example, and rather not have the hassle of shopping around for a(nother) good one, mines a MK3 the Roadster/Spyder, Evo magizines 43rd best drivers car...
I've been weighing up some options, but I cant think of something Id rather have apart from an elise, which would be around 8-10k plus K series issues which I don't think I could afford at the moment.
Oh was meant to ask, what did you think of EBC greenstuff pads? Need new ones soon, (and discs...) wasn't sure if I should try some aftermarket ones. I'm not psychic you mentioned them in a thread about high mileage Abarth 500s...
Ahh theres a blue one of those at work with a quad exhaust system, haven't heard what it sounds like yet. I've been weighing up some options, but I cant think of something Id rather have apart from an elise, which would be around 8-10k plus K series issues which I don't think I could afford at the moment.
Oh was meant to ask, what did you think of EBC greenstuff pads? Need new ones soon, (and discs...) wasn't sure if I should try some aftermarket ones. I'm not psychic you mentioned them in a thread about high mileage Abarth 500s...
If your in the market for italian car problems i could recommend the Abarth 500 SS. For around 10k you could get a knocking Koni suspension, clunky gearbox and sticking brakes.
Talking of brakes the EBC Greenstuff ones are pretty good. I had both front and rear pads changed at the same time which provided an interesting few days of driving while they took time to bed in
After about 2 months or so they are performing well, more than good enough for my car. They do produce a bit of dust at the front but i guess every pad does. I got both front and rear sets for £80 online which i think is pretty decent. Was thinking about getting the twin pipe system which was an optional extra on the later models, but after some research it dosent sound that much better, and weighs a bit more, doubt the power will be increased by any significant margin as well.
Is that the Essesse kit? Is it when fitted to a standard Abarth 500 that there are problems or when you buy SS version from new as well? I know its meant to be a rather bumpy ride from reviews!
Oh not sure if you've seen this, Jay Leno's vid on his Abarth 500, the handbrake turn is rather impressive.
Don't try at home...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywmtrrFf4xo
jacklewisno1 said:
As far as im aware the Essesse always comes as a kit, its just fitted at the dealers before you take delivery. The stiff gear change and sticking brakes can affect the normal model too, as there problems ive had (im still not happy with the gear change) but the knocking Koni is an SS problem that nobody appears to have solved yet. Thats why i chose the normal 500 not the SS version.
Oh I hadn't heard of the gearchange problems, is it just stiffness or other things as well?jacklewisno1 said:
But speaking of Youtube stuff is this the best exhaust note ever? How much would you pay to make your MR2 sound like this..............
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWZqb_PX12A
That is quite a noise! Raspy, great coupled with that v12! I'll find something to top that when I've got more time to delve into my nerd archive of car stuff. Funnily enough when at Silverstone classic I was surprised at how high pitch the GT40s were, in fact most of the chevy engine cars like the Lolas sounded loads better than I thought, and louder...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWZqb_PX12A
jacklewisno1 said:
Just stiffness with the gear change really, it doesnt like first gear at all. I have to select 2nd first before it will slot into first if that makes sense.
Some people have payed for the gears to be realigned and claim its worked, others have had their gearbox replaced under warranty. Im just going to ensure it gets Selenia oil at the next service and see if its a viscosity problem.
I see the MR2's 1st gear is like that, first gear was only available when stopped, made traffic a pain. Some people have payed for the gears to be realigned and claim its worked, others have had their gearbox replaced under warranty. Im just going to ensure it gets Selenia oil at the next service and see if its a viscosity problem.
Have you tried rev matching before going into first? If you're finding 2nd to 1st hard I always have to go from 2nd to neutral, blip throttle, into 1st. But if you can go from 2nd to 1st ok then you shouldn't need to.
jacklewisno1 said:
And just in case you want to be reminded of what £30 million quid sounds like heres a short clip i made of the start of the GT race....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b_hil7WiAQ
That's a good clip.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b_hil7WiAQ
The noise of Silverstone was pretty awesome, shame the Group Cs didn't race, it would have been nice to see them as I don't really know much about group c.
jacklewisno1 said:
Ive just learnt not to use first gear when on the move at all, it obviously is set to an incredibly short ratio. Its not a massive issue but it just makes setting off a bit of a pain and like you said heavy traffic difficult too.
I left before the group C was supposed to start as my dad was very tired which was just as well. I don't know much about it either as it was before my time and never captured my imagination in the same way GT40's and 917's did.
Yeah its the same for me, never really grabbed my attention, despite their top speeds.I left before the group C was supposed to start as my dad was very tired which was just as well. I don't know much about it either as it was before my time and never captured my imagination in the same way GT40's and 917's did.
In keeping with our 'American v8s sounded rather cracking; conversation, Mr Bizzarini's many brilliant two fingers to Enzo.
Hugo a Gogo said:
Hugo a Gogo said:
a couple of old Italian cars
it's an O.S.C.A. 1600GT with a Fissore body1 of 24 apparently
(OSCA was started by the Maserati brothers after they sold Maserat)
Edited by Hugo a Gogo on Sunday 25th August 15:37
Great pics thanks for sharing.
iva cosworth said:
Just remembered Ettore Bugatti was French but wasn't the EB110 made in Italy ?
Don't worry for the first mistake its just a verbal warning... iva cosworth said:
Really difficult to catch these well as moving really quickly.
Edited by Fantuzzi on Monday 26th August 16:37
jacklewisno1 said:
iva cosworth said:
Is there enough scoops,slots and louvres in the bonnet ?
These all from the Eifel historic rallye festival 2013...
Great pictures Mr Cosworth.
The worse the interior the better the drive...
jacklewisno1 said:
These last few pictures remind me of that Chris Harris vid where he get whizzed around in old rally cars in Italy.
Times viewed -287.Awesome video, probably his best.
jacklewisno1 said:
Going back to the Alfa GTV cars on steroids/slightly over the top thing what are you thoughts on this....
It was at the Silverstone Classic parked across from my car along with 2 others. They'd been driven across from Italy.
Is that a Assetto Corse road conversion?It was at the Silverstone Classic parked across from my car along with 2 others. They'd been driven across from Italy.
The front grill looks a little off, I prefer the wide mouth look of the assetto, have you seen the 695 race car?
http://www.abarthcars.co.uk/Site/uk/Abarth695Asset...
I'm guessing you like it Jack, as you have no taste
On the subject of taste, here's some pics from London a chap took, really must visit the capital some time...
Edited by Fantuzzi on Saturday 31st August 21:29
jacklewisno1 said:
Its the romeo ferraris cinquone stradale race car. From what i understand it has 340bhp, 6 speed sequential and mid engined. Its like the Abarth 500 version of the Zonda R. I wouldn't say it was good looking but i'd love to just drive one.
Romeo Ferrari are a tuning company, they tune lots of different cars but recently turned there attention to the 500. You can buy the body kit as a conversion for your own car. Their an absolute bargain too, its only about 16 thousand or so for the kit (unpainted). I might get a couple so i have spare bits as well.
Thought I recognised the name from superstars GT, been on their website pretty cool. Mid engine 340bhp Abarth 500? I'm in.Romeo Ferrari are a tuning company, they tune lots of different cars but recently turned there attention to the 500. You can buy the body kit as a conversion for your own car. Their an absolute bargain too, its only about 16 thousand or so for the kit (unpainted). I might get a couple so i have spare bits as well.
That would be a brilliant halo car for Abarth, wouldn't it? limited numbers, CF panels, sill price, even sillier rear arches!
I don't know much about body kits, but 16k sounds pretty pricey still! Unless that's the full conversion in which case its bloody awesome. The 500 R3T rally car is 48000 euros, you could always save up and make one of them road legal...
On their site it states this kit is only 6000Euros, is this what you meant looks sweet.
I think you might be able to get the Assetto Corse front bumper from an abarth dealer, they look pretty sweet, if you were thinking of going down the racing look. Which I would imagine would look pretty sweet without looking too mad.
jacklewisno1 said:
It takes balls to leave your F40 or Muira parked up at the side of the street. I get nervous parking my car there, let alone a supercar worth a million or so.
I know, but then I suppose If it gets keyed you probably can afford the paint to be touched up, not that I would really ever want to have to drive in a city in any car, hate cities always get lost and there are never any places to park that wont cost you the same as a small house.jacklewisno1 said:
Hows the gearbox?
The gearbox is being sorted soon, when my wallet will be emptied and ironically I wont have money for petrol, hooning will have to be done far less than I would like given I haven't had any petrol related fun all summer 
jacklewisno1 said:
Thats the kit i was talking about. 6000 euros sounds very cheap so i took a look and found you'd need to add another few thousand for hood and wheels. I got my quote from a place called TMC who lead the way in Abarth tuning in the UK. Having had a look at it again its actually about £11k. Id added some parts into the price twice by accident. But thats just for body parts, the car in your picture has 300bhp i believe so god knows how much the whole thing costs. As for the cost of the race version i wouldn't dare imagine how much that would be.
This was another car that was at Silverstone..
To be honest none of them are really my style, for that kind of money you could buy half of an SZ or 2 decent classic Fiat 500's. Both of which would look better. But it would certainly stand you out from the crowd.
Heres a quick vid showing the car..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67hYO07ooz8
Shame about the gearbox situation. Ive got a problem with my custom exhaust squeaking, something to do with one of the brackets i think. Having it looked at next week for the second time!
Ahh the joys of sports car ownership, but i'd still rather have a faulty Abarth then a pristine Polo!!
True never been much of a tuner, rather buy a better car as you've said! That said, classics done in a Singer or Alfaholics way is fairly good, although chances are that if I had a 1300 GTA Junior, Id rather just get rid of the body roll than bother with a compete overhaul.This was another car that was at Silverstone..
To be honest none of them are really my style, for that kind of money you could buy half of an SZ or 2 decent classic Fiat 500's. Both of which would look better. But it would certainly stand you out from the crowd.
Heres a quick vid showing the car..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67hYO07ooz8
Shame about the gearbox situation. Ive got a problem with my custom exhaust squeaking, something to do with one of the brackets i think. Having it looked at next week for the second time!
Ahh the joys of sports car ownership, but i'd still rather have a faulty Abarth then a pristine Polo!!
Shame about the exhausts, what make is it?
jacklewisno1 said:
The Exhaust was custom made by a place called Solid Fabrications in London. It has a electronic valve control unit which at the push of a button will divert gases from the silencer to go through a 'screamer pipe'. In other words i can have it in a quiet mode or a loud mode
I got it second hand saving me a lot of money but its not the best looking exhaust in the world and if i'd known back then what i do now i probably wouldn't have bought it.
What do you know now?I got it second hand saving me a lot of money but its not the best looking exhaust in the world and if i'd known back then what i do now i probably wouldn't have bought it.
Thought Id add this, cream is a brilliant colour.
Funnily Enough never really been a fan of most of Ferrari's grills, not even, dare I say it, that 250...
I was a fan of the f430, 250GTO.
Wasn't the original 595, 695 Abarths named so due to displacement? seems pretty weird just to slap the name on regardless of this.
The modern 595 is just a 500 Essesse with some options?
I think a good Modern special edition abarth 500 would be a R26.r type version, no PAS, stripped out (not that the rear seats were doing that much good!), get 180 out of the engine, make it look like the racers and away you go.
Or stretch the wheel base put an extra 200kg (MIN WEIGHT IS 1200KG) of weight and take on the Polo in WRC?
I was a fan of the f430, 250GTO.
Wasn't the original 595, 695 Abarths named so due to displacement? seems pretty weird just to slap the name on regardless of this.
The modern 595 is just a 500 Essesse with some options?
I think a good Modern special edition abarth 500 would be a R26.r type version, no PAS, stripped out (not that the rear seats were doing that much good!), get 180 out of the engine, make it look like the racers and away you go.
Or stretch the wheel base put an extra 200kg (MIN WEIGHT IS 1200KG) of weight and take on the Polo in WRC?
Edited by Fantuzzi on Wednesday 4th September 13:39
jacklewisno1 said:
Heathen
jacklewisno1 said:
True, but then wouldn't that mean that the Abarth 500 should now be called the Abarth 1400?
I was willing to let the 500 name go in 2007, but its just rubbing it in with the 695, 595 lark.jacklewisno1 said:
That sounds like the track car abarth you posted earlier, apart from that one has 205BHP
I have taken your advice and have written to Abarth demanding a road legal version and thanks to my great Idea a free one for you and I.jacklewisno1 said:
Maybe but stretching the wheel base would make it un-Abarth like. I'd like to see them in touring cars, They'd be lighter but less powerful. I think that would be interesting.
True, I just thought the power of 300bhp in a WRC might be a little much for the height of the car given the wheelbase, although I suppose it would have 4wd.But you're right, TC would be awesome for the 500, I think WTCC is having some problems atm, so perhaps that's why they havnt bothered.
jacklewisno1 said:
Taking this thread away from Abarths, I think i may have found the perfect engine note...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcvruhYk0po
Ah yes the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione's Maserati derived 4.7, why do you think I believe the Maserati Mc stradale 4 seater is one of the best cars around? Same engine, more power, slightly different exhaust note to the connoisseur... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcvruhYk0po
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pfiqb6cizfg
jacklewisno1 said:
Ive also decided that its time you replaced your MR2. Ive always had a soft spot for the Alfa GTV, especially the 3.0ltr cup version. But as i cant afford to run 2 cars ive decided you need to buy one instead. And then when you do, add a Raggazzon DTM quad exhaust system. It will sound like this..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGYx-aPb_wA
Looking forward to seeing the results.
Firstly that exhaust sounds like thunder, angry thunder (great band name?) secondly GTV's have wrong wheel drive and the engines in the wrong place http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGYx-aPb_wA
Looking forward to seeing the results.
, my MR2 is perfect apart from having a mild problem that will be fixed after I sell my body to the sex industry or I become a sort of robin hood who steals from the rich and gives to the mid engine sports car owners.Although GTVs do look the sex.
Edited by Fantuzzi on Friday 6th September 12:02
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