RE: Higgins on the TT: Time For Tea?
Wednesday 25th June 2014
Despite winning the British Rally Championship three times and beating his own record for a road car on the TT course, Mark Higgins is almost best known for holding that monumental tankslapper in 2011.
Higgins on the TT: Time For Tea?
The film of this year's record run, plus that tankslapper one more time
Of course that features in Subaru's TT video, but it does (eventually) cover the 2014 record attempt too. And it's a little more in depth than your standard onboard too. There is predictably enough some dramatic music to accompany the footage and multiple gearchange shots but also the stats and analysis from his body monitor, similar to Chris's during the N24. Fascinating.
It's interesting to note too that Mark's 19m 16s beat the sidecar record for the TT course as well as the production car time, making it the fastest vehicle behind the 600cc and 1,000cc bikes. Will a sidecar duo take that back any time soon?
See Subaru's video here.
Discussion
Don't know why but this little segment made me laugh just a bit, all sounding very serious and professional up until: "the breathing rate in breaths per minute, his body temperature in Celsius, and also the G force in err, in G..."
As for the actual record, congratulations and all that but it's not really what we want to see, certainly not I for sure. As much as I respect the bikers and their huge testicles I just can't see how the right car would't be faster than any bike.
If it has to be a road legal 'production' car that sets the record then get a Radical SR8 involved. If we're talking race car just chuck a pro into an Audi R18 and let them go, see how long the 'bike vs car' argument lasts then
ETA: bumpy roads/long periods of sustained top speed - whatever, I still reckon a car has the edge. It's four patches of rubber in contact with the road versus two.
As for the actual record, congratulations and all that but it's not really what we want to see, certainly not I for sure. As much as I respect the bikers and their huge testicles I just can't see how the right car would't be faster than any bike.
If it has to be a road legal 'production' car that sets the record then get a Radical SR8 involved. If we're talking race car just chuck a pro into an Audi R18 and let them go, see how long the 'bike vs car' argument lasts then
ETA: bumpy roads/long periods of sustained top speed - whatever, I still reckon a car has the edge. It's four patches of rubber in contact with the road versus two.
Edited by lindrup119 on Wednesday 25th June 16:56
y2blade said:
It sounded brutal when it passed us wide open throttle at 150+ about 4 foot away 
I defy anyone that saw it first-hand this year and/or the previous time to fail to be impressed.
Why haven't they cut the tail pipes down I wonder? Doesn't seem right to me. Unless it's a track specific option which would make this as much 'production car' as my bicycle I defy anyone that saw it first-hand this year and/or the previous time to fail to be impressed.
What a lap, the guy has balls of steel and I don't give a hoot about the stupid car v bike chat, as I love them both. Pointless discussion.
I'm kind of getting fed up though of "Production Car". I cannot go and buy that car in a showroom, so how's it a production car? I'd love to see how fast he could do it in one straight out the showroom.
Mind you, I wouldn't do it unless I had a roll cage fitted either. What to do......???
I'm kind of getting fed up though of "Production Car". I cannot go and buy that car in a showroom, so how's it a production car? I'd love to see how fast he could do it in one straight out the showroom.
Mind you, I wouldn't do it unless I had a roll cage fitted either. What to do......???
kin' car. 
Well done Mark Higgins & Subaru for doing this again, however the overall recording was a load of marketing rubbish really. Just give us the unedited lap with only car sounds and no silly music and snippets of suspension added in. Expected more than this, my previous comment still stands a few may try but a bike will be faster on this course.
Kudos to mark for doing this again, and beating the sidecars.
I see he was flat out at 165, that's a good 40 or so mph down on the superbikes flat out, and the bikes get to straightline a little bit more of the circuit and get better acceleration out of the slower corners.
As for whether a hardcore car could handle the bumps, I suspect not without a lot of work, the vibration out there has to be experienced to be believed. Send a bike out for a lap with a crack in the screen and it disintegrates unless you drill the ends of the crack to relieve the stress points, send one out with Dsuz screws not gaffa taped into place and they'll disappear, got a 12mm long M6 seat bolt without threadlock? - kiss goodbye to it halfway around, a bit of play between fairing lowers on a Ducati? - there'll be 8mm ovals where the 5mm round holes used to be. Prepping and racing short circuit stuff really doesn't give you any idea of what needs to be done to keep a bike together on that circuit.
I see he was flat out at 165, that's a good 40 or so mph down on the superbikes flat out, and the bikes get to straightline a little bit more of the circuit and get better acceleration out of the slower corners.
As for whether a hardcore car could handle the bumps, I suspect not without a lot of work, the vibration out there has to be experienced to be believed. Send a bike out for a lap with a crack in the screen and it disintegrates unless you drill the ends of the crack to relieve the stress points, send one out with Dsuz screws not gaffa taped into place and they'll disappear, got a 12mm long M6 seat bolt without threadlock? - kiss goodbye to it halfway around, a bit of play between fairing lowers on a Ducati? - there'll be 8mm ovals where the 5mm round holes used to be. Prepping and racing short circuit stuff really doesn't give you any idea of what needs to be done to keep a bike together on that circuit.
lindrup119 said:
Don't know why but this little segment made me laugh just a bit, all sounding very serious and professional up until: "the breathing rate in breaths per minute, his body temperature in Celsius, and also the G force in err, in G..."
As for the actual record, congratulations and all that but it's not really what we want to see, certainly not I for sure. As much as I respect the bikers and their huge testicles I just can't see how the right car would't be faster than any bike.
If it has to be a road legal 'production' car that sets the record then get a Radical SR8 involved. If we're talking race car just chuck a pro into an Audi R18 and let them go, see how long the 'bike vs car' argument lasts then
ETA: bumpy roads/long periods of sustained top speed - whatever, I still reckon a car has the edge. It's four patches of rubber in contact with the road versus two.
Thanks for the edit. Were you worried the first effort wasn't stupid enough?As for the actual record, congratulations and all that but it's not really what we want to see, certainly not I for sure. As much as I respect the bikers and their huge testicles I just can't see how the right car would't be faster than any bike.
If it has to be a road legal 'production' car that sets the record then get a Radical SR8 involved. If we're talking race car just chuck a pro into an Audi R18 and let them go, see how long the 'bike vs car' argument lasts then
ETA: bumpy roads/long periods of sustained top speed - whatever, I still reckon a car has the edge. It's four patches of rubber in contact with the road versus two.
Edited by lindrup119 on Wednesday 25th June 16:56
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