RE: Ringside Seat: white van man

[VonSenger]

emicen said:

You missed the bit of the article where he said the fastest lap was set on his second one where he made a mess of the gears then?

Nope. Read that and my comment still stands, this site seems to attract morons who cant drive for toffee but are the first to comment on others.

[emicen]

VonSenger said:

emicen said:

You missed the bit of the article where he said the fastest lap was set on his second one where he made a mess of the gears then?

Nope. Read that and my comment still stands, this site seems to attract morons who cant drive for toffee but are the first to comment on others.

It could be taken either way to be fair. If the driving gods on here annoy you, surely the straight to guns keyboard warriors do to?

[VonSenger]

emicen said:

surely the straight to guns keyboard warriors do to?

Your type? No I quite like them so you're safe.

[TEKNOPUG]

Hmmmm....I suspect that this van may have lapped quicker...

[Ruaraidh_Gamma]

emicen said:

Thats highly dependent on the ABS system in question. For exampple, pull the ABS fuse on an R50/53 MINI and you get 50:50 brake bias. Have fun with that on a circuit...

Yeah but you'd at least try it before giving up. And I highly doubt a van will ever be set up statically with a 50/50 brake bias at least without some form or weight apportioning valve.

Or you could disconnect the steering angle sensor or loads of things to remove the ESP....

Had some practice at this! ))

[infradig]

[quote=P2BS]I recall Car Magazine in the mid 1980's writing an article on the VW Van with a 911 engine sitting in the back - done as a factory prototype thing. Anyone else remember that one?

Also, the driver's (author's?) head posture on Carousel suggests he rides a motorbike too... any comment?!
[IMG]http://images.pistonheads.com/nimg/27947/RingsideSeatVanRecord_07-L.jpg[/


I remember that article,George Kacher travelled with some engineers using one as a support vehicle for prototype (959?) testing.
Don't know if these were actually the legendary (mythical?) B32's.

[legalknievel]

I don't know if anyone else has seen it, but this Ring vid is a personal favourite of mine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjEypd3c7AQ

[RB Will]

TEKNOPUG said:

Hmmmm....I suspect that this van may have lapped quicker...

Having been out for a lap in it yes it is way quicker than the VW

Here is a vid showing the Mini is 9 sec a full lap slower than Sabine in a 997 Carrera. Lost most of that on the last straight too
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LaYaSWyrE2M

Edited by RB Will on Monday 24th June 17:19

[RobCrezz]

monthefish said:

Anyone else a bit dissapointed with the time, considering the extent of the mods?

As I said at the time, I was really surprised the Top Gear episode didn't end with Sabine driving one of the Supervans, or the 'Goodwood Maintenance' van (with the giveaway wheels) - any of those would have comfortably gone unde the 10 min mark, despite not being 'honed' for 'ring track work.



Nvertheless, I enjoyed this vid/experiment though.

40seconds is huge!


Good effort!

[RobertDB7V12]

I remember that article,George Kacher travelled with some engineers using one as a support vehicle for prototype (959?) testing.
Don't know if these were actually the legendary (mythical?) B32's.
[/quote]


If my memory is working correctly someone at Porsche worked out how much they would save by putting their R&D teams in a very fast (150 mph) microbus with a flat 6 turbo in the boot, so they built one. Then someone else pointed out that they would wipe out the whole R&D team if someone pulled over on it on the autobahn. Project canned and they let some journalists have a go. Does it still exist?

[hairyben]

RobCrezz said:

monthefish said:

Anyone else a bit dissapointed with the time, considering the extent of the mods?

As I said at the time, I was really surprised the Top Gear episode didn't end with Sabine driving one of the Supervans, or the 'Goodwood Maintenance' van (with the giveaway wheels) - any of those would have comfortably gone unde the 10 min mark, despite not being 'honed' for 'ring track work.



Nvertheless, I enjoyed this vid/experiment though.

40seconds is huge!


Good effort!

I think it's the contrasting it with Sabine's that seems a bit like stealing lunch money off primary school kids, given the VW has twice the power and trick tyres/suspension etc over a wobbly factory transit. Inevitable though.

I expect the VW has to be the quickest production van avaliable- the merc vito 3.0's probably quicker in a straight line but the suggestamatic gearbox is unusable in anger, is there anything else that'd come close?

[RB Will]

possibly a Dodge Ram C/V (its basically a van version of the Voyager) but does come with 280BHP

[hairyben]

RB Will said:

possibly a Dodge Ram C/V (its basically a van version of the Voyager) but does come with 280BHP

I considered the americans would inevitably have something V8 powered, would it have a chance in hell of keeping up with something 21st century on a track though?

[V8RX7]

hairyben said:

RB Will said:

possibly a Dodge Ram C/V (its basically a van version of the Voyager) but does come with 280BHP

I considered the americans would inevitably have something V8 powered, would it have a chance in hell of keeping up with something 21st century on a track though?

You might be surprised... I saw an 80's Mustang flying around Donnington - whilst it was far from standard, Yanks do like modifying and some like going fast around corners too.

[hairyben]

V8RX7 said:

You might be surprised... I saw an 80's Mustang flying around Donnington - whilst it was far from standard, Yanks do like modifying and some like going fast around corners too.

I did say production though (I think I read, possibly elsewhere, that this was a element of this record attempt)

Otherwise you could put a shortened winnebago body on a custom space frame powered by a hennessey special just to make the point.

[RB Will]

hairyben said:

I considered the americans would inevitably have something V8 powered, would it have a chance in hell of keeping up with something 21st century on a track though?

I think it is only a v6. It might have a chance though especially if given similar mods to the VW.
I used to hustle the last generation Voyagers along the road as a fairly silly pace so I expect the more modern version with the interior missing would be much more accomplished.