Anyone run an MG ZR?

[Graham]

As the title really does anyone on here run an MG ZR in its various guises, and what sort of class would it run in britcar/ ps1 etc and also what class in the 24hr..

I know I can e-mail claire but its just an idea at the mo

Cheers

Graham

[Simon Mason]

It fits into the baby class Graham, class 4. So you would be up against Honda Type R's etc and in a long race they will smoke a ZR with out trying. The ZR's are much lighter than the Civic and in a straight line every bit a match to our car last year but the problem is they have half the torque so are not so good out of corners, a big issue when Porsches and Moslers are killing your entry speeds as they pass. So when the inevitable lapping starts you just drop backwards.

To get the engine to produce anything like decent power they become very unreliable. Look at the Smith/Plotnek ZR last year, two quick drivers robbed of results and all the modified Lotus' which end up converting to a Honda engine.

Assuming your point is to run an English car a well prepared (I stress that point heavily) fairly standard Lotus Exige 260 is an under estimated weapon from my experience but of course its not cheap.

[andy97]

This might make a reasonable Class 4 cheap alternative:
http://www.racecarsdirect.com/viewlisting.php?view...

Already prepared for endurance racing. Must be largely Clio Cup mechanicals (?) and you could fit the SADEV sequential 'box if you wanted to.

Not as good as a Civic/ Integra but way cheaper.

Edited by andy97 on Wednesday 30th April 06:38

[Graham]

Thanks for the replies... If we do it though we're fairly committed to an MG of some variety as much of the funding would be coming from MG enthusiasts..

I wonder what happened to the 4pot cossy engined concept MG TF so We're fairly stuck with ZR/ ZS / MG F/TF.

If we do prep a ZR I think we'll understand that we cant compete on pace, and would have to look to maximizing reliabilty, and minimizing pitstops etc... Having been around the 24 since it started you can beat a lot more competitive cars with some reliability and some luck....

mmmm they built the mg with an oil burner... how about a ZT-T diesel

Thanks for the info so far guys..

Cheers

Graham

[Graham]

seriously though would a 2ltr td in a ZR even be worth thinking about ? surely it couldnt be any slower than the golf that ran last year?

G


Also I cant lay my hands on my notes at the moment... How long was the fog stoppage last year?

G

[pistol pete]

Graham said:

seriously though would a 2ltr td in a ZR even be worth thinking about ? surely it couldnt be any slower than the golf that ran last year?

G


Also I cant lay my hands on my notes at the moment... How long was the fog stoppage last year?

G

G,

2.0Td is the same engine as my ZS. I would have thought there were better starting points. It's a heavy old Land Rover design. I recon you could get about 175-200Bhp out of it pretty easy, but I'd be surpried if you could match a Golf.

Pete

[thunderbelmont]

More chance of caching leprosy I'd say.

Why not take a ZT-260 and make that Ford V8 actually produce power, instead of make some noises, but not go.

That 4.6L Mustang lump can be coaxed to over 500bhp (which does include taking the black & decker to it a bit - but most of it is off the shelf from the US-of-A)

Or just throw it out and fit a LS1/2/6/7/9(!) Chevy.

[Graham]

The ZT v8 is an option, and has a number of advantages and disadvantages...

The biggest disadvantage as I see it is the class that it would be in and the competition at that level has much bigger budgets.

The Belcar ZT is still available at reasonable cost ( still a fair bit more than the auction price though) but as its never run you'd easily spend the same again prepping it, and then the cost of running it

Going back to the ZR for a moment, what are the rules on engine swaps... I note some of the elises running honda and audi motors, if the biggest problem with the ZR is the K-series and the better motor the later civic motor. would we be allowed to run with the civic lump in the zr? after all it is an earlier civic at the end of the day Obviously thats ignoring technical issues but as a concept would it be allowed...

[andy97]

Graham said:

The ZT v8 is an option, and has a number of advantages and disadvantages...

The biggest disadvantage as I see it is the class that it would be in and the competition at that level has much bigger budgets.

The Belcar ZT is still available at reasonable cost ( still a fair bit more than the auction price though) but as its never run you'd easily spend the same again prepping it, and then the cost of running it

Going back to the ZR for a moment, what are the rules on engine swaps... I note some of the elises running honda and audi motors, if the biggest problem with the ZR is the K-series and the better motor the later civic motor. would we be allowed to run with the civic lump in the zr? after all it is an earlier civic at the end of the day Obviously thats ignoring technical issues but as a concept would it be allowed...

Make them a daft (low) offer for the ZT - its been for sale for a very long time and they might want to get rid!

Also Britcar runs on classes based on power to weight ratios doesn't it, so presumably you could adjust the power to weight ratio to get in to the "right" class for you, or buy another ZT V8 and prep that, but just not to equivelant to the Belcar spec. Far more interesting than a ZR anyway!

As for the engine conversion, don't know the tech rules but much cheaper to buy a Honda in the first place than convert your own I'd have thought! And an MG ZR with a Honda engine is no longer an MG anyway, so your original reason for not wanting to buy a Honda (or a Renault etc) would be gone IMO.