I got the chance to drive a Viper on an autocross course for a couple of laps last year. The torque the Viper had was just mind boggling. 1st gear was good for up to 60 mph, I never even got to 2nd gear on the course I was driving. It is a lot of fun to wring the heck out of a high revving 4 cylinder car, but I miss the torque that my Mustangs had. Since we have five or six very nice race tracks with frequent open track days within 2-5 hours of my house, it won't be any problem driving fast cars fast once I get one (later this year). I also live on a straight stretch of smooth country road that only has one mild curve in 10 miles and no hills, and I work nights, so I sometimes take a stress-relieving blast up into the triple digits at 3am when I have the road to myself.

-Keith

 

So taking a 240-hp Honda V6, mating it to an Audi 5000 transaxle and stuffing it all into a 1640-lb Europa would be a bad idea? Guess I'd better settle for the Weber upgrade.

As for the fast/slow debate, I want something that I don't have to flog to the last rpm to enjoy and something that I don't have to glue an egg to the accelerator to keep myself out of trouble. Aforementioned engine swap excepted.

 

Isn't that an Alfa V6, not Honda, in the Europa?

Do you have one? I'm looking into getting an S2 myself.

 

Banks does an Alfa-powered Europa, but I like the Honda V6. The Alfa seems a step sideways in reliability from the Lotus Twin Cam.

I have a 73 TCS that sat in a carport two blocks off the Gulf of Mexico for too long for the lack of a master cylinder and room for two baby seats. I'm trying to decide between spending as little as possible (still not inconsiderable) to get it on the road ASAP and live with a stupid, so-so paint job (the DPO painted all the trim silver the same time he painted the body) and other annoyances, or doing a full restoration.

 

My Mustang is pushing a lot more power than it came with in 1965 (and the suspension to handle it). With the carb, getting stuck in bumper to bumper was a serious PITA, as it bucked like crazy creeping along in first. But now it's got EFI, and it's a rag top, so it's just fine to drive it slow.

And it takes a lot more finesse to drive it fast, because you can't use the gas pedal like an on/off switch like in the Mini (most of the time). When the Mustang got back on the road with the almost 100 HP increase over the last motor, I scared the crap out of myself, getting sideways on a freeway onramp (the previous motor just wouldn't have done that with the amount of throttle I was using).

So overall I agree, one of the issues with the computer controlled turbo world that we'll all be entering (not just the next Mini, but it's a very efficient package for power and economy), is that silly power is just a software upgrade away.

For the most fun, I think slightly vintage is the way to go. Vintage racing is a real gas, as are open track events with more of a "drive what you brung" attitude. You can get wayyyyy to much car now for not much money, and there's no requirement that the owners get the real driver training that's needed to take advantage of what the new cars can do. So most of the potential is wasted, and it's easy to get in trouble.

Matt

 

I'd say yes for anything other than a show car and if thats what it is might as well turbo it and get 500HP. The original Europa chassis certainly wasn't designed to take that much power. Its notorious for failing/cracking with the R16 Gordini motor. Doubling the HP of an otherwise stock Europa would either an exercise in bending, twisting and breaking bits of the car over time. With double the power certainly you need more rubber, which mean more wheel, which mean stronger hub carriers, which means beefier suspension pieces, which means re-enforced pickup points which means more torsional stiffness required in the subframe, which... yadayadayada or roughly translated big $$$. An S2000 motor in the back of a Europa would make a little more sense to me, as the modern spirital equivalent of the Lotus/Ford twin cam. In the end, its not really a Europa.

Once you had such a car, how would you address safety? I've actually wondered how the heck anyone's ever buit a cage or even a roll bar with any integrity for these cars. With a double wishbone frame, where are your attach points? So, for me, yes its a bad idea if you're thinking about a tracking such a car (which to my mind is the only reason for owning cars with this much capability).

 

Yeah, it quickly reaches a point of absurdity. Modding a stock Europa to that level (you forgot body mods for that rubber and to keep the nose from getting light over 100mph) and you might as well just buy the Banks 62s. From what I understand, the rear diagonal supports of a proper roll cage have to go through the rear window and the front goes through the air vent on the dash. Not too practical, but it's all fun to think about.

I'd be quite happy with whatever gain in quickness I'd get from switching from Zenith-Strombergs to Webers and lightened rotational mass. Just so it's noticably quicker than the MINI.

 

^^ im very impressed with the sophistication from someone that
posts from "Redneck Riviera" ? jk.


i only know recent econo-boxes they sell here in the US. i should change
my location to Redneck Suburbia.