Fast and forgotten

[Jazoli]

I’d wager an integra type r would be quicker that’s for sure

And pretty much every other 2000's hot hatch, hell a clio 172 would just leave it for dead, everywhere, but in isolation I bet it's quite nippy.

[LightBulbFun]

Get lifts in other cars, man.

 

 

*sad face*

[alcyonecorporation]

damnit

[alcyonecorporation]

And pretty much every other 2000's hot hatch, hell a clio 172 would just leave it for dead, everywhere, but in isolation I bet it's quite nippy.

There is one road where a Xantia Activa could get away from my WRX. There's a *very* rough road near Holme in Peebo that I haven't seen anything drive faster down, but you could tell it wasn't happy.

 

The trouble is, you'd tear the exhaust off it, buckle a wheel and burst a tyre not long after. There would be two dead cars to transport away.

 

You'd need a twin shock rally car or specialised fast off-road equipment like a modded sand rail or Bowler to get the ground clearance and axle articulation; it's barely a 'road' as it is. I suspect an Ariel Nomad (uh oh, that company again) would be quite handy on it.

[Schaefft]

Something everyone even in this thread seems to have forgotten, the marvelous Renault Safrane Biturbo:

 

 

Twinturbo V6, AWD and manual only. Built by Irmscher (in cooperation with BMW tuner Hartge) in limited numbers (640), this is pretty much as exclusive as it can get when it comes to French performance sedans. Good luck trying to find parts for one of these, its hard enough to find them for my normal Safrane.

 

The funny thing is, according to the official 0-100km/h numbers all of this is barely enough to beat my mid-level 528i from around the same era.

[John F]

^ Did they just use the doors off a Mk 3 Cavalier for that car?

 

Looks like it to me

[Guest Hooli]

^ Did they just use the doors off a Mk 3 Cavalier for that car?

 

Looks like it to me

 

I think they just used a chavalier & sanded the corners off a bit more.

[andy18s]

There is one road where a Xantia Activa could get away from my WRX. There's a *very* rough road near Holme in Peebo that I haven't seen anything drive faster down, but you could tell it wasn't happy.

 

The trouble is, you'd tear the exhaust off it, buckle a wheel and burst a tyre not long after. There would be two dead cars to transport away.

 

You'd need a twin shock rally car or specialised fast off-road equipment like a modded sand rail or Bowler to get the ground clearance and axle articulation; it's barely a 'road' as it is. I suspect an Ariel Nomad (uh oh, that company again) would be quite handy on it.

You've just described 85% of Bulgarian tarmac,and although some Euro money is being spent on improvements it is very sporadic

[Scruffy Bodger]

Another Jap car that I can't remember when I saw the last one was.

 

 

https://www.historics.co.uk/buying/auctions/2015-11-28/car/ref-50-1989-mitsubishi-starion-ex-turbo-widebody/

 

179 bhp in 1989 can't have been considered as being too bad? 

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Something everyone even in this thread seems to have forgotten, the marvelous Renault Safrane Biturbo:

 

 

Twinturbo V6, AWD and manual only. Built by Irmscher (in cooperation with BMW tuner Hartge) in limited numbers (640), this is pretty much as exclusive as it can get when it comes to French performance sedans. Good luck trying to find parts for one of these, its hard enough to find them for my normal Safrane.

 

The funny thing is, according to the official 0-100km/h numbers all of this is barely enough to beat my mid-level 528i from around the same era.

That'll be everyone except Davehedgehog who made the 3rd post in this thread or me who elaborated and even used the same picture...

[John F]

These seem to be a bit forgotten nowadays:

 

[JeeExEll]

The Hillman Hunter GT.

[JeeExEll]

 

The V8S from around 1980/81. Pre-Vitesse and no faster than a std series-1 V8 but quick for it's time and had some extra kit. All before fuel-injection. Absolutely loads of rust and electrical gremlins built in. Wheels made of pure gold tho.

I viewed a Triton green one in Aberdeen in 1990 and agreed to buy, a 5-speed manual, Not expensive. I'd agreed to return with cash after work next day. Fortunately (for me) someone else bought it for a higher offer next morning. The buyer turned out to be friend of a friend and the V8S was an absolutely unreliable POS with faults in everything you could think of.

Rare model now, nice exhaust note and I still like them. Despite having been a large car for it's time they look quite compact now compared to modern bloated cars. Very low.

[Steve79]

Audi 200 Avant Quattro Turbo

[NorfolkNWeigh]

The V8S from around 1980/81. Pre-Vitesse and no faster than a std series-1 V8 but quick for it's time and had some extra kit. All before fuel-injection. Absolutely loads of rust and electrical gremlins built in. Wheels made of pure gold tho.

I viewed a Triton green one in Aberdeen in 1990 and agreed to buy, a 5-speed manual, Not expensive. I'd agreed to return with cash after work next day. Fortunately (for me) someone else bought it for a higher offer next morning. The buyer turned out to be friend of a friend and the V8S was an absolutely unreliable POS with faults in everything you could think of.

Rare model now, nice exhaust note and I still like them. Despite having been a large car for it's time they look quite compact now compared to modern bloated cars. Very low.

I had a gold auto one with brown leather and aircon, unfortunately the belt had been cut off the aircon to save fuel,by the previous owner. Best bit was the red V8-S badge on the back. Sold it to a Cobra kit builder when it failed the MOT.

[Schaefft]

That'll be everyone except Davehedgehog who made the 3rd post in this thread or me who elaborated and even used the same picture...

I guess I even forgot about your post mentioning it.

 

Hopefully this one didn't show up here yet, the 3.0 24V Sigma that you could order with a manual. Japanese models had some extremely advanced tech at the time, and even here in Europe Clarkson was quite impressed by the amount of features you'd get in them. So much he actual stared in a proper advertisement film for it.

 

[Snipes]

I think the (1st gen?) Vr4 Galant is a better example. Mitsubishi's rally weapon, overshadowed by the later Evo Lancers.

 

[Schaefft]

That must have been mentioned before though!

 

To stick with Mitsubishi, here's one pretty much nobody outside of Japan/New Zealand/Australia/Russia knew in the first place, the Galant based Emeraud Super Touring R. I've always been fascinated by JDM only hardtop variants of ordinary models, and this is one of them. Basically a 2nd gen Galant VR4 in a more obscure version.

 

 

This is probably going a bit beyond the original scope of the thread though...

[Felly Magic]

Wasn't there a turbocharged Triumph Acclaim? The MG Maestro in EFi and Turbo guises were pretty nippy, the Turbo press cars had an impressive 0-60 time, for something that had the aerodynamics of a church, they normally grenaded soon after, buzarrely the tubo did away with fuel injection, and had a bloody SU carb, EFis were prone to missfires, which were often cured by ragging the living shit out of em in every gear, including 5th, 130 wasn't seen on the speedo of my old EFi, honest guv!

[garethj]

Forgotten because Caterham launched their 21 at exactly the wrong time - just before Lotus released the Elise, there was also the MGF and of course the MX5 around the same time.  Arse.

 

 

A shame because it's a great looking car, handled well and was only 665kg.  That meant 0-60 under 6 seconds and 130mph.  It was a more refined version of the Caterham 7 inside but not much more; side windows that you have to lift off and put in the boot aren't something that the MGF had on the options list.

 

I've been passenger in one when they were being developed as I helped them with the cooling system.  Being a lunatic driver adds 20% to the power and this bloke knew the roads around the factory extremely well.  It's in the forgotten category because they only sold 49

[Guest Hooli]

Forgotten because Caterham launched their 21 at exactly the wrong time - just before Lotus released the Elise, there was also the MGF and of course the MX5 around the same time. Arse.

 

 

A shame because it's a great looking car, handled well and was only 665kg. That meant 0-60 under 6 seconds and 130mph. It was a more refined version of the Caterham 7 inside but not much more; side windows that you have to lift off and put in the boot aren't something that the MGF had on the options list.

 

I've been passenger in one when they were being developed as I helped them with the cooling system. Being a lunatic driver adds 20% to the power and this bloke knew the roads around the factory extremely well. It's in the forgotten category because they only sold 49

They look fantastic. A proper sports car.

[alcyonecorporation]

You've just described 85% of Bulgarian tarmac,and although some Euro money is being spent on improvements it is very sporadic

Fair enough, but I wouldn't want to drive quickly down the Holme road in any car lest I kick the shit out of it.

[Snipes]

That must have been mentioned before though!

 

To stick with Mitsubishi, here's one pretty much nobody outside of Japan/New Zealand/Australia/Russia knew in the first place, the Galant based Emeraud Super Touring R. I've always been fascinated by JDM only hardtop variants of ordinary models, and this is one of them. Basically a 2nd gen Galant VR4 in a more obscure version.

 

 

This is probably going a bit beyond the original scope of the thread though...

 

In the same vein, the Toyota Corona Exiv 200GT;

One of a whole family of Toyota pillar-less sedans and hardtops using sooped-up Corolla and Celica/Corona/Carina mechanicals (and I guess floor-pans). Also enjoyed by the Russians and fans of early Gran Turismo.

[face]

Is the Mazda 323 posted earlier the same as the turbo 4x4?

 

Was always on my radar back in the day, especially after watching one take part in the Scottish Rally Championship.

 

One of those cars that when I had money weren't around and when I didn't one would pop up for sale.

 

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

Same shape yeah. But those Turbo variants were more animal. The difference is akin to the modern day Golf R and GTi.

[overrun]

In stock form, a llot quicker than expected, then and now. Turbos at least.

 

Yet very rarely seen on the roads, spoken about or on any fast car wish lists.

[Sheefag]

Renault 9 Turbo.

 

A lad I knew, his Dad had one that we ragged the arse off.

 

[Partridge]

For god's sake, this is Autoshite. I'm suprised that a Citroen ZX Turbo-D on cracked Jinyus has not occurred yet (running on veg, naturally, with brakes bought from a scrapyard for "stopping" power). I drove one to the local chip shop once, and it was faster than an Arial Atom AND a Xantia Activa with a clearly displayed and obnoxiously placed Citroen Car Club sticker, driven by Jonathan fucking Meades. The fact that I have unbridled Asperger's Syndrome may have given me the edge, though.

[bramz7]

First proper fast car I ever had a lift in was a Zafira GSI. It was shit, of course, but like a breeze block doing warp speed.

 

Bright blue too. The friends dad who owned it was a proper car nut who ended up dying in a Renault 5. Anyway.....

[alcyonecorporation]

In stock form, a llot quicker than expected, then and now. Turbos at least.

 

Yet very rarely seen on the roads, spoken about or on any fast car wish lists.

That's because 95% of the GT-S grey imports have either blown up or have been wrapped round trees; the on-boost snap oversteer you get is fucking terrifying (and very rarely helped by utterly knackered suspension, bushes and tie rods, which they all seem to have).

[overrun]

That's because 95% of the GT-S grey imports have either blown up or have been wrapped round trees; the on-boost snap oversteer you get is fucking terrifying (and very rarely helped by utterly knackered suspension, bushes and tie rods, which they all seem to have).

They’re nowhere near as bad as made out. It’s the Rev 1 that is the snappiest.

But drive an MR car that has a bit of go, like a FF and you will rightly get what you deserve.