top gear

Post by **dalebrignall** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 4:19 pm

did any of you watch top gear last night,they were trying to get a renault people carrier to go round the track as fast as an japones evo.they put brakes roll bars suspention up grades on it .then dynoed it it was 50 hp down.so they gave it a service,and claimed they could get 50 hp back from changing the oil fuel filters etc.they also put a new manifold on.dont know if it was inlet or exhaust.there was a different exhaust system on at the end.shorly you cant gain 50 hp from a normal service.

Post by **superchargedfool** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 4:45 pm

here what you are saying, but I did notice they included in the list of items changed on the service that they changed the injectors.

If they were 6 years old and mileagey then that along with the new exhaust , filters etc could make a big difference.

I also think that they probably changed the exhaust manifolds which could make a huge difference.

Couldn't work out why they didn't just remove the 200kg of extra weight it was carrying (interior, sound deadening, luxuries, etc), it would have made the biggest single difference.

Have to say though what a stunning piece of driving that last lap by the stig was in that french heap. It was totally brilliant driving.

Post by **JuNK512G** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 4:52 pm

Dale, surely the best bit was when it caught fire. Charlie.

Post by **plastic_orange** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 5:03 pm

Should have given them a Minor and £10k to spend.

Pete

Post by **dalebrignall** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 5:03 pm

if they are fiberglass should have let it burn to show people how dangerous they are.when my dad was in herts firebrigade,if a reliant or a simiter went up they used to let them burn up and shovel the bits into a bucket.the resins in fiberglass are really flamable dale.

Post by **plastic_orange** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 5:22 pm

All cars burn pretty fiercely in a fire situation, true, fibreglass ones are possibly worse, but they all get going when the interior catches fire.
I went to a 6 wheeled crane (it was almost new) that was totally involved when we got there - all that was left of the original colour was the tip of the jib (who would have thought a lump of machinery like that would burn).
Main problem was the tyres and the hydraulic oil. They had to close the road to get it resurfaced due to fire damage.
3 fire appliances and 45 gallons of foam concentrate to get it out.

Pete

Post by **Kevin** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 11:19 am

if a reliant or a simiter went up

Hate to say it Dale but the scimitar was made by Reliant, the worst cars if I remember correctly for catching fire was the Lotus Elan.

Post by **dalebrignall** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 4:31 pm

they were bad kevin i think the renault espace is fiberglass.i did not know the elan was fiberglass what other cars are made out of fiberglass give us a list.

Post by **alainmoran** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 4:57 pm

I used to own a BMC built fibreglass copy of the MG-TD based on a VW beetle .. does that count?

linearaudio · Post by **linearaudio** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 5:01 pm

Three quarters of my traveller- 3 wings and a goodly bit of filler (not structural though)

The Espace came to be fibreglass after Renault bought into/up Matra, who had specialised in plastic cars notably the Bagheera sports car, now very rare and a pig to renovate due to the use of a spaceframe with bonded on plastic panels as I remember.

Post by **plastic_orange** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 5:21 pm

My mate had 2 bagheera's - all I can say is Oh Dear

Pete

Post by **Alec** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 5:26 pm

Hello all,

The Delorean had a fibreglass body. Other things like Lotus\Marcos\TVR etc tend to also be plastic bodied.

Alec

Post by **PSL184** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 5:30 pm

The Delorean had a fibreglass underbody but the outer panels were stainless steel...

Post by **Alec** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 6:03 pm

Hello PSL,

yes that's true, totally pointless.

Alec

Post by **PSL184** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 6:19 pm

Same could be said for the rest of the car

Post by **Alec** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 6:38 pm

Hello PSL,

yes, not the best car in the world by a long way.

Alec

Post by **JuNK512G** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:24 pm

[quote="plastic orange"
I went to a 6 wheeled crane (it was almost new) that was totally involved when we got there - all that was left of the original colour was the tip of the jib (who would have thought a lump of machinery like that would burn).

Pete[/quote]
Always amazes me that a burning army tank turns into a blazing furnace. Charlie.

Post by **Kevin** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 8:08 am

Always amazes me that a burning army tank turns into a blazing furnace.

Well it does have a chimney at the front

To answer Dale's question the only other's I can think of the top of my head were Daimler Dart, Marcos, Bond Equipe & TVR as I think most of the others were kit car based like Rochdale Olympic, Davarian, Ginetta & our local one the Tornado from Rickmansworth with such exotic names as Typhoon, Thunderbolt & Tempest.

Post by **dalebrignall** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 9:55 pm

what did people think of the v8 food blender,v8 stairlift next week

Post by **plastic_orange** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 8:10 am

Same engine as my mm project.

Pete