Performance News - 3 November 1998

Hyundai Power

If you want a bit more punch from your Excel but don't want to go to the expense of bolting on a turbo or blower kit, CAPA may have the answer. The CAPA Twin Throttle kit uses a heavily modified intake manifold with twin throttles, two K&N air filters and a revised ECU chip. The kit has a claimed power improvement of 21 per cent and is said to reduce the 0-100km/h time by a major 1.2 seconds. The manifold is available on either an exchange basis or your standard unit can be modified to suit.

Talk to CAPA on +61 8 8582 3499
or go to www.capa.com.au for more details.

New Electronic BOV

EFI Direct - best known for their Holden ECU software - has just released an electronic blow off valve. The Turbotechnics Electronic Blow-Off Valve is available in 25, 38 and 50mm sizes. The in-cabin control box features three screwdriver adjustments - the overboost level (where the valve will open if the wastegate has jammed shut), blow-off pressure (the pressure at which the valve opens) and blow-off sensitivity (the electronic damping of the valve operation). Two LEDs on the controller indicate when Blow-Off and Overboost functions are operating. Prices start at A$550.

Contact EFI Direct on + 61 415 252 342
www.efidirect.com.au

Good Brakes

A wide range of APEXi brake pads and disc rotors is available from JAP Trading. They stock the pads in N1 (standard), carbon composite and Hyper Street forms. The pads start at $230 (front) and $200 (rear) and are available for most late model Japanese cars. If you want to upgrade the discs at the same time, APEXi rotors are available in solid, grooved and cross-drilled forms. The discs all cost about A$200 each and again are available for most late model cars from the land of the rising sun.

Contact JAP Trading on + 61 3 9879 7799.

Jaguar S Type

A new Jaguar comes along rarely enough that its release is a major event for the British carmaker. The S Type has styling cues that hark back to the 1950s and 60s S Type and Mark II - but underneath the skin everything is late Nineties! The Ford-owned carmaker has based the S Type on the platform architecture of the new Ford Lincoln LS. The car is powered by the 3 litre all-alloy AJ-V6, which was developed from the cylinder block of the modular Ford V6. The engine uses a 3-stage variable intake manifold and develops 179kW. Also available is the familiar 4 litre AJ-V8 with 209kW. The manual V6 S-Type reaches 100 km/h in 7.5 seconds while the auto-only (but it is a 5 speed!) V8 package puts 100 km/h behind it in 7.1 seconds.

Other highlights of the 1700kg car include 50/50 front/rear weight distribution, electronic throttle operation, traction control, an optional Dynamic Stability Control, electronic adaptive dampers and integrated satellite navigation system. For the first time on a production car, the primary audio, phone and climate control systems feature optional voice-activated control. Talking about electronics, the multiplex system that links the powertrain, chassis and body control modules can transmit 700 messages a second and reduces the weight and complexity of the wiring loom. Jaguar expects to sell 40,000 S-Types in 1999.

Porsche Gear

To commemorate their 50^th anniversary, Porsche has released a range of merchandise. All the gear is marked with a logo bearing the silhouettes of two Porsches (old and new) wrapped in "50 Years Porsche 1948 - 1998". Jackets are available from A$90, caps from A$25, a video (A$36), shirts (from A$25) and a rucksack (A$85). Apart from a stupendously priced book (A$189!), the gear looks pretty classy and reasonable value for money. Contact your local Porsche dealer for more details.

Culture Clash!

Major car companies rarely take off the gloves in their advertising - condemning opposition products is not seen as the thing to do. Which makes the spat between Subaru and Porsche even more interesting. Subaru kicked it off by placing a large ad in the print media run under the guise of an apology. It started "Subaru would like to apologise for the article titled 'The Handling Debate' published in the recent issue of AUTOCAR (UK)". The advertisement then went on to quote from the magazine test, which pitted against each other a Porsche 911, BMW M3, Lotus Elise, Puegeot 306 GTi-6 - and a Subaru Impreza WRX.

The Subaru advertisement quoted AUTOCAR describing the WRX - "Six and a half thousand revs, dump the clutch and away she goes. And there was nothing even the 911 could do to touch it." The advertisement continued "Our hearts go out to all of those rear wheel drive Porsche owners who paid 5 times the price of the Subaru, only to come a distant second. As if they didn't have enough insecurities to start with!" There was more in a similar vein - across a double page spread in many magazines - with the "apology" signed by Trevor Amery, Subaru Australia MD.

Click here to see ad.

This was too much for Porsche. In an incredibly cutting advertisement - in some magazines even appearing in the same issue as the Subaru ad - they hit back. Under a child's scrawled picture which purported to show an ant, they headlined "Why is this painting better than the Mona Lisa?". The ad continued "A response to the apology of Trevor Amery, Managing Director of Subaru Australia....."

The Porsche ad continued "What has been done... for the entertainment of all Australia, is akin to taking a painting by Leonardo da Vinci and comparing it to the canvas pictured above (Portrait of an ant by A. Scott, aged 4) in an argument that goes something like this: Both paintings are framed. Both paintings use paint. Both paintings use colour."

The Porsche ad finished: "...Porsche would like to present Mr Amery with the 1998 prize for Nonsense and Obfuscation: The prize is the painting pictured above which we are sure he will find far superior to the Mona Lisa, not just because of its uninhibited use of line, but because it is .005cm BIGGER - all the way around."

Oh what good stuff!

Click here to see ad.

Jumpin' Sparks

Motoring organisations are finding that people are unsure of the way to jump-start late model cars. Jump-starting a car occurs when another vehicle is used to energise a car with a flat battery. The Royal Automobile Association of South Australia suggests that the following procedure be undertaken:

1. Make sure that both batteries are of the same voltage - 12 volts in the vast majority of cars.
2. Determine which are the positive and negative terminals. The positive terminal is normally marked by a (+) sign and/or a red surround.
3. Connect the positive jumper lead from the charged battery to the flat battery and then the negative lead from the charged battery to the flat battery.
4. Start the car with the charged battery and then start the car with the flat battery.
5. Run the engines of both cars at a fast idle for about four minutes, then allow idles to return to standard.
6. Disconnect the leads in the reverse order to connection.

Don't smoke during the process (a charging battery gives off hydrogen!), remove metallic items like rings and watches, and protect your eyes with glasses or by turning your face slightly away when making the connections.

Quickies

• The FAI 1000 at Bathurst (Australia) will feature a three hour GTP production car race in addition to the 1000km of 5 litre SuperCar racing. The GTP showdown is on Saturday, November 14.
• A bull bar produced from polymer is among the nominations for the Australian 1998 Windscreen O'Brien Achievement in Automotive Safety Award. The plastic bar is produced by Team Poly, an Adelaide (Australia) company. Contact them on +61 8 8326 2256.
• As part of its 50^th anniversary, Holden has been releasing material on the very first Holden - the 48-215. At the time, there was no less than a seven years delivery delay! One dealer remembered buying a low mileage 48-215 and then selling it for £1900 - when the new car price was just £735!
• The Middleton Rally Team (MRT) is having a sale of Subaru Prodrive merchandise. Jackets, jumpers, caps, shirts, stickers, and keyrings are available at 15% off. To take advantage of this discount, mention that you saw the special offer in AutoSpeed. Go to MRT at www.mrtrally.com.au or email Brett Middleton at brett@mrtrally.com.au
• National Instruments has released a new version of its Measure software package. Measure Version 2.0 makes data acquisition into Microsoft Excel simpler and it can also easily scale and compensate thermocouple and other inputs. Might be just the thing for a cheap racecar data acquisition system! Go to www.natinst.com for more details.
• The Holden Vectra is first Australian built car to have their windscreens bonded into place with high modulus urethane. If the windscreen requires replacement, the same type of material must be used if the original strength is to be retained.

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