General Big Fiat

[nitrane.co.uk]

Finally got her out of the garage for a run out. Whisper it quietly, but I actually think its finished now, well as finished as these things ever are

The new airbox is on after a couple of snags (the perils of prototyping...) but has made a big difference to the throttle response, and it is much quicker on the top end 5-7k. I'll post some pics after it's power coated this week.

Cheers, John

 

[StoneNewt]

Very nice, I want one

What wheels are those & what size are they?

 

[nitrane.co.uk]

What wheels are those & what size are they?

They're 13x6 Compomotive CXR Ultralight

John

 

[GhostWKD]

nice! bet you get some looks driving that down the road

 

[nitrane.co.uk]

nice! bet you get some looks driving that down the road

Indeed! It gets more attention than the integrale I had before

The hi-flo airbox is now fitted. It was a bit of sod in the end, clearance to the bonnet and strut brace was much tighter than i'd allowed for so a small amount of 're-engineering' was required. However its sorted now and as i've said before allows the engine to deliver full power

Next stop... Cadwell Park... if its not snowing

Cheers, John

 

[ginner]

Great job!

Just read from start to finish and love the attention to detail!

Brill!

Cheers

Ginner

 

[DARTH VADER]

Perfect :worship: :worship:

 

[nitrane.co.uk]

Hi all,

Had a great run out at Cadwell Park yesterday. Despite the forecast it was a damp foggy start, but cleared up mid-morning. Once the track dried I started to get to grips with the handling, tweeked a couple of things (tyre pressures, damper settings, ride height) and got a good feel for just how chuckable it is. Also superb was the brakes (std calipers, grooved discs, mintex pads) which were fade free around a brake-heavy track. The engine is very strong on the short straights, but suffers a bit down the long straights - I think the gearing doesn't help here so I may change to a Punto box.

One big problem was not getting let past by some of the bigger cars (I guess they were just to embarassed to be past by a cinq!). All in all, a good day, the car didn't miss a beat and shows plenty of promise.

I got some in-car video footage that I will chop together at some point, here's a couple of screen shots...

Also got this bit of video, it even sounds like a rally car

http://www.nitrane.co.uk/multimedia/videos/burble.wmv (350kB)

Cheers, John

 

[randomizered]

Fantastic!

Look forward to seeing some videos of it, it does look very nice

I thought the gearing of the punto boxes would be worse for top end, or is that only applicable to the 6 speed?

Cheers,

Kristian

 

[nitrane.co.uk]

I thought the gearing of the punto boxes would be worse for top end, or is that only applicable to the 6 speed?

My understanding is the Punto75 'box has a shorter 5th, but identical ratios 1-4 and final drive. Which will be perfect until I source an lsd.

John

 

[GoBe]

iirc a given the same wheels & tyres a Punto 75 box will deliver slightly taller ratios in 1st to 4th and a marginally shorter 5th.

 

[nitrane.co.uk]

Finally got chance to knock together the video footage now up on the website, unfortunately I only captured an early damp run which was 9secs slower than my best in the dry. I've also given the site a spring clean and added one or two things.

Cheers, John

 

[T.E.D. Jordan]

Had a look at the video of in the cinq, very impressive john, sounds awesome and looks like its a little shifter! You'll have to get some pout-of-car vids off spectators/friends too and put those up, thats very impressive

Jordan

 

[nitrane.co.uk]

Hi all,

The first round of the season is just over a week away (Easter Monday at Croft) and I got the regs in the post today. Car no 159... last on the road! I guess that's the price you pay for having the smallest engine in the smallest class!

Pretty much everything is done, although as ever there are a couple of small outstanding jobs to do.

John

 

[nitrane.co.uk]

Blimey, is it really 2 months since I updated this thread?

Well, i've done 4 rounds of the Yorkshire Speed Championship at 3 locations. So far its been Croft (sh!t), Olivers Mount (better) and Teesside (much better). Its evidence that an lsd with shorter final drive is essential to close the gap to the front running pugs, so this will be a priority for next winter.

I've had chance to catch on some videos, so there's Croft and Teesside up on the website - thanks to Pete for the extra camerawork.

Next stop, Harewood this Sunday

John

 

[J333EVO]

The final drive on Seicento MPi Abarths/Shumi's with the 14" wheels is shorter to keep the cars acceleration as quick as models fitted with 13" wheels.

It is very noticeable especially when cruising at say 80mph, in Cinq/Sei with normal box this is 4000rpm, in Sei with shorter final drive its 4500rpm. It is one of the reasons that when we fitted the 1368cc 16V to the Sei we used the Stilo box as this has the longer final drive so returns car to 4000rpm@80mph in 6th gear on a 14" wheel.

There is some information on it somewhere in this forum, I believe the final drive is one tooth less on Mpi Abarth box.

 

[nitrane.co.uk]

The final drive on Seicento MPi Abarths/Shumi's with the 14" wheels is shorter to keep the cars acceleration as quick as models fitted with 13" wheels.

Cheers Aaron, it might be worth considering, although I need something pretty dramatic i.e a 4.9:1 giving a top speed of 100mph at 7000rpm. I would lengthen the gearing by using 185x60x13's at the longer circuits.

John

 

[J333EVO]

Punto 55 6 speed box maybe, gives extra ratio and they are close together.

Heres some ratios i dug up on this forum.

55/60/75* ...... 55 6sp ...... Sporting 6sp
1st 3.909 ...... 3.545 ...... 3.909
2nd 2.157 ...... 2.157 ...... 2.158
3rd 1.480 ...... 1.480 ...... 1.480
4th 1.121 ...... 1.121 ...... 1.121
5th 0.902 ...... 0.902 ...... 0.921
6th N/A ........ 0.744 ...... 0.766
F/D 3.563/ ....... 4.923 ...... 4.071
3.733
*depending on wheel size, higher final drive with 13" wheels to compensate.

Some good info on box's from Punto's on this site http://www.clubfiatpunto.com/foro/fiat_punto_mk1.php

 

[J333EVO]

Found some info on Cento box's, don't ask me why there are two sets of ratios for a 1108cc someone posted the info from a workshop manual.

889cc
1 3.909
2 2.050
3 1.344
4 0.977
5 0.837
R 3.727
FD 4.071

1108cc
1 3.909
2 2.050
3 1.344
4 0.977
5 0.837
R 3.727
FD 3.562

1108cc
1 3.909
2 2.158
3 1.345
4 0.974
5 0.766
R 3.818
FD 3.562

1108cc Sporting
1 3.909
2 2.158
3 1.345
4 0.974
5 0.766
R 3.818
FD 3.867

1108cc Sporting Abarth
1 3.909
2 2.158
3 1.345
4 0.974
5 0.766
R 3.818
FD 4.071

 

[nitrane.co.uk]

Thats really helpful, to be honest though, the lack of an lsd is the most important bit. A shorter final drive on its own would make this worse

John