General Go James!

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General Go James!

Gotta love that body roll :) that wheel looks like its been off the ground for a bit, its not spinning...

That corner is one of my favourites :) you can really throw it in, and as long as you dont lift or brake half way through you'll get through most times without spinning out :) (its the left right left just before the pit straight).

Hopefully next time we are at Taupo I'll have a better engine so I can keep up on the straights, then pass on the corners :)
 
Thats the Taupo track (where the NZ round of A1GP is held).

The suspension has been lowered by 40mm, and the rear beam has a plate welded to it to limit twist. I am wondering if its possible to limit the travel at the front.

There were a number of FIATs there that day, 4 Unos were on track (2x mk1 turbos, 1x mk1 1300, and mine), plus lots of Tipos (inc Steves turbo tipo, and I think 2 Sedicivalvole), 1 coupe turbo, lots of 125s, a 131R, a 128 1500, mk2 punto abarth, a couple of strada 130s, a lancia delta integrale, and I think the list continues.

Whys yours loosing power Steve? is it the compression thing you were talking about? You've gotta defend your record of fastest FIAT :)
 
Yeah the turbo engine needs a rebuild really. It's getting a bit low on Compression. Not bad for 250,000+Km though, still has over 200hp.

I have a Tipo 16V now which i'll fit a cage too. I'm going to rebuild the turbo engine for it but for now the 16V N/A will have to do.

I didn'y know your Uno was lowered, what springs? Notice the grey turbo (Andrew's?) sits nicely and has not major suspension work, lowere 60mm with koni's. standard beam.

http://www.pwphoto.co.nz/motorsport/ToyoTaupo07/SR433 098.jpg
 
I didn'y know your Uno was lowered, what springs? Notice the grey turbo (Andrew's?) sits nicely and has not major suspension work, lowere 60mm with koni's. standard beam.

Yeah it's hard to believe that James' Uno has an *anti-roll bar* fitted to the front, as well as the anti-roll qualities of the stiffened rear beam, AND the 40mm-lower German springs. <sigh>

I don't think I've seen anyone lift the rear wheel of an Uno with a standard rear beam. Mine is standard and it doesn't, Bevan's has been modified in a similar way to James' and it lifts readily.

I've never been convinced that lifting a rear wheel is the solution to all problems, and I think that front-on photo bears this out. It would be a lot better if there was just less roll (lifting a rear wheel is indicative, in my opinion, of lots of roll at the front), so the front needs to be much lower and stiffer with about half the available suspension travel (less downward-movement).

The best solution would be to re-align the control arms so as to move the roll centre upwards to coincide better with the centre of gravity (I think this means moving the control arm pivots downwards), but this is drastic stuff and probably introduces other problems as well. 'Roll centre' is dictated by geometry. It is, in theory, possible to construct a car with suspension that places the roll centre above the centre of gravity. Such a car would roll into corners, rather than out of them...

James probably finds all this less interesting and trustworthy considering that I've given up driving my Uno Turbo at club events. Anyway, have fun James :)

-Alex
 
It is interesting the debate about car setup. My car is obviously leaning all over the place, but I am actually really happy with how it corners. I am able to catch most people on the corners. I had an interesting conversation with a guy (whos name I forget), he drives a well setup 128 sedan. His comment was "I think I am getting away from you, then on the corners I look in my mirrors and its all yellow". Maybe my car is a bad cornerer but I'm just a little bit braver on the brakes :) maybe that explains why I dont like road sprints...

I had an interesting conversation a few weeks back, it went along the lines of; if at a track day you dont go off at least once, you arent pushing hard enough ;)

Another point to make about my car is that is has so far cost me about $3500 (total cost of putting together), thats about 1300 pound at the current exchange rate!

My next mod I have lined up are twin Dellorto 36DRLA carbs (before anyone points out that they are designed for a north south engine layout, I know and apparantly the fuel supply problems arent to much concern, Bevans blue Uno has these carbs), new head (big valves), new cam shaft. This is because my car is good on the corners but crap on the straights, so I need more power. Hopefully I can get a new gearbox as well (at the moment I leave it in 3rd all the time because gear changing costs too much time). Hopefully with these mods I can make up the 3.5s a lap between me and the uno turbos.

On another topic, Steve are you guys going to Pukekohe this weekend? Its the first round of the production series and Blair is driving his Punto. I'll be there on Sunday, I think the NZV8s, toyota racing series, formula fords, GT3s, and mini challenge are also running.
 
Oh, about the lowering, they are Vogtland 40mm lowering springs. Bought them for NZ$200 new off trademe, the net effect was a lowering of about 5mm. The struts are standard Monroe Reflex shocks on the front, and the factory ones on the back. I think the net result was nothing. What I think would be most useful would be harder springs to help hold the outside front corner up.
 
Well the new bits are coming together for my Uno :) heres the list of bits I have or have on the way:

A new Cylinder head with 40mm inlet ports, has been machined and flowed
Twin Dellorto 36 DRLAs
New inlet manifold on the way from Greece (of all places)
Getting a reground cam shaft from Christchurch NZ

Gunna bolt all that together and get it all tuned up before the FIAT club track meet at Taupo Jan 28 :)

The cam shaft isnt too aggressive, and I am aiming the setup at getting some more top end without loosing too much low end, so should be a good balance :)
 
Why you given up Alex?

Well I got tired of the frustration of driving the Uno - I try hard but it's never as fast as anyone else's Uno Turbos, maybe I'm just a bad driver - and anyway I have a much better selection of cars and courses on my PC with GT Legends (a brilliant simulation carried out with typical German precision and restraint), along with a very nice Logitech G25 racing wheel, which is the type with 900 degrees rotation and three pedals. It's all very satisfying. James hasn't tried it yet, but he insists that driving his Uno is more fun :)

I might yet return with the Uno Turbo after I have realised that purchasing another car, just for the task of FIAT club events, will be quite expensive. Someone I know offered me their Toyota MR2 (for example), but that's getting into something unfamiliar and expensive. By the way, most of our members drive non-FIATs ;)

So I might instead invest in some race rubber for my original 13" alloys, stiffen-up the rear beam so that I can lift a rear wheel with the rest of them (after all, the ride quality is nothing to write home about as it is...), and also tame the turbo with an electronic boost controller kit that I have, which will control the violent wheelspin coming out of corners and yet bring the turbo on stream a little earlier, and perhaps enhance the cornering as a result.

-Alex
 
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