It all depends on your interpretation of the "worst" aerodynamic problem.

The breaking pressure wave and low pressure area behind the buttress causes a lot of drag and a bit of lift but this is just slowing the car down.

The problem of major lift at the front end would result in the car taking off - at 170mph it would launch very nicely and once you got the front end high enough it would go skyward at a fair velocity (think Mercedes taking off down the Mulsanne Straight).

Unfortunately I have quite strict rules about what I can do to the car in silhouette. I'm allowed a rear spoiler - single chord limited to a vertical dimension half that of the rear window - not very big then but it just happens to be the same as the rear spoilers used by F3 cars of that era, so you can guess what I have on the back of the car. That is about all of the changes I am allowed though. I have a concession to run an Abarth periscope since these were from a recognised variation of the X1/9 and there was a fully street legal version (just one unfortunately). It might be a bit of mix and match but it means I can make the most of it. What it does mean though is no extra attachments for stabilising the air flow from the roof or preventing flow detachment. The original plan was to partially cover the gap behind the buttress so limit the vortex but the angle from the roof is so large that it wouldn't make much difference and would only further reduce rear visibility.

Uhmm defining buttress would help a little bit. But you can't cut into the front end like you used to have it? And you might do what pilp did and put the fuel tank up front but when the fuel runs low then Floop! There goes your car. That's what the hole on the bottom of the car was an attempt at, to take any air that may get under there out... I was also thinking about possibly taking the front end from a > shape to a \ shape. Is that what you're attempting?

Im not as limited in how many modifications i carry out as Jimbro is due to the different regulations in sprinting to circuit racing, pretty much anything goes in the class i run in (sports libre). My biggest hurdle is the fact that i like to keep mine legal for use on the road as its great fun on a sunny day. Regarding running low on fuel.........yes mine runs out when there is still about an inch of fuel in the bottom, it has happened a few times now

The buttress is the hoop over the rear window. The Mk1 MR2 has a near identical design but solved the aero problem with a little "spoiler" that smoothed the air flow.

I already have the fuel tank up front - that is just a balance thing. The aero problem is much more pronounced. This is the sort of thing that would happen at speed: (try 0.35 seconds in)

The issue is that the air flow under the car is low but not low enough to create a ground effect - coupled with messy underfloor aerodynamics. With the big aero duct on the front of mine (which was created for cooling) a lot of the under floor flow is redirected over the car turning it into a wing and creating a lot of positive lift once a critical air speed is reached.

Getting it exactly right is going to require more time in simulation and if I'm really lucky some more free wind tunnel time. So far both are very unlikely to happen so I just have to take away the lessons so far and make sure that the front end is carefully considered and top speed kept down. As it happens this isn't too much of an issue as there are very, very few places in the UK where those sorts of speeds can be attained as our tracks are somewhat short on very long straights. Even Snetterton wouldn't offer the opportunity to try. Instead we've aimed for some truely phenomenal acceleration at lower speeds so that we can exploit the tight corners, excellent handling and huge torque.

Frustratingly none of this has been put to the test as the car is still only partially rebuilt.

As for running out of fuel - the Punto I used to race on occasion was terrible, even with a foam filled tank with a collector. Typical scenario was the banking around Rockingham. Anything less than a third of a tank and I'd lose power half way around due to fuel starvation. I had to run about 40% more fuel than I needed to get through a race without problems.

So what are you redesigning it to look like? Are you going to make the front bumper lower increase the angle and clean up the undercarriage or what?

ThenextgenX19enthusiast said:

So what are you redesigning it to look like? Are you going to make the front bumper lower increase the angle and clean up the undercarriage or what?

Click to expand...

More to the point, when will the rebuild be finished????

The bodywork is largely unchanged. The front end is new, of the same design but forms a single removable piece rather than fixed panels that are a pain to replace.

As for finishing the rebuild, if I can find another £5k (preferably £10k) it will be done in short order otherwise it will be when it gets done and I just have to be really patient. The car is 4 hours drive from where I live so it isn't something I can do in the evenings...

Patience is always fun... At least you have other cars for fun. What kind of a TVR? Also I'm thinking about becoming either a racecar driver or an engineer for some type of high performance vehicles. I know that Ferrari is a little far fetched but I'm sure that I could make it there or maybe go into Fiat's competitive racing.

I used to own A Griffith 500 but now make do with my other half's Chimaera 500. Essentially they are both the same underneath although mine didn't have power steering while the wife's does. Both have quite fiendish power delivery and accelerate superbly hard and only feel like they are running out of steam at speeds where the police don't just take your licence away, they throw you in a padded cell and leave you there.

Getting into driving requires a lot of commitment and either a big balance or willing sponsors, not to mention a lot of luck. I've been there and most "amateur" drives are either self funded or use their own business to sponsor themselves as a tax perk. Very few have proper sponsorship.

"Gentlemen" drivers tend to be better supported but are still largely self funded.

"Professional" drivers are almost entirely sponsorship funded plus they are employed to race. Getting a seat at this level means proving yourself over a long period of time so if you aren't racing already then you need to get started.

All that said there are a few examples of amateur/gentlemen drivers getting picked up and given contracts but it is a hard and risky path.

I don't want to put you off though, if I could be out racing every day as a job I would be.

Engineering is a completely different kettle of fish - there are two realistic paths. You either get an apprenticeship at a garage and prove yourself that way or go to university and get an appropriate degree. A lot of universities provide specialist courses for this sort of thing (just take a look at the formula student entries from around the world).

Beautiful cars, those TVRs. And that's funny.

I would really like to race but I have no way to a track or any race cars and am also pretty much dirt poor. There's a young man at the age of twenty and he has just won the NASCAR 500 (being the youngest to ever win a 500) and it said he was racing for years. The news showed pictures of him on a dirtbike at the age of 5 and all sorts of things... The best I can do right now is play Forza 2 and Forza 3 on my xbox 360 and I can't express how annoying all the vehicle control systems are like TCS and ABS. You just can't release the full potential of a vehicle when a computer is trying to hold you back. And may I say that automatic transmissions are extremely boring and unconventional? And where the heck do sponsors find these people? I love racing, but more than I love racing, I love getting into the full potential of vehicles and making them perform well at that level, so I really am torn. My father was the top mechanic at his work (Hyundai) probably thirteen years ago now and when he left to work at Nissan, he was the top mechanic there as well, when he left Nissan maybe six years ago because of low pay, Hyundai basically begged on their knees to get him back and he now makes approximately $80,000 annually (the typical doctor will make approximately a hundred and $120,000 annually) and so I have a good potential to be a mechanic, technician, or an engineer. If I sound like I'm bragging, I'm not... I'm just trying to say he's a great mechanic, I've already taken on a motor swap and succeeded with flying colors but I also have mastered the manual transmission at the age of thirteen. I'm at the age where I need to start looking into my future and performance cars are pulling on my soul harder than a fighter jet at full bank. I've been working on bicycles as long as I remember and I never let anybody ride it until I give it a full test, and I remember one time I almost got a speeding ticket in a school zone, on my BMX bike, because I was going thirty on a sidewalk going over an overpass when the cars were limited to twenty-five (mph), and when I got to the bottom of the overpass to cross the parking lot, a cop was sitting in the parking lot and flipped his lights on and gave me a glare and a wave to go see him and he asked "Boy, do you know how fast you were going?" and with a huge grin on my face, I replied, "It must've been at LEAST thirty because I was passing the cars on the road!" And I also remember matching the speeds of the cars (25 mph again) on a kick scooter (probably the most thrilling thing I've done) and holy crap I'm off topic but you'll probably read all this anyway(sorry for the long read) but I can probably get an apprenticeship there (depends on my age I suppose?)

Oh and another thing, I just taught my 20 year old sister how to operate a manual transmission monday and she drove herself home that same night with no problems

Oh, and I was wrong when I said that the veyron had 2 V8s, it has a w12 in it.

ThenextgenX19enthusiast said:

Oh, and I was wrong when I said that the veyron had 2 V8s, it has a w12 in it.

Click to expand...

We knew that - just too polite to say

Sounds like you've got the bug - it is just a matter of finding a way to do it. For now I would suggest keeping on with your online gaming. It may not seem much but it is a start - plus there are opportunities there to turn it into the real thing.

Grass roots motorsport in the states is far more prolific that it is here with plenty of options, styles and classes. More than a few of my friends are involved and had great doing so on incredibly tight budgets. The X1/9 was very popular in autocross events and is still successful in the right classes.

Don't get caught up in the idea that an X1/9 is your only option either - it is a great car (I would say that of course) but there are plenty of other great cars out there. When it comes to motorsport the X1/9 can be a really tough cookie to get the best out of and even then it is expensive to make it perform at the sort of levels modern cars come with as standard. Control events like Autocross bypass the outright performance limitations and focus on the handling and that is where it stands so far above the opposition. You still need to make modifications but you can concentrate on the handling alone with the engine performance coming a distant second.

If you really want to get involved, get in touch with your local motor clubs and get alone to the local events - chat with the competitors and just see what can be learned.

Oh nono, I just want an X19 for a first car because they are a nice, (cheap might I add), mid engined sports car and it'd be a nice experience and I'd only make the car handle better, I wouldn't want to put a crapload of power in it, it'd be like half your car. I'll need to look around. And grassroots racing is just for kids, yeah?

Grassroots racing is not just for kids - it is just the most accessible and deliberately low budget. Most people I know doing it have been doing so for years and no intentions of stopping

Alright cool, I'll have to look into that...

Go karting would be a good bet seeing how I don't own a vehicle and I can't find any grassroots races around me right?

Dont forget marshalling at events, another foot in the door for your chosen path, and im sure in the states, just as the uk, marshalls are in great demand!

Get yourself onto mirafiori.com and ask on there - they aren't all X1/9 owners but they are all into competition

Okay I'm officially doing that. I need to find somebody local, it's really a lot better when you can physically get involved you know?