Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 7:13 am
Yeah Group N is "showroom" spec its not actually a car straight off the fore court though, its more limitations on just how far you can go on the modificationsDaddyHoggy wrote:The first ever Oolite sighting of a RL(tm) "better half"
I used to share an office with a guy who used to race a class N (that's normal road cars right?) Pug 205 GTi in the RAC rally back in the early 1990s - all the lads from the local Pug garage were his support team - they used to empty the garage of spares and he bought what he broke at trade price at the end of the rally and they got their names on the car and that of the garage - best position I think he managed was 86th (overall - all classes).
you can easily spend 1.5 times the cars new price of taking a car from the forecourt to group N Rally ready with the subarus and the like its even more expensive again to get them Group N competetive .The peugeot 205s were very competetive cars back in the day, I never got along with them though, all the little pugs have a nasty habit of rolling, marvelous traction up to a very sudde point at which time they flip over... Overall results arent really of interest to most competitors int he lower classes, you only pay attention to class results. the 6R4's and WRC's really arent on your radar.
Group A (Serious money pit) 205's were one of my benchmarks, Surprisingly fast cars they were, On dry tarmac I could outpace 2litre Group B (throw out the regulations and do what you like) mk 2 escorts and quite regularly Group B Escort Cosworths (not to be confused in anyway with the tame road going version). The Top end group A Pugs were faster than me! They were still in with a chance at the top 20 overall...
The RAC is a big money event even for privateers, one of the guys know is still wracking up Class wins for Skoda, I think he said it cost him around £5000 before he even left the start line. He was I believe officially the lowest budget entry...
My main stamping ground was the British Trial and rally drivers association Forest championship. It was a step down the ladder from the championships of which the RAC was a round. That said it was also far more competetive in my class, N1 could field up to 30 cars in our championship the BRC could only muster decent N1 (showroom spec up to 1400cc) fields when the Skoda Trophy was part of it, but once that stopped they were lucky to get 3 entry's in the class! I managed to get up to joint 1st in class, just past half way through the season, but then went down to 3rd in class by the end of the year after missing 3 events due to an engine bay fire
For spending The best part of £10,000 (not including buying the car) I got a nice glass cup with some writing scratched in the side...I cant remember now I think had I maintained first place in class I might have got the staggering prize money of £250.. About half an entry fee back, so much for Gran Turismo's prize money paying your way and paying for new cars way of racing.Talent alone will get you no where in rallying, if you dont have the money to get into the right cars and right championships (Normally "one make" championships where you have to buy a brand new road car and convert it exactly to spec using all new parts) to get yourself noticed.
There are cheap forms of rallying "road rallies" "12 car navigational rallies" and "enduro" rallying all of which are within the grasp of anyone with a car, but they arent in anyway career starters, and once youve done national level stage rallying, you dont really want to go back. Theres something very special about hurtling through a forrest with spectators all round.
Some Pics of the Skoda in Action:-
If you look closely you will notice that first two pics there is no way the car could be at the angle it is to the road if it was "just driving" the little skodas are fantastic for driving sideways, One I learnt left foot braking I never looked at rear wheel drive again
. Most people when talking about handling think of it as being how the car behaves up until it runs out of traction, for me That part was just an introduction the test of handling for me was how it bridged the part between traction and sliding and more importantly how it handled when sliding, lower and stiffer is NOT always the path to true better handling... Theres far more to car handling at competetive pace.
Really Its dangerous to talk cars...
I think I need a hub anyway the two front ports on my case have been broken by the kids...Cmdr Wyvern wrote:The X52 is a little power hungry, and can be a bit unstable if the computer's USB port doesn't supply enough current. A cheap powered USB hub takes care of that.
As for the twist axis, I never liked the twist on other joysticks that had that feature, as it was too easy to twist when trying not to. That's not a problem with the X52. The spring tension on it's twist axis is strong enough that there's practically no way to accidentally twist it: You gotta put a bit of muscle behind the twist action.
It comes with a set of strong suction cups, and screw holes in the bases for getting a good solid mounting solution.
You want buttons? The X52 has buttons out the wazoo. Three hat switches, three two-way toggles, two triggers, one of which is two-stage, nine pushbuttons, and a mode switch. All programmable.
Screw holes sound like a good idea.
Can the Buttons be programmed to act as key strokes?
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