building a quarter mile car

[W17GLE]

i'm really keen on building a car for doing quarter miles but cant decide what would be my way of going about this. i have have had a few ideas but want other peoples opinions. there is a mk2 ph1 1.4 with cambelt failure on autotrader for £400 was thinking of doing a 172 engine conversion and some coil overs and just totally gutting the thing but there has to be loads of other options. what does everyone else think?

 

[Peperami]

Get an r5 turbo mate

 

[Graham Gooch]

GT Turbo, stripped with simple mods will be kicking out 160-170bhp if you get it setup right and buy the right parts.

Stripped it will be around 750kgs odd and mega MEGA rapid lol.

Edit- SNAP!

 

[dunster]

why not start with something rear wheel drive? mk1 mx-5 or something?

 

[2 live]

if its specifically for the strip...put the engine in the back....vag it.....have fun

 

[edde]

for a 1/4 mile car you want low low weight and big Hp but weight first and formost.


Kit car is the best way to go with a bike engine.

 

[W17GLE]

been talking to a lad near me and his mate has just done a 172 turbo conversion into his 5 its got a t24 turbo off an rs500 cosworth lowered the engine capacity to 1800cc and uprated some bits and it pushing over 400bhp and revs to about 10000 rpm should be capable of mid 10s. his 5 turbo engined car was doing it in the 11s

 

[brisa4984]

ahhh.. cant you wait for forza motorsport 2???

 

[W17GLE]

it'll be done on a budget and built in a back yard so needs to be easy to work on. my mates have built loads of 2.0 novas but i would like to try something a bit different. plus this will be my first attempt at anything like this

 

[W17GLE]

ahhh.. cant you wait for forza motorsport 2???

eh?

 

[Vish]

Rear engined rear wheel drive. All the weight on the rear wheels will help keep the traction. Bike engine above sounds a good idea, low weight lots of power. Will corner like a cat on ice, but should be rapid on a straight.

 

[W17GLE]

not exactly easy to do in a backyard with little money thats why i was thinking more along the lines of big engine little car ie pug 106 and an mi16 engine or nova with a let engine. something thats not going to be overly difficult to do and there will be plenty of info on the internet to help me out if i get stuck.

 

[edde]

If you want it for 1.4 mile go with twin engiens maybe 2.0 lower spec engine ie not MI16 are cheaper say 20hp less but you'll have two of them.

 

[Graham Gooch]

As said above an R5 comes with the engine already in place, not joking get in with the crowd on the RTOC and you'll have a spanking car for naff all money, there is a good crowd up north

 

[John D]

why not start with something rear wheel drive? mk1 mx-5 or something?

What I was thinking. Surely much better suited than a front wheel drive car

 

[W17GLE]

i know there is a lot of them local they have there little thing called backyard racing i used to work with a couple of them. one of the lads is featured in performance gti this month

 

[Graham Gooch]

Yeah Ant and the other one lol.

 

[W17GLE]

the problem with the rear wheel drive cars is getting cheap power me mate could build a nova 2.0 for about £600 and it be pretty much as quick as my 172

 

[W17GLE]

yep ant and dean and i forgot what the other guy was called thats who i was chatting to today

 

[brisa4984]

ahhh.. cant you wait for forza motorsport 2???

eh?

just a new car tuning game released on the 360 soon.

 

[matty w]

If you want it for 1.4 mile go with twin engiens maybe 2.0 lower spec engine ie not MI16 are cheaper say 20hp less but you'll have two of them.

it might go alright off the mark but it aint gonna be much good after

 

[Kneel]

the problem with the rear wheel drive cars is getting cheap power me mate could build a nova 2.0 for about £600 and it be pretty much as quick as my 172

mk1 Toyota MR2 would be a good start, they are pretty quick standard and being japanese theres bound to be some good tuning bits, might even strike lucky and find a supercharged 1 for decent money

 

[GordonD]

for a 1/4 mile car you want low low weight and big Hp but weight first and formost.

Kit car is the best way to go with a bike engine.

I have a similar project planned for some future hypothetical time when my finances are better.

Back in the 80s Suzuki sold a tiny little front-wheel drive utility in this country as the Mighty Boy. They only weight just over half a tonne, and a couple of people have done electric conversions of them by chucking the engine/transmission unit and fitting an electric motor, then removing the floor of the tray and fitting a re-inforcing frame in there that holds the batteries.

My idea is to do something similar, but fit a 1.3 litre Suzuki Hayabusa bike engine/transmission in the back instead, with rear drive.

So it'd look basically standard, especially with a tonneau cover fitted. But it'd be light at barely over half a tonne. It'd be rear wheel drive with the engine/gearbox over the drive axle for traction. Even a standard Hayabusa engine produces pretty close to 200 bhp, so you'd be talking quarter miles in just over 12 seconds. With a bit of tuning work it'd be down into the 11s. With a turbo, which are available, it'd be down into the 10s.

And with it being so light I'd be able to fit an A-frame towing rig to it and tow it down to the drag strip behind the Clio Sport, so I wouldn't need another car big enough to tow a trailer to carry it.

I don't see any Mighty Boys on UK eBay. But its a derivative of Suzuki kei cars of that era so I presume an early Alto (?) 3-door hatchback would be about the same weight and have the same ability to have a bike engine fitted in the back with some cutting and strengthening.

 

[mat-nos]

fiat cinq sporting with a bike engine lol

 

[Nick_R182]

Go 5 turbo mate. Can be picked up cheap enough and plenty of bits are available for them. Get on the rtoc. Loads of info and help avaiable on there.

 

[Munday]

Judging by what I saw at the RTOC day at Santa Pod your best bet would be an R5 Turbo - they were rapid!

 

[2 live]

jago jeep..v8 power wheelies off the line anyone??

 

[FlameR]

Get an old mini and put a Hayabusa turbo engine in the back.

 

[djdrastic]

Probably something German/Japanese with RWD

 

[jamesp24]

buy a cheap twin turbo supra .

 

[ste gt3]

have a look on volvo-480-europe.org. drop this engine in a 5 and call haz at nocturnal developments.it goes straight in and pretty easy to get 200bhp+.just a remapped ecu that costs £80 off rpreun will give u 170bhp.still be a reliable car aswell.

 

[W17GLE]

the 480 engine conversion sounds good coz they won't be too expensive to buy and would be reliable. do you think they would fit in a clio shell?

 

[LegoHead]

Most cars will do quarter miles. Hell! I did 120,000 quarter miles in my 172.:rasp:

 

[Paul J]

been talking to a lad near me and his mate has just done a 172 turbo conversion into his 5 its got a t24 turbo off an rs500 cosworth lowered the engine capacity to 1800cc and uprated some bits and it pushing over 400bhp and revs to about 10000 rpm should be capable of mid 10s. his 5 turbo engined car was doing it in the 11s

Is that one of them 500bhp serria's?

 

[W17GLE]

not sure if its 500 bhp but its the 3dr hatch sierra cosworth i think

 

[Paul J]

lol, its just the 'normal' 224bhp RS500 has a T4 turbo, albeit not the normal spec T4 you buy for a 500bhp spec YB lump.

Its called the 500 due to the number built, 10% of overall model production.

Also that kind of RPM with a small turbo would be very hard, larger housings would cause huge surge unless someone has very cleverly built that car :~

 

[edde]

Even a standard Hayabusa engine produces pretty close to 200 bhp, so you'd be talking quarter miles in just over 12 seconds. With a bit of tuning work it'd be down into the 11s. With a turbo, which are available, it'd be down into the 10s.

And with it being so light I'd be able to fit an A-frame towing rig to it and tow it down to the drag strip behind the Clio Sport, so I wouldn't need another car big enough to tow a trailer to carry it.

The 172/182 Clio arn't type approved to tow so by towing your insurance is invalaid and your breaking the law plus the clutches arn't ideals to tow with neither is the engine or the gearbox.

As for 200hp out fof the bush there none that in know make that realty stock you need to tune to get it. Dynos arn't realistic a proper engine tyno is what you need to prove 200hp on one and you won't on a stock engine.

Best IMO get one of the US bolt on turbo kits 350hp should be possible on UK 98 RON or run aditives/E85 /LPG for more power quite cheap or else go for a proper rebuilt and well the worlds your oyster 900hp I thinks been the record last time I looked 600hp kits are out there off the shelf as such.

But thats not cheap plus 500KG isn't that light get a kit car IMO.

fiat cinq sporting with a bike engine lol

Thats ideal forget the bike engine either for tfor two bike engines or a bigger engine. (C20 Let ie 2.0 turbo would be ideal realy)

 

[Jamie]

been talking to a lad near me and his mate has just done a 172 turbo conversion into his 5 its got a t24 turbo off an rs500 cosworth lowered the engine capacity to 1800cc and uprated some bits and it pushing over 400bhp and revs to about 10000 rpm should be capable of mid 10s. his 5 turbo engined car was doing it in the 11s

Is that one of them 500bhp serria's?

RS500 Cosworth was a Limited Run of 500 sierria saphie 4x4 cossies not 500bhp it was still the same power

 

[Paul J]

^ see next posts down lol

The 500 was built in the RWD 3dr shell not the later Saphire

 

[W17GLE]

lol never claimed to know anything about cosworths just wrote what he told me.