It was quite funny! I met him at my mates mechanic shop and we both decided to go for a spin as it was a nice day and he rarely gets the Nova out. (Its a show car for his car stereo company http://www.LMCarAudion.co.ukwww.LMCarAudion.co.uk *free plug*)
We raced down many dual carriage ways from the north end of Stevenage down to Knebworth and it was pretty much neck and neck! He has a Calibra 16V engine which is supposed to put out 155bhp as standard but its got cams, zorst and filter etc. His gear ratios are completely different to mine and he would pull away at low revs (up to about 4000rpm) then I would get right up his arse and nearly past from about 4.5K to 7K. Neither of us were getting any further ahead or further behind eachother!!
Had to really rag my car though. As I noticed the gearing differences I had to adapt by using first gear for much longer than normal (coming off busy roundabouts etc). First gear has such long throw in a 172! If we both floored it in 2nd from about 30/40mph he would be gone! (isnt that wierd!)
The only thing that bothered me though is that he (appeared) to corner better than me. He has had it dropped 60mm on standard (fcuked) dampers and it scrubs like anything...yet he still seemed to have more grip on the road?
-What could this be due to? I have toyo tyres on 17s with a 30mm drop. (standard dampers)... how can I improve handling?
Overall it was a good laugh and we both agreed that for a quarter mile they would probably get the similar times (if we both got off the line at the same point!)
