Having only picked the car up late Sunday afternoon I have already driven it for about 200 miles and I have had a lot of fun, in fact I haven�t stopped grinning yet.
Obviously the first thing that stands out is the acceleration, which is brutal. I have driven some quick cars before now but this on a different planet. I don�t have any accurate figures (nor decent tyres) but the performance is going to be in the region of:
0-60 in 4 seconds (maybe less if I can change gears fast enough)
0-100 in about 9 seconds
(I kid you not)
For those interested in these sorts of stats I am hoping to get some accurate numbers soon.
The gearbox is a six speed so this makes things a little tricky as they are so close but the change itself is pretty positive. I have however gotten it wrong a couple of times but still managed to pull away from standstill, on an incline in 3rd without any problems.
Having been in a couple of Exiges the noise in comparison is eerily quiet but what noise there is does sound good.
In terms of the car�s handling it is obviously too early to say. I intend to build up my cornering speeds slowly in the hope that I don�t get caught out but the true test will of course be on the track. There is of course some turbo lag but it isn�t all or nothing it�s more like a three-stage process, fast, scary fast & mentally fast.
How many kilos does the Audi install give away to the VHPD? And does it sit any higher in the chassis? I guess the extra power will more than compensate for the extra weight but I was wondering how the ptw figures work out. On the height front… if it sits a bit higher how would you go about compensating for this?
Sounds awesome, you must be having loads of fun. My car still isn’t back home with it’s new Honda so I’m pretty envious. Looking forward to seeing those acceleration figures.
It sits lower actually, about 30 mm. It’s because you don’t have to run the exhaust under the engine and the sump is more compact. It’s also further forward.
The whole installation is about 50 kgs heavier, but the weight distribution only changes by 2%.
The extra power and torque more than compensates for this
We tried to do some times but it was early evening rush hour on the various bypass roads - and you would not believe how soon a huge gap turns into a panic brake
Next plan is to instal my DL90 at the weekend (no GPS though, cos my mouse is on my car at Bernard’s)
We should get some pretty good indications from the accelerometers…
I’ll take the stopwatch too, in case we find some space
It sits lower actually, about 30 mm. It’s because you don’t have to run the exhaust under the engine and the sump is more compact. It’s also further forward.
The whole installation is about 50 kgs heavier, but the weight distribution only changes by 2%.
The extra power and torque more than compensates for this
Superb… couldn’t ask for much more i guess… so do you think you will make arrangements to meet demand
I guess on the weight distribution thing you mean that there is a little more weight over the rear than standard??
Sounds awesome, you must be having loads of fun. My car still isn’t back home with it’s new Honda so I’m pretty envious. Looking forward to seeing those acceleration figures.
Randy, I managed to get a couple of in gear timed runs on a private rd this evening. These were using a stop watch so could be out by a 10th of a second or two:
40mph - 70mph in 3rd = 2.5 sec
60mph - 80mph in 4th - 1.9 sec
To be absolutely fair to the car the above times probably over estimate the time it would take in real driving conditions as the turbo would be at least partially spinning at the commencement of the run and this was not the case for either of the above.
With regards to getting some accurate times I have booked the car onto a Redline magazine “group thrash” event who use the latest datalogging technology. Just in case you were wondering why Redline, it’s because it’s Published by Future Publishing who I work for.
Sounds awesome Steve, well impressed with the figures.
Who else is at this group test, are you the main contendor for the quickest car there? Do you want a Honda powered car to join the fun?
I’m pretty certain your car will be a fair amount quicker than mine but it will be interesting to have a head to head for the benefit of everyone here.
“Who else is at this group test, are you the main contendor for the quickest car there? Do you want a Honda powered car to join the fun”?
At the moment I am in dark about as to who will be in the group test with me but I will make some enquiries. With regards to having others cars come along I’m afraid this isn’t my call but it does sound like a good idea so I will try and sell them on the idea.
I presume there are would be at a handful of people on here who would be interested if I could sort something out?
With regards to pictures of the conversion/installation I am going to be investing in a new digital camera soon so I will be posting some pics shortly. In the meantime you can actually see pictures of Bernard’s own car on his Webiste @: http://www.auto-teknix.co.uk/
It would certainly be interesting to see a comparison like this between Honda and Audi conversions. It would also be nice to hear some comments about handling as compared to original VHPD cars…
Thanks for the link to Bernard site pics… i note he answers my earlier q’s in there should have looked first…
If my car is ready, do you think they would like to test a race version as well??
Or do you want to go for 'fastest of the day ’ yourself ?
The idea I have in mind is to persuade the editor that he should do an entire article on all the versions std, Honda, Audi etc including a balls out race car naturally.
Don’t get your hopes up because this normally isn’t their thing but I think its worth a shot.
If we can’t join in on the magazine comparison we should all go and hire Bruntingthorpe for a few hours to compare, contrast and drive stupidly fast .
Ellomoto - We should meet for a beer and a drive (in reverse order ) once my car is back from Maidstone. Looks like it might be back in the next few days…