Duratec weight

[NickD]

Chris,

 

Regarding gearbox weights, the Caterham 6-speed is actually 1kg heavier than an iron-cased Type 9 box (33kg v 32kg if I remember correctly). The Type 9 can be lightened another 4kg with an aluminium case.

 

Edited by - NickD on 9 Apr 2003 23:00:57

[Graham Perry]

Does the british Ford Ranger have a Duratec ? If so I will treat them with more respect at the lights !

[murph7355]

Power - used to be of the opinion that you couldn't have too much. But am not now.

 

Round a circuit, significantly more than 200bhp in a lightweight 7 will make very little difference to your lap times (for mere mortals), especially if the circuit has no long straights.

 

Deploying the power is difficult unless the tyres are wide and sticky and this, IMO, spoils much of the fun you can have with a 7.

 

You also can't really state that you don't have to use it...it never quite works this way and playing with half of your throttle travel is not easy. Modulating the much smaller angles required with your foot is an art form and at times impossible.

 

I also found that there are few roads where you can seriously let rip with the throttle without causing the car to fishtail, skip about and generally spin its wheels. And when you get on a bumpy road, having your foot slip a mm or two can lead to some very dirty underwear.

 

A 200bhp 7 is a wicked tool on road or track and will p*ss on pretty much anything out there. Especially with a committed driver who knows how to drive it. And they are perfectly capable of holding their own against the big mutha 7's (unless the aforementioned long straight's involved). I sometimes believe that some people would actually be quite a lot faster in a lower powered 7 than they are with higher powered derivatives.

 

I think I'm getting old...but straight line power is definitely not all I thought it was. A 220bhp Duratec would be a very nice engine indeed.

[Mike Bees]

Not sure where Nick got his gearbox figures from, my 6-speed box was 29.5kg, so virtually identical to an ali-cased Type 9 (as you'd expect really).

 

Mike

[normalbloke.29]

Indeed, it would appear that you are getting too old my friend....lol

[Michael Peterson]

JohnCh:

 

Where did you obtain your 2.0L duratec?

 

Michael

 

No officer, the wheel is on the RIGHT side.

Red Super Sprint De Dion 6 speed

[moosetestbestanden]

NIck, Mike: Thanks for the gearbox info. Still undecided - cost dictates the 5 speed, my constant reaching-for-6th-syndrome habit has me thinking about the Caterham box.

 

John: I agree - see following.

 

I had some discussions w/ the Blatting Crew at Willow Springs yesterday. The upshot is it'll be a (Mexican!) 2.0L for me, coming in at about 220 hp or so. A nice little blat in a +/- 200hp Zetec confirmed for me that around 200 ponies ought to be enough for now, certainly while I'm coming up the learning curve driving-wise.

 

There'll likely be some internal mods as well - pistons, rods, cams. Those remain unspecified but the fundamental decision is made. Now, about the gearbox...

 

It sure felt nice to scratch that itch yesterday, but this morning finds me itching worse. Imagine.

 

As an aside, my wife was FLYING in another Se7en, and loving it! Boy, did I marry well.

 

CYaLata

 

Chris

[JohnCh]

Where did you obtain your 2.0L duratec?

I went through Gerry Dedonis (dedonis@kans.com) at Kansas Racing Products. He was great to deal with and I wouldn't hesitate to buy an engine from him again. If you contact Gerry, tell him I sent you and also please let him know that it looks like the motor will finally go in next month (I bought the thing in November 😳).

 

-John

 

 

 

Throttle Steer

 

Edited by - JohnCh on 14 Apr 2003 02:23:26

[AMMO]

Got a few extra bits from Raceline this morning. I paid extra and went for the ultra lightweight flywheel in the end. I'm glad I did. The standard lightweigh flywheel may not materialise for another couple of weeks.

 

The weights are: Flywheel 3.7 kilos, friction plate 1.15 kilos, clutch cover 4.35 kilos. Total 9.2 kilos (I was hoping less) The stock components are around 15 kilos, so under 6 kilos weight saving. Don't know what the standard light weight steel flywheel weighs.

 

I can now get the crank balanced.

 

The ali bellhousing is 4.1 kilos.

 

At some point I'll get all the Duratec information together and put it on a separate site.

 

AMMO

[Tight fart]

Out of interest I have just weighed the cast iron bellhousing removed from my crossflow as I have fitted an alloy, 12 Kilos 😳 not sure how much heavier the zetec is though.

[AMMO]

I weighed my old X-flow at 100 kilos using some hanging scales off the engine crane. The Zetec I installed was 110 kilos with a light steel flywheel. I managed to save over 10 kilos by fitting an ali bellhousing, lighter battery and silencer. I'm still chipping away at little odds and sods all the time.

 

AMMO