Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

The Mezger is a development of the engine from the 964/993 - Singer use a GT3 crank in their 993 based engines for example.

Famously the first GT3's had a 964 part number stamped into the crank case.

The M96, by contrast, was a ground-up new design for the 2.5 litre Boxster that ended it's life (in M97 guise) as the 3.8 litre 997 engine.

What I'm trying to do is to answer the question "what if Porsche were not allowed to homologate the Mezger and had to develop the M96 for the Cup cars?"

Prior to the GT3 Porsche developed the first X51 Powerkit for this very purpose - but it never made it as the Cup specification as Porsche realised that if they used the Mezger as the basis of the turbo then they could produce it in enough volume to justify the GT3 program.

No worries, thanks very much for checking! :) I put it an offer on the ebay green £80 one yesterday before spotting the £30 one, so will wait until I hear back from the seller on that. Still better than £200ish for the proper Skoda one...

Another question on the 400rpm between peak and redline.

Is that the auto gearbox or the fuel injection or some other cutoff being computer managed or is it up to the driver to hit peak power and then back off or change up before you redline the engine?

Depends very much on the age of the engine, and therefore how it's managed.

That to one side, you should not be able to rev any engine past the limiter - if you can, the limiter is broken.

For e.g.

PORSCHE ENGINE REV LIMITING SYSTEMS
Engine Rev Limiter systems started in the early Porsche 911’s as a mechanical sliding ignition rotor whose sole job was to cut power in the event of an engine RPM over-rev. A section of the ignition rotor would slide outwards driven by centrifugal force depending on the engines RPM speed and would eventually make contact with a ground terminal, shutting the engine off until the engine reached a safe RPM range. The simplicity of the past is now gone and replaced with an extremely accurate electronic control system. The rev limiter for the 9X6’s and 9X7’s utilize a fuel/ignition cut off system operated by the DME (Digital Motor Electronics) controller that engages when the engines RPM reaches a model specific maximum limit.

Caliper is probably only part of the issue. The slider pins do wear over time (the male prong bit as well as the female bit within the caliper body) and get more slack in them/sticky. Worth changing the lot at the back if your brakes have needed that much 'fiddling' for so many years.

The bracket part is sometimes at fault too, where the edge of the pads rests on the bracket they eventually wear grooves into it, then when you put new pads in, they just don't move. You can grind this part down with an angle grinder to get it all level/smooth again, but you can only do this once, take off too much material and the pads will eject when you brake lol

Should not be able to rev the engine 'with the accelerator' past the rev limit.

Can over rev an engine, for example, on a downshift from 5th to 2nd....then it is usually serious damage to the drivetrain.

@mashton You can get aftermarket ad ons that mean you can keep the accelerator depressed even during gear changes. Some of the more expensive engine management systems rev match for you on up and down shifts. But then no heal and toe fun...

Here is how the MGA rev limted through the rotor arm

Afternoon,

Thinking of a practical, ‘future classic’ motor to sign off the chemo, and ending three years of my wife being a blagger student. Got two small kids, need a heated drivers seat for my missing back, and looking for reliability. Thinking either a Mk 1 Audi TT, big standard Quattro at 225hp, or Alfa GT. any experience on either, or other potential motors under £3.2K...?

P.S high miles not a concern with FSH for me, and not audacious is key, s the kids at school are likely to pee on it if so....

I saw a really clean mark 1 TT yesterday- thought that the shape and overall design had aged very well. A 225/4wd version would hit the spot I reckon.

Those are very much my thoughts - they’re cheap as, reliable, plentiful, and I think it’s easy to forget the impact they had when they first came into the public eye. Got to be silver/grey, preferably with the red leather interior....

New Kalashnikov?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-24/kalashnikov-takes-aim-at-electric-cars-with-retro-prototype

Should not be able to rev the engine 'with the accelerator' past the rev limit.

Can over rev an engine, for example, on a downshift from 5th to 2nd....then it is usually serious damage to the drivetrain.

No, really?

156 GTA?

They’re like rocking horse shit, and by all accounts hoof oil like it’s going out of fashion - I spoke to a fella at Pembury Autos in TWells about the 147 GTA they have on display there, and he gently put me off in a kindly way. Brera could be an option, as could a GTV, but I’m 6’+.....

Apologies for a non car related post, but this post made my day.

Really glad you're signing off the occasion with a car purchase that you can have a bit of fun with. An early TT 1.8t would be good and I think that a nice specced car should be a bit sought after in years to come. If you can find an original one with the baseball leather seats, thats what I'd look for as it echoes the ideas from the concept. I once sold one that hadn't had the recall done to retrofit the spoiler and thats probably a rare car now.

Looking on autotrader, your budget would get you into a later MK1 3.2V6 car which gives you the benefit of the noise of a VR6 but with the much worse fuel economy.

The Alfa would be a good choice if you want something that feels special and is a little bit different from the norm. I can't comment on longevity or build quality of them though.

The other things that would tempt me would be a E46 BMW 330 CI Clubsport or if I was feeling brave an RX8.

If you really wanted something daft there seem to be tonnes of cheap Mercedes CL500's. These win purely on the "This cost someone 75K+ back in 2000! I gave 2 grand for it" stakes

I did wonder about the V6, but turbo-charging plays such a part in the history of Audi performance cars that I thought you should really have that, and quatro four wheel drive.

The baseball leather seats are nice - one of my ex-girlfriends father bought his new girlfriend a convertible TT with those seats as a present shortly after meeting her.

I was going to suggest an RX8 but they're hardly renowned for their reliability. Usual Wankel engine issues with tip seal wear.

My MO seems to be to buy a car then spend the purchase price again in maintenance, and I wouldn't touch an RX8. The FEAR would be too strong.

That's why I said I'd have to be feeling brave. I want to own a rotary engined car at some point, even if I know theres a good chance it'll break my heart and my wallet.

Find nurseholidays post for rx8 advice.

That engine makes more power than the stratos...

How about 164 cloverleaf later one?

156 or 159 q4? Subtle beauty.

See my comment about nurseholidays post on the topic.

Had an rx7 that needed an engine swap on purchase. Ran well till I sold it....quite quickly after. Bit faster than I would have liked.

RX8 seems an interesting car, either cheap or expensive for the same model year and spec. Still want to rebuild an rx8 engine. Never done one, and seems like something fun.

How about a fake tt