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

Shock absorbers / dampers - oil or gas?
Hard to find a definitive answer.
Use would be a standard road car, comfort and control obvious priorities, rather than heavy duty or performance.
The context for this is that my runabout pug 306 has 270,000 Kay's on it and I'm pretty sure they're the original shocks and they've lost their suppleness. Rebound control is still fine, rear shocks are leaking though.

So, gas or oil? OEM original units would be impossible to get.

How do they measure Octane in Aus? 91 is the top we get here in CA but the US uses the average of the RON and MON values so shows as lower than it would in Europe. 91 in the US works out something like 95+ RON...

Gas always IMO.

You should be able to put Bilstein B4s on it which are OEM standard spec but just a really good quality unit

The lower the octane of the fuel the more of said fuel the car will use.

Citation needed. Generally speaking lower octane fuels have a higher calorific value, but are more inclined to detonation. Unless your car's ECU has knock detection, and backs off the ignition timing significantly with lower octane fuel, it won't affect consumption rates. However, it may well up limiting maximum boost in an engine with knock detection and turbos.

I think it depends on the fuel, I know my fuel injected bike uses less if I fill it up with leaded 110 race gas (not enough to offset the $9 gallon ....) Feels a LOT crisper and peppy too which must be the computer giving it more timing.

They use boat loads of ethanol here because of environmental regs and to pad cheap fuel. It actually boosts the octane yet Ethanol has a much lower calorific value than gas.

Been told by the local Subaru dealer to use 95, 91 would be ok but not E10 94... He wouldn't give me a reason when I asked why, classic take my word for it attitude, I almost went straight out and filled up with E10... Silly prick, I won't be going there for a service!!

It’s the knock related timing issue I believe. Therefore, if you pootle about whilst never labouring the engine I imagine you might not run into a situation where the engine winds the timing back.

Jeff of "Home built by Jeff" has just bought a 996 C2.

Sweet, thanks. Was looking at Bilstein or kyb. Might go the b4's.

Maybe silly that he didn't explain but he's advice is valid. The long term effects of E10 may not be clear. In any case, this government site says it's ok, so I'd probably not trust that!
https://www.e10fuelforthought.nsw.gov.au/compatibility-check

So it's like vaping... But for cars, mate...

Just found out I missed out on a three year old Nissan Patrol with only 60,000kms on the clock... For $15k... Gutted... Outlaw's navy mate, who is a fucking millionaire shit comedian, got rid of it without telling his favourite pretend niece... Gutted...

I can't enjoy the Subaru anymore... 😭🤑😂

Our Subaru has always run a bit funny since we got it. I did some extensive googling and thought I’d whip the IACV out, clean it and reset the ECU.

Made a massive difference once the ECU had re-learned its base values

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well, the thing is, i don't know what the spec was, when used by TTE.. there is info about the WRC cars, of course, but i doubt they used an Xtrac gearbox for a reconnaissance car..

there were modifications that have left some clues behind, such as light pods on the front bumpers (hole locations still visible), harness anchor points behind the rear seats, oil pan shield (bolts welded to the underside), map light over the passenger side Jesus-handle - will have to dig in deeper to see if it was caged

the chap i bought it from sent an email to TTE, but they told him they didn't keep records at the time, so not much info from them (apart from confirming the license plate). i know the names of the following owners, so might try to hit them up and ask around.

the plan is to put the gearbox internals into my MR2 project (sw20, with a planned 3sge gen5 (Altezza) blacktop engine swap), convert the Celica back to synchro, get the OEM ECU back in, etc. :)

it is likely that it looked like this: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=414864779168022

Jeff of "Home built by Jeff"

Did he finish the orange and purple one in the end?

He's got the engine for that assembled now, and is onto the wiring.

Ah cool. I'll have a hunt for the engine video.

No idea why, but I really want one of these at the moment.

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My pangs of envy this morning were directed at this. Looks great and is still cool despite the Princess Anne associations, enough space to get a bike in the back, and is in a retina agitating 70's colour. Want.

Crantock Road! See it pottering daily about the place too. Less fibreglass fun, but around the corner on Thornsbeach there's a guy with a Spitfire he's had since 1976 and is still using all the time, although I imagine it's a bit ship of theseus at this point.

Haha. Rust free fibreglass looks better in the rain somehow :)

The other chap has done well if his Spitfire is still running, I think the default position for them is up on blocks. There's a baby blue one round the corner from me that always seems to be having something done to it, but I've never seen it actually move.

It's a shame they didn't keep records. It would have been nice to know who had been doing the recces in it. I loved this era of WRC. I can remember following one of the Castrol Celicas through Harrogate after the opening stage of the RAC back in the early 90's with my dad driving and spotting other cars along the way.

MR2 project sounds tasty too. I've always fancied a MK2.

Watched Binky in my lunch break. First one I've enjoyed for ages.

Also enjoying this guys stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dYbYBP1ToU

I have some experience of buying ex-team recce cars and turning them into proper rally cars. Most of them had sump / tank guards, cages, bucket seats and harnesses and suspension and brake upgrades to suit.
The Polo had a VW Motorsport ECU with a remap but otherwise standard engine.

Do you have the ratios for the Xtrac box yours has fitted? If the ratios are similar to the WRC box used in the GT4 then there's a sensible justification of using it for a recce particularly if they were making notes in a 6 fastest numbers first format maybe.

Long shot I know, but does anyone in SE London have a Thule roof mounted bike carrier (with t-track system) I could borrow from 18th to 31st December?

I'm not really in a position to buy one 2 weeks before Christmas, and would rather not land one on the credit card...

Yep, if you mean the carrier itself rather than the roof bars?