RST V8
Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2006 11:00 pm
Hi all.
I was lucky enough to have a test drive in Russell Savory's (motopower) yellow caterham with the RST V8 engine fitted and thought i'd post up to let you know how it went.
I flew down to drive the car at North Weald, and walshy picked me up at stansted. We arrived to a cold but dry, sunny day. Perfect for driving a car with no weather protection and especially one with 340bhp!!!!!!
Russell arrived shortly after. He had driven the car down, and explained how he still likes to use the car on the road.
Walshy took me out for a blast, to show me what the car and, more importantly, engine were capable of. And its certainly capable. He pulled away gently, looked across, smiled, then gunned the throttle. The car leapt across the concrete, and as the rev counter swept round to 10,250rpm, he banged the sequential gear lever back into 2nd, and it started all over again. then 3rd, then 4th. The acceleration didnt let up as he climbed through the gears, and was like that feeling of being in a powerful aeroplane taking off from a runway, where the thrust pushes you back into your chair until your doing 200mph and you take off. In fact, the feelings were so close, i could swear it felt like we were doing 200 mph and about to take off . By this time i was suitably scared by the constant surge well into triple figures, and also by the rapidly dissapearing airfield. After a few more laps, it was my shot.
My nervousness at driving such a powerful car showed as i pulled away and stalled. It was more to do with my nerves than the tractability of the engine, as i later found out, it pulls from tickover in any gear upto the limiter. My first shot in the car was spent finding the traction limitations of the caterham, as full power in 3rd gear at 90mph still had the tail end moving about, and i had to be gentle with the inputs to keep it on line. after 10 minutes i pulled back in, with the biggest grin i've ever had since passing my test.
Walshy took out another customer who is putting this engine into his racecar. He arrived back looking white as a sheet, after finding out just what to expect of its performance.
After breakfast, and a few tips from Mr Walsh ( which basically involved, dont be scared of it, enjoy yourself, and show it who's boss ) I went back out for a play, this time on my own. Being a bit more relaxed helped immensly. This time, when the rear end broke traction on the throttle, instead of backing off, i kept my foot in and nudged the car back on line. The feeling is of one continious powerslide, but its available in a straight line, in almost any gear. It turned into the most addictive, and satisfying game, where I had much more power than traction, and had to put it down as best i could. After years of driving a car where the corners were the most fun, all of a sudden, the straights seemed interesting again.
I had a look under the bonnet, and even to a technical numpty like myself, i could see the high standards the car and engine were built to. From my point of view, everything just worked, simply and well, as it had been designed. This is obviously important, as i want an engine i can trust to deliver mile after mile, rather than spend hours tinkering with it to get the most out of it.
When Russell left with the car, i was gutted. It was like an adreneline rush, that you crave time and time again. I cant thank Russle and walshy enough for letting my test the car. Its defiantely something i'd consider in the elise. I think it'll turn it into a proper supercar killer. Watch this space.
I was lucky enough to have a test drive in Russell Savory's (motopower) yellow caterham with the RST V8 engine fitted and thought i'd post up to let you know how it went.
I flew down to drive the car at North Weald, and walshy picked me up at stansted. We arrived to a cold but dry, sunny day. Perfect for driving a car with no weather protection and especially one with 340bhp!!!!!!
Russell arrived shortly after. He had driven the car down, and explained how he still likes to use the car on the road.
Walshy took me out for a blast, to show me what the car and, more importantly, engine were capable of. And its certainly capable. He pulled away gently, looked across, smiled, then gunned the throttle. The car leapt across the concrete, and as the rev counter swept round to 10,250rpm, he banged the sequential gear lever back into 2nd, and it started all over again. then 3rd, then 4th. The acceleration didnt let up as he climbed through the gears, and was like that feeling of being in a powerful aeroplane taking off from a runway, where the thrust pushes you back into your chair until your doing 200mph and you take off. In fact, the feelings were so close, i could swear it felt like we were doing 200 mph and about to take off . By this time i was suitably scared by the constant surge well into triple figures, and also by the rapidly dissapearing airfield. After a few more laps, it was my shot.
My nervousness at driving such a powerful car showed as i pulled away and stalled. It was more to do with my nerves than the tractability of the engine, as i later found out, it pulls from tickover in any gear upto the limiter. My first shot in the car was spent finding the traction limitations of the caterham, as full power in 3rd gear at 90mph still had the tail end moving about, and i had to be gentle with the inputs to keep it on line. after 10 minutes i pulled back in, with the biggest grin i've ever had since passing my test.
Walshy took out another customer who is putting this engine into his racecar. He arrived back looking white as a sheet, after finding out just what to expect of its performance.
After breakfast, and a few tips from Mr Walsh ( which basically involved, dont be scared of it, enjoy yourself, and show it who's boss ) I went back out for a play, this time on my own. Being a bit more relaxed helped immensly. This time, when the rear end broke traction on the throttle, instead of backing off, i kept my foot in and nudged the car back on line. The feeling is of one continious powerslide, but its available in a straight line, in almost any gear. It turned into the most addictive, and satisfying game, where I had much more power than traction, and had to put it down as best i could. After years of driving a car where the corners were the most fun, all of a sudden, the straights seemed interesting again.
I had a look under the bonnet, and even to a technical numpty like myself, i could see the high standards the car and engine were built to. From my point of view, everything just worked, simply and well, as it had been designed. This is obviously important, as i want an engine i can trust to deliver mile after mile, rather than spend hours tinkering with it to get the most out of it.
When Russell left with the car, i was gutted. It was like an adreneline rush, that you crave time and time again. I cant thank Russle and walshy enough for letting my test the car. Its defiantely something i'd consider in the elise. I think it'll turn it into a proper supercar killer. Watch this space.
But then again.......... you could have 20k miles of extremely enjoyable ultimate Elise under your belt by then.