Wednesday, 9 June 2004

Bang / Pothole / Brakes and Overboost........

I wellied the car up a twisty piece of road in 2nd and heard a load bang!!!!!
The result you ask ?
One snapped intercooler hose bracket (where it mounts onto the rad mount)
and a gearlever that no longer flaps about on overrun.........

I'm guessing but worn engine mountings must have allowed the whole lot to move a bit too much , and in the process relocated a bush or the like.

All laughing aside , I sh*t myself and thought Id done some big number damage.

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Out in Glasgow shopping on Sunday (joy!) , on the way home I managed to find one of the biggest potholes in Glasgow. For some reason did the 'rabbit in headlights' impression and didnt take avoiding action....
result = more wheels marks.
Could've sworn from the noise that the tyre had blown out.
Havent ruled out a bent wheel, but no s/wheel vibrations so its prob OK.

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Works rough , so a hefty right foot home (after its warmed up of course) , is always the tonic.
Full throttle 3rd ......4th ........ and hook 5th
Car running well despite a cracked manifold.......and lo ,well ahead a nissan micra pulls into fast lane doing about 50mph ish.

Needless to say braking became a three step process :
Step 1 : 'No probs , lift off and cruise up to a safe distance.....'
Step 2 : 'OK , maybe not , going a wee bit fast , need to apply some brakes...'
Step 3 : ' F*************k '

Thats the 2nd time Ive been caught out by the speed differential you can achieve with a coupe :-).
Note to self : get better brakes LOL
Braking lacks any feel and definitely not progressive.
Discs/Pads+fluid change a starting point I feel.

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Re : Overboost :: Seems my car may be a bit 'frisky'. Other FCCUK members(Hi Fergie) have reported low boost in 1st + 2nd (0.5 and 0.7) , mine will go the full 1.3bar initially then drop !!! The car would actually be quicker in the wet with reduced levels because at the moment 1st/2nd are useless in the wet for me (even with full tread Goodyear GSD3 F1 tyres )