Ben’s Car Blog

I love stuff like this.

DATSUN.ORG presents the “bible” of preparing your Roadster for the track by veteran racer Bob Sharp. While over thirty years old, the manual is still a wonderful resource chocked full of schematics and photographs of the 1500, 1600, and 2000 Roadster.

It really is awesome. I’ve geeky enough that I even like the typesetting.

Converting Bob Sharp’s Datsun Competition Preparation Manual into Adobe Acrobat format took just over 50 hours.

I love that there is so much passion for the Roadster that someone took the time to re-produce a classic manual. Modern technolgy and techniques had probably surplanted what the manual describes as possible but that doesn’t really matter, does it?

Photos from the recent, inagural, RX-8 Nationals are on-line and available for purchase.

I really like this one.

The Sydney Morning Herald drives the new “NC” MX-5 on Australian soil and likes it, even if the author, Joshua Dowling, admits he was never a real fan of the concept or execution.

Interestingly, the new car was driven back to back with the original “NA” MX-5 (that didn’t come with power steeting, much to Dowling’s shock).

The verdict: the new MX-5 is very, very, very good which is a good thing for two reasons.

1. Mazda will sell a heap of them
2. It will drive used values of NA and NB-series cars down such that I will be able to afford an NA in the medium term. Hooray!

(New Mazda MX-5 arrives Down Under)

Apparently there are some hot Kias coming to Australia in the near future, including a WRX competitor.

The Rio-based WRX could be seen for the first time this month at the Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany, but is already confirmed as a turbocharged all-wheel-drive performance machine.

“They have given a commitment. It’s about 18 months away,” Kia Australia spokesman Edward Rowe says.

UPDATE: Concept pictures at Wheels24

(Kia blitz of models)

Motorcycle engined cars are cool. High revving, light, fast, focussed. Not really the thing for the daily commute (unless you’re some sort of sports car masochist) but just the ticket for the weekend.

Recently Autoblog and Jalopnik have posted about the Suzuki-engined smart which is cool, if possibly a little moose-prone.

British company zcars will put a Hayabusa engine (and other kinds of bike engines, too) into just about anything. Check out their rear-drive mini, and twin-engined 4wd turbo-charged Ultima.

If that’s not enough, go to kneeslider, a motorcycle website, for their list of motorcycle engine powered cars.

Finally, my two favourites:

Fisher Sports Cars in the UK make the Fury and the Menace. The Fury is front-engined and will take just about any popular engine found in kit cars including the ubiquitious 4AGE but it will also take a ‘busa engine, complete with 6-speed sequential transmission. The Menace is the same idea but is bike-engine only and mid-engined. Unlike a Lotus 7, the Fury and Menace look like they were designed in the later half of the last century. The Fury in particular has a lot of Elfin MS8 Streamliner about it (or that should be the other way around) which is odd because I quite like the look of the Fury but the Streamliner looks overdone.

Grinnall cars make a bunch of weird stuff but my favourites of theirs are the Scorpion III and Scorpion IV. Just go and have a look and then tell me that a 3-wheeled (2 front, 1 rear) trike powered by a BMW bike engine doesn’t make a tiny bit of sense.

GoAuto reports that HSV will import the 176kw Astra OPC. Holden will also import the “standard” Astra SRi Turbo with 147kw.

This won’t be (despite what the article says) HSV’s first hot hatch (though hot is a relative term). Who can forget the SV1800? I’m sure some want to.

(Hot shoe shuffle!)

Elfin, makers of Lotus 7 type cars are branching out and building the MS8, conceived by Mike Simcoe and designed and built with help from Holden.

These originally started as concept cars and are now full-blown production cars with the LS1 V8 in a 1100kg “clubman” body. They’re expensive and I’m not sure if there is any point other than to have a really big unstressed engine in a really little car. I’d have to have at least three other cars before considering getting an MS8 (make mine the Clubman, the Streamliner is a bit too Thunderbirds).

Michael Stahl from Wheels drove one for the current issue and generally liked it which is a pretty good rap for what’s basically a low-volume hand-built road-registered race car.

In 1966 Bob Holden raced a Mini at Bathurst and won. CarsGuide has the story of how he boosted the power in his assigned car and won the race.

(Driver lifts the veil on mighty Bathurst win)

A Japanese magazine has featured what they’re saying is a new RX-3.

image hosted by Picasa

In the MX-5 forums opinion on the basic concept was positive though reaction to the styling was mixed. It’s clearly a photochop of Honda S2000 front, RX-3 rear quarter windows and bits and bobs from other things.

Over at AusRotary the basic concept had support as well but the look was dismissed. AusRotarians tend to be pretty conservative when it comes to the use of the name “RX-3″ so many were of the opinion that it should look more like the original. Interestingly, David Morris has confirmed the rumour. It’s possible that the new RX-3 push started or was at least inspired by RotaryNews.

If Mazda were to return with a RENESIS engined car positioned below the RX-8, I’m not sure it makes sense for it to be called the RX-3, unless they want the average punter to associate it with the Mazda3, which may be the point.

Here’s my prediction: If we see the new RX-3 at all, it will use the 4-port version of the RENESIS, leaving the 6-port version to the RX-8. It will be more closely related to the MX-5 than the RX-8, possibly using the extra power of the RENESIS to overcome the additional weight of the fixed roof and making a nice transitional car for people who’ve outgrown the standard performance of the MX-5.