A couple random notes of semi-interest:
On Capris:
I had two Capris, the first was burnt yellow and had the Pinto engine in
it, was slow and sounded like a Willys Jeep when it wound out, had very
numb steering. The second one was a red 2.6, it was a much better car
but in my teenage hands it was a poor stoplight racer, especially with
big block Chevelles lurking about, so I sold it and bought, yep, a big
block Chevelle. Never appreciated that little car, or any other, at that
age, but that German 2.6 was pretty bullet-proof. It eventually grew to
4.0 and was the main Ford small six in every Ranger and Explorer for
years, so there are plenty of them to go around.
On Alpine vs Tiger:
Theo is correct. I was involved in ProSolo racing back in the late
'70's, and built a very wicked Scirocco to complete in the MA class. It
had a full race suspension, locker diff, slicks, a Calloway turbo
engine, and nothing inside but a roll cage and race seat. At 1400 lbs.
and with 250+ HP it was a great track car...and a lousy parking lot
racer. Why? That turbo engine was too hard to control at the precise
turn-in balance points needed to go fast on a tight circuit. For the
next season I built a 2.2 liter stroker for the car, much less HP but a
nice broad torque curve, and with it came the trophies. So given the
circumstances, horsepower does not always win over a well-balanced
vehicle.
Bugz
-----Original Message-----
From: Smit, Theo
Subject: Re: [Tigers] V6 Alpine?
On the whole Alpine vs. Tiger thing... In an autocross there is much
more focus on how nimble the chassis is and balancing the engine power
against the requirement to maintain maximum lateral G, with the
available contact patch. An Alpine that can make more use of its total
power output (percentage wise) and that has a quicker turn-in response
due to less overall inertia on the front end, could definitely be
competitive against a Tiger especially if the Tiger was not prepared or
driven with equal skill. How many people take the time to really dial in
the part-throttle drivability of their engine, especially with a view to
having the carb work properly in any high-lateral-G situation?
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