In article ,
says...

That's OK..it's a SD1. They don't do cornering very well
anyway.

You're wrong. They do corner quite well, and the Vitesse with
it's modified suspension is excellent. Better than many later
cars I've driven, including the 528i E39 I'm driving at present.
In the early 80's the TWR developed Vitesse was dominant in the
BSCC championships. Pretty good for a car, that according to you
"didn't do cornering very well"



There is no way to compare a street suspension to a race suspension when
it comes to evaluating its performance or the roadholding of the car for
that matter.

For what "excellent suspension" goes: things evolved somewhat since the
launch of the SD1, suspension (and tires) are some of those things.

Was the AR155 Silverstone (also dominant in BTCC) a better road car for
it? Nope and the same logic -for similar reasons- is valid for the
Rover. The worst (and ill-spec'd) roadcar can become a very to excellent
racer: lack of chassis (in the road version) proves often an advantage
for the chassisdesigner because the nude chassis weighs less (and the
roll cage does the job of the chassis).

It is no secret that *all* Ford Cosworth works circuitracers did not use
the offical "Cosworth"-spec chassis with its re-inforced suspension
points: they used the 1.3 and 1.6 GL-chassis which was about 15 kg
lighter. Rollcage and pickup-points on it distributed the forces far
better that the roadgoing cosworth chassis while keeping a weight
advantage.

Tom De Moor