"Tom De Moor" wrote in message
.be...
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.

My opinion is not just based on track performance. It's primarily
based on personal experience, having owned a 1985 Vitesse since
1988.

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).

AIUI the BSCC homolgation rules did not allow the sort of
modifications allowed on BTCC cars. BSCC cars had to be basically
production cars. Hence the the requirement to produce at least
500? for sale to the public.
Hence the suspension on the Vitesse, as sold to the public, was
basically the same as that used on the race cars.

AIUI homolgation is the only reason why twin plenum versions were
made. It was a modification made to improve the power output of
the race engines, making little difference on the roadgoing
version.

Apart from being lower with stiffer springs, shocks etc, the
suspension also had less compliant polyurathane bushings. Not
forgetting the rear spoiler and front air dam which actually do
add to the package, as compared to many of those on cars today
which are often aded for cosmetic purposes only.

I understand the point you're making though about BTCC cars.
Although they might look like road cars, that's about as far it
goes. Under the outer shell very little of a std road car
remains.
Mike.