Your fleet running reports

[Beany]

Not my fleet, but my neighbour has finally settled on a fun car to replace his Citroen C4 (or is it a DS4? Does it matter?)

A GT86

Which he plans to lower slightly, fit slightly larger wheels to, and then see about wrapping it in Castrol regalia.

Sorta like this:


Can't say he's making any bad choices there

[Ascender]

We had a Tesco delivery driver refuse a cash monies tip last week. Unheard of....

The concept in relation to centre caps is scarey. And I will probably always look for it now - on everything - not just Porkies YOU BASTARD.

Annoying right? I was genuinely surprised I’d never heard of that but now I can’t un-see it.

Rear tyres have put the handling up a notch, I guess a combination of the tyres and my confidence.

[JonMad]

THere's someone near me with a modded road GT-86 and a very nice race one. They both look ace. Hmmm, can you fit kids' seat in the back?

[Beany]

THere's someone near me with a modded road GT-86 and a very nice race one. They both look ace. Hmmm, can you fit kids' seat in the back?

He has teenage daughters. He reckons they'll just about fit in the back.

They kinda have to, they're going on a break next weekend and that's the only car he'll have.

My suggestion of getting a roofbox and chucking the cheekier of the two in that for the journey was noted and is under consideration

[Shlergen]

THere's someone near me with a modded road GT-86 and a very nice race one. They both look ace. Hmmm, can you fit kids' seat in the back?

I tried ever so hard at a dealership, passenger side yes but not behind driver unless your 4ft - you're taller than me if iirc.

[Rich B]

He was also asking if I knew the Porsche rule about the centre caps, locking wheel nut and tyre valve having to be aligned...

I do this

But there is a slight practical benefit - I always know which bolt is the security one without feeling around in the recess to check.

i always wear a blindfold in those situations, so I wouldn't be able to see the centre cap or the nut.

[Matty]

My work mate has spent a fortune on his - he's gone a little OTT recently, but I've been in it a few times now and I was far more impressed with it than I expected:

[Marv]

He was also asking if I knew the Porsche rule about the centre caps, locking wheel nut and tyre valve having to be aligned...

I do this

But there is a slight practical benefit - I always know which bolt is the security one without feeling around in the recess to check.

Same.

It's actually in the 944 workshop manual to do this. It's because the old style locking wheel nut (which literally had a key) was heavy, so Porsche would mark the lightest point on the hub with a red dot on the stud closest to the lightest point. I guess so the rotating mass is as balanced as possible.

I've got alloy locking wheel nuts for my 968, so it's not that applicable but a nice practice to follow.

The locking wheel nuts with the keys apparently used to rust up inside and seize

[mik]

Oh I have always lined up the locknut with the valve - mainly so it could be located easily by feel as SJ mentions. But never the centre cap.

[Ascender]

He was also asking if I knew the Porsche rule about the centre caps, locking wheel nut and tyre valve having to be aligned...

I do this

But there is a slight practical benefit - I always know which bolt is the security one without feeling around in the recess to check.

Same.

It's actually in the 944 workshop manual to do this. It's because the old style locking wheel nut (which literally had a key) was heavy, so Porsche would mark the lightest point on the hub with a red dot on the stud closest to the lightest point. I guess so the rotating mass is as balanced as possible.

I've got alloy locking wheel nuts for my 968, so it's not that applicable but a nice practice to follow.

The locking wheel nuts with the keys apparently used to rust up inside and seize

Every day’s a school day!

I went out to have a look at the front locking nuts and it works, I instantly knew which one to go for.

[Beany]

THere's someone near me with a modded road GT-86 and a very nice race one. They both look ace. Hmmm, can you fit kids' seat in the back?

I tried ever so hard at a dealership, passenger side yes but not behind driver unless your 4ft - you're taller than me if iirc.

I've not measured my neighbours height, but he's half a head shorter than me and shorter in the leg so he might get away with it

[Sundayjumper]

...wrapping it in Castrol regalia.

Looks good in itself, but I can't help thinking you'd look a bit of a bellend driving it to the shops.

[Beany]

...wrapping it in Castrol regalia.

Looks good in itself, but I can't help thinking you'd look a bit of a bellend driving it to the shops.

Yeah, I did suggest that day to day it might be a bit OTT, and he didn't disagree. I think he's in the 'everything is awesome' stage of car buying at the moment, reality will set in once he gets it I'm sure

[Sundayjumper]

However, as a data geek, what is really intriguing to me is the fact that in metric units, that's 500PS & 1000Nm. Very surprisingly neat numbers. It's almost as if the engine can do more but they had to put a number on it and plumped for some round numbers, like the old "gentleman's agreements". I definitely need to get it on a dyno some time.

I've not got a conclusive answer but I've got a strong suspicion it's down to the gearbox: 1000Nm is (was?) the limit of the strongest off-the-shelf gearbox available, a special version of the ZF 6HP32. The Bentley Arnage T, a completely different engine but using the same gearbox, is also rated at exactly 1000Nm.

In addition, the Bentley is rated at 500bhp (=507PS), very very similar to the Audi. So I'm going to guess the same situation; gearbox tech was the weak link and the engines are detuned to match.

[nuttinnew]

Sooo...what are you going to replace it with?

[Sundayjumper]

LOL !

I’m not planning on modding the engine but a bit of preventative maintenance on the gearbox seems like a good idea seeing as it’s right on its limit anyway.

Oil & filter is easy enough and I’ve just been reading about Sonnax Zip Kits. They’re a set of lightly upgraded seals etc. for the valve block that apparently address the common weaknesses in the OEM. DIYable if you’re brave (and I am these days) as the valve block can be removed without dropping the whole transmission.

[Broccers]

Boxster had it's mot and passed after I asked them to make sure it didn't fail. Pipercross air filter has increased the drama but do need to buy an exhaust.

Hopefully no more bills, they did put an advisory on the rear tyres. But I think I knew that already.

[DeskJockey]

Galaxy has a few new battle scars on its snout. Coming round a blind lefthander a fallen branch was sticking out about a third of the width of the lane. With someone behind, a fully (very fully) loaded car and a bus in the oncoming lane I had no option but to plow through it. Luckily it was only the thin top bits that I hit. Still, rather annoying.

In other news it'll need a new battery, and a speed dependent steering wheel vibration investigated.

[Sundayjumper]

The Bentley Arnage T, a completely different engine but using the same gearbox, is also rated at exactly 1000Nm.

The only comparable normal cars I can find are:

The V12 in the AMG S65 is also 1,000Nm.

A Bentley Mulsanne gets as far as 1,100Nm.

Then we're off into proper exotica. The Huayra, using another Merc V12, only produces 1,000Nm. Then you're up to something like a Chiron. And I'm not going to include electric or hybrids as they don't (AFAIK) try to put all that through a poor old slushbox auto.

[Mito Man]

Didn’t Brabus just slap on bigger turbos on those V12 Mercs and then make some crazy torque? Don’t know if they reworked the gearbox though.