The Virtual Pub
Come Inside... => Petrol/Diesel/Red Diesel/Aviation Fuel Head Zone => Topic started by: Barman on October 11, 2007, 06:17:40 AM
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Did you know that Brooklands was the World’s first purpose-built racing circuit, where the Wold land speed record was broken no fewer than three times, 100 miles was covered in an hour for the first time, the inaugural British Grand Prix was run, and whose slogan was ‘The Rifht Crowd and No Crowding’, attracted thousands of motor racing fans and casual spectators alike.
At a time when the national speed limit was 20mph (and might as well be now in my experience), Brooklands’ spectacular banks were scientifically designed to accommodate 120mph!
By the end of the story of Brooklands racing (stopped by the war in n1939), John Cobb’s Outer Circuit lap record stood at a staggering 143.44mph!
No, you can still stand on the banked track although 80% of it has been destroyed by development. However, many of the old buildings that you have seen on old films of Brooklands still exist and they have an amazing collection of cars, motorbikes and even bicycles (they have The Ultimate Bike on which some bloke cycled at over 200mph!) from across the decades.
They had a couple of blower Bentleys turn up while we were there and drive around for a bit with the drivers and passengers dressed up in appropriate clothing for the era. That bloke off Changing Rooms was there too...
Now, a large part of the site is taken up by The Mercedes Benz Experience. It has a huge building that you can visit with billions of their cars outside and race tracks, skid pans and off road areas. Apparently you can go in and even try the cars out although we didn’t have time for that…
http://www.brooklandsmuseum.com/motoring_history.cfm
Then of course they have all the aviation history of Brooklands from 1939 to (I think) 1979 but of course you wouldn’t be interested in that.
Discuss.
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Did you go to the cemetery?
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I went to Brooklands once.
See! Sensible, to the point and unquestionably on-topic
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I like Blackpool in short bursts
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** Bump **
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Whatever happened to the Wankel Engine that, a few years ago, was set to revolutionise (note the pun) the way cars were powered?
Does anyone still make them, are they still fitted to any new vehicles?
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Mazda still use them in the RX8 I believe… rubschin:
Test drove one once – the engine was as smooth as a turbine – lovely. cloud9:
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Mazda still use them in the RX8 I believe… rubschin:
Test drove one once – the engine was as smooth as a turbine – lovely. cloud9:
Stick with me on this one, as I have said, I know little about cars.
If the Wankel was/is so good why has it not been more widely adopted? ~ I confess I thought it had died the death.
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Mazda still use them in the RX8 I believe… rubschin:
Test drove one once – the engine was as smooth as a turbine – lovely. cloud9:
Stick with me on this one, as I have said, I know little about cars.
If the Wankel was/is so good why has it not been more widely adopted? ~ I confess I thought it had died the death.
Growler will give us the inside information I’m sure but they used to have a problem with wear and high oil consumption… I presume the latest Mazdas don’t have this ‘feature’ so I don’t know why they aren’t used more widely…
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Must be a bit of a liability being born with a name like Wankel. Are there still any Hitlers in Germany?
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I believe there are. Probably don't go out much though.
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Where is Growler???? cussing:
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Red rag and bull comes to mind. whistle:
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RX8 rotary Wankel engine is still causing big problems apparently.
Sweet as a nut when it's running right, but normally catastrophic when it goes wrong....and many are. I really don't know why they persevere with it tbh
You DO NOT buy one that is out of warranty...EVER. noooo:
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Ahem... do you like your thread Growler? whistle:
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Ahem... do you like your thread Growler? whistle:
Yea, why? Shouldn't I?
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Ahem... do you like your thread Growler? whistle:
Yea, why? Shouldn't I?
doh:
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::)
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RX8 rotary Wankel engine is still causing big problems apparently.
Sweet as a nut when it's running right, but normally catastrophic when it goes wrong....and many are. I really don't know why they persevere with it tbh
You DO NOT buy one that is out of warranty...EVER. noooo:
In the late 80's/early 90's Norton produced a 588 (nominal) cc Rotary engine and it wiped the floor with all the Jap 750s at the time in Superbikes. Oil consumption and heat generation was its biggest problem, but obviously for a 28 lap race, this isn't too much of a problem. The bike produced over 100bhp at 1,500rpm and was thus a bit tricky to get out of corners as the back tyre wasn't able to hold that amount of power on such a light machine.
To put it into perspective, a current GSXR1000 (the Daddy of all bikes) makes about 30bhp at the same revs.
The Mazda RX8 is a fine car, but petrol consumption is relatively high (although a lot less that my old Lexus)
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We are on about Wankels aren't we?
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I am mainly interested in vehicles that use Red Diesel.
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Discuss.
David Coultard is part owner of the on site hotel. 8) His "Chain" now consists of one in Monaco and one here. ;)