Don't doubt the lunacy associated with John Lane or
his 3.0 liter, even-fire, turbocharged, PRV-powered
Volvo Rally Car. It doesn't make the least bit of
sense to invest in 600hp for a 2WD rally car when the
greatest rally driver ever (Walter Rohrl) was barely
able to put 2/3rds of that kind of grunt on the ground
in what had to be the baddest 2WD rally car ever built
(Grp B Opel Ascona 400), but you'd have to know John
like those of us in the rally community do to
appreciate the whole gig (John was whack enough to
loan me his Nomex so I could run a Nissan Sentra SE-R
in the 2003 Oregon Trail ProRally after UPS sent my
box of racing gear to Portland, MAINE instead of
leaving it on the left coast). John and I have a
standing challenge to see who can outrun whom whenever
I get my Peugeot 505 V6 Rally Car project completed.
It's kind of a philisophical argument I plan to win
despite a n/a engine to be put together from engine
parts left-over from my 504-V6 sedan project of the
1980s and a skid full of parts purchased from John
after he abandoned n/a PRV power for his Volvo. My
engine will likely only crank out about a third the
horsepower of John's 'fire breathing monster' but he
needs to quit wrecking the Volvo every time he enters
a rally and I need to sell the New Beetle Rally Car
and quit letting myself be distracted by a Group 5
Omni GLH Turbo and the Cousin of RallyeTruck that I
procurred recently.
Below find a little 'fire breathing monster' history
as shared by John Lane's fabrication partner in crime,
Dave Clark. BTW - I couldn't get any of the URLs to
work ...
---Here's a picture of the most powerful Volvo-powered
Volvo you will probably ever come across. It's a
ProRally car that the owner, John Lane, and I built.
It's a Volvo 262 that originally came with a 2.7 liter
Peugeot-Renault-Volvo joint venture V-6. It now has a
3.0 liter engine with even fire heads. Lovely engines,
all aluminum, fully skirted block, forged crank, etc.
After winning his class in the NorPac Divisional
Championship with it running on carburettors (and
rolling it 3 times!) John decided he wanted more
power. So we turbocharged it. J&E pistons, Garrett
TO-4 turbo, HKS adjustable wastegate, SAAB 9000
intercooler (very efficient at low speeds),
Electromotive TecII injection, 3 inch open exhaust,
the works. We were very happily surprised when it
ended up putting out over 650hp!
http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/eek.gif
John tuned the Electromotive on a chassis dyno and the
Fire Breathing Monster (as we call it) put down 504
ft/lbs of torque at 4000rpm at the rear wheels. That
was at just 11psi boost, we've only run it as high as
14psi boost so it's really not stressed.
In fact, the engine has been the most reliable part of
the car. As you can imagine with that kind of power we
started breaking everything behind the engine. To make
a long story short we systematically beefed up the
entire drivetrain. The car now sports a Quartermaster
triple disc clutch and lightened flywheel, a Jerico
4-speed dogbox from a Winston Cup stock car, Ford 3/4
ton truck driveline and center bearing, and a Ford
9-inch rear end with Moser 35-spline axles (1.5 inch
diameter!) and a spool with 3.50 ratio gears. The
relatively high final drive ratio is to help reduce
wheelspin. With that kind of torque there's no need
for the 4.88's we used to run. For stopping the car
now uses Porsche Brembo brakes all around. After a few
failures of the stock front struts we have installed
Ford Escort Cosworth Group A magnesium front hubs and
Group A Bilstein 50mm coilover struts.
Is the car fast? Yes, it's totally gonzo nutso out of
control stay off the sidewalks fast!
http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/eek.gif
http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/eek.gif Top speed of
143mph across the I-90 floating bridge at 3:00 a.m.
(as recorded by the Terratrip rally computer reading
off a front wheel probe.) Not bad for an
un-aerodynamic Volvo brick. Cruising at 60mph you are
right at the threshold of boost. Floor the throttle in
4th gear at 60mph and there's no lag. If it's even a
little wet out the rear wheels will spin - there
better not be any cars next to you on the freeway! If
it's dry you will just launch into the back of the car
in front of you. It's fun to play with rice boy Hondas
on the freeway, or better yet, Porsche 911 Turbos.
They don't expect a Volvo to be that fast.
Do you really need all that power in a 2wd rally car?
Absolutely not, it's totally ridiculous, over the top
and unnecessary. But it sure is fun when you can put
the power down! Often times John will just turn the
boost way down if the conditions are too slippery. It
may be over the top but there's no greater rush than
spraying big rooster tails of gravel sideways down a
logging road!
-Dave Clark
---
You can reach John via his shop's website -
www.pacrimauto.com
Mad Mike ...
www.realautosport.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page
http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/4jLplB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
Recommended format for your email subject lines:
Model # [Model Letters] Year Subject
Examples:
505 88 V6 Mileage
405 Mi16 89 Ignition Coil source?
************************************************
To unsubscribe from this list send a blank email message to PEUGEOT-L-UNSUBSCRIBE@EGROUPS.COM
************************************************
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/peugeot-L/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
peugeot-L-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Received on Wed Aug 17 19:04:13 2005
