24hours Hot Hatches Race

[Rothgard]

Hi guys,

the italian magazine AUTO has made a 24h test on circuit with some hot hatches (included, of course, CTS). The race has been won by the new 206RC ahead of Clio RSlight, BMW 325ti compact and Civic TypeR.

Corolla broke the engine after 6 hours :-((

Toyota Italia sent the engine in Japan to make it checked but they say it could be the hot temerature of the day and the fact that the car raced a lot of laps just behind the Clio and the engine temperatures became too high. I'm not able to speak a good technical english, I'll try to explain; a connecting rod (?) of the engine collapsed because of oil lack.

By the way the pilots say Corolla has very soft suspensions and "touristic" tyres compared to the other cars. Michelin gave to all racers Pilot Sport except to Corolla because of the 16inch wheels (only Primacy, the others had 17 or 18-focusrs-). The engine saved CTS for the qualifying lap.

Peugeot is fast and very gentle on the brakes (only a few stops to change them, Honda burned a lot of discs...). There were two Focus (RC and ST170), the turbo was very fast but both of them had a lot of problems during the race.

Some numbers:

On the starting line:

1- Focus RS 1.59.09

2- CTR 1.59.84

3- Clio Rslight 2.01.98

4- 206RC 2.02.74

5- BMW 325ti 2.03.25

6- Impreza WRX Sportwagon 2.03.79

7- MG ZS180 2.03.81

8- Corolla TS 2.04.44

9- MG ZR160 2.04.67

10- Focus ST170 2.06.42

Fastest laps during the race:

1- CTR 2.02.25

2- 325ti 2.02.59

3- 206RC 2.02.94

4- Focus RS 2.03.40

5- ZR160 2.03.69

6- Clio 2.04.41

7- CTS 2.04.42

8- WRX 2.04.73

9- ZS180 2.05.11

10- Focus ST170 2.06.21

It's a very interesting test, the only thing to say is:

CTS owners, pay attention to the temperature and buy immediately new springs at least! I did it :-)

D.

[Chris Peterson]

Anger is all I feel right now.

Shame on them. Shame on them. Shame on them.

First of all for damaging the car. I have been on a racetrack in my TS on a scorching summer day. Shouldn't have but anyway. After three or four 1.18min rounds the temperature went up and I had to do a couple of gentle rounds to cool the motor down. And I always kept an eye on the gauge, never to approach the red marking.

Those guys were not stupid. Maybe the other cars have better cooling systems. I can live with that. I'd rather race early in the morning.

Those guys were not stupid. They were sly enough to burst the engine.

Secondly, for insulting our intelligence. The whimpy, good-for-nothing-just-for-rich-and-useless-cream-kids BMW 325 compact was faster than a Focus RS, a WRX, a type R? Fatest lap so close to the Honda and faster than the aforementioned little beasts?

HA HA HA HA.

HA HA HA.

HA.

HA HA HA. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.

HA HA HAA HAAA HA HAA HHAA HAA.

HAAA HAA HAA HAAAA

HA HA HA

HAAA HAAA HAAA

Is this were we :censor: laugh?

This was a travesty, a parody of a test. I've seen such tests before in Greek magazines and just read between the lines to see whats undermining the outcome.

In my country, in one of our two race tracks the WRX is as fast as the Honda and the RS, and 3-4 secs faster than the TS in an approximately 70 seconds racetrack. That's what happens in my country and I've got V-box results, documentation and anything else required to prove it from a very reputable Greek mag. Also, I've got a cool greek article that compares the BMW to the Honda on a theoretical approach, where it is stated that there in no comparison in terms of performance. Like comparing a wheelchair to racecar.

Crossing some line here? So did their blasphemy toward cars like the Honda and the Ford. This was not supposed to be a luxury test, I suppose... So what the heck are they talking about? I can even kick the crap out of the kitty-kitty-kitty BMW in my TS. Anytime any place.

Or maybe it's not propaganda... Maybe they're just useless. Maybe the cars were randomly handed out to members of their families. Little 18year old crazy johnny got the BMW and grandpa got the Honda.

They blew the best 1.8 engine in the world...

:censor:

[T128]

Secondly, for insulting our intelligence. The whimpy, good-for-nothing-just-for-rich-and-useless-cream-kids BMW 325 compact was faster than a Focus RS, a WRX, a type R? Fatest lap so close to the Honda and faster than the aforementioned little beasts?

chris i know you aint happy with this result but dont under estimate the power of the 325ti they are very quick

[Rothgard]

One question, why should they had to slow down?

All cars were driven by pilots of a sport driving school (a couple of former F1 drivers like Alex Caffi) and they change car every stop at the box. Only the qualifying laps has been made all by the same tester.

The magazine AUTO makes this kind of comparison every year with different kind of cars (turbodiesel, wagon - small car 1.0liter etc) and they test reliability also.

The only car that broke down the engine has been CTS. I'm angry too but that's it.

Other cars had other problems but not so "heavy". Civic broke down two gears (3 and 5 if I remember), MG the clutch, Clio the exhaust...

Regarding the times, it depends on the track.

WRX is 200kg heavier than Honda and has softer suspensions, in some curves it is slow.

And about the race WRX changed front "tablets"(??, I mean the things that bit the discs...) every 140km!!

Look at the brakes stops at the box (front tablets):

1- 206 after 1539km!!

2- MG after 524km

3- Corolla after 491km

4- Clio after 394km

5- Compact after 220km

6- CTR all 4 after 317km

7- Impreza after 138km!!!

You can see that in a 24h race these things are important, they are not in a single fast lap.

I've been on track too, but I know that in Monza my CTS is very quick (because of the engine) and in Varano it isn't (too many slow curves).

I don't understand why it is so funny, it's only a test ;)

D.

[Chris Peterson]

I understand guys... I understand the variables within a 24hour test, and I shouldn't be calling a serious car like the 325 compact names. And I'm not being ironic.

If there was a whole mess up of overtakings, pit stops for brake pads, discs, gearboxes and stuff and some of the cars didn't even get the chance for a decent, clear round then ok, I'll stick to the qualifying laps which make -some- sense...

I strongly believe that the BMW is a luxurious, comfortable car which is far from competing hard-core cars like the RS or Type R or the WRX (the latter possessing all wheel drive and a really sophisticated system plus lots of torque), neither at the 1/4mile nor on a track. That's why there seems to be something seriously wrong with the race.

The BMW is approximately as fast as the TS, perhaps faster at top speed due to the 25 torque at 3500 rpm. But that's all I guess.

As far as reliabiliy goes, I would like to say that no 24h test can be taken seriously since a single car is not a statistically significant sample.

[spwolf]

just as a side note - i am sure that engine temperature gauge was signaling that engine was too hot, not matter what the condition was...

... and its a known fact that CTS has a bit softer tuned suspension and touring tires, a quick TTE fix helps easily together with wider tires...

[Rothgard]

i am sure that engine temperature gauge was signaling that engine was too hot, not matter what the condition was...

Hi spwolf,

we don't have a oil temperature gauge on our cts! that's the problem.

It has been a oil problem not a cooling liquid one. And maybe it's not been a temperature problem, just a rod broke down...

About the suspension and tyres you are right. The thing is all the cars were "natural" without any mods.

I like my car, but I think it's interesting to compare it with the others ;)

I'm waiting to save some money for the 17inch alloys and I've already put TTE springs, that's not the fact. I wrote this post to make sure everyone will do it :P

D.