Why is the UK so far behind???

[dr_mat 0]

5. cheap petrol ...!

 

People are less inclined to drive around in 1000bhp skylines when it costs them £200/week in fuel..

[dutch 0]

HKS- American company

Greddy- American company

Jackson racing - American

Schrick- American

EIP- Amercian

Mopar- American

Koni sells more suspension components in the US and all other countries combined.

Eibach- America being their biggest market

Just to name a few.....

[dutch 0]

from what i can gather it seems to come down to cost....things are just generally chaeper across the pond.......

[chrishill 0]

^ exactly, the £/$ exchange rate isnt great for us at the moment, and all those parts have to be sent over here... cost spirals

[dutch 0]

damn!....i hope i haven't stepped on any toes!

[dinkus 10]

Yeah, the US car market is many, many, many times bigger than the UK market, so parts are inevitably going to cost less there. Especially as the companies are all based there too.

 

Then add on to that the RHD issue, so we have to either have custom-made parts or parts from Japan - both of which are expensive, especially as they'll be made in smaller quantities.

 

We also have petrol that costs twice as much, so it just makes it all hugely expensive.

 

I think as a result of that, then combined to some extent with the traditional British conservatism - the British car modifying scene is fairly tame compared with the mental stuff they cook up even in the rest of Europe, let alone Japan or the USA.

[chaz g60 0]

well your q's answerd ..... basiclly cost.

[chrishill 0]

and the people that can afford it are 17 and like burberry :x

[Jim 2]

Cost is one thing.

 

Then there is the interest that driving heaviliy modified cars generates by chavs and the police. Couple that with congested road networks and you have to ask if its really worth it.

[CaiosG60 PWR 0]

It has to be the cost of running a car, insurance and of course petrol. Don’t forget this country leads the world in producing motorsport technology and engineers. I think it’s true to say that there's a large amount of track cars in this country and that amateur motorsport is popular. But street/import racing and custom cars aren’t really British things. Think we like to use things more and like them for there function more than there looks. Were not as comfortable showing off as Americans, that’s why drifting in 1000hp skylines will never really catch on here. (only with the burberry brigade who cant afford it)Its hill climps in 90hp Hillman Imps and Austin Alegros for us, after all where British don’t your know!

[dutch 0]

on a side note....i've had the pleasure of driving a couple of Skylines...amazing car.....however the main reason Nissan does not export the car to the U.S market is the Skyline DOES NOT stand a chance compared to other cars in it's class in the U.S...Viper, Corvette etc.....

[dutch 0]

meeting to attend now...will continue upon my return.... :)

[Kevin Bacon 5]

ok...an example......if you go the California to an "import 1/4 track".....the average street car is running anywhere from 11-12 sec 1/4 times....i've never seen that in the UK...

 

I don't get American 1/4 times..... some of the numbers are just far too optimistic.

 

11 seconds is 911 turbo territory..... I doubt a max'd Honda can hit 11 seconds in the 'real' world....

[Yandards 0]

The other factor is consider aside from both running and parts costs is that most americans's who tune cars have the SPACE to do it as well.

 

You are lucky in this country to have a garage that will let you put a car in without squeezing your way out of the door let alone the space to carry out major mods.

[chrishill 0]

the Skyline DOES NOT stand a chance compared to other cars in it's class in the U.S...Viper, Corvette etc....

 

another contensious issue I feel... it depends how you're comparing them and how you class cars... i wouldn't put a skyline in the same class as a viper or corvette - 2 seater sports/roadster vs overgrown family car with a monster engine? hardly the same class of car... unless you're talking in price or power terms?

[GrahamU 6]

HKS- American company

Greddy- American company

Jackson racing - American

Schrick- American

EIP- Amercian

Mopar- American

Koni sells more suspension components in the US and all other countries combined.

Eibach- America being their biggest market

Just to name a few.....

 

 

These may all be American, but lets face it, most of this gear was origenally developed on the race track where BRITAIN rules the world, even most of the european and american teams have British designers etc, where would Ferrari be if it was for the Brits like Ross Brawn.

[H8RRA 0]

the last track i went to had a vast range of times - plenty in the 11-12 category

 

many below

 

many above

 

i don't think there's any "average street car" that does 11-12 sec

 

theres certainly many modified road going, day to day cars doing 11-12 seconds.

[Blue_Joe 0]

I feel that I need to add a few possible corrections, I think that i'm right in correcting these!!!

 

as far as engineering goes we are streets ahead. i remember a guy telling me about british aerospace. a top yank company sent to them what was claimed to be the smallest drill bit in the world. the brits sent it back with a hole straight through the middle

 

Actually I think this was something that happened during the space race last century when the americans sent the drill bit to the russians - but we all know what chinese whispers are like!

 

dutch

 

Schrick- American - No its a german company actually, based in germany and owned by the AVL Group which is also a german company.

 

Sorry guys!

 

However when it comes to performance engineering, I think in all the brtis have it far outweighed than the americans and most other countrys, which is why you'll find that the majority of the rally and F1 teams are based in the UK such as Mitsubishi RalliArt World Rally Championship Team, Prodrive (Subaru Rally) Maclaren to name a few. We are experts at extracting BHP and combining it with handling.

 

Look at the BIG american cars, huge gas guzzling engines but couldn't handlef for toffee, manly due to breeding I think - Big straight roads on the streets and oval car circuits but compare to brits that have twisty roads and twisty race circuits so we have to combine power with handling!!! And lets face it when you talk 1/4 mile - Drag racing was an american thing.

 

The new Dodge Viper - 510BHP out of a 8.3 Ltr V10 - 61.44 BHP per ltr

 

The Maclaren Mercedes - 625BHP out of a 5.5 Ltr V8 - 113.63 BHP per ltr

(ok its based on a german design)

 

Aston Martin Vanquish S - 520BHP out of a 6Ltr V12 NA - 86.66 BHP per Ltr

(For a true brit)

 

Or a real contender

Noble M400 - 425BHP out of a 3 Ltr Twin Turbo - Thats a whopping 143bhp per ltr

 

So when it comes to engineering I don't think many are better. Its just that there are many other factors here. High cost of modifiying, Whopping insurance bills, Lots of Speed cameras etc etc etc that stop it being such a big market over here!!!!!

[Henny 0]

eep... I'd never thought of it like that Sam...

 

1940cc giving 250ish BHP = 129BHP/Litre :twisted: :lol:

 

Can't wait to see what she's doing when I get her all back together again! :lol:

[Neil VR6 0]

the Skyline DOES NOT stand a chance compared to other cars in it's class in the U.S...Viper, Corvette etc....

 

another contensious issue I feel... it depends how you're comparing them and how you class cars... i wouldn't put a skyline in the same class as a viper or corvette - 2 seater sports/roadster vs overgrown family car with a monster engine? hardly the same class of car... unless you're talking in price or power terms?

 

 

Definitely. Whilst a big lazy 13 litre V8 Corvette Mustang Viper engine might make more power, it'll be sitting in a cart sprung jelly mould chassis, be screwed together with crabsticks and ovaltine and handle like a bag of spanners. The Viper's side exit exhausts melt the bodywork for heaven's sake and the only thing that keeps it on the road is the use of gargantuan tyres. On the gumball 3000 DVD, Jodie Kidd commented on how you really have to concentrate when pressing on in a Viper. It's a purpose build "supercar"! You should be able to sit quite comfortably on a piece of straight road in the middle of the Mohave desert at 120 mph. Granted you'll need to be alert but it shouldn't be twitchy. I bet a 360 Modena or a 911 will be solid as a rock right up to it's maximum speed.

 

I get the feeling that the US car market isn't as demanding as the European market. When we get US cars over here they invariably have their dynamics improved through the use of different suspension and drivetrain (like manual gearboxes). Even jap spec cars are sometimes changed. The Supra TT in UK spec had a bigger turbo and bigger brakes.

[dinkus 10]

on a side note....i've had the pleasure of driving a couple of Skylines...amazing car.....however the main reason Nissan does not export the car to the U.S market is the Skyline DOES NOT stand a chance compared to other cars in it's class in the U.S...Viper, Corvette etc.....

 

You're having a laugh right? :lol: My case in point - yanks are all about straight line speed. Stick an Evo against a Viper or Corvette on a track/nice twisty B road and it'll leave them for dead :lol:

 

Or a real contender

Noble M400 - 425BHP out of a 3 Ltr Twin Turbo - Thats a whopping 143bhp per ltr

 

All good examples, but the aforementioned 3l V6 in a Noble is, I believe the very same V6 from a Ford Mondeo :lol: (admittedly it has been somewhat fettled by the Brits.)

 

The RST-V8 is also a British engine and is the world's lightest and smallest V8. It gives out 350+bhp from 2.4 litres and 74kg of engine :shock:

 

Or of course, you could get a nice traditional, British, Westfield/Caterham/Lotus 7 type car and put a 350bhp Cosworth engine in it. Not only will it leave everything else on the road for dead in a straight line, but it'll also stick to the corners like it's on rails too... ;)

[dinkus 10]

Definitely. Whilst a big lazy 13 litre V8 Corvette Mustang Viper engine might make more power, it'll be sitting in a cart sprung jelly mould chassis, be screwed together with crabsticks and ovaltine and handle like a bag of spanners. The Viper's side exit exhausts melt the bodywork for heaven's sake and the only thing that keeps it on the road is the use of gargantuan tyres. On the gumball 3000 DVD, Jodie Kidd commented on how you really have to concentrate when pressing on in a Viper. It's a purpose build "supercar"! You should be able to sit quite comfortably on a piece of straight road in the middle of the Mohave desert at 120 mph. Granted you'll need to be alert but it shouldn't be twitchy. I bet a 360 Modena or a 911 will be solid as a rock right up to it's maximum speed.

 

Have you seen the clip from the Gumball of a Viper flipping and rolling quite spectacularly after hitting a slight bump on a perfectly straight bit of road? :lol:

[dutch 0]

dinkus...i disagree...a Vette or Viper would walk an EVO on any road ....the age old argument that American sports cars don't handle as well as their European or Japanese counterparts is long over....maybe back in the 80's that argument would work but not nowadays

[dinkus 10]

dinkus...i disagree...a Vette or Viper would walk an EVO on any road ....the age old argument that American sports cars don't handle as well as their European or Japanese counterparts is long over....maybe back in the 80's that argument would work but not nowadays

 

:lol: Ahhhh you're a funny guy.

 

RWD lardy monster vs constantly adapting 4WD lightweight monster?

 

There's only one answer for this... TO THE 'RING!! :lol:

[chrishill 0]

yup, vipers are 'slightly' notorious as death-traps, like the AC cobra was back in its day.