Mongrel Street Racer

[Darren65]

There's a video!

This video stuff is all new to me, maybe when I get my head around this editing lark!

Cheers,

[Darren65]

Having spent a couple of days in the company of the Mongrel I can certainly testify that it has been a labour of love and is a work of art - no other way to describe it. So many nice details and beautifully finished. Every time I looked at the car I noticed something else I liked and I am sure there is lots that I have missed.

I can also report that the car drives as good as it looks and sounds just fabulous. Darren passed me a couple of times on the Evo triangle and I was grinning from ear to ear at the sound so I can only imagine how he must have been feeling! He was also kind enough to allow me a few minutes behind the wheel on nice bit of road in the Black Mountains and the car really has some go. Light weight and a strong engine are always going to be fun but while I would expect a tried and tested formula (e.g. an RS rep) to gel, this car really "works" as a whole which is fantastic given the diversity of the build. When that engine hooks up and goes for it, it really is something else and combined with great feedback and very predictable handling it is a lot of fun.

Best thing about the car is that it gets used properly. We had some great drives and Darren was never precious about the car. I think one of the best stints was towards the end of the trip from Llanyre to Brecon - the rain was pouring, the roads were muddy and we disturbed a funeral (sorry) but it was so much fun.

Darren, good job

PS - where is that video footage ..... let's see it!

Thanks Feroz,

Over 700 miles after 400 miles of running-in on the best roads in Wales was the perfect baptism for the car and the company I was in made it all the more surreal!

Feroz behind the wheel of my car on its first run out will be forever etched in my memory, I've waken every night since sweating and screaming in terror!.......in all seriousness, in the past I've been a passenger on a number of demonstration drives with professional drivers, including Steve Soper at the wheel of an M3, and Feroz driving my fresh out-the-box Mongrel over the top of the Black Mountains on very twisty tight roads with a 2,000ft fall as a backdrop rates as some of the best driving I've ever seen!........surprised I didn't enjoy it more!

The car is going to Centre Gravity on Tuesday to fine tune the suspension set up and then I'll bring this thread to a close.

Unfortunately the Mongrel will be losing it's very loud bark sometime soon, for a car that is going to see many, many miles it needs to be a little more friendly........crawling past the largest funeral gathering I've ever seen with over 120dB under my right foot wasn't the most comfortable experience I've ever encountered!

Cheers,

[Northy]

Make sure you do some tunnel runs before you change the megaphones!

Great thread, great car. Look forward to seeing it one day.

[Darren65]

Thanks Northy, tunnels certainly on the cards!

.....Light weight and a strong engine are always going to be fun but while I would expect a tried and tested formula (e.g. an RS rep) to gel, this car really "works" as a whole which is fantastic given the diversity of the build.....

....was thinking about this when out driving the car this morning.....no surprise really considering the spec was pretty much lifted directly from the Sports Purpose Manual, Porsche knew what they were doing......the RS was obviously another step forward again.

Cheers,

[Bigfoot]

Inspirational Darren, crikey Nick has done an amazing job with that engine!!! The colour is gorgeous too, perfect time of year for autuminal leaves in the background too to set it off...

[Martin P]

Had the good fortune to see the Mongrel in the flesh and sneak a ride in it on Saturday.
Sensational to look at and hear.
Darren took it easy so only 90 round the corners of the country roads round Cricklade!
Perfect.

[Mitch]

Silencing is for wimps - 'loud pipes save lives !'

I'm with Andy.. thinking of starting a campaign "Save Loud Pipes, Save Lives!"

I've only got one word for the Super Mutts Nutts Mongrel... I M M E N S E !

I saw a lot of the Mongrel's tail, disappearing into the distance; not much slowed it up... other than the odd red light.

[Darren65]

Adam, Martin, Nigel....you guys are too kind

Spent a very interesting, albeit very long, day at Center Gravity today......man, those guys are thorough! ....



.....a little disappointed with weight, I guess a consequence of heavy 930 brakes and too many steel panels......might have to start drilling a few holes!......



....although always good to hang with friends...



....not much opportunity to explore the cars improved driveability in the pouring rain on a busy journey home although I can already tell that Center Gravity have worked their magic yet again and the Mongrel has a new found balance and poise......and now it's set up properly I can stop taking it easy around those country road corners!

So I guess that's it!.....Mongrel officially restored and thread brought to a conclusion.

Huge thanks to all on DDK for your help, support, guidance, suggestions and motivation during this long journey...........it's been emotional!

And thanks very much for looking!

Adios

[sladey]

Looking good Darren. I'm presuming that weight is with a full tank of gas though (because that's what chris does) so much of the time you'll be less than that, and comparisons with other cars weights need to bear that in mind

From memory my full tank of gas added 85kg

[911hillclimber]

A 'garage-dog' is something special where ever you go!

Could 'Garage-Dog' be a new genre of 911?

I think I have one already.

Lovely car, waiting to see what you do about that silencing.

[Darren65]

Thanks Mark

There's a few factor that add to the weight like the 100L tank, keeping glass/steel for most of the car and even the dual oil coolers and cross over pipes with extra oil capacity add up. The good thing is a lot of this is at the front of the car where needed.

Chris also said that on a cold day that even the atmospheric pressure adds to the weight of the fuel!

Ultimately the car feels light and will be carrying less than a ton most of the time which is about 10% lighter than my E with about an extra 70-80BHP.

All in all a heady combination, I'm happy

[johnM]

100 litres of fuel would equate to 74kg.

Atmospheric conditions would not effect the weight of the fuel.

Bet it goes well, what HP is the engine producing.

[markm]

If I would of known the Mongrel was that close by, I would of come down for half a hour Darren to chew the fat, or you could of popped in here as CoG treat route goes straight past my house.

Looks stunning, 1000kg aint all that bad

[Darren65]

Atmospheric conditions would not effect the weight of the fuel.

You engineers!!! .....sorry my poor phraseology, my understaning is that fuel is more dense, hence heavier, when cold....bloody freezing yesterday!

Car goes really well John, you'll have to try it........hopefully should be around 250HP, will confirm with a rolling road session when the car is tuned properly.

If I would of known the Mongrel was that close by, I would of come down for half a hour Darren to chew the fat, or you could of popped in here as CoG treat route goes straight past my house.

Sorry Mark wasn't thinking, hopefully catch up soon.

Cheers,

[inaglasshouse]

Atmospheric conditions would not effect the weight of the fuel.

You engineers!!! .....sorry my poor phraseology, my understaning is that fuel is more dense, hence heavier, when cold....bloody freezing yesterday!

Hi Darren,

Since you and your thread(s) have educated me in many things, I'm going to attempt to return the favour. Please accept in the benevolent spirit in which offered...

When you filled up your car, an amount of fuel went in. Let's say it was 75kg. Let's say the temperature was a balmy 15C.
Had you immediately taken your car to the south pole (without burning any of your fuel, perhaps using a boat, some dogs and a sledge) and parked it for a while at -40C, the tank would still have contained 75kg of fuel. No additional fuel would have magically appeared, the mass of the fuel stays the same. As you say, the fuel is more dense at -40C, so the 75kg is taking up slightly less volume in the tank, but it's the same mass.

Of course this means that, since the capacity (volume) of your tank is fixed, you can add a greater mass of fuel at the time of filling if you fill it with very cold (more dense) fuel. In such a case you end up carrying a greater mass than if you'd filled up with warm fuel. But, as you can see, it's the temperature of the fuel at the time of filling that has an effect on mass (not its later temperature in your car on a cold day). The fairly large underground storage tanks at a filling station, which I believe are frequently refilled, are unlikely to show large temperature variation I imagine. So I think the effect of this is probably negligible.
I found a rule of thumb from the US: 1% volume change per 15 Farenheight. So in your case if we generously say 3% of the nominal 75kg capacity = 2.25kg.
Think the steel bits are more significant than the fuel temperature...

As an aside, I have a mountain bike that used to have a mass of 9 point something kg which, after lavish expenditure on carbon composite products, now weighs about 0.5kg less. Not the most cost-effective way of lightening a bike with a lardy middle-aged fellow on board, as my wife has uncharitably mentioned...

Can't believe this thread is over! Perhaps we can all keep it alive with random ramblings (see above).

Cheers, Richard.