My Cinquecento 1.4 16v Track car

Hi all,

I alluded to the existance of this car in This Thread. This is a car that I bought just over 4 years ago with the plan to turn it into a track car. Well, it's taken all of that time since then to replace just about every bit of it and prepare it for its first track outing, which was yesterday, 31st Aug 12 at Castle Combe. I gave a few passenger rides and gave the keys to Leighton and Joe, who gave it a good thrashing too. Everyone seemed very impressed. It's not a fast car by any means, but it's loads of fun and surprisingly chuckable. It was my first proper trackday and I had a really good day with it. I have a list of a few things that I will probably have to get before doing more with it, including wider spacers, track tyres etc. but they're not essential.

Spec is as follows:

Stilo 1368cc 16v Engine, producing 109bhp, 109lb.ft
Stilo 6-speed gearbox with Quaife ATB diff
Punto mk1 inlet manifold with Bravo 1.6 throttle body (maintains cable operation)
Supersprint tubular exhaust manifold going to custom 2" de-cat system (2 silencers, 96dB static)
Emerald K6 engine management with custom loom
3.5Bar fuel pressure from Coupe 20VT fuel pump to T-Jet injectors

AVO GTZ coilover suspension, OMP Seicento MPI Strut brace
Modified top-mounts to give just over -2deg camber and extra castor

Sparco bolt-in roll cage
Sparco Sprint-V seats, Willans harnesses

Punto GT front brake calipers and discs (257mm vented)
Lancia Thema 16v wheels (14x6J)




James

Looks lovely. Any chance of some engine pics?

Thanks. I'll try to get a picture tomorrow, as I haven't actually taken one of the finished article.

Here are the engine pics, as requested.



James

I really like that, Why would you not have tried the Punto GT engine? Surely just as cheap and with more tuning potential?

The Punto/Uno engine is a generation older and much heavier apparently. That conversion has been done a couple of times, but it takes a lot of work and destroys the balance of the car due to the weight. This 1368cc is a FIRE engine like the original 1108cc and so fits on the same engine and gearbox mounts. Also, the driveshafts, gear selectors, clutch mechanism, coolant pipes etc are all interchangeable. A T-Jet engine would be the same, but there isn't really any room for the turbo in a Cento, and they're also still quite rare.

That's brilliant. It looks OE. I take it the car goes well?

Now turbo it

Great stuff James

I bet that's cracking fun! Reminds me of the 80's 'hot' hatches which had relatively little power and little weight, which equalled huge grins.

Exactly that, Barry was cracking fun

James you might be Captain slow on the road but Jake said you ragged Bessy, fair play Sir

Yes, it's quite nippy It's in the region of 135-140bhp/ton which puts it ahead of NA Coupes, Punto HGT, Alfa 145 Cloverleaf, Fiesta ST in terms of power to weight, to name a few.

Very nice - neatly done and looks like plenty of fun.

Nice work there James. I hope to see it in the flesh one day.

A truly wonderful little car. It's not all about big power, a nicely balanced set-up gives a very rewarding experience. I had mucho fun in James's Cinq where you can really explore the limits!

Sounds a good cheap fun well done Minimetaller.
The next outing? Would be good to see in action.
A cracking track always a good day there.

Arrrgghh stop putting ideas in my head, i've got 2 of those in my yard, yellow of course was thinking of doing something like this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQovoXyycGc