[liontutuxx]

I had the opportunity to go with the Subaru Owners Club to M-Sport which is local to me. For those who don't know, M-Sport is Malcolm Wilson's rally team which handles all the Ford rally cars, bit like 888 and the Vauxhall touring car team.

I wasn't allowed to take pics of the really interesting bits like the stripped engines, diffs, driveshafts, hub assemblies, wiring looms and god knows what else they had there, but I was able to take pics of some classic rally cars, some new rally cars and some unfinished rally cars.

I would recommend it to anyone to go, though you do have to pay. I was lucky enough to get an "unofficial" tour, so I got to see more than the average customer.

Some interesting facts that I can remember:

Their fancy dyno cost several million to buy and install, it isnt a rolling road as such, it measures power etc direct from the engine which is mounted to the machine in a special room which can alter the climate from -30 degrees or something stupid upto +70 degrees or something else equally stupid and can also alter the altitude IE: Pressure of the room so engines can be tested and run simulations of the conditions they'll be put through at each rally.

NGK used this facility recently to test their spark plugs.

The brakes that are used on the rally cars (gravel stages) are 8pot Brembo's.

Each diff and gearbox etc costs in excess of £100,000.


Anyhow, there was so much kevlar and carbon fibre items ... it was unreal and all incredibly light and ... amazing. The headlights I seen from the Focus Mk1 and Mk2 were ALL carbon fibre, the internals and externals, the only plastic was the lense and then the glass bulbs! The carbon was even ridged inside the headlight unit to give the correct light pattern, it was a work of art and a perfect fit! not of this "it almost fits" carry on.

Now ... your probably wanting some pics eh ... well like I said, if you want to see the gearbox, diffs, stripped engines etc then you'll have to go for the tour, here are the pics I took though. Enjoy



































Reinforced strut tops!



Carbon fibre scuttle (Bottom of windscreen)







Focus mk2 independent rear suspension setup









Intricate roll cage





8 pots!





O.Z. Superturisimo's





















Carbon fibre door cards, these weighed next to nothing!








Very fancy premises, very fancy cars ... they only make 10-15 per year.

Hope you enjoyed the pics

[Quigoxito]

Nice! [thumbup]

Fired? [rofl]

[Gskdmidd]

Nice! [thumbup]

Infraction meter is hitting a wall here

[liontutuxx]

Infraction meter is hitting a wall here

I posted them on another website as they dont like 640*480 as its a tiny size, u think im going to resize every single one of them now? [rofl]

I dont have time to resize and rehost everything twice.

[Flistelib]

Nice tour!

I love the old school cars, must have been a nice comparison from old to new. That red Focus looks killer!

[numinertyuesk]

I'll take the MkII Escort