Automotive

Last week we decided to take the beast out for a track day. Confidence the brakes and tires would survive the abuse were actually very low so my friend went to buy some secondhand half worn ones for the back. Our Armenian distributor was happy to help us ...  

but that Delta Integrale is TOP My childhood dream ..still to this day and in Martini racing colour can't get better than this Yours D

The Integrale always has been a dream for me ... i once had a crazy drive along with a real rallyedriver .. in the crazy years :-) Filip

The Abarth was top !!! But there was a slight problem :-) Bim ...  

Looks like you had a great day at the track. Bill

... but mr. B decided to go for a last drive in the rain ... as did the Integrale :-) Bim

Circuit de Clastres not too far from Reims :-) ... a very safe track, only one left-hander with off camber and a very tight left at the end ... that was quite kinky. On the small straight i attained only 175 kph (110 mph), a bit more would have been possi... 

I really like that classic Abarth. Beautiful, simple, yet so purposeful. And the "ABARTH" printed on the rear differential is just cool.

.. it was a very small event organized by a guy who runs a small workshop and services but Ferraris, Porsches, Jaguars and other exotic stuff. The complete car is a thing of 'cool' ! Filip ...  

Two people in there shoulder to shoulder :-)

You look good inside the Abarth! How do you feel inside it? After chasing down the white rabbit, it looks like Alice took the red pill and became really big! Thanks for the additional photos Bim!

But better than a 308/328 or 512BB anyway :-) These old cars are always special, especially the special ones ;-) Oh and i DID encounter a real rabbit on the track ... close call :-) Filip

Those rabbits do a lot of damage when you hit them at speed. I've seen an entire front bumper crack and split in the lower half due to hitting one in a country road in California. Seems like the rabbit you encountered lived to hop another day!

Talk about strange cars to drive on the track; E55 Wagon? CLS63 Shooting Brake (if confirmed)? I didn't know the E55 called "The Beast" in Europe too. It has the same nickname here in the States.

But he didn't take it on the track ... only people mad to take a heavyweight are me and mr. B apparently ... i found it very amusing it took that black 911 Turbo Cabrio with 500 hp over 5 laps to close a 200 metre gap on me :-) ... even though i was caref...  

Bim, that's some intense driving, you can see parts of the rotor was melting into its own cross drilled holes. I've seen Porsche 911 Turbo (996 chassis) rotors with cracks in the cross drilling that almost reached the cracks that dispersed from other hole... 

.. the driving becomes intense .. even if you think of taking it easy (bear in mind this heavy car isn't mine) it is not comparable to any road driving (except for that one time last year LOL). The parts in the drilled holes were mainly cooked brake-dust ... 

The SBC (Sensotronic Brake Control) Braking System on Mercedes-Benz vehicles was adopted for the W211 E-Class from 2003-2006, the SL-Class cars for many years, and the Maybach cars. It's a fully computerized brake system with a lot of safety benefits, but... 

New technologies make it easy to obtain more and more power ... don't ask me when or where it will end ... maybe they should start changing the test procedures for fuel consumption because it's laughable and idiotic ... NA cars get closer and lower to the...  

That's a sharp looking red car you have there!

.. it looks sharp , the closer you get ... errrr .... things are getting worse, much worse ;-) This is just meant to be my 1K Euro fun project which i hope to get on the road this summer, preferably in an acceptable aesthetic shape LOL . Stay tuned, to be... 

Can't say much more ... should be some kind of a world first ... usually manual :-) .. but now with flappy paddles apparently :-) Stay tuned ... 2nd half of July you'll see it on Automotive :-) Bim