astra gte what are they like?any good for track?

[deek]

what are they like to drive?iv allways wanted one as my first car was a 1.3 club which i put all the kit interior dash etc in and havw loved them since but what do they handle like?

would it be any good on track with some suspension mods?

all my mates have got nissan s14s but i sold mine as i dont like it but i want some i can drive everyday and still have fun on track with my mates,would it be ok with a let in or will it not cope to well on track with a let?


any thoughts welcome

[Violet]

I think the rear suspension was it's achille's heal. I've read it can be sorted with a decent setup, transforms the car. They did rally them (though not with the standard setup).

[Violet]

picz:

[deek]

saw that at luton,not quite your normal gte tho being for wheel drive,

what does it need poly bushes shocks and springs?

[Violet]

I think Tom Stickland is the person to ask, he used to have a stripped out 8v.

[DaveB]

We had a 'normal' GTE that was stripped out. We did a couple of trackdays in it and always managed to show up 'quicker' cars. When we got to silverstone however the ****e tyres and shoddy suspension really showed. With a decent set of coilovers and tyres I'd have thought it'd be an acceptable trackcar, although we got rid of ours due to rusty bulkhead and general rotboxness

[CraigGreen]

Hard to find a pukka one nowadays tbh but SO much fun & really suited to an XE unlike Nova conversions IMO.

I'd have another any day of the week. Suspension does need freshening up & sorting. As std they feel rather wobbly & rolly but lowered & uprated with more suitable wheels & tyres and you will be there.

[BlackIce]

My old 16v was a truely awesome car, even on the standard suspension set up it felt pretty good. Bags of power and it felt really raw somehow too.

Had an 8v many moons ago and that handled like a blomonge though!

[deek]

i spose if it handles better then my 9000 then it will be alrite

[Astra Dan]

Mine's bog standard and proabaly has 17 year old shocks with 143k miles on them, but I have a right old laugh on the track, mine's been round 3 times I think, teice round Combe, one round Silverstone. Silverstone's wierd, it has a very slippery surface cpompared to Combe.
It does get a bit hairy in the corners as said, but it's very correctable and you get plenty of notice before things get silly. I did get overtaken by most things, but you can take a lot of things like Vectras, any Fiat hatchback etc. Prepare for Pug 205s to want to get past pretty early on.
If you don't mind a spot of lowering etc I think you'd get on well with one. Certainly when I used mine as a daily driver it was superb on all levels.

[Astra Dan]

THIS is how much fun you can have. Remember mine's boggo down to the catalytic converter!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...47926381344349

[Johnny A]

THIS is how much fun you can have. Remember mine's boggo down to the catalytic converter!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...47926381344349

That video is mainly simulated fun thanks to Benn's commentary and funny car noises as you go round the track lmao

[Johnny A]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...47926381344349

Also Dan sorry, but 7:25 behind odders, you should be using this line, he is carrying so much more speed out of the corner

Every lap I was hoping you would go wide, it pains me when you stay inside

Awesome commentary tho, made me chuckle and a very courteous driver

[Johnny A]

it pains me when you stay inside

ok, that sounds very dodgy

[Astra Dan]

Stay wide? To let people past? Explain.

I was happy for 0dders to pass, I think he had a good 20Ft/Lbs on me, and less Benn -er, weight, on board.

[Johnny A]

no I don't mean to let peeps past, I mean at Quarry, watch your line whilst watching odder's line and see how much more speed he can carry on the exit.

I think if you do that you would have kept up with him (or at least been close)

[Astra Dan]

Oh I see, I'll try to bear that in mind, I daresay I'll ask another session of it (but with cheap tyres on front, 'expensive ones on the rear) next month. That's the first corner after the long start/ finish straight?

Thanks for that.

[spanishfly]

Basically he's saying to use the whole track

[spanishfly]

lmao @ Comments to the cinquecentos.

[Benn]

That video is mainly simulated fun thanks to Benn's commentary and funny car noises as you go round the track lmao

See i never noticed that i made the "speeding past" noise till today...lol

lmao @ Comments to the cinquecentos.

Stupid crappy little thing...lmao

[deek]

so they are ok then?seem to be talking about fiats i hate them

[Brett]

GTE 16v is still a very fun little car, its just finding a good one these days thats the hard part.

[deek]

well i got cash just need to find 1

[chip]

That cleland fella seemed to cope ok, lol

[Johnny A]

(but with cheap tyres on front, 'expensive ones on the rear) next month. That's the first corner after the long start/ finish straight?

Thanks for that.

Yeah thats the one, come in HARD, a quick punch on the brake before the bump, and feed it in as the car settles down after it and stay wide. Like Spanish says, use all the track to your advantage and straighten out the corners as much as is possible.

I would stick the cheapies on the back, and the good stuff on the front. No one likes understeer lol