Originally posted by SeanDezart
Still, you're not making this easy either - quote"As I mentioned before, the S20 engined cars ( the 432 and 432R )" unquote !
So we have S30 cars with S20 engines !
That's right. What's wrong with that? S30-series Z cars with S20 engines, and S30-series Z cars with L-series engines. Brothers and sisters, not dads and daughters or uncles and nephews! Its suffixes and prefixes that tell the details, but the full codes would be too laborious to write out every time. That's why the Factory used 'PZ', 'PZR', 'Z', 'ZS', 'HZS', 'HZL', 'HZG' etc etc to identify them internally. Its a shame they never 'exported' this method, as it would make it all a lot easier.
Originally posted by SeanDezart
I also don't imply that because they were produced in small numbers, that the 432 and 432R were 'failures' - I never said anything like that, YOU brought up the word 'failure' - is that how YOU sub-conciously see them ? I don't !
I thought you were
implying 'failure'. Like damning them with faint praise. I don't want you to attach any received wisdom to the epitaph of these cars. People who have driven them will know what I am talking about. Success or perceived lack of success in sales should not dictate whether a car is a dynamic, stylistic and engineering success. Its that old Big Mac analogy. Big Macs must be excellent food because they sell so well. Lobster Thermidore must be rubbish because it can't keep up with the Big Mac.
And you don't want to know what's in my subconscious, believe me!
Originally posted by SeanDezart
Was the filled to the brim 432R fuel tank giving the car a very good compromise on the weight distribution, especially if it had been lightened for exactly that purpose ? ie the car designed to balance well with a larger fuel load ?
I see no way that they could balance the difference between almost empty and almost full on a 100 litre tank. The truth is that they HAD to have the 100 litre tank for the longer races in Japan, so it was always going to be a compromise. The Works rally cars also used a version of the 432R homologated tank, and an even bigger rear-filling 110 and 120 litre version was phased in for the 240ZR.
I don't think weight distribution was as much a priority as overall weight loss. Making a production car into a race car at that time ( as now ) was always going to be a compromise in some areas.
Originally posted by SeanDezart
Real shame there aren't more 'replicas' being built or on peoples' project lists, I know of someone who wants to do an A550, don't you ?
I agree. It seems to me that people prefer to try and make something to *their* tastes, and then find that within a couple of years ( or even before the car is finished ) they have already changed their tastes, or that current automotive 'fashion' has moved on.
An A550 replica really ought to have a Yamaha engine, don't you think?