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Xtreme
Auto Show preview
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Broadcast
dates : 31st July 2005
6th August 2005 |
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The Lotus
Exige could be described as a ‘mini-supercar."
It’s built in England as a club-racing car, with
handling that is difficult to beat by even the best
modified Porsche or Ferrari.
It weighs well under 800 kilograms thanks to
extra-light bodywork, and it has a multitude of racer
details that make it desirable to the true enthusiast.
There are less than half a dozen Exiges in the country
and this one is owned by top drag racer Logan Naiker,
who wanted a single car for various types of
motorsport.
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The
tight Exige cockpit means a cosy driving experience.
As for power, Logan found the standard engine lacking…
Logan’s Lotus now runs a turbocharged two-litre
Mazda engine with more than double the power of the
original Rover engine. The result is a 10,7 second
quarter mile, a zero to hundred in 3,5 seconds, and a
top speed of 320 km/h. Phew!
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For those
family-orientated show-goers, or the ones who like
party on the move, there’ll be plenty of MPVs like
this AMG-customised Mercedes-Benz Vito.
The Vito runs big diameter AMG alloys and low-profile
tyres, but it’s inside the bus where all the action
is.
The mild custom treatment adds class to the Vito, and
includes leather seating for up to nine people.
Serious audio and DVD equipment is placed for all to
enjoy, with plenty of space to stretch out in too.
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For sheer
rock and roll, it’s hard to beat a classic hot rod.
This is an English Ford Anglia, otherwise known as a
puddle-jumper.
These cars were popular in South Africa in the late
1940s and early fifties. Jannie Augustyn of Gauteng is
the proud owner-builder.
Chopping the roof is an amazingly complex job. Because
the roof pillars are not vertical, the roof itself has
to be re-shaped to line up with the shorter pillars.
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Jannie
used modified Volkswagen Beetle mudguards at the rear
and extended the front mudguards, at the same time
giving the Anglia a 1937 Ford V8 look.
The tail lights are also ’37 Ford blue dot items,
while the colour scheme is a blend of candy apple
copper, indigo blue, pink, pearl and…simply
outrageous!
The classic ’37 Ford lights contrast with modern
alloy wheels and the aluminum rear wing mounted on the
roof.
Mechanically, unsurprisingly, the car is more modern
than classic.
The Anglia’s interior is Modern Street Rod. Tan
upholstery fiberglass paneling, and a mix of modern
and retro gauges are integrated into a harmonious
style.
The speedometer is housed in the original Bakerlite
dash, but re-calibrated from 60 mph to 260 k/ph!
That speedo marking isn’t as optimistic as one might
think, considering the horsepower potential of this
rod.
The detail work on Jannie’s car has seen it win
countless prizes, including best non-American rod at
the recent Street Rod Nationals.
Shoe-horning the Chevy small-block V8 into the Anglia
was not a task for the feint-hearted. It is surprising
to find a V8 in an engine bay designed for a
side-valve four cylinder engine producing about 25
kiloWatts.
At around 200 kiloWatts, most people would agree that
this old Anglia has indeed received a "nice bit
of horsepower."
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It LOOKS
like a beat-up old sports car…..
It SOUNDS like a beat-up old sports car…..
So, what’s the big DEAL?
The deal is DRIFTING. Holding the slide is what it’s
all about. But sometimes to find the limit you have to
step over the edge.
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The
Nissan is a specialised drifting car. A combination of
rear-wheel-drive, a well-balanced beefy chassis, and a
big lusty V8 make for plenty of fun.
Owner Wayne Dedekind is a former stuntman with an
addiction to driving sideways.
The special front struts used on the Nissan 200SX,
enables the car to be set up for changing track
conditions. A drift car needs maximum bite at the
front, which is why soft –compound sticky tyres are
used on the front wheels. Worn-out tyres on the rear
wheels keep the tail nice and skittish.
The special equipment from TurboDirect enables the
front wheel geometry to be set up perfectly without
resorting to special wheel alignment equipment.
The fine graduations on the strut towers allow camber
and castor to be adjusted perfectly.
The massive intercooler dominates the nose of the car,
which ran without the cowling for our shoot to
illustrate its massive size.
The new hybrid turbo on the Nissan enables a much
quicker spool up time to hit the power band early,
while the larger intake impellor enables vastly
increased boost, vital for holding a car in that
perfect drift.
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