#1:  Favorite Cars/Bikes Author: Soulfly, 

Not sure if we have many petrol heads in the clan but heres some cars/bikes i like.Feel free to reply with favorite cars/bikes

MK2 Astra

The Mark 2 Astra first appeared in the autumn of 1984. It used the same range of engines and running gear as the Mark 1, but with a completely restyled body with better aerodynamics.

Long-lived, the Mark 2 was available in estate, hatchback, saloon and cabriolet versions. The saloon was launched in January 1986 and sold as the Vauxhall Belmont; this trend to brand saloon models independently of the hatchback was also used by other manufacturers of the period, with examples including the Ford Orion and the Volkswagen Jetta. However, this strategy was mostly unsuccessful, as this was Vauxhall's only attempt at badging its hatchback-based saloon as a separate model, and Ford had rebadged its Orion range as Escorts by 1994.

Just under 7000[1] cabriolets were built by Bertone in Italy from 1987 to 1993. These came in 1.6 and 2-litre GTE variants, the latter being available with powered roofs and electric windows.[2] These cars are praised for their shake-free shells and their looks.[3]

A new GTE using a 2 L[4] fuel injected engine was also introduced, and early models of these featured an all electronic dash with digital speedometer. This was largely received as a gimmick, and later models reverted to traditional analogue instrumentation. Vauxhall's twin-camshaft version of the engine, the C20XE, had a high performance version of the GTE created around it. This engine developed 156 hp (116 kW) in standard form, giving sprightly performance, though a common criticism is that the handling was never good enough for the engine.[5] The limited-edition "Champion" Astras from 1990 were fitted with the same C20XE "redtop" engines (so called because of their red spark plug cover), along with Connolly Leather interiors.[6] With the picture on the right, showing a SXi 5door as there was never a 5door GTE

This model formed the basis of the Daewoo Cielo, Racer, Nexia and LeMans, and its export versions, the Asüna SE (Canada), Asüna GT (Canada), Passport Optima (Canada) and Pontiac LeMans (Canada, New Zealand and USA).

The Mark 2 Astra sold well in the UK, and although it was never able to outsell the Ford Escort, it came closer than any other similar-sized car to achieving this.

In 2005, a survey found the two most stolen cars in Britain to be the Vauxhall Belmont and the Vauxhall Astra Mark 2, with more than 1 in 13 Belmonts stolen.[7]


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MK2 Escort

The squarer-styled Mark II version appeared in January 1975. The first production models had rolled off the production lines on 2 December 1974.

Unlike the first Escort (which was solely a British effort), the second generation was developed along with Ford of Germany. Codenamed "Brenda" during its development, it used the same mechanicals as the Mark I. The 950 cc engine was still offered in Italy but in larger markets elsewhere in Europe it was unavailable. The estate and van versions used the same panelwork as the Mark I, but with the Mark II front end and interior. The car used a revised underbody, which had in fact been introduced as a running change during the last six months of the life of the Mark I.

This car made a point, with just four body styles, of competing in many different market niches where rival manufacturers had either multiple model ranges or simply none at all. "L" and "GL" models (2-door, 4-door, estate) were in the mainstream private sector, the "Sport", "RSMexico", and "RS2000" in the performance market, the "Ghia" (2-door, 4-door) for an untapped small car luxury market, and "base / Popular" models for the bottom end. Panel-van versions catered to the commercial sector.

During the second half of the 1970s, the Escort continued to prove hugely popular with buyers in Britain and other parts of Europe.[citation needed]

A cosmetic update was given in 1978, with most models gaining the square headlights (previously exclusive to the GL and Ghia variants), some models gaining the Escort Sport wheels, and an upgrade in interior specification — the "L" in particular gaining a glovebox and centre console. Underneath a wider front track was given.

Production, after an incredibly popular model run, ended in Britain in August 1980, other countries following soon after.

[edit] Rallying

A Mark II rally car at a stage rally time control — note the extended wheel arches.As with its predecessor, the Mark II had a successful rallying career. All models of the Mark I were carried over to the Mark II, though the Mexico gained the RS badge and had its engine changed to a 1.6 L OHC Pinto instead of the OHV, it had a short production span as customers either bought the much cheaper "sport" or the much more exotic "RS 2000" (a shame, as the RSMexico was basically an RS2000 without the 'droopsnoot'). A "Sport" model was also produced using the 1.6 L Kent. Also a new and potent model was released, the RS1800, which had an 1800 cc version of the BDA engine. It was essentially a special created for rallying, and surviving road versions are very rare and collectible today. There has been a long standing debate regarding how the RS1800 was homologated for international motorsport, as Ford are rumoured to have built only fifty or so road cars out of the four hundred required for homologation.

The works rally cars were highly specialised machines. Bodyshells were heavily strengthened. They were characterised by the wide wheelarch extensions (pictured right), and often by the fitment of four large spotlights for night stages. The BDA engine was bored to 2.0 L and gave up to 270 bhp (201 kW; 274 PS) by 1979. It was complemented by a strengthened transmission, five-speed straight-cut ZF gearbox, five-linked suspension and a host of more minor modifications. In this form, the Escort was perhaps not the most sophisticated of the rear-drive saloon cars that dominated rallying in the late 1970s, but it was reliable and powerful, and good enough to win in the hands of some of the best drivers of its day.


Escort RS1800 driven at the Race Retro 2008 by Alan WatkinsThe late 1970s were a very successful period in rallying for Ford. The Mark II Escort continued its predecessor's unbeaten run on the RAC Rally, winning every year from 1975–79 and winning a variety of other events around the world as well. In the 1979 season of the World Rally Championship, Björn Waldegård took the drivers' title, Hannu Mikkola was runner-up and Ari Vatanen finished the year in fifth place, all driving Escort RS1800s. These drivers' successes throughout the year gave Ford the manufacturers' title, the only time the company had achieved this until the 2006 season, when Marcus Grönholm and Mikko Hirvonen won title for Ford in Ford Focus RS WRC 06. Vatanen won the drivers' title in 1981, again at the wheel of an RS1800. This victory came despite the arrival on the WRC scene of the venerable four-wheel drive Audi Quattro. Ford placed in the top three in the manufacturers' championship for the sixth year in a row.


1978 Escort RS2000 at the 2005 Clonroche Vintage Rally.
Mark II Escort RS2000 taking part in a road rally — always a popular rally car in entry-level classes.The 1.6 L (1598 cc/97 CID) engine in the 1975 1.6 Ghia produced 84 hp (63 kW) with 125 N·m (92 ft·lbf) torque and weighed 955 kg (2105 lb). For rally use, this can be compared to the 1974 Toyota Corolla which output 75 hp (56 kW) and weighed 948 kg (2090 lb).

The 2.0 L RS2000 version, with its distinctively slanted polyurethane nose, and featuring the Pinto engine from the Cortina, was announced in the UK in March 1975[10] and introduced in Germany in August 1975,[11] being reportedly produced in both countries.[10] It provided a claimed 110 bhp[11] and a top speed of 110 mph (177 km/h). For acceleration to 100 km/h (62.5 mph) a time of just 8.9 seconds[11] was claimed by the manufacturers. The 2.0 L engine was also easily retro-fitted into the Mark I, and this became a popular modification, along with the Ford Sierra's five-speed gearbox, for rallying and other sports, especially given the Pinto's tunability.

CR500

The CR500R'90 was sold in 1990 in Flash Red with Shasta White. The "CR" logo on the tank shroud was blue with a white outline. The frame was Shasta white. The front forks featured inverted cartridge type. The rear section of the frame was detachable. The engine was a 491cc 2-stroke liquid cooled reed valve single cylinder linked to a 5-speed transmission

#2:   Author: Colin747, 

lol there is far tooo many to list here, but here's a few

1974 Porsche 911 Turbo 3 Litre

In 1974 Porsche introduced the first production turbocharged 911. Although called simply Porsche 911 Turbo in Europe, it was marketed as Porsche 930 (930 being its internal type number) in North America. The body shape is distinctive thanks to wide wheel-arches to accommodate the wide tires, and a large rear spoiler often known as a "whale tail" on the early cars, and "tea-tray" on the later ones. Starting out with a 3.0 L engine 260 PS (190 kW; 260 hp), these early cars are known for their exhilarating acceleration coupled with challenging handling characteristics and extreme turbo lag. For 1978, capacity rose to 3.3 L 300 PS (220 kW; 300 hp), and an intercooler was added which was placed under the rear spoiler.

Mk1 Lotus Cortina

The history of the Lotus Cortina begins around 1961, when the best of Ford and Lotus got together. Colin Chapman had been looking to build his own engines for Lotus for quite some time (mainly because the Coventry Climax unit was so expensive). Colin Chapman's chance came when he commissioned Harry Mundy (close friend, designer of the Coventry Climax engine and technical editor for The Autocar) to design a twin-cam version of the Ford Kent engine. Most of the development of the engine was done on the 997 cc and 1,340 cc bottom end, but in 1962 Ford released the 116E five bearing 1,499 cc engine and work centered on this. Keith Duckworth, from Cosworth, played an important part in tuning of the engine. The engine's first appearance was in 1962 at the Nürburgring in a Lotus 23 driven by Jim Clark. Almost as soon as the engine was used in production cars (Lotus Elan) it was recalled and replaced with a larger capacity unit (82.55 mm bore to give 1,558 cc). This was done to get the car closer to the 1.6 litre capacity class in motorsport.

Ford Serria Cosworth RS500

Group A racing regulations of that time allowed manufacturers to build an evolution model of a homologated car. The amount of evolution cars that had to be sold for public use was at least 10% of the overall model production which made 500. Because of this, Ford had already planned to put these 500 original Sierra Cosworths in storage when the RS Cosworth was in the planning stage.

Produced by Tickford for Ford, the RS500 was to be entered into the Touring Car championship, the plan by Ford Motorsport was to go out and beat the Rover Vitesee that were dominating the series at the time.
Modification were made to the standard spec RS Cosworth, that made the RS500 a nice road but would allow for a fabulous race car.
The cd factor of the 500 made it a fraction slower than the standard RS Cosworth, this was due to the additional aerodynamic aids applied to the 500 (lower front bumper splitter, lower boot spoiler & gurney strip of the main rear spoiler) . All in all made the car much more stable at very high speeds (150mph +) need for the races.

Ducati 998S

Easily my fav bike

The Ducati 998, a successor to the Ducati 996 and the final variation on the Ducati 916, was produced in various models from 2002 to 2004. The new Testastretta engine shared many similarities with the previous Desmoquattro engine in the 996, although it was completely new from the crankshaft up. The term "Testastretta" means "Narrow Head" and refers to a complete redesign of the cylinder heads. The desmodromic valve actuation method was retained.

#3:   Author: Drowning_Pool, 

Gonna drive HONDA XR 125 L next year don t know how to reply a pic so :
Without black wheels 125 ccm gonna be cool 80 km/h max i can drive until i m 18 =(

#4:   Author: Colin747, 

#5:   Author: SgtStryker, 

253.5 mph: top recorded speed.

#6:   Author: Colin747, 

max recorded top speed : 256.18 mph

#7:   Author: SgtStryker, 

#8:   Author: Colin747, 

#9:   Author: SgtStryker, 

#10:   Author: Colin747, 

#11:   Author: SgtStryker, 

#12:   Author: SplatFace, 

Fuck yeah!

The Hummer H1!

The Lamborghini-Gallardo!

Another Lamborghini-Gallardo!

#13:   Author: Kuebel, 

And now for some class

Aston Martin DB4

Going retro with the Rolls Royce 1936 Phantom

And finally, for those that prefer something newer, the Rolls Royce Phantom (current edition, 2003-)

#14:   Author: SgtStryker, 

Yes Splat, that's a kick ass Hummer. Better than the new ones. Kueble the aston martin is the best there. Bently's are better than the other 2. lol If I spelled a car brand wrong don't correct me, you know what I'm talking about

#15:   Author: Colin747, 

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