On Fri, 30 Dec 2005 00:43:00 GMT, "Trevor Wilson"
wrote:


"Pooh Bear" wrote in message
...


Andre Jute wrote:

So, PinkoStinko, you claim, in the thread "The fantasies of little men
knackered" and perhaps elsewhere (1) that from Adelaide in South
Australia to Darwin in the Northern Territory your little Audi can beat
the ton-up average of a forty-year old Ford Falcon GTHO?

I reckon it would be a dead cert actually.

**I may just do so, though the old Phase III was a pretty capable grand
tourer. It proved to be phenomenally reliable in endurance races. It is the
most sought after Australian manufactured car.

No problem with that, I mostly just think that Jute is as ever just
making it up about his claimed Adelaide-Darwin-Adelaide run.

However, given that the Audi will cruise all day in air-conditioned
comfort at 220 klicks, with only stops for fuel required, I don't see
much of a contest.

UK motoring magazine 5th Gear recently ran a couple of 15 ? yr old
classics
- a BMW M3 and a Lancia Delta Turbo HF Integrale round their preferred
track. They were fun to drive but only actually a second or two faster
thana Ford Ka and a Transit van.

I expect a modern Audi would entirely trash an old muscle car's
performance.

**Not as much as you'd think. The Phase III HO (Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III)
was a pretty serious car in it's day. The fastest 4 door production sedan on
the planet. Even now, it's no slouch. The engine developed 280kW right off
the showroom floor. 160kph (100MPH) would come up in less than 15 seconds.
Top speed was around 250kph. Suspension (such as it was) ensured that it
could actually go 'round corners respectably well, though certainly without
much in the way of refinement. I imagine that if fitted with modern rubber,
it could do the job pretty well, albeit rather harshly.

I get the same or better performance with 100kW less power, with
vastly better cornering, braking and traction. Of course, you'd hope
to achieve *something* in 35 years! :-)

OTOH, Graham did say *a* modern Audi. Consider the RS6, much more the
modern equivalent of the Falcon GTHO......................

--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering