BossFox

No the old engien is toast. All we can do is sell the cams off as switching to the newer design so don;t need them. Some of the foam got into the engine. It's toast. Starting fresh with a better base engine.

Progress report. Been a long time since I've been able to log into Briskoda for some reason. Nothing happened for some time as other things were more important, but we had some thinking to do. Was it worth rebuilding? If I decided to spend the money how to make it better? Well a decision was reached earlier in 2020. Audi released a newer, lighter 2.5 5cyl block in 2017. Apparently this also has a head that flows better. So I have managed to source a good, low milage used engine from 2017. This should remove about 15-20kg from the front end. In addition while it's a bit burnt we are going on a weight saving mission. The loom as all pure Audi TT-RS so a lot of wiring for things we no longer have. That's all being ripped out and a bespoke loom made, which will also save weight. With the new engien we might be able to get a bit more than the 723bhp we have currently. Aim is 800bhp but might be a stetch retaining response so will aim for 750+. Also it's going flappy paddle and getting a full motorsport cage because the speed of the thing justifies that really. If it ever has a shunt it's going to be a big one. Ideally the savings on weight in the front end and loom will roughly cover the cage and box change, so it'll still be 1300kg, but handle better and be a tad quicker. JDR are doign the work for me, but they are also getting my pair of 1998/99 Nissan Primera Super Tourers ready so progress on the Yeti will be slow due to being a lower priority. I'll try to update as possible.

Got it, really like it. Three days and someone has driven into it going wrong way in a one way. Reminds me why non-expensive new cars are a good idea.

Delivery was quoted 16-18 weeks. Currently at 19.5 and no contact from VW yet...

Sold a few, tried not to buy a few. I'll do an update in May when the number has settled a bit!

It had a carbon bonnet already. Yeah, someone got a video apparently and they were there in 36 seconds putting it out. I thanked them and put some money in their Marshals fund as a thanks.

At Snetterton yesterday we hit a slight issue. Initial investigation looks like a fuel leak from an injector or somewhere in the top half of the engine day. Coming onto the Bentley straight the engine lost power, which was the Syvecs ECU cutting power due to low fuel pressure apparently. Then it cut out. At which point I started to get smoke in through the air vents, so pulled onto the grass and got out. The MSV Marshals were on the scene quickly and deployed a fair number of extinguishers into the engine bay. Then the car was recovered back and washed off before being taken back to the workshop. It looks a bit sorry for itself but it's not that bad. Sure, the soft bits in the top of the engine bay have burnt/melted but all the stuff near the middle/bottom looks OK and mechanically it should be fine. Probably need to repalce most of the top end stuff like injectors, wiring, cam covers, coolant bottle etc which started to melt in the heat. Will update with full report when we know the full story. Main thing is, that's a car in the picture above that still looks like a Yeti, not a burnt out shell. It's not terminal and it can be fixed.

Having run 5 KIA Soul EVs at work for 3 years I am looking forwards to these. There is a new Soul EV coming next year as well with the same motor and battery capacity as this Niro.

Yes, cheap fun cars, lower depreciation.

March/April.

You're not buying one as well are you?

I loved the Alpine. Such a good car. Regret selling it, one of the few cars I've regretted. Also bought a 720s McLaren though so 2 two seaters with a family of 4 didn't work so Apline had to go. Sold the Apline... then bumped the McLaren and found out how fragile they are (front end bump cost over £200k on insurance) so I just bought myself a Citigo from the salvage auctions and the Armoured Personnel Carrier instead.

Having had three I still think they are a great car. And that includes a blown engine in one of them. Really, for what people use a car for most of the time they are really good. All the practicality of a 5 door Ford Focus, but fun biased rear handling with the safety off a little front assistance and a playful character. I only sold mine to get an Apline A110. As an overall package I still find it hard to fault the Focus, other than it's weight of around 1550kg. And weight is something a lot of modern 4WD cars struggle with.

Brands Hatch a few weeks ago. Pictures like this make me happy, despite all the work it shows just how "normal" the Yeti still looks.

I really like the idea of the UP! GTI but I already have a Monte Carlo Citigo. Like you, I have other vehicles to use, but I find I use the Citigo most of the time due to it's size/economy and lack of realistic depreciation. As a daily for running to work, and sometimes moving the family at weekends I find the boot adequate, space fine for a family of 4 as both kids under 10 and it drives fine. When you consider the price, I can't say I have any concerns with the equipment or tech. We are dealing with cheap cars here. It's easy to spend £30k+ on a top of the range Skoda these days. It's not the best car ever, but it might just be the best car for around £15k or less unless you want something more mainstream. You can spend an extra £10k on a Fiesta!!

The rain.

So having got it covered on trade plates as it needed to go to be weight tested, I set off on Friday to get fuel, weigh it and then take it back to the unit (which involved going past the house). Stripped out in the back, it was 7.8 tonnes. Put £50 of diesel in just to make sure it had enough, which was fun as had to drive through the ASDA car park to get to their fuel station. To say we got noticed driving through a supermarket car park at 3pm on a Friday would be an understatement! As I was driving back past the house I stopped off for a photo with the Wife's Yeti... It drives well, considering what it is. Actually easy to maneuver at speed and follow the curves of the road. Gave it a full check over before we set off, did around 14 miles and it was fine. I can see why the tank driver's helmets have ear defenders built in though, with the tracks rotating and the diesel engine humming away 50cm away it does get a bit noisy!

Yes as said Cat H. I did my test 5 years ago, cost £595 for a one day course incl the test fee/examiner from the local testing centre. The CVRT series seem to have rubber blocks as they are “road size”, this is about 2.4m by 5m. Full battle weight is 8.5t, have stripped it out a fair bit inside so will be weighing it soon to send the DVLA a request for registering and a V5.

First thing I noticed was a lot of brown sludge sloshing around, fortunately not an issue with a well painted alloy hull. So I spent a few days mopping it out and cleaning it. Then I started to strip the back out, and when I could get the checker plate up I found even more gunge. Must be over around 20 gallons of the stuff now! The radio shelving, officers bench was all very heavy and well made, so it's not only cleaner inside it's also more roomy to work in there now. Leak has been traced to the radio mast (it used to have a 3-4m ariel for it's command and control duties) which has had the hole filled with a bit of wood shoved in there. Looks like it's been dripping in since it left service around 6 years ago. It's turning out to be very handy to have the unit! Got a couple of dehumidifiers running so it'll soon be nice and try. You can see in the picture how big the fuel tank is, a whopping 395 litres! This Sultan was modernised in 1999 including a diesel engine and other upgrades so on a full tank would have a range of around 400 miles or so at an estimated 4-5mpg.

Over the years I've done a fair bit with cars, from basic stuff to highly tuned to racing. Really wanted to do something a bit unusual, start on something I know nothing about, learn about it and be able to do a lot of the work myself without computers. So I bought an Alvis Sultan from Tanks a Lot who are based near Silverstone. They blasted the outside and gave it three coats of Nato green, then it was delivered on a low loader, which I drove it off. Driver Cockpit. Rear space.

You couldn't make it up, the guy in that Clio supplied the carbon brakes for the Yeti.

The smell was heavy in the car, but not under the bonnet our outside. As the tank is under where the rear seats would be it's easy to check.

First shakedown day at Snetterton on the Brisky track day. Since the car was last out three years ago it's had the following changed. Forged engine with cams allowing it to rev to 8,200. Dual mass flywheel to stop the synchros failing. Bigger Turbo Twin injector manifold Syvecs ECU to run everything. Carbon ceramic brake upgrade. Carbon bonnet, tailgate and four door. Additional roll cage bars do to carbon door for safety. End result, we have gone from 510bhp to 723bhp. And lost almost spot on 100kg. But what I found interesting was the additional revs means it now has a wider powerband despite the extra 210bhp. It comes in quite well around 3,000-3,500 and then absolutely flies with no let off to 8,000. So it has over 4,000rpm of solid thrust. The day went well. A few mapping issues were sorted early on, then we found right at the top end at the end of the long back straight it was dropping fuel pressure a little. To protect it the Syecs ECU was then putting it into limp mode. JDR brought a new fuel pump just in case and this was soon fitted. As the track dried out the extra grip caused a fuel smell that was soon traced to a seal on top of the tank, which was temporarily fixed to get us through the day until a new one could be fitted. Then we had another limp mode creep in as the car got down to a third of a tank of fuel. This was quite simply the standard tank and pick up struggling under the force of the acceleration and filling the car solved it. Overall it was a great day. Not only because after so much work and time the Yeti performed all day. It was also a really good track day with lots of great people that made it a fun day and drove well with minimal issues and stoppages. Plan is now to fit a new tank or modify the existing one with a different pick up system and swirl pot. And a little bracing for the polycarb screen as it deformed slightly as we hit 152mph at the end of the straight. It really hit me driving home Monday what a project this turned into. It's such an amazing car to drive, still fun with plenty of driver fell and interaction. But the way it piles on speed from 4000rpm means you just launch past people that a second before you were following at the same speed. And on top of all that we have pretty much managed to keep that Yeti look. Right, that's enough waffle. I'll put a few videos up later.

Glad you all enjoyed it. It all went to plan and restricting the numbers over a typical track day worked really well with pretty much no queuing once the track was open. Plus not too many cars on the track itself so plenty of space and nobody felt the need to pressure anyone else as they had to get past urgently. Thanks to everyone who came and made it the great day it was. I'll update the Yeti thread with how that went.

I did put this on FB, but just to confirm: Sign on: 7:30 - 8:30 Briefing: 8:30 Track opens: 9:00 Garages. 1 + 2 - Brisky Racing 3 + 4 - CSCC Club 5 + 6 - GT-R Club 7+ - Free There is no charge for garages, if everyone shares 2 cars per garage then everyone gets to use one as we are only 66 cars, not 80. You can easilly get 2 cars per garage.