Jack Levy writes:
> I am going to an autocross school this weekend but my 914 is in the shop
> getting the engine rebuilt, and I was thinking of renting a car to take and
> wanted to know if anyone had done this before and what cars would be
> recommended, I don't know if all that is rented is automatics, anyone have
> any experience?
I've rented a few times recently. You're right, you'll have practically zero
chance of getting a manual tranny. My most recent was two cars, a '99 Century
and a 2000 NEON. The Century with a 3.1l V6 would get rubber on the launch
with nothing but a good mash of the gas, but I'd be afraid of rolling it in
an autocross.
The NEON was good at handling, with the dynamics of the first gen, only
softer sprung. The weak point was the launch, it does not launch at all
with the auto tranny. At the strip, the fastest launch technique I found
was floor it to the rev limiter in neutral, then jam it in drive on the
first yellow. You'll get maybe one and a quarter revolutions of wheel slip
before it bogs. I think this should be known as the "Linhoff launch". :)
Very inconsistent r.t. this way, but about 0.7 sec faster e.t. than a
power-brake launch.
The NEON would do the job, but you might have more fun in a Malibu LS
(3.1l V6 as opposed to the 2.4l 4) because it would launch better and
still have something like handling.
Remember, nothing drives like a rental car.
--
Jeffrey D. Blankenship Senior Technical Consultant
jblanken@itds.com ITDS - TRIS
neon enthusiast #478 Champaign, IL, USA
|