Handling
The automotive and racing world was rocked by the sudden passing of racing phenom, internet sensation, and master of all-things automotive Tom-foolery, Ken Block on January 2nd. Hoonigan, Block’s automotive lifestyle and clothing brand, reported that Block was riding snowmobiles at his Utah ranch, where a single snowmobile incident on a steep incline claimed the life of the 55 year old.
The name Cusco is synonymous with high-end, well-made performance parts. Even though we don’t often see Cusco parts on U.S. soil, when someone has them, people seem to recognize the parts immediately. Cusco specializes in many specific aftermarket automotive parts, but this month we’re going to get a firsthand look at the ins and outs of installing a six-point Cusco cage into a Nissan 240SX.
If you are going to connect anything automatic to your car, especially when dealing with electricity, lead and acid, you owe it to yourself to do a bit more research rather than pulling just any super-discounted, off-the-shelf item and connecting it to something as potentially volatile as a lead-acid battery. But we have, haven’t we?
We’ve already tempted and teased our readers with a behind-the-scenes tour of the Unique Performance Shelby continuation cars—the GT 350SR and the GT 500E (Ford Builder, Mar. ’05, page 67). Many of you probably lust after one or both of these cars, but not all of us can afford to purchase one yet. And because of their limited numbers, their prices do, unfortunately, put them out of reach of many of us Ford enthusiasts. That’s the bad news. But there is good news; don’t assume that because you cannot buy a genuine continuation Shelby, you can’t build a car that drives just like one. Unique Performance sells not only the cars as complete packages, but they understand the situation quite clearly and have made available many of the individual parts and assemblies used to build their cars.
Maximum’s design replaces the upper control arms with a torque arm and a Panhard rod, each of which has only one job rather than two. The Panhard rod centers the axle from side to side, and the torque arm controls pinion angle. Assigning each of these duties to separate components allows each piece to be better at its one job than the stock upper control arms are at either job. The torque arm is essentially a three-link design, and Maximum claims that it improves traction so much that after installation you may have to alter your sway bars to prevent understeer.
Although modifying a car to handle well can often seem like a black art, virtually every aspect of handling comes down to three things: the weight of the vehicle, the traction generated by the tires, and the distribution of weight on each particular tire at a given moment.
Producing horsepower requires two major ingredients, namely, air and fuel. Of course, the two must be supplied in the correct proportions and at the proper time; but improving power is a simple matter of adding airflow. Naturally, additional fuel will be required once the airflow is improved, but the first item on the horsepower priority list should always be more airflow.
While the small-block Chevy is the popular engine choice for many enthusiasts, many are now relying on a Blue Oval heart for their performance bodies. With its link to Ford, the original body manufacturer for many of the classic cars we see today, the small-block Windsor-style Ford engine offers several advantages. When compared to Chevy, the lack of firewall clearance for a number of Chevy engine swaps is due to the rear distributor position of the engine. The front-mount distributor position is the more logical place to drive the distributor and the oil pump. Not to mention, it’s much more convenient.
In the fall of 2003, I wanted to attend an open-track lapping day with my ʼ67 RS/SS Camaro. I have owned the car for several years and have autocrossed and drag raced it, but I never had the opportunity to run it at one of the local tracks, such as Nelson Ledges of mid Ohio, or BeaverRun.
The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show engulfs Fabulous Las Vegas annually. It brings together the biggest names in the automotive world to show off the latest and greatest, whether it’s new products, amazing custom builds, or the newest trends. TheAutoBuilder is excited to be in the thick of it all.