Mark Higgins TT Runs

Agree. I do think the superstock bikes are amazing considering they're straight out of a showroom though, you'd struggle to get a standard car around in that time. I'm much more into cars though. I'm glad it's a 4wd which was used for this, and prodrive have sorted the diffs out so understeer will not be an issue
 
The superstock bikes can't be classed as coming straight out of the showroom, despite what the TV commentators keep telling us.

Typically the rules allow upgraded suspension, exhaust, blueprinting of the motor and perhaps kit head gasket to up the compression a bit.

Not anywhere near as much as allowed in the Superbike class but a Superstock bike will spend a fair bit of time being prepped and modified, between leaving the showroom and hitting the track.

Still bonkers the times they were putting in :eek:
 
I was there at the TT this year when the car did its 2nd practise lap. Seriously impressive (and quite scared to have bearing down on you as a spectator!). I do think though that a big increase in the lap speed came from tyres. The previous car record was on road legal tyres, whereas these were on BTCC race tyres. Worth noting too that the super stock bikes were on road legal tyres and still 5mph faster.

I think a car could do a 130 or so, and perhaps match the bikes but talk of 140 and 150 is ridiculous. It's so so hard to set a vehicle up for the TT. It's a massive compromise due to the variety of the course surfaces and undulations.
 
Housey said:
A car if set up well and built for the job in hand to its full potential should brake later, carry more speed in most corners, get on the power sooner and put it down better and probably accelerate as quickly give or take in most situations. It might also be able to carry more top speed on the really fast bits and doesn't need the space to move around like a bike because it will stick better and follow the optimum line easier. I've never questioned the skill of any of the riders and they are fantastic riders and it makes epic watching but if it comes down to absolutes a car optimised for the challenge will beat a bike on long, fast tarmac.
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Have we not shown with the TT at least that your last sentence is incorrect? Was this car not setup specifically for the challenge? And unless a car can hit 190+mph on straights it is always going to play catchup in the corners in/out rather than on the straights...

Eeither way, both are epic laps, whether in a car or bike... who's fastest is irrelevant in a way simply because the TT is about bikes and not cars... I personally appreciate both in their own merrits.
 
tl45 said:
The superstock bikes can't be classed as coming straight out of the showroom, despite what the TV commentators keep telling us.

Typically the rules allow upgraded suspension, exhaust, blueprinting of the motor and perhaps kit head gasket to up the compression a bit.

Not anywhere near as much as allowed in the Superbike class but a Superstock bike will spend a fair bit of time being prepped and modified, between leaving the showroom and hitting the track.

Still bonkers the times they were putting in :eek:
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Hutchy said in an interview that they used the bike straight off the shelf - stock suspension and exhaust as it ran so well. A quick google suggests the only engine tuning you can do now is the exhaust system.
 
pugheaven said:
Have we not shown with the TT at least that your last sentence is incorrect? Was this car not setup specifically for the challenge? And unless a car can hit 190+mph on straights it is always going to play catchup in the corners in/out rather than on the straights...
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Not at all, it is a project by a car company to get it's brand out there, not by Adrian Newey thrown a challenge to make the fastest possible 4 wheel vehicle to go around. You miss my point and to your point no, it doesn't provide my last sentence incorrect. A really rapid car will out accelerate any bike that races at the TT, certainly over 150mph. At the last VMax from a standing start a Konigsegg was over 240mph in 1.7 miles.

pugheaven said:
Eeither way, both are epic laps, whether in a car or bike... who's fastest is irrelevant in a way simply because the TT is about bikes and not cars... I personally appreciate both in their own merrits.
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I agree, said as much.
 
Sagalout said:
I think a car could do a 130 or so, and perhaps match the bikes but talk of 140 and 150 is ridiculous. It's so so hard to set a vehicle up for the TT. It's a massive compromise due to the variety of the course surfaces and undulations.
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It isn't ridiculous at all.
 
Have you ever seen the track? And I don't mean on TV where it's smoothed out. If you took a koenigsegg around it at speed you'd get back with half the bodywork missing!
 
You seem to be massively missing my point...

I am not suggesting it would not need a car built for the challenge, to deal with the dips, the humps, the cambers, the rough areas. I am saying this Subaru isn't the perfect car, it's built at the behest of Subaru to get people talking and to elevate the brand, not to be the very quickest car possible. As I said above, if you start with a clean sheet you won't end up with Mark Higgins's Subaru, you'll end up with massive aero, super sticky tyres and massive power.
 
as i pointed out previously. there are cars that can go faster on this circuit = not many.

Koenigsegg , lambos no. they are not for this course.

you want a rally car geared right or a pikes peak car.

people just see a subaru and think that isnt that quick . no its by one of the best companies and quick. that's the difference. they know what they doing.
 
Sagalout said:
Yeah, I agree with you, but I don't agree you'd get to a 140 lap.
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People said the same about 100,110,120 and 130mph laps on bikes.

Higgins is already 10mph faster than he was last year, and unlike the bikes there are no regulations to limit development of the car so I don't think 140mph is beyond the bounds of possibility.
 
Wow does he look composed in the car - definitely more speed to come there he isn't even breaking a sweat lol. Very nice driving.

Wonder how something like a GT-R would handle that.
 
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