B-ROAD BLASTER
MAKING IT ADJUSTABLE
“The car has been built for track use,” Andy explains, “meaning all the suspension uses rigid mounts — except the lower link bars, otherwise they wouldn’t rotate. These keep body deflection to a minimum, and the body has been stiffened in many places to minimise this deflection further, and prevent any body failures. This means that there’s no funny reactions to high cornering/acceleration/deceleration loads. Everything is nice and linear and progressive, meaning the car is very confidence-inspiring to drive — for something with over 250 bhp-per-ton and 1970s tech, it really is easy to drive flat-out.
“The other key thing I’ve gone for with this set-up is adjustability,” says Andy. “Everything can be adjusted, and you need this to get the most out of the car; spending money on greater adjustability so you can make the most of what power you have is far more important than simply adding more power. I’m still learning the car and how it reacts to adjustment, so it’s set up based on what I learnt from years of modifying the Escort — I like a softer rear end and a middling-stiff front, lots of negative camber (-3.5 degrees) and caster (over 6 degrees) at the front, plus a little bit of toe-out (0.1 degrees), to give a lot of steering feedback and a sharp turn-in.”
“The other key feature of this build has been cutting weight, and keeping what remains as low-down as achievable. Hence the fuel tank in the spare wheelwell, to try and counter the weight of the engine out front; the engine is mounted as far back as can be without cutting the bulkhead, and the suspension set-up (compression struts and eccentric top mounts) means I’ve been able to move the front axle line forward — this helps to move the weight balance rearward.The suspension is part of the weight, as dynamically the weight effectively moves, so letting the rear of the car squat under acceleration means there’s some rear weight transfer, improving traction. And in braking, having a controlled amount of dive means that enough weight is on the front axle to maximise braking capacity and keep everything under control.”