No Sensationalistic Title Needed: 628-BHP Franken E30 M3

June 2, 2015Gargling Gas 1 Comment

BMW Franken M3

The Franken M3

Gargling Gas loves old school BMWs, particularly Pre 2000 M cars. The E30 M3 above is a very special classic indeed. Despite a V10 engine transplant, this ‘Franken M3’ only weighs in 150-lbs heavier than when it left the factory stock, around 3K-lbs.

BMW Franken M3 V10

Franken M3’s Heart

This monster’s modest 4-pot heart was ripped out and a 5.7-L V10 forced in its place. It wasn’t just any heart, either; the stroker unit came from BMW’s performance specialists, Dinan. Along with the massive power comes a tarmac creasing 480 lb-ft of torque, the same as Dinan’s heavier M6 S3.

Of course, the power mongers had to do some serious fettling to allow for a 6-speed transmission, V10 headers and E90 subframes and suspension, but considering all of this only added an extra 150-lbs to its stock weight, I still consider Franken M3 a seriously lightweight E30.

Cost?

Only $224,500.

I usually refer to cars as “her” or “she”, but I’ll end this post by signing off with: Check out the video below and watch this THING in action.

DC Shoes Presents Ken Block Ragging A MK2 Ford Escort

May 27, 2015Gargling Gas 1 Comment

Ken Block – 1978 MK2 Ford Escort

Gargling Gas loves Ken Block’s hooning abilities, especially his Hoonicorn ’65 Mustang. Yesterday’s post involved a nostalgic reflection on the tin boxes my Grandfather drove me around in, one being an Austin Metro, the other a MK2 Ford Escort. I recalled a video of Ken Block hooning a MK2, which led to a rather silly mind’s eye image of my Grandfather ragging his sandy coloured MK2 like Block style.

30 years on, the legendary MK1 and MK2 Escorts’ prices are soaring, and the simplistic and lightweight, RWD car is still the preferred choice of chassis to learn the art of rally in.

Check out Block and the 1978 MK2 Ford Escort rally car – I can’t remember where I read it, but I’m sure Block does this from time to time, man and machine stripped of computer aids, a pure way of honing reflexes and skills.

Family To 62-mph In 4.7 Seconds

April 14, 2015Gargling Gas Leave a comment

Audi RS6

We love estate cars at Gargling Gas because wagons are cool. They allow the working man to load up ladders and work benches, the family man to cram in children, flat pack furniture and bags of hedge trimmings, the psychopath the jam in chainsaws, axes and sacks of lime, all in the comfort of a car. These practical vehicles become even cooler when they possess 911 Turbo performance figures.

The inspiration for this post came from the car pictured above, the Audi RS6 Avant. It’s a great looking car, but it’s not exactly the sort of car you’d expect to have to move out of the way on the motorway. It’s also not the sort of car you’d expect to see pass you at the speed of light. Having moved over for one yesterday, I watched in awe as this silver estate streaked by, listened as its twin-turbo V10 throbbed and blatted and catapulted it into the horizon, just before I caught a glimpse of the badge: RS6.

Not being the world’s biggest Audi fan, I did a little homework on the RS badge. I knew it was Audi’s equivalent of the M and AMG divisions, and I’ve always known about the RS2 from being a sleeper nut.

In fact, after doing my homework on the current RS cars and their incredible figures, it only highlighted what an amazing feat of technology the RS2 was/is considering it was built over 20 years ago.

Audi RS6 C7 Avant

Despite knocking the previous model’s V10 on the head, Audi’s current RS6 C7 Avant pictured above (damn that Nardo grey looks good) produces a ridiculous 560-bhp and 516-lb-ft from a twin-turbo 4.0-L V8. That means you are able to whisk the kids out of the house and to 62-mph in 3.9 seconds – experts claim this is an over estimate by Audi, too. Considering these impressive figures, the 20-year-old RS2 hits 62-mph in 4.7 seconds, all from a considerably smaller single-turbo 2.2-L straight 5 engine.

Audi RS2 Avant

Okay, so the RS2 is obviously lighter, but it offers better mileage and still provides the mod-cons such as Recaro racing seats, air-con and a decent sound system. The handling was well ahead of its time, too, the combination of AWD and its Porsche-designed braking and suspension systems making it more at home on the Nürburgring than the supermarket carpark.

In 1995 Autocar clocked the RS2 from 0 to 30 mph at just 1.5 seconds, a time quicker than the McLaren F1 road car, and amazingly Jacques Villeneuve’s Williams F1 car.

Because Audi’s styling was fairly subtle, the RS2 is the king of Sleepers, a car Gargling Gas has to adore. They are fairly hard to come by now as they are real classics, but offered the choice of an RS6 or an RS2, I’d have to take the latter.

Skogen Racing: Connoisseurs Of Sleeping

April 2, 2015Gargling Gas Leave a comment

Skogen Racing Cortina – Mondeo ST220 Engine

This outfit from Sweden are exactly what messing about with cars are all about. Take a 30-year-old car on the verge of being either parted out or scrapped, wrench on it, give it a major heart transplant, and then drift it or race it through forests.

My favourite of the bunch, despite being a massive BMW fan, is the Ford Cortina pictured above and below. Once Skogen Racing have finished with it, you are left with a 950-KG car boasting 306-whp, a transplant from a Ford Mondeo ST220. Of course, there’s a lot more to it than shoe-horning a bigger power plant into the car, the list of modifications more than enough to both harness the extra grunt and stabilise the little car.

306-whp Ford Cortina With A Mondeo ST220 Engine

I say ‘messing about with cars’, but Skogen Racing are a little more than that, regularly competing in auto events. When they aren’t injecting serious power into retro cars, they’re either sliding, racing or dragging them, the team often arranging events and meets.

770-bhp BMW Powered Ford Seirra

Some of their cars do hint as to being modded, but when you consider their Ford Seirra pictured above and its turbo-charged BMW M50B25 transplant, no one would expect it to boast 770-bhp. After swapping the Ford 2.8i V6 for a BMW 2.5-L inline-6, followed by adding a Garrett GT40 turbo, intercooler, injectors and forged pistons to handle the power, I consider this a serious sleeper.

So if I were facing the crusher, this is the way I’d like to go out: smoking and screaming, sliding through the Pearly Gates so violently an immediate one-way ticket to Hell would be issued.

Check out more of Skogen Racings insane livery and the way they add massive power without making it too obvious.

The one gem they did build that can be called a pure sleeper is the MK1 Ford Fiesta featured in their video below. I remember this car as a four-year-old, two of them in my street, both owned by elderly people. Take a look what Skogen Racing did to it…

Modern Cars Are Gaining An Extra Spare Tyre

February 5, 2015Gargling Gas 1 Comment

The subject of modern cars gaining weight through the evolution of safety and performance has been touched upon here before, the main angle focused upon power-to-weight ratios and whether older cars are more fun to drive than their more powerful yet heavier counterparts.

However, this time around the angle is focused upon actual weight and the sheer glutinous nature of modern design and technology. Did you ever think the quintessentially British Mini Cooper would outweigh a BMW sedan?

I read an article on the 2015 Mini Cooper S in bed this morning and noticed a familiar bhp figure: (189). That’s a horse shy of my BMW E36 325i, I thought.

Descending further through the Cooper S spec sheet I made a note of the curb weight (1495-Kg).

Wow, I said out-loud, the 3 Series of yesteryear is 35-Kg lighter – and that’s with a larger 2.5-L in-line 6 lump.

BMW took over and manufactured Minis in 2000, but even back then the relatively large new concept compared to its Rover predecessor was nearly 300-Kg lighter than the 2015 model. As for its Austin grandaddy, the German sibling is over double the Kgs…

Despite being a horse under power and 35-Kgs heavier, the Cooper S performs well.

Or does it?

Two decades or so separate the E36 and Cooper S, and despite the modern technology, the Mini only manages to knock half a second off the E36 0-60 time.

I do wonder how the Minis of 2030 will fare. Will they weigh in heavier than the BMW F30s of today? Will they need twin turbos just to make it out of the garage. Will a rocket and parachute be required to make a run to the shops?

What do you think? Can manufacturers continue to increase power whilst the added weight of safety and handling software and devices continue to hamper genuine performance gains?

Give me a 236-hp per ton featherweight any day.

Magnus Walker Does It His Way

April 4, 2014Gargling Gas 4 Comments

I’ve been meaning to write a post about this guy for a while now, and after browsing his Facebook page and checking out how much time he devotes to posting and replying to fans, I decided to spread the love.

If you’re a serious car guy you’ll have probably heard about Magnus Walker or seen pictures of his fleet of custom Porsches. His story is one of pure inspiration and one I truly admire because of what he has achieved from a handful of cash and a shot at a dream.

The following video is a documentary about this Urban Outlaw’s journey, from the UK’s glum city of Sheffield to the sun-soaked streets of Los Angeles, and how his clothing empire allowed him to fuel his passion for Porsche. As well as the fashion world, Magnus has made big waves in the automotive world, featuring in Jay Leno’s Garage alongside his “277” 1971 911T (my personal favourite), and you only have to google his name to find many more inspiring videos.

I don’t need to write much more as I’ll let the star of the article fill you in himself. I just hope I remain true to myself and live the way I want to live – this man has proven it’s entirely possible. Sit back and prepare for some gorgeous and original retro designs and what’s it like to have a personal showroom packed with classic Porsches.