Here’s what MOTOR readers had to say this month

Got something on your mind, or a question that needs answering? Then get on your soap box and send us a letter!

Each month we award the best letter with a 12-month subscription to MOTOR magazine, while all of the honourable mentions get published for the world to read.

The magazine subscription for this month is going to be awarded to the reader who writes in with their most shameful ‘Now watch this!’ moment behind the wheel. We’ve all had them, but if you think yours can’t be topped, we want to hear it!

So go on, send us a rant, a story or just your thoughts, to motor@aremedia.com.au, you know you want to.

Here's what your fellow MOTOR fans had to say this month!

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Credit where credit is due

In the mid-1990s, while interviewing Giugiaro on the Fiat Panda, we got talking about the Miura. After a short conversation in which Gandini’s name was mentioned, George suddenly got up and said, “follow me”.

We went into the next door office, which turned out to be his drawing room, one I’d never seen before. From a series of drafting cabinets he pulled out one of the wide drawers to reveal his original drawings for the Miura. All dated and signed by Giugiaro.

He explained that the design was virtually finished when he left Bertone. All Gandini did was to add bits like the eyebrows above and below the headlights.

A year or so later he agreed to let me photograph the drawings to illustrate the story I proposed on the design origins of the Miura. The day before I was expected at Italdesign his PR person rang to say he decided not to go ahead because he didn’t want to upset Nuccio Bertone.

If you look at Giugiaro’s Fiat 850 Spider you can see the beginnings of the Miura profile.

Peter Robinson, via Email

Thanks for that fascinating insight, Peter. There’s usually a very good reason behind things seeming too good to be true. – Ed

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Sound logic

I’m a 14-year-old car enthusiast and have loved cars since before I could speak. I hope to one day get a job in the car industry and even own something worthy of the pages of your magazine!

I am so excited about the future of cars. In the next few years alongside petrol engines, we could have hybrid, fully electric, hydrogen and even biofuel powered supercars.

When electric cars first came out the noise was so boring and quiet that no one thought it could replace the roar of a naturally aspirated engine but hearing the manic whooshes, whirrs and screams of some of the latest electric hypercars and race cars makes me so excited. Could this be the sound for the next generation of car enthusiasts?

I think it’s amazing how a brand like Rimac, which has been founded in my life time, has gone from installing electric motors in old BMWs to now owning one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious supercar brands and producing electric drivetrains and motors for practically every new electric car out there!

Keep up the great mag, I’m loving the new cleaner cover designs, new features and awesome reviews!!!

Ben, via Email

Cheers, Ben. Can I confide in you a recurring nightmare I have? It’s of playing our grandchildren the sounds of a Lambo V12, a Lexus V10 or a Ferrari V8 whereupon they recoil and say, “You thought that was a nice noise, granddad? It’s a bloody awful racket. Make it stop.” – Ed

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A question of some import

Can someone please explain the current regulations around importing sports cars from overseas to me? It used to be fairly easy to figure out when we had the old SEVS list of cars that were valid for import and those that weren’t.

However, now that that’s been ditched, I can’t even begin to understand whether I can legally import and road register certain cars. It’d be a costly exercise to get wrong, that’s for sure.

Alan Miller, via Email

Have you been reading our minds, Alan? An explainer is in the works for us that hopefully makes very clear what hoops you’ll need to jump through in order to ship something into Australia. – Ed

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Cardi Begone?

It seems as if the proposed Cardinia Motorsport Complex has hit the skids already. It’s a bit of a common theme that there’s a bad news story concerning Aussie race tracks almost every month, but as a resident of Pakenham, this one really hits home. The prospect of a world-class venue right on my doorstep was something that has had me beyond stoked this last year but to hear that the developers of the circuit have decided to withdraw their services is so frustrating.

Usually it’s legislative red tape that holds things like this up, but maybe in this case it’s something as simple as coming up with the dollars and cents to get the project over the line. Perhaps it’s an opportunity for someone like Lindsay Fox to lend his weight to the project and create Melbourne metro’s finest motorsport campus? It has to go ahead.

Manish Kahleel, Pakenham VIC

It’s not ideal, Manish, but more often than not, the red tape is a far bigger impediment to projects like these getting up than securing funding. Cardinia Council is fully behind the plans for the circuit, so we remain optimistic. Whether or not it’s in the right place is a whole different matter. – Ed

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Torque to the hand

I’ve been told that horsepower and torque cross at 5252rpm when plotted on a chart, but when I looked at a dyno chart for my car, a Porsche Cayman GT4, they cross at over 6000rpm. Why is that? Is Porsche bending the laws of physics?

Brian Teale, via Email

Easy answer to that one, Brian. It’s because that rule only applies when the torque and the power figures on the graph’s y-axis are equal and aligned. The figures would indeed cross at 5252rpm if the units were aligned and imperial units like horsepower and lb/ft were used.

Switch to metric units and the crossing point would be at 9549rpm, given that kilowatts are Newton metres multiplied by rpm divided by 9549. Even in a Cayman GT4, revving north of nine grand isn’t happening. – Ed

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The Pug life chose me

I’m looking to buy a coupe but I wonder whether I’m looking for the impossible. I don’t want something that you see every day like an Audi TT or a BMW 2 Series. However, I don’t want something that’s unpopular for a good reason.

The car that has me intrigued is the Peugeot RCZ-R. I’ve never driven one before but I love the look of it and with 199kW and a kerb weight of 1355kg it’s surely going to be pretty lively. I also really love the styling and think the lines are going to age quite well.

Back in the day they were very expensive but I’ve seen low kilometre used ones going for $40,000. Would you be tempted?

Jonathan Luckens, Port Kembla

The RCZ-R charged to a surprise fourth place at 2014 PCOTY, so it’s no duffer. You have to put up with a few impracticalities, but if you’re after a coupe that usually comes with the territory.

If you’re after a hot French coupe in this sector, it’s hard to look past the Megane RS 265 Cup, which can be had for little over half the price of the Pug, are easier to live with and offer a far wider selection from which to choose.

Given that you’re looking for a degree of exclusivity though, paying for the Peugeot may well be worthwhile, especially as they’ll only get rarer and may well attain a collectible cachet - Ed.

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Specs 'n effects

I was interested to read Scott Newman’s column on how motorsport is all the better when there is a degree of randomness or unpredictability brought about by the regulations and can’t help but think F1 is moving in the opposite direction. This year’s regulations attempted to iron out the point of difference between high and low rake designs.

From what I hear, the 2022 regs are more stringent than ever before, with a highly prescriptive front and rear wings and strict regulations around brake cooling, wheel covers and so on.

Is F1 in danger of becoming just another spec formula?

Tom Noonan, via Email

If we’ve learned anything from F1 this season it’s that trying to predict anything about the racing is pretty damn tricky. If that continues next year, we’re set for even more great racing. – Ed

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