Activated V6 driver

Tell us your ongoing tales and experiences with your French car here. Post pictures of your car here as well.
Brigsygtt
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Joined: 12 Jan 2009, 19:19
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Unread post by Brigsygtt »

Winter driving practice looks like fun! I bet the activa will be good at the ring 8-)
97 Xantia 1.9 td lx with a/c (Daily, 172K, FOR SALE)
98 Xantia Hdi Lx with a/c (105k)
97 Renault Extra (c1j turbo 230+hp, 12.88@106)
91 Renault 5 Gt turbo (68k minter)
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Koukku
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Unread post by Koukku »

Sure, Activa will be good at the ring, not so sure of myself though... :) Well, I'll have time to practise. I'm staying there until Monday just in case it's awfully crowded on Saturday&Sunday. It'll be a lot easier if my mirrors aren't full of cars and bikes all the time...
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Koukku
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Unread post by Koukku »

Results with everyone's best times from the drag race happening:

http://www.rtf.fi/wp-content/uploads/20 ... 0-ajat.pdf

The fastest time was set with ES9J4 engine... ;)

Here's a video from the first track day of the year at Alastaro circuit. In-car video is from a C5 V6, the red Activa (starting at 0:46) is me, and at 2:54 you can see the ES9J4 mentioned above...

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/IY ... hIf3OoE7r8
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Koukku
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Unread post by Koukku »

Ferodo Premier pads certainly solved the vibration problem, and there was a noticeable increase in braking power too. I got zero brake fade, but I still slowed down between every 5-6 laps just in case. Only problem was excessive pad wear... over half of the pad surface was gone after 30 laps. :roll:

Tyres are still going strong, and I think they'll survive yet another track day. Quite amazing really.
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ACTIVE8
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Joined: 16 Nov 2004, 17:49
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Unread post by ACTIVE8 »

XantiaMan wrote:
Koukku wrote:The garage where my car was put to the dyno, had tested a pug 406 V6 with a turbo, and it had produced just above 250hp. And this one at DP engineering has 265hp: http://www.dp-engineering.nl/EN/project ... _turbo.php. Would've expected more tbh. And it would certainly require some hydraulics relocation... :P
Is that all? My ST220 would do that with a full system and induction kit :wink:
Is that why you moved on to a ST220?
ACTIVA

The car that looks like a family car, but has special secret hidden abilities.
XantiaMan
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Joined: 12 Aug 2007, 18:47
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Unread post by XantiaMan »

ACTIVE8 wrote:
XantiaMan wrote:
Koukku wrote:The garage where my car was put to the dyno, had tested a pug 406 V6 with a turbo, and it had produced just above 250hp. And this one at DP engineering has 265hp: http://www.dp-engineering.nl/EN/project ... _turbo.php. Would've expected more tbh. And it would certainly require some hydraulics relocation... :P
Is that all? My ST220 would do that with a full system and induction kit :wink:
Is that why you moved on to a ST220?
To move to a ST220 on the one basis of it being easy to get power from wasnt the reason why i changed.


I had a Xantia for a few years and just fancied a change, a car that i could do a few things with and hold onto for 4-5 years.

Its totally living up to expectations, one of the best Fords in recent times.
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Jeth
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Unread post by Jeth »

Koukku wrote:Results with everyone's best times from the drag race happening:

http://www.rtf.fi/wp-content/uploads/20 ... 0-ajat.pdf
]
And who's shining in the top 3 :D
BX 16V -89 "lowrider" , Xantia HDi -99, Visa 14TRS -86, 2CV -71 ("daddy loaners" : Dyane -74, DS Super -72, C5 2.0HDi -07, 2CV Mixte -62, 2CV4 -72)
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Koukku
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Unread post by Koukku »

Jeth wrote:
Koukku wrote:Results with everyone's best times from the drag race happening:

http://www.rtf.fi/wp-content/uploads/20 ... 0-ajat.pdf
And who's shining in the top 3 :D
Hehe.. looking at your top speed makes me think that with LSD you would've been a lot faster. Would you happen to have a Citroen Jumper around to check if the transmission is in fact the same? :)
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Koukku
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Unread post by Koukku »

Yesterday I spent the evening pretty much on my back under the Activa. I adjusted the front ride height a bit (it was too high), and spent long enough tinkering with the roll corrector linkage... I got the car standing pretty much straight. Height and roll corrector mechanisms got a proper and much needed oil bath too. :)

I also changed the roll corrector plastic pads, and noticed that the rods were somewhat worn too already. Price of the rods seems to have gone up too (left one by 6€ and right one by 32€ :?)... glad I bought an extra pair last spring.

I cleared the intermittent steering sensor fault once again too. There's less Activa shuffle now, and handling is a lot crisper. Evening well spent. :)
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Koukku
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Unread post by Koukku »

Looks like I need a new radiator, and a pair of tie-rod ends...
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Koukku
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Unread post by Koukku »

Radiator is still holding water, but tie-rod ends were changed along with the right hand side lower wishbone... it got slightly bent when I hit a ridiculously high curb on a roundabout :oops:

On my summer holiday I spent about a week driving my Activa around Germany, Austria and Switzerland... Rostock - Nürburg - Stuttgart - Innsbruck - Zürich - Stuttgart - Grossglockner - Salzburg - Rostock... about 4500km altogether.

That includes eight laps around the Nordschleife 8-) My best time was 9:18.8 (BTG), and that was the only lap that wasn't horribly ruined by traffic. I got to follow an E46 M3 for the first few kilometers on that lap (until he let me pass him ;)) which helped a lot, because ppl seemed more willing to give way to an M3 than to a Xantia... :P Fantastic track, I will definitely visit there again! Only track so far where I have needed to shift from fourth to fifth gear :)

Sadly they don't officially allow filming at the Ring, and my camera setup isn't exactly James Bond style... big Canon Powershot on a CruiseCam headrest camera mount. I did use it at the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse though. Engine noise with the 3" exhaust on a steep uphill at low rpm is quite loud...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E81L2-FTxRw

At high rpm it's much more tolerable. Here's a in-car clip from last Thursday at Ahvenisto race track. Camera mount wasn't properly secured, so it's a bit shaky. The first lap is my personal best (1:40.1), and the second one is couple of tenths slower.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVc-HVAGSmc

Some pics from along the way:

Image

Image

Image

Image
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Koukku
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Unread post by Koukku »

More track videos from Ahvenisto...

Six cylinder symphony performed by M3, 911 and my Activa:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvbYFWbU2QI

Chasing a 911:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FzoeuCVb3w

Trying to chase a E46 M3, clocking a personal best while doing it, and giving a friend a good scare:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw0k0rRjfSk
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ACTIVE8
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Unread post by ACTIVE8 »

Interesting blog thanks for the links it's good to see Activae :wink: in action.

So, what do you think of the Black Diamond brakes now, I see that they also do a type that are also cross drilled along with the radial grooves, did you consider them, or are the type you have better?

I see that you obviously do a lot of track days, but what were they like on the road in direct comparison to the old standard ones, before you used them on the track, and would you recommend them?
ACTIVA

The car that looks like a family car, but has special secret hidden abilities.
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Koukku
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Unread post by Koukku »

Cross drilled brakes are generally not a good idea, as they tend to crack easily when constantly heating and cooling.

http://www.google.fi/images?um=1&hl=fi& ... led+rotors

Besides, modern brake pads don't develop gases at high temps, which was the main reason for the holes originally. Grooved rotors have the advantages of drilled rotors (minimal pad glazing, quicker bite-in, especially in the wet) without the disadvantages. Drilled rotors do look good though :)

The initial bite-in felt better when stepping on the brakes at above 100km/h with the Black Diamond rotors and pads. Other than that there was no difference in normal road use when compared to standard brakes. Now I'm using Ferodo Premier pads (with Black Diamond rotors), and they are clearly better than BD pads in every aspect. They feel more grippy even when going down the ramp to my garage at 5km/h. These I would recommend.
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Koukku
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Unread post by Koukku »

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