E-Cie formuleerde op maandag :

Well, my father used to drive Fiat for years when he was younger (600,
128, 124), and then Ritmo and Uno my parents used to have. The last
cars they had were several other brands, but i have a feeling the their
next car might be a Fiat Stilo :-)
And, since i am a member of the Puntoclub in Holland, i am really
jealous.... those GT turbo's, wow.... and even better with some tuning,
they are very fast.
My next car daily car (i also have a VW Golf cabriolet) will certainly
be Italian again, however, Alfa is nice too...
But time will tell, for now i have other things to spend my money on, i
am sure my Punto will last long enough ;-)

Well here goes!

Personally I think that ALL would be sports, racing ..... drivers should
start to learn their trade in an under powered, unstable, top heavy,
understeering, poor braking, ...... vehicle.

No excuses, you have to learn to live and perform with limited and RELIABLE
machinery!  That is where my Uno came in.  Reliability allowed me to do 6500
miles on circuit, foot to the floor (binary throttle :-) ) driving over a 9+
year period.  Wet, dry, light, or dusk you learn to master your trade
realtime!.  I learned to out outperform the gearbox syncro, double de-clutch
(try select a gear in an Uno at 5000+ rpm on the way down), heel and toe and
know WHEN TO YIELD!  Above all I learn respect.  Repsect for my machinery
and respect for my fellow track mates.

For the boy racers amongst you YOU WILL BE BEATEN by a Citroen 2CV!  Fact!
That 2CV that beats you will be driven by a master at their art.  They don't
measure top spead or BHP.  They deliver over multiple miles, laps .... and
can up their game by stepping up into a car the same as yours and leave you
for dead!

Seriously though, results in any sport is down to dedication, to some extent
talent and reliability (as measured by one's ability to show and perform
event after event)!

I personaly have found that Fiats for sure, and also Lancia and Alfa Romeos
are basically bullet proof and deliver the goods lap after lap, mile after
mile.  Don't take my word for it.  Go ask the Lancia Motor Club GB and AROC
(Alfa Romeo Owner's Club), oh and don't forget the Fiats.

What did my modest Uno achieve.  6500+ circuit miles with zero mechanical
failures, bar two colapsing exhuast systems, at the rear box, which nearly
took the rear brake pipe on each occasion.!

Typical lap average speeds of 80 to 85 mph, top about 102 mph.  And I bet
you didn't think and Uno SX could reach 80mph :-)

To help my Uno achieve these figures I left the engine standard, re-jetted
the carb, and changed the air filter.  This gave the 46 BHP at the wheels.
I also lowered and stiffened the supspesion system (mainly SACHS components)
and indreased the tyre size to 185/60R13.  Also played with 185/55R13 tyres.
Note! 185s are the largest size tyres the Uno can take without going into
offset rims with lower profiles which then upsets the rolling radious.
185/55  or 50 is a favourite for many racers as the slight gain in
acceleration does not compromise the top speed or road speedometer readings
too much.

At the end of the day taking one's road car (including you) from public
roads to race circuits, hill climbs etc., requires one to be realistic,
modest and begin as a novice.  Look and learn.  Listen and watch.  When the
rain comes and you see fellow drivers taking air out of their tyres go and
ask them why.  You might think you know why but go and ask anyway.  When you
see a front wheel car driver increasing the rear tyre pressure go and ask
why. (Hint - increasing rear pressures can help to dial out front end
understeer).  There is so much to learn and continue to learn.  Why do you
think Michael Schumacher and other F1 drivers work so hard and do so much
testing.  It is said that Michael is the most demanding, learning and
feedback driver of all times.  Sure he makes mistakes, sure he has a good
car but one has to wonder how the car got that good and how he manages to
stay on top of the game.  Love him or hate him (I'm sure many of you do and
you are entitled to) but at the end of the day forget Michael, forget
Ferarri or Fiat.  Think you, think your car, think.

The next time you drive along with your elbow resting on the arm rest or
window ledge, driving with one hand, feeling cool cruising then WAKE UP.  Do
that at over 60mph in the outside lane of the motorway and experiance and
front wheel blow out and you won't look or feel so cool any more.  With luck
you will get away with it.

Driving is an art to be perfected at all levels from beginner to F1.  Hand
in hand with this is car knowledge, sympathy and the willingness to learn
and keep learning.

Summary.  There was nothing particularly special about my Uno.  I'm told I
have a driving talent.  I maintain that any judged exposition of talent is
actually a marriage between man/woman and machine that we can all achieve.
SureWhite Van man can burn you off, hound your tailgate, defy death etc. but
he/she can't drive!  You can build your skills and marriage to your vehicle
to the extent that you become 'one' so that you both know each others
limitations.  Yes I know it sounds odd but I can tell you that when you are
on the limit pushing the envelope a little wider that you would have wished,
your car will give you that 'little feeling/feedback' that you know through
learned experience says 'enough'.  It won't come as a surpise because you
will have got there over many years and you will have learned to respect
what the vehicle is telling you.

Nick /////