I had my very standard Plus 8 weighed, it came out with me in it and half a tank of fuel, at 1250kg. I'm sure Rover Plus 8s are lighter. But do they have 367bhp, with 361 ft lbs peak torque at 3400 rpm?
BUT, for a hill climb the grip of the rear tyres, the sophisticated suspension and the very powerful brakes will all help carry speed through corners.
I did a training day at Gurston Down: the Plus 8s ability to lose speed allowed me to brake later than the recommended points, the power steering made it easy to put on lock quickly and then a lot of throttle got me out of the corners quickly. I was crossing the line at 80 plus.
Not having to change gear also helped....
I was tempted to take up hill climbing but I can't afford to bend the car. Hill climbs have too many banks and barriers. But I may still go down the Auto Solo route.
The ARV6 is actually the best production car for power to weight and is in the same class group as Aero/Modern P8. That has 320 BHP and the regulation weight for racing is 950KG. So yes...the trad cars are a lot lighter and not far off in terms of max power but definitely superior from a power to weight point of view.
The brakes on ARV6 and the suspension will match a std Aero too.
The other factor which greatly helps Trad cars is the fact you can remove windscreens. This has quite an effect on top speed and the fact a trad has a smaller frontal area helps too...
