3.5R on Fifth Gear Last night

[Fastlane]

Fifth Gear last night https://www.questod.co.uk/show/fifth-ge ... HD_226382B. They had a piece with Jason Plato and Karun Chandhok comparing lightweight track cars up to £53k - a 3.5R vs Caterham 620R vs Xenos E10R vs Radical SR1. It wasn't the most scientific of tests - but the 3.5R came out top (easily), but it did have the Sadev gearbox and the Ohlins TTxs, and so was probably nearer £90k than £50k! Interesting how much of a handful the 620 was when setting a fast lap. At the end of the piece, Plato comments that the 3.5 is due to be replaced and briefly shows the 4 right next to the 3.5.

[Glenn@notts]

And randomly I bought the Clio Trophy #28 featured in this episode a few weeks ago as a project car.

[cvjoint]

Saw this piece. A 3.5R is leaps and bounds a better car than the Caterham. I never really quite understood any people's preference for a Caterham over an Atom. I get that the car is enclosed and it is easier to drive at the limit. That's similar to how a front engine Miata is easy to drive at the limit. However, the limit on the Atoms has always been much higher, so for any given speed the Atom is going to be easier to drive. If ease of reaching the limit (or playing past it) is the name of the game, why not drive an underpowered front wheel drive car?

I would have expected the Radical to be the one to face in the final round. It makes no sense to have a test where one has to reverse quickly. No track car has to reverse quickly to prove its worth. Since it got kicked out of the last round it had no chance to show what aero can do for tracks cars. Fifth Gear could have had a more meaningful track comparison if they used the Radical instead.

[phil4]

I agree... with only a tiny number of cars I don’t quite know why they did it knockout style, as it clearly meant some of the cars couldn’t show their strengths.

Perhaps they thought the radical would murder everything else on track and make it look a little one sided... who knows.


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[cvjoint]

The SR1 is well within reach for a 3.5R. The Atom won't match it in high speed turns but it will more than make up for it elsewhere. On low speed tracks even an SR3 is beatable.