In case you're wondering why my blog is so quiet, I'm currently away on business in the middle of nowhere with limited access to internet (and more importantly, no access to my Ghibli!).
I'll be back in a couple of weeks and will continue posting then!
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Traction control
Oh no... one of my friends back in the UK has a BMW M Coupé and mentioned to me that he's ordering a traction control kit from Racelogic.
Of course... this has now got me thinking about how I'd fit this to my Ghibli... something else for me to lay awake at night thinking about! I do think their digital adjuster would look good fastened to the Ghibli's dash though!
The installation would be a bit trickier on my Ghibli though since it doesn't have ABS fitted, so I'd have to fit speed sensors on all the wheels. Wouldn't be too tricky though I think. It would certainly make driving the car in the wet much safer and the with the launch control I suspect that sub 5 second 0-100km/h sprints would be pretty attainable.
Of course... this has now got me thinking about how I'd fit this to my Ghibli... something else for me to lay awake at night thinking about! I do think their digital adjuster would look good fastened to the Ghibli's dash though!
The installation would be a bit trickier on my Ghibli though since it doesn't have ABS fitted, so I'd have to fit speed sensors on all the wheels. Wouldn't be too tricky though I think. It would certainly make driving the car in the wet much safer and the with the launch control I suspect that sub 5 second 0-100km/h sprints would be pretty attainable.
Ghibli track day
I received an email from Jarle in Norway this weekend with some links to video footage shot of his Ghibli on the track.
This second clip shows his Ghibli behind a Ferrari 308 and an Alfa...
...but by the next lap, he'd overtaken them both and made quite some distance on them...
...and by this clip, he was starting to get pretty confident, with a power slide coming out of the chicane! He manages to hold onto it though.
Jarle seems to have been quite pleased with his Ghibli's performance on the track, indicating that it easily kept up with a Ferrari F355 Spider (being faster out of the corners and even on the straights). Jarle has a 2.8 liter Ghibli which has superior torque to my 2.0 liter engined model and he suggests that it's this torque out of the corners that the Ferrari struggled to keep up with. Looking at the stats, the Ferrari should be a quicker car, with more power and a better balanced chassis given that it's mid-engined... although the 2.8 liter Ghibli does indeed have considerably more torque. I suspect that Jarle was just a better driver than the Ferrari drivers though!
This second clip shows his Ghibli behind a Ferrari 308 and an Alfa...
...but by the next lap, he'd overtaken them both and made quite some distance on them...
...and by this clip, he was starting to get pretty confident, with a power slide coming out of the chicane! He manages to hold onto it though.
Jarle seems to have been quite pleased with his Ghibli's performance on the track, indicating that it easily kept up with a Ferrari F355 Spider (being faster out of the corners and even on the straights). Jarle has a 2.8 liter Ghibli which has superior torque to my 2.0 liter engined model and he suggests that it's this torque out of the corners that the Ferrari struggled to keep up with. Looking at the stats, the Ferrari should be a quicker car, with more power and a better balanced chassis given that it's mid-engined... although the 2.8 liter Ghibli does indeed have considerably more torque. I suspect that Jarle was just a better driver than the Ferrari drivers though!
Monday, September 04, 2006
Maserati Ghibli fuel economy
Call me sad, but I do like to keep my fuel receipts every time I put petrol in the Ghibli. The idea is that I use the information to see if there's any problems happening with the car which might show as a reduction in fuel economy. However, this takes far too much discipline, so in reality I only update the stats about once every two years!
As you can see from the chart, on average I've been getting 7.6km per liter of fuel (the gradient of the line). Expressed in more familiar terms, this is approximately 13 liters/100km or 22 miles/gallon (UK gallons), or 18 miles/gallon (US gallons).
Seems that my fuel economy has been getting a little worse recently, so I'll continue to monitor it and update it more frequently, particularly since having the big service performed and running on higher octane fuel (which should run less rich).
As you can see from the chart, on average I've been getting 7.6km per liter of fuel (the gradient of the line). Expressed in more familiar terms, this is approximately 13 liters/100km or 22 miles/gallon (UK gallons), or 18 miles/gallon (US gallons).
Seems that my fuel economy has been getting a little worse recently, so I'll continue to monitor it and update it more frequently, particularly since having the big service performed and running on higher octane fuel (which should run less rich).
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