Hi guys,
I curently drive a pinto powered car with mild cam, twin 40s and the usual bolt on goodies. The car is used for hooligan fun on track and sprinting but 90% on the road. It is my only car and so i use it every week all year round (nice in the wet with only an aeroscreen!). typically i only drive around my local area (exept for track days and shows), mainly rural b roads, infact there is only one major set of traffic lights in the area and traffic is usually 40mph moving steams as far as i am concerned. I cover between 3000-5000 miles per year. Problem is i want to upgrade to something a little more interesting, reduce the wieght and get increase in performance allowing me to get by the aforemenioned 40mph moving obsticles. I have looked at vauxall xe, zetec, k-series, toyota etc all of which are relatively expensive requiring a fair bit of mix and matching. obviously the bike engine options are impressive value for performance and having had huge grief with the ford lump i like the idea of something more standard, economical and reliable. My question is......is a BEC a good option for my usage. i hope to do alot more track work in the future so i am keen to have something which can take the abuse without major cost implications. I dont drive with a screen and if the weather turns nasty i just put on my waterproof suit and helmet so i am used to living with compromise. Any advise will be happliy welcomed.

Cheers.

Mines a Pinto, so I can't say for my self but you should mail Locodude, he switched to bike power and only kept the car for three months.

Cheers

Chris

My locoblade was sva'd and registered on the 21st july 2003 and since then i have used it every day and done over 1000 miles in it.
I have no problems with the driving or handling of the car. It is a very aggresive car on the road but only as aggresive as your right foot. mine is quite happy pottering at 3-4000 revs in traffic but when that overtake opportunity presents itself just drop a few cogs and fly.

Get yourself a ride in one I would suggest. Sounds like you're already used to the main drwbacks of the BEC, aeroscreen and no creature comforts. A chap near me drives his to trackdays all over the country without a problem, but some people don't like the high revs and noise of a BEC, togther with the lack of reverse.

It all depends on your tolerences, I certainly couldnt live with mine every day, tho I wouldnt be able to live with any Locaterfield every day regardless of engine etc.
If you can live with an aeroscreened Pinto, then I assume you dont have a heater etc so changing to a BEC wont lose you any creature comforts. The only downside I could see is if you do a fair bit of motorway driving, which would be more of a chore in a BEC than it would in your average Pinto car due to the noise and constant high revs. On the plus side, you will probably get a noticable increase in performance AND economy, you could easily get 40mpg on the road in a blade BEC if you werent "on it" all the time, a friend of mine in a Megablade actually got 50-odd mpg on a trip to Le Mans last year but that was with high profile tyres which dropped his revs a fair bit. Also as long as you do the electrics properly, then Id say it will probably be more reliable and willing to start on the button than the Pinto.

Chris

find someone local with a bec and see if you can get on with the difference.
i run a blade and think its the best thing since sliced bread well over 10k on the road +7 or 8 track days.
but my brother sold his bec due to the same reasons i love it.light,quick,noisy etc.
hes now building an mk indy with a nissan 200 turbo motor.should also be fun.

cheers for the feedback so far guys.
With regards to chris' comments on motorway use i actually live on an island with only 1 stretch of dual carrage way about 0.5 miles long. The whole area is pretty rural and generally nice a twisty. I have actually had the opportunity to drive a couple of bike engined cars and was very impressed. I did not really get a good idea of what it would be like to live with one. Are any of you guys taking a bec top donnington on sunday?

Yep - I'll be there, as long as the engine goes back together as easily as it came appart!

Only track use though I'm afraid, as it's not road legal at the mo'.