AndyW
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 posted on 4/3/08 at 09:05 PM |
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BEC How "useable" as road car?
Just trying to decide what way to go, BEC or CEC. Both have there advantages and obvious dissadvantages, my question to you guys is:
With a BEC how easy and usable is it as a fun run about car rather than a track rocket. I read an article in KC mag and the guy said very difficult at
lower speeds, clunking gear changes, lack of torque, tricky pulling away and a right pain in traffic.
I want a car that I can use on track days but 90% of time just flying around in and scaring the Mrs...
Are they really bad on longer trips due to exhaust noise???
Any advise welcome as want to get as much info together before I decide and start spending
thanks
Andy
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tjoh84
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| posted on 4/3/08 at 09:06 PM |
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andy mine come back in bout 10 days you can come out in that as you live a few doors down
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AndyW
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| posted on 4/3/08 at 09:08 PM |
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thanks just let me know when!!!
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matt.c
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| posted on 4/3/08 at 09:09 PM |
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My ideal would be a 300 Bhp duretech CEC but no way could i afford that on my budget so i went for the BEC and will put up with a few clunks etc.
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Dangle_kt
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| posted on 4/3/08 at 09:17 PM |
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I reckon a CEC would still be fun, light car, rear wheel drive, with well set up suspension you'd have a larf.
Saying that, I'm building a BEC because I will barely get to use it due to lack of time, so I want each ride to be a blast from the second I set
off, till I get home - for me that meant BEC, but to others it might not.
I think tjoh84 has got the best option for you, all you need is a friendly CEC owner now to offer a back to back test.
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tjoh84
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| posted on 4/3/08 at 09:25 PM |
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welll at least cec guys are 2 a pennty lol
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Guinness
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| posted on 4/3/08 at 09:31 PM |
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I completed my ZZR powered BEC in 2005. I've done 6 trackdays and 3,000 miles on the road.
TBH on the track it's brilliant, sequential gearbox, rapid acceleration, great handling etc.
It's perfectly drivable in town too, but I don't enjoy rush hours! From my house to the open road is about 4 miles across town in either
direction. I can cope with hill starts, junctions, traffic lights and even speed bumps.
But then when you get out onto the country roads, and open the taps, that's when it really comes into it's own.
I've driven from Newcastle to Stoneleigh, Newcastle to Newark, Newcastle to Cadwell (twice) and Newcastle to Harrogate. All of which were as
comfy as an open car with no weather protection can be! Try to stay off the Motorways, but then that's not what this type of car is designed
for.
If you have a 5 mile commute across town, then no a BEC isn't for you. If you have beautiful roads within 10 miles like I do, then go BEC, or a
really powerful CEC!
HTH
Mike
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motorcycle_mayhem
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| posted on 4/3/08 at 09:52 PM |
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About as useful as the bike on the road, just a bit wider and slower. I use both, at least that way I have something that isn't broken while the
other is the garage patient.
If you're going near a track, it has to be bike power, if you're commuting I guess a car engine (OK, I said it, good grief). What the hell
get a Megane. If you're sitting in the A322 jam through Bracknell everyday then you don't need a car, leave the engine in the bike!
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itiejim
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| posted on 4/3/08 at 09:54 PM |
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I think that there's little doubt that a CEC is more user friendly, however, it's all relative really - how usable do you expect a locost
type vehicle to be?
Personally, although I use my car regularly, I'm happy to put up with some of the downsides of a BEC because I enjoy the positives of it!
I'm lucky enought to have some fantastic B roads right on my doorstep and love the BEC experience. I also enjoy the additional challenge of
driving a BEC well, getting the smoothest gearchanges etc, etc.
I also think that with a little planning and good choice of hardware, most of the negatives of BEC can be overcome anyway.
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coozer
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| posted on 4/3/08 at 10:00 PM |
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Your in the same circumstance as me, a road car that might see it onto the track occasionally.
To me bike engines are too fragile, theres plenty of horror stories on here about engine and gearbox failure. Mind you, I guess thats because
BEC's demand to be caned and thats what they get!
I'm building mine with 150bhp in mind, then later on a turbo conversion to get up to 250. That should make it just as good (and fragile) as a
bec.
Just MHO tho...
Steve
1972 V8 Jago
1980 Z750
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ChrisGamlin
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| posted on 4/3/08 at 11:03 PM |
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I think "plenty of horror stories" is a bit strong. Although I wouldn't claim that a BEC is going to be quite as reliable as many
car engines in a low state of tune, they're far from fragile.
I think some of the percieved unreliability is because they suit track driving which is far more strenuous on the engine / drivetrain than road
driving is. I suspect a far greater proportion of BECs see track action than CECs.
I think a certain amount of BEC failures are also down to builder error to a certain extent,through poor design/installation of things like gear
linkages etc. With a CEC, you can't really get things like this wrong in the build stage, so they're unlikely to fail.
cheers
Chris
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ReMan
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| posted on 4/3/08 at 11:14 PM |
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Fun car for flying round , scaring the Mrs and anyone else brave enough, BEC all the way. The noise is part of the fun.
For shopping and motorways as said get a Megane and forget fun
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Brooky
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| posted on 4/3/08 at 11:36 PM |
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I ran my last BEC most days for three years going to work, shopping, fun etc.
Did LOTS of fun miles in it, anything less is wussy!
[Edited on 4/3/08 by Brooky]
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bimbleuk
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| posted on 5/3/08 at 08:40 AM |
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My CEC has just under 500BHP/ton from the 1.6 20V supercharged engine. So yes its very quick on the road and not too shabby on track. However the
weight has crept up to 565kg recently. So its lost some of the deftness it had with just the standard NA engine and 160BHP.
I've decided to upgrade the brakes from the standard Sierra and also loose some weight from lighter suspension uprights. So my car is getting
quite complicated and certainly not cheap but will keep up with most BEC without thrashing it and carrying a passenger 
So I'm all for the BEC for a quick thrash then stick it back in the garage until the next sunny day. In my case the car/engine development is a
big part of why I have it not just the driving.
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Hellfire
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| posted on 5/3/08 at 12:20 PM |
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It really depends on which bike engine you fit. Our blade engined Indy was a pain to drive in stop/start traffic in town centres but the bigger the
bike engine, the more traffic friendly it becomes, to the point where you wouldn't notice the difference between BEC & CEC in traffic.
Like Chris says, BEC's aren't fragile at all. In fact most BEC's I know are far more reliable than equivalent CEC's.
Phil
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AndyW
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| posted on 5/3/08 at 05:03 PM |
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Dont get me wrong, its not going to be a car for popping down the shops or travelling miles up the M1. I want a car thats fun, a blast. There are some
great roads round here, and I think that the answer has come. I want to go out for a drive, thrash around or just a quick blast then back in the
garage til next sunny day. Noise never bothered me just wanted to know how you peeps found it. Any more points of view welcome
Note: I am wanting an R1 engine as always been a yamaha man.....
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Hellfire
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| posted on 5/3/08 at 06:14 PM |
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Gotta be a BEC then....... 
Phil
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Shilvers
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| posted on 5/3/08 at 06:18 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by AndyW
Dont get me wrong, its not going to be a car for popping down the shops or travelling miles up the M1. I want a car thats fun, a blast. There are some
great roads round here, and I think that the answer has come. I want to go out for a drive, thrash around or just a quick blast then back in the
garage til next sunny day. Noise never bothered me just wanted to know how you peeps found it. Any more points of view welcome
Note: I am wanting an R1 engine as always been a yamaha man.....
From that description I'd say the BEC would suit you fine. That's pretty much what my criteria was so I plumped for the BEC and I'm
glad I did. Something a bit different, very quick, very noisy, proper seat of your pants motoring! Once you've been out in one you'll
have made your mind up in 30s flat! It's the motoring equivalent of Marmite! I'm on the love it side!
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bimbleuk
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| posted on 5/3/08 at 06:25 PM |
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Might be worth me saying that the Radical Clubsport which I help to prepare for racing has had two engines over the past two seasons. Neither had any
serious failures in that time and both have been thouroughly thrashed on test days and race days. Basically 20 mins flat out in a full race with high
G forces from slicks, big brakes and full aerodynamics.
The first engine was a ZZR1100 in standard spec apart from the upgraded carbs. The only failure that suffered was a gearbox selector issue during one
race.
The replacement was a Hyabusa with tuning to get 200BHP aand 116ft lbs. Again that lasted all season apart from another gearbox failure. Which was
traced to an incorrectly installed washer by our engine prep guy. So thats been refreshed as a precaution for this years season.
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hoots_min
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| posted on 5/3/08 at 09:41 PM |
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I've a blade engined car and it took about 2 weeks to fully get used to the lack of torque for pulling out of junctions and traffic lights. Very
embarrassing and sometimes dangerous. But once you get the hang of it, it becomes natural and there are only the odd occassion when you over rev it
and get a few people turning round as it is very loud!
But, I absolutely love the way the engine revs and revs and revs. When following other 'performance' cars you just hold back watching them
change up, sometimes twice until you get a break in the traffic and overtake, still in the same gear. And overtaking while your engine is spinning at
10-11k revs is quite an experience for you and them!
The thing that did make the most difference to town driving was getting the car rolling road tuned. Was £500 but well worth it, confidence shot up
around town and much smoother and useable engine.
BEC is the way to go!
Today is a good day: I achieved new heights of ineptitude.
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Crazy Eddie
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| posted on 5/3/08 at 11:12 PM |
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Hhhhmmmmm
Real tricky one this actually
I bought a BEC because it gave me a buzz driving it similar to riding the bikes used to.
On the road when out with other CEC's it does fine unless they want to go up a Motorway or something saft where it would give you a bit of a
headache even sitting at 70mph for a while does this!
They are a bit lighter too - which is fantastic on the track but actually IMHO a bit of a negative on our crappy bumpy B roads.
At one point I thought about changing it for a CEC and if I was only going to do road miles I would still consider it.
However, did my first Trackday last year and have been bitten big time. Car really comes into it's own and drives fantastic with all the sound,
handling sequential box etc etc so now I'm addicted to Track Days I wouldn't swap mine for the world.
Plus if the engine did go pop it's cheap enough to replace unlike rebuilding a CEC for example.
So I say get one and put it on Track - if like me you'll end up doing more miles on track than off!!!
Happy Hunting either way 
www.EdwardsSchoolOfMotoring.co.uk
For online shopping that earns you money : Ei42.com
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Jimbob
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| posted on 6/3/08 at 07:32 PM |
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I would say BEC too
When i first got mine fully legal and started really using it i was kinda disappointed because they can be a bit of a 'handfull' to get
used to, easy to stall = over-reving and lighting up the rear to be sure you dont! snappy throttle and clutch(different on every car i guess) and
teething prob after prob! But once these are sorted and you get used to the car and tweak to your liking bike engines really make sense, im not saying
theres anything wrong with CEC's i just find them a little for want of a better term soft round the edges. Both put up a good argument and TBH i
sometimes wish i had a CEC as i would prob use it more but there would be something missing for me, that 'fizz' from the whole car at
10000rpm+!
Hope that doesnt confuse you more!
James
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AndyW
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| posted on 10/3/08 at 07:48 PM |
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well, think my mind is made up!!
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