Currently what I'm driving about in, very underrated, make fantastic little rally cars. My dad thought I had gone slightly mad when I told him what I had bought to replace the Lada! They're tough, very well engineered and have the high build quality you'd expect from a Volvo. The 1.4 engine that I've got is a nice gutsy engine that like to rev. I would avoid the 1.7, not as nice to drive and you'll only end up paying more in fuel and insurance to go a bit faster in a car that isn't about going fast. Clio engines (including the Williams) drop straight in so there's no point in modifying either of the standard engines if you want to go fast, the gearbox and diff unit looks like it has come off a racing car, and as it is shared with the 360 is good enough for competition use with the 1.4 engine. The propshaft is the weak link, it consists of a single aluminium tube with no supports and splined ends mounted in a rubber. I broke mine recently on a LWRNAM (for the ralliers), though I think the knackered engine mounts caused it by letting the engine move too much moving it out of line with the gearbox.
It only costs me £471 to insure as a competition car with unlimited rally miles, 5000 non-competition miles and no restrictions on modifications.
One is a popular exciting hot hatch, the other is a Japanese saloon from an era when they built totally soulless cars that left the driver disconnected from the driving experience. Naturally aspirated FWD Imprezas are used on the road rally scene (where turbos and 4WD are banned) but they usually use the turbo stage rally cars as the base and the 2.5 Legacy engine.
There's no point in insuring it then.
I would disagree, although I think Brunel and Oxford Brookes are the only two institutions in the country (possibly the world given the number of international students we get) that offer a motorsport course that is a genuine IMechE accredited MEng mechanical engineering degree.
The Rover 200 makes a better base, you still get the K series without the silly bodykit and higher price tag. They make truly horrible road cars, they're popular on 1400 Endurance rallies because the engine makes them the fastest car possible within the regs.
Both Brunel and Oxford Brookes offer year long foundation courses that allow entry onto the BEng/MEng programs, by far the quickest way to get onto a decent degree, they don't require A levels, they take an awful lot of people onto them who aren't cut out to do engineering so if you can't make the cut to get onto one of them then I would give up.
To be brutally honest doing a BSc like the one you're planning to do won't help at all and will count against you when you finally get to the stage of trying to get a job, likewise those who spend years retaking/changing degree courses.
I'd argue to the contrary the company (non-motorsport) I've secured a placement with took a great deal of interest in the road rallying and oval racing I've done, a personal project shows the ability to organise, manage and see things through that working for a company doesn't necessarily show.
A much better approach would be to do a foundation course to get onto a proper course, Brookes have an open day on the 12th June, that I'm working at come along and have a look.
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