Malcolm,
I think this discussion is revolving around the struts which hold up the front and rear clips when you open up the car, not the shock absorbers. Like those gas props on the rear deck of your Saab.
Does CAV=GTD, yes it does, as I understand it, the design was licensed by designer to CAV for construction. When we had lunch with him this spring, I think he said that they did some producibility engineering to make the car more economical to construct before they went into the factory.
I took some pictures of the frame of the CAV car (was pretty much bare)when we were at a UK facility. Certainly the footwell has been been made larger, but I do not know how this would affect suspension geometry.And the rear of the frame has been changed to accept the Getrag transaxle. One last thing I think the rear suspension mounting points on the rear bulkhead have been changed just a bit. It also has different front spindles and rear uprights.
I would propose that the enthusiasts building cars now in the US will split into two ranks, they guys that want to polish and show, and the guys that want to be somewhat dull and go like heck (me).
So sometime after the cars have been around a bit, we will see an evloution of performance modifications beginning to show up. And some of these guys will have piles of stuff in the garage that they ripped out and replaced or tossed to lighted up the load. This pile will have the air conditioner in it and the rugs, the CD players, the speakers, the leather seats, the old brakes, the old shock absorbers, the old springs, the old shifters, and seat belts, the anti- roll bars, etc and they will be posting messages about camber adjustments, replacing the suspension bushes, where to fit roll bars, how to chop off the roof (Ray's spider!!),fit fire supression systems and how to enhance aerodynamics.
The smart ones will talk to the folks in the UK that have already been doing it for 12 years. It's going to be FUN!.. Regards, Brian
[ December 02, 2001: Message edited by: Brian ]
[ December 02, 2001: Message edited by: Brian ]
[ December 02, 2001: Message edited by: Brian ]