Volvo 8. 50 BTCCThis article is about the Volvo 8. After many years not being active in motorsports it was time to give Volvo a more sporty image. Volvo at the BTCCWhen the Volvo 8. Volvo wanted to upgrade their image. The 8. 50 was a very good step into the right direction but despite the great (more sporty) handling compared with the other Volvos the direction of Volvo felt the sporty character of Volvo should be increased. Volvo left motorsport- activities in 1. Volvo deciced the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) should be the perfect podium for its racing activities. The Volvo 8. 50 Touring Car prototype of Steffansson Automotive. Volvo Senior Vice President Martin Rybeck approached Steffansson Automotive (SAM) to design a prototype car for racing, based on the 8. Volvo gave a lot of information and support of the 8. SAM. Volvo also promised to gave a bodyshell. But when SAM went to Volvo to pick up the bodyshell only 8. Estates (the facelifted versions, with new headlights and bumpers) were produced. But the project couldn’t have any delay so Volvo and SAM decided to use the Estate bodyshell. When Rybeck heard about the story he thought it would be a great idea to race with an estate! The marketing potential should be huge, but when it becomes a failure it would be embarrassing for Volvo. The car is now for sale at Blocket. The 8. 50 Estate racer prototype of SAM was very promising. To be sure the Estate racing car shouldn’t become a failure Volvo tested the saloon and Estate in a windtunnel. The results were very surprising: the Estate should have a better downforce due its large flat roof. TWR and Volvo. Volvo decided to take the project to the next level and Tom Walkinshaw (of TWR, Tom Walkinshaw Racing) was asked to have a close look on the Estate- version as racing car. The motorsport experts of TWR confirmed that when the weight could be taken to the legal minimum, there shouldn’t be a lot difference between the saloon and the Estate on the circuit. Volvo confirmed joining the BTCC at the end of 1. TWR a three- year contract for building and designing the 8. BTCC racing cars. The Columbia-class submarine, also known as the Ohio Replacement Submarine (formerly the SSBN-X Future Follow-on Submarine) is a future United States Navy nuclear submarine designed to replace the Trident missile-armed Ohio. GAO program report for SSBN-X overall, Cost estimates. April 7/14: Specifications. The US Navy has reportedly finalized the specifications for their new SSBNs. They’ll be about as long as the current Ohio Class, but with 8. Nuclear-Powered Ships (Updated June 2016) Nuclear power is particularly suitable for vessels which need to be at sea for long periods without refuelling, or for powerful submarine propulsion. Over 140 ships are powered by more. 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With all due respect: things like this may have been done before but Vince Briel’s Altair emulator is a real emulator (and by the way it uses the Propeller only as terminal emulator, not as CPU), whereas this. Volvo confirmed it should enter the BTCC championship with a Volvo 8. Estate. The 8. 50 Estate racer was equipped with a 2. The car was a frontwheeldrive (FWD) and has a X- Trac 6- speed sequential gearbox. The brakes were all ventilated discs by Brembo (which also supplied the brake calipers). Stefano Brizzolara is Assistant Director for Research at MIT Sea Grant. The expert naval architect and renowned ship designer was the Visiting Peabody Associate Professor at MIT's Mechanical Engineering Department for 2012.Born to Race Just how close a pair of custom-built racers came to unseating the kings of Reno. Wheels are from OZ (1. Dunlop. A sprint from 0- 1. Volvo confirmed former Formula One driver Jan Lammers (The Netherlands) and Rickard Rydell (Sweden) as their drivers for the 1. The official team name was: Volvo 8. Racing. Former F1 driver Jan Lammers in a March- Ilmor in 1. Volvo 8. 50 Estate in the BTCC 1. The first race of the season was on April 1. TWR had some serious troubles to finish the first cars and time was running out. Just before the first test sessions at Snetterton (April 4 1. Just in time! The livery of the 8. Estate in the BTCCThe 1. Lammers and Rydell) and in the race a fifth place. Volvo ended on a sixth place in the Constructors Championship at the BTCC that season. The car did pretty well in high- speed corners but in slow and sharp corners there was a lack of grip and traction, caused by the weird weight balance of the car. After the season Lammers abandoned the BTCC because he didn’t like the driving- style of touringcars. And later he admitted he didn’t support the Volvo 8. Estate BTCC car for 1. Lammers drove a 8. T- 5 himself back then). Another funny story told in some interviews (like Autoweek, the Dutch version of Autobild) with Lammers is how the other drivers responded to an estate racing car: some drivers called the 8. Estate a baker’s car and being overtaken by the “pizza delivery” was also not done. Lammers said when he or Rydell overtake a car they would be hit at the back some corners later (the 8. BTCC at that time) and some drivers complained about the sight behind the 8. Estate: when you drive behind it you couldn’t see anything due the stationwagon- bodyshape. But there was also good news: the 8. Lammers said: “At that time my handicap dropped down faster than my laptimes!” Lammers flying around in his Volvo 8. Estate. 19. 95: goodbye Volvo Estate racer, welcome 8. BTCCIn 1. 99. 5 the rules of the cars design were changed. Since the 1. 99. 5- season it was allowed to have front- and rear wings but those wings weren’t allowed to pass the rear bumper or be higher than the roofline. These new regulations only allowed Volvo to use a 8. Estate. When Volvo should appear with the Estate (including a rear wing) at the starting grid it could be banned. Rickard Rydell and Tim Harvey with the new 8. Saloon racer. Because the saloon with rear wing had a much better downforce than the Estate without rear spoiler the choice for the 1. Volvo was going to race with the 8. In 1. 99. 5 there were also some other changes (besides the front and rear wings): a catalytic converter was now a mandatory. Because Jan Lammers didn’t want to race another season at the BTCC Tim Harvey (England) took over Lammers’ place at Volvo. The livery and sponsors for the 1. The 1. 99. 5 BTCC season was much better than 1. Volvo: Rydell took several pole positions and won four races! Rydell was a title contender that year but unfortunately didn’t win the title. Harvey also had a good season with 2 wins and several podium finishes. It was a very good season. Tim Harvey left the team and signed at Peugeot, who entered the BTCC with the brand new 4. The young talented driver and Formula 3 champion Kelvin Burt (England) replaced Harvey. Besides the new driver and slightly changed team name there were some other small changes: Michelin was the new supplier of tires and OZ Wheels was replaced by BBS (the size went from 1. The front brakes (discs and calipers) were changed from Brembo to AP. The steering system was changed to a new version made by TWR. Rydell in action at Brands Hatch. That year was slightly better than 1. Rickard Rydell took 5 pole positions and won 4 races, which delivered him a thirth place in the final standings (1. Burt finished 1. 1th in the final standings (6. TWR/Volvo 8. 50 Racing managed to finish third in the Constructors Championship. Racing car. It was replaced by the Volvo S4. S4. 0R) in 1. 99. One of the 8. 50s that was used in the 1. BTCC- season was used in the STCC (Swedish Touring Car Championship) in 1. After that season the car was moved to the Volvo Museum in Sweden. Estate still racing in the DSCToday a Volvo 8. Estate is still in use as a racecar: Dutch driver Jochen Pethke (who was racing in the Volvo 3. Cup at Zandvoort) is now active in the Dutch Supercar Challenge (DSC). The car isn’t exactly the same as it was in the good old days: the 6- speed sequential gearbox of X- Trac is replaced by a regular 5- speed manual transmission. The car has a 2. 3 litre 5- cylinder turbocharged engine. The Volvo 8. 50 of Pethke in action. It’s hard to verify, but the rumours says the remaining Volvo 8. Racing- cars (the cars that didn’t go back to Volvo Sweden) should be destroyed in Switzerland. The reason was very simple: nobody should see which modifications made the car faster (of course something like that is top secret). But for some reason one car survived and was stored in Mijdrecht (The Netherlands) for a long time. The engine was removed. Pethke heard about the 8. Estate racer and wanted to buy the car. After some tough negotiations Pehtke managed to convince the previous owner and bought the car. He fitted a turbocharged engine into the car, made some minor modifications to match the DSC- regulations and is racing with the car these days.
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