reason i ask is because of all the talk on trasmission losses. i've never driven a cosworth and want a 4x4.

the pulsar i had was about 320bhp, (bought it modded). it was pretty fast and wanted to know if anyone has had experience in both 4x4 cossies and pulsars and if they feel similar when it comes to power delivery on full throttle.

also would they have similar power losses through 4x4 transmission?

 

i would think the pulsar would be lighter in weight too,therefore a bit faster at the same power level.

 

i have had both cars and i prefered the way the pulsar drove,but it felt really slow with dyno proven 284 bhp, as it was such a smooth power delivery then i got the 4x4 cossie and it was stage 1 with 18psi of boost and felt a damn site quicker that the pulsar and seemed a lot more fun to drive,i'm now driving a stage 3 ,2wd cossie as have always been a rwd fan and wondered why i bothered with both of them !

 

cheers for that people.

sideways saff

that was another problem i was having...... should i forget about 4x4 and go rwd only thing is the words RWD cosworth scare me

 

Its good to have a car that scares you

 

i have had both.pulsar was 280bhp was damn quick off the line but not much mid range and top end grunt.handled the tits though,point it where you want and it goes. very smooth power but due to the small turbo felt nothing like a cossie or my esc turbo.

i much prefer my saff even when it was standard tbh.and pulsars are more unreliable and more expensive than a cossie.

thats not to say the gtir aint a good little motor.

 

Why do people constantly go on about RWD cossies being scary. They are only as scary as your right foot allows. Just think if a 4wd cossie goes sideways you will be going a damn sight quicker round the corner than you would have been in a 2wd! Now whats more scary? A sideways 2wd at quick speed or a 4wd at even quicker speeds? People need to get over this 2wd thing being scary. Yes they can break away mid bend if you are being a cunt, but once you know the car and how it feels then you become accustomed to what the car feels like and what it will do

 

spot on rich! ive had mine hanging out and belive me the 4x4 can be a snatchy bastard if you aint quick. rwd is more predictable i think.

 

I've had a few of each (inc both 2wd and 4wd cossies)

The 4wd system/feel is completely different on the gti-r compared to the cossie.

The gti-r can feel very planted and even lifting off on sweeping 100mph bends doesn't unsettle it too much.

A 4wd cossie will still be a 'different' drive for you. There's one particular high speed sweeper I used to get a feel for my cars and let off at a ton in the gti-r and it feels fine, let off in the cossie and it can feel scary and a bit unsettled.

I'm pretty sure the cosworth is 60/40 (60 rear)?? split. The pulsar is at least 50/50 IIRC (may even be front biased?).. sure someone will correct me

But anyway they feel quite different, a lot more so than pulsar vs Subaru, pulsar vs evo etc.

The cosworth seems to go a lot better over 100mph though, the gti-r seems to run out of acceleration at about 100mph.

My advice.. get RWD cosworth over 4wd

 

jameswrx

pulsar is definately 50/50 split
4x4 is 36/64 split as far as i remember

but yeah the gtir is well planted but lacking in driver feeling i think.

 

Unless you change the turbo on the GTiR most will run 320 on there standard T28 which is why they run out of puff top end.
They are lighter yes, but they do run the jap style higher compression so suffer for torque.
Mate of mine has a TD06 20G GTiR, equivelent to a T38 roughly, was running 353bhp and 290 odd in torque and it was a pleasure to drive, apart from the lack of LSD and the tendency to light up the front wheels which is very common for higher powered pulsars.
But, he now has a live mapped stage 3 325bhp 2wd cossie, power engineering dyno, and we decided to see which was faster.
Launching obviously the Pulsar has the advantage, but in gear the cossie just pulls away cleanly, thats in every gear, at every speed other than a launch.
Reliability the Pulsar wasnt too bad, pretty much even with his cossie problems wise.
Hope this helps.

Cheers, Mike

 

Agreed mate, just got to be sensible and drive within your limits, the car will be fine!

 

Well said mate, My gf drives a 4x4 saff and ive got a 3 door.The 4x4 seems safe etc etc The 3 door likes to let you know your driving like a twat

 

when i had my first 4x4 saph,i had it stage 3,greens etc but still on t3,then my mate gave me a shot of his pulsar up the 1/4 and i thought my cos would be a bit quicker,as it felt faster but 2 runs in the pulsar and i was on level with my best time in the saph 13.13-13-15,and the nissan was standard except filter and exhaust,as said above the boost is very progressive in the pulsar and doesnt have the pull like the cossie,sierra is a much better car to drive

 

I've not owned or Driven a Pulsar BUT I have been out in a 300bhp one a few times.. and to be honest if my tuner looked after these cars I would probably have one to 300bhp spec.

It had all the things I like about the cossie and the chuckability of it being a smaller car. Great stuff.


RWD cossie wise- Depends on what you go for.. My FIRST ever RWD car was a 430 brake T4 Saph cossie.. and much to all of my friends suprise I did not crash or loose it once.

HAving said that- the previous owner had had a T34 on the car and said that it span the wheels at the lightest touch and the back end swung about all over the place- fitting the T4 upped the power and stopped this happening.

But also I should mimick other peoples words and just drive with in your limits.

JAke

 

i would say in the wet a t34 would make the wheels spin in every gear as it picks up earlier than t4 but when a t4 comes on boost you dont get traction in the wet that is

 

the under powered 2wd saff beat the higher power gti-r??? CHUNK??

cool

regarding handling, in standard form the escort cosworth will handle much better, i dont know this personally not having driven a gti-r but from magazines i have read from 1992-1993 all journalists say the cossie handled better

 

Yes mate, iirc the pulsar isnt that much lighter, and the cossie has more torque, less drivetrain loss, so It was my predicted outcome, but its by how much it pulled away that suprised me, really did show it a clean pair of heals, and I was driving the Pulsar so it was being driven hard.
We swapped over and I then drove the cossie, same again, I just pulled away from him.
Gotta love the torque from a cossie.

 

yeah mate, but this was a 2wd one, what do you think the outcome would have been it it was 4x4, near enuff the same? due to the almost equal traction as the gti-r altho heavier?

 

Yeah, if it was a 4x4 cossie against the Pulsar, I would say the Pulsar would have the edge, maybe, it would be alot closer.
I remember someone saying that a good stage 1 2wd will stay with a stage 3 4x4, so judging by that Pulsar should be the winner.

 

i disagree there.my mate had his engine built to 350bhp by harvey gibbs in his 2wd i had mine chipped etc by harvey and ran the same power.my mates was dyno proven and you couldnt seperate the two on the road.his rwd my 4x4.no difference what so ever.

 

Like for like power wise, the escort would get pissed on by the GTiR off the line, down the lanes, and on the track.

When I had my stage 3 RWD saff, the GTiR would keep up to about 120, but would murder me everywhere else.

I love em - proper performance bargain at the moment too.

 

why does everyone go on about pulsars being unreliable, surely if you look after it this isnt the case just like any car ?

 

i look after all my cars and my pulsar was breaking shit all the time.

my saff's the most reliable car ive owned

 

We've owned one for 5 years, and the only thing that has gone wrong is a split clutch hose and an electric window switch packing up.

 

pedal box,gearbox,distributor(which 2nd hand cost me 500quid,900quid from nissan).had a sensor brake down that took 4mths for people to find

but i do still like em,havent owned it for about 5 yrs and had it a year and a half.

 

how do you drive tho.......

 

i drive a car mate.not a thrasher or a half clutch changer and with the exception of my first car theyve all been performance cars. im not heavy or the saff wouldnt still be running original engine and box with 150k on the clock at 350bhp but i do use it

 

i dont mean that, its 4wd, if you launch it all the time its going to break, just like any other 4wd car.

 

pulsers are awesome sprint cars,

and as mentioned they run out of buff about 110 mph on std turbo.

but do suffer understeer on the track.

 

ive lauched my saff more.never even quartered my pulsar shame i shouldve really.
maybe i was just unlucky.it may have had a hard life in japan.

 

I find that hard to believe, not that stranger things havnt happpened.
But 2 cars, same power, in gear acceleration, 1 is lighter and produces more power at the wheels but it wasnt faster?
Something is wrong imo, but like I said, not saying your talking rubbish or anything, just find it hard to swallow thats all.

 

hand on my heart mate.pissed my mate off something cronic after spunking 6k on a rebuild. unless mine was pushing a bit more but mines on t34 greens 3 bar -31 bajoo chip so should have made the same as his?