Autosport International Show ‘08
Post Christmas blues and depressing winter weather has now become softened by the now widely anticipated Autosport International show held at the NEC in early January. Timed to sit in the middle of the close season as far as Motorsport is concerned it attracts those involved in Motorsport, the engineering side and also a huge number of public visitors. It has become a beacon to brighten this time of year, at least in the northern hemisphere, supported by around 75,000 visitors in 2007.
Luke Pinder’s Group N ZR straight from the finish of the Wales Rally GB
Square rigger MG
Nice MGB with hard top
ITG Maxogen Filters potential to create a fully enclosed remote filter conversion for the likes of MGB
Since the demise of MG Rover the depth of MG Motorsport activity has receded somewhat into the background, but it is most certainly very much alive, needing only a new champion to give a focus as MG Rover did through the competition programmes of MG Sport and Racing. It is hoped that in the fullness of time when the significant changes surrounding MG as a whole have settled, that the benefits of a high profile competition programme (with a reasonable chance of success) can be once again given factory support.
Owen Developments display once again of their concept four cylinder engine with four small turbos, one per exhaust port
In the meantime at this year’s show there was still some MG presence which consisted of Luke Pinder’s Group N ZR straight from the finish of the Wales Rally GB (the final round of the FIA World Rally Championship) complete with Welsh mud. In the Coys auction area were a couple of bright red MGs, a pre-war J2 square rigger and a tidy MGB Roadster with hardtop. Elsewhere in the show was a low profile display of a pair of SV’s, one of which was an ex MG Rover engineering car. The company behind these, and who were also at the Classic Car show last November, is MG Sport and Racing Europe Ltd, which it has to be said is not connected to the former MG Sport and Racing that collapsed with MG Rover, but a new and currently small venture whose base is in Herefordshire.
One of the main attractions of this show, at least for me, is the wide ranging display of technology and whilst the emphasis is on Motorsport applications there is often a clear road application too. This year there was a marked increase in sustainability and I was specifically interested in the emergence of systems to capture and reuse energy that would otherwise be lost. It seems that the future F1 regulations that will require such technologies has kick started what I am sure will become a very fertile area where road cars will benefit.
More immediate developments can be seen in the worldwide trend of downsizing engines and the wider use of forced induction to retain power and torque, yet still show significant fuel and emission efficiencies. Of specific interest was Owen Developments display once again of their concept four cylinder engine with four small turbos, one per exhaust port. Whilst one turbo per exhaust port may still be a little way off becoming familiar on road cars, Garrett dual parallel sequential turbos is something that has arrived on some engines to give the benefits of small and large turbos, drastically increasing the rpm band that boost is available. The move to smaller displacement engine will accelerate this technology.
Finally a small but significant development was on display on the ITG stand. ITG inductions systems have for some years been the leaders in providing torque and power increases from very well designed induction systems. They have developed many for the modern MG range and the Maxogen systems were adopted as XPower products with full factory backing when the original MG Sport and Racing was operating. If there is one fly in the ointment it has always been the cost of these kits, which is high. It was therefore of considerable interest to note that they have introduced a couple of new Maxogen filter bodies made from aluminium that has enabled them to reduce the prices. To date the new bodies start with a new small unit that currently has no MG application, but I see potential to create a fully enclosed remote filter conversion for the likes of MGB that doesn’t then suffer from drawing exhaust heated air. The other unit that is available is the body used in the ZR Maxogen kit and I can see this becoming quite popular. More details can be obtained by contacting ITG direct (www.itgairfilters.com).
Roger Parker