The Rocket ST159

[Paul (madeye)]

haha, gear levers, they are just so last season..lol
so 80's

only kidding, i love gated gears, i thought of the exact same thing for mine

[casesensitive]

Ideas II

• Exhaust

Honda Civic-style triangular exhaust tip(s)
I like the idea of dual triangular exhaust tips, like the honda civic, but instead of having the round tubes naff-ly visible inside, have the tubing extruded inside the triangle and welded to the edges. My Puma’s exhaust tip is oval, looks transparent from the outside.



Here's a very rough drawing of what I'd like; I'll get someone cleverer than me to make it. I saw someone's Rocket when I was at RTR that was simply a backbox with tips sticking out of the middle of it (rather than either end).

• Air scoop/heat-shielded cone filter

I like the notion of getting a few extra horsies from a K&N closed air intake system, but I love the sound of the cone filter I fitted to my Puma, far and away the best thing I've done to it.
The donor vehicle I've got has been fitted with some very long metal air intake pipes disappearing to the lower right of the bonnet, I haven’t stripped it back to see yet, but I'm guessing to some sort of trumpet in the grille for cold air.

Edit:
The big eejit just mounted it behind the wheel arch, so while the air it gets is cold, it's also filthy! I've bought a K&N filter cleaner kit to demuck it. I won't be repeating his mistake.

So, with all this lovely piping already in place, I'm thinking it would be nice to twist some of it around through 180 degrees and fit a cone filter in front an inverted cone of exhaust shielding (which I have lots of from my weekend of tearing apart the old Puma), a lot like the collar the vet puts on your dog when he’s had stitches.
Apologies for the artwork, I, um, let my 5-year old niece do it..


The cone would need to be supported in a frame of some sort to avoid flapping around the place, and it’d be afixed to the edges of the air intake from the engine cover ‘scoop’ fitted to the June 2013 MK3.5 models. I’d cut out, and fill with mesh grille the recessed section (possibly after testing :-) )

(from RTR's Facebook page)





Any thoughts on whether ramming all that air into the filter would give similar performance bump (4-5 HP) to a closed air system?
I imagine, if done right, noise would be pretty epic too :-)

[Deleted]

From my zetec tuning days, ford ecu's hate warm air temperatures. The shielding will have to be A1 to keep a cool air feed when stationary. They used to hunt rpm on idle with any open filter.
Omex/DTA/mega squirt are ok with it.

MAF sensor will die rapidly with water ingress, should you use the ford ecu. Maybe a k and n filter sock over the filter should you get caught in the rain.

[Paul (madeye)]

Seeing as we have very similar engine covers. Turn the entire thing into an air box . like f 1

[Paul (madeye)]

After IVA I'll be running a home made exhaust system all mounted inboard like your after. With corsa vxr triangular tips

[airforceone]

With the previous engine cover there was quite a bit of room between the engine and the underside of
the cover, space looks to be a bit tighter with this new one as I doubt they have managed to drop
the engine and gearbox any lower.

I have a KN filter fitted to mine and it sits just nicely in the air scoop. I doubt
there is the space with the new cover.

[casesensitive]

Yeah, this occurred to me, plan, as it is at present is to do the build with no exhaust, drop the engine in, and bring it up to the wizards at Souhans and get them to fabricate something vaguely approximating my design. I wonder if external exhaust will affect our IVA / test? I'm heading to the Classic and Kit car show tomorrow to see what others (including Geoff from here with any luck) are doing and what we're obliged/permitted to do.

Jun 14, 2013 14:02:26 GMT paul said:

Just a thought, but unless the current chassis has developed loads of room, you will likely need an external mounted exhaust..
The space for an exhaust mounted in the engine bay is fine for std 1.6/1.8/2.0 but 170bhp + is likely to need more room and be mounted on the back of the frame.

Paul

[casesensitive]

Hmmm, interesting, something like this?
I wonder how that would affect performance and noise.

What do Scooby STi owners do in the rain? The bonnet scoops leading to the intercooler look like they would drink deeply from the copious rain we get, but I've never heard of them drowning. Some sort of S bend with a perforated base maybe? Almost certainly no room for that under the engine cover.

Jun 14, 2013 16:01:33 GMT @loopyonion said:

From my zetec tuning days, ford ecu's hate warm air temperatures. The shielding will have to be A1 to keep a cool air feed when stationary. They used to hunt rpm on idle with any open filter.
Omex/DTA/mega squirt are ok with it.

MAF sensor will die rapidly with water ingress, should you use the ford ecu. Maybe a k and n filter sock over the filter should you get caught in the rain.

Seeing as we have very similar engine covers. Turn the entire thing into an air box . like f 1

Yeah, that's the general idea!

[Deleted]

The subarus use that area of pressure, to provide air to the intercooler. The air for the inlet, is either the front wing, or pressure point near the radiator/headlamp.

And if the cooler gets wet ( it already has water spray fitted on STI and RA editions from stock), it works better, due to wet surface.

The k and units on early scoobs have shields over the air vent on the bonnet, as they have very fragile air flow meters.

IVA external exhaust, should be ok regards to that. Radius to watch, also an interpretation on exhaust tailpipe being within x distance of the bodywork/floor line.

Ill dig up the section later.

[casesensitive]

Cheers all, had some interesting news on the IVA here; up until last year, there wasn't one.. You pass a normal NCT (like MOT but independent of the garages), pay a lot of VRT and you're done!

However, we now have a proper IVA system, meeting with two guys from NSAI next Thursday to see what's what. I suspect they're going to pour water on my parade, but we'll see.
I sounds like they'll follow the UK standard, it's even called the IVA.

[casesensitive]

Spotted something tasty on Ebay, wouldn't mind something a bit like this

I'll add that to my ideas board

[casesensitive]

Meeting with NSAI tomorrow morning, got a fair bit of research done on how the testing is done, and how the VRT figure is arrived at.
For those who might be curious (there are at least a few Exocet builds happening in Ireland at the moment); it goes something like this;

NSAI or their approved test centres measure, calculate or guess your CO2 (long version from Revenue, below), then use the CO2 banding system to calculate a percentage of the Open Market Selling Price of a Rocket at Retail, in Ireland to figure out what you owe them. Depending on the mood and inclination of the person doing the calculation, that could be an enormous sum. Worst case scenario, my ST170 donor figure of 212g/km is used, yielding the second worst rating possible and 34% of the value of a new Rocket. Best case; they measure it properly on an open road/track, and the light weight gives a figure of 110g and I pay 16%. If only.

I've done a quick search of Ebay and Pistonheads, and only managed to pull up 4 Rockets for sale or sold, but I'll be monitoring and saving them as I find them over the next year, any samples gladly received by PM!
Rockets seem to be on offer for between £4,000 (for an incomplete build)and £12,000 for 'normal' builds without extreme supercharging, custom ECUs etc. But the Revenue will point out that they're second hand, and could come up with Ariel Atom-type prices (about €60k in Ireland), which would mean that it never goes on the road, and will be shipped to Mondello on the back of a trailer 4-5 times a year instead. Both sets of wheels off the ground of course, Guard.

So, after NSAI give type-certification, and test it, it's off to VRT people to pay VRT (but not VAT, assuming Donor was registered in the EU at some point and you can produce receipts showing VAT paid on Kit and parts), then insurance and motor tax (based on CO2 value arrived at by NSAI). Then I can drive it. Long road, keep 'em peeled.

To determine what is a reasonable OMSP for your vehicle you should form an opinion of what it would sell at by retail in the State in its completed state. Revenue does not issue VRT estimates for vehicles which have not been presented to NCTS for registration.

The rate of VRT will be determined according to the CO2 emissions of the vehicle concerned. In this regard Section 130 of the Finance Act 1992, as amended, defines CO2 emissions in the following terms:

[‘CO2 emissions’ means the level of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for a vehicle measured in accordance with the provisions of Council Directive 80/1268/EEC of 16 December 19801 (as amended) and listed in Annex VIII of Council Directive 70/156/EEC of 6 February 19702 (as
amended) and displayed in accordance with the provisions of Council Directive 1999/94/EC of 13December 19993 (as amended) and contained in the relevant EC type-approval certificate or EC certificate of conformity or any other appropriate documentation which confirms compliance with
any measures taken to give effect in the State to any act of the European Communities relating to the approximation of the laws of Member States in respect of type-approval for the type of vehicle concerned; ]16

The CO2 emissions of a newly manufactured vehicle is normally confirmed as part of the type approval process for the marque in question when it undergoes testing by one of the approved testing agencies in the EU. Hence this is an issue you should raise with NSAI in your discussions on the type approval of the finished vehicle.

Section 132 (3) (ii) of the Finance Act 1992, as amended, states:

(ii) where—

(I) the level of CO2 emissions cannot be confirmed by reference to the relevant EC type-approval certificate or EC certificate of conformity, and

(II) the Commissioners are not satisfied of the level of CO2 emissions by reference to any other document produced in support of
the declaration for registration, at the rate of an amount equal to the highest percentage specified in the Table to this subsection of the value of the vehicle or €720, whichever is the greater,”]14

The table referenced in this extract is as reproduced below. Accordingly where the Type Approval certificate doesn’t specify a CO2 rate the current highest rate of 36% can be applied (please note that this rate may change over the course of the build of the vehicle). Exceptionally, where no rate of CO2 is specified in a type-approval document and the vehicle is a once-off manufacture, Revenue may be willing to consider the application of the CO2 rate which applied to the donor vehicle from which the engine was taken. This exception should not be relied upon however and would only ever be considered where there is good reason why the CO2 rating cannot be specified on a Type Approval document and clear unequivocal evidence of the CO2 rate applying to the donor was available.

CO2 Emissions (CO2g/km) VRT Rates

CO2 Emissions
(g CO2/km) VRT Rates Minimum VRT
0 - 80g 14% of OMSP €280
81 - 100g 15% of OMSP €300
101 - 110g 16% of OMSP €320
111- 120g 17% of OMSP €340
121 - 130g 18% of OMSP €360
131 - 140g 19% of OMSP €380
141 - 155g 23% of OMSP €460
156 - 170g 27% of OMSP €540
171 - 190g 30% of OMSP €600
191 - 225g 34% of OMSP €680
226g and over or unestablished 36% of OMSP €720

Further details of the VRT system and associated procedures can be found at:

www.revenue.ie/en/tax/vrt/faqs-vrt.html

[Tim Kerr]

Can you not build it. Ship it up north for iva. Get it registered and then import back down south as a second hand car? Bit of a long winded way but must be a lot cheaper.

[Tim Kerr]

Plus the value new. Can you not argue its what its cost you to build? Build it very cheap then mod once passed. Didn't MeV have a headline figure if £3k or something assuming you sold most of unwanted bits?

[airforceone]

There is no way on God's green earth that you would get an exocet on the road for 3k never mind a rocket.