Discussion
Jellyfish said:
Lovely.
Once I changed your dimensions to inches I realised she is only 3' longer than my old Mini, then saw the pic of PJ standing 'over' her. Love the compactness of the thing, a tad smaller than Nissan's GTR...
Yeah, it is a strange beast. Once I changed your dimensions to inches I realised she is only 3' longer than my old Mini, then saw the pic of PJ standing 'over' her. Love the compactness of the thing, a tad smaller than Nissan's GTR...
It is very low, as you can see compared to the MX5, and you are always aware how low you are sitting. But, when you look at the interior it looks very tight and compact and hard to get into (the removable steering wheel helps).. but in reality once you are actually in it there is plenty of headroom and leg room.
Even tho it isn't ridiculously wide, I find it fairly hard to position on the road and find myself closer to the middle than the kerb, mainly because there is still a lot of car width beyond the side window.
Rear view out the side mirrors isn't great and mainly show the rear wing. Also because the mirrors are actually inboard from the sides of the car, rather than being the widest point of the car, reversing is a bit of a leap of faith.
All adds to the drama of it all tho I suppose
Minor update.
Had the steering wheel retrimmed by royalsteeringwheels.com to have smooth leather on top and bottom, perforated leather on the sides, orange contrast stitching and orange vertical strip to keep me pointing in the right direction. Also had the wheel rim made a bit thicker.
I also fitted a tyre pressure and temperature monitoring system and mounted the display on a bracket just forward of the gear lever so it's easily seen but pretty unobtrusive and fitted a small gps unit below the dashboard.
I also had the carpet edged in contrast orange trim to match the seats.
Had the steering wheel retrimmed by royalsteeringwheels.com to have smooth leather on top and bottom, perforated leather on the sides, orange contrast stitching and orange vertical strip to keep me pointing in the right direction. Also had the wheel rim made a bit thicker.
I also fitted a tyre pressure and temperature monitoring system and mounted the display on a bracket just forward of the gear lever so it's easily seen but pretty unobtrusive and fitted a small gps unit below the dashboard.
I also had the carpet edged in contrast orange trim to match the seats.
Edited by renmure on Friday 15th June 21:08
Minor update.
Decided to fit a new carbon fiber diffuser to the rear of the car and replace the standard wing end plates with larger, motorsport end plates. Also took the opportunity to have some taller wing pylons machined to raise the rear wing a bit.
Decided to fit a new carbon fiber diffuser to the rear of the car and replace the standard wing end plates with larger, motorsport end plates. Also took the opportunity to have some taller wing pylons machined to raise the rear wing a bit.
Edited by renmure on Saturday 8th July 20:48
Some additional pics showing the new taller wing pylons, motorsport end-plates and carbon diffuser.
Went on an 800 mile road trip earlier this month and the car didn't miss a beat. The taller wing pylons definitely improved the rear visibility by letting me see under the wing. I also painted the front towing eye red to contrast a bit.
Looks a bit meaner as well methinks.
Went on an 800 mile road trip earlier this month and the car didn't miss a beat. The taller wing pylons definitely improved the rear visibility by letting me see under the wing. I also painted the front towing eye red to contrast a bit.
Looks a bit meaner as well methinks.
Edited by renmure on Saturday 16th June 21:07
Mikeeb said:
Yours is the best looking Ultima I've seen. The paint scheme is perfect.
Thanks. That's a nice thing to say.Have to confess that I love it but would never have had the imagination or balls to go for those colours if it was me choosing the paint scheme.
The car started off being red and it was a previous owner who had the vision to think that a grey car with an orange stripe would look cool. I thought it really stood out when I bought it back in 2014 I think the carbon bits and the gold bling add to the OTT look.
Another update. This time a "silencer delete" sort of update.
I don't think I was ever totally convinced that the car sounded as race-car like as it looked. I had already changed the factory standard baffled silencer boxes for unbaffled ones and that certainly made a difference and gave a deeper note to the exhaust but there was always the appeal of a bit more....
So, I got a pair of titanium and carbon race-bike tip silencers and then spent hours and hours drawing a technical diagram to illustrate what I wanted then I had a bit of welding done.
Loud: Check
Race Car Like: Check
Gets-a-bit-of-attention: Check
I don't think I was ever totally convinced that the car sounded as race-car like as it looked. I had already changed the factory standard baffled silencer boxes for unbaffled ones and that certainly made a difference and gave a deeper note to the exhaust but there was always the appeal of a bit more....
So, I got a pair of titanium and carbon race-bike tip silencers and then spent hours and hours drawing a technical diagram to illustrate what I wanted then I had a bit of welding done.
Loud: Check
Race Car Like: Check
Gets-a-bit-of-attention: Check
Edited by renmure on Saturday 16th June 21:35
Storer said:
Jim
There is no doubt you car really does look fab and those professional pictures really do it justice.
I wish mine looked as good.
You need to get to the 24 Hures du Mans. The French really love cars like this as they never see them due to French law. You get a crowd everywhere you go and it is all friendly.
I didn't see another there this year.
That is an SS diffuser (I had him fit one for me this year) but are the wing end plates his too?
Hi Paul. I always have so many good intentions to go to things like Le Mans or even the Silvertone event but never seem to get my butt into gear to actually do anything about it.There is no doubt you car really does look fab and those professional pictures really do it justice.
I wish mine looked as good.
You need to get to the 24 Hures du Mans. The French really love cars like this as they never see them due to French law. You get a crowd everywhere you go and it is all friendly.
I didn't see another there this year.
That is an SS diffuser (I had him fit one for me this year) but are the wing end plates his too?
Yes, they are SS's end plates and I also got him to make me taller pylons to raise the wing a bit which helps with rear visibility. I will have a chat to him about his mirrors but I actually like the look of the factory ones. I expect I will see a fair bit of him next year since he is building my Stratos.
said:
How are you finding the 19" rims and Michelin (?) tyres?
Paul
I decided to stay with 18" Braid rims. Personal view really but I just thought in the style I liked that the 19" looked a bit too bling. I think some of the deeper dish styles look mean in the 19" but weren't really for me. The Michelin tyres are way better than the previous Pirelli ones but to be fair they were getting a bit old and hard. The tyre on-board tyre pressure and temperature monitoring system has been useful and I'm sure would be even more useful on track.Paul
Noise for MOT... Hmmm... I think I will creep into the test bay on tick-over
Video clip.. I have a clip from when I had the baffled exhaust and another with the unbaffled one. Will take another with this new set-up and join them together for a back-back-back comparison.
tektas said:
Can we have a video please? Would love to hear that beast.
Well, Photobucket seems to have mucked up all the photos so I guess until I get round to re-editing the thread with new links this will have to do for now.... Would love to hear that beast.I guess being likened to a Spitfire can't be so bad
Ultima Start Up Video..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_eV0j4KbNI&fe...
Minor upgrade. Decided to fit a couple of extra heat shields around the area of the fuel swirl pot and fuel pumps and add additional gold heat reflective foil around the main fuel rail. Heat build-up in around the engine is known to be an issue with the cars on the continent in summer and whilst it hasn't affected me (I guess even on a good day it's not exactly continental in Scotland) it seemed a good idea to guard against it and bling things up a bit more.
Also spent a fair bit of time cleaning, degreasing and repainting the gearbox.
Also spent a fair bit of time cleaning, degreasing and repainting the gearbox.
MrVert said:
Holy moly...! As a weekend fun toy, I cannot think of anything around that would beat your car for smiles per miles...!
That's pretty much my way of thinking about it. It's very much a "shock and awe" car and you have to buy into the fact that when you are on the road in it or even parked at the side of the road then you are a centre of attention and interest and that's all part of the fun of a weekend car. There is a drama to driving it quickly and using the performance but there's also smiles and drama with just pottering around in it.
It's also a good car to just be an owner of and I think that's as important as a weekend fun toy. I'm the least mechanically minded guy you could get but even I quite enjoy pottering around with some of the mechanical bits. Looking back over this thread the car has evolved mechanically and cosmetically to where it is now without breaking the bank and anyone competent at diy stuff could have done it far cheaper than I could. Similarly, when I sell it, the next owner might strip some of my creature comforts out of it and use it as a hardcore track car.
You don't really get to personalise your ownership experience with the likes of a Ferrari, Porsche, McLaren or the like in the same way so I'd advise anyone who has a shortlist of daft weekend fun cars to add an Ultima to that list.
I was going to update this with a pic of the new battery I've had to fit to the Ultima this month but I guess a pic of battery is a bit boring.
So, just to contrast the size of the Ultima with the size of a modern "hot hatch" I squeezed my new Civic Type-R into the garage for a pic. The Type-R is a bit of a brute anyhow, but positively looks like a bus next to the Ultima.
So, just to contrast the size of the Ultima with the size of a modern "hot hatch" I squeezed my new Civic Type-R into the garage for a pic. The Type-R is a bit of a brute anyhow, but positively looks like a bus next to the Ultima.
Edited by renmure on Thursday 8th March 16:42
G13NVL said:
One of my favourite cars on here this just lovely! One question with these though, is there no openable window? Love driving in summer with windows down and fresh warm air wafting in!
Thanks. No openable windows on mine. There's a small "helicopter" vent in each window that can adjust to ram fresh air in. It's a bit like a goldfish bowl inside in the sunshine so a/c is usually full on. Some folk have made the windows as removable items that detach and go behind the seats and obviously the CanAm versions come without a roof and can have high or low side screens.
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