Buying an Ultima

[Storer]

Enjoy the car.

This is not the best time of the year to take delivery of an Ultima. Cold roads and summer tyres do not lead to the best experience.

Warmer temperatures will greatly enhance the experience!!




Paul

[confusionhunter]

Well??

[BobE]

confusionhunter said:

Well??

Well - the car was delivered just before lunch and is now safe in the garage. I've made the mistake of reversing it in and it then took ages for the fumes to go - I now understand why all the pictures you see posted have the rear of the car at the door. I guess it makes even more sense when the engine is fired up.
I need to do three things before venturing out. Firstly a new radiator fan should be with me tomorrow to replace one that stopped working just as the dealer was about to load the car into the covered trailer. Secondly the seat belts are miles out of adjustment and it's taking a while to extend them correctly so in particular the lap belt sections are on my pelvis not just below my rib cage. Finally although I can operate the pedals it's a big stretch to depress the clutch fully. I'm not too sure how to sort this aspect. It appears that a 'long' pair of extensions are fitted to the brake and clutch as a shorter pair came with the car. I really need something slightly longer again. I'm average height with a 31" inside leg but I'm thin so maybe that means I set further back in the seat. The seat is on runners - I'm not sure why as there is only a tiny amount of travel and it is in the most forward position. Any comments?
The roads here are wet and covered in salt so I'm in no rush....

[Storer]

BobE said:

Well - the car was delivered just before lunch and is now safe in the garage. I've made the mistake of reversing it in and it then took ages for the fumes to go - I now understand why all the pictures you see posted have the rear of the car at the door. I guess it makes even more sense when the engine is fired up.
I need to do three things before venturing out. Firstly a new radiator fan should be with me tomorrow to replace one that stopped working just as the dealer was about to load the car into the covered trailer. Secondly the seat belts are miles out of adjustment and it's taking a while to extend them correctly so in particular the lap belt sections are on my pelvis not just below my rib cage. Finally although I can operate the pedals it's a big stretch to depress the clutch fully. I'm not too sure how to sort this aspect. It appears that a 'long' pair of extensions are fitted to the brake and clutch as a shorter pair came with the car. I really need something slightly longer again. I'm average height with a 31" inside leg but I'm thin so maybe that means I set further back in the seat. The seat is on runners - I'm not sure why as there is only a tiny amount of travel and it is in the most forward position. Any comments?
The roads here are wet and covered in salt so I'm in no rush....

Similar leg length here but I can't say I am thin!

You may find you need to raise the front of the seat with a home made bracket which should then allow you to slide the runners a little further forward.
It is also possible to adjust the rod that links the pedal to the clutch cylinder but beware of having sufficient thread in the pedal.
You slacken the lock nut (13mm spanner) and should be able to rotate the rod, to lengthen it, with your fingers then retighten lock nut.
This will push the whole pedal forwards a little.

The ball ache is laying under the dash to do it!!!!


Good luck

Paul

[renmure]

Well done on the car

Only advice I would offer at the moment is just take care reversing into the garage if it is tight. Since the wing mirrors are inboard of the sides of the car it's quite easy to inadvertently get far closer to the sides of the door than you think (or maybe it's just me who has issues)

[BobE]

Storer said:

Similar leg length here but I can't say I am thin!

You may find you need to raise the front of the seat with a home made bracket which should then allow you to slide the runners a little further forward.
It is also possible to adjust the rod that links the pedal to the clutch cylinder but beware of having sufficient thread in the pedal.
You slacken the lock nut (13mm spanner) and should be able to rotate the rod, to lengthen it, with your fingers then retighten lock nut.
This will push the whole pedal forwards a little.

The ball ache is laying under the dash to do it!!!!


Good luck

Paul

The pedal extenders are in their most reward position towards me and I wouldn't want to lose any further thread in the pedal arm. I'll contact the factory to see if any longer items are available. The seat seems to be at the limit of its runners as it stops with a metal/ metal contact. More investigation tomorrow.

[BobE]

renmure said:

Well done on the car

Only advice I would offer at the moment is just take care reversing into the garage if it is tight. Since the wing mirrors are inboard of the sides of the car it's quite easy to inadvertently get far closer to the sides of the door than you think (or maybe it's just me who has issues)

I'm going to drive in forwards in future so all the pollution stays outside. It wasn't helped today by me leaving the door from the garage into the house slightly open and my wife wasn't that pleased with exhaust fumes filling our house! I've got a double garage but it has two single doors so it's a tight fit. My idea is to use a mirror at the end wall of the garage so I can see how the car is lined up with the door aperture as I drive in.

[mt308]

Welcome to the world of Ultimas!

On the clutch pedal, out of interest can you see which hole the pedal has been bolted to (i.e. where it pivots on the floor).

Form memory there are 3 possible holes here which affect the distance the pedal will be from your seat, the holes are about an inch apart.

Mark

[confusionhunter]

Ta for the update! Exciting times! I too have a single garage door, I do reverse in but Im very quick at getting it in now. The mirrors I think are better on the can am, but I've also put a mirror on the back/underside of the garage door, so when its open I can look up and see exactly how far I am from the edge. It allows me to get the distance and angle spot on.

As for the runners you could move them forward a bit more by moveing the way they are mounted on the floor. I can go right back and my runners are mounted in a fashion that I can get up close too.... Im similar dimensions too, so There must be something funny going on with the runners or pedals? Is the passenger side the same?

[BobE]

BobE said:

Storer said:

Similar leg length here but I can't say I am thin!

You may find you need to raise the front of the seat with a home made bracket which should then allow you to slide the runners a little further forward.
It is also possible to adjust the rod that links the pedal to the clutch cylinder but beware of having sufficient thread in the pedal.
You slacken the lock nut (13mm spanner) and should be able to rotate the rod, to lengthen it, with your fingers then retighten lock nut.
This will push the whole pedal forwards a little.

The ball ache is laying under the dash to do it!!!!


Good luck

Paul

The pedal extenders are in their most reward position towards me and I wouldn't want to lose any further thread in the pedal arm. I'll contact the factory to see if any longer items are available. The seat seems to be at the limit of its runners as it stops with a metal/ metal contact. More investigation tomorrow.

Problem sorted. It goes back to the seat belt issue. Someone had shortened the lap belts on their adjusters to a ridiculous degree - they couldn't possibly have worn the belts like that which is odd. The large webbing pad was then jamming in the seat holes limiting the forward movement of the seat - which coincided with an adjustment position on the seat slides so it looked like that was the extent of the travel. Doh.....

[MDL111]

Sorry for reviving an older thread. Just started thinking about Ultimas again today after not having looked at them since that 0-100-0 record a few years ago.

If I buy a factory built car, how reliable are these cars - I cannot do anything myself so even small jobs will require a mechanic and as I live in Germany/Austria nowadays there won't be any Ultima specialist near by (assumption for now). is this a feasible weekend car and possibly track car or will I be rather unhappy with the overall experience (driving experience excluded ...)? They are not exactly cheap, so I would be annoyed if I have constant issues. Never previously owned anything similar.

Any input welcome

Cheers

[MDL111]

MDL111 said:

Sorry for reviving an older thread. Just started thinking about Ultimas again today after not having looked at them since that 0-100-0 record a few years ago.

If I buy a factory built car, how reliable are these cars - I cannot do anything myself so even small jobs will require a mechanic and as I live in Germany/Austria nowadays there won't be any Ultima specialist near by (assumption for now). is this a feasible weekend car and possibly track car or will I be rather unhappy with the overall experience (driving experience excluded ...)? They are not exactly cheap, so I would be annoyed if I have constant issues. Never previously owned anything similar.

Any input welcome

Cheers

Never mind - turns out delivery time is 3 years .... too long for somebody as impatient as me

[UltimaCH]

MDL111 said:

Sorry for reviving an older thread. Just started thinking about Ultimas again today after not having looked at them since that 0-100-0 record a few years ago.

If I buy a factory built car, how reliable are these cars - I cannot do anything myself so even small jobs will require a mechanic and as I live in Germany/Austria nowadays there won't be any Ultima specialist near by (assumption for now). is this a feasible weekend car and possibly track car or will I be rather unhappy with the overall experience (driving experience excluded ...)? They are not exactly cheap, so I would be annoyed if I have constant issues. Never previously owned anything similar.

Any input welcome

Cheers

Have you tried contacting these people in Germany?
http://www.ultimacars.de/

[deadscoob]

I would say if you can't tinker or have someone to do it for you, it may not be the choice of car for you.
It's not a drive and track car like a gt3 for example.

[confusionhunter]

Yea, It is a Race car for the road... but like race cars they sometimes need a bit of pit attention once in a while!

[MDL111]

UltimaCH said:

MDL111 said:

Sorry for reviving an older thread. Just started thinking about Ultimas again today after not having looked at them since that 0-100-0 record a few years ago.

If I buy a factory built car, how reliable are these cars - I cannot do anything myself so even small jobs will require a mechanic and as I live in Germany/Austria nowadays there won't be any Ultima specialist near by (assumption for now). is this a feasible weekend car and possibly track car or will I be rather unhappy with the overall experience (driving experience excluded ...)? They are not exactly cheap, so I would be annoyed if I have constant issues. Never previously owned anything similar.

Any input welcome

Cheers

Have you tried contacting these people in Germany?
http://www.ultimacars.de/

Thank you for the link. No I haven't, just contacted the factory direct. Cars seem to be selling very well.

[MDL111]

deadscoob said:

I would say if you can't tinker or have someone to do it for you, it may not be the choice of car for you.
It's not a drive and track car like a gt3 for example.

That is what I'd be worried about as I am really useless. Might have to look into who in my vicinity could help assuming I ever buy one .

[Racingroj]

These cars are simple to maintain. There are quite a few specialists who will look after any problems or even just the servicing. In my experience the service and maintenance costs are on a par with a Porsche which a relatively low compared to other Supercars. Just remember also the purchase cost, especially used, are low for the horse power you will get.

[Storer]

You do need to be able to look round the car with a critical eye and know what looks 'wrong'.

They are more akin to a race car in their need for constant maintenance. It is more a case of checking things are 'tight' or correctly adjusted than 'broken'.

Great fun and a real spectacle for passers by and worth the effort.



Paul

[845ste]

Storer said:

You do need to be able to look round the car with a critical eye and know what looks 'wrong'.

They are more akin to a race car in their need for constant maintenance. It is more a case of checking things are 'tight' or correctly adjusted than 'broken'.

Paul

+1
this is THE real point!