RE: Driven: Gama E30 V8-S
Discussion
braddo said:
John Boy 616 said:
No, no, no. Why not just get a nice m3 - m5 for 8k and be done with it. take the badges off if its so important to have a street sleeper. Hell go the whole hog and spray matt paint all over it really want to surprise people at the lights. Dull in my humble opinion of course
And how do you propose getting an M3 or M5 near the 300hp/ton (or 1000kg kerb weight) that this E30 offers?Second hand turbo kit- ±£3k
Mapping and fueling- £1k
Will see over 400bhp without bending the rods if you keep the torque down on the map. I make that 305-odd BHP/Tonne.
The real Apache said:
Dagnut said:
The real Apache said:
Dagnut said:
The real Apache said:
Dagnut said:
Pity about the brakes and the wipers etc, I know these are easily fixed, but unfortunately it gives the impression of an backyard set up rather than pro tuners. 8 grand is a lot of money.
Hang on Daggers, he did say it was the first one and admitted it was a bit of a learn as you go process. I'd imagine the production cars will be fully sorted. This is just what I'm looking for personallyEven the cleanest pampered E30's have electrical gremlins, OK they aren't major issues but when your parking on the street in the city with no where to work, having no wipers or the heater stuck on/off, etc is a pain in the sack
works for me.....
No idea on the quality of this conversion, but £8k does not sound expensive. As has been pointed out it costs that much to put a Ford Duratec into an Elise, and £10k+ for a Vtec Honda, and you soon find out when you break it down that there isn't excessive profit in those numbers. By the time you have costed an engine and ancillaries, the bespoke installation parts (short runs always very expensive), labour, amortised your development costs, put a bit aside for warranty, and heaven forbid make a bit of profit, you will soon get up to these levels and more. I'd be interested to see a rough breakdown of cost from any of the guys who think this should cost a lot less?
Just on the subject of brakes..
I had an E30 325i and the brakes were fine on it, infact they were a pleasure and i never fault they were inadequate. They are discs all round and as has been said with uprated discs and pads plenty of people track them.
For me i'd be more worried about the actual shell, E30s do know how to rot and i'd imagine the solid ones are getting fewer and fewer.
I had an E30 325i and the brakes were fine on it, infact they were a pleasure and i never fault they were inadequate. They are discs all round and as has been said with uprated discs and pads plenty of people track them.
For me i'd be more worried about the actual shell, E30s do know how to rot and i'd imagine the solid ones are getting fewer and fewer.
The brakes are not actually as bad as they sound, I've driven this car and it is easily one of the fastest and well balanced cars I have ever driven the quality of the conversion is also second to none and GAMA are so sure of it they offer a years warranty with all their work.
GAMA also offer some tasty AP racing brake upgrades that go hand in hand with their V8 conversion as well as a servo assisted option, I personally have opted for both.
If this is something you really like, and you actually have a realistic amount of money to throw at an old 3 series (£8000 is not a huge amount of money considering the amount and the quality of the work required to get that engine into that engine bay!)then give the guys at GAMA a call and go and have a test drive. You will find it very hard not to place order, I'll promise you that!!!
GAMA also offer some tasty AP racing brake upgrades that go hand in hand with their V8 conversion as well as a servo assisted option, I personally have opted for both.
If this is something you really like, and you actually have a realistic amount of money to throw at an old 3 series (£8000 is not a huge amount of money considering the amount and the quality of the work required to get that engine into that engine bay!)then give the guys at GAMA a call and go and have a test drive. You will find it very hard not to place order, I'll promise you that!!!
this is my first post after years of lurking but I felt I really had to for this topic, what a daft way to sell a product, releasing it to the press without decent brakes! The £8000 is pretty steep for just the conversion and labour, for that I really would expect a decent set of brakes like stoptech etc, nothing too pricey just capable!
Considering for between 2 and 3 thousand depending where you go, you can have a bare metal respray, which is an awful lot of labour. £8k might be acceptable for a one off but when they are doing 50 one after another they will be able to simplify the process to the point at which it will take around a week for say 2 good mechanics to fit, easily. That is not more than £3k labour, even making a profit on it, so then you have the engine, which is not a very sought after bm v8 as it is heavy, so call that £3k if you buy it and rebuild it and make profit on doing that as well. All in it seems a bit pricey for just the transplant, I am in the process of opening a garage myself and certainly wouldn't charge anything like that when presenting the product as Gama has just done, maybe if they dressed up the demo car and put good brakes and suspension on it, the £8k would be less hard to believe at face value!
Considering for between 2 and 3 thousand depending where you go, you can have a bare metal respray, which is an awful lot of labour. £8k might be acceptable for a one off but when they are doing 50 one after another they will be able to simplify the process to the point at which it will take around a week for say 2 good mechanics to fit, easily. That is not more than £3k labour, even making a profit on it, so then you have the engine, which is not a very sought after bm v8 as it is heavy, so call that £3k if you buy it and rebuild it and make profit on doing that as well. All in it seems a bit pricey for just the transplant, I am in the process of opening a garage myself and certainly wouldn't charge anything like that when presenting the product as Gama has just done, maybe if they dressed up the demo car and put good brakes and suspension on it, the £8k would be less hard to believe at face value!
GJV8 said:
The brakes are not actually as bad as they sound, I've driven this car and it is easily one of the fastest and well balanced cars I have ever driven the quality of the conversion is also second to none and GAMA are so sure of it they offer a years warranty with all their work.
GAMA also offer some tasty AP racing brake upgrades that go hand in hand with their V8 conversion as well as a servo assisted option, I personally have opted for both.
If this is something you really like, and you actually have a realistic amount of money to throw at an old 3 series (£8000 is not a huge amount of money considering the amount and the quality of the work required to get that engine into that engine bay!)then give the guys at GAMA a call and go and have a test drive. You will find it very hard not to place order, I'll promise you that!!!
From the horses mouth then...I can see what people mean by their comments about the brakes and wipers but to me, this is a proof of concept with the brakes/wipers being details easily attended to. For me it seems much more relevant to have the performance and handling proven as this is what the conversion is all about.....I'd prefer an E36 version I think thoughGAMA also offer some tasty AP racing brake upgrades that go hand in hand with their V8 conversion as well as a servo assisted option, I personally have opted for both.
If this is something you really like, and you actually have a realistic amount of money to throw at an old 3 series (£8000 is not a huge amount of money considering the amount and the quality of the work required to get that engine into that engine bay!)then give the guys at GAMA a call and go and have a test drive. You will find it very hard not to place order, I'll promise you that!!!
personally love it,but was obviously daft to put out a half finished demo car.but i only drive a 1.6 focus,so what do i know??
Sorry to be pedantic but if "The 4.0-litre V8 - poached from an E39 5-series - nestles snugly beneath the nose-hinged bonnet with all the 'proper' plastic covers." then I'd be worried for its provenance as the M60 (B40) was only fitted to the E34 5 series and not the E39 (which only ever had the 4.4 litre V8 M62).
cpl_payne said:
LuS1fer said:
How much!!!!!
I would hope the characteristic lift-off oversteer of what were very average cars has also been addressed or tha you're on good terms with the local shrubbery.
I'm sorry, the lift-off what-now?I would hope the characteristic lift-off oversteer of what were very average cars has also been addressed or tha you're on good terms with the local shrubbery.
I've owned and driven 4 e30s for approximately 6 years from a decaf 316i to full fat 325i and I have never ever experienced any lift-off oversteer in any of them. I suspect it wasn't for the lack of trying or excess of driving skill. Perhaps what you're referring to is easy to achieve on the track but this car has never struck me as dangerous to drive on public roads due to inherent treacherous handling characteristics (and this includes many hours on gravel roads and ice/snow quite common in cold dark winters of that insignificant country in Northern (not bloody Eastern!) Europe I lived in before coming over here to steal your jobs and eat your swans).
Can I have a cup of coffee with that slice of humble pie somebody is likely to serve me?
Shame I don't have £8000 or the skill/motivation required to build one of these myself
t tyres (or simply hasn't got a clue about handling).Whilst I love a V8 as much as the next man, I just don't see the point in an E30 if it's only putting out 300 bhp. An E36 M3 engine is a tried and tested route for E30's and will give the same power for less £££.
Good on them for trying something different, but I'd be sticking with a BMW six pot if 300 bhp is the target.
Good on them for trying something different, but I'd be sticking with a BMW six pot if 300 bhp is the target.
Debaser said:
E30s have lift off oversteer, but it's no way dangerous. They are really progressive when they start to slide and super easy to drive at the limit. Anyone who thinks it's average or has dangerous lift off oversteer has probably only driven a poor example on st tyres (or simply hasn't got a clue about handling).
Or driven one with knackered axle carrier/subframe bush thingies. It can appear the car is actively trying to kill you, especially in the wet... t tyres (or simply hasn't got a clue about handling).
Dagnut said:
Pity about the brakes and the wipers etc, I know these are easily fixed, but unfortunately it gives the impression of an backyard set up rather than pro tuners. 8 grand is a lot of money.
agreed - got to be a bit of a knob to stick an engine that powerful in and not sort out the brakes and wipers FFSGassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff