it seems very quiet on the new Ultima front

[V8Dom]

im going to throw a question into the ring...you who all know me know i speak what im thinking.

i saw the other day, a new member on facebook had just taken delivery of the first road registered factory Evo car?

seems strange the car has been out over a year and its the first EVO factory built car, and with gearboxes in short supply im wondering whats on the horizon.

All seems very quiet? .... not many new cars arriving, come on guys who is quietly sitting on the fence with a shinny new car ??

or is Ultima busy working on something else... maybe designing a new car?

[Ult-Jim]

I believe the car posted on FB recently was the first right hand drive 700. My guess is that the first customers were all overseas left hand drive cars. Perhaps these overseas customers had a part in the financing of the R&D and development of the evo so naturally had their investment paid back first. Remember its only a small company, so will take time for cars to roll off the production line my initial thoughts anyway.

Ult-Jim.

[Storer]

Hi Dom

I think there are a few Evo cars out there in kit and (one or two) Factory complete.

I suspect that the Factory avoids mentioning this forum, as there are more than a few non standard cars on here. Non-standard not good!
Also worth remembering that well over 50% exit the country as exports.

Another factor is price. We know that doing a well specked, nice car is in excess of £75k so the buyer is in a different income bracket these days. If you are interested just in the build, then you want the best resale value which is Factory standard.
Many want their hands held by the Factory so stick to standard.

With all the Ultima build sites out there, it is not necessary to come on here to ask questions either.

We are dying outttttttttttttt.


Paul

[deadscoob]

Good to know, I do wish you'd think more when stating things like "superior" regarding components. You're instantly implying that any cars without that gearbox are inferior, which is simply not the case.
A G50 is a robust, decent box for the car which has been used for the last 16+ years without issue. The stumbling block now is the availability and rebuild cost - for a new builder the more modern box with its greater availability is a no brainer. For existing owners with good G50s, they are great boxes still.

I still love the right hand rod shift - it's another item that makes it an event, rather than the common centre shift which every other manual car made, has. So in that respect the new box is inferior

[V8Dom]

thanks guys.. glad to here.. i was getting a bit worried as one car in a year very quiet fro you.

if we are talking gearboxes, and the superiority, when are you looking at PDk boxes for the car.. better with torque, quicker gear change, paddle shifter?

is it possible?

[stringvest1971]

I suspect the PDK is simply too challenging to make work with all the advanced electronics invovled that control the gear selection, dual clutch control etc. It would be nice to see though, another option for the self builder/ mid-engine car owners.

[V8Dom]

Everyone said that about the LS engine until GTRSimon built his.now it's the norm

Edited by V8Dom on Sunday 21st August 22:52

[V8Dom]

Everyone said that about the LS engine until GTRSimon built his.now it's the norm

Edited by V8Dom on Monday 22 August 09:58

[deadscoob]

Not even closely related difficulty wise Dom, unfortunately.

Would be very tricky to get a Pdk box working without significant time and expense, if you can even get to interrogate the electronics in the first place.

[stringvest1971]

I agree Deadscoob, another level of complexity with the PDK and especially if you are trying to make it work with a LS engine or any other non Porsche motor. Granted Dom the first LS engines, pre crate setup, were challenging but nevertheless these engines all had dedicated control units, so once the ability to access them and understand their logic, opened the door for the gen 3 engines (LS1,2's) in cars like ours. I believe Jeff Schwartz also did one of the first ones. The crate engine setup for the gen 4 engines just made that a whole load easier. I guess we have to thank GM for that!

[ROWDYRENAULT]

when major companies like BMW, in the original R8 and Ferrari and Lamborghini put out dual clutches that are less than optimal for several years before they finely get it right adapting a true sequential gearbox for street use, might be a bridge to far.

[Hawk2109]

I did not realize that gearboxes were a issue for these cars. We build them all the time, and have basically brand new factory reman 996 units on the shelf, as well.

The G50 is a great gearbox, and while not cable shifted without a conversion kit, it has many benefits regarding gearing that many others simply do not have.

The G96.01 gearbox is a great cost effective option, as they can be had basically brand new for not too much money these days.

The G96.50 (Turbo, GT2, GT3) is a pillar of strength, but does have some cost issues as they are pretty expensive.

I think one of the very best options out there right now for big HP at least is the new Audi R8 gearbox. Very strong, available, we have a new drop gear for it as well. It is cable shifted, short and one of the smoothest shifting boxes out there.

It seems like there are not as many US cars being built, but if anyone has a problem finding gearbox solutions, give me a call, I would be happy to help.

Erik Johnson

Edited by Stig on Thursday 25th August 15:23

[Storer]

Eric

You seem to have no history on here and you are offering to sell gearboxes and your expertise.

If I am wrong please point us to other posts but beware of the advertising rules on this forum.

You may well be able to help Ultima builders but there have been a few un-kept promises in the past that has made us a little cautious.


Paul