James Hall bought his Ultima Mk 4 late in 2000 and after a single outing at Castle Combe at the end of the season spent the winter rebuilding. Bought in 1993, the car was built by Reading University students on behalf of its initial owner. It was registered in 1995. James suffered an engine failure in his first race so the first item on his shopping list was a 330bhp John Eales 4.8 litre Rover V8. With a hugely wide torque curve it makes racing that little bit easier.
Suspension and geometry was checked out by Martin Short's team at Rollcentre before this season's racing began.
Gearbox specialists Glebe engineering rebuilt the Renault 30 gearbox over the winter, although funds permitting James would like to swap it for a Quaife 'box.
Although supplied with 12 inch wide wheels, tyres couldn't be found to fit, so the Ultima is fitted with 10x17" wheels at the rear and 8x16" at the front, all wearing Yokohama A032's.
Slowing is as good as going thanks to Brembo 330mm disks and four pot calipers.
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That was very
difficult. I'm not talking about squeezing my bulkyframe into James Hall's Ultima, that was surprisingly easy. What was difficultwas manouvring the beast around Bentwaters without getting in the way of otherdrivers. Why? I hear you ask. A valid question - with 330bhp at my disposal, Ishouldn't have been hanging around. Piloting the Ultima Mk 4 was a somewhat morechallenging task than I anticipated.
As mentioned, getting into the car wasn't a problem. Wide opening doors giveeasy access to the cockpit, which is a perfect fit for two people. I meanperfect too - with both of you ensconced there is little room for manouvre. As apassenger it's almost scary. With no room to move apart from waving your handsaround (which isn't particularly helpful to the driver) it actually feels claustrophobic.Then looking forwards through the bulbous windscreen you realise that claustrophobiais not the sensation to be experiencing with so much space in front of you.
A flick of the switch and the 4.8 litre V8 blasts into life behind you, acacophony of exhaust noise and a manifold blowing. I flick the fans on and slipthe sill mounted gearstick into first and edge forwards, letting in thephenomenally heavy clutch in. A bit more right welly needed - the Ultima isn'tabout pussy-footing around after all. I'm having trouble with the pedal boxalready. The offset position and the shallow footwell have me pressing morepedals than a church organist as well as using my passenger's feet as afootrest. I make a mental note to be more selective with my feet.
Up the rev range and into second. No problem. Turn the wheel into the firstright hander. The steering's pretty heavy at low speed, but it's very direct.Around the left hander and I give the throttle a nice squeeze. Up to third...third gear... in here somewhere... got it... damn... now I need second gear. Theremote linkage feels like its 30 feet long as I fish for a gear. Found it, orhave I? This thing's got so much torque I think I might be in fourth! A furtherprod of the throttle confirms it to be second as we hurtle forwards onto theback straight as I enjoy a hearty burst of what the V8 has to offer.
I ease up to give myself time to think. Pottering down the back straight at50mph. A quick squint in my mirror and I can just make out a Caterham hurtlingup behind me. Up to third again and chasing after the Caterham. Not too close asI haven't tested the brakes yet. I needn't have worried. Making good use of theharnesses, I feel the car decelerate extremely rapidly and the engine spews outpure evil behind me with popping and banging sounding like a spade banging in abucket. A dab of unintentional heel and toe and we head round for another lap.
Stillunable to coordinate the consequences of my random pedal actions with my rightwrist seeking out random gears I bumble around getting in the way of the otherdrivers. Three more laps and I can just about make a circuit without too much embarrassment.
I pull in and relax. My first question to James: "How the hell do youdrive that competitively for half an hour at a time!?
".
We swapped seats. He floored it and we sped off with the engine roaring,banging and clattering like a class of five year olds in the school music room.A turn of the wheel and the car changes direction in an instant. Heading intothe hairpin at twice the speed I managed, James stands on the brakes and theblurred tarmac once again comes into focus. Turning back on ourselves anover-keen right foot kicks the back end out and we slither up the track wheelsa-spinning. Just in time to crash down the gearbox, slam the brakes on and flingthe car the other way. A missed gear (it wasn't just me!) and once again we headdown the back straight, this time with the engine screaming two gears higherthan I ever saw. One final set of extreme G forces and we've completed the lap.He made that look so easy...
PistonHeads Verdict
(Based on today's randomly selected criteria)
Performance:
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No further comment required
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Desirability:
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Let's face it, all 900kg, 330bhp cars are desirable
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Ease of Use:
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I was all fingers, thumbs and feet
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Practicality:
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Hopelessly impractical for anything but track fun.
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Overall:
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Great fun on track - I just need some more practice and a gearbox with some gears in it.
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James Hall competes in the Jaguar Car Club's Tom Rowe Centurian Challenge. Curiously it doesn't feature any Jaguars, the grids being dominated by Caterhams and Westfields.
The Ultima currently holds its own thanks to its power to weight ratio but James is planning work to give him equality in the corners where the 7's are currently taking advantage.
Links:
Jaguar Car Club
, Ultima Links
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We tried the Ultima at Bentwaters Airfield in Suffolk on one of Bookatrack's regular track days. Thanks to a new route around the airfield, cleaner surfaces and no more sheep(!), the day proved extremely entertaining.
Airfield days such as this are really piling pressure on traditional venues to provide better value for money. Bookatrack charge only £99 for a day - great value considering the airfield circuit is becoming almost as entertaining as bona fide race circuits.
Link:
Bookatrack.com
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