GINETTA G4
Track day or every day? Graham Bell samples the spritely Ginetta G4 Coupe
Performance
through lightness is a principle normally associated with Lotus, though several
less famous marques have also employed it to good effect, most notably the
Walklett brother's Ginetta company, which produced a series of successful sports
cars during the 60s.
The one that really made Ginetta's name was the pretty little G4 made from 1961 to 1968 and which later formed the basis of the G27 and its derivatives. Much admired and much sought after, customer demand eventually led the Walkletts to put the G4 back into production in the mid-90s. By that time the Walkletts had sold the Ginetta company to Martin Phaff, so the current Ginetta G4 isn't actually made by Ginetta but by Dare.
We've has taken a detailed look at the history of the G4 in the past, so now it's time to take a detailed look at the car itself, which we've been able to do thanks to Brooke Kensington, Dare's sole UK dealership.
You Sexy Thing
The
G4's success and appeal come from its combination of a lightweight tubular
spaceframe chassis and a curvy glass fibre body that's very Sixties and very
sexy. Of course back in 1961 all sports cars had skinny wheels and tyres, and
modest 6x13" wheels shod with 185/60 tyres are enough to fill the G4's
wheel arches, so when the Walkletts put the car back into production they
introduced a wide body option (as fitted to the test car) which enables the
fitting of 205/60 rubber on 7" rims on the rear to help cope with more
power.
Good job too as the G4 is now available with 195bhp in road trim and a stonking 230bhp for competition use. Standard engine fitment these days is Ford's Zetec in either 1800cc or 2-litre form, though the Kent series of pushrod engines and the Lotus twin cam can be fitted for those wanting the full 1960s effect. The car featured here has a 165bhp 2-litre Zetec with Weber Alpha fuel injection and optional dry sump.
All Couped Up
Although
carpeted, the G4's interior is decidedly spartan, with creature comforts
consisting of a tiny heater above the passenger's footwell and - er - that's it.
It doesn't seem to put much heat out, but believe me, on a chilly mid-December
morning when you're coming down with a cold you're glad it's there. In the
circumstances I was also glad it was the hardtop coupe version rather than the
ragtop roadster, though less than perfect sealing round the doors and window
vents meant it was still slightly draughty.
The G4 is a compact machine and its cockpit is either cosy or claustrophobic depending on your point of view and who you're sharing it with. Although it suited my 5' 9" 'Mr Average' frame just fine I think people over six feet could struggle, and fat boys definitely needn't bother because even with a 32" waist there's not much spare bum room in the bucket seats.
For
those who can fit into the seats the driving position is excellent, with the
floor-mounted pedals being dead ahead and well spaced. However, the narrow
footwell means there's no space to rest your left foot, so you end up with your
leg bent, foot poised just above the clutch pedal. Not a problem on a twisty
road or race track when you're constantly using it, but something that could be
a real pain after a couple of hours motorway driving although that of course
isn't the G4's natural environment.
With 165bhp propelling a mere 650kg, rapid acceleration can be taken as read. And indeed for this brief road test it had to be because the car was new and destined for a customer, so out of mechanical sympathy I limited the revs to 4000rpm, which as things don't really start happening until over 3000rpm and max power's at 6250rpm made for mundane straight line performance. It didn't help that the engine was obviously tight as evidenced by the starter's struggle to turn it over. For the record, when it's run in this engine should get the G4 from 0-60 in a shade over five seconds, while the 195bhp version does it in a shade under, both topping out at around the 130 mark.
Fire the engine up and you instantly become aware that the G4 is loud. In fact even at the modest revs I was using it's one of the loudest cars I've driven and this too is something that could become a pain on long mundane runs, though of course that's hardly what the G4 is about.
Rapid Response Unit
You
soon appreciate what the G4 is about when you get it rolling and I was
immediately impressed by the responsiveness of the unassisted steering, each tug
on the steering wheel producing an instantaneous change of direction. With about
2.4 turns lock to lock it's quick, light and a joy to use, with the only
steering bugbear being caused by the indicators, these being operated by
three-position rocker switch which can mean having to use your right hand to
flick the switch just when you really want it for turning the wheel when doing a
quick right-left manoeuvre at roundabouts.
The steering's responsiveness is perfectly complemented by the sensitivity of the suspension. This consists of all round wishbones with Dare designed uprights, Spax adjustable coilovers and a mixture of Rose joints and rubber bushes (though with very little rubber) and in such a light car it provides a level of communication with the road that gives the impression that if you ran over a postage stamp you'd be able to feel it.
However, while this might be a boon from a feedback point of view, the constant vibrations transmitted up through the thinly padded bucket seat didn't score highly in the comfort stakes, though this hard ride might simply have been down to the damper settings.
Road Going Race Car?
With
Mark Walklett having won several races in a G4 in recent years there can be no
doubting the car's cornering abilities, but cars that work well on the smooth
surface of a race track can struggle on the road, and indeed, along a twisty B
road the G4 sometimes felt a bit nervous. Or maybe that was me. I don't know if
it was down to my lack of familiarity with the feel of the car, incorrect tyre
pressures or the firm suspension being unsettled by mid-bend bumps, but even
when cornering at normal road speeds there were times when it felt like it was
starting to slide. To be fair there was the legacy of a frosty morning with a
scattering of damp and slippery patches lingering throughout the day.
As it was, the only time the G4 actually got out of shape was when I hit one such slippery patch while applying the power exiting a roundabout and the inevitable happened. However, thanks to the intimate feel provided by the suspension, on a smooth surface you can sense G4's back end going almost before it happens and a slight lift on the throttle and a touch of opposite lock quickly stopped things becoming too lurid. Just glad I wasn't reaching for the indicator switch at the time...
However,
driving the G4 wasn't always so disconcerting or so dramatic. My run in the car
was short and didn't give the chance to check, adjust or tweak the setup an
owner would no doubt do.
It was sufficient to get a true impression of other aspects of the car though, such as the delightfully quick shift action of the Ford 5-speed gearbox with its modified gear lever and the fact that even though there's no servo it doesn't need much pressure on the middle pedal to get the all round discs slowing you down.
Track Day or Every Day?
Recent
minor revisions to the G4 to suit SVA regulations have also seen the omission of
the spare wheel, meaning the G4 now has more boot space than an Elise. So is it
practical? Well, while lots of people happily live with an Elise as a daily
driver I can't see many doing it with a G4. It's just too raw, especially if you
regularly have to drive long distances in bad weather, and I imagine that
constant exposure to dirt and water would wear those Rose joints out pretty
quickly too.
No, the G4 is best as a second car you can take out on nice days for a quick blast along twisting B roads - or better still a race track, which is probably the G4's preferred habitat and one where that Rose jointed suspension can really come into its own.
Prices for all new turnkey G4s start at £17,995 inc. VAT for the 150bhp 1800cc version, though you can save money by opting for the kit version.
Of course if that's too expensive or you just don't find the G4 raw enough there's always its cheaper and even more spartan descendent the G20, which we'll be trying out in January. Time to wrap up warm again...
Copyright Graham Bell 2002