Car of the year
Discussion
rainmasterb said:
ninjacost said:
Just looking through readers cars from this yr this is my favourite 
Well chuffed! Of all the many very nice cars on here, you chose the one I built! (or mostly paid somebody else to build for me to be honest, same difference right?!). Thanks!
I owned the car for about 3 years ago and sold it about 2 years ago. I know the chap I sold it too is on here but I haven't seen him post for a while and to be honest, I'm not sure if he still has it because I think it developed some engine problems?
I don't recall ever posting a build thread I'm afraid, but trying my best not to hijack this thread, here is a brief summary....
I bought it as a pretty standard later model (250bhp) Turbo with the desirable M030 option (larger brakes, stronger 1st and 2nd gears, Komi adjustables etc...), plus a decent stainless exhaust, some gorgeous 3-piece Speedline split rims, teardrop mirrors and a pretty substantial ICE build. Then set about building a fast-road/track car, as follows:
- removed ICE build completely, made and fitted head unit blank
- removed all interior behind front seats, including sound deadening, put carpets back in
- fitted half cage and Corbeau buckets, with Luke harnesses
- made and fitted RS-style door cards
- fitted new gear knob gaitor and deep dish suede sparco wheel
- fitted KWV3 suspension, readjusted torsion bars
- swapped wheels for unknown make of deep dish cup-style rims as speedlines where not best offset and rubbed after lowering suspension
- fitted 968 castor mounts
- fitted clear rear indicators (fronts and sides already done) and smoothed rear bumper
- removed rear wiper
- fitted 924 Turbo badge panel and black sunstrip
- removed air con condenser
Think that's about it, and as far as I know the next owner didn't do a great deal more to it bar a damn good detailing, which it certainly needed.
It was a great car. I loved the looks and the handling. I took it on several track days and it really did go superbly. It was fantastic at the 'ring and Spa, very composed and capable.
The one thing that for me let it down was the engine. It was powerful enough, even in standard tune, but wasn't very characterful, and didn't sound great. I felt like I had to be driving pretty hard to really enjoy the car, which meant that I didn't enjoy it enough of the time. Plus I needed to raise funds for a house deposit, and hence my decision to sell.
I have plenty of pictures but won't post them here and will see if the current owner wants to post some instead.
You can put an LS V8 in these with a bit of work. Now that might just be my dream car!
Cheers, Ben.
I don't recall ever posting a build thread I'm afraid, but trying my best not to hijack this thread, here is a brief summary....
I bought it as a pretty standard later model (250bhp) Turbo with the desirable M030 option (larger brakes, stronger 1st and 2nd gears, Komi adjustables etc...), plus a decent stainless exhaust, some gorgeous 3-piece Speedline split rims, teardrop mirrors and a pretty substantial ICE build. Then set about building a fast-road/track car, as follows:
- removed ICE build completely, made and fitted head unit blank
- removed all interior behind front seats, including sound deadening, put carpets back in
- fitted half cage and Corbeau buckets, with Luke harnesses
- made and fitted RS-style door cards
- fitted new gear knob gaitor and deep dish suede sparco wheel
- fitted KWV3 suspension, readjusted torsion bars
- swapped wheels for unknown make of deep dish cup-style rims as speedlines where not best offset and rubbed after lowering suspension
- fitted 968 castor mounts
- fitted clear rear indicators (fronts and sides already done) and smoothed rear bumper
- removed rear wiper
- fitted 924 Turbo badge panel and black sunstrip
- removed air con condenser
Think that's about it, and as far as I know the next owner didn't do a great deal more to it bar a damn good detailing, which it certainly needed.
It was a great car. I loved the looks and the handling. I took it on several track days and it really did go superbly. It was fantastic at the 'ring and Spa, very composed and capable.
The one thing that for me let it down was the engine. It was powerful enough, even in standard tune, but wasn't very characterful, and didn't sound great. I felt like I had to be driving pretty hard to really enjoy the car, which meant that I didn't enjoy it enough of the time. Plus I needed to raise funds for a house deposit, and hence my decision to sell.
I have plenty of pictures but won't post them here and will see if the current owner wants to post some instead.
You can put an LS V8 in these with a bit of work. Now that might just be my dream car!
Cheers, Ben.
just looks a well sorted motor :-)
rainmasterb said:
ninjacost said:
Just looking through readers cars from this yr this is my favourite
Well chuffed! Of all the many very nice cars on here, you chose the one I built! (or mostly paid somebody else to build for me to be honest, same difference right?!). Thanks!I'm a fan of mwstewart's work. His OEM+ M3 is impressive enough but the Fiesta is just nuts.
Max Torque's Seat Ibiza is a work of art.
Max Torque's Seat Ibiza is a work of art.
rainmasterb said:
I owned the car for about 3 years ago and sold it about 2 years ago. I know the chap I sold it too is on here but I haven't seen him post for a while and to be honest, I'm not sure if he still has it because I think it developed some engine problems?
I don't recall ever posting a build thread I'm afraid, but trying my best not to hijack this thread, here is a brief summary....
I bought it as a pretty standard later model (250bhp) Turbo with the desirable M030 option (larger brakes, stronger 1st and 2nd gears, Komi adjustables etc...), plus a decent stainless exhaust, some gorgeous 3-piece Speedline split rims, teardrop mirrors and a pretty substantial ICE build. Then set about building a fast-road/track car, as follows:
- removed ICE build completely, made and fitted head unit blank
- removed all interior behind front seats, including sound deadening, put carpets back in
- fitted half cage and Corbeau buckets, with Luke harnesses
- made and fitted RS-style door cards
- fitted new gear knob gaitor and deep dish suede sparco wheel
- fitted KWV3 suspension, readjusted torsion bars
- swapped wheels for unknown make of deep dish cup-style rims as speedlines where not best offset and rubbed after lowering suspension
- fitted 968 castor mounts
- fitted clear rear indicators (fronts and sides already done) and smoothed rear bumper
- removed rear wiper
- fitted 924 Turbo badge panel and black sunstrip
- removed air con condenser
Think that's about it, and as far as I know the next owner didn't do a great deal more to it bar a damn good detailing, which it certainly needed.
It was a great car. I loved the looks and the handling. I took it on several track days and it really did go superbly. It was fantastic at the 'ring and Spa, very composed and capable.
The one thing that for me let it down was the engine. It was powerful enough, even in standard tune, but wasn't very characterful, and didn't sound great. I felt like I had to be driving pretty hard to really enjoy the car, which meant that I didn't enjoy it enough of the time. Plus I needed to raise funds for a house deposit, and hence my decision to sell.
I have plenty of pictures but won't post them here and will see if the current owner wants to post some instead.
You can put an LS V8 in these with a bit of work. Now that might just be my dream car!
Cheers, Ben.
Hi Ben, if I remember correctly "dunners" bought your car and then had a few issues with it; I don't know what happened to it after that but I do know that the half cage now resides in my 944 Turbo S. I don't recall ever posting a build thread I'm afraid, but trying my best not to hijack this thread, here is a brief summary....
I bought it as a pretty standard later model (250bhp) Turbo with the desirable M030 option (larger brakes, stronger 1st and 2nd gears, Komi adjustables etc...), plus a decent stainless exhaust, some gorgeous 3-piece Speedline split rims, teardrop mirrors and a pretty substantial ICE build. Then set about building a fast-road/track car, as follows:
- removed ICE build completely, made and fitted head unit blank
- removed all interior behind front seats, including sound deadening, put carpets back in
- fitted half cage and Corbeau buckets, with Luke harnesses
- made and fitted RS-style door cards
- fitted new gear knob gaitor and deep dish suede sparco wheel
- fitted KWV3 suspension, readjusted torsion bars
- swapped wheels for unknown make of deep dish cup-style rims as speedlines where not best offset and rubbed after lowering suspension
- fitted 968 castor mounts
- fitted clear rear indicators (fronts and sides already done) and smoothed rear bumper
- removed rear wiper
- fitted 924 Turbo badge panel and black sunstrip
- removed air con condenser
Think that's about it, and as far as I know the next owner didn't do a great deal more to it bar a damn good detailing, which it certainly needed.
It was a great car. I loved the looks and the handling. I took it on several track days and it really did go superbly. It was fantastic at the 'ring and Spa, very composed and capable.
The one thing that for me let it down was the engine. It was powerful enough, even in standard tune, but wasn't very characterful, and didn't sound great. I felt like I had to be driving pretty hard to really enjoy the car, which meant that I didn't enjoy it enough of the time. Plus I needed to raise funds for a house deposit, and hence my decision to sell.
I have plenty of pictures but won't post them here and will see if the current owner wants to post some instead.
You can put an LS V8 in these with a bit of work. Now that might just be my dream car!
Cheers, Ben.
Mine is along a similar theme to how yours was, maybe a little more extreme with KW Clubsport suspension, monoball adjustable top mounts, monoball caster mounts and a Promax stage 2 kit seeing 310bhp.
I agree about the exhaust note though, a 3" free flowing system is next on my list.
I'll post some pics up when I'm not on the iPad.
Haha brilliant, I've just noticed this thread! Always nice to think my old car (and Ben's) has someone's 'car of the year' accolade.
Ben is correct (hi Ben, hope you're well!?), he did all the work, I just polished the thing and ended up killing it (sorry).
It truly was a fantastic car. Setup and corner weighted by Andy at ProMax in Buckinghamshire. It pissed on many a so called 'sports car' and got attention where ever it went.
The old girl died of head gasket failure and a cracked head. I couldn't afford to get her fixed at the time so advertised her as a 'project' for someone to resurrect... I'm hoping the chap who bought her didn't split her for parts.
As you can imagine I have quite a few pictures... any excuse, right? I did a 2000 mile trip around Scotland in 2012 and she didn't miss a beat. However, I think it was that trip which sealed her fate.
Pictures of when I first got her. At the time my old man had a 968 CS so we couldn't resist a photoshoot...
Theses are pictures of a series of Pistonhead 'runs' I attended. As said, she could keep up with most things.
And this was the trip around Scotland with a pre-tour 'detail' (looking her best)
Ben is correct (hi Ben, hope you're well!?), he did all the work, I just polished the thing and ended up killing it (sorry).
It truly was a fantastic car. Setup and corner weighted by Andy at ProMax in Buckinghamshire. It pissed on many a so called 'sports car' and got attention where ever it went.
The old girl died of head gasket failure and a cracked head. I couldn't afford to get her fixed at the time so advertised her as a 'project' for someone to resurrect... I'm hoping the chap who bought her didn't split her for parts.
As you can imagine I have quite a few pictures... any excuse, right? I did a 2000 mile trip around Scotland in 2012 and she didn't miss a beat. However, I think it was that trip which sealed her fate.
Pictures of when I first got her. At the time my old man had a 968 CS so we couldn't resist a photoshoot...
Theses are pictures of a series of Pistonhead 'runs' I attended. As said, she could keep up with most things.
And this was the trip around Scotland with a pre-tour 'detail' (looking her best)
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