Thinking of buying a G4
Discussion
Good quality powder coating is indeed sturdy stuff as daydreamer says and takes some shifting.
However, you also find poor quality powder coating that seems to let water get under it at sharp edges, leading to rusting underneath.
Knowing Dare, the G4 will only use the good quality stuff.
However, you also find poor quality powder coating that seems to let water get under it at sharp edges, leading to rusting underneath.
Knowing Dare, the G4 will only use the good quality stuff.
Maybe I could get a motor bike for the bad weather? 
So far I'm still not sure about the solid windows being pulled off the car at higher speeds, but at least I think it may be a little more water tight with the holes in than I first thought- I wonder if Paul would let me take his demo G4 through a car wash to check?
I'll just have to go down in the deepest winter months for a test drive to see for sure.
So far I'm still not sure about the solid windows being pulled off the car at higher speeds, but at least I think it may be a little more water tight with the holes in than I first thought- I wonder if Paul would let me take his demo G4 through a car wash to check?
I'll just have to go down in the deepest winter months for a test drive to see for sure.
Well, after a lot of heart searching, I've decided not to get a G4 just now. I'd only be able to keep it as a main car, so until I have the room to keep it as a spare/weekend/race car, I'll have to put the dream in a pipe.
Thanks for your advice, and when I do come to get one (soon as I can convince the misses we need to move somewhere with more room) I'll be getting one, and back on here asking lots of stupid questions about how to get my racing licences, and where to buy fire suits.
Thanks again guys, hope to speak again soon!
Thanks for your advice, and when I do come to get one (soon as I can convince the misses we need to move somewhere with more room
) I'll be getting one, and back on here asking lots of stupid questions about how to get my racing licences, and where to buy fire suits. Thanks again guys, hope to speak again soon!
Hopefull I'll be popping over to Paul Stephens either this weekend or next.
Hopefull the crap weather will be around so I ca see what the cars are really like in the wet (I never thought I'd be saying that!).
If all goes well, I'll be putting my order for one in. I'll get it now, and plan to move in a year or so to somewhere with a garage, and is a bit nearer work so I don't shell out massive amounts on train fares every year.
Can anybody point me to an insurer? I tried Footman James, they came back with a quote just shy of 4 grand
It will be used everyday.
It will be left in the train station car park.
It will be outside 29 nights in every 30.
It will be hated by the misses.
It will be a god in my eyes.
Hopefull the crap weather will be around so I ca see what the cars are really like in the wet (I never thought I'd be saying that!).
If all goes well, I'll be putting my order for one in. I'll get it now, and plan to move in a year or so to somewhere with a garage, and is a bit nearer work so I don't shell out massive amounts on train fares every year.
Can anybody point me to an insurer? I tried Footman James, they came back with a quote just shy of 4 grand
It will be used everyday.
It will be left in the train station car park.
It will be outside 29 nights in every 30.
It will be hated by the misses.
It will be a god in my eyes.
That was very good!
But I don't think it is anymore, no. I may call up FJ and ask what details they had on me, as that seems mad. I'll be 25+ when it arrives, with 4+ years NCB. When I was 22 with 1 year NCB they gave me a quote of about 1.2k fully comp. Now I'm almost 3 years older, with the extra NCB, and it's over 3 times as much. Yes I have an SP60 from a couple of years ago, but that's not worth THAT much is it?
But I don't think it is anymore, no. I may call up FJ and ask what details they had on me, as that seems mad. I'll be 25+ when it arrives, with 4+ years NCB. When I was 22 with 1 year NCB they gave me a quote of about 1.2k fully comp. Now I'm almost 3 years older, with the extra NCB, and it's over 3 times as much. Yes I have an SP60 from a couple of years ago, but that's not worth THAT much is it?
STILL waiting on a quote to come throught from Graham Sykes 
I'm off to Paul Stephens tomorrow to look at a G4 in the wet - thought I now hear it will be dry tomorrow - and do a direct comparison to a lotus elise, possibly a Marcos Mantaray, hopefully a Noble M12 GTO 3R. I may also have a look at the G20 they currently have - they just sold the black G33 though I'll try and do a write up, but I'm no journalist - and post it, if anybody cares? I forgot the cameras though, so I'll only have low res camera phone pictures to offer
>> Edited by ninjadave on Monday 4th April 12:41
I'm off to Paul Stephens tomorrow to look at a G4 in the wet - thought I now hear it will be dry tomorrow - and do a direct comparison to a lotus elise, possibly a Marcos Mantaray, hopefully a Noble M12 GTO 3R. I may also have a look at the G20 they currently have - they just sold the black G33 though
I'll try and do a write up, but I'm no journalist - and post it, if anybody cares? I forgot the cameras though, so I'll only have low res camera phone pictures to offer >> Edited by ninjadave on Monday 4th April 12:41
I was hoping that the weather lady had got it wrong again. That Saturday was going to bring rain like we haven't seen on this small isle since it was tropical. Opening the curtains in anticipation showed me a clear blue sky, and a sun shining more than a hotel full of ghosts and insane writers.
I should have taken this as an omen of the day ahead, but alas, I jumped in my car to head on down to Essex with optimism up to my eyes. After a couple of hours flying through dual carriage way hell, I arrive at Paul Stephen's garage eager and ready to play with some very nice cars. After walking in, I realise that they have no idea who I am, or that I was even meant to be there. This was a little disappointing, as I had spoken to the garage only the day before to arrange the test drives.
After this initial confusion they rolled out the 1.8 Zetec G4, running about 130 bhp. Whilst this wasn't the car I was after, it would at least give me a sense of the cars abilities, build quality, and if I could fit my increased lardiness inside.
After trying to strap myself into the 4 point harness on the passenger side, I realised that I was simply too small for it to fit. Apparently the previous owner was a little on the large side, and had the harnesses changed to fit him. I decided that a little loose was better than not being able to play, and we headed out.
The exhaust sounded terrific! Much better than I had expected after getting used to my pretty loud V6 howl. The ride was firm, but not harsh and felt planted. In fact it took going around a small round about twice and exiting at 65mph to start the car sliding.
Road noise wasn’t as much as I had anticipated. Buffeting from the wind was bearable, but would make long journeys hard. A cacophony of rattles accompanied the wobbly dials and road noise, but the soft top roof was in the boot, so I put all this to one side, and after a couple of miles, we pulled over, switched, and I drove off.
The first thing I noticed was the sheer lack of space around the pedals. I had a hard time breaking, as my clutch foot blocked access to the break pedal. Couple this with the heel of my left show getting stuck in front of the mat, meant it wasn’t the easiest car to jump in and drive. Perhaps I could change the setup to make it easier all round, I would look later. The clutch was heavy, but very responsive. Trying to get the power down in 1st generally meant switching into 2nd or just wheel spinning. However the acceleration wasn’t mind blowing and whilst it only weighed in at a piffling 650kilos, the car felt heavier than my 1.2 tonne FTO. This may have just been down to the lack of power steering, so I pressed on to higher speeds to see if it would lighten up. Once it was up to 80-100 it flowed very well; roundabouts didn’t pose any threat to the grip nor did any sharp bends.
Being so low made all the small things seem pretty big: Some paper bag rubbish from a famous Scottish clown had blown onto the road, looking like an APC mine that had to be avoided at all costs.
Once we got back to the garage, and off the private road, I had a proper look at the car. This is where things start to get worse. The car was registered in 2002, and had just turned 3. It had barely covered 8,000 miles in that time, living pretty much constantly in a garage or lockup. And yet it was looking decidedly beat up. Chrome was loosing its shine with pock marks is something I can forgive and put down to bad choice of materials. Exposed nuts and bolts keeping the windows in place going rusty and affecting the GRP body is not. The angle chorus was told their services were no longer needed whenever I looked at the car. The paint was chipping off, and the engine was becoming a large block of rust; something more care may have prevented I know. Inside the car didn’t fare much better, with loose wiring and interior fitment I started removing the pedestal I had mentally put the car on. This got me thinking about the interior space and not being able to fit my feet in, no matter what I did with the setup. Finally, the spot lights came down, and I had packed up my metaphorical G4 road show to head on home.
All of the things I saw wrong with the car, I could have lived with, and would, in a mall way, have expected with a G20, G27, or a G33. However, this was meant to be a car built to a high standard, by the brothers who started the legacy in a factory dedicated to the process, not a kit car built by an enthusiast, in their garage, trying to come in under a tight budget.
The aim of the trip had just been to test out the water-tightness and handling in the wet of a G4. The outcome had been to dispel my illusions about the sheer quality of the G4 making them worth all those extra pennies.
If the extra effort had been put into making this car to the standard of the ones I’ve seen in the shows with a better choice of materials, then the G4 would be worth every penny of the price tag, unfortunately this car just showed me they aren’t.
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/devilwars/G4/HPIM0156.JPG
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/devilwars/G4/HPIM0157.JPG
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/devilwars/G4/HPIM0158.JPG
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/devilwars/G4/HPIM0159.JPG
Edited to link to photos
>> Edited by ninjadave on Monday 4th April 15:50
I should have taken this as an omen of the day ahead, but alas, I jumped in my car to head on down to Essex with optimism up to my eyes. After a couple of hours flying through dual carriage way hell, I arrive at Paul Stephen's garage eager and ready to play with some very nice cars. After walking in, I realise that they have no idea who I am, or that I was even meant to be there. This was a little disappointing, as I had spoken to the garage only the day before to arrange the test drives.
After this initial confusion they rolled out the 1.8 Zetec G4, running about 130 bhp. Whilst this wasn't the car I was after, it would at least give me a sense of the cars abilities, build quality, and if I could fit my increased lardiness inside.
After trying to strap myself into the 4 point harness on the passenger side, I realised that I was simply too small for it to fit. Apparently the previous owner was a little on the large side, and had the harnesses changed to fit him. I decided that a little loose was better than not being able to play, and we headed out.
The exhaust sounded terrific! Much better than I had expected after getting used to my pretty loud V6 howl. The ride was firm, but not harsh and felt planted. In fact it took going around a small round about twice and exiting at 65mph to start the car sliding.
Road noise wasn’t as much as I had anticipated. Buffeting from the wind was bearable, but would make long journeys hard. A cacophony of rattles accompanied the wobbly dials and road noise, but the soft top roof was in the boot, so I put all this to one side, and after a couple of miles, we pulled over, switched, and I drove off.
The first thing I noticed was the sheer lack of space around the pedals. I had a hard time breaking, as my clutch foot blocked access to the break pedal. Couple this with the heel of my left show getting stuck in front of the mat, meant it wasn’t the easiest car to jump in and drive. Perhaps I could change the setup to make it easier all round, I would look later. The clutch was heavy, but very responsive. Trying to get the power down in 1st generally meant switching into 2nd or just wheel spinning. However the acceleration wasn’t mind blowing and whilst it only weighed in at a piffling 650kilos, the car felt heavier than my 1.2 tonne FTO. This may have just been down to the lack of power steering, so I pressed on to higher speeds to see if it would lighten up. Once it was up to 80-100 it flowed very well; roundabouts didn’t pose any threat to the grip nor did any sharp bends.
Being so low made all the small things seem pretty big: Some paper bag rubbish from a famous Scottish clown had blown onto the road, looking like an APC mine that had to be avoided at all costs.
Once we got back to the garage, and off the private road, I had a proper look at the car. This is where things start to get worse. The car was registered in 2002, and had just turned 3. It had barely covered 8,000 miles in that time, living pretty much constantly in a garage or lockup. And yet it was looking decidedly beat up. Chrome was loosing its shine with pock marks is something I can forgive and put down to bad choice of materials. Exposed nuts and bolts keeping the windows in place going rusty and affecting the GRP body is not. The angle chorus was told their services were no longer needed whenever I looked at the car. The paint was chipping off, and the engine was becoming a large block of rust; something more care may have prevented I know. Inside the car didn’t fare much better, with loose wiring and interior fitment I started removing the pedestal I had mentally put the car on. This got me thinking about the interior space and not being able to fit my feet in, no matter what I did with the setup. Finally, the spot lights came down, and I had packed up my metaphorical G4 road show to head on home.
All of the things I saw wrong with the car, I could have lived with, and would, in a mall way, have expected with a G20, G27, or a G33. However, this was meant to be a car built to a high standard, by the brothers who started the legacy in a factory dedicated to the process, not a kit car built by an enthusiast, in their garage, trying to come in under a tight budget.
The aim of the trip had just been to test out the water-tightness and handling in the wet of a G4. The outcome had been to dispel my illusions about the sheer quality of the G4 making them worth all those extra pennies.
If the extra effort had been put into making this car to the standard of the ones I’ve seen in the shows with a better choice of materials, then the G4 would be worth every penny of the price tag, unfortunately this car just showed me they aren’t.
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/devilwars/G4/HPIM0156.JPG
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/devilwars/G4/HPIM0157.JPG
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/devilwars/G4/HPIM0158.JPG
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/devilwars/G4/HPIM0159.JPG
Edited to link to photos
>> Edited by ninjadave on Monday 4th April 15:50
To try and keep you on the Ginetta path, try talking to Richard at Richmond Racing (link around somewhere). I have no idea what they may be able to do for you, but he is a Ginetta enthusiast and knows an awful lot about the cars. Getting him to put one toghether for you should mean that the shutlines are closed and the interior stays on the inside!!!
Martin (Ginetta not Dare) is only advertising the G20 at the moment, as he is trying to run two race series, and doesn't have a great deal of spare time. However, I don't believe that the G33 design has been sold, so you may be able to get yourself a late iteration G4, with the well proven race updates, at the quality that they all should be built at. Would be a shame to give up after years of build up. The handling really is still up there with the best of what is on offer - and for stand out value, there can't be a second.
Martin (Ginetta not Dare) is only advertising the G20 at the moment, as he is trying to run two race series, and doesn't have a great deal of spare time. However, I don't believe that the G33 design has been sold, so you may be able to get yourself a late iteration G4, with the well proven race updates, at the quality that they all should be built at. Would be a shame to give up after years of build up. The handling really is still up there with the best of what is on offer - and for stand out value, there can't be a second.
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