Thinking of joining the Ultima community
Discussion
Hi Ultima Owners,
So ive been out of a weekend toy for too long and the garage is getting filled with baby stuff and old furniture, this is something that haunts my dreams at night and needs to be remedied urgently.
Ive had a number of cars over the years and am well aware of what I would be getting into with an ultima, and just for clarity im looking at GTR's.
Im pretty knowledgeable when it comes to the main stream marques, but will admit my knowledge runs short when talking about Ultimas and chevy engines, hence why im here requesting your wisdom.
To my understanding you can have an LS engine or an american speed engine, not sure what the big differences are so some help here would be good, also I understand that as these are kit cars and not one will be the same, the options will vary drastically so can you kindly assist with what I should be looking for and essentials, and what can be added.
I have seen these cars on the road but haven't really paid much attention, I really need to see one up close and have a sit and ride in one to really see what they are all about, if there is anyone on here that is around the hertfordshire/essex area I would be very grateful to come and meet you with an offer of a coffee and maybe cake so I can see what the ultima experience is really all about.
Thanks in advance
So ive been out of a weekend toy for too long and the garage is getting filled with baby stuff and old furniture, this is something that haunts my dreams at night and needs to be remedied urgently.
Ive had a number of cars over the years and am well aware of what I would be getting into with an ultima, and just for clarity im looking at GTR's.
Im pretty knowledgeable when it comes to the main stream marques, but will admit my knowledge runs short when talking about Ultimas and chevy engines, hence why im here requesting your wisdom.
To my understanding you can have an LS engine or an american speed engine, not sure what the big differences are so some help here would be good, also I understand that as these are kit cars and not one will be the same, the options will vary drastically so can you kindly assist with what I should be looking for and essentials, and what can be added.
I have seen these cars on the road but haven't really paid much attention, I really need to see one up close and have a sit and ride in one to really see what they are all about, if there is anyone on here that is around the hertfordshire/essex area I would be very grateful to come and meet you with an offer of a coffee and maybe cake so I can see what the ultima experience is really all about.
Thanks in advance
Hi Peter,
I am in Scotland which is a long way to come to see one.... but if you bring cake then I guess I could stay in for the day
I'm not too techie or mechanically minded so will leave it to others to get into the nitty gritty of the various options or things to consider. When I was buying my priority was for something that would (hopefully) not need me to spend too much time in the garage faffing around with oily bits so I specifically looked for one with a more modern LS engine rather than the older short block engine on the basis that it was less likely to need me to know much about engines. Other than that, I was fairly open minded. In reality your budget will have a big influence on the spec you will likely be looking at.
I have a thread running in the Readers Wives.. err... Readers Cars section on my GTR which shows that you can start with one standard of spec and end up somewhere else.
There have been a few similar posts fairly recently or ones asking about various cars in the classifieds and a lot of good info has come through in these so have a search back over the past few months.
There is also a fairly active Ultima Owners group on Facebook and you might get more input there from folk not on PH.
I am in Scotland which is a long way to come to see one.... but if you bring cake then I guess I could stay in for the day
I'm not too techie or mechanically minded so will leave it to others to get into the nitty gritty of the various options or things to consider. When I was buying my priority was for something that would (hopefully) not need me to spend too much time in the garage faffing around with oily bits so I specifically looked for one with a more modern LS engine rather than the older short block engine on the basis that it was less likely to need me to know much about engines. Other than that, I was fairly open minded. In reality your budget will have a big influence on the spec you will likely be looking at.
I have a thread running in the Readers Wives.. err... Readers Cars section on my GTR which shows that you can start with one standard of spec and end up somewhere else.
There have been a few similar posts fairly recently or ones asking about various cars in the classifieds and a lot of good info has come through in these so have a search back over the past few months.
There is also a fairly active Ultima Owners group on Facebook and you might get more input there from folk not on PH.
Hi,
A quick bit of engine info:
American Speed are the factory approved engine supplier
LS are a family of more modern fuel injected Chevy engines. Modern manners, but not boring.
SBC are the more traditional Chevy engines, typically carburettor fed, more old school manners, some may say more characterful.
A quick bit of engine info:
American Speed are the factory approved engine supplier
LS are a family of more modern fuel injected Chevy engines. Modern manners, but not boring.
SBC are the more traditional Chevy engines, typically carburettor fed, more old school manners, some may say more characterful.
renmure said:
Hi Peter,
I am in Scotland which is a long way to come to see one.... but if you bring cake then I guess I could stay in for the day
I'm not too techie or mechanically minded so will leave it to others to get into the nitty gritty of the various options or things to consider. When I was buying my priority was for something that would (hopefully) not need me to spend too much time in the garage faffing around with oily bits so I specifically looked for one with a more modern LS engine rather than the older short block engine on the basis that it was less likely to need me to know much about engines. Other than that, I was fairly open minded. In reality your budget will have a big influence on the spec you will likely be looking at.
I have a thread running in the Readers Wives.. err... Readers Cars section on my GTR which shows that you can start with one standard of spec and end up somewhere else.
There have been a few similar posts fairly recently or ones asking about various cars in the classifieds and a lot of good info has come through in these so have a search back over the past few months.
There is also a fairly active Ultima Owners group on Facebook and you might get more input there from folk not on PH.
HI Jim,I am in Scotland which is a long way to come to see one.... but if you bring cake then I guess I could stay in for the day
I'm not too techie or mechanically minded so will leave it to others to get into the nitty gritty of the various options or things to consider. When I was buying my priority was for something that would (hopefully) not need me to spend too much time in the garage faffing around with oily bits so I specifically looked for one with a more modern LS engine rather than the older short block engine on the basis that it was less likely to need me to know much about engines. Other than that, I was fairly open minded. In reality your budget will have a big influence on the spec you will likely be looking at.
I have a thread running in the Readers Wives.. err... Readers Cars section on my GTR which shows that you can start with one standard of spec and end up somewhere else.
There have been a few similar posts fairly recently or ones asking about various cars in the classifieds and a lot of good info has come through in these so have a search back over the past few months.
There is also a fairly active Ultima Owners group on Facebook and you might get more input there from folk not on PH.
Thank for your input, unfortunately Scotland is a little far, but glad my offer of cake got you to consider an offer...
I kind of figured that if the car hasn't got everything wanted it could be added, things like stereo, spoiler, splitter etc etc
The engines really where i need to explore further, I understand the newer LS engines are fuel injected and would be more reliable as you say, is there a difference between the short block engines and the american speed engine, or are they the same engine?
Whilst im ok with a spanner I dont think I would want to be guessing if the car would start every time I wanted to drive it
ve had a look over the previous posts on here as suggested, ill check your thread on reader wives....oh sorry readers cars when I get a chance..Haha
Thanks again
Edited by pje1210 on Tuesday 11th July 20:25
Why not come to the Silverstone Classic the factory and a number of owners will be there with their cars including myself and we will be only to happy to talk about our cars. Essentially to answer your question the LS engine is a lighter fuel injected engine that will start without driver input. The SBC engine or Small block Chevy engine is the older carburettor engine although some do run fuel injection too. These carb engines will need driver input to start by depressing the accelerator pedal a couple of times when cold but this will vary from set up to set up. Essentially a well maintained engine will start and run reliablly if you know how to manage it.
A potential welcome to the club. Good advice on this thread. I'll just add a bit more...
Heretical statements follow
I have a GTR/LS7. I'm a bit of a tech guy and can't imagine going with a conventional small block. But that's me. It's a powerful beast, but I don't find it satisfying. My (sort of) daily driver is a Porsche 997S and I previously owned a 2005 Ford GT with the Coyote-esque 32 valve supercharged motor.
Point is, the higher revving nature of the 3.8 L Porsche or even the Coyote was much more to my liking. I'm hoping for the day that I can save up the $$ and deal with the complexity of finding a modern Porsche GT3 motor for the car. The horsepower versus torque is just a more interesting experience for me.
So, back to the OP. It depends on what you've driven before and the power curve and visceral effects that satisfies you. But all that said, the LS7 is an incredibly impressive motor, particularly for the price.
Heretical statements follow
I have a GTR/LS7. I'm a bit of a tech guy and can't imagine going with a conventional small block. But that's me. It's a powerful beast, but I don't find it satisfying. My (sort of) daily driver is a Porsche 997S and I previously owned a 2005 Ford GT with the Coyote-esque 32 valve supercharged motor.
Point is, the higher revving nature of the 3.8 L Porsche or even the Coyote was much more to my liking. I'm hoping for the day that I can save up the $$ and deal with the complexity of finding a modern Porsche GT3 motor for the car. The horsepower versus torque is just a more interesting experience for me.
So, back to the OP. It depends on what you've driven before and the power curve and visceral effects that satisfies you. But all that said, the LS7 is an incredibly impressive motor, particularly for the price.
Here's my input...When I started looking I went to the factory to have a real good look at the cars and their engineering and had an 'interesting' test ride as a passenger. That way you can really gauge what you are getting into. I then set out what criteria I would want in a car - although there is a very limited supply, (unless you build your own) - so be prepared for some compromise. Whilst I can do most things on the car myself I went for the simple route of an Americanspeed SBC with a carburettor - whilst they have their idiosyncrasies they don't have issues with sensors and mapping, high pressure fuel pumps etc. If you aren't going to work on the car yourself you also need to consider who will work on it for you. As my car is basic simple engineering I can get a local classic car restorer to do any jobs I don't want to do myself. I also wanted a car with a full roll cage - especially for track use but also as a precaution on the road. (I had a Noble M12 GTR that a learner driver suddenly reversed up onto in a traffic jam which was a truly frightening experience looking at the underside of a car coming up towards you. True that's a very rare type of scenario but it makes you consider the strength of the A pillars in a car and not just for roll over protection). I also wanted over 500bhp as I think it makes it easier to sell on and a central gearchange. The rest is really less important and can be where compromises need to occur. The further away the car is from a 'standard factory' specification however the harder it will be to get help when things go wrong - in my opinion.
pje1210 said:
Hi All,
Thank you for your time and advise, all very helpful, I've been to see two examples now and was absolutely gutted when I lost out on the second one recently.
The search continues and all advise/information is welcomed.
Thanks again all.
Are you looking for new or used? If you want a brand new GTR, drop me a PM Thank you for your time and advise, all very helpful, I've been to see two examples now and was absolutely gutted when I lost out on the second one recently.
The search continues and all advise/information is welcomed.
Thanks again all.
Gassing Station | Ultima | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff