I will buy a Ultima

[guido-mitsu]

In the next future I will buy a Ultima GTR, built by Ultima factory. I live in Italy and I ask to you:
what are the main problems about this car?
what more frequentely it breakes?
do you know how much resistant are the 720 HP engine or the new LS-7 650 HP?
what I have to be afraid about reliability?

Thanks for your reply.

Daniele

PS
Sorry for my english

[ROWDYRENAULT]

dan: 720 hp out of a small block is a lot to ask for a driver. The 650 HP LS7 would be my choice without a second thought. Lee

[kylemrushall]

ROWDYRENAULT said:

dan: 720 hp out of a small block is a lot to ask for a driver. The 650 HP LS7 would be my choice without a second thought. Lee

Small block chevys are easy to look(for the diy mechanic) after with lots of parts available, who is going to fix the ls when it goes wrong??

and it will!!!

Modern is not always best imo

[andygtt]

720bhp out of a SBC is more than 200% more (nearer 300%) than what it develops as std and involves very heavy mods and extreme cams (so very rough below 2000rpm), 650bhp from the LS7 is only 20% more thans std with only minor mods to get it there and the LS7 has a lot longer service intervals so the LS7 will be much more realiable IMO.

So I'd have the 650bhp LS7 every time.

[SchimmS]

andygtt said:

720bhp out of a SBC is more than 200% more (nearer 300%) than what it develops as std and involves very heavy mods and extreme cams (so very rough below 2000rpm), 650bhp from the LS7 is only 20% more thans std with only minor mods to get it there and the LS7 has a lot longer service intervals so the LS7 will be much more realiable IMO.

So I'd have the 650bhp LS7 every time.

Agreed, my personal experience with the predecessor (LS6) is 1 oil change + 1 filter change in about 8000 miles, I topped up the oil once by 0,5L.

I know it doesn`t matter but I managed to get 23 mpg (12L/100km) with moderate driving. At the TUV (2 year inspection) they didn`t find a drop of oil anywhere near the engine (it was all still in it) and it passed the EURO3 emission test with no hassle at all.

[Stig]

First question I'd ask myself is, 'Do I actually need 720bhp?'?

Great for pub bragging rights, but you'll rarely (if ever) get to use it.

Even 300hp in these cars makes it quicker than most things on the road.

[TuxMan]

Got to agree with Stig here all this stupid BHP talk is getting out of hand a well setup 400 bhp is awsome for the road its only if you are going to do lots of track work you might need any more even then getting it on the floor is a major issue .

[GTR-TT]

I have 1000+ hp at 1.1 bar boost. For everyday use and trackdays I use around 700. This makes the car nice and quick on the track and scary as hell on the road. The acceleration is just fantastic. 1000HP is madness but still very fun for Vmax etc. I think the 650 LS7 is the best choice for the Ultima today. If you want to go "all in" just add some turbos...

[guido-mitsu]

GTR-TT said:

I have 1000+ hp at 1.1 bar boost. For everyday use and trackdays I use around 700. This makes the car nice and quick on the track and scary as hell on the road. The acceleration is just fantastic. 1000HP is madness but still very fun for Vmax etc. I think the 650 LS7 is the best choice for the Ultima today. If you want to go "all in" just add some turbos...

I would like to use the GTR in track days and rarely on normal city or highway use. But I am afraid about reliability about engine and all. How much time I will spent having fun and how much in a workshop changing something broken? What are your experiences? Thanks

Daniele

[LuckyP]

guido-mitsu said:

GTR-TT said:

I have 1000+ hp at 1.1 bar boost. For everyday use and trackdays I use around 700. This makes the car nice and quick on the track and scary as hell on the road. The acceleration is just fantastic. 1000HP is madness but still very fun for Vmax etc. I think the 650 LS7 is the best choice for the Ultima today. If you want to go "all in" just add some turbos...

I would like to use the GTR in track days and rarely on normal city or highway use. But I am afraid about reliability about engine and all. How much time I will spent having fun and how much in a workshop changing something broken? What are your experiences? Thanks

Daniele

I'd go 650 LS7 if I had my time again.

400bhp is OK for Bakerlite treaded hoops, but with molten bitumen, Kumho gooey rings, 650 would be perfect.

Lucky

[Stig]

guido-mitsu said:

GTR-TT said:

I have 1000+ hp at 1.1 bar boost. For everyday use and trackdays I use around 700. This makes the car nice and quick on the track and scary as hell on the road. The acceleration is just fantastic. 1000HP is madness but still very fun for Vmax etc. I think the 650 LS7 is the best choice for the Ultima today. If you want to go "all in" just add some turbos...

I would like to use the GTR in track days and rarely on normal city or highway use. But I am afraid about reliability about engine and all. How much time I will spent having fun and how much in a workshop changing something broken? What are your experiences? Thanks

Daniele

Thing is Guido, like any tuned engine, the more powerful (and therefore stressed) it is, the less reliable it is likely to be.

On that basis, a figure of around 500hp would seem like a wiser choice - but even then, it's no guarantee of reliability.

My Can-Am was very mildly tuned at only 400hp (.350ci displacement) - even then there was very little that could stay with it on track.

[GTR-TT]

guido-mitsu said:

GTR-TT said:

I have 1000+ hp at 1.1 bar boost. For everyday use and trackdays I use around 700. This makes the car nice and quick on the track and scary as hell on the road. The acceleration is just fantastic. 1000HP is madness but still very fun for Vmax etc. I think the 650 LS7 is the best choice for the Ultima today. If you want to go "all in" just add some turbos...

I would like to use the GTR in track days and rarely on normal city or highway use. But I am afraid about reliability about engine and all. How much time I will spent having fun and how much in a workshop changing something broken? What are your experiences? Thanks

Daniele

I think it depends very much on what parts you have built your engine on. I have done 10 trackdays, record setting track runs, 5000km road. I have checked the valves twice (but no adjustments) and changed oil and filter. That's it! I still have the same sparkplugs that I used in the engine dyno My friends with Lambos etc have spent lunatic money on their SLOW cars while mine has just worked.

650 LS7 will be perfect for trackdays and it will be as reliable as your normal daily driver. Just make a good X-pipe and bring the pipes closer together so it stops to sound lika an old chevy van

To be honest, not everyting is great though... The incoming shaft on the transaxle has snapped right off and the mounting points/ears on the chassi has bent alot. The rear A-arms has moved 1 cm forward and 7mm inwards... On the factory wishlist I will add "Boxed mounting points".

[V8 Vum]

Hey Mikael,

Sorry to hijack the thread, but your comment on the sound interested me.
I have an LS7 ready to go into my chassis, but it has ss pipes as supplied by Jeff. Your thoughts on the x pipes....
Would you have the the std pattern modded? Any examples?

cheers

Keith

[GTR-TT]

V8 Vum said:

Hey Mikael,

Sorry to hijack the thread, but your comment on the sound interested me.
I have an LS7 ready to go into my chassis, but it has ss pipes as supplied by Jeff. Your thoughts on the x pipes....
Would you have the the std pattern modded? Any examples?

cheers

Keith

If you bring the exhausts from both sides together in an X that allows the pulses to switch sides and exit them as close together as possible this will create a sound that is more like a flat plane v8 (Ferrari etc) then a normal 90deg crank. I have done this inside my silencer so two perforated 3" pipes makes an X inside the box. This makes a huge different in the sound. Hard to explain in text but the sound bocomes more like one note.

[LuckyP]

GTR-TT said:

V8 Vum said:

Hey Mikael,

Sorry to hijack the thread, but your comment on the sound interested me.
I have an LS7 ready to go into my chassis, but it has ss pipes as supplied by Jeff. Your thoughts on the x pipes....
Would you have the the std pattern modded? Any examples?

cheers

Keith

If you bring the exhausts from both sides together in an X that allows the pulses to switch sides and exit them as close together as possible this will create a sound that is more like a flat plane v8 (Ferrari etc) then a normal 90deg crank. I have done this inside my silencer so two perforated 3" pipes makes an X inside the box. This makes a huge different in the sound. Hard to explain in text but the sound bocomes more like one note.

Is that your Audi in the background?

[GTR-TT]

LuckyP said:

Is that your Audi in the background?

No it belongs to a friend (who also has an Ultima GTR-TT).
The sound when you start the V10 with it's Tubi titanium exhaust is just fantastic That would be a nice engine box combo for an Ultima...

[guido-mitsu]

Thanks for your replyes. If I will buy a Ultima, it will be built by Ultima factory, not by myself. Will be it better for reliability? And what about Porsche gear box?

Daniele

[crafty]

GTR-TT said:

If you bring the exhausts from both sides together in an X that allows the pulses to switch sides and exit them as close together as possible this will create a sound that is more like a flat plane v8 (Ferrari etc) then a normal 90deg crank.

I brought mine 2 into 1 >>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COZYdldOPgs

[donkeasy]

GTR-TT said:

guido-mitsu said:

GTR-TT said:

I have 1000+ hp at 1.1 bar boost. For everyday use and trackdays I use around 700. This makes the car nice and quick on the track and scary as hell on the road. The acceleration is just fantastic. 1000HP is madness but still very fun for Vmax etc. I think the 650 LS7 is the best choice for the Ultima today. If you want to go "all in" just add some turbos...

I would like to use the GTR in track days and rarely on normal city or highway use. But I am afraid about reliability about engine and all. How much time I will spent having fun and how much in a workshop changing something broken? What are your experiences? Thanks

Daniele

I think it depends very much on what parts you have built your engine on. I have done 10 trackdays, record setting track runs, 5000km road. I have checked the valves twice (but no adjustments) and changed oil and filter. That's it! I still have the same sparkplugs that I used in the engine dyno My friends with Lambos etc have spent lunatic money on their SLOW cars while mine has just worked.

650 LS7 will be perfect for trackdays and it will be as reliable as your normal daily driver. Just make a good X-pipe and bring the pipes closer together so it stops to sound lika an old chevy van

To be honest, not everyting is great though... The incoming shaft on the transaxle has snapped right off and the mounting points/ears on the chassi has bent alot. The rear A-arms has moved 1 cm forward and 7mm inwards... On the factory wishlist I will add "Boxed mounting points".

Can you make a drawing of how you would make the mountingpoints stiffer?
I am doing them in the next weeks and any info is welkom.

[V8OWNER]

LuckyP said:

Kieth said:

Is that your Audi in the background?

I see you have a trike too.. Lucky Sod.