The Car Thread

[Nocapszy]

let me tell you why i like audi more than bmw...

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

WHEN IS AN ESCORT NOT AN ESCORT?

When I first lay my eyes upon this Escort at Ford Fair last moment, I only had one question on my mind. Throughout the nine hour journey from my home in southern Ireland to Cye’s work shop in the south west of England, the same question continued to circle my mind. After we had exchanged pleasantries, I couldn’t wait any longer to ask Cye that one question – “why did you build this car?”

He just smiled and simply replied – “because I wanted to.”

The Ford community, in the UK & Ireland in particular, are quite a traditional lot. For the most part, they like to keep things within the family so to speak. I’m sure the idea of a TVR chassised and Honda S2000 powered MKII Escort will absolutely horrify some, but then Cye built this car for one person only – himself.

With a history of fast cars and probably even faster boats, Cye’s engineering background allowed him to build this Escort with no compromise.

His friend who shares a workshop with him joked that Cye probably has more tools for measuring things in his tool box than he had tools in his own. I don’t imagine it’s too far from the truth.

There is so much to this car that I’m not really sure where to start being honest. I guess the inside is as good a place as any …

Cye has retained the factory Honda six speed gearbox but paired it with an AP Racing paddle clutch and mated that to a TTV lightweight flywheel.

The inside is more business than most would care to imagine. Because of the flat bottomed floor, the passenger seat has been removed to allow the exhaust to pass through the car (inside its own tunnel) before exiting out the passenger side of the car.

You’re going to be reading the word ‘custom’ quite a bit in this feature. The car features a custom roll cage, a Cyco Automotive driver’s seat and Titon six point race harnesses.

With the driver’s seat located as far back as possible, the steering wheel and column is supported on a custom frame.

The wheel, along with a few other parts are Sparco items. Hiding just behind it is a Race Technology Dash 2 which contains everything Cye needs to know on the fly including oil pressure, temperatures, speed etc. The car also features a Race Technology DL1 data logger for post race scrutiny.

All the fuel and brake lines are routed neatly through the car.

The exhaust tunnel also has its own cooling duct which draws air from the passenger side rear window …

… and blows onto the exhaust closer to the front of the car.

Convenient.

330mm front rotors are slowed by AP Racing 5200 front callipers with AP brake pads front and rear, all modulated through a custom built pedal box.

Two of the four cylinders hiding underneath the dashboard.

The exhaust system is a completely custom Maniflow item which exits the engine on the driver’s side as normal, but then wraps around the front of the engine before converging from four pipes to two, and to one before dropping down and running through the passenger side of the car.

The diagonally mounted radiator features custom piping.

I asked Cye about the manifold being so close to the intake and whether the car suffers from any heat soak issues. He told me that because there is so much airflow through the front of the car, it’s not been an issue and that the car has provided healthy power figures of around 275BHP. The engine is pretty much standard too save for some minor block work and Jenvey ITBs, so those are pretty impressive numbers.

With the front clip removed, you get a better overview of the dry-sumped F20c setup.

At the very front is a fourteen line Mocal oil cooler.

All the suspension components have been custom designed by Cye himself. Using coilovers mounted in the centre of the chassis, his custom suspension features rose jointed double wishbones made from 1″ thick billet aluminium and allows the ride height, toe, castor and camber to be adjusted.

The chassis has also been fitted with an air jack system.

This is a whole lot of car.

Actually, with the front clip removed you can really see how compact the car is and it should be no surprise when you read that it has an almost perfect F:51%/R:49% weight distribution with fluids but no driver.

The front arches were hand made and blended into the wings and custom widened Ralloy Group 4 Style front bumper. The working headlights are original Ford items.

With the car painted in bright white and a custom graphic scheme, it’s obviously been built for one thing – racing. Not that the whole other part of the build gave that away beforehand…

With four and a half degrees of negative camber at the front, it’s certainly an aggressive looking setup.

The rear arches are Ralloy Tarmac specification. The doors interestingly are standard Escort doors which have been lightened and fitted with custom aluminium door cards.

The rear of the car is about as normal as it gets with just a glass fiber boot-lid and carbon underbody diffuser which was sourced from a Radical.

17″ Image three piece wheels with Billet centres are located at all four corners – they can be wrapped in a variety of Dunlop slick or wet compounds.

Of course, the rear brakes are AP Racing items also.

A shot of the side exit exhaust.

A 55 litre custom fuel cell is located in the rear of the car.

The fuel is pumped forwards care of a Bosch fuel pump.

The rear suspension setup is again all custom using spherical bearings.

This has been a year of crazy builds on Speedhunters. From the countless Gatebil cars to this very Escort, we are experiencing a gold rush of world class builds from every corner of this small blue planet. The one thing that all of these builds have in common is that they all started with one man, an idea and the passion and dedication to see the idea through to the end. Perhaps more importantly, they are all cars built to please the only person that matters – the owner and builder themselves.

-

Paddy McGrath
paddy@speedhunters.com

More Feature Cars on Speedhunters

Cye Hayes’s Ford Escort S2000

CHASSIS

TVR Tuscan Challenge Chassis – Narrowed to Suit Escort Shell; Custom Roll Cage; Air Jacks;

ENGINE

Honda S2000 F20c; Compression Ratio 11.9:1; Mild Porting; Standard Vavles with Re-Cut 1mm and 0.8mm Seats; Block Decked Slightly; ACL Bearings; Custom Engine Mounts; Lightened & Balanced Pulleys; Jenvey Air Intake; Jenvey Direct-to-Head 50 mm ITBs with 90mm Trumpets; 55 Litre Fuel Cell; Bosch Fuel Pump; Jenvey Fuel Rail; Torques UK Fuel Filter; Braided S/S Fuel Lines throughout (flow and return) with Bulkhead Connectors through the Cabin; Custom Maniflow Exhaust System including Headers; Powervamp PVR-25 Battery; Race Engine Developments Dry Sump System; MoCal Oil Cooler; MoCal Oil Filter Relocation Kit; Millers Fully Synthetic Race Oil; Custom Wiring Harness; Light Weight Flywheel;

ENGINE MANAGEMENT / ELECTRONICS

Race Technology ECU; Mapped by John Bettie of Race Engine Developments; Race Technology Dash 2 with DL1 Data Logger; Race Technology Lap Timer & Data Logger; Powervamp Kill Switch; Powervamp Anderson Connectors for Charging and Boost Start;

DRIVELINE

Honda S2000 Six Speed Gearbox; Cosworth Bara Motorsport Differential; 4.4:1 Final Drive; Custom Gun Drilled Half Shafts (Rated to 1500HP); AP Racing Paddle Clutch with Titlon Concentric Slave Cylinder; TTV Lightweight Race Flywheel to suit 7-1/4″ Race Clutch; Custom Shift Lever; Custom Lightweight Prop; Castrol Differential Fluid;

SUSPENSION

Lead Race Coilovers; 650lbs 2-1/4″ Front Springs; 600lbs 2-1/4″ Rear Springs; Custom Top Mounts & Camber Plates Front & Rear; Custom Front Adjustable Links; Custom Rear Adjustable Links; Spherical Bearings Throughout; Custom Titon Steering Rack (1.6 Turns Lock-to-Lock); -4.5 Degrees Camber Front; -1.5 Degrees Camber Rear; Custom Front Sway Bar; Ford Front Shock Tower Bar;

BRAKES

AP Racing 5200 Front Calipers; AP Racing Rear Calipers; AP Racing Brake Pads; 330mm Front Discs; 280mm Rear Discs; Custom Brake Lines by Torques UK; AP Racing Proportioning Valve; Girling Master Cylinders – 0.75″ Front Brakes / 1″ Rear Brakes / 065″ Clutch; Custom Pedal Box; AP Racing Brake Fluid;

WHEELS / TYRES

17″ Image Billet Centred Three Piece Split Rims; 235/610/17 Dunlop Slicks, Wets & Medium Compound;

INTERIOR

Custom Driver Seat Rails; Titon Six Point Race Harness; Sparco Steering Wheel; Sparco Steering Hub; Sparco Steering Wheel Quick Release; Custom Shift Knob; Custom Pedal Covers;

EXTERIOR

Bright White Paint; Cyco Design by Green Chilli Graphics; Hand Made Front Arches; Tarmac Ralloy Rear Arches; Custom Ralloy Front Bumper – Group 4 Style Extended 2″; Custom Flat Floors; Ford Escort Rear Bumper; Carbon Fiber Rear Diffuser; Ford Escort Rear Spoiler; Standard Ford Steel Doors – Lightened with Custom Aluminium Door Cards; Ford Escort Roofskin; Fibreglass Bonnet & Boot; Ford Headlights; Ford Taillights; Perspex Windows; Heated Glass Front Screen;

PERFORMANCE

Power – 274.6BHP @ 8,700RPM / 175 lbs/ft; Weight – 826KGs with Fluids; Weight Distribution 51% Front, 49% Rear; Length from Wheel Centres – 2450mm; Track – 1650mm;

THANKS

Cases Ltd, Ding Master (Nathan Baker), Green Chilli Graphics, Torques UK, Larry (Machinist), James Goldstraw at Grace Engine Developments, Rob Quinn for Corner Weights & Set-Up, James Gillet at South West Restorations and my wife Danielle for putting up with yet another project!

 

[93JC]

Henry Ford gets a lot of credit for accomplishments that were not his own. First of all a lot of people think he invented the automobile; most people credit Karl Benz with being first. A lot of people also think he was the first to mass-produce cars: he wasn't.

The first mass produced car was the 1901 Oldsmobile. It became known as the "Curved Dash" due to the styling of the dashboard.

The engine was a single cylinder mounted horizontally underneath the seat. It displaced about 1.6 L and produced about 5 hp. You can see the car has no steering wheel: most cars didn't at the time. They used tillers, like the rudder of a boat. To go left one would swing the tiller to the right and vice versa. By the end of the decade almost all cars used wheels instead.

Cars have been the subject of songs for a long time now but the Curved Dash Olds might have inspired the first about a car, "In My Merry Oldsmobile":

(lyrics)

Young Johnny Steele has an Oldsmobile
He loves his dear little girl
She is the queen of his gas machine
She has his heart in a whirl.
Now when they go for a spin, you know,
She tries to learn the auto, so
He lets her steer, while he gets her ear
And whispers soft and low:

chorus:
Come away with me, Lucille
In my merry Oldsmobile
Down the road of life we'll fly
Automobubbling, you and I.
To the church we'll swiftly steal
Then our wedding bells will peal
You can go as far as you like with me
In my merry Oldsmobile.

They love to spark in the dark old park
As they go flying along.
She says she knows why the motor goes
The sparker is awfully strong.
Each day they spoon to the engine's tune
Their honeymoon will happen soon.
He'll win Lucille with his Oldsmobile
And then he'll fondly croon:

(chorus)

That recording is dated 1909, but the song itself dates to 1905.




People aren't automobubbling enough anymore.

 

[sprinkles]

Yeah Ford didn't actually invent much but he perfected quite a few things in that era. Marketing and production speed were two of them.

 

[highlander]

Wow! They might sell some of these.

 

[highlander]

The new wheels.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

LIVE FROM SOCAL, THE EVASIVE FR-S #FEATURED

I cannot remember the last time that I was as excited about a car as I am the FR-S you’re looking at right now. That’s a pretty bold statement when you take into account how difficult it has become for anything automotive to knock my socks off, and even more so when you consider that the car that did it is probably the most hyped up vehicle on earth right now. A few days ago I was blue in the face from the constant stream of FR-S / GT86 / BRZ craziness coming from every direction, but this right here is a game changer.

I’ve known the guys at Evasive and taken my personal cars there for practically as long as I’ve lived in California, so when I found out a few months ago that they were building an FR-S I knew it would surely become something spectacular. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the shop, their main bread-and-butter is making cars go very quickly around a race track and have made quite a name for themselves in US time attack.

The thing that has always impressed me about Evasive isn’t the fact that they build fast cars, it’s the methodology behind how they do it. Unlike most US tuners who want to slap ten wings on a car, throw a thousand horsepower in it and mount up the widest wheels possible, Evasive does things a little differently. They have stayed true in their vision and have adopted a Japanese style of tuning where overall balance is key, no one component outshines the others and by working in unison they have claimed many track records with some of the lowest powered cars in the time attack community.

Evasive also has a long time love affair with aerodynamics, albeit a more subtle and refined approach than what you can usually associate with grassroots motorsports. One of their long time partners is Japan’s famous tuner Voltex and over the years they have collaborated on a number of different projects together, most notably their S2000 which wears with very first kit ever made for the car by the aero company from Suzuka.

They’ve also always had what I consider to be the best looking time attack cars in the states as well, and it doesn’t hurt that they are usually near the front of the pack. Therefore when I ran into Mike Chang and Tony Kwan from Evasive at Formula D Irwindale I had complete faith in them when they told me “you’ve gotta come by and see our FR-S when it’s done, you’re gonna love it!” They were right.

Actually I think “love” is an understatement, I cannot even think of a word to describe how I feel about the car. When I received a message from Mike on Tuesday with photos of the car I think I had a heart attack. Every ounce of my being felt compelled to photograph it immediately, as if I couldn’t possibly live another day if I didn’t capture it. So I made plans to come by the following day to get my fix and when I arrived the guys were just putting the finishing touches on it.

When I first saw the car in person my heart sank again. I decided to eat lunch while the guys tied off all the loose ends but I couldn’t stop myself from walking around the car and ogling it. I literally couldn’t take my eyes off of it. Of course I made sure to bring some Speedhunters goodies for the car, but the sticker I was most interested in getting fixed to it was the official #Featured badge.

After what seemed like an eternity due to my giddiness, we finally got the car loaded onto the enclosed trailer and out to our shoot location. Seeing the car in the sunlight was another breathtaking experience. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better it somehow did, exponentially. The only other experience I can compare it to would be meeting a really cute girl (or guy), then seeing her (or him) naked only moments later.

I was completely flabbergasted by the bodywork. This time around the guys decided to build their own bespoke aero kit inspired by various forms of racing. Some of the obvious influences would be the Super GT style high shouldered fenders and the LMP style “swan neck” wing mounts, for which Voltex had to create a custom one-off Type 7 GT wing to accept the top-mounting brackets. Even now looking at the photos I just can’t get enough of it.

“For our build, we wanted to make sure that we didn’t lose the original body lines and we didn’t want to go overboard with making it too wide, given its factory width was already large.” Tony tells me, “We spent a lot of nights shaping and reshaping the aero to get it the way we wanted, making sure it didn’t look heavy on the car.” Mike added “We love the stock lines of the car, especially from the profile view and didn’t want to distract the factory lines so we tried very hard to match the wide fenders so it does not take away from the feel of the car.”

If you ask me they totally nailed it. Now I know I’m probably going to take a little crap for saying this, but before this car I never saw a ZN6 that I fully liked the way it looked. There are a lot of really cool elements on other cars that I like a lot, but as a whole package this is the first time that I love every piece and every angle. I never imagined owning an FR-S until now either, but I could definitely see myself driving the piss out of this one.

I think part of the reason I’m swooning so hard is because I’m a huge motorsport nerd and I share a lot of taste with these guys. Take for example yet another page borrowed from the world of sportscar prototypes, these sick LED strips running along the edge of the rear fenders. How cool is that? And I wonder what that hole marked “air” is for… we’ll get to that in a minute.

While this is indeed a car that Scion has given to Evasive for SEMA, it is by no means a “SEMA car”. By that I am of course referring to the intended use of the vehicle, which if you haven’t guessed by now will be largely competitive time attack racing. Tony explained “we’re probably best known for competing in time attack events with our EVO 9 and S2000, and will compete with this FR-S as well. But we actually wanted to take it a step further by competing at Pikes Peak Hill Climb.”

Obviously PPIHC is no small fry competition and Evasive will surely have their work cut out for them, but if there is anyone from the tuner market that I think has a fighting chance it’s them. They know what it takes to develop a car and take improving performance very seriously and they have the hours of datalogging to prove it. I’m sure that the car will be moving along nicely by the time it travels to Colorado for what Mike refers to as “the ultimate time attack event.”

I can only presume that as the team shakes the car down they will make countless adjustments and improvements, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t jaw dropping as is. The interior is very simple, as you’d expect from a competition car, but seeing one where the few remaining factory items are still pristine is pretty cool. There are also lots of custom pieces that Evasive has fabricated inside the car like the carbon door panels and aluminum door handles.

Of course no time attack car would be taken seriously with a stock power plant. Seeing as how a lack of thrust is the main gripe of virtually everyone who has driven an FR-S, power adders were addressed immediately. As a technical partner for HKS, Evasive does a lot of the prototype testing and R&D for the iconic brand now that their US headquarters are closed for good.

This car is actually sporting the very first HKS supercharger kit in North America for the ZN6 and served as the official test fit for the product’s US applications. Output is currently rated at a modest 203hp and 185lb-ft to the rear tires, but the team plans on tearing the motor down and doing a complete rebuild after Super Lap Battle.

Not surprisingly other HKS goodies like the oil filter, oil cap and Racing Suction intake can be found keeping the supercharger company. When I asked the guys about bolt-on power they admitted that the weak point of the car is trying to extract anything extra from the stock engine. “Although the engine’s probably sufficient for street driving, tuners may not be satisfied with it stock. You don’t gain much power from bolt-on parts such as exhaust or intakes” Tony divulged.

Nevertheless a huge part of Evasive’s track record is their ability to make a car handle well. Some of their suspension whispering can be seen in the bay in a form of a wide array of Cusco bracing which is scattered throughout the car. The Project Mu reservoir tank cover may be innocent on its own, but in reality it foreshadows the massive clappers it feeds at each corner.

Mike told me that the stock car “is lightweight, nimble, and has a very solid chassis” so in order to get a better look at the footwork we headed back to Evasive’s new shop to get the car in the air. “After tearing down the FR-S for our build we noticed that the designers and engineers definitely constructed it as a tuner car, making access easy to do aftermarket upgrades; almost expecting that things would be taken off and put back on a lot.”

Although I haven’t worked on an FR-S myself, I can definitely see exactly what the boys are on about. This really is a sports car from years gone by, something that I had thought by most accounts was now extinct. It’s reasonably priced, balanced and easy to work on – what more can you ask for? I’d presume that changing out the shocks and brakes shouldn’t take more than an hour even for the unexperienced wrencher.

For the pros at Evasive I would imagine the Project Mu brake kit was likely slung on with one hand and frantically secured to the upright with the other in a matter of minutes. The shock absorbers also appear to be quite easily adjusted and removed or installed, which is a very good thing since Evasive is already underway working with KW to develop a custom 3-way adjustable application for the car.

Evasive has built some remarkable performing and downright beautiful cars, many of which I’ve been fortunate enough to photograph over the years, but this time around they have well and truly outdone themselves. If you’re going to be at SEMA you’ve got to do yourself a favor and swing by the Scion booth to get a look at this monster in person, I guarantee it will blow your mind. It will also be making an appearance the following week at Buttonwillow for the Super Lap Battle finals and I can’t wait to see it where it belongs!

Evasive Motorsports 2013 Scion FR-S

ENGINE

2.0L supercharged 4U-GSE boxer engine; HKS GT Supercharger kit (GTS7040L supercharger, intercooler and piping), Racing Suction intake, oil cooler, supercharger traction oil, oil filter; Koyo Rad aluminum radiator; Cusco oil catch can; ATL racing fuel cell

ENGINE MANAGEMENT / ELECTRONICS

HKS F-Con, AFK A/F-knock amp

DRIVELINE

Kaaz LSD; Cusco high capacity differential cover

SUSPENSION / CHASSIS

Evasive custom fabricated roll cage; KW Variant 3 coilovers; Cusco rear pillowball lateral links, engine power brace, front strut bar, front power brace, front/rear sway bars, side member power brace; Genesis air jack system w/ Evasive custom tripod mounts

BRAKES

Project Mu big brake kit (6-piston caliper w/ 355x32mm rotors (front), 2-piston caliper w/ 316x20mm rotors (rear)), Club Racer brake pads, stainless steel brake lines, G-Four racing brake fluid

WHEELS / TIRES

18×10″ +40 Volk Racing TE37SL Black Edition wheels; 275/35ZR18 Maxxis Victra RC-1 tires; Project Kics 15mm wheel spacer conversion adapters; EVS tuning lug nuts

CABIN

Evasive custom carbon door panels, custom aluminum door release, custom carbon dash display; Sparco Pro-ADV bucket seats, 6-point HANS harnesses, kill switch, R375 steering wheel, side-mount seat brackets; HKS Kansai horn button; Nagisa Auto D-Lock super low seat rails; Carbing high grip shift knob

BODY

Evasive custom fabricated widebody kit (front splitter, front fenders, rear fenders, carbon side steps, carbon rear diffuser, hood), custom fitted lexan door/rear quarter/rear windows, custom fabricated GT wing quill mounts; Voltex Type 7 carbon GT wing; Tamon Design FRP front lip, carbon brake ducts; Craftsquare carbon GT mirrors; Aerocatch flush latching system; 3M ScotchPrint 1080-M230 matte grey aluminum film (wrap) installed by Tint Factory

THANKS

Scion, Maxxis tires, HKS, Rays Engineering, Project Mu, KW Suspensions, Sparco, Voltex, Tamon Design, Cusco, Kaaz, Craftsquare, Koyo, Motul, Meguiars, Downforce USA, Tint Factory.net

-Sean

Evasive Motorsports

Evasive Motorsports shop tour on Speedhunters

More stories by Sean Klingelhoefer on Speedhunters

More car features on Speedhunters

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

 

[sprinkles]

Yeah I agree with that guy. Do what you do and don't let anyone tell you about your stuff.

 

[A window to the soul]

2013 Mustang GT

2013 ROUSH Stage 3 Mustang

 

[A window to the soul]

. . . because the Ford Mustang is superior to all of the cars posted in this thread to date in (almost) every way.


"THE 10 CARMANDMENTS"

1. Thou shall not and will not slam the doors of my car.

2. Thou shall not smoke for it is prohibited.

3. Thou shall not put feet on the dash or touch the dash in any way.

4. Thou shall not get too brave and talk poorly about my mama or any other member of my family while in my car.

5. Thou shall not use foul language, unless an extremity is accidentally slammed in the door. No moaning about going fast. If you want to go slow, ride an import.

6. Thy hands and feet must remain inside the vehicle at all times; no flipping the bird.

7. Thou shall not eat in my car. Beverages must be contained with a lid, securely in the cup holder.

8. Thou shall respect the interior, for all passengers are responsible for their own area. If said area is in any way defiled he/she will be forced to clean the entire interior... (With a toothbrush.)

9. Thou shall submit thyself to a full visual inspection before leaning or entering so as to ensure no damage/blemishes will be caused. Even minor scratches will result in compensation for repair.

10. Thou shall not touch the radio when I say, "don't touch the radio."

 

[sprinkles]

Whoooomblublublublublubplopataplopataplopata

 

[A window to the soul]

Whoooomblublublublublubplopataplopataplopata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6L14ApCsKQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5jckqmGH30

 

[sprinkles]

Probably my favorite Mustang is actually the '69 Sportsroof. I love the sound as well.

 

[A window to the soul]

That classic Stang looks amazing and the video is well done! Thanks for sharing, Sprinkles!

 

[The Ü™]

Am I the only person who thinks they should make a Vanishing Point-esque car movie starring a Ford Mustang and call it My Little Pony?

 

[swordpath]

Traded in my 2007 Ford F-150 today for a 2012 Dodge Avenger SE. I like it so far! I never thought I'd own a white vehicle, but alas...

 

[ehcriktic]

How I wish I had one.

 

[Hetha]

I'm new, but I think I have found a thread I'm gonna