Tag: Cars

BAGGED GOLF R MK6: KREME OF THE STOP

Packing big brakes with a sweet-glazed coating and filled with a tasty race-inspired cage and bucket seats, Adam Crawley’s bagged Golf R Mk6 has all the right ingredients to be the ultimate car confectionary.

First appeared in Fast Car magazine. Words & Photos: Dan Sherwood

Building a modified car is a lot like baking a cake. First you have to decide what kind of cake you would like to make, then you need to get the ingredients and combine them with skill and timing. Too much of any one ingredient can throw off the whole thing, so if you want a perfect bake, you need to find a recipe that works and stick to it. In car terms, that means having a plan from the start and deciding exactly what you want to achieve. Be it a track car, a show car, or whatever your taste in modified motors, knowing the direction of your build from the start will always pay dividends, as you can then select the finest parts and blend them together for the best result. But unlike baking, when it comes to cars, there isn’t a smorgasbord of books or online tutorials to follow, it’s a skill that you refine over time from experience.

“I was introduced to the modifying world by my Dad,” remembers 25-year old Adam Crawley, the owner and builder of the carbon-clad bagged Golf R Mk6 in front of our camera lens. “Growing up it was very rare to have a standard car parked on the driveway. Needless to say, I was destined to be a car guy from the very start.”

And with this exposure, came a certain innate feel for what makes a tasteful modified car. Much like growing up as the sprog of a Michelin-starred chef and developing a cultured pallet for the finest foods and learning the precise recipes required to cook it, so Adam has acquired his own list of essential ingredients for making the perfect automotive
amuse bouche…

“I have very particular taste when it comes to modifying cars,” he explains. “I always gravitate to the understated minimalist look. The type of car that non-car people wouldn’t look twice at, but we petrolheads know is special. And that’s exactly what I wanted to achieve with the Golf.”

Adam bought the 2010-model Golf R Mk6 in June 2018, the rarity and tunability of the range-topping Mk6 being what attracted him to the car – along with the idea of creating his own modified masterpiece.

The car was in mint condition when it landed on his driveway. It had obviously been cherished by its previous owners and featured a few choice extras too, such as an upgraded Dynaudio sound system, meaning Adam had been only too happy to pay the £14.5k asking price to seal the deal.

As already mentioned, Adam’s fine eye for fettling meant that, even at this early stage, he had a very clear vision of how he wanted the car to look. His original idea revolved around retaining the practicality of the rear seats, but this all changed when his partner mentioned that she liked the look of rollcages…

“This was all the permission I needed to go all out with the car and take it to a level I hadn’t previously expected,” laughs Adam. “Now it has none of the practicality, but it’s much cooler than ever I thought it’d be. And my partner loves it too, which is a bonus!”

The Golf’s initial mods were nothing out of the ordinary, except Adam’s motto was that the car should receive a ‘no compromise build’, with a mind to do something different at the same time.

“It’s exceptionally hard to stand out when modifying a Mk6 Golf!” he says. “So I started off with the rare O.Z. Hyper GT wheels with Michelin PS4S rubber.”

These unusual hoops where accompanied by H&R springs, carbon mirror caps and a very rare HPA exhaust system.

“The next stage was power,” Adam says, popping the bonnet. “I got all the basics done at once by AKS Tuning in Bedford. They fitted a Revo intake, a BCS 200-cell sports-cat downpipe, uprated VIS high-pressure fuel pump and an Audi RS4 fuel pressure return valve.”

Wisely, Adam also opted for an uprated Helix organic clutch ready for the bump in power, which was provided by R-Tech Performance in Nuneaton, who installed a custom front-mount intercooler and remapped he ECU on their in-house rolling road.

“The increase in power was great, but short-lived,” sighs Adam. “Unfortunately, the engine blew up a few weeks later, due to an unrelated issue with the inlet runner flaps.”

The problem that Adam is describing is one that any R owner could potentially face, in that the runner flaps – which are small tabs mounted after the inlet manifold, to agitate the incoming air to improve combustion at low engine temperatures – had snapped off and sent chunks of metal into the cylinder head, destroying the engine.

“It was such bad timing, as I had recently booked the car in for a runner-flap delete kit to be installed to avoid this very issue,” Adam groans. “It’s only a £40 mod, but if I’d have fitted it a few days earlier, I would’ve saved myself £6k on a new engine!”

This was an unfortunate and costly set-back, but not enough for Adam to throw in the towel, as he soon sourced a replacement engine from another Golf R owner who was breaking their car on Facebook.

“The replacement engine was installed by AKS Tuning along with the old engine’s uprated parts and the all-important runner-flap delete kit. It was then back to R-Tech for mapping again,” he says. “When it was complete, the car was back to where it left off, with the new motor packing 380.1bhp and 430lb ft of torque.”

The engine sorted, Adam’s carbon cravings returned and a pair of wider Seibon carbon-fibre front wings were needed to satisfy his urges.

“The wings changed the look of the car completely,” Adam enthuses. “So I complemented it with the carbon-skinned boot lid and custom extended roof spoiler by GW Composites, as well as a custom carbon diffuser from Fibreworx, but that needed a meatier exhaust to accompany it.”

To fill the enlarged apertures in the new diffuser, Adam had a custom titanium exhaust system with four-inch satin-finish tips made by fabrication specialists Black Smoke performance in Burton on Trent, and it sounds as good as it looks!

But this car was always destined to be much more than just a show pony, it had to cut it on the track too, and to ensure he could keep pushing hard without fear of cooking the stoppers, Adam moved his attention to the braking.

“I sourced a pair of Aston Martin DB9 front calipers,” he says. “But rather than go for the usual red or yellow, I wanted to do something different to make the car stand out.”

So after some late-night design sessions, Adam finally settled upon something he thought would look great and make his Golf tastier than a box of donuts.

“I spoke with Chris Morton at Custom Calipers Ltd to turn my vision into a reality,” Adam remembers. “And after a lot of time and effort, the Krispy Kreme calipers were born.”

The white base coat was followed by each individual dot being painstakingly applied by hand, the same as the iconic logo. The paint itself is a special caliper paint that is more than capable of handling high temperatures without the finish being effected.

“When I posted pictures of my new calipers on social media, they went viral and were seen by more than five-million people in the first week,” Adam says. “To this day people still come up to me and say that they have seen my brake setup before. I feel this modification really embodies the spirit behind the car. It’s built for me, by me, with absolutely no compromising.”

And they don’t pull any punches with their performance either, as the luscious liveried calipers are fitted with Mintex M1155 pads gripping Reyland 370mm two-piece floating race discs, so the stopping power on offer is simply immense.

“The main goal was to create a car capable of driving to a show, getting into the show ‘n’ shine, but also out for a blast around the track, without any of the three wildly different disciplines suffering because of the other,” Adam explains. “Which is a large part of the reason I went with an Air Lift Performance setup for the car’s suspension.”

While not everyone’s immediate choice for a car that’s got track aspirations, the air-ride setup actually gives Adam’s car the all-round ability that he’s striving for. It can have a sensible ride height and comfort for daily driving duties, slam the body to the ground for show-lows and, with the sophisticated 3P management and performance struts, can set scorching laps times on the track too.

“I managed to get the full air ride kit second-hand off a guy who was breaking his car before having it fitted by GRM Northampton,” says Adam. “It’s a brilliant setup and is surprisingly good on track too.”

Other modifications influenced by Adam’s need for speed on the circuit can be found on the inside, with a pair of Corbeau Clubsport bucket seats taking centre stage and surrounded by a custom bolt-in FIA-spec rollcage built by Tylah Motorsport in Winchester.

“The seats really hold you in place when cornering on the limit,” says Adam, “but my favourite interior mod has got to be the awesome Coolerworx shifter.”

This isn’t your usual short-shifter as it replaces the entire linkage as well as the shifter with a much more direct system and involved Adam removing the gearbox to fit it. The end result is a much more precise gear shift that is much shorter and swaps cogs like lightning.

“It’s a great car to drive and I’m hoping to get some more shows and trackdays under my belt later in the year when restrictions allow,” Adam beams. “But for now, I’ll just enjoy it for what it is, which is my daily driver.”

That’s right, as well as being a slickly-styled show car and a weekend track warrior, Adam’s R is still being used as his daily, which just goes to prove that, when it comes to modifying your car, by following a winning recipe and using the right ingredients, you can be sure the end result will be as tasty as a Krispy Kreme donut!

Tech Spec: Bagged Golf R Mk6

Engine:

2.0-litre, 4-cyl, 16v TFSI CDL engine with front mounted intercooler, Revo intake, BCS 200-cell race cat downpipe, HPA Quadpack exhaust with custom titanium tips, Audi R8 coils, AKS runner flap delete kit, VIS high pressure fuel pump, Audi RS4 fuel pressure return valve, charcoal canister delete, NGK plugs and R-tech stage 2+ tune

Performance:

380.1 bhp and 429.8lb ft of torque 0-60mph in around 4 seconds and will go all the way up to 180mph happily

Transmission:

Haldex 4-wheel drive, six-speed mannual, uprated Helix organic clutch kit with braided lines

Suspension:

Air Lift Performance 3P management, Air Lift Performance series struts with adjustable damping

Brakes:

Aston Martin DB9 front calipers, Mintex M1155 pads, Reyland 2-piece 370mm floating discs, HEL braided brake lines

Wheels & Tyres:

8.5x19in O.Z Hyper GT HLT alloys with 235/35/19 Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S tyres with white tyre lettering

Exterior:

Custom smoothed front bumper, tow eye-mounted number plate holder, black badges front and rear, Seibon vented wide carbon-fibre front wings, carbon-fibre wing mirror caps, carbon-fibre bootlid, carbon-fibre extended moulded spoiler, carbon-fibre diffuser and rear indicator tints

Interior:

Corbeau Clubsport bucket seats, OMP seat rails, retrimmed Alcantara steering wheel, Coolerworx gear shifter assembly, carbon-fibre dash trims, FIA-spec rollcage finished in satin grey, rear seat delete, Alpine i902d G6 headunit, Dynaudio amp, Dynaudio speakers, tweeters and woofers, Vibe Powerbox 1000.1 amp, Vibe Blackair 12in sub in a custom false floor enclosure

Source

July 20, 2021
MODIFIED BMW 2002: OLD-SCHOOL RULES

Effortlessly blending classic looks, Group 2-inspired styling, perfect stance and the small matter of a 2.5 S14 swap from an E30 M3, this full-on modified BMW 2002 is nothing short of a masterpiece.

Feature from Performance BMW. Words: Elizabeth de Latour. Photos: Mike Crawat.

If you’re talking about BMW legends, icons, then the ’02 family absolutely has to be on that list. It’s an incredibly important part of BMW’s history and whether you’re talking about the original 1600-02 or something like the 2002 tii, it’s a much-loved range that remains popular with both BMW aficionados and modding enthusiasts. And speaking of which, there have been some magnificent builds that we’ve come across over the years, but Georg Schuster’s (@the_bavarian_outlaw) magnificent creation is one of the best.

Regular readers might find Georg’s name familiar and that’s because we had the pleasure of featuring one of his other creations, an epic S38-powered Group 5 E9 replica, in our April 2020 issue. That alone made it clear that this proud Bavarian is a huge petrolhead but this ’02 is even more of a special machine and no component has been left untouched during the extensive journey of its build. As a brief recap, Georg is a car mechanic and he co-owns a petrol station with his dad so every part of his life revolves around cars and, being a born and bred Bavarian, you’d be very surprised if he wasn’t passionate about BMWs. But he’s also passionate about cars in general – his first was a Porsche 928 GTS, which is an amazing way to kick off your motoring career, and his passion for all things automotive is reflected in his current collection, which includes a Mk1 Ford Escort RS2000, a Chevrolet pickup and an Audi 8L S3 alongside his BMW duo. George says that spending time in his garage is his favourite hobby and we have no doubts about that.

The ’02, though, might just be the most important car for several reasons, the main one being that this was his first-ever BMW. George is 36 now and this car, which started out life as a 1502, was purchased when he was 18 back in 2002 (funnily enough). The entire project was undertaken over two years, which means this isn’t a recent creation, but, unsurprisingly, he’s kept the car for 18 years because a build on this scale is not something you’re ever likely to sell.

The ’02 itself was actually instrumental in igniting Georg’s passion for BMWs in the first place – when he was around 16 or 17 his dad told him that you could swap an E30 M3 engine into a 2002, which intrigued him and got him hooked and that’s exactly why this project came about. “We went to the BMW Group Classic (museum) and I saw the 2002 with the Group 2 body kit – it was just in red, but with these same wheels – and that is when I fell in love with that particular model,” he smiles and it served as the inspiration for this whole build.

Step one was to locate a suitable ’02 for the project and here lady luck, fate and the BMW gods all joined forces to give Georg and his dad, with whom he has built all of his projects, a helping hand. “We were lucky!” he grins, “We found this 2002 by chance, one where the motor I wanted (the S14 from an E30 M3) was already fitted. The car was situated in Bochum, Germany; it’s about a six-hour drive which my father and I did together. Since the car was a project it was in bits upon purchase so we took a Mercedes Sprinter and a trailer to pick it up. There’s a funny story to that, actually: the car was initially on eBay as an auction as the guy had started his project and couldn’t be bothered to continue with it. We called the seller regardless of the auction and negotiated the price over the phone; of course, we checked the condition etc. beforehand and, looking back, it might have been bold but it all worked out. We agreed on a price of €10,000 and he removed it from the auction on eBay,” he says and that sounds like an absolute bargain for a 2002 with an S14 already swapped in. Seeing as that was to be a major part of the project, finding a car for sale with the engine already taken care of was a major win. This was the perfect jumping-off point for the build and, over the next two years, the unfinished 2002 was totally transformed, with Georg and his dad bringing their perfect vision to life.

“Since the car was already stripped, with the (original) body removed and the motor was in place, it made sense for us to work on the motor first. We ordered the body kit thereafter and while waiting made our way through the chassis and engine modifications,” explains Georg and the work undertaken at every stage of this build has never been anything less than incredibly extensive. The S14 needs no introduction and fitting one into an ’02, to create what the community likes to call an M2, results in a seriously potent little machine, but just running a stock S14 would not have sufficed for Georg and his dad and so this one has been treated to a selection of substantial upgrades.

First of all, this is not just a regular S14, this is the 2.5-litre unit from an M3 Sport Evo and beneath the surface, you will find a lighter DTM crankshaft, H-beam Pauter con rods, one-off Wössner pistons, BMW Motorsport DTM cams, a machined head with ported and polished intake and exhaust ports, increased compression, E34 M5 valves, Audi R8 coil packs, a custom larger sump, electric water pump and an MBE ECU to oversee everything. The engine’s crowning glory and what immediately gets all the attention when the bonnet is raised is that absolutely awesome original DTM carbon airbox and intake manifold, and a quick glance at Georg’s Insta videos confirms that it sounds every bit as good as it looks. The result of those seriously extensive mods is an extremely impressive 306hp, a hell of a lot of power in a car as small and light as the 2002, and that makes it insanely exciting to drive. The car runs an E30 M3 gearbox, which required the transmission tunnel to be enlarged for it to be able to fit, and there’s a 45% locking LSD at the rear. The whole package is just superb and the S14 looks like it was made for the ’02’s engine bay, fitting perfectly, and Georg has also gone the extra mile to make sure that presentation is on point by tidying up the engine bay, thus allowing you to enjoy that legendary four-pot in all its glory and it does look magnificent.

With the engine work taken care of, Georg and his dad now moved onto the next major part of the project, the bodywork. As the inspiration for the project was the Group 2 2002 that they had seen at BMW Group Classic, the plan was to create a road-going car with that awesome wide-arch Group 2 styling and so the next step was to order the body kit, which consists of that ultra-aggressive front bumper and the bolt-on arches. “It wasn’t all that easy to get the parts fitted in place as there were no pre-drilled holes to fit the body in place. Let’s just say, it paid for me to be a fully trained mechanic,” grins Georg and his talent and skills paid off in a big way as the end result is spectacular and while the kit may only be made up of the front bumper and arches, the visual drama they impart on the 2002’s body is insane. The front bumper is wide and wild, angular and aggressive with that central ‘V’ section, those air intakes and the lower splitter section, and it aligns with the front arches, which sweep up and over and then tuck down into the sills and not only do they endow the 2002 with an almost cartoonish muscularity, the bolts and the black gaskets add an element of contrast and give them even more definition. At the rear, meanwhile, Georg has removed the bumper and cleaned up the area to leave the ’02’s rump looking super smooth, with that exceedingly cool oval exhaust tip from the custom manifold-back exhaust system adding the finishing touch. With the Group 2 elements in place, the body needed a fresh coat of paint and while you might not think silver is an especially exciting choice of colour, this isn’t just any silver, oh no, this is Mercedes Brilliant Silver metallic, which Georg says gives a hint of golden glow in full sun, adding yet another element to the visual aspect of this build.

Of course, just adding wide arches to a 2002 would be a half-hearted job and that’s not how Georg and his dad do things. First off, the ’02 needed lowering, and it’s been fitted with Bilstein coilovers all-round with the rear having received some significant upgrades in the form of an E21 323i rear axle with welded strut domes and the setup has been modified for MacPherson struts with springs welded in. The drop that the suspension setup delivers is perfect and gets the car sitting low, with the arches perfectly placed over the wheels, and of course, the wheels count for so much here, because a) wide arches require some equally wide wheels to fill them out properly and b) sticking to the Group 2 vision meant that there was only one set that would suffice for Georg. “These are the wheels on the 2002 Group 2 racing car in the BMW Group Classic museum and it was those I wanted, I never considered any others,” he grins and while finding a set of BBS E50 magnesium splits couldn’t have been easy it was absolutely worth the effort as they make this build. These stout 17s measure 9.5”-wide up front and a hefty 11” at the rear, ensuring those arches are suitably stuffed, and the combo of those gold centres and polished stepped lips is a stunning one. The tight cross-spoke pattern makes it hard to see, but the BBSs are mounted over Porsche 993 911 Turbo 330mm discs with four-pot calipers up front while at the rear there are E21 323i single-piston calipers and 258mm discs, and this ensures he’s got more than enough braking power on tap when trying to tame 306hp.

Finally, we come to the interior, and it’s no less spectacular than any other part of this build and an insane amount of work has gone into this ’02’s cabin. The first thing you will notice are those magnificent Porsche 993 911 GT2 seats, which look absolutely awesome and are equipped with silver Schroth harnesses. Then you’ve got that Stack digital racing display custom-mounted with a carbon surround and there’s also a custom centre console with a carbon panel. The headlining, rear bench and dashboard have all been completely retrimmed in either Porsche blue leather or blue Alcantara and it makes the interior look so upmarket and feel so special. The steering wheel is a dished Momo item with an Alcantara rim and a BMW centre badge and there’s also a BMW M gear knob with an Audi TT surround and it all combines to create an insanely nice cabin that just looks awesome.

When we say that Georg and his dad spent two years working on this car we really mean that – Georg says that they basically worked on the car almost continuously for that period, only taking breaks for holidays like Christmas and New year, and that’s an incredibly impressive commitment to the project, but hard work pays off and the result is something truly exceptional. The fact that this was Georg’s first BMW, that it was inspired by a Group 2 2002, that he and his dad stayed so close and true to their vision for the build and the fact that, 18 years on, the 2002 is still a part of his car collection, still a part of his family, is something truly special. “All the modifications that we did were carried out with the original use in mind, for this to be a racing car as you’d find it in the museum but fully legal and on the road. My preferred style is racing technology for the road and my aim is always to get to the limit of what the TÜV test in Germany will allow. I’ve done that with all the cars I still own, no exceptions,” grins Georg and this modified BMW 2002 is proof of that. It looks awesome, it sounds awesome and we can only imagine how much fun it is to drive. This 2002 is the result of what you can achieve when you follow your dreams, it’s inspirational, beautifully built and, above all else, an absolutely awesome road legal, race car-inspired machine and it’s a project that Georg and his dad can be truly proud of.

Tech Spec: Modified BMW 2002

Engine & Transmission:

2.5-litre four-cylinder S14B25 from E30 M3 Sport Evo, lighter DTM crankshaft, H-beam Pauter connecting rods, one-off Wössner pistons, BMW Motorsport DTM camshafts, mechanical bucket tappets, machined cylinder head, enlarged and polished intake and exhaust ports, increased compression ratio, E34 M5 valves, genuine DTM carbon air box and intake manifold, Audi R8 ignition coils, custom-made enlarged sump, electronic water pump, E30 M3 exhaust manifold, homemade manifold-back exhaust system, MBE ECU, engine bay tidied. Getrag 265 five-speed manual gearbox from E30 M3, enlarged transmission tunnel, 45% locking LSD

Chassis:

9.5×17” (front) and 11×17” (rear) BBS E50 magnesium wheels with gold centres and polished stepped lips, 225/35 (front) and 255/45 (rear) Yokohama Advan Fleva tyres, Bilstein coilovers, E21 323i rear axle and welded suspension turrets, modified to MacPherson suspension struts, springs welded in, Porsche 993 911 Turbo four-piston calipers and 330mm discs (front) and E21 323i single-piston calipers and 258mm drilled discs (rear)

Exterior:

Full respray in Mercedes Brilliant Silver metallic, Group 2-look GRP front bumper and wide arches, rear bumper delete

Interior:

Porsche 993 911 GT2 seats, silver Schroth harnesses, interior retrimmed in Porsche blue leather and blue Alcantara, custom-mounted Stack digital race display with carbon fibre surround, custom carbon fibre centre console, Momo Motorsport steering wheel with BMW centre badge, BMW M gear knob, Audi TT gear shift surround

Source

July 19, 2021
CONCOURS FORD SIERRA RS500 COSWORTH: BLACK MIRROR

With 450bhp on tap, this Concours Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth is a very dark (and shiny!) horse that’s taken home a title.

Feature from Fast Ford. Words Ben Birch. Photos Jason Dodd

Few Fords look more menacing in your rear-view mirror than a black Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth. In the 1980s, whether you drove a Porsche 911 on the street or a BMW touring car on the track, Ford’s ultimate Sierra left a terrifying impression on anyone it pushed out of the way.

Kev Murby’s experience of the whale-tailed icon was slightly less visceral, but no less memorable. “I had a very unique picture on my wall at work; it was of a black Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth parked in front of a futuristic-looking glass building. Every single day I looked at that picture, and promised myself that I’d own one,” he remembers.

Fast forward a few decades and Kev has fulfilled that promise while at the same time bringing this particular example back to its former glory. As he explains, “I came into some money around 2014, and wanted to finally scratch my RS500 itch, but prices were on the increase already and there was no way I could justify spending £100,000 on what is still a Ford Sierra.”

Kev was determined to buy a solid car but not a minter, at a sensible price. Oh, and it had to be black. He says, “Over the years, I’ve owned a black Mk3 Cortina, a black XR4i, a black JPS Capri, and I’ve got a black rear-wheel-drive Sapphire Cosworth at home, as well as the RS500. Black cars just look better than any other colour – when they’re clean,
of course.”

Most of us would have failed in finding such a unicorn, but after years of competing in concours events with his Saph, Kev was well connected on the RS scene. He received a friendly tip-off about a Sierra RS500 from well-known Cosworth aficionado Paul Linfoot.

Kev explains, “I think Paul wanted to keep it for himself, but he was in the process of buying a very special RS500 at the time, so sold this one to me to free up some cash.”

Although the car was tired and had been badly painted, it was very straight and honest, and all the important numbers matched – including the engine block and head. At £30,000 it was also good value, so without having even viewed the car, Kev organised for it to be picked up and delivered to his home, where the rebirth of an icon could begin.

Kev didn’t hang about: within a week the engine was out of the bay to be assessed by Dave Pritchard of DP Motorsport, and the car was up on axle stands, where a long and arduous love-hate relationship began between the garage floor and Kev’s back.

He groans, “I spent around three hours every night for months on end, laid down, looking up at the floorpan, cleaning the underside with my little Dremel. It was horrific work and I wouldn’t do it again for all the tea in China, but once the red oxide and paint was on, the result was worth it.”

By now, Dave Pritchard had dismantled the engine and discovered some good and some bad news. The good news was some trick head work had been done back in the day, by Dave Brodie of BBR. Kev says, “It was superb work, but unfortunately the rest of the engine needed a rebuild, as internally it looked like it had been sandblasted.”

The discovery offered Kev the impetus to rebuild it to better-than-new condition. “DP asked what I wanted from the rebuild, and I said to be driveable and quick. We ended up making 447bhp and 396lb.ft, and although you need to stay above 4000rpm to really keep it on song, it is very quick indeed.”

The concours Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth runs four big Siemens injectors, and the T4 turbo has been rebuilt with billet wheels because the originals are hard to get hold of nowadays. The whole ensemble is kept in tune with a retrofitted Level 8 ECU, live-mapped by PJ Motorsport to a maximum 28psi of boost. Kev doesn’t see a need to go any further, and he sums up the experience of a 400bhp-plus T4-equipped rear-wheel-drive Cosworth road car perfectly: “Hit the right revs, and all hell breaks loose.”

The engine went back into an already-mint bay, as Paul Linfoot had previously conducted one of his underbonnet restorations. The rest of the bodywork desperately needed attention, but an initial respray ended in tears.

Kev explains, “I’d wanted Wayne Parrott to do it, but he was busy with work. So I took it somewhere else, and a year later, the whole car micro-blistered.” In fact, when Wayne assessed the damage, he was able to peel the paint off in strips with a razor blade.

Kev was wounded, but after a second respray, by Wayne this time, the car is still in stunning condition five years later. So much so that Kev has enjoyed entering it into concours competitions alongside his Saph.

He says, “My son and I drive the cars to the events, show the cars and then have some great drives home. They do get used hard, which surprises some people, but life’s too short not to enjoy these cars properly.”

Kev swaps the CXN wheels for a standard set of genuine RS500 items to enter concours, and with such a relatively standard-looking car he has won his fair share of events.

He smiles, “My proudest moment was winning the best-presented standard car at RSOC National Day. It genuinely bought a tear to my eye with pride.

“The RS500 ownership experience is much like owning other Cosworths. I get immense pleasure out of driving it, and the cars deserve to be brought to the best condition they can – striving for that goal can also bring their owners so much pleasure.”

So much that Kev has now become the RSOC RS500 registrar. Does that mean he can officially value his own car? “Unfortunately not. But even if I could, it’s not about the monetary value – I’ve finally got the car from that poster, and that’s priceless.”

Tech Spec: Concours Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth

Engine:

BBR polished and ported head with larger valve guides, DP Motorsport exhaust cam, Isky double valve springs, Mahle pistons with valve cutouts, H-section conrods, high-pressure oil pump, -31 actuator, 3 bar MAP sensor, four Siemens black 83lb injectors, T4 turbo with billet wheel

Power:

447bhp and 396lb.ft

Transmission:

T5 gearbox with toughened gears, competition clutch and flywheel

Suspension:

Standard springs, Koni adjustable dampers, partially poly bushed

Brakes:

Standard callipers, drilled discs

Wheels & Tyres:

Front: 9x17in Compomotive CXN wheels and 215/40R17 Toyo tyres; rear: 9x17in Compomotive CXN wheels and 235/40R17 Toyo tyres

Exterior:

Original Sierra Cosworth RS500 in black

Interior:

Original Sierra Cosworth RS500

Source

July 15, 2021