Tag: Cars

MINI COOPER S R53 RACER: LAP DANCER

Built to tear up the tracks of the UK’s competitive Hot Hatch and Mini Challenge championships, Charlie Collins’s stripped and caged MINI Cooper S R53 racer went from non-running wreck to raucous home-built racer.

First appeared in Performance MINI. Words & photos: Dan Sherwood

When it comes to racing, having a powerful engine is only part of the equation. To really see those lap times diminish, you need to take a leaf out of Colin Chapman’s book and ‘add lightness’. The legendary Lotus founder was obsessive about cars’ weight, and designed chassis that would make an anorexic jealous. This endowed his lithe machines with a power-to-weight ratio that gave them a distinct advantage. Not only were the cars faster in a straight line, their cornering and braking was also radically heightened and the silverware soon followed.

It was this very principle that led MINI-mad race fanatic Charlie Collins to take a slightly different route to track-taming nirvana when he swapped his previous R50 race car for a supercharged R53 equivalent.

“In the R50 I was struggling just to keep up with the lighter cars, let alone overtake them or challenge for the lead,” explains 22-year-old Charlie. “The MINI was a capable car but weighed considerably more than most of the other competitors (such as Honda Civic Type Rs and Renault Clios) that run in the 750 Motor Club’s Hot Hatch Championship. In the end, I’d squeezed about as much power as I could from the engine, but I just couldn’t make it 200kg lighter, so I decided it was time for a change.”

Being a true MINI nut, that change was never going to be to convert to the dark side and try a Type R on for size, but was instead to move up a class and contest the championship in an R53, where the regulations on power-to-weight ratios prove perfectly suited to a supercharged Cooper S.

Charlie says, “I knew it was the best way to remain behind the wheel of a MINI, yet finally be able to run at the front of the pack. It would also allow me to eventually move into the dedicated MINI CHALLENGE series.”

With many capable MINI specialists offering ready-built race cars, he could’ve easily bought a MINI Cooper S R53 that was fully race-ready off the shelf, but he liked the idea of building one himself.

“Not only would self-building provide less of a strain on my bank balance, it would also give me an excellent understanding of how it all worked together and a first-hand insight into race car-specific engineering,” reasons Charlie, who works as an engineer.

His quest to find a suitable S to transform into his new racing steed began in summer 2018. “As the car was always going to be completely stripped, with most of the parts replaced or renewed, I didn’t need a minter,” he chuckles. “This led me to looking at cars at the cheapest end of the market in a bid to save some cash. In the end I took a punt on a £275 eBay special.”

Having seen grainy mobile phone pictures of the car before picking it up, Charlie knew it was well past its best and the previous owner had already informed him it was a non-runner with a destroyed engine. But he was still shocked when he finally saw the condition of the car in the metal.

Charlie explains, “The timing belt had slipped, dropping a couple of valves and cracking the head. After that, the previous owner simply parked it up and left it.”

A flat battery and even flatter tyres were the most obvious issues, but they turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg, as further inspection revealed the neglect had allowed an extensive case of the red rot to take hold.

“Everything was either rusted beyond serviceable or pretty damn near to it,” remembers Charlie. “So in the end it’s been a pretty thorough rebuild with a lot of money spent on genuine MINI bolts and parts because you simply can’t get them anywhere else. So much for saving cash, eh?”

The bodywork was pretty beaten up too, but luckily there were plenty of cheap replacement items readily available through various breakers and parts websites.

“Even though I was keen for the car to look good, it wasn’t worth putting pristine new body panels on, so as long as they were straight and not cracked or corroded, they would be fine – this is a race car, after all. As the saying goes, rubbin’s racing,” he laughs.

The build began with the car being stripped to a rolling chassis, while the blown engine was removed and binned in favour of a low-mileage, working, donor engine.

“When it came to selecting the various tuning parts for the car, I was massively inspired by the Tom and Scott at 1320 Mini,” Charlie reveals. “I was also lucky to have them on the end of the phone to give me loads of advice on what works and what doesn’t and, crucially, where I can gain power without making the engine any more fragile than it already is, as I simply don’t have the time or budget to keep rebuilding blown engines after every race meeting.”

To ensure the motor was meaty enough to be competitive, yet strong enough to take the regular abuse lap after lap, Charlie equipped the 1.6-litre W11B16 with a modified airbox with a drop-in K&N 3190 filter, an Airtec top-mount intercooler and a Janspeed manifold mated to an R56 Scorpion cat-back stainless steel exhaust.

A facelift Teflon supercharger with 15 per cent Kavs pulley was selected to supply the increased level of boost, while Bosch 550cc injectors add the requisite amount of high-octane super unleaded.

Charlie grins, “I recently added a Cat Cams 1302469 cam to the standard head and had the ECU remapped with a Bytetronik tune by 1320 MINI. The power delivery is simply savage now and the car is so much more responsive. I can’t wait to try it on track.”

But extra power is useless unless your transmission can cope, so Charlie took the opportunity to beef up the MINI’s driveline with a Clutchmasters FX400 uprated clutch and lightweight flywheel, as well as install a Quaife limited-slip differential, which is an essential modification for any car being used hard on track, as it greatly increases the amount of traction when exiting corners.

While he was at it, Charlie also swapped the heavy lead acid battery for an Odyssey lightweight racing item and relocated it in the spare wheel well. This has altered the car’s weight distribution by shifting some mass away from the front and towards the stripped-out rear, improving the MINI’s already-majestic handling.

“With the car finally running, I shifted my attention towards improving the suspension and braking,” recalls Charlie. “I started off by changing the rear trailing arms for lighter R56 alternatives, refurbishing the front and rear subframes and replacing all the bushes with Powerflex polyurethane items.”

A full set of more powerful R56 John Cooper Works Brembo brakes were then purchased, refurbished and installed along with Hel braided brake lines, while the stock suspension made way for a quartet of KW Clubsport coilovers, a Whiteline rear anti-roll bar and Hardrace adjustable control arms.

He winces, “The KWs were easily the most expensive single item I’ve shelled out for on this car. In fact, when combined with the cost of the brakes, these two items alone have cost me over £1500 per corner. But the way the car handles now is incredible, so I’m not complaining – they’re worth every penny.”

Allowing Charlie to make the most of his marvellous MINI’s super suspension is a set of 7x17in Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 wheels wrapped in sticky 205/40×17 Toyo Proxes R888R semi-slick tyres.

Adding more lightness, Charlie removed the factory sound-deadening before diligently paring back the wiring loom to lose any redundant wiring, such as for the electric windows and headlights. The latter is not only a cunning way to lose a few extra kilos, but also makes tracing electrical faults far easier, especially when you are in the time- and resource-sparse confines of a pit lane.

“With the wiring complete, I had the whole interior resprayed to neaten it up before a JP Cages bolt-in roll cage was fitted,” says Charlie. Joining the race-spec cage is a single OMP RS bucket seat with a six-point harness, an Alcantara-trimmed steering wheel and a fire suppression system plumbed-in to the cockpit and engine bay.

The final piece of the puzzle was to focus on the exterior, in terms of additional weight savings and to give it a look that would stand out in the paddock and on track.

“I’d already replaced the heavy headlights with lightweight ETS blanks, so continued the theme with the fog lights, utilising the apertures to fit ETS racing brake ducts. This shed a surprising amount of weight from the front, but was nothing compared to the reduction that came from swapping the glass side and rear windows to Lexan.”

Being a race car, there was no point in going for a fancy paint job, so Charlie engaged WrapIT to apply the livery, the bright teal accent contrasting well against the dark gunmetal grey body and gloss black wheels, and is even complemented by the Luke tow straps in a matching hue.

“I’m really pleased with how the car has turned out,” beams Charlie. “But as yet, I’ve not had the chance to take it to the track for any testing, so I’m just hoping everything works come race day.” It’s going to be a real trial by fire when he hits the grid in anger.

“It will be a steep learning curve to get the setup dialled in to perfection, but that’s part of the fun of racing,’ shrugs Charlie. “Hopefully, we’ll finally give those Type Rs a run for their money!”

And judging by the quality of his car and his skills behind the wheel, we’re sure Charlie and his MINI will do just that.

Tech Spec: MINI Cooper S R53 racer

Engine:

1.6-litre four-cylinder 16v W11B16 engine, standard head with Cat Cams 1302469 cam, Bosch 550cc injectors, Bytetronik ECU remap, Airtec top-mount intercooler, 15 per cent Kavs pulley, Janspeed manifold mated to standard cat and R56 Scorpion cat back exhaust system, modified standard airbox with K&N 3190 filter, facelift Teflon supercharger, Pro hoses, Fletcher radiator, standard water pump, Odyssey race battery and ETA battery isolator

Power:

“The car is tuned to keep me within the class regulations for my current race series of 200bhp per ton at the flywheel. Car produces 197bhp at the wheels with 166lb.ft of wheel torque on the dyno”

Transmission:

Clutch Masters FX400 clutch and FX400 flywheel, Quaife limited-slip differential, facelift gearbox running standard ratios, polybushed gearbox mounts

Suspension:

Fully refurbished and powder-coated front and rear subframes, Powerflex bushes, KW Clubsport coilovers, Whiteline rear anti-roll bar, Hardrace adjustable control arms, R56 trailing arms, SuperPro adjustable drop-links, replacement wheel bearings, power steering delete

Brakes:

Front: Brembo 316mm drilled and vented discs with R56 JCW Brembo four-pot callipers and Carbotech pads, ETS Racing brake cooling ducts; rear: Nitrac drilled and vented discs with JCW R56 callipers and Carbotech pads; HEL braided lines

Wheels & Tyres:

7x17in Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 alloy wheels fitted with 205/40×17 Toyo Proxes R888R tyres

Interior:

Fully stripped interior with all sound-deadening removed, JP Cages bolt-in roll cage, OMP RS bucket seat, Lifeline plumbed-in mechanical fire extinguisher, OMP steering wheel, OMP six-point harness, Ultra gauge, lightweight door cards

Exterior:

Standard three-door MINI retained as per regulations, front lights removed and ETS Racing headlight blanks fitted, front fog lights removed and fitted with ETS Racing brake ducts, Lexan windows fitted to doors, rear quarters and boot, drilled and modified front bumper and crash bar, battery box delete to allow R56 cat-back exhaust to be fitted, WrapiT vinyl wrap

Source

July 9, 2021
MODIFIED TOYOTA COROLLA KE30

After owning a string of nineties and early noughties Jap icons, Will Sanctuary decided that, when it came to selecting his next project car, the best way forward was to go back… We take a nosey around his modified Toyota Corolla KE30.

Fast Car. Words & Photos: Dan Sherwood

“I’d always been into old Japanese cars,” says 28-year-old Will Sanctuary, the owner of the eye-catching Tiffany blue Toyota Corolla that finds itself in front of our camera lens today. “They’re dripping with the kind of character you just don’t seem to get in more modern machinery.”

And he’s right, of course. With the abundance of platform sharing and parts bin raiding that goes on in today’s motor manufacturing, it tends to give everything a similar look, with few new cars breaking the mould and truly standing out. So seeing a late ‘70s classic on the street, with its chrome bumpers and bullet-shaped mirrors protruding from the front of the wings, it really is a welcome sight!

“The Corolla was just an itch I wanted to scratch,” laughs Will. “I’ve owned two Honda S2000s, two Nissan Skyline R33 GT-Rs, a Nissan 350Z, a Rocket Bunny S14 and an EK Honda Civic in the past, but as good as they all were in their respective ways, the Corolla is the one that puts the biggest smile on my face. With only 83bhp on tap from the 1.5-litre engine it’s far from the fastest, but if you buy a classic car for the way it performs, you’re kind of missing the point.”

But even with a long-held affinity for owning a Japanese classic, Will admits that he never set out with the intention of actually buying one when he did…

“I’d just sold my S2000 and was scrolling through the cars for sale on Facebook marketplace to see if anything took my fancy.” he explains. “To be honest, nothing was really floating my boat, but then I saw a flash of Tiffany Blue that caught my eye.”

The 1978 Toyota Corolla KE30 sedan was offered for sale through Japanese import specialists Fast East Classics.

“Tiffany blue is one of my favourite colours,” reveals Will, whose day job as a painting and decorating professional gives him some clout when it comes to selecting the perfect pigment. “The fact it was a rare model Corolla was cool, but more importantly, priced at £6.5k it was within budget, so that really sparked my interest.”

Will had dabbled in trying to secure a Japanese classic before when he decided to bid on a Datsun 240Z at a local auction. However, the guide price of £10-12k soon rose to well over £20k before the auctioneers gavel dropped, putting it firmly out of his price range.

“When I collected the car from Far East Classics’ Stonehenge HQ I was surprised at how good the exterior was,” recalls Will. “The paint was a bit faded but there were no bad rust areas, so that was a relief. However, the interior and engine were both a mess! So the first thing I did after handing over the cash and sealing the deal was to take the Toyota down to my mate Lezi who works at my local garage near Kings Lynn for an assessment, service and MoT.”

Surprisingly, the 40-year-old Corolla sailed through the test with the only snag being a new set of brake lines needed. So, with a clean bill of health, Will got cracking on sorting the car to his high standards.

“The first port of call was to bring the dull paintwork back to life with a full respray by Rich Heil from DV8 Automotive in Kings Lynn,” says Will. “Rich did a cracking job of matching the old paint colour and now the blue really pops with a flawless finish that offsets the chrome perfectly.”

Next up was to remove the old worn out interior, carpets and soundproofing and file them safely in the bin! “Unfortunately, you can’t just go and pick up a new carpet for a 78 Corolla off the shelf, so I ended up having to source one from Australia!”laughs Will.

Other parts were equally hard to come by, which led to Will using scouring the globe to get his new ride up to scratch. A new dash and wiring loom were found in Ireland through Will’s friend Leo, a deep front splitter and duck tail rear spoiler came from Thailand, while a brand new, old-stock grille made its way over from Portugal.

“Having to pay shipping for many of the parts I’ve needed has really upped the cost of the build,” Will sighs. “But that’s often the price you pay for owning a classic, as it’s part and parcel of the ownership experience, so I can’t complain.”

The interior now complete with a new retrimmed dash, seats, door cards and headlining, plus a cool Grip Royal mahogany-rimmed steering wheel, Will moved on to alter the Corolla’s ride height by modifying the stock suspension with a set of coilovers up front and a tweak to the stock rear leaf springs. Combined with a set of adjustable lower arms and tie rods, plus a quartet of hubcentric spacers, the stance is spot on.

“The car originally had a set of Rota wheels on it when I bought it,” Will says. “Now, I’m no wheel snob or anything, but they were just too modern looking for the age of the car, so I replaced them with a set of 14in SSR Mk1 alloy wheels with Falken Azenis tyres that I bought from Jason Grant at Rusty Rimz. I think they really suit it.”

You’re not wrong there, Will. We love an old school rim job too! And with the stance sorted, Will could move on to more pressing matters…

“The wiring of the car was a state and a real fire hazard,” remembers Will. “The new loom obviously helped a lot, but there were still some electrical gremlins to sort out before everything would work properly, so I handed the duties over to Nuffy at King’s Lynn Auto Electrical.”

Sometimes it’s best to let the pros take the strain, especially with stuff like electricals, and Nuffy had the Toyota working sweetly in no time, which left Will trouble-free to start tidying up the aging engine bay.

“When I bought the car it already had an engine and transmission upgrade,” Will highlights. “The standard 1.2-litre 3K engine and four-speed gearbox had been swapped for a more powerful, larger displacement 1.5-litre 5K unit complete with five-speed ‘box.”

Still no powerhouse, but at least now some rice puddings would fear for their skins. With no real desire to try and extract more ponies from the puny lump, Will focussed his attention on making the bay look as good as possible and enhancing reliability by replacing the decaying rubber hoses with blue silicone items and fitting a set of matching blue NGK HT leads. He also swapped the brittle and discoloured fluid bottles for fresh new ones and mirror polished the rocker cover.

“While I was under the bonnet I decided to do a partial wire tuck and shave of the engine bay,” Will points out, propping the bonnet up with a matching Tiffany blue baseball bat. “I plan on doing a full tuck and smooth job in here in the future along with another engine swap to a more potent 1.8-litre MX-5 engine on motorbike throttle bodies.” That should endow Will’s machine with a bit more muscle, plus add in a wild soundtrack to boot, but in the meantime, he’ll just have to make do with the sweet sounds from the Corolla’s custom exhaust system.

“The exhaust was made my Wisbech Engineering and Edwards Motorsport and features 2.5in pipework with a mid-silencer and a twin-exit backbox with upswept, slash-cut tailpipes,” he says. “It doesn’t make a lot of power gains with the current engine, but it should liberate a few more bhp from the future setup, and it sounds great too!”

So with phase one of his Corolla project complete, how is Will liking his new life as the owner of a Japanese cult classic?

“It’s great, if a bit expensive at times,” he chuckles. “You also have to get used to living with their various quirks and antiquated technology. Things like using a choke to keep the revs up while the engine warms up. Once it’s warm though it runs like a champ!”

Will admits that, as a bit of a perfectionist, his Corolla will never truly be finished, but will continually evolve and grow as the years go by. And with plans for a tucked screamer of an engine, plus a possible rollcage and bucket seats still to come, we can see that this is one slice of old school cool that looks to be growing old disgracefully, and that’s something we can all approve of!

Tech Spec: Modified Toyota Corolla KE30

Engine:

1.5-litre, 4-cyl, 8v Toyota 5k-c engine, custom 2.5in stainless steel exhaust system with mid silencer and twin exit back box, single carb, polished rocker cover, polished air filter housing and K&N filter, all new silicone hoses on radiator and fuel/air lines, all new fluid bottles, NGK blue HT leads, NGK sparkplugs, air con delete, part smoothed and tucked engine bay

Transmission:

Rear wheel drive, K50 5-speed manual gearbox

Suspension:

Lowered 75mm on custom weld-in coilovers (front), lowered 80mm on flipped leaf springs and lowering blocks (rear), adjustable lower arms and tie rods, new OEM bushes, custom strut brace

Brakes:

Full freshen up of existing set up, standard front caliper rebuild with upgraded Ferodo pads and vented discs, new master cylinder and custom brake lines, rebuilt rear drum set

Wheels & tyres:

6.5x14in ET0 (front) and 7x14in ET0 (rear) fully polished SSR Mk1 alloy wheels with Falken Azenis tyres all round with permanent raised rubber tyre writing, Superforma custom hubcentric wheel spacers, custom chrome wheel nuts

Exterior:

Fully resprayed in Tiffany blue, widened metal arches smoothed into body, custom metal chin spoiler, custom metal rear duck tail spoiler, new old stock front grille, chrome wind deflectors, chrome trim on bonnet, chrome bumpers front and back, chrome bullet wing mirrors, colour coded side vents, chrome headlight bezels, chrome door handles

Interior:

OEM dash retrimmed in period correct vinyl with diamond stitch, new silent coat sound proofing, underlay and new carpe, seats, door cards and headlining all retrimmed in vinyl, custom OEM-style parcel shelf, Grip Royal mahogany steering wheel and HKB boss, fire extinguisher, aftermarket gear knob, centre console removed.

Source

July 7, 2021
BAGGED AUDI R8: PINEAPPLE EXPRESS

Exotic, rapid, and mind-warpingly creative, Jordan Clarke’s bagged Audi R8 Mk1 is smokin’ hot…

Fast Car. Words: Joe Partridge. Photos: Harry Hartland

The Pineapple Express is a jet stream that flows from the Hawaiian Islands across to the Pacific coast of the United States, its fusion of warm rain and low ground temperatures resulting in some pretty freaky weather. It’s also the name of a weapons-grade strain of sticky hyper-ganj that lent its moniker to a slacker movie about mind-altering infumations; a movie which contains possibly the only Hollywood line to make a Daewoo sound cool or edgy: “You just got killed by a Daewoo Lanos, motherf*cker!”.

If we smoosh together the key elements of this admittedly quite esoteric introduction, it starts to resemble something akin to a bright green Audi R8: jet streams, unexpected conditions, mind-warping visuals… and, somewhat improbably, even the Lanos is instrumental. How so? Well, we’d better ask Jordan Clarke – he’s the man holding the keys to the story as well as to the bagged Audi R8.

“My first car was a Daewoo Lanos,” he admits, as the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle begin to tumble into place. “I’ll be honest, my previous car history isn’t great. After a couple of weeks with the Daewoo, I wrapped it around a tree…”

Best thing for it, probably. But things didn’t get much better in the immediate aftermath: “I bought a Mk3 Golf next – that broke,” he continues, totally poker-faced. “Then it was a Mk4 Golf which I absolutely loved… but then sold. Next up was my absolute dream Fiat Punto Grande, an Abarth replica that was all blacked out, and that blew up after two days resulting in me losing all my money. Due to the skintness caused by that, it was back to a £300 burgundy Toyota Corolla that I ‘drifted’ in the snow, ripped off the rear bumper and bent the rear wheel so was running a spacer-saver – a really good look. I then moved onto my EP2 Civic, my first ever properly modded ride, and the car I subsequently started SlammedUK with.”

That’s right, we’re looking at a mighty oak that’s grown and blossomed from a slightly crap little acorn. Following a relentlessly shaky start, Jordan’s superlative business acumen got the better of his wonky automotive luck; spying a prime niche within the UK automotive crowd, he founded a lifestyle brand focused on cool apparel and accessories as well as popular meets and shows. SlammedUK has grown into a scene colossus, by virtue of the fact that it’s run by true petrolheads – there’s no cynical marketing here, it’s all about people living the lifestyle. And as Jordan began to take the new endeavour really seriously, it was necessary to sell his beloved Civic to fund the genesis of this quirky brand – but you know what they say about karma, it always comes back around. Before too long, he was able to pick up a Mk2 MX-5 (“my favourite car ever, I love MX-5s!”) and give it the proper modding treatment. In time, the Gravity show was founded – another scene linchpin that’s grown into something massively popular and successful – and a project van was built for merch and suchlike, the ‘Slamsit’. So the next logical step was, obviously, an Audi R8.

Yep, it’s perhaps an unexpected move, but there are two principal reasons why a first-gen V8 R8 with a manual ’box is the perfect demo car for a brand like SlammedUK and a show like Gravity: first of all, it’s something desirable and aspirational that modding enthusiasts can look up to and be inspired by. And secondly, well, Jordan just really wanted one. That’s the best reason, really.

It’s a magnificent head-and-heart choice, there’s no denying that. The R8 enjoys all of the creds of a bona fide supercar: gorgeous design that’s as much desktop wallpaper fodder as it is automobile; insane powerplant; stunning performance figures. But at the same time it’s an Audi, which means it’ll always start on cold mornings, it won’t overheat in summer jams, it’ll be faultlessly reliable, the clutch won’t catch fire if you drive it in inner-city stop-start traffic. It’s got uniform panel gaps and decent interior plastics. It genuinely is an everyday supercar. And with the launch model packing 414bhp from its 4.2-litre V8, this really is a car that ticks pretty much every conceivable box. (Unless you want to carry passengers, of course. But what would you rather have sitting behind you – a couple of ungrateful mates kicking your seat and whining about the music choices, or a dirty great V8? Exactly.)

“I have owned the car for two years now,” says Jordan. “I’ve done around 30,000 miles, and have just paid a huge maintenance bill to fit a new clutch and flywheel as well as a major service, coil packs, master cylinder, slave cylinder, plugs, filters, exhaust heat-wrap, and a few other bits by my good friend Raj at Supercar Service, totalling around £8.5k. Saying that, the car hadn’t cost me anything other than fuel, service and tyres in those 30,000 miles.”

See? Practical. You don’t get that sort of good behaviour with a Ferrari (probably). However, as you’ve no doubt spotted from the photos, this isn’t a story about a man buying a stock R8 and driving it about a bit. This isn’t that sort of mag. Jordan’s done stuff. Cool stuff. In fact, this is probably the lairiest and most eye-catching R8 in the UK today.

“The car was bought and designed as a marketing tool, mainly for my Gravity show,” he reasons, and if you’ve seen the kind of awesome modded cars that are on display at Gravity every year, the treatment this Audi has received will make perfect sense. First and foremost, you can’t really miss that wrap. Designed and fitted by Identity Wraps, it’s a custom flavour in TeckWrap Gloss Metallic Acid Lime, and it’s just about as in-your-face as it’s possible to get. To make the styling even more extreme, Jordan’s added a set of Prior Design sideskirts along with a splitter and spoiler from Maxton Design. Bystanders can’t really overlook the fact that those sideskirts are sitting on the ground either, as he’s done that most magnificently sacri-licious thing anyone with a sense of cheekiness can do to a supercar – he’s bagged it. Purists be damned, this is a mind-blowingly awesome setup, the modding superheroes at Intermotiv crafting a full bespoke air-ride setup for the R8, running Air Lift Performance 3P management and brutally airing out over a set of custom 20-inch OZ Futuras. These rims were fully reimagined by Wheel Unique, with staggered widths, gloss black barrels, metallic silver faces and all new hardware. The guts of this system aren’t hidden away, but instead proudly displayed in a clever three-tier boot build which features oodles of custom work involving tanks, hardlines and nifty Perspex to create something truly alluring. As a complete aesthetic package, this R8 acts like a sledgehammer to the temple.

Now, absolutely nobody has ever climbed out of an Audi R8 and said ‘hmm, it’s not really quick enough,’ but of course more is more and these things can always be improved. With this in mind, Jordan’s seen fit to have SS Autowerks knock up a custom 3-inch straight-pipe exhaust system; the motor’s also running a Revo Stage 1 map, which elevates the peak to an amusing 440bhp.

“As someone who drives a lot, and has driven a lot of cars, I honestly can’t fault it,” Jordan grins. “It’s the most fun and most driver-focused car that I’ve driven. Two years and 30,000 miles later it still puts a smile on my face every single time I drive it; that even surprises me as there are a lot of other cars I want to own, but I’m just not sure I’ll ever be able to get rid of this.” Well, it’s certainly a step up from a Daewoo Lanos. The mind-altering properties of the Pineapple Express have blazed up their magic once again. Who knows what freaky mysteries they’ll spirit into being next?

Tech Spec: Bagged Audi R8

Styling:

TeckWrap Gloss Metallic Acid Lime custom wrap designed and fitted by Identity Wraps, Prior Design sideskirts, Maxton Design splitter, Maxton Design spoiler

Tuning:

4.2-litre FSI V8, 6-speed manual, Revo Stage 1 map, custom SS Autowerks 3-inch straight-pipe exhaust system, 440bhp

Chassis:

8.5×20-inch (front) and 10×20-inch (rear) OZ Futura wheels rebuilt by Wheel Unique – with polished lips, metallic silver faces, gloss black barrels and new hardware, 12mm (front) and 25mm (rear) spacers, custom Intermotiv air suspension with Air Lift Performance 3P management

Interior:

Custom perforated hexagonal Alcantara/leather seat covers by SeatSkinz, custom fascia and Kenwood headunit by Car Audio Security, custom three-tier boot build with four tanks, custom painted hardlines and embossed Gravity logo Perspex floor, custom SlammedUK Audi R8 floor mats by REEFined, custom forged carbon steering wheel with colour-coded stitching by ControlCustoms

Source

July 6, 2021