TopCarrera
New member
After years of messing about with old Lancias I decided a change was necessary if I was to retain my sanity and avoid spending every weekend and evening in my garage "fixing". (I still have my 1980 2000 Beta Coupe - fantastic car!).
Foolishly I started to look at the lower end of the italian exotica market and came close to buying a nice Maserati Merak SS. Then sense prevailed and I resisted the urge to follow a guaranteed road to bankruptcy!
I finally gave up my Italian dream and followed the "sensible" option a Porsche 911. There was only one route, it had to be a 3.2. Classic 911 looks and character but with the benefit of Bosch Motronic, oil fed cam chain tensioners, extra power etc ....
I looked at lots of examples and the range in price and quality was enormous. I drove a couple as well and they were all different! I eventually went the LHD route - the difference in prices at the time (1998) was staggering and as far as I am concerned the inconvenience of LHD on a "hobby" car is really quite negligible. In October 1998 I purchased a LHD late 1984 Coupe in GP White. The car had air con but no sunroof, Boge not Bilstein suspension, Fuchs 7s&8s, an LSD, spoilers and no other options (baggage to go wrong and add weight). The car was originally sold new in Bharain (with 231 hp engine) )and brought to the UK in 97 by its second owner (a Briton working in the middle east). I bought the car through Autofarm. As well as the simple specification (no sunroof,electric seats, wash wipe etc..) what appealed to me was that the car had not been "prepared" and a few minor body blemishes (not rust) were left unhidden. The underneath of the car looked excellent and the motor felt strong.
I have enjoyed the car enormously and other than some initial very minor "DIY" bodywork repairs had to do very little other than routine servicing and replace a failed DME relay. It is has been exceptionally reliable and in seven years of ownership I have covered just over 20,000 miles. It has now completed about 84K miles (135K km).
I have always driven the car "enthusiaitically" and it always entertained and rewarded. I have always thought about having a go on a few track days but until earlier this year somehow never taken the plunge. Taking the car round Castle Coombe earlier this year very carefully during the Classic and Sportscar action day was good fun but driving on a circuit for the first time with a circuit full of loony hot hatches was in hindsight rather daft. I rapidly came to the conclusion that the shock absorbers were well past their best and that before I went on the track again I would get the suspension sorted.
I have just had work completed by John Holland at Unit Eleven (100 miles from me but recommended). Work completed was as follows ......
Ful service and look over
Rebuilt the 915 g/box (usual tired synchros etc..) and changed clutch
Replaced Boge dampers with firm Bilstein option, new anti roll bar bushes, spring plate bushes etc... Lowered ride height.
Removed the complete air-con system. (Front condensor blower motor failed and activation of evaporator blower becoming intermittent - didn't need)
Then through 9M and Wayne Schofield (ChipWizards) John got the geometry set for fast road/trackday use and had the ECU re-mapped.
I collected the car last week and John showed me the rolling road graphs. I was cautiously very pleased. Before any work the car hit exactly 231hp which confirmed my belief that the engine was still very healthy! (An aftermarket stainless sport exhaust system - not SSI may have contributed a couple of hp? ) After the re-map peak power of 251.6 hp was recorded. Any scepticism about this final figure has disappeared having driven the car on favoutite roads this weekend. The car is stronger throughout the rev-range, the difference is remarkable. As well as the engine the fresh suspension obviouslymakes the car now feel incredibly sharp and rock-solid but surprisingly still quite bearable over broken surface B-roads.
I've now got a very quick 3.2 with even less excess baggage and it feels absolutely fantastic to drive - I'm looking forward to a proper trackday.
For any of you wih 3.2s that have had little or no work done on the suspension of your cars seriously consider getting the work done - it really is worth it.
Regarding chips etc ... Why mess about with "off the shelf" chips when you can get a full re-map on a rolling road for literally a few hundred pounds more? I simply cannot believe that a chip would have given the same result.
(I can thoroughly recommend John Holland at Unit Eleven - Excellent friendly, thorough and good value work!)
Has anybody else had a full ECU re-map recently? Have you found the same result or am I just fooling myself??
Foolishly I started to look at the lower end of the italian exotica market and came close to buying a nice Maserati Merak SS. Then sense prevailed and I resisted the urge to follow a guaranteed road to bankruptcy!
I finally gave up my Italian dream and followed the "sensible" option a Porsche 911. There was only one route, it had to be a 3.2. Classic 911 looks and character but with the benefit of Bosch Motronic, oil fed cam chain tensioners, extra power etc ....
I looked at lots of examples and the range in price and quality was enormous. I drove a couple as well and they were all different! I eventually went the LHD route - the difference in prices at the time (1998) was staggering and as far as I am concerned the inconvenience of LHD on a "hobby" car is really quite negligible. In October 1998 I purchased a LHD late 1984 Coupe in GP White. The car had air con but no sunroof, Boge not Bilstein suspension, Fuchs 7s&8s, an LSD, spoilers and no other options (baggage to go wrong and add weight). The car was originally sold new in Bharain (with 231 hp engine) )and brought to the UK in 97 by its second owner (a Briton working in the middle east). I bought the car through Autofarm. As well as the simple specification (no sunroof,electric seats, wash wipe etc..) what appealed to me was that the car had not been "prepared" and a few minor body blemishes (not rust) were left unhidden. The underneath of the car looked excellent and the motor felt strong.
I have enjoyed the car enormously and other than some initial very minor "DIY" bodywork repairs had to do very little other than routine servicing and replace a failed DME relay. It is has been exceptionally reliable and in seven years of ownership I have covered just over 20,000 miles. It has now completed about 84K miles (135K km).
I have always driven the car "enthusiaitically" and it always entertained and rewarded. I have always thought about having a go on a few track days but until earlier this year somehow never taken the plunge. Taking the car round Castle Coombe earlier this year very carefully during the Classic and Sportscar action day was good fun but driving on a circuit for the first time with a circuit full of loony hot hatches was in hindsight rather daft. I rapidly came to the conclusion that the shock absorbers were well past their best and that before I went on the track again I would get the suspension sorted.
I have just had work completed by John Holland at Unit Eleven (100 miles from me but recommended). Work completed was as follows ......
Ful service and look over
Rebuilt the 915 g/box (usual tired synchros etc..) and changed clutch
Replaced Boge dampers with firm Bilstein option, new anti roll bar bushes, spring plate bushes etc... Lowered ride height.
Removed the complete air-con system. (Front condensor blower motor failed and activation of evaporator blower becoming intermittent - didn't need)
Then through 9M and Wayne Schofield (ChipWizards) John got the geometry set for fast road/trackday use and had the ECU re-mapped.
I collected the car last week and John showed me the rolling road graphs. I was cautiously very pleased. Before any work the car hit exactly 231hp which confirmed my belief that the engine was still very healthy! (An aftermarket stainless sport exhaust system - not SSI may have contributed a couple of hp? ) After the re-map peak power of 251.6 hp was recorded. Any scepticism about this final figure has disappeared having driven the car on favoutite roads this weekend. The car is stronger throughout the rev-range, the difference is remarkable. As well as the engine the fresh suspension obviouslymakes the car now feel incredibly sharp and rock-solid but surprisingly still quite bearable over broken surface B-roads.
I've now got a very quick 3.2 with even less excess baggage and it feels absolutely fantastic to drive - I'm looking forward to a proper trackday.
For any of you wih 3.2s that have had little or no work done on the suspension of your cars seriously consider getting the work done - it really is worth it.
Regarding chips etc ... Why mess about with "off the shelf" chips when you can get a full re-map on a rolling road for literally a few hundred pounds more? I simply cannot believe that a chip would have given the same result.
(I can thoroughly recommend John Holland at Unit Eleven - Excellent friendly, thorough and good value work!)
Has anybody else had a full ECU re-map recently? Have you found the same result or am I just fooling myself??
