I've spent months dipping into the various big turbo threads, whether it be Fraser's E3YOB or Steve's V6RUL and one thing these threads seem to have in common is they way they have turned into absolute epics of aggravation. They appear to be a litany of trial and error, with success followed by disaster and changes of direction resulting in unanticipated additional expense and a history of wasted money. From the outside it so often looks like they have embarked on a journey of no return, which once started has to be completed or be left with what is little more than a very expensive but undriveable bundle of scrap only fit for breaking. After months and months of work and in each case tens of thousands of pounds spent (and I'm sure both would admit at times pounds wasted) neither have yet got a driveable car. Now hopefully both will finally get to where they hope to be some time soon, but without doubt a final bill well in excess of what they ever anticipated. And even then the question remains whether they are going to have a car that is any way relaiable? There's certainly plenty of history of big turbo conversions that have been anything but (Gizmo's, for instance) and even those that appear to have done well have their problems eventually (such as MattB's car that is currently 'poorly'). So does embarking on the big turbo route inevitably mean an endless journey of throwing good money after bad?
Now I don't know Fraser and have never seen his car or discussed his motivations, but I do know Steve and have had the chance of a ride in his car on one of the occasions it's actually been running and not in the garage. Yes, it is bloody quick! And yes, I do understand the desire to have a bit of a sleeper or even to wrap up supercar performance in the classically beautiful TT package. But at what cost, and is that dream realistically achievable? When Steve first told me about what he was planning and what it was likely to cost my first thoughts were, "Why don't you just buy a Porsche?" At least then you get the performance in a car put together by a team of some of the motor industry's best engineers backed up with the massive development budgets of one of the biggest car manufacturer's in the world, rather than the efforts of a bloke in a unit on a back street industrial estate somewhere!
Now perhaps you could make an argument that these specialist tuners know what they are doing, but reading through both these build threads suggests otherwise. If they were really that good wouldn't they be working for Porsche or some racing team somewhere? Hollie is about to have a go at it and I have to say I think it's a very brave move. Really, is there anybody out there whom you can trust to do a conversion on your car, get it right first time and with an agreed price and deliver you a car that has both performance and reliability? I have my doubts. We certainly see little evidence of it here.
People have been doing these conversions for quite some time, so you'd think with the Forum's collective knowledge there would be some concensus by now of what is the best way to do it. So if there is a definitive big turbo conversion where and what is it? And I'd love to hear from the pioneers who have given it a go. Knowing now what you didn't know then and what it's cost you in the end in both time and money, was it really worthwhile? In hindsight would you still have bothered, or would it have made more sense to have bought that Porsche after all?
In the end I do genuinely hope Steve and Fraser's cars come together and no doubt they will have something special and unique to drive and may even have enjoyed the process in some way, and I wish Hollie every bit of luck with her project. But personally I think it looks like a classic case of "more money than sense". Great if you've a bottomless pit of cash to throw at it, but a real money-pit otherwise.
It's not for me. What does everyone else think?
Now I don't know Fraser and have never seen his car or discussed his motivations, but I do know Steve and have had the chance of a ride in his car on one of the occasions it's actually been running and not in the garage. Yes, it is bloody quick! And yes, I do understand the desire to have a bit of a sleeper or even to wrap up supercar performance in the classically beautiful TT package. But at what cost, and is that dream realistically achievable? When Steve first told me about what he was planning and what it was likely to cost my first thoughts were, "Why don't you just buy a Porsche?" At least then you get the performance in a car put together by a team of some of the motor industry's best engineers backed up with the massive development budgets of one of the biggest car manufacturer's in the world, rather than the efforts of a bloke in a unit on a back street industrial estate somewhere!
Now perhaps you could make an argument that these specialist tuners know what they are doing, but reading through both these build threads suggests otherwise. If they were really that good wouldn't they be working for Porsche or some racing team somewhere? Hollie is about to have a go at it and I have to say I think it's a very brave move. Really, is there anybody out there whom you can trust to do a conversion on your car, get it right first time and with an agreed price and deliver you a car that has both performance and reliability? I have my doubts. We certainly see little evidence of it here.
People have been doing these conversions for quite some time, so you'd think with the Forum's collective knowledge there would be some concensus by now of what is the best way to do it. So if there is a definitive big turbo conversion where and what is it? And I'd love to hear from the pioneers who have given it a go. Knowing now what you didn't know then and what it's cost you in the end in both time and money, was it really worthwhile? In hindsight would you still have bothered, or would it have made more sense to have bought that Porsche after all?
In the end I do genuinely hope Steve and Fraser's cars come together and no doubt they will have something special and unique to drive and may even have enjoyed the process in some way, and I wish Hollie every bit of luck with her project. But personally I think it looks like a classic case of "more money than sense". Great if you've a bottomless pit of cash to throw at it, but a real money-pit otherwise.
It's not for me. What does everyone else think?
