GFWilliams Purple, Slightly Modified, Exige V6

[GFWilliams]

On 24 January 2017 at 09:35, NANO said:

Gooooood gooooood ... George ... fantastic ... thanks for the video ...

It is a bit naughty. Video doesn't really do it justice. Take the roof off and drive round in loud for a while and you get a headache it's so loud!  I love it!

[NANO]

si, si ... absolutly ... I also like this kind of "sound" ... you did a good purchase

[GFWilliams]

Today I cleaned the Exige, took the roof off and also for the first time had all 3 of my cars in the same place. Felt totally surreal that all 3 are mine!

[geartox]

gorgeous ! 

[GFWilliams]

Well I found a solution to my hatred of the standard seat (ignore how dirty the interior is, needs a clean and a tool clear out!)

[MartynB]

You do what you gotta. Tillet or Tillet inspired?

[NickEng]

George, rather jealous of your collection.. 

Have you gained any headroom with the new seats? I'm quite tall so looking for options. 

[GFWilliams]

7 hours ago, MartynB said:

You do what you gotta. Tillet or Tillet inspired?

Tillett B5

5 hours ago, NickEng said:

George, rather jealous of your collection.. 

Have you gained any headroom with the new seats? I'm quite tall so looking for options. 

Gained headroom, but I'm now more leant back which means you loose leg room. Ideally now I'd move the steering wheel towards me a little so I can sit further back. Do sit a lot lower now though, had to adjust the mirror a lot!

[DJW]

How do you find the Speedster then George ?  I believe you've had it a while now

Always fancied one after seeing one replica type at McGurks, http://www.mcgurk.com/used-Aston-martin-sales-service/356-vintage-speedsters.aspx , but part of me kept worrrying the initial charm may soon wear off 

[French Frie]

@DJW : I dare to answer, as I used to have a Vintage Speedster replica, which was fine and period correct... But as many, many speedster's owners, the visual pleasure and realized wish was not enough to keep the owning enjoyable ! it's a great little car, but the VW floorpan doesn't make it very funny to drive ... whereas a 550 replica is VERY fun to drive, especially with a tubular chassis (such as a Beck) ! IMHO, of course  ...

[NW76]

11 hours ago, GFWilliams said:

Tillett B5

George: the Tillett B5 looks interesting - can you tell us a little more. Cant see from the pucture: dif you got the padded or non padded version? Carbon Fibre?

Are you able to use a 6 point harness with them?

Love your speedster btw and the 2Bular exhaust ...

Cheers

Norbert

[MartynB]

B5 very good. We have the carbon B2s in our Caterham. A lot of care and thought has gone into their seats. Very comfy for such spartan looking units. I've driven for hours in them without issue, so hopefully you'll have the same experience.

[GFWilliams]

7 hours ago, DJW said:

How do you find the Speedster then George ?  I believe you've had it a while now

Always fancied one after seeing one replica type at McGurks, http://www.mcgurk.com/used-Aston-martin-sales-service/356-vintage-speedsters.aspx , but part of me kept worrrying the initial charm may soon wear off 

I love the Speedster but only when it's working 100% which seems to be a rare thing. To be honest, since I got the Caterham and Lotus I don't really drive it anymore as it's a bit shit by comparison!

 

1 hour ago, French Frie said:

@DJW : I dare to answer, as I used to have a Vintage Speedster replica, which was fine and period correct... But as many, many speedster's owners, the visual pleasure and realized wish was not enough to keep the owning enjoyable ! it's a great little car, but the VW floorpan doesn't make it very funny to drive ... whereas a 550 replica is VERY fun to drive, especially with a tubular chassis (such as a Beck) ! IMHO, of course  ...

You're right, but it's short wheelbase and on shitty tyres, so you can actually have fun at low speeds which is quite entertaining. I can't imagine many people lift off oversteer their 356 speedster replicas though...?

 

Edited February 9, 2017 by GFWilliams

[NANO]

Hi George

with the new position in this seat (since you're more up and back) you still have a good view of the instrument ?

or the steering wheel now covers you part?

[GFWilliams]

1 hour ago, NW76 said:

George: the Tillett B5 looks interesting - can you tell us a little more. Cant see from the pucture: dif you got the padded or non padded version? Carbon Fibre?

Are you able to use a 6 point harness with them?

Love your speedster btw and the 2Bular exhaust ...

Cheers

Norbert

I have B5 in GRP with leather (heated) pads as I wanted one as cheap as possible to see if I actually liked the seat first. Intention is to swap it out to a lovely carbon one with stitching and matching passenger seat at some stage when I'm a bit better off for money!

6 point harness isn't a problem, if you are solely using a 6 point harness I think a B6 might be a better option than a B5 as the B5 is designed more as a replacement for the standard seat, well as the B6 is a seat which holds you in even better but is a pain with the standard seat belts due to having higher sides (with holes in for 6 point harness).

The amount of support the tillett gives is night and day difference compared to the standard seat, it honestly is much more comfortable!

Just now, NANO said:

Hi George

with the new position in this seat (since you're more up and back) you still have a good view of the instrument ?

or the steering wheel now covers you part?

An improvement if anything for me, but I'm 6' tall. The steering wheel used to sit a little low for me and my head was too high in the car, now I sit slightly lower but also more angled back which brings my head back and my feet forward. It's strange being able to read the speed

[GFWilliams]

Little update on my car, loving every drive still!

Had it up at VMax and managed 156mph (GPS) which was a little disappointing, but the corners made up for it. Getting the hang of it now, it drifts pretty well but you have to be very committed to do fast smokey drifts!   Good way to finish off the rear tyres though 

Since I've got the car I've now changed the gear cables to SSC ones, put the 2bular road exhaust on, changed tyres to Nankang NS2R, wrapped the back end, put Tillett B5s in the car and as of yesterday I got Jez @ BackonTrack to change the front camber on the car. I'm very happy with everything I've done to the car and each thing has improved it over the factory spec which I got the car in.  I can't believe the difference each thing has made, but the camber change yesterday is instantly noticeable and has hugely reduced the understeer and the front end just bites the tarmac so much harder!  If you haven't already I highly suggest that you get the camber checked. I went from 0 degree to 1 degree negative camber.

I've got a busy summer planned with the car already, potentially having the car out in Europe to enjoy the amazing roads out there.

Oh, and here are a couple of shots with the roof off enjoying the recent nice weather

[MartynB]

Just had the soft top done yesterday, so also loving the fact we now have two different cars available.

I love the liquidity of the paint in those evening shots.

I'll be interested to hear how you get on with the change in front camber once you have had some time to evaluate properly. In particular, do you feel any additional "dartiness"?

Interesting to see that you're getting smoke off both rears 

[GFWilliams]

Not much change in dartiness, feels pretty much the same until you load the front end then it feels totally different. I can feel the difference before I even get out of my road, it's that dramatic! 

When a powerslide is initiated under momentum instead of just under power it means the back is already rotated when you then get on the power. This means that both wheels can light up and you can do nice big smokey drifts 

Also, not sure if I mentioned above, but I sold my Caterham, couldn't justify having both and the Exige was so much more usable and I actually love the driving experience just as much which still surprises me.   In a few months I'll buy a boring every day car so I'm not putting as many miles onto the Exige and so I can drive to work in a bit more comfort when I fancy

[NANO]

George, in everyday driving, of road, with this 1 gr. negative camber feel a difference or not perceived ?

[GFWilliams]

Just now, NANO said:

George, in everyday driving, of road, with this 1 gr. negative camber feel a difference or not perceived ?

I haven't felt a difference but I've only driven it hard which was more country roads fun...   Going to Germany tomorrow morning so will have a fair few miles under my belt to compare by the time the weekend is done!

[NANO]

Oki, Thank's ... We look forward to your new ...

[GFWilliams]

17 hours ago, NANO said:

Oki, Thank's ... We look forward to your new ...

Okay, 350 miles through the night last night and still v happy with the camber change.

Things I noticed:

My front wheels aren't perfectly balanced, changing the camber seems to have change the speed the wheel wobbles at from 65mph plus to about 85mph plus. No idea why this has changed but it's a welcome change!

The car tramlines a little more, nothing to worry about though.

you can lean on the front end a crazy amount, so much fun!

I am now in Luxembourg so will go find some fun roads to explore the car further!

[M4rk]

Great photos of your car, I love the drift shots!  I'd like to have the ability to control the car in that way, maybe one day I will get there.

Interesting read about camber setting.

[Arregueti]

2 hours ago, GFWilliams said:

 

I am now in Luxembourg so will go find some fun roads to explore the car further!

You can try the roads between Wiltz and Vianden, for instance and around the lake of Esch-sur-Sure. You can also try roads around Mullerthal. Berdorf, Echternach and Vianden. We may even flash each other as I am about to go there now! :-)

[GFWilliams]

 Decided to take the car round the Nurburgring today... Car was fantastic although I had the tyre pressures too high so they overheated towards the end of the session.  I'd never driven the track before, but got a bit of a feel for it despite only doing one session. Was enough to give me an idea that I need to upgrade the brakes in some way if I want to do more track work as the feel is a bit spongey and I'd prefer a harder pedal on track. And I need to adjust the gear cables again as I was having trouble going from 2nd to 3rd gear.