ollieteb
New member
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2013
- Messages
- 2
Afternoon all,
Been a long time lurker here, and I've only just found out that I have yet to introduce myself and my Puma! (Well, not just mine, but I'll get onto that bit shortly).
In 2012 I purchased a new Fiesta Metal, what a superb car it was. I took it to Brands Hatch when it was ~3 months old (I recommend this to anyone, the sooner you know the limits of your car the better!). A friend and I drove it all day long and it didn't miss a beat, although I knew that I would have to be careful if I kept wanting to put it on track. We came up with the idea of getting a track-car between us which would be lightly modified to cope with track work, but could still be driven on the road.
A few months later, and with another friend on board (total of 3), we set out to find a Puma that we could lightly fettle and use on track, and this was the car of choice...
1999 on a V, 85k miles, Lux pack, I think it had 4 owners and was complete with comprehensive service history, original floor mats etc. It was a great original car, however it did have a few poor points; the fuel gauge would read from full to 3/4 and nothing beneath, and the big one; it only had 4 forward gears! I drove the car, and it felt really good, so handed over 400 notes, and the car was ours.
(Just purchased and getting insurance for the drive home)
First step was to change the gearbox, for 3 incompetent 22 year olds, it took a little while, but we got there in the end
The first big trip/trackday was at Anglesey in June last year. We took a detour through most of Wales to experience some of the finest roads in the UK, and the first few hours were absolutely epic fun. However, my friend who was driving the Puma managed to fall in a ditch outside of the Elan Valley, which completely ruined the tracking. We soldiered on, and after much deliberating, decided that we should do the trackday anyway.
The car was completely standard at this point, apart from a set of Yokohama Spec 2 tyres. The day went reasonably well, despite having a huge amount of toe out on the NS/F wheel, the only issue we encountered was the brake fluid cap coming lose and leaving us with no brakes.
Next up was Bedford. We'd stripped the interior at this point, so we'd removed a fair amount of weight. Despite that, this happened.
(Excuse the stickers... They were not my choice, but we work on a democracy between us, and I lost!)
Bigger brakes came (Focus ST discs, Mk3 Mondeo calipers, EBC yellowstuff pads, Motul 600 fluid), as did a full Milltek stainless system inc. 4-2-1 manifold. The next trackday went without a hitch, as have the subsequent 7 that this has taken part in.
I've had quite a few cars, and I've not known a car to run as well and as reliably as this one, I am absolutely amazed. I last changed the oil in April this year, and has done around 2.5k miles, 2 trackdays and some very high speed running in Germany, but the oil is still golden. All we've done, save for upgrades, is basic maintenance (oils & filters mainly).
In April this year, the Puma took on Spa, and won. What a superb track this is, if you get a chance to try it, do it!
1300 mile round trip, and it didn't miss a beat.
(It was over 140mph indicated at one point, but I lifted and couldn't get it back there)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gytonwEc2vw[/youtube]
It's not been hugely active this year thanks to my house purchase and work commitments of other owners, but the idea is to take the Puma off the road and tow it to events with my Range Rover. Then we can go really nuts, cage, suspension, wheels etc. as funds allow.
Next step is to sell my daily driver (a MINI One), which after a bit of work will be going up for sale next week. No prizes for guessing what I will be replacing it with! :wink: However, this one will remain totally standard.
The current list as it stands;
300mm discs with EBC Yellowstuff pads & RBF600 fluid
Interior removal
Yokohama Spec 2 tyres
Full Milltek stainless system inc. 4-2-1 manifold
K&N panel filter with ram air induction scoop (I'm sure this makes no difference, we were bored and wanted something to do!)
Been a long time lurker here, and I've only just found out that I have yet to introduce myself and my Puma! (Well, not just mine, but I'll get onto that bit shortly).
In 2012 I purchased a new Fiesta Metal, what a superb car it was. I took it to Brands Hatch when it was ~3 months old (I recommend this to anyone, the sooner you know the limits of your car the better!). A friend and I drove it all day long and it didn't miss a beat, although I knew that I would have to be careful if I kept wanting to put it on track. We came up with the idea of getting a track-car between us which would be lightly modified to cope with track work, but could still be driven on the road.
A few months later, and with another friend on board (total of 3), we set out to find a Puma that we could lightly fettle and use on track, and this was the car of choice...
1999 on a V, 85k miles, Lux pack, I think it had 4 owners and was complete with comprehensive service history, original floor mats etc. It was a great original car, however it did have a few poor points; the fuel gauge would read from full to 3/4 and nothing beneath, and the big one; it only had 4 forward gears! I drove the car, and it felt really good, so handed over 400 notes, and the car was ours.
(Just purchased and getting insurance for the drive home)
First step was to change the gearbox, for 3 incompetent 22 year olds, it took a little while, but we got there in the end
The first big trip/trackday was at Anglesey in June last year. We took a detour through most of Wales to experience some of the finest roads in the UK, and the first few hours were absolutely epic fun. However, my friend who was driving the Puma managed to fall in a ditch outside of the Elan Valley, which completely ruined the tracking. We soldiered on, and after much deliberating, decided that we should do the trackday anyway.
The car was completely standard at this point, apart from a set of Yokohama Spec 2 tyres. The day went reasonably well, despite having a huge amount of toe out on the NS/F wheel, the only issue we encountered was the brake fluid cap coming lose and leaving us with no brakes.
Next up was Bedford. We'd stripped the interior at this point, so we'd removed a fair amount of weight. Despite that, this happened.
(Excuse the stickers... They were not my choice, but we work on a democracy between us, and I lost!)
Bigger brakes came (Focus ST discs, Mk3 Mondeo calipers, EBC yellowstuff pads, Motul 600 fluid), as did a full Milltek stainless system inc. 4-2-1 manifold. The next trackday went without a hitch, as have the subsequent 7 that this has taken part in.
I've had quite a few cars, and I've not known a car to run as well and as reliably as this one, I am absolutely amazed. I last changed the oil in April this year, and has done around 2.5k miles, 2 trackdays and some very high speed running in Germany, but the oil is still golden. All we've done, save for upgrades, is basic maintenance (oils & filters mainly).
In April this year, the Puma took on Spa, and won. What a superb track this is, if you get a chance to try it, do it!
1300 mile round trip, and it didn't miss a beat.
(It was over 140mph indicated at one point, but I lifted and couldn't get it back there
)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gytonwEc2vw[/youtube]
It's not been hugely active this year thanks to my house purchase and work commitments of other owners, but the idea is to take the Puma off the road and tow it to events with my Range Rover. Then we can go really nuts, cage, suspension, wheels etc. as funds allow.
Next step is to sell my daily driver (a MINI One), which after a bit of work will be going up for sale next week. No prizes for guessing what I will be replacing it with! :wink: However, this one will remain totally standard.
The current list as it stands;
300mm discs with EBC Yellowstuff pads & RBF600 fluid
Interior removal
Yokohama Spec 2 tyres
Full Milltek stainless system inc. 4-2-1 manifold
K&N panel filter with ram air induction scoop (I'm sure this makes no difference, we were bored and wanted something to do!)
