Above: Mike's mill after his latest modifications have been completed! Below: Before shot.
Updated 08-04-2004
Mike's EL series 2 XR8:
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Summary:
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News as of Nov 2003:
True to his word, Mike has been busy collecting bits and having his pride and joy modified even further than when we first went to air with this article. Over to Mike: "With these (new) bits, it is now putting down 160rwkW and a heap more torque! The dyno runs have all been done at Croydon Autosports to try and maintain a level of consistency. - Note the new dyno chart compared to the original one!" Nice to see! Hope you enjoy this little update as much as we did...
The Story So Far:
A big thanks must go to Michael who sent in the following: "The story starts out with me foolishly test driving an auto EL2XR8. At the time I was driving an EA2 Ghia, nice enough but hardly a fire breathing beast! Anyway, this auto XR8 really impressed me and then and there I decided irrationally that I had to have one, despite the cost and debt! My search then began for a manual of the same model. After 6 months of looking, I had found precisely 3 for sale. The first was white, with no options, looking a bit rough, and asking a bit much. The second was a navy blue beauty, with low km and all options, but was in Unique Cars and therefore completely unaffordable (about $39,000). The third was my own, gorgeous in heritage green with all options except the body kit and sunroof. The km's weren't bad, and the price was great! So I basically bought it on the spot and haven't looked back. Look down the page to find a shot of the engine bay the day I bought it, as soon as I got it home.. stock as a rock! The photo shoots began in earnest shortly afterwards, as I soon discovered how photogenic the beast really was :)
Above: Mike's mill
after his latest modifications have been completed! Below:
Before shot.
Not long after the purchase, I got together with a few like-minded guys and we started up the NSW Tickford Owners Club, http://www.nswxrclub.org.au/ About a month after this shot, I finally gave in and the modification bug was allowed to bite and the standard restrictive exhaust system (apparently the same headers as on the EL GT) was dumped in favour of a freer flowing dual system. Basically this comprised of stainless Genie big bore extractors, Lukey mufflers, and a dual 2.5" exhaust system running without resonators. Before all this, the car was putting out 120kW at the wheels in stock form, which was nothing impressive but close to the expected figure. Immediately afterwards, this figure leapt to 130kW, before the ECU had had time to relearn the new environment. The guys who installed the system suggested that once the ECU had adapted, it would be good for another 5 - 10kW at the wheels, which I found hard to swallow. Funnily enough, about a year later with no further mods (bar a K&N filter), it dyno'd 140kW at the wheels! They were right - it had picked up an extra 10kW at the wheels from the ECU alone! Most impressive. And the sound.. Oooooooh yeah! :)
Below Left:
Before the latest series of mods (refer table at top of page - area entitled
'Previous Mods').
Below Right: As it is now. See table at
top of page - area entitled 'Latest Mods'.
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About this time, the stereo got the big boot in favour of a new system, comprising of a Sony head unit, Sony 10-Stacker, and 2x12" Sony subs running off a Kicker amp. This has proven to be adequate so far :-)
The car came with the Momo wheel as a factory option which I really love, and I haven't seen many around in other EL's making it an added interest grabbing feature! Recently, Autospeed (http://www.autospeed.com/) have started advertising them for around $460AU, a great price considering the cost of the optional Momo wheel on the AU. Matching the exterior I added a blue leather item snatched from the AU series 2 parts bin which I decided would be a fitting replacement for the original. - Not a bad price either at around $100 from my local Ford dealer.
A couple of mates of mine have got themselves some nice Fords as well, and we have used them on two occasions at weddings .. they make a lovely party don't they!
The most recent mod has been the addition of a cold air intake to the air box.. note how tight the fit is over the ABS module.. you can also see the DBA's and Kings / Konis as well in this shot :)
And finally, a shot of me enjoying the beast on the Old Pacific Hwy..
My aim is to get 160kW at the wheels, hopefully via a few intake mods I have been doing. Next I hope to install a Unichip at some stage - after the new MAF and injectors have gone in. Extra porting of the intake manifold isn't out of the question either, although unfortunately the $$$ involved will dictate the timing of that particular mod more than anything else."
Well, since those famous words Mike has gone out and done himself proud - proving true to his word. The mods have been done and you can see the results at the top of this page - if you hadn't seen them already!!! Well done Mike - and all the best with the Club and cruising this awesome beast...
We at Falcon/Fairlane/LTD would like to thank Micheal for sending in the above write up and pictures - things don't get much easier than that! If you would like to know more about the NSW Tickford Owners Club (formerly the XR Owners Club of NSW) then check out their website for details and who knows - maybe you could be cruising and having fun with this great group of guys & gals!
We suggest checking out our Automated Discussion Pages to ask a question or leave a comment regarding Mike's XR8!
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