Delphino
29 April 2000, 01:15 PM
#1
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Spotted 'the' (?) Delphino at Knockhill
last night. Does anyone know if the
situation regarding Prodrive and Subaru withholding engines is still the case?
On another note, what a turnout, spectacular, with a couple of P1's and 22B's and too many
other UK Impretza's and WRX's to count.
last night. Does anyone know if the
situation regarding Prodrive and Subaru withholding engines is still the case?
On another note, what a turnout, spectacular, with a couple of P1's and 22B's and too many
other UK Impretza's and WRX's to count.
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30 April 2000, 04:13 AM
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I was at knockhill with mike R and my rsturbo. Damn fine weather for an evening at knockhill! I didn't know any of your car reg's to come up and introduce myself unfortunatly. Good turn out for the scooby boys.
Steven RW from the rs site
Steven RW from the rs site
30 April 2000, 10:30 AM
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Steven, I saw Mikes car there, but couldnt see Mike to say hello, must have been hundreds of people there 
there were so many cars in the car park as well, sorry i didnt get to see yours either, after hearing what you have done to it, it would have been interesting to see. Always next time I suppose.
there were so many cars in the car park as well, sorry i didnt get to see yours either, after hearing what you have done to it, it would have been interesting to see. Always next time I suppose.
30 April 2000, 09:14 PM
#12
Both P1s were being driven on the track as well 
Both the owners were lucky enough to win prizes in the prize draw!!
The Delfino wasn't out on track, but attract a lot of attention in the pit lane.
Great night, and I hope we can get the same number of people to our next event (provisionally Saturday 22nd July).
Both the owners were lucky enough to win prizes in the prize draw!!
The Delfino wasn't out on track, but attract a lot of attention in the pit lane.
Great night, and I hope we can get the same number of people to our next event (provisionally Saturday 22nd July).
01 May 2000, 10:53 AM
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Hi Ian,
Hope the weather held for your drive down. If the company you had is whi I think it is, you're a very lucky bloke indeed
Good to meet Richard S, Ian C, Mike Rainbird(albeit briefly) and of course Subie gal
Steven, was that your RS turbo in metalic gray with the dodgy looking bonnet? Would have said hello if I'd known.
Cheers for now
D.
Hope the weather held for your drive down. If the company you had is whi I think it is, you're a very lucky bloke indeed
Good to meet Richard S, Ian C, Mike Rainbird(albeit briefly) and of course Subie gal
Steven, was that your RS turbo in metalic gray with the dodgy looking bonnet? Would have said hello if I'd known.
Cheers for now
D.
01 May 2000, 11:23 AM
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I am obviously a very luck bloke then D It was hilarious actually, driving through Edinburgh when all the Rugby fans were going to Murrayfield It only rained a little, and we didnt get too wet, except when we had to stop for petrol for the 22B, parked under the canopy but horizontal rain Couldnt stop Jamie smiling though, and that was with me in major wuss mode in the car, cos its one of a kind.
Was good to finally put some more faces to names, although as most people that know me will know, i am crap at remembering them
Sorry I didnt get to meet more of you properly.
It was hilarious actually, driving through Edinburgh when all the Rugby fans were going to Murrayfield It only rained a little, and we didnt get too wet, except when we had to stop for petrol for the 22B, parked under the canopy but horizontal rain Couldnt stop Jamie smiling though, and that was with me in major wuss mode in the car, cos its one of a kind.Was good to finally put some more faces to names, although as most people that know me will know, i am crap at remembering them
Sorry I didnt get to meet more of you properly.
01 May 2000, 01:22 PM
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(copied my post to iwoc since I couldn't be bothered writing it all over again!!)
Hi all
As promised, a wee match report on the Delfino. No doubt Ian Cook will add
his own comments at some point in the not too distant future!
First things first: a big thankyou to Allard Marx and the Defino team. They
trusted us with their (only) prototype!!
Specs: the car I was driving was the same preproduction car that Tiff drove
on Top Gear. It has a 208bhp engine in it (donated by a MY98 car, which
also provided the dials and switchgear...). The guys at Delfino say they've
measured 0-60 in 4.3secs. I for one am not about to refute that figure,
it's an incredibly rapid vehicle!
As far as I could tell, underneath the bodywork the running gear is mainly
unaltered, although I'm pretty certain they've played with the air intakes
and induction, and of course lowered the suspension... unfortunately they
haven't used the my98 seats and my - ahem - large frame found the
replacements just a touch too narrow... I'm sure they'll play with this in
production...
Starting the car is incredible. Although there's a big red button beside
the steering wheel, it's for the horn, so you just have to turn a key like
normal :< - but you know that it worked, because this HUGE rumble appears
from the back of the car and licks its way around the cockpit before
bouncing off down the street and setting off two or three car alarms (this
happened more than once :>)
Those of you who watched Tiff driving the car on Top Gear will no doubt
remember the sequence when he blipped the throttle a few times in third gear
(I think) and got some wonderful "tssschchchchchssscchchch!" noises from the
turbo. That's nothing. It does that - MUCH louder than it seemed on TV -
in every gear, and everytime you change gear it just seems to get more
intoxicating! I can always a good reason to change gear under boost ;>
Pulling away from the Delfino workshop outside Stafford, the car seemed very
tight and stiff - suspension, steering, pedals (the brake has no servo
assistance) and driving the mile or two towards the motorway it seemed that
the motorway might become painful very quickly...
I think there was a slip road on to the motorway - all I can remember is the
blur and the noise bouncing off the wall six feet to my right. *GRIN*
On the motorway (on which, unfortunately, most of my driving time in the
Feroce was spent) the car was very stable and considering the fact that it's
still preproduction I reckon it's pretty quiet on the wind noise front. At
speed with a hat on on a lovely day it was very acceptable. Acceleration in
fifth gear was fine for most purposes, the occaisional drop into fourth made
darting into tight spaces very easy. Third gear out of the roadwork-induced
50mph limits was sublime!!
Stopping at the services I discovered what a pain it is to fill with petrol.
I took several minutes to figure out a decent technique (both filler caps on
the fake tonneau behind the seats are fillers). While parked at the
service station, "fat bloke in a red astra" drives in and circles the Feroce
three times, staring, before lowering his window...
FBIARA: Whassat mate?
me: Delfino Feroce
FBIARA: Whassat mate?
me: It's a subaru impreza underneath a two-seater body
FBIARA: izzit yours mate?
me: No *grin* I've just borrowed it for the day *grin*
FBIARA: lucky b....
me: Believe me, I know [starts engine]
FBIARA: (mouths the phrase...) F...ing hell
me: (first gear, burbles off into distance, grinning)
Driving into Glasgow the office workers who were skiving in the sunshine
just stared... and the car turned the heads of about 40% of the traffic on
the motorway!
On the open roads - most of which I knew reasonably well - the car behaves
almost exactly like the Impreza it's based on. No big surprises. If you
think faster, lighter (by a third), lower than a UK Turbo then you just
about have the measure of the Feroce - it accelerates incredibly fast,
surprisingly so, bearing in mind that it's a standard 208bhp engine. The
ability of the engine to pull - and pull - and pull - all the way up to the
limiter meant that "good progress" was possible in almost all road
situations. As with cars like Lotus Elises, the low seats contribute to the
impression of speed, but unlike the elise, in which I sometimes feel rather
vulnerable, the Feroce always made me feel protected from danger (rightly or
wrongly!).
Unfortunately this Feroce has also inherited the bad habits of its
parentage - the car was a little prone to understeer when travelling fast.
A blast as a passenger in an elise on Saturday morning confirmed in my mind
that the impreza (and the Feroce) would struggle to navigate really twisty
corners as accurately as the Lotus. Having said that though, becuase of the
reduced weight, the understeer in the Feroce was rather less noticeable than
an Impreza.
Becuase there was no weight at the rear of the Feroce, it does have a
tendancy to feel very light at the back under braking, and this combined
with understeer and an impending roundabout on one particular corner I
misjudged meant that the car seemed to go light at the back and understeer
at the same time, but everything pulled together in time for me to hit the
brakes in a straight line. The lack of a servo meant that my right leg was
sore by the end of the day (!!) but the brakes (which appeared to be
standard Subaru two-pot calipers at the front with green pads) worked very
well on this car and always behaved predictably.
On arrival at Knockhill we drove into the pit lane and immediately drew a
crowd of admirers - and despite one wee boy's insistence that it was a
subaru that had been converted by Lotus (!!!) everyone knew exactly what
they were looking at... The spectators at Duffus had, apparently, heard us
coming!
So in summary...
+ exceptional performance
+ very fuel efficient
+ sounds fabulous
+ huge pose factor
+ reasonably generous luggage space
- no soft top planned (yet?)
- inherited bad habits not yet "dialled out"
- noise can be overwhelming (Colin: please apologise to your neighbours!!)
- poor lighting
- Tiff had (allegedly) farted in the driver's seat ;> (sorry, don't know
whether VB-H did or not)
It really is difficult to complain about the car. I have many preproduction
"gripes" that I would want fixed (narrow seats, driving position, too low
steering wheel, narrow cockpit, access to the boot, quality of cockpit
fittings, lighting, security etc) but these are all pre-production things
that I know are being worked on. Visually I think most people agree that
the styling is an acquired taste, I know I like it except perhaps for the
fog lamps at the front which seem too big, and the vents below the A pillar
which somehow don't look quite right.
But.... as a preproduction car - practically a kitcar, I suppose - it was
stunning. Very few rattles or squeaks (the elise had more), fantastic
performance/economy, good handling, nuff said.
As you can tell, I loved it... :> The only problem is, I've ordered a P1!!
But when I win the lottery (and get a garage =8O) I think I might, maybe, be
persuaded!
Thanks again to Allard Marx and the rest of the Delfino team for trusting me
(!!) and providing the basis for a fantastic day's driving. *That* drive
north won't be forgotten for a long, long time...
Cameron
Hi all
As promised, a wee match report on the Delfino. No doubt Ian Cook will add
his own comments at some point in the not too distant future!
First things first: a big thankyou to Allard Marx and the Defino team. They
trusted us with their (only) prototype!!
Specs: the car I was driving was the same preproduction car that Tiff drove
on Top Gear. It has a 208bhp engine in it (donated by a MY98 car, which
also provided the dials and switchgear...). The guys at Delfino say they've
measured 0-60 in 4.3secs. I for one am not about to refute that figure,
it's an incredibly rapid vehicle!
As far as I could tell, underneath the bodywork the running gear is mainly
unaltered, although I'm pretty certain they've played with the air intakes
and induction, and of course lowered the suspension... unfortunately they
haven't used the my98 seats and my - ahem - large frame found the
replacements just a touch too narrow... I'm sure they'll play with this in
production...
Starting the car is incredible. Although there's a big red button beside
the steering wheel, it's for the horn, so you just have to turn a key like
normal :< - but you know that it worked, because this HUGE rumble appears
from the back of the car and licks its way around the cockpit before
bouncing off down the street and setting off two or three car alarms (this
happened more than once :>)
Those of you who watched Tiff driving the car on Top Gear will no doubt
remember the sequence when he blipped the throttle a few times in third gear
(I think) and got some wonderful "tssschchchchchssscchchch!" noises from the
turbo. That's nothing. It does that - MUCH louder than it seemed on TV -
in every gear, and everytime you change gear it just seems to get more
intoxicating! I can always a good reason to change gear under boost ;>
Pulling away from the Delfino workshop outside Stafford, the car seemed very
tight and stiff - suspension, steering, pedals (the brake has no servo
assistance) and driving the mile or two towards the motorway it seemed that
the motorway might become painful very quickly...
I think there was a slip road on to the motorway - all I can remember is the
blur and the noise bouncing off the wall six feet to my right. *GRIN*
On the motorway (on which, unfortunately, most of my driving time in the
Feroce was spent) the car was very stable and considering the fact that it's
still preproduction I reckon it's pretty quiet on the wind noise front. At
speed with a hat on on a lovely day it was very acceptable. Acceleration in
fifth gear was fine for most purposes, the occaisional drop into fourth made
darting into tight spaces very easy. Third gear out of the roadwork-induced
50mph limits was sublime!!
Stopping at the services I discovered what a pain it is to fill with petrol.
I took several minutes to figure out a decent technique (both filler caps on
the fake tonneau behind the seats are fillers). While parked at the
service station, "fat bloke in a red astra" drives in and circles the Feroce
three times, staring, before lowering his window...
FBIARA: Whassat mate?
me: Delfino Feroce
FBIARA: Whassat mate?
me: It's a subaru impreza underneath a two-seater body
FBIARA: izzit yours mate?
me: No *grin* I've just borrowed it for the day *grin*
FBIARA: lucky b....
me: Believe me, I know [starts engine]
FBIARA: (mouths the phrase...) F...ing hell
me: (first gear, burbles off into distance, grinning)
Driving into Glasgow the office workers who were skiving in the sunshine
just stared... and the car turned the heads of about 40% of the traffic on
the motorway!
On the open roads - most of which I knew reasonably well - the car behaves
almost exactly like the Impreza it's based on. No big surprises. If you
think faster, lighter (by a third), lower than a UK Turbo then you just
about have the measure of the Feroce - it accelerates incredibly fast,
surprisingly so, bearing in mind that it's a standard 208bhp engine. The
ability of the engine to pull - and pull - and pull - all the way up to the
limiter meant that "good progress" was possible in almost all road
situations. As with cars like Lotus Elises, the low seats contribute to the
impression of speed, but unlike the elise, in which I sometimes feel rather
vulnerable, the Feroce always made me feel protected from danger (rightly or
wrongly!).
Unfortunately this Feroce has also inherited the bad habits of its
parentage - the car was a little prone to understeer when travelling fast.
A blast as a passenger in an elise on Saturday morning confirmed in my mind
that the impreza (and the Feroce) would struggle to navigate really twisty
corners as accurately as the Lotus. Having said that though, becuase of the
reduced weight, the understeer in the Feroce was rather less noticeable than
an Impreza.
Becuase there was no weight at the rear of the Feroce, it does have a
tendancy to feel very light at the back under braking, and this combined
with understeer and an impending roundabout on one particular corner I
misjudged meant that the car seemed to go light at the back and understeer
at the same time, but everything pulled together in time for me to hit the
brakes in a straight line. The lack of a servo meant that my right leg was
sore by the end of the day (!!) but the brakes (which appeared to be
standard Subaru two-pot calipers at the front with green pads) worked very
well on this car and always behaved predictably.
On arrival at Knockhill we drove into the pit lane and immediately drew a
crowd of admirers - and despite one wee boy's insistence that it was a
subaru that had been converted by Lotus (!!!) everyone knew exactly what
they were looking at... The spectators at Duffus had, apparently, heard us
coming!
So in summary...
+ exceptional performance
+ very fuel efficient
+ sounds fabulous
+ huge pose factor
+ reasonably generous luggage space
- no soft top planned (yet?)
- inherited bad habits not yet "dialled out"
- noise can be overwhelming (Colin: please apologise to your neighbours!!)
- poor lighting
- Tiff had (allegedly) farted in the driver's seat ;> (sorry, don't know
whether VB-H did or not)
It really is difficult to complain about the car. I have many preproduction
"gripes" that I would want fixed (narrow seats, driving position, too low
steering wheel, narrow cockpit, access to the boot, quality of cockpit
fittings, lighting, security etc) but these are all pre-production things
that I know are being worked on. Visually I think most people agree that
the styling is an acquired taste, I know I like it except perhaps for the
fog lamps at the front which seem too big, and the vents below the A pillar
which somehow don't look quite right.
But.... as a preproduction car - practically a kitcar, I suppose - it was
stunning. Very few rattles or squeaks (the elise had more), fantastic
performance/economy, good handling, nuff said.
As you can tell, I loved it... :> The only problem is, I've ordered a P1!!
But when I win the lottery (and get a garage =8O) I think I might, maybe, be
persuaded!
Thanks again to Allard Marx and the rest of the Delfino team for trusting me
(!!) and providing the basis for a fantastic day's driving. *That* drive
north won't be forgotten for a long, long time...
Cameron
01 May 2000, 01:45 PM
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Yes that was my grey rsturbo with the "DODGY LOOKING BONNET" ya git! hehehe. Well im not sure what u were driving. Were u the chap that waved at mike as u were leaving i think with the lady in the passenger seat? My rsturbo was having to sit on the flat as i had just rear disc converted it the other day and had not had time to put the handbrake cable on!
Were at knockhill on tuesday night for a track night if you are in the vicinity but at a guess i think u are from the south?
Damn fine example of subaru reliability, friday night was.
Steven
hehehe. Well im not sure what u were driving. Were u the chap that waved at mike as u were leaving i think with the lady in the passenger seat? My rsturbo was having to sit on the flat as i had just rear disc converted it the other day and had not had time to put the handbrake cable on! Were at knockhill on tuesday night for a track night if you are in the vicinity but at a guess i think u are from the south?
Damn fine example of subaru reliability, friday night was.
Steven
01 May 2000, 02:40 PM
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Cant add much to that Cameron
The Murrayfield crowd and the police couldnt take their eyes off the car, poor Richards 22B didnt appear to get any attention whatsoever.
The guys in the coach on the M6 roadworks will have me chuckling for ages doing 50 through the works, Jamie points out a coach on the left, can see a face looking through the rear seat gap, next minute the entire back end of the coach are stnading up and pointing, smiling waving etc, myself and Jamie in fits of uncontrollable laughter, couple of cars overtook us and then slowed down to let us pass again, then went past again, windows open and thumbs up
Gave some MG drivers a dirty look as we went past, cos they had the roofs up, and it was only raining a little
I think Jamie (Subie Gal) will need an operation to get the smile removed, especially as JohnF took her out for a spin in his Westy Cosworth the day after
We got a very warm welcome from the Delfino crowd as well, especially when they saw it was still in one piece (which was also a relief to me ) chatted for ages, made us coffee etc, had a good look at Richards 22B
Must add thanks to Allard and the crew at Delfino for allowing us to take it for a very long test drive, it does have its faults, but mainly driver comfort, for larger framed people, as Cameron said the looks arent to everybodies taste, but when your in it, who cares what the outside looks like
The driving lights i am not that bothered about, pity the intercooler couldnt be front mounted and ditch the scoop, would give a much smoother line over the bonnet ? But as a prototype, its very well done.
The Murrayfield crowd and the police couldnt take their eyes off the car, poor Richards 22B didnt appear to get any attention whatsoever.
The guys in the coach on the M6 roadworks will have me chuckling for ages
doing 50 through the works, Jamie points out a coach on the left, can see a face looking through the rear seat gap, next minute the entire back end of the coach are stnading up and pointing, smiling waving etc, myself and Jamie in fits of uncontrollable laughter, couple of cars overtook us and then slowed down to let us pass again, then went past again, windows open and thumbs up Gave some MG drivers a dirty look as we went past, cos they had the roofs up, and it was only raining a little
I think Jamie (Subie Gal) will need an operation to get the smile removed, especially as JohnF took her out for a spin in his Westy Cosworth the day after
We got a very warm welcome from the Delfino crowd as well, especially when they saw it was still in one piece (which was also a relief to me
) chatted for ages, made us coffee etc, had a good look at Richards 22BMust add thanks to Allard and the crew at Delfino for allowing us to take it for a very long test drive, it does have its faults, but mainly driver comfort, for larger framed people, as Cameron said the looks arent to everybodies taste, but when your in it, who cares what the outside looks like
The driving lights i am not that bothered about, pity the intercooler couldnt be front mounted and ditch the scoop, would give a much smoother line over the bonnet ? But as a prototype, its very well done.
02 May 2000, 09:45 PM
#20
Scooby Regular
Yeah Ian,,
You total poser one off car, blonde in passenger seat and rugby league fans and cops all staring and pointing...
Me following not even turning a head
Great memory though, following you guys through the city..
Sorry, that I threw stones over you as I went past. Got fed up of looking at your rear end
Richard
edit Oh yeah and it was 282.9 miles door to door
[This message has been edited by rsquire (edited 02-05-2000).]
You total poser
one off car, blonde in passenger seat and rugby league fans and cops all staring and pointing...Me following not even turning a head
Great memory though, following you guys through the city..
Sorry, that I threw stones over you as I went past. Got fed up of looking at your rear end
Richard
edit Oh yeah and it was 282.9 miles door to door
[This message has been edited by rsquire (edited 02-05-2000).]
02 May 2000, 09:47 PM
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No Problem Richard, i was being a bit of a wuss in it on that bit of road as well, not only did i have a one off car to worry about, but a passenger as well didnt want to send either home in an ambulance.
My flippin back and hips felt every bloody mile as well, the circulation was being cut off by the seat
[This message has been edited by Ian Cook (edited 02-05-2000).]
didnt want to send either home in an ambulance.My flippin back and hips felt every bloody mile as well, the circulation was being cut off by the seat
[This message has been edited by Ian Cook (edited 02-05-2000).]
02 May 2000, 10:56 PM
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After all these glowing reports it seems a shame that it will probably never make it into production using the Scooby components that clearly take most of the responsibilty for making it what it is (or could be!).
What other options have they got that will give the same effect? None probably...
Stef.
What other options have they got that will give the same effect? None probably...
Stef.
03 May 2000, 10:01 AM
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richard is right: don't put too much emphasis on the reports of "no Subaru kit"...
From what I heard, I think there are still a number of negotiations to be had between Delfino and the various parties involved in the supply of Subaru components...
As they say, watch this space...
From what I heard, I think there are still a number of negotiations to be had between Delfino and the various parties involved in the supply of Subaru components...
As they say, watch this space...
03 May 2000, 11:44 AM
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I think that the letter in Evo was from Prodrive...not Subaru.... Allards take is still very much that it will definitely make production, and will definitely run with the Imp running gear - though the engine may possibly change I guess.....(though it IS a guess!)
Night
Night
03 May 2000, 08:43 PM
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282.9 miles of heaven for me!!!!
Ian - thanks soooooooooo much for letting me tag along with you!! It was great fun!!! As I have said before - I'll never, ever forget it... or get the grin removed from my face!!
a truly neat car and a great experience... I have the video to prove it too!
Ian - thanks soooooooooo much for letting me tag along with you!! It was great fun!!! As I have said before - I'll never, ever forget it... or get the grin removed from my face!!
a truly neat car and a great experience... I have the video to prove it too!
