ormiboy Posted January 3, 2007 Posted January 3, 2007 Hi folks, happy new year. spent new year over in banbridge, near belfast. Thought you might like to share my experience. Today at 11:00am i was introduced to the two members of the Mckinstry family. Kenny Mckinstry and his daughter Emma. Kenny took me out for a blast in his 2004 WRC works Impreza!, this was the car run by the other solberg lad. He owns four maybe five of what he calls S10`s and S11`s all of which have been sourced from prodrive post competition use. His garage included an S8 which was a prodrive prepared STI7 ( i think?), a further four or five blobeye prodrive cars and a metro 6R4. I have pics from my mobile which i will add as soon as i can but im moving house just now so that may take time. Kenny himself is a much admired ex-pro driver, his daughter is currently doing well in the driving world. This monster was wild, and i really mean wild!. Kenny Said it was firing 320ish bhp with 750 Lbs torque! And i do believe it. Boost was not an issue, the car was very smooth on power all the way. It was hard to tell what was going on as the navigator seat never gave me a view of the multifunction prodrive display. if i looked left all i seen was the centre console or the seat head rest, and looking left or right was not why i was there. This car makes 3 bar boost, but its not like you would imagine. With so much torque the boost just blends in and all you feel just fecking scared, more so than even when the 14" prodrive discs start to work. The gearbox is semi-auto so gear changes are so fast the impending countryside is all you can take in. I was keen on hearing the turbo spool up or the exhaust but being truthfull all you can hear is the straight cut box whine alongside the car grounding on the lumpy roads. Grip was beyond comprehension, wet roads yeilded traction which my very pony WRX can only dream about. Every touch of the brakes was followed by the violent whine of the semi-auto gearbox. The four point harness was itself a reminder that you were somewhere special. Between my feet was a LCD display which was dedicated to the fuel system. And all the while the good people of Banbridge were nodding as we flew past, with no issues at all as it was Kenny just having a blast! The next event was the demonstration of the anti-lag coupled with the launch-control. Kenny stopped at a sensible place. The L/C was set, the ALS was set and off we went!. Sweet is the best i can say, iam so happy that now i know what the navigators feel when the sh1t goes down and it is good. The car holds about 0.5bar as im sure you know , and the revs just rocket as the L/C starts to work. 3 bar is soon with you as you wonder if you will become part of the scenery but i guess it was ok cos im here now. I will now thank Kenny McKinstry and ken Ramsey For making this happen and have a nice new year folks.
ormiboy Posted January 3, 2007 Author Posted January 3, 2007 http://www.sgpmotorsport.co.uk/a-record-br...s-manx-victory/ Just in case!
ormiboy Posted January 3, 2007 Author Posted January 3, 2007 i still cant get over it myself! the pictures will follow once im pc'd again. bloody sweet!
RA Dunk Posted January 3, 2007 Posted January 3, 2007 looks like somebody had a cracking new year then, lucky sod []
ormiboy Posted January 3, 2007 Author Posted January 3, 2007 yes i did and,getting very pasted was the Forward. its all good, a phone call made all the folk who were at the new year party stand at the bottom of the road to watch us blast past at (PM ONLY SPEED) at 10:30 i felt a bit sh1t and would perhaps swapped with any of you fine folks!
paulc555 Posted January 3, 2007 Posted January 3, 2007 Being from Belfast and involved in the Irish tarmac rallying scene for many years I can imagine what that must have been like for you. I knew Kenny many years ago when he was championing one of the first legacy rally cars....a very nice man.... not bad for someone who fixed lawnmowers for a living not so long ago eh...
marky.t.s Posted January 3, 2007 Posted January 3, 2007 Had a very good new year ! you say,youre not fekin' jokin' mate.Glad you enjoyed it,you lucky,lucky,barsteward. cheers, Mark.
ormiboy Posted January 3, 2007 Author Posted January 3, 2007 I want to jump a flight back over now so i can do that again! I think kenny still dabbles in lawn mowers as im sure he supplied my friend with his ride on turbo cut. we had it out for timed laps round his house on new years eve. Great fun but not the same as his WRC car! Cheers Willie
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