TIFF

PROJECT THUNDER

Back in the day i thought this car was FUCKING AWESOME.......and to be honest i still think it looks cool now
I think this is the car that got me into the whole car scene

I bet it got ALOT of people into cars aswell but will you own up

They did make some shite cars but i would say this is the best of them







First there was Project XS (a BMW 3-series), then Project RS Kicker (an Escort). And then came Project Thunder, the name given to our third project car, a big, beefy Vauxhall Carlton GSi that was transformed from quick but uncredible luxury barge into the toughest car of the year, thanks to truck-loads of parts from Courtenay.
We came up with the idea of a GSi after making a shortlist of Sapphire Cosworth, Cavalier GSi and Carlton. The Cossie had been done to death, the Cavalier could have been made to look out of date by the works BTCC racers (at that point still to be revealed) so the Carlton it was. Don`t laugh `cos a GSi gives serious performance even in stock form and it`s so big it can easily be packed with ICE.
It took a while to find one we liked, but eventually £5500 bought us a minter. Then it was straight to Courtenay to up that 170bhp - true to form, Courtenay installed a massive turbo, with an even larger intercooler and all manner of trick tweaks that pushed the power output up to 270bhp, with 300lbft of torque.Courtenay also sorted the suspension, dropping it by 35mm, which left the 17in Antera three-spokes filling the arches nicely. Meanwhile, Kenwood and InCar Systems of Shrewsbury had teamed up to kit out Project Thunder with suitably thunderous ICE.
For the bodywork, it had to be a Mattig Lotus-look bodykit, which was more subtle than the kit on Project XS. The paint we chose did away with any chance of subtlety though, with a wavy base of luminous Glo Trese to compliment that mad Ford Citrine yellow.
Manufacturer: Vauxhall

Model: CARLTON

Derivative: Engine: 3-litre, 12-valve fuel-injected six-cylinder * Garrett T3 turbo * gas-flowed cylinder head * lowered compression ratio (to 8.25:1) * massive intercooler * air-flow meter and air filter moved across engine bay * Courtenay Sport exhaust, 4in diameter from turbo, split into two 2in sections, re-joins in tailbox with twin 4in outlets

Transmission:Stock Getrag five-speed gearbox and clutchSuspension:Courtenay Sport uprated lowered springs (35mm drop) * Bilstein gas shocks

Brakes:Courtenay Sport 11in, five-slot cross-drilled discs, front * Courtenay Sport 18-slot discs, rear * Carlton GSi pads * original ABS systemWheels And Tyres:17in Antera three-spokes * Pirelli P Zero 235/45 front, 265/40 rear

Body Work:Mattig Lotus-look bodykit, comprising front valance, grille and wheelarch extensions, side sills, door extensions, rear arches, rear valance and rear spoiler * additional F1-style rear spoiler * carbon-fibre fuel filler * carbon-fibre front splitters * Escort Cosworth bonnet vents * light smoke window tinting * Ford Citrine Yellow and Glo Trese luminous paintInterior:Reclining Sparco Supersport seats * Sabelt harnesses with Sparco shoulder pads * Italvolanti leather steering wheel * Sparco drilled foot pedals and passenger footrest

ICE:Kenwood PS900 CD tuner with RDS * Kenwood C-705 six-disc autochanger * three Kenwood KAC1023 amps * two Kenwood KFC-HQW300 12in subs * two Kenwood KFC-W2001 8in mid-bass * two Kenwood KFC-HQM304 mid-range * two Kenwood KFC HQT10 tweeters * two Audiocontrol EQT Series II equalizers mounted in doors * Kenwood passive crossover in boot * entire car DynamattedSecurity:Clifford eagle alarm system with glass break sensors, Digital Proximity Sensors, automatic closure of electric windows and door locks plus Blackjack anti-hijack device

lazy_arse_pie

i dont rememer it my modding days started in 97

Smit

iTrader: (5)

I remember that, Nice 3 spokes.......

They did something else the year after though (Max Power)...

Cannot remember for the life of me what they did.......Wasn't it something bright orange...........

andyhardy

VW Corrado Smit!

I remember seeing it at the Motor Show that year - one side all done up and the other side still in primer or something!

matt p

Was'nt it a V-dub Corrado with a Rieger Tesstarosa (sp) kit on it maybe wrong though.

Oranoco

I remember it but I thought RS Kicker came first then Project XS

Whatever happened to the Corrado Mad Max or whatever it got called?

RS Kicker - S2 RST
Project XS - BMW 3 series
Project Thunder - Carlton
Mad Max - Corrado
Pinky - RS2000

Then I lost intrest in the mag as it filled with children with piss poor chav attitudes

johncossie

didnt project thunder get rammed through a shop window

maxest

iTrader: (1)

ONe of the project cars got wrote off- on the same day it was won- on the way home?!

Which one was it?!

TIFF

Thunder got wrote off by the lad that won it......went through a record shop iirc

Basky

remember that one tiff
also remember a white 500 with gold rims racing bikes around that time too

RSCAT

the corrada was around kettering for a while. im sure the lad stacked it !

paul16v

In the first issue of max power there was a competiton to win an escort cosworth who remebers that??

Oranoco

Spent ages at Xtreme in Harlow as well.

Damo V

remember the boot install caught fire on the carlton at Elite in essex once...

then yes it was written of in a record / music shop


Personally I prefered the beemer..

I have every single max power mag from may 1993, up until 2000 ish!!

Big G

Was in Blackpool for a while, I remember it being in the Trader for ages

rsnissan

iTrader: (9)

with you on that as well Tiff, started it all for me too!

essexrsturbo

absolutly fucking wank!!!

Damo V

yup, still got the mag and the big steering wheel cardboard thing upstairs!!

Oranoco

Now yes. But back then it was an incredible sight

Dunc Maclean

i remember all of em!

the carrodo was written off, and beach off here managed to get the seats out of it and fitted em to his mk1 fez, looked

Dunc

SteveS2

fuck that... looks like yellow streek of shit!!!

TIFF

Saw it one night at the Birmingham Street Racing

johncossie

does anyone remember the s1 in max power around 95/96 with pink stripes

essexrsturbo

that is possibley the ugliest car ever! thank fuck it was smashed up after 3 days, i would shake the blokes hand that done it...

looks like a fucking bomb disaster! but yellow

Adam Ash

And an indian takeaway on Rochdale high street....


my mates still got the yellow cossie bonnet vents from when it ended up in the local breakers

SteveS2

fuckin dog shit on wheels..... big lump too!

RSCAT

one of the local lads on here will know more, just remember being told
such and such had this max power job, had some huge kit on it i think?

Damo V

No IIm defo sure it wqas a music shop, remember something being said about guitars ???

SteveS2

max fokin wot.... full of ppl who waste money on 1.2 shit heeps!!!

dojj

iTrader: (3)

i'm fairly embarresed to say that i've got most of the max powers, right from issue one until about 2001

and iv'e still got the poster from the first one tucked away somewehre, 3 escossies on some runway

paul16v

In the mags defence it did used to feature some top quality cars, its just gone down hill the last few years.

Physio

My kind of color

Damo V

was a good mag, can vividly remember a DARK GREEN pug 206 with cosie engine too... really sticks in my mind that!!

Smit

iTrader: (5)

I remember the RST project Kicker....Has TSW 16/17" 7 spokes (the 1st evo's before the Evo R's) painted green in the middle fading to silver on the edge of the rim.....

Had 2 whaletails aswell....as with the twin headlights which retained the orange front indicators...

My god i used to like that car aswell

SteveS2

geezer... down hill.... they hit rock bottom!!!!

Oranoco

Dr Rocks Music Shop rings a bell for some reason

How many of the project cars are still alive then. We know Thunder and MadMax died. Project 2000 is still alive as it was on E-Bay not so long ago. XS and Kicker, where are they now?

Big G

Cant remember that, but i remember the Red 205 Van sporting a 4x4 Cossie job, From Crime central Notts i think

TIFF

From this



To this

Zetecfiesta

thats a very scary car bet it was cool back in the day though!

vroooom ptssssh

If i'd of known tiff loved max power i wouldnt of chucked all the old ones i had in the bin a few months ago