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Last site update was 20/1/2023
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My Fisher Fury R1
I've owned a few interesting cars in the past. The best handling up to this point had definitely been my Lotus Elise
. It was this car that introduced me to track days and provided my first taste of 'performance' cars. The arrival of my two children resulted in me replacing it with a more practical, 5-door Subaru Impreza Turbo. Whilst this was a quicker car (in a straight line), it simply didn't excite me.
A few years before, my elder brother had built a Sylva Striker and I got to drive it at the Llandow circuit. I realised that his car had the handling, performance and involvement of my Elise, for a fraction of the cost. It also had much lower insurance and running costs. When I bought my S1 Elise in 1999 it was considered the perfect compromise between every day usable and a good track car. And it was and quite possibly still is. But, I had got to the point where I was looking for a little bit more power. My experience with the Elise also made me realise that I could also live with something a little less practical, especially as a third car. Lotus
on the other hand, took the Elise in the other direction with the S2 version and have made it more comfortable, heavier and less track focussed.
Richard
, a friend at work had also built a Sylva
Striker but with a 998cc Yamaha R1 engine as the power plant. It took just one ride in it for me to realise that this was the sort of car I was after. Something slightly scary and demanding total respect of the driver. His car weighed in at around 380kg and produced around 170bhp. The performance simply captivated me. 0 to 100mph arrived in less than 8½ seconds. It cost Richard about £12,000 to build and the quality and his attention to detail had to be seen to be believed. Whilst I could live with an aeroscreen and no reverse gear, I'm not a huge fan of cycle-winged cars. Further research led me to look at a number of similar cars though.
I've decided on a Fury, simply because of its track record and the experiences of others builders. The Kit Car Workshop
was also fairly close to me, which was an advantage. I started my build properly in October 2005 and originally planned to finish it in 8 months, which was hugely optomistic. Things happened which slowed me down. I was ill for a while, I'd forgotten about holidays and the usual DIY and house maintenance jobs don't go away. From chassis arrival to SVA test pass eventually took 17 months.
I started the project with virtually no knowledge of car (and bike) mechanics. I learnt a huge amount whilst researching my build. My planned specification was based upon 80% road and 20% track day usage and had an emphasis on superb handling and maximum driver involvement. High performance is an additional benefit of my chosen engine. I planned to use light-weight components as far as my budget would allow, with the focus on reducing unsprung weight.
This picture was created to show roughly what I was aiming for. As you will see from the rest of this site, I got pretty close. My Fury is a thing of beauty to me, it's a little bit mad for UK roads and even now, just raising the garage door has my pulse rate shooting upwards. It's a massive adrenaline hit and life without it would simply be a little bit boring.
You can now follow my Fury related updates and improvements on Twitter.
Planned Specification
Chassis
- Fisher Fury with tubular steel space frame, mid-engined, 'Night Blue' powder coat
- Custom roll hoops, 'Night Blue' powder coat
- 6-point harness mounts
- Side impact protection
Bodywork
- Fibreglass body shell, Fisher Sportcars 'classic' design, no doors, 'Old English White' gel-coat
- Clear aeroscreen
- 'Midnight Blue' single stripe down the centre of the car
- 'Ford GT' style twin stripes down the sides
- Suzuki GSXR1000 side mirrors
- Hella LED rear lights
- LED clusters for fog and high-level brake lights
Engine
- 2003 Yamaha R1 engine, 998cc, liquid-cooled, 20-valve, four-cylinder, fuel injected
- Approximately 160bhp @ 11,500rpm
- Custom 4-2-1 stainless-steel exhaust manifold
- R1 silencer with catalyst
- Yamaha R1 2003 radiator/fan, front mounted
- Custom GRP air box with ducted cold air feed
Transmission
- Push/pull cable operated, billet alloy paddle-shift, column mounted
- Yamaha R1 6-speed sequential gearbox, 1.581 primary reduction ratio
- Forward gear ratios of 2.500, 1.842, 1.500, 1.333, 1.200, 1.115 and no reverse gear
- Single piece propshaft, twin universal joint, with cush drive
- Ford Sierra open differential, 3.38:1 ratio
- Sierra 1.6 light-weight half-shafts (modified by Fisher Sportscars)
Steering & Suspension
- Momo 290mm quick-release steering wheel
- Ford Escort mk II 'quick' steering rack (2.4 turns lock to lock)
- Front fully independent rocker arms and wishbones
- Ford Escort mk II front uprights (modified by Fisher Sportscars)
- Ford Escort mk II pattern alloy front hubs
- Nitron NTR front springs/dampers, fully adjustable, 225lb springs (upgraded from 180lb)
- Rear fully indepent wishbones with Fisher Sportscars upright and Ford Sierra rear hubs
- Nitron NTR rear springs/dampers, fully adjustable, 180lb springs (upgraded from 130lb)
Brakes
- Escort mk II light-weight and grooved (260mm diam x 7mm) front discs, Hi-Spec 4-pot aluminium calipers
- Mintex 1144 pads front (Lotus Elise)
- Ford Sierra (253mm x 10mm) rear discs and calipers, with handbrake mechanism
- Mintex 1144 pads rear (Ford Sierra)
- Goodridge braided brake hoses
- Twin master cyclinder with front/rear bias adjustment
Wheels / Tyres
- Compomotive CX-R2 13" x 6" ET18 front
- Yokohama A048R 185/60R13 front tyres
- Compomotive CX-R2 13" x 6" ET18 rear
- Yokohama A048R 185/60R13 rear tyres
Electrical
- Custom Autotech DigiDash Lite V2
- Yuasa YTX12-BS 10Ah motorbike battery
- Hella 7" halogen main/side lights
- Hella 55mm LED rear lights
Interior
- Tillett W2 seats (driver adjustable)
- Schroth 6-point, 3"/2" harnesses, FIA approved
- Carbon fibre dash
Targets
- Weight 450kg including fluids and 1/2 tank fuel
- 42:58 front/rear weight distribution (empty car)
- Geared for a top speed of approximately 130mph
- 0-60mph in ~4 seconds (61mph @ 11,500rpm in 1st gear)
- 0-100mph in ~10 seconds (101mph @ 11,500rpm in 3rd gear)
- ~400bhp/ton power-to-weight ratio
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Copyright © Robert Collingridge 2004 |
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