Why Didn't I Buy One Of These Years Ago?

[Fireside]

Hi all, another ute owner for the site. I've been reading up on some of the great info here and thought I should say G'day.

I picked up this 2004 XR6T manual a few weeks ago from Newcastle, and drove it home to Toowoomba. The 6spd auto's are great, but I decided to be stubborn and stick with a manual. Hence the distance traveled to find one. As far as I know I'm the third owner, and this is its third different state to be registered in, having started life in Vic. Its far from mint, but the price reflected that, and the k's were reasonably low.

Heres how it was when I picked it up.

I set out to buy something really subtle .. like a silver xr6t unbadged with a tray.. And as you can see I failed dismally. Its not terribly subtle at all, lol.

It came with the tray and tub, stock bonnet and front bar as well. Will probably put the tub on it for a while at some point once I have rigged up something to lift it on my own.

Because I can't leave well enough alone, its already been to the dynoshop and had a few things done.

Nothing radical. With this car I want to avoid what I usually do which is go too far and turn a fun car into something completely impractical. So I've had the wick turned up as far as might be considered sensible with the factory plumbing with an intercooler. And done a few things for reliability like valve springs, injectors, dump and cat, F6 airbox with K&N, Walbro in the tank and an aftermarket oil feed & filter. Its already got quite the heavy clutch in it so I hope that and the turbo are good for a few thousand k's to come. It achieved 310rwkw and with the tray on it I think that's about all I can sensibly use, short of finding a girlfriend who works at a tyre shop.

Its got a few other goodies on it like the brembo's and premium sound. And right now I'm just loving it. Looks like you guys have a great lil community going here, and I'm looking forward to being a part of it.

[bossmang]

welcome mate

haha not subtle at all with the colour choice, but I like it.

enjoy your stay!

ps. good work throwing up some nice piks.

[Danimal]

Love Rapid, it looks tough as. I'd save and get a body coloured steel tray as I think that would look tougher again, and the extra weight of the steel might help traction a bit... Nice ride though! Congrats!

[FPV TRANNY]

Yeh I think the tub looks better...Welcome to the forum.

[Dagabond]

Like it with the tray it looks tuffer.

Except for the 'roll bar' needs to be smaller.

[discostig]

Exhaust pipes look so NAKED!

[Fireside]

Thanks for the welcomes guys. The tray is an interesting one. I think I like the plain flat platform on the back with the unhidden mechanicals underneath. But I would like to get the tray off again, clean it all up and give it a fresh coat of underbody black. And yes, something about the rollbar/ladderrack/securamesh thing just looks wrong. Practical yes.. Attractive, no.

I won't do anything too fancy with the back end for the moment.. Only plans beside the cleanup underneath are some tramp rods and possibly an LSD tightening. One of the things I like most about the tray is that I don't have to be all that careful with it. I want a ute that isn't afraid of a bit of work. so being able to throw things on the back and drag them off without worrying about scratches or bumps is ideal.

Wonder how long before Mr Plod has a go at me for no mudflaps though.

With the tub, I almost grabbed a carryboy fibreglass canopy off gumtree last week.. But I ummed and arred too long and it sold. The idea of having a panel van style option does appeal however. No rush until I find a way to lift the darn thing.. Fitting it on is not a 1 man job.

Oh yeah the exhaust.. Someone took the unusual step of leaving the center muffler and removing the rear one. I'm not overly fussed by how it looks or sounds, so will probably leave it as is until something wears out. It seems to breathe ok. It is a tiny bit louder than I was hoping for. Any plans for having a subtle ute are well out the window by now though.