Me & My Car

Brad Nolan, White & Grey MKI Supercharger

I brought Emma (that’s her name, Emma 2, get it!), about two years ago now, originally hunting for a blue targa top, but Emma came up at the right price and condition. It was just a fluke that we managed to find the owner of the car, who had his car for sale on behalf on the lot where I saw it, and managed to get it for a lot less than the lot asking price.

When I purchased the car it had adjustable KYB Gymkhana shocks in the front, and standard KYB’s in the back which where all on their way out. So about a year later I put in a new set of KYB’s all round, which gave me a bit of the ‘suspension bug’, so a set of Jamex lowered springs went in about a month later. There is now a set of TRD suspension bushes waiting to go in, thanks to Adrienne.

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Emma’s exhaust started to get a bit rattley about a year ago, so out came the cat and 3 or 4 exhaust iterations later, I have seemed to find the right recipe for the noise and torque combination. Ranging from an exhaust that sounded like a rooster on heat in a certain rev range, to now a nice ‘burble’, thanks to Coby exhausts in Hamilton. And yes you can fit your foot in my tail pipe!!.

Just before Christmas, I added a "Danny Blair Signature Class" oversize supercharger pulley, which added about another 2 PSI on top of the standard 8, this is a well recommended and easy modification, which provided more pull when the foot gets heavy. Thanks to Danny Blair.

Emma is a daily driver, who has only had one experience around a racetrack at a Pukekohe drivers training day, in which I was really happy about how she performed. But that was probably Emma’s first and last blat on a race track, as I am looking around to find a MKI suitable to make into a race car, for club days etc. This is for two reasons, one to give Emma a rest, and also to give Adrienne and Steve some competition.

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And now I have to tell you about my favourite piece of road, which is the ‘Taupo Western lakes’ road between Turangi and Tokoroa, excellent long straights and sweeping turns, with usually very little traffic on it. It is about 100K’s long or 45 mins (only joking), and a highly recommended ‘shortcut’ if travelling up the North Island. So far no pictures have been taken of Emma by the local authorities, but I am waiting for the day one turns up in the letterbox.