Announcing the launch of the R.I.P.S Drag-R

[R.I.P.S NZ]

Originally Posted by bobstuart

Well said Mick

Rainbird you need to go take a cold shower and wake up man lol

Yes Jeffs car looks the part and has run a fast 1/4 on the other side of the world
but i cant wait to see what it does against the UK tuner cars now.

I can see the rips bubble bursting very soon.

I have to agree with you here, except for the last bit.

What you guys need to understand is this build has never been about being better than anyone else, or faster, or better quality or building a drag car to compete in the pro classes in the UK.

All it is (and nothing more) is a car built for Jeff the way he wanted it, a car that could be driven on the street and at the strip and run good times for a heavy full trim street car, nothing more, nothing less.

Trying to compare it to the White, or John bradshaws car etc is just silly, its not now and never will be in the same league.

It may be up with Gary at GT art and if it did Jeff and I would be over the moon I assure you, we know Mick will beat it in the Lemon and so he should so there's never been any false illution over that either.

We've never come out saying we are going to do this or that or we are going to kick any particular cars ass (unlike some on here) so we really don't have anything to live up to really.

Sure, we have put alot of time into the car and yes, we are proud of how its come out but I also agree that there are UK tuners doing similar things and no reason a number of other UK tuners couldn't also do similar things with the time, budget and a customer as passionate as Jeff giving the go-ahead.

There is nothing special about RIPS as far as I'm concerned, all we do is take our customers requirements seriously and give 110% effort into giving them what they want or slightly more if at all possible.

All goals to date have been met, it really is a beautiful car and in all seriousness, I must thank Jeff for trusting me with his pride and joy, it was alot of responsibility for us and we poured our hearts and soals into this car for nearly 5 months and treated it better than our own cars.

There is no bubble to burst as we never blew one up, all thats ever been said is that the car was built to run nice solid 10s, its never been about running 9's, mid 9s, low 9s or 8s

Some on here seem to have come up with the idea that its been built to come to the UK and beat all commers and show UK tuners what quality looks like etc and that simply is not the case and never was and I also don't think its fair for anyone to imply that I ever thought or said it was the case.

If someone came to us and gave us a suitable budget I'm sure we could build a pro car that would go pretty well, but untill then can we stop trying to put the Drag-R in that group and stop putting pressure on Jeff to live up to something that was never intended, claimed or promoted.

"It'll run what it runs" and as long as it does mid to low 10s "job done"

Rob

[Madden]

Man there are some misserable people on this forum. What happened to everyone helping out and wishing the best for whatever they can achieve?

Good luck to everyone out there as there are some serious cars about running crazy times that will also get alot quicker.

[StretchGSK]

Well written Rob!
Just because a car is not the fastest does not stop it being a very impressive piece of kit!
I personally would give up a couple of 10th for a car with such beautiful fabrication.

[Grex]

Looking forward to this car running more than any other car at the moment, wouldn't mind getting some pictures of it as its totally stunning, will it be running at TOTB?

Also, Rob - will you be coming over to oversee the car's first run?

[Cardiff R33]

Yeah come over Rob, would be good to see the car run its first outing

[jonn]

It still astounds me that people here can't give credit where it's due. As Rob said his goal is to give customer 110% and he gets knocked for it.

Man what a bunch of f...in whingers.

Who cares what it runs the first time out? I'm sure it will get consistent times once Jeff works out how to drive the thing.

Enjoy it people. I only wish this thing was in Oz where we appreciate fast cars whatever the colour and whoever built them.

[R.I.P.S NZ]

Well a bit of a sad day here at R.I.P.S last week, we had to say goodbye to the Drag-R.
Its been a great project and I must once again thank Jeff for trusting us with his pride and joy, it has really been a great 5 months with alot of new ideas and designs being used for the first time.

The first and only run at the drags was a mixture of good and bad, it was a crap drive on my part (Bloody thing took me by surprise big time ) but 9.7 is not a bad time considering we had no time for wheel alignment, it was on old stock suspension and I was suppose to be taking it easy to see how it handled and I bailed early due to nearly crossing the center line.

The gearbox we thought would be up to the task lasted about 4 hours in total and broke during accelleration testing in 5th:



A OS88 sequential has been ordered and will be installed in the UK once the car gets back.

We weighed it complete as it will be raced with stereo, CD, dvd player, front and rear seats, all interior panels, hood lining, carpets etc and it came in at 1740kg with 20 liters of fuel:


Here she is in the conatiner before being tied down and shipped out :






The Drag-R has been chosen for the cover and a featue in an upcomming issue of NZ performance car magazine, I'll scan it and post it up here once its out,

Rob

[plumwerks]

Excellent work as usual Rob,I especially like the fact that you remain the class act,no matter the shit slinging that seems to be so prevalent recently.

[minifreak]

excellent work rob.

whos fitting the new OS88 once in the UK?

[chas]

Originally Posted by R.I.P.S NZ

Its been a great project and I must once again thank Jeff for trusting us with his pride and joy, it has really been a great 5 months with a lot of new ideas and designs being used for the first time.
Rob

That's what it's all about in my opinion.
It would be good to see a complete step by step start to finish locked thread with lots of pics once it arrives home.

WELL DONE GUYS.

Charlie.

[Bubble]

A big shame about the PPG box letting go at the end of the project and you must be sad to see it leave Rob

Well done on a fantastic build though and look forward to the look of terror on Jeff's face when he drives it

[shanef]

yeh unfortunately them ppg boxes have been getting a bad name for breaking main shafts.

ideas running around lead to the design of the teeth not engaging on a true straight engagement, and side loading the gears/mainshaft, twisting the mains and snapping them.

[SmigzyGTR]

How long before this hits our shores? Cant wait for TOTB now

[Ludders]

Originally Posted by SmigzyGTR

How long before this hits our shores? Cant wait for TOTB now

I will see the car for the first time on Friday 25th July when it will be collected by me on a trailer then shipped to Elvington on Saturday where I will get it ready for driving on Sunday.

Should be very interesting I reckon!


Jeff

.

[Snowfiend]

Excited Jeff ? Just a little