The XR4Register at Ford Fair - Sun 2nd August 2009

The weather was kind to us this year, especially considering how bad it has been recently what with Saturday's weather being fairly chilly with showers all day, so we all had our fingers crossed for dry weather at least, for the Sunday, and Mr Weatherman did not disappoint. It was fine and dry all day and even the sun made an appearance for majority of the day so by the end everyone was turning a nice shade of pink... well bar form Bhav who has a glow all rear round!.

We were situated on grass again this year but the ground was firm despite the rain from Saturday. We had an end plot next to the XROC stand and we were packed in with at least 17 cars on the stand which was a really good turnout, so thanks to one and all for attending and displaying your cars on the XR4 Register stand. We even had some faces from the past appear in the form of Ross aka Roscoe and James, it was nice to catch up with them and to hear they still have their Sierra's, even if there are off the road still!!.

There was a good mixture of cars from the mad orange 2.9 P100, two XR8's to very clean but standard XR4s. Boosted performance was well represented as well, two twin turbo 2.9's, a twin turbo 3.0, a single turbo 2.8 and a 3.7 supercharged. Also sporting outsized engines were a 4.0 V6 and a 5.0 V8. Certainly a lot more cylinders and turbochargers than your average car park.

Gengis was showing both his XR's on the stand (greedy!). His newly rebuilt 2.9 on show in the usual shiney fashion, now running a pair of GT38 turbos and some very neat touches, hardly anything on show in the engine bay as the brake lines and wiring have been routed elsewhere. John's newly built 3.0 goes the other way, with so much packed under the bonnet that there just doesn't seem to be any more room. The large intercoolers meaning the radiator had to be replaced so that the hoses come out of the opposite ends so they didn't foul the power steering pump. Added to that are the recirculating dump valves and all the associated plumbing.

There was the usual array of trade stands with all odds and ends plus the company trade stands displaying & selling their wares. It was a busy day with lots of car club stands to roam around plus the 0-60 and track action to watch, so with tired feet we were all ready to go by the end of the day.

A few members decided to give the 0-60 a go and came back with some respectable times. Only Al & Pablo (Click for Car Profile) ventured onto the track albeit it for only 15 mins of their 20 mins session then retirement ended their fun and games due to an air lock in the system. Richard also had some fun albeit on his way home, as his car was drinking coolant like it's going out of fashion so we suspect a head gasket as there are no outside leaks. It also decided to dump all its brake fluid out of the front offside calliper on the way home, leaving him with just the handbrake. Bet that was an interesting ride home!!!...