Congratulations
on winning July 2012 COTM Tom! An awesome Nissan Primera P10 eGT Saloon and in
mighty fine condition too! How does it feel bagging this exclusive award and the
awesome COTM trophy as well?
It feels great! The fact that the car
is recognised by NPOC makes all the trials, tribulations and adventures I’ve
had worthwhile. Thanks for deciding that the car is worth this award - I’m
honoured!
Another two
times winner of COTM as well (you rock)!! Your 1st win was in
February 2007 with your previous Nissan Primera P10 1.6 LX - Does it feel any
different second time around?
It does feel quite different but with
the same familiar feeling of massive gratitude!
I think it’s because the two cars - although both P10’s - were two very
different animals. With the 1.6, the engine was smaller but the car was more
heavily modified and become even more so I suppose after it got the COTM award as
it changed a lot through until late 2009 before its demise in 2010. With this car I’ve generally kept it much
more subtle as I think that’s more suited to it. So receiving the award feels
similar but the journey to getting the car to this stage has been very
different.
Before we talk
cars, modifications and mechanics, we’d love to find out about you the owner. Any
big life changes or anything since we read your original feature in 2007? Please
tell us about yourself and what you get up to, away from the NPOC.
I am 28 now and still working as a
civil engineer for the same company and I have finally completed all my studying
(due to doing it as day release it’s taken many years!). I’m now the proud
owner of a first class BEng degree in Civil Engineering. Other than work, a lot
has definitely changed in the five and a bit years since early 2007! Very
shortly after the last COTM I split up with my long term girlfriend which was
hard at first but I quickly realised it was the best thing that ever happened
to me! I have now been with Fliss for over four years and we are currently
renting a big bungalow in Littleport, Cambridgeshire but we are looking for a
house to buy in the same town. I’ve also started learning to play the drums at
the end of last year. Other than that I still get up to the same sort of things
really, attending gigs, festivals, car shows and taking on more projects than I
can reasonably achieve in my spare time!
Sticking with
the personal side of your life (cos we’re all clearly stalkers LOL!), you
recently announced your engagement to the lovely Fliss. A mahoosive
congratulations from myself! Fliss has been a regular at our club meets for a
few years now and always a welcome sight too. Asking her the question must have
been a scary moment, how did it go from the planning to the proposing stage?
You’re going to wish you hadn’t asked
as it’s a very long story!
I’m not going to lie, the planning was
much more stressful than the actual event!
As most of you know, I’m not one for doing things the normal way and
like to think out of the box, so the top of Eiffel Tower was well out of the
question!
It was a three-fold plan really. Firstly,
I had thought about recording some drums from one of the songs we both like but
in the end thought that would sound a bit odd. So I decided to record a
modified version of the first couple of minutes of Metallica's "Nothing
Else Matters"!! (I like to give myself a challenge as I’m in no way proficient in any instruments yet!). I
changed the words, recorded some drum, bass, guitar intro and keyboard chord
parts. I also done a couple of harmonica bits for background effect and then
added some pretty lame singing over the top. I had to do this in small chunks
whenever Fliss was out with mates but enjoyed the whole thing and layering it
up on the computer was cool. The end result isn’t too shabby I suppose, all
considering.
Secondly, I knew she wanted
to choose her own ring but also I didn’t want to do it empty handed so decided
to get her a silver heart necklace with a diamond in. That was the easy bit!
Thirdly, I needed a
location! I deliberated this for a while (the song took me a few months to
complete!). Fate intervened though and we were due to go to a wedding reception
in Sheffield, so figuring that it was tight but possible to finish the song by
then, I arranged to go up to the Peak District the day before. I didn’t tell
her where we were headed as I know she loves surprises (unlike me!). The
perfect place I had in mind was the Ladybower Dam / Reservoir as I knew she
loved it there when we went in 2009. Also, the scenery is amazing and there’s a
great sense of perspective looking along the top of the Dam (which you can walk
along). Another bonus was it’s in my
home county of Derbyshire!
So I booked a four poster
room very nearby and we headed up there. We called in at the location on route
and I set up the camera on the tripod and told Fliss I was going to take a
picture of us on the dam but instead set it to video, started the song playing
from my phone and then got on one knee. She cried lots but luckily they were
happy tears and she said “Yes”!
You’re an Elite Member here (our
highest level of paying membership), are you getting value for money with that?
And please sell us the reason, why everyone should become Elite.
It’s definitely a no brainer for me
and extremely good value for money! The savings made at JAE, Japfest and other
events coupled with the free breakfast at Ace Café and the discounts on
clothing and group buys make it at least equal to the standard £15 membership
and if anything it works out cheaper! It also helps the club out and gives
access to all the areas of the forum, which is invaluable.
So we know this is your second Nissan
Primera P10 and bizarrely you went from a GA16DE hatchback, to the SR20DE
saloon we see here today. This actually puts you in a firm position, to answer
one of our top all time debated questions… Regardless of the engine size, which
is better.. Hatch or Saloon?
Well if you’re talking specifically
P10, there are massive positives for both. Obviously the hatchback is far
superior for the practicality of fitting things in the back and I’d definitely
say that mine handled better than my saloon does, with a more predictable
stance that you could be perfectly confident in when throwing the car into
corners. That said the saloon is still very confident, though there seems the feeling
of maybe slight stepping out of the back end sometimes but this makes it more exciting
too! As for the looks, I love the look of the saloon and it brings back
memories of the old touring cars but also the flat back of the hatchback looks
cool and more modern I think. I’m just going to say that it’s a draw and I
personally wouldn’t choose one body shape over the other!
You were a
big fan of the GA16DE engine and also one of our members who experimented a lot
with it. I’ve been in plenty of club convoys with both 1.6 and 2.0 engined
Primeras. In my honest opinion, I don’t think there’s that much between the 2
engines, when it comes to actual real world tarmac experience. What’s your take
on it, having owned both.. Is the SR20DE a million times faster or better?
Definitely not. It is faster of course
and especially performs better than the GA16 if there’s any extra load on the
car (like passengers, full tank of fuel, driving uphill etc). You notice things
like that when driving the 1.6 whereas the eGT just takes it in its stride. One
thing I really like about the smaller engine though is that the power always
felt very smooth up the rev range with no flat spots or lag. This meant that
especially once breathing mods were made, you could get up the rev range well
and if you keep it in the higher rev range then the performance is very good
for a 1.6 in such a big car.
Some of us
Old Skool members will remember exactly what happened with your 1.6 LX and
personally I scored that incident a firm 9 outta 10 for epicness (it would have
been a 10 had fire been involved LOL!).. Can you remind us of why that car is
no longer with us please (you must have a photo stashed somewhere too?).
Haha! Glad you rated it as epic. It
was nowhere near as crazy as my crash in a Toyota Corolla I had in my younger
more reckless days where I spun the car, took out a telegraph pole (both
ripping the pole and concrete out the ground and also snapping it off near the
base!) and then hit the grass verge and flipped the car in the air before
rolling a few more times into a field! Is that worth a 10/10 even though there
was still no fire?!
Anyway, the death of the Purple Dragon
was much more frustrating as I was on the way to work on the back roads and
wasn’t even going fast. The roads were only slightly damp and I was doing 40mph
around a sweeping left hand bend which can be easily taken at a higher speed. I
got nearly all of the way around the bend and was straightening up when the
back end kicked out to the right. This
wasn’t good as to the right hand side there was a very steep, deep ditch and to
the left was a shallower ditch. I started to control the skid and brought it
back the other way and was doing probably around 35 mph now (didn’t want to
slam on the brakes of course!) but I was heading for the right hand side mega
ditch now! So I made the decision to spin the car 180° (as nothing else was on
the road) which I did and which meant that a lot of the speed was lost too and
it was looking good at this point and I was then braking to stop the car. Unfortunately
the rear drivers side wheel (now on the left road edge as I’m facing the way I
came from!) and then the front drivers side wheel ended up on the grass bank
top and the slope of the ditch caused the car to roll onto the roof and then
land in the ditch at a near 45° angle on the opposite bank (only a narrow
ditch). See below!
What keeps
you with the Nissan Primera (and specifically the P10), you had the chance to
buy whatever you wanted, after the sad demise of your previous COTM winning
Nissan Primera?
Don’t get me wrong I did contemplate
other cars and if truth be told, the P10 is not the most ideal car for my
situation right now. My route to work is on very bumpy fen back roads and the
P10 drinks petrol like it’s going out of fashion in those conditions! Also now
it’s lowered and on the Kosei wheels again the arches are catching slightly so I
need to get that sorted but the Primera is such an all rounder with superb
handling, performance and looks that I don’t think I’m ready to get anything
else yet! P10’s are kind of in my blood now and think that I will always want
one in my life as long as it’s still possible! When I was struggling with
finding decent insurance prices in March I contemplated even getting an S14a or
something as weirdly it was cheaper to insure but fuel would have been an issue
and not sure I had the heart to get rid of the Red Devil. Luckily, Sky
Insurance came up trumps!
On to the modifications,
now would be a great time to tell us all about your Nissan Primera P10 eGT
Saloon! So please list your full spec and all modifications, inside and out:
With the Red Devil I’ve mostly
concentrated on tidying up / restoring it and making sure it’s all undersealed
and protected, so there are only a few mods compared to the last car!
- 17” Kosei GK11 wheels.
- Skull dust caps.
- Gmax lowering springs.
- Red calipers.
- Red colour coded door
handles.
- Red colour coded
towing eye.
- Black sunstrip with
NPOC and David Leslie stickers.
- 3D text number plates
with red borders.
- Chrome tail pipe
finisher.
- Red Devil on the back
shelf with red LED eyes wired into the brake lights.
- Genuine Nissan Primera
stainless steel side steps.
- Red stitching added to
leather gear knob and gear gaiter.
- Chrome tax disc holder.
- Nissan Primera P11 144
glasses holder.
- Sony “active black”
head unit with tape adapter for MP3 player hidden and wired behind the
dash.
- Sony CD changer.
- Aftermarket speakers
(not sure on type as from previous owner).
- Slotted speaker
grilles in front door cards.
- Fire extinguisher in
the boot and multiple tools!
What’s the
most enjoyable change you’ve made so far?
It’s got to be the Kosei GK11 wheels,
especially in their new form with the polished up rims and dark silver spokes. I
just love the wheels (and I know I’m not alone am I, Shaun?) and the shininess
and darker colour goes really well with the bright red car in my opinion.
If I gave
£500 right now and told you it had to be spent on the car, what would you buy?
It would be a hard decision as I would
be torn between either going for an uprated engine or sorting out the minor
bodywork issues and having a respray so it was almost concourse. In reality the
first option would be nice but on a practicality point of view I’d probably go
for the latter as I think it would do the P10 marque more justice. My approach
with the Red Devil is very different from the Purple Dragon and is more of OEM+
style rather than heavy modding.
If money was
no object and you could do anything you wanted to the P10 eGT, what would you
do?
It would have to be a full restoration
(I’m talking nut and bolt style) and doing subtle improvements on the way. Probably
nothing that would dramatically change the appearance of the car but little
things that would still keep it very much a P10 but with the little things that
Nissan may have done if the model was able to have a bigger budget thrown at
it. Though I still think that even with all the money in the world to do the
restoration, I’d still want to do the majority of the work myself. Maybe the
money could go towards all the tools and materials needed (or even building a
workshop) and also allow me to have a year or so off work to have the time to
do it! I’m going to stop now as this is such an epic dream that I’m getting
carried away – might have to start doing the lottery regularly!
We’ve seen
members change cars (keeping with the Nissan Primera) before, going from a
modified example to a standard one and then simply transferring all the mods
over to the replacement etc etc.. You had some legendary modifications on the
1.6 yet they aren’t on the eGT today, any reason behind this?
As I touched on earlier, I’m after a
different style with this car. The Purple Dragon was a 1.6 and the dark colour
and more basic trim level meant it was more of a blank canvas and it had a bit
more to prove. The Red Devil looks good straight out of the box (in my opinion)
and also the AJ4 bright red colour is pretty bold on its own. I’ve still got a
lot of the parts from the last car though..
Time for
the quick fire question round!
How long have you
been an NPOC Member? Pretty much 7 happy years now! What makes you smile?
Narrowing it down to five, I’d pick – Family,
friends, music, cars and memories.
What makes you sad?
People being bullied just because they are
different! I’m a very placid person but this is one thing that gets me angry
and if I see it, it makes me want to intervene!
Tell us something we don't know about
you..
Hmmm, don’t you guys know most things
about me?! Not sure if all of you know that I’m pretty good at painting and art?
Your favourite colour?
Red (no surprise there with my car colour
choices over the years too!).
Your lucky number?
2
What will it say on your gravestone?
Anywhere I roam, where I lay my head is
home. Carved upon my stone, my body lies, but still I roam. (Metallica lyrics)
Your favourite
drink (any)? Tough call! I love a bit of Tetley’s bitter and also I’m a big IPA fan
but I think I would have to go with St Edmunds ale as its a beautiful ale which
is fairly light and summery and so easily drinkable! If you could steal the keys to someone else’s
car (on NPOC) for 1 day, which car would you steal and why? Tricky one that, well I’d
love to own one of the really tidy foreign P10s owned by “Schwen” or “Leon_GT”
but if we are talking about a car just for the day, I’d have to go for a turbo
P10 for the experience of driving one, so either “Leighzx”s or K20 in its past
glory maybe.
What’s been
your favourite ever club meet, “of all time” so far and why?
These are getting even tougher! I’ve
just had to look back through all the photo archives to try and make a decision
but I’m afraid I’m still doing to have to sit on the fence with this one! The
thing with NPOC meets is that they are all so different that they are good in
different ways. There’s the epic car show events but also the meets like Peterborough
where it’s all about chatting with NPOC friends. JAE is probably the daddy of
all meets in the year though for the atmosphere and I think my favourite one
was 2008 in East Mersea because of the first epic tug of war win and the
community spirit at the event! Joint top spot with this is Japfest where the
car show is great and the night out afterwards is such a laugh, probably 2010
was one of the best ones.
NPOC for life
(regardless of what car you own and drive) or leg it when you change car?
Finally an easier question! Do I really
need to answer this one? All I’m going to say is, unfortunately you’re going to
have to try harder than that to get rid of me!
If ever I
find myself talking to other people about your goodself and even when I’m
trawling through the extensive Club Meets Photo Archives, pretty much every
photo you feature in, we have that legendary Tom-P10 smile! In fact I don’t
think I’ve ever seen you get angry or pissed off and when you bust out that
smile, everything is good. Do you have a philosophy on being happy or something?
Well believe me there have been plenty
of times when I have been angry but I suppose there have been many, many more
when I’ve been happy too! I just think that being negative doesn’t usually get
you very far and life is too short. I probably should be more sensible or
serious and I’m sure that maybe that time will come but I think that you should
never take yourself too seriously or forget how to have a laugh. A smile can go
a long way to brightening up someone else’s day sometimes too. I’m also a big
believer in moving on quickly and always try to have the attitude of “OK, so
that was bad but I can’t change it now it’s happened so I’m gonna put it aside
and improve things for the now and for the future as best I can and do all I
can to turn it around!”.
Music has
always been a big part of your life (for as long as I have ever known you
anyways) and you’re a regular at any field which has mud and a live band on
LOL.. But your music taste can be quite varied, so I’m going to propose the following
– Quadrophenia is being remade and you get the chance to take a role in the
film, are you a Mod or a Rocka?
Back to the tough questions again then
(I feel you have done this on purpose as you know I’m a big fan of both
genres!). As you say my music taste is quite eclectic but those two types of
music are pretty much in the top spot! I think as the music can’t decide it
then instead I’m gonna say Rocka but based purely on the fact that the leather
coats and big motorbikes are cooler than the parkers and mopeds in my opinion!
Tell
Carlos Ghosn why he needs to bring back the Nissan Primera brand:
I don’t think he does because I think
he would make an absolute mess of it! But if someone were to bring it back I’d
like to see a car that was designed as a traditional family saloon / hatchback
size but with modernised looks and most importantly made to be driven with the
great handling we all know and love. I’d want to see decent size, turbo engines
with good power figures but decent MPG which I think is more achievable with
today’s technology too. And there would be have to be a decent and quick common
rail diesel version so I could run one and get massive MPG on my work run!
And
just in case the members reading this hadn’t noticed… We have now featured 3
“back to back” red Nissan Primera P10’s in a row! As another highly respected
and senior P10 member, tell us all why the Nissan Primera P10 is the greatest
model of Primera out there.
I think in a (slightly drunken!) chat
I had with Martin (prim-n-proper) at JAE 2010 he made a good point about the
way the P10 feels to drive and that they are all very different and have their
own, almost handmade, feel to them more so than the P11’s do I think. I also
think that they are more raw, more solid and made to be driven hard. That means
they are less refined but that’s what I like about them. It’s the fact that you
know it will effortlessly cruise along a motorway and eat the miles but if you
exit the slip road and come across some country roads in the same car, seeing a
warning triangle containing a sharp bend, doesn’t mean you start braking, you
probably drop a gear and prepare for some fun! After you park up at the end
with a smile on your face and look at the car, the feeling inside makes you
think “That’s why I don’t just sell up and buy an economical, sensible little
runaround!”
Many thanks
for telling us all about yourself and the Nissan Primera P10 eGT Loon - 2 times
winner now and with 2 fantastic cars!! Congratulations once again for winning
Car Of The Month for July 2012 Tom! Please end this feature, in your own words
and feel free to thank anyone who’s made this one possible.
Firstly, specific extra thanks (in no priority
order!).
To all the staff team for keeping
things ticking over behind the scenes and always pulling it out of the bag with
the organising of the major meets.
The East Anglia NPOCers, particularly Gaz
(Sluffer), Neil (Neilistic) and Dave (P12 DMR) who I consider to be great,
great friends. Although I feel bad we have not met up as much lately, I hope
they know that I’m always at the end of a phone or would be there if and when
they needed me or my advice about anything!
Big thanks to Tim (Friedgold) who I
also consider to be one of my close friends and I owe it to him for holding a
party back in April 2008 and inviting me so I could meet Fliss for the first
time!
While I’m on the subject, thanks to my
little darlin’ Fliss for putting up with me and allowing me to mess about with
the P10 or get up at stupid o’clock to go to a meet but never getting angry!
Massive thanks to Nik (NikC) for being
a great mate over the years and helping me with the epic photoshoots and
showing me some basics on Photoshop! I’m so happy with how all the pictures for
this article turned out and thanks for listening to all my crazy ideas too!
Finally, I have met so many great
friends over the years and seen some fantastic cars, all very different and
that’s what keeps it all fresh and exciting for me too. Things in life change and sometimes I’ve been
unable to get on NPOC as much as I’ve wanted but I know that it will always be
here waiting and I try to always be here and support the club at meets and any
other way can. So mostly I want to thank everyone in NPOC as it’s a joint
effort and that’s what makes the community great!
Congratulations once again to Tom! July 2012 COTM - Tom-P10
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