Hello XLR Members - EVOQ Wheels

[JCKCPA]

Hello XLR Members, my name is John Kontos and am located just outside
of Chicago. I recently purchased a black 2006 Cadillac XLR, with light interior.

I am new to the forum.

So far my XLR has been good and pleasant. No complaints.

Often I view the EVOQ and then the XLR and came up with an idea
to possibly enhance the XLR by changing the wheel size to 21" in
the rear and 19" in the front, while maintaining the exact wheel
style.

Click here to see the difference:

YouTube Peaceful, aye?

or

YouTube Invigorating!

Just as seen in Chip Foose'(s) initial sketches and later seen in his final
designs/builds/projects. There is always a difference in wheel size R to F.

Having the "exact style" wheel like the EVOQ is probably
the biggest challenge, as they might need to be machined (again)
from scratch. I have my resources and thought to also reach out to
Metalcrafters in CA.

This idea would involve adjusting the suspension to keep the car
level, stock or the nose only 1/4 of an inch tops lower than the back.

At the same time, upgrade the brakes and add the rear sway
bar from the Corvette Z06.

My idea is to keep the car looking completely original/factory except
one step closer to the EVOQ with brake upgrades and the
upgraded rear sway bar (as mentioned above).

Maybe even OEM style non-drilled rotors and non-painted calipers.

Function, that looks 100% factory.

If this can be done it would make a very nice appearance
enhancement with some performance gains.

If anyone is interested maybe we can form a mini group or team
and all work together for cost savings/efficiency.

I am resourceful but believe I would need one or two members
to start the wheels in motion and later open it up to the entire
group and XLR membership.

These are remarkable cars. I am proud to own an XLR and
am aiming to preserve mine to very high standards.
It is almost an experience to drive these cars.

Having another British collector, I am very hands on and
into "personalizing" and don't get too hung up
on original. This car might be an exception.

In this case, I believe this idea would be an elegant and
practical improvement, that if done "properly" will take this
car up one more notch towards Prototype Show levels.

Please reach out if anyone is interested.


Sincerely,


John C. Kontos
John@goldcoastaudit.com
John@jck-cpa.com
312-513-1940

 

[Rob]

Welcome to the XLR Net John!

 

[JCKCPA]

Thank you all for the warm reception.

Thank you all for the warm reception.

I just thought I would post a thought knowing it is costly and very
time consuming as well.

Regardless if it tabled or not, I am very happy to see the enthusiam
of this forum.

I am impressed to see the activity levels and the caring members
have for eachother and their cars.

My gut told me these cars are heavily underrated and this site
just confirmed that too!

Please give me some time to navigate through this well developed
site.

Sincerely,


John C. Kontos

Hello XLR Members, my name is John Kontos from the Chicago land
area and recently purchased a 2006 XLR. I am new to the forum.

So far my XLR has been absolutely great. No complaints.

Often I view the EVOQ and then the XLR and came up with an idea
to possibly enhance the XLR by changing the wheel size to 21" in
the rear and 19" in the front, while maintaining the exact wheel
style. Having the "exact style" wheel like the EVOQ is probably
the biggest challenge, as they might need to be machined from
scratch. I have my resources and thought to also reach out to
Metal Crafters.

This idea would involve adjusting the suspension to keep the car
level, stock or the nose only 1/4 of an inch tops lower than the back.


At the same time, upgrade the brakes and add the rear sway
bar of the XLR.

My idea is to keep the car looking completely original except
one step closer to the EVOQ with brake upgrades and the
rear sway bar.

Maybe even OEM style non-drilled rotors and non-painted calipers.

Function that looks 100% factory.

If this can be done it would make a very nice appearance
enhancement with some performance gains.

If anyone is interested maybe we can form a group or team
and all work together for cost savings.

I am resourceful but believe I would need one or two
partners to get this done and also open it up to the entire
group and XLR membership.

These are remarkable cars. I am proud to own an XLR and
am aiming to preserve mine to very high standards.
I am very much into customizing and am not too hung up
on Original. But in this case, I believe this idea
would be a very elegant and practical improvement if done
right and will take the already great looks up one more notch
towards Prototype Show levels.

Please reach out if anyone is interested.

Sincerely,


John C. Kontos
jckcpa@msn.com
312-513-1940

 

[CNC]

Welcome!

Welcome to The XLR Site. Great cars and a blast to drive. Nice to have another member from The Windy City on Lake Michigan. Pretty country. Post some pictures when you can.

 

[JCKCPA]

Welcome to The XLR Site. Great cars and a blast to drive. Nice to have another member from The Windy City on Lake Michigan. Pretty country. Post some pictures when you can.

Happy Friday, more to come!

 

[JCKCPA]

Happy Friday

Here is my new car! The previous owner must have had it as a Garage Queen,
as it was showroom new.

That is my daily driver in the last pic background, a 1995 Chrysler Lebaron GTC
Black with Gold Trim.

 

[CNC]

Nice Car! : )

Here is my new car!

Thanks for posting the pictures. Your car is stunning. Interesting to me in observation, sitting in a Classic Car Showroom, how it stands out from all the other vehicles on display there. Beautiful car. Many times, when driving up to a stop light in town in mine, people going across in the crosswalk stop dead in their tracks, and just stare at the car. Then it's, "What is that?" "A Cadillac, really?" "What a beautiful car." I'll also hear, "I didn't know Cadillac made something like this." I had originally considered a Corvette or a Mercedes 550 or 600SL. After much deliberation decided on The XLR because of it's rarity. One sees lots and lots of Vettes and 550 or 600SL's on the road. Not many XLRS.

 

[XLRATING]

Looks like the best pick there!

 

[JCKCPA]

Happy Holidays! Happy New Year!

Happy New Year my Friends!

 

[JCKCPA]

YouTube

 

[S BIC]

WELCOME i too joined a couple weeks ago and this site is amazing with some amazing people with all same interest the XLR , i have gained a lot of knowledge so far and it is great to learn and bounce ideas off each other ,thank you for the post,have a great weekend

 

[JCKCPA]

Glad to hear it. This site is excellent, though there is a lot of misinformation out there. I came from a British Car background and am very hands on. I can spot a gem too. Someday I will do a compilation....
Have a great weekend too.

 

[CNC]

British Sports Cars of Old. : ) Guaranteed to sling and drip oil.

Glad to hear it. This site is excellent, though there is a lot of misinformation out there. I came from a British Car background and am very hands on. I can spot a gem too. Someday I will do a compilation....
Have a great weekend too.

Ah yes. Your statements bring back some fond memories. As a teenager a friend owned a 1954 MGTD in British Racing Green. We had more damn fun in and with that quirky little car. Yes it slung oil everywhere, yet it almost always ran. Summertime fun.

Then some years later, I committed "Heresy" with a 1957 Austin Healey 100-6 roadster ("The Big Healey) . I took the British 6 cyl. out and gear box, rear end and sold them. Stuffed a built Small Block Ford 302 V-8 in it with a Mustang T-5 floor shifter and an 8.8" Mustang Posi Rear End (sectioned and narrowed). It was a ROCKET! With me sitting behind the wheel and a full tank of gas it weighed in total weight at just over 1,700 lbs. Very scary to drive. --- Yet this earned me the unending dislike of The Purist British Sports Car People at the time. Oh well, I'm pretty sure they eventually got over it?

Best wishes!

 

[JCKCPA]

We share some common fabric/threads. My '77 Triumph Spitfire is far far from original.

The "XLR has a little Brit in it." The designer was (in-deed) from the England. I'm chuffed to bits to say.... The Bloody Man is from UK!

Yeah yea the one whom penned/designed the cheeky outside, Mate?

Tea with cream, toast done on one side, right?

YouTube


I think we got the best conversation going on the xlr.net today, yea?

Okay I'm knachered..... but you got me started!

 

[CNC]

We share some common fabric/threads. My '77 Triumph Spitfire is far far from original.

The "XLR has a little Brit in it." The designer was (in-deed) from the England. I'm chuffed to bits to say.... The Bloody man is from UK!
Yeah yea the one whom penned out cheeky outside, mate.
Tea with cream, toast done on one side, right?

I think we got the best conversation going on the xlr.net today, yea?

Okay I'm knachered..... but you got me started!

Too funny. You do speak some Brit don't you? When I try to listen to them particularly with a Cockney Accent, I know they are 'kind of speaking English' (?) yet I cannot understand them. I also hear they have trouble understanding 'American'.

A German aquaintance once asked me, "You know why the Brits drink warm beer?" Me: "No, Why?" Him, "Because they don't know how to build a refrigerator that works."

One thing that puzzled me on The Healey, they used a series of rods on pivot points to advance the SU Carb Throttles. I know that you could buy an accelerator cable then for around $12.00 and simply bolt it to the manifold. In short, The British mind is, or has been, 'If it works, leave it alone and never change it.'

The SU carbs (side drafts) were famous for leaking lots of gas when and if flooded. Better yet, they were directly above the exhaust manifold. Not good! In the owners manual it said, "Caution cuberetors may leak petrol on the exhaust manifold and cause a fire under The Bonnet. Carry fire extinguisher."

LOL

 

[JCKCPA]

That's is way you know how to work on cars, you had a couple of soulful British Cars!
(with personalities) LOL!

Me?, do I speak some Brit?


I suppose I'm a Jammy-Dodger-Bloke, who speaks a little
Brit.

I mean I know my Onions, Mate. And my cars. The XLR is a beauty!

But my Beer must be Ice Cold or it/they won't go down, it takes the **** out of me if warm.
Goes good with pigs in a blanket/toads in a hole....

In about 4-5 hrs it will be.......... Happy Hour here.... Michelob, Miller, Craft, IPA, Fancy or Cheap Beer "Time"

Cheers! Happy Friday!

 

[CNC]

More Brit trivia here. At the outset of WWII the Spitfires used side draft carburetors. They were installed on the left (port side) of the plane's engine. As a result, they could only bank to the right (starboard side). If they banked hard left, they would stall out from fuel starvation. Worse yet, The Germans knew it! Why did they do this? - They did not know how to build a cross flow intake manifold. - Not good! - Then us 'Colonists' began making high horsepower fuel injected V8's, shipped them across The Pond, and installed them in the Spitfires. Result? Big, as in a HUGE surprise for the other side. - Oops.

 

[JCKCPA]

Interesting, I didn't know that. It happens even GM back when couldn't get high HP and meet the emissions simultaneously, but they were in charge of tracking the Apollo successfully
to the Moon. The one also interesting thing about the Spitfire car. The intake manifold is not cross flow either. I ported it, polished it, gasket matched with bigger valves and seats
to suck out as much flow from it. But the design though not optimal had its benefits in the Sound area. Not sure why but with several headers and exhaust systems it has a very sweet
sound. The XLR has a very nice sound too. The XLR has such potential for performance especially in the chassis area. I just found out that John Heinricy GM racer engineer went on his own.
He is a master in the magnetic shock system and apparently is specializing in tuning the systems. Can you imagine an XLR with the Z06 upgrades and the suspension tuned for sport or
racing? I don't think I will go there. I like some luxury too. But the potential is there! The place is called Phoenix Performance. There is more news I found out too. There is no
cure for a Gear Head is there?

Thank you for the Trivia. Going to pick up my daily driver today, a Black (gold wheels and trim) 1995 Chrysler Lebaron GTC convertible. I have three convertibles, life is good!!!

Life is good, and Life is Life!

YouTube

More Brit trivia here. At the outset of WWII the Spitfires used side draft carburetors. They were installed on the left (port side) of the plane's engine. As a result, they could only bank to the right (starboard side). If they banked hard left, they would stall out from fuel starvation. Worse yet, The Germans knew it! Why did they do this? - They did not know how to build a cross flow intake manifold. - Not good! - Then us 'Colonists' began making high horsepower fuel injected V8's, shipped them across The Pond, and installed them in the Spitfires. Result? Big, as in a HUGE surprise for the other side. - Oops.

 

[CNC]

Cool. A 95' Lebaron Convertible! How Lee Iacocca saved Chrysler. I kind of like quirky and unusual cars. Under 'My Garage' on this site in your listing please post pictures of your other vehicles. - One on my list I think is neat, that I'd like to own, is a V8 AMC Pacer. They crack me up. So weird. Like driving a solarium on wheels. Tinting all the windows would be a necessity. Finding a really clean one is difficult. - Actually, I like them "all". - You are 'one up on me'. I have two convertibles. The 79' Eldorado is a pretty rare one. I am still going through it to fix any and everything that was not working properly. It's a "San Remo" edition. Getting parts is an absolute nightmare. Some I have had to make myself from scratch.

 

[JCKCPA]

"If you can find a better car, buy it." Laugh. I will get to the garage. It might take a little time, but I will get to it. I also have a 2000 Derbi Atlantis scooter
that is a hoot to drive. Made in Spain, metallic silver and overall very very good looking and modern and sporty even today.
It was the fastest one then, until they came out with a water-cooled version.

(I) Drove that thing in the winter once passed a Bank with a Temp sign
a that said like negative two! I was dying. Helmet on, full suit (for work), no gloves.

So my wife could have our one car. Will never forget. Maybe it will be my "ticket
into Heaven someday?"

Re: Cars

I like them all too. I was once in a Lotus Car club without a Lotus. Similar to the Triumph Club.

Crashed a Viper X-mas party. That was nice. The Viper club seemed closer to the

Caddy Club, Luxury mixed with Performance in the newer models. Nice food and entertainment.
Cowboy boots/nicely dressed, silent auctions, etc.

But I must stay, the Cadillac people.... have a nice warmth to them that feels like home. They might know their food better
than the Anglophiles.

I don't know too much about Eldorados.


Like the AMC V8 idea, too.

I take it we are about 3 years out from the next Reunion?

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.