Lada Samara Turbo IC, 1997, Tampere

Suitably patinated and lively people carrier. To our knowledge, Finland’s only road-registered turbo Samara!

A Samara built as a light-hearted recreational project by the staff of the once-legendary ManseMotors.

Despite its rough appearance, the body shell is relatively solid.

All aftermarket parts fitted to the car, such as the turbo, oil and fuel pumps, subframes, catalytic converter, differential lock, etc., were new when installed, except for the injectors and intercooler. Parts not specifically mentioned are original Lada parts.

• 1,600 cc 8V engine (Lada 11193)

• Cylinder-head exhaust ports enlarged to 28 mm.

• Metal head gasket with a thicker intermediate layer; compression ratio approximately 8.8:1

• High-flow (+25%) oil pump with steel gears.

• Oil filter relocated to the strut tower.

• Separate oil cooler.

• 56 mm throttle body.

• Schwitzer S1bg turbocharger (Audi 2.0 turbo) with a Mitsubishi wastegate actuator.

• Turbosmart FPR1200 fuel-pressure regulator.

• Genuine Walbro 315 L/h at 3 bar fuel pump inside the tank, adapted to the original swirl pot.

• Injectors from a Saab 9000 Turbo

• Intercooler from a Saab 9000 Turbo

• Turbosmart VEE Port blow-off valve

• Mechanical turbo bleed screw inside the cabin.

• Atecu engine management with a 3-bar MAP sensor, launch control and flat-shift functions.

• Separate dashboard switch for launch control and flat-shift functions.

• Innovate wideband lambda sensor.

• Quaife differential lock in the gearbox.

• Short-shift kit.

• 2112-model flywheel with a 200 mm clutch plate.

• AutoProduct race subframe with heavy-duty wishbones. Additional mounts welded to the chassis rails.

• AutoProduct race engine and gearbox mounts.

• 3-inch exhaust system with a racing catalytic converter.

• Oil-pressure, boost-pressure, voltage and mixture gauges.

• The car was tuned at Sportti-Auto without sparing time or money.

• The car was modification-inspected on 5 January 2022 for this engine and exactly the configuration it has now. Power is 104 kW (139 hp) at 0.68 bar.

• The car also has a towbar and an engine block heater.

Repairs required:

The engine runs slightly unevenly and leaks oil while running, apparently from between the cylinder head and block, so there is strong suspicion that the head gasket has failed. This fault has not been investigated further.

The lambda sensor’s main power supply is taken from a poor source; the voltage sometimes drops when the wipers and indicators are switched on. The wiring should therefore be changed.

There is no idle-speed control valve. If you want to use the Lada’s own valve, a separate H-bridge controller must be built. Instructions can be found online. Alternatively, a Bosch-type valve could be used. It works as it is, provided you wait about as long as it takes to smoke a cigarette for the engine to warm up before setting off.

An intact catalytic converter is included, suitable as a bolt-on replacement for the current, partly burnt-through unit, along with a MAC valve that allows boost control to be changed to electronic control. The ECU is ready for this.

After a long period standing, the brakes feel as though they are binding and require freeing up. Pedal feel is otherwise fine, with no brake-fluid leaks observed.

Underbody coating is coming off, so cleaning up the underside is recommended.

The friction tyres currently fitted have seen better days, and one tyre loses pressure within a few days. They should be considered more or less unfit for road use.

There are certainly other latent faults that have not been detected.

If the patina look is not to your taste, washing and polishing should make the paintwork reasonably presentable.

The car starts and can be driven a short distance for a test drive and onto a trailer. Driving it home on transfer plates is not recommended under any circumstances.

The vehicle must be collected within 7 days of the auction ending unless otherwise agreed - Huutokaupat.com.

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