Has anyone ever made this jump before? What are your thoughts on this conversion? I do have lots planned for the TT in terms of handling and power, but the rawness and ease of maintenance has made the Q1 an appealing option that I'm curious about. Car will be used for spirited driving and occasional track days. I don't care about comforts, just a fun driving experience.

 

Roisson Q1 will meet all those requirements. The TT, due to its shear weight, AWD and electronics will never be a raw car. I used to have a Noble M400 which is basically the Roisson and it was a pure sports car that required involvement from the driver to a greater level than most other cars I have driven (except maybe a GT3/GT2). The engine I used was a Ford Duratec, basically the same engine as the Mazda 6, which was built by Roush. Basically a reliable engine with easy maintenance (parts and etc. - but tough to get to due to space constraints). The only item that required a fair bit of attention was the timing belt.

I have gone the other way and have got into a TT because I really wanted to push the power limits and have that AWD to mess around with.

Hope this helps, but let me know if you have any questions.

Cheers and good luck.

 

2 close friends had Rossions.... BOTH had lots of issues with reliability. I'd say you are making a mistake for sure. But best of luck in whatever you choose

 

Interesting. Do you know what kind of issues? It's a Mazda 6 engine with a 6-speed Getrag transmission, I was thinking that would make things easier and cheaper to maintain?

 

Are the friends that had these cars members on this board? I'd like to get more details about the vehicles they purchased. I've heard with the Q1's, reliability is determined by who the car was assembled/built by, thus, I'd be interested in learning who had put the cars together for them.

Also, do you happen to know off hand, what type of issues/problems the guys were having? ie, were the problems identifical or did they vary from car to car?

Thanks in advance -

 

Ive replaced quite a few of the V6 engines in the Mazda6 and MPV. All of them went bad because of Cat problems. I guess if you replaced the Factory manifolds from the V6 with a dedicated header and an 02 eliminator it would last alot longer.
Does the Rossion come with the V6 NA Mazda6 engine?

 

I had two issues with the Noble M400 and this engine. 1) The car would stall - this was because the wiring to the fuel pump was too thin and the fuel pump under certain conditions would cut off and stall the engine. This was rectified with a new wiring harness. 2) The timing belt - which is a serpentine belt and runs practically everything else - needed changing twice mostly I assume because the engine would rev up very quickly and it was bloody hot in the engine compartment. I know that Dean Rosen who was one of the guys that split from 1gracing and went with Roisson was well aware of the heat issue and the Roisson was supposed to fix that.

I would definitely get on dedicated Noble/Roisson forums and ask them too. Give a call to Roush and ask them too as they are one, if not the premier engine builders (for Ford) and they can point to the issues with this engine.

Good luck with the search.

 

Most of the issues they had were electrical. I don't think there was anything wrong with the motors themselves ((which by the way are Ford (http://rossioncars.com/models.php)). They did have some issues with starting and then engine management and a few quirky things like window and alarm issues. Both friends are not on this board, both did get rid of them fairly quickly and both purchased them brand new.

 

I had 5 Porsches, last one was a 993 (non-turbo), then changed to a Noble then to a Rossion. Never regretted leaving the 911s.

Performance is no comparison both from both lateral and longitudinal acceleration standpoints. Some Nobles/Rossions have teething issues but once they are sorted the cars are very reliable. You can pass all the Porsches on trackdays.

The Nobles were pretty spartan. The Rossions are much more refined and they made 150+ engineering chamges from the Nobles to the Rossion.

The Rossion interior and exterior is a huge improvement.

A low mileage Rossion with the bugs worked out would be a great buy these days.

Rossion performance is almost exactly the same as a ZR1. Rossion 0-60 is .3 sec faster (450 HP/390 TQ)

The Rossion weighs 2480. Much less than the 911 or the 'vettes. It is very noticeable driving it. Weighs 833 lbs less than the ZR1.

1.1Gs on street tires. The Mid-Engine layout is also significant. Think mid engine ZR1 that is 800 lbs lighter and quicker to 60. Top speed is slower, not that many of us will ever see 205.

Cost: Full Rossion engine costs less than 1/2 of what my 993 valve job cost me. Full engine only costs twice as much as having the timing belt replaced in my A4.

One of the Noble/Rossion guys says somethng like:

If you want performance buy a ZR1

If you low weight buy the Exige

If you want handling buy the GT3

If you want all 3 buy the Noble (but the same applies to the Rossion)