Well, not an actual delivery car, but it’s owned by the holder of an Italian restaurant. I remember my first encounter with the owner which was many years back. As always I was filling up my S13 with petrol and “someone” from the Italian restaurant across the street walked up to me and started asking me some questions. He certainly knew his stuff but at the time I didn’t know him. He told me he owned the restaurant and on top of that was the proud owner of an Evo Lancer. All of a sudden, we saw each other driving about more often, we greeted, had occasional chats when we both had time and my friends and I went over for pizza every now and then. Recently, when we were having another chit chat I asked him if he would be interested to be featured on our blog and luckily he was.
Looks good doesn’t it? And so does the restaurant. If you’re ever to visit Limburg or Nordrhein Westfalen, then you should really consider having dinner over at Il Genio’s. It’s situated on the Roermonder Straße 157 in Karken, a minute from the Dutch/German border. They have just renovated and expanded the building and it’s now nicer than ever. You can get anything from delicious pastas to very large pizzas if you’re very hungry.
As you can see, it looks rather stock from the outside. Other wheels, an aftermarket bonnet and an Invidia exhaust and various other small upgrades.
There was a bit of a story behind the exhaust. In Germany, everything has to be approved by the TÜV (more or less comparable to MOT). However, the police thought his wing was aftermarket because it wasn’t noted in the papers belonging to the car. Also, they fell over the exhaust and he had to have it checked at TÜV in a certain period of time. Luckily he did, at the cost though of buying and mounting a new exhaust.
Stoptech brakes help him stop quickly time after time after time. Rens and I were invited to drive along for a bit. He wanted to show us what the car was capable of. Going through every gear like mad and having amazing stopping power actually made me rather nauseous. That was a first time experience for me as well.
I’ve always had a weak for these fins. It gives the car just that extra touch.
I’m sure these canards help improve grip as the owner visits a track days every now and then like Spa Francourchamps or the Nürburgring.
From this aftermarket carbon fibre bonnet we’re going to have a look in the engine bay. The bonnet by the way really sits there for a reason. After our drive-along-run, I could literally see the “waves” of hot air rise up from under the bonnet which looked very cool.
As you can see no expenses have been spared with this carbon fibre air intake.
There it is. This engine is far from stock as it went from 2.0 litre to 2.3 litre and is being pushed by a massive turbo. The turbo runs at 2 bar constantly and that delivers the massive figures which are shown below.
It delivers a whopping 541.6 bhp and 647.4 Nm. Enough said.
How can we refuse a nice portrait like this.
It’s a really impressive car and whenever you see something like this in your rear view mirror, it’s just best to move to the right. And if it’s this car in particular just do so, you honestly don’t stand a chance.
As it was a very nice and sunny afternoon, we decided to do some rolling shots. Rens has very well captured the beauty of this car when it’s in action.
This photoshoot comes to an end at the spot where back in the days would be a toll booth. Luckily it’s much easier to access Germany nowadays which makes it easier for us to go over and enjoy a proper pizza.
This once again shows that a passion for cars can be found anywhere by anyone.
Thank you for taking your time even though you were very busy. We both really enjoyed shooting this car and of course the driving experience you gave us. Thanks again and I’m sure we’ll meet soon again!
– Noud Fieten
Photos by Rens Adams and Noud Fieten