ARM24 Reviews and Results
Above: All seven submissions for ARM24 gathered together, along with the donor car for reference.
One day, Keith was cleaning his Bearclaw, in preparation for a restomod job that would unlock its true potential, when he discovered a few emails related to Bearclaw restomodding proposals in his inbox. There were seven in all, and he decided to examine them after finishing his cleaning job. His verdicts were as follows:
LDM Fury by @LamborghiniDude6 - (Not eligible due to retaining original model year of 1980, and for not following naming scheme for engine family. That aside, it would have missed out on the podium due to having less comfort than the donor car, and having too little space between the redline and power peak, among other shortcomings.)
LG SVP Bearclaw GTTX by @Ch_Flash - “One of the raddest-looking entries of the lot, with styling touches that hark back to the late 80s/early 90s - and in a good way. It’s an upgrade in every sense, even though it weighs a lot more and retains the stock gearbox (albeit with new gearing) and suspension geometry. For $39,900 after options, you get a lot of power from the rebuilt twin-turbo V8, now cranking out 625 bhp, and sporting all-alloy quad-cam 32-valve heads, with better reliability to boot. I would have preferred an extra cog in the 'box, and different suspension tuning (to avoid bottoming out and reduce understeer), as well as something more advanced than an early-2000s CD player for entertainment, but this serves as a good baseline with which to start.”
SVP Bearclaw Platinum by MTL Customs and Tuning by @karhgath - “Another wild styling job, courtesy of that wild bodykit (complete with bolt-on fender flares), backed up by more advanced mechanicals, especially a dual-wishbone front end and multilink rear. This one costs $38,600 all-up after options, and justifies it more easily than the previous proposal, thanks to a normally aspirated 32-valve version (albeit SOHC per bank this time, not DOHC per bank as in the LG GTTX) of the original V8, developing a heady 510 horsepower - less than the GTTX, but still fast enough for my needs, and more easily exploitable to boot. Overall, a great choice, and currently the leader of the pack.”
SVP Bearclaw Ute by Sunset Garage by @HelloHi - “Now here’s something you don’t see every day - a Bearclaw that’s been turned into a ute. It’s much cheaper than the others I’ve seen so far, with an as-tested price of $27,200, but that’s because apart from the ute conversion, the restomodding hasn’t gone far enough. The engine is a dual-overhead cam per bank design with only two valves per cylinder (albeit with VVL), but thanks to sheer displacement, it makes a solid 354 bhp - which is saner than the last two proposals, but still good enough to be competitive. However, the tires are narrower than I’d like, although the luxury interior and infotainment system (complete with HUD) are a nice touch. Overall, although I like the idea of a Bearclaw ute, the reality is that I wouldn’t want to own one, given that the Golf GTI I currently own is already practical enough for my needs.”
SVP Bearclaw 510 GT by @AMuteCrypt and @ldub0775 - “The most understated proposal on the outside, which is great for those who want a sleeper - it’s not as easily distinguishable from the stock car at first glance, except for pop-up headlights (which seem unnecessary in my view, given that the main lights below them are more than adequate). At 8.4 liters, its quad-cam 32v V8 engine is the biggest of the bunch, and it pumps out a tire-shredding 535 bhp. But as an all-iron unit, it adds a lot of weight, and its sheer size leads to high service costs. The 2-seat luxury interior is just what I want, and at $35,800, it undercuts the GTTX and Platinum by a sizable margin. However, I’d still want to spend a bit more to get an even more capable car than this.”
Bearclaw by LMJ Design by @Knugcab - “It looks nice in orange, and at $30,300, it should be good value for money. Upon closer inspection, however, it isn’t - instead of a V8, there’s now a 2.3L Ford EcoBoost I4 under the hood, making 310 bhp, but even the best boosted fours are no match for a good V8 in terms of curb appeal. More worryingly, it loses too much power in the upper rev range, and is prone to oversteer, thanks to awkward suspension tuning (the rear is generally stiffer than the front, when it shouldn’t be) and insufficient tire stagger (the front and rear tires are of identical width, when the latter should be wider than the former). Quite frankly, I find this proposal rather underwhelming.”
Norðverk GS8 by @moroza - “On the outside, its matte-black exterior with blue highlights makes it look quite menacing; on the inside, there’s no back seat, but there’s a proper premium interior with infotainment to match (although a HUD would have been nice). Thanks to fitment of a twin-turbo setup with loads of boost, it’s the most powerful car here, with 1,341 bhp from the stock block and heads. Even with AWD, however, it struggles to make use of its immense thrust - the torque split is too rear-biased, and the clutched LSD is archaic compared to a viscous, geared or electronic unit. Worse, all that power comes with a lot of lag - the boost doesn’t ramp up until 3200 rpm, and the torque peak at 4400 rpm sounds nice until you consider that it’s only 2000 rpm before the redline. I like the idea of a thousand-horsepower Bearclaw, but only as a Funny Car built for the drag strip and nothing else - for $40,000, I’d expect a more balanced mix of abilities from my restomod than this.”
Final Verdict
After a brief deliberation, Keith settled on the Bearclaw Platinum by MTL Customs and Tuning. It may have been among the more expensive proposals, but it was justified due to its well-balanced set of abilities, which have all been improved massively over the stock car. It took a few weeks for the conversion to be completed, but it was worth it - and Keith couldn’t be happier.
Final ranking
1st: @karhgath
2nd: @Ch_Flash
3rd: @HelloHi
4th: @AMuteCrypt and @ldub0775
5th: @moroza
6th: @Knugcab
Many thanks to all who participated - I hope you enjoyed this ARM as much as you did!