Jerry

Steve

Steve

Rio Red '95 Probe

G'dday, my name's Steve and yes, I'm a Probe addict. This is my Probe; we go back about as long as…well…that long. Born in 1995, it's made the long trip over from Flat Rock, Michigan USA to Melbourne, Australia. Although it's built in the US, it's based on the Mazda MX6 (but better) so basically it's an Australian citizen of American and Japanese extraction.

For those not in the know about these beautiful beasts, the Probe has a 2.5 ltr quad cam V6 driving the front wheels. In Australia they were released in auto and manual form with 225 series tyres on 16-inch rims and basically the equivalent of the US Probe GT but without the GT badging. I've got no idea why they weren't called the GT here. Apart from the badges, we didn't get sunroofs, CD stackers or leather interiors here either yet they were sold for just under $50,000 AUS when new. Figure that one out. On the up side however, they have very distinctive styling and provide a motor with a good combination of power and torque. Inside they are VERY ergonomic, everything is well placed and with an instrument cluster that's so very easy to read in almost any condition. They also have twin airbags, power everything including drivers seat, cruise control and a ton of space in the back.

Since I bought my car, I've had it lowered because to me it looked like a 4wd sitting as high as it did. I've replaced the original stereo with a JVC ELKameleon head unit, replaced the front speakers with a set of Boston Acoustics RC61 splits and installed a Phoenix Gold QX4150 amp. The only other mod is a drop-in K&N air-filter.

There has been one thing I really didn't want to spend money on and that's the distributor. The story is that one night while driving home from work, the motor just died. There was power, the motor would crank over but there was no spark. It turns out the distributor has an internal coil and that just went. The really bad news was yet to come. The car was trucked over to the Ford dealer and the next day they told me the good news that a replacement unit would cost about $2,000!!! When I eventually picked myself up off the floor they suggested I look around for a second-hand unit, so with that in mind I set about trying to find one, which I did……INTERSTATE!!!!! The good (?) part was that it cost me $650 so I saved myself $1,350 (I can count). The guys at New Oak Ford only charged me a minimal amount for the repair so that was good too. I have to say that as far as Ford dealers go they're not a bad bunch of guys.

I really enjoy driving the Probe and now we've formed a club here in Australia for other lovers of all things Probe. AUSPOC (Australian Probe Owner's Club) is a national club with members in most states. We're always looking for new members and we also meet online with all members from around Australia and around the world at www.probetalk.com. There are Probe clubs all over the world with the great bulk of them based in the US. Even if you're not a Probe owner, you'll be made to feel welcome when you log on so drop on in and say g'dday on the Australian Probe Owner's Forum at www.probetalk.com.

The future? Well I think that ultimately I'd like to go the KLZE way. That would include a set of custom made headers, a 2 1/4 - 2 1/2 inch exhaust with a high flow cat and muffler and a reprogramed chip.

· March 7^th 2000. Oil, oil everywhere. $320 later and I’ve now got a new left-side drive shaft and boot. I’m going to have fun cleaning all that oil off the underside of the car.

· April 1st 2000. Ford Australia celebrates it's 75 anniversary and what better excuse for another AUSPOC meet? 6:15am Andrew and I meet at Brighton beach again and then head off to meet Jerry, Bob, Stefan and Arthur at the Shell service station on the outbound side of the Westgate freeway by 6:45am. If I thought four Probes together looked good, I could hardly contain myself when I saw six in a row. Once everyone was there, we set off for Broadmeadows and the Ford factory for a 7:30 registration and breakfast meet. We parked and had a Mustang pull up next to us with the most beautiful black paint job I'd seen in a LOOONG time. I went and registered and when I got back to the cars I saw another Probe parked with us, seven so far. Another walk revealed two more in the car park with one having travelled from NSW.

Off to the Ford proving ground near Geelong. I lead the way but do you think I knew where I was going? No way. I followed a car full of what must have been the local lawn bowls members and they eventually lead us the wrong way. We got there in the end though, drove on the steeply banked circuit and then parked for the BBQ. All in all it was an excellent day.

· April 7th 2000. The shifter is here and today it went into the car (pictures are up on the ideas page). I'm not sure what I was expecting but I can't praise the PRD shifter enough, it's excellent. Today is also the day I switched to Mobil 1 full synthetic oil rather than the blend used by Ford as standard. As others had experienced, it sure got rid of the lifter noise. The last thing I did today was to make up a ram air system. I did this out of pvc piping(including bend attachments) and a heat gun. If I'm happy with this set up I'll get a proper one made up out of stainless or something.

· April 18th 2000. What the @#&% is this??? OH NO NOT AGAIN!!! Yep, oil everywhere but this time on the right side. Almost totally synchronised, the right side drive shaft went only weeks after the left side went, so off to workshop again for the Probe. I must have a REALLY heavy right foot. Ah well.

· April 28th 2000. I had the windows re-tinted today. Why? Because the old tinting had started to peel, was bubbling in two spots, was in two different shades on the hatch and was scratched. The new tint is darker, has 99%+ UV filtration and comes with a lifetime warranty against scratching, peeling etc etc. Anyhow, the car looks a lot better and feels better to be in. Just a note for anyone with tinted windows, don't try and remove the tinting yourself, leave it to someone else to do, it STINKS. I couldn't stand being in the car with the stench of the exposed resin especially as I am fighting the flu right now. The resin is also REALLY hard to remove.

· May 11th 2000. The bonnet (hood) vents are in. I got a good deal too, the panel shop did their work in exchange for beer. How happy am I? :)

· June 30th 2000. I now have slotted front brake rotors fitted and am waiting for a set of kevlar pads to be delivered. The big news is that I finally have my custom headers with twin cats installed. The difference in performance is brilliant, especially as I haven't changed the rest of the exhaust or the intake yet. I can't wait to get these done. The other mod is that I've replaced the factory sub-woofer with a 12"hertz sub and replaced my Peonix Gold amp with an Audison 5 channel amp. Another huge improvement. The new base sound is great.

· August 2000. Road Trip - Sydney 2000. This how I set out along with Jerry Harris to travel to Sydney for the first ever NSW Probe meet.

· August 2000. The BIG news here is that the morning after getting back from Sydney, my car was given back to Ford Australia for a complete re-spray. They are taking the car back to bare metal and repainting it to fix the problem of crow's feet appearing in the paint on most of the horizontal surfaces. Not only will the paint be new but it'll come with a full Ford Australia warranty.

· January 2001. Changes are made to the way the headlights operate. Here's how

· May 2001. The original oxygen sensor (front bank) finally gave up the ghost so $166 later I've replaced it with a new unversal fit sensor.