Testimonials – Roland Alsop Machine Shop

Clive & Jennie Stangle’s Mitsubishi Evo 5 (Team Rapid Evo)

Clive and Jen are part of “Team Rapid Evo” with Jim and James Herbert. Both cars are Mitsubishi Evo 5s. Clive and Jen’s car is road going series production over 2000cc And Jim and James’s car is modified series production over 2000cc. Both engines have had all the machining done at Roland Alsop Machine Shop.

Clive was linked up with Steve at Roland Alsop machine shop via Jim Herbert. Clive discussed with Steve what he wanted to do with the new engine build and Steve advised what specification would be best. The engine was specked out with the best components available. All through Roland Alsop machine shop, even some specially-made Mahle motorsport custom pistons! The cylinder head is a work of art with F1 grade machining and design by Steve himself. Steve used to build winning high performance engines years ago before workload demands took over and now just does solely machining. Clive – an Agricultural Engineer by trade – wanted be part of the process of this engine, and took a very rare opportunity to work under Steve’s tuition “as his apprentice” and build the engine. The results were fantastic and the engine is one of a kind. Clive has named this engine the 4g63T SMG Super Stroker. Steve said “this is a very special engine and very unlikely there isn’t another in existence”. Clive and Jennie also run the 5 speed HD X-Shift dog box transmission and are part of Team X-shift UK (Roland Alsop Machine Shop is the UK main dealer for X-Shift).

Clive is known for his driving skills as a former Gurston Down Speed Hillclimb Champion of 2022. Jennie is Clive’s Wife and is also a demon behind the wheel, and one of the fastest lady drivers in the country. Clive put the new engine to the test at Eelmoor Sprint in October 2024. There was one practice and four timed runs. In the first timed run Clive set a new Class record and put himself and the car second overall in the fastest times of the day and stayed there!! Beating some very sophisticated pieces of machinery. Don’t forget… this is a road legal car! And probably one of the fastest road cars in its class in the country on the hillclimbs. Good job Clive!

Clive said “Steve and my whole team at team rapid Evo have developed this car to be one of the best out there and is extremely grateful to Steve and his team for the help and support! “Steve is like Yoda, his knowledge and skill is one of a kind, and probably the best engine and machining specialist in the country!” Clive said. The specifications of this “Super Stroker engine” can only be obtained when you contact Roland Alsop Machine Shop and purchase the parts for the build specifications. “If you’ve seen what Clive and Jen’s car goes like and want yours to go like this!?” Please contact Steve at Roland Alsop machine shop today!!

Jim Herbert’s Evo (part of Team Rapid Evo)

Here’s our customer, Jim Herbert, in the Team Rapid Evo XShift-equipped Mitsubishi Lancer getting the job done at Gurston Down Speed Hillclimb.

Jim being presented with his 1st in Class award at an FDMC sprint

Next up, the story of one of our own cars in In an attempt on the World Record for a four cylinder Subaru, the car has undertaken some changes such as a 65mm wider body to accommodate 10″ wide slicks front and rear and improved release of air from the front wheel arches as this is a high drag area. We also fitted an XShift 6 speed sequential gearbox that netted us another 200hp to the wheels as our previous Subaru 4eat automatic (modified manual shift) gearbox absorbed 40% transmission losses. However as we soon realised the sequential was a much harsher gear change with around 900ft lbs and 1200hp being delivered through the 2.5L engine, in turn this made the car very unstable and want to aim for the wall on gear changes! After some testing and head scratching along with some video footage we found that the rear wheels were moving forward 3/4 of an inch through the arms deflecting with the extra power and grip. We adjusted the rear toe so my preferred toe was about correct under load and this meant I could flatshift through the gear change and make a full pass, albeit not a great pass, we still managed a PB and set a new UK record. The car has now undertaken several more modifications.

A few of our other customers’ cars:

Please contact us via phone or email: click here.