My history. 80's/90's hatches, RSs, 911s and a few bikes
Discussion
Cheers Niall! I appreciate the comments. 
Well, collection day is here. I've an hour or two sorting the garage, then it's shower and off to the dealer's for tennish. (But I haven't got a racket, I hear you say - old Sean Connery joke).
We'll then get the car home and get it polished and waxed etc. It has been prepped by the dealer obviously but since we haven't taken the option of Supaguard (or the dealer's gap insurance, much to their protesting
) I want to get some decent protection on the paintwork.
Anyway, here goes what should be a fun day.
Have a good weekend everyone.
Well, collection day is here. I've an hour or two sorting the garage, then it's shower and off to the dealer's for tennish. (But I haven't got a racket, I hear you say - old Sean Connery joke).
We'll then get the car home and get it polished and waxed etc. It has been prepped by the dealer obviously but since we haven't taken the option of Supaguard (or the dealer's gap insurance, much to their protesting
) I want to get some decent protection on the paintwork. Anyway, here goes what should be a fun day.
Have a good weekend everyone.
Edited by marky911 on Thursday 11th May 23:36
A mate has a 500 Abarth, and he's a single chap! Really nice characters to the little blighters, not to mention they're an Italian hot hatch. What more could be wanted!?
His is a regular Abarth, and even with only 135bhp it still feels very eager and attacks a B road better than the KA platform would suggest.
His is a regular Abarth, and even with only 135bhp it still feels very eager and attacks a B road better than the KA platform would suggest.
Cheers lads! Best day I've had in ages that.
More in depth post in a day or so but basically I'm smitten. Bonkers little car that has no right to sound as good as it does.
Gonna be burning the midnight oil I think. I've had the car up in the air with the wheels off etc. Proper cleaning session.
This is what I'm currently looking at.
Hi Craig - Haven't seen much of you on here lately? Or have I just missed your posts? You still in the Type R?
Steve - Thanks for the comments. Glad it filled a few minutes of your time.
Hi Jake - Yes it's actually better than I'd expected. When I test drove one it didn't feel quick as it was big straight roads, however today on the country roads near mine it came alive. Twitchy bugger mind when hitting crests and bumps while cornering hard. Just due to the short wheel base I guess, nothing actually wrong.
Awesome fun though. Reminds me of my old RS Turbos and my 205GTi, as far as engine and handling go, respectively.
Anyway one more coat of wax to go and then some C4 Gtec stuff on plastics. The C4 can wait til morning actually.
I've stayed away from my house stuff today as I didn't want anything spoiling my mood.
I'm happy as Larry in the garage. Old skool hip hop on (Tribe called quest), another guilty pleasure of mine and I'm just pottering about.
It's like the hassle free days of old.
Anyone who thinks cars are just a form of transport are missing out.
More in depth post in a day or so but basically I'm smitten. Bonkers little car that has no right to sound as good as it does.
Gonna be burning the midnight oil I think. I've had the car up in the air with the wheels off etc. Proper cleaning session.
This is what I'm currently looking at.
Hi Craig - Haven't seen much of you on here lately? Or have I just missed your posts? You still in the Type R?
Steve - Thanks for the comments. Glad it filled a few minutes of your time.
Hi Jake - Yes it's actually better than I'd expected. When I test drove one it didn't feel quick as it was big straight roads, however today on the country roads near mine it came alive. Twitchy bugger mind when hitting crests and bumps while cornering hard. Just due to the short wheel base I guess, nothing actually wrong.
Awesome fun though. Reminds me of my old RS Turbos and my 205GTi, as far as engine and handling go, respectively.
Anyway one more coat of wax to go and then some C4 Gtec stuff on plastics. The C4 can wait til morning actually.
I've stayed away from my house stuff today as I didn't want anything spoiling my mood.
I'm happy as Larry in the garage. Old skool hip hop on (Tribe called quest), another guilty pleasure of mine and I'm just pottering about.
It's like the hassle free days of old.
Anyone who thinks cars are just a form of transport are missing out.
Edited by marky911 on Saturday 6th May 22:36
Wow what a great way to spend two hour on a Sunday evening.
Great thread, think I still have a copy of the first Max Power in the loft!
Brings back happy memories of my Phase 2 Renault 11 Turbo and insurance costing more than the car!!
Love the Fiat, had a Cinqucento Sporting in Yellow, great car.
Great thread, think I still have a copy of the first Max Power in the loft!
Brings back happy memories of my Phase 2 Renault 11 Turbo and insurance costing more than the car!!
Love the Fiat, had a Cinqucento Sporting in Yellow, great car.
Thanks Chicken, I'm glad some people who haven't seen it before are enjoying it.
Cheers MDK, glad it filled some time. Yes, the good old early days of Max power eh. Back when we thought 15 inch alloys were big.
Renault 11 Turbos. I'd forgotten all about those. The thinking man's R5 Turbo..... maybe.
How rare are those now? I can't remember the last time I ever saw one on the road. Likewise the big 21 Turbos. Cosworth performance but very much under the radar.
Right then, I'm not great at doing collection day reports so I'll keep it brief-ish. I won't fill the thread with a bazillion photos of every single feature and item on the car. That's not because I don't think the car is great, I do, but you can find out all the info on them elsewhere.
I'm sure I'll add little updates here and there though as we learn things about the car and hopefully enjoy some great trips in it.
So collection day came and I still had a bit of tidying left to do in the garage before we headed down to the dealers.
We made space eventually though.
My wife had done a mammoth shift in the garage and shed the day before, sorting things out while I was at work.
Obviously once the house renovation is finished I'll dump a lot of the gear I have or store it in the garage loft, then finally I'll be able to plaster the garage etc and make it a nice place to spend time in.
For now we can keep two cars out of the elements though, so that's great.
So we got down to the dealers and collected the car. As I've mentioned in another thread times have changed (or at least they have at the more mainstream dealers) and you don't even get a bunch of flowers or anything anymore.
I guess the days of people saving for years to buy a new car have gone and people just lease or pcp things these days, so less loyalty etc.
It was still a special occasion for my wife though as it's the first new car she's ever bought.
The car is enough anyway though, with or without the flowers.
The salesman brought the car round to the front, then spent a good while showing the missus the different features such as the Apple car play and different dash layouts etc.
I'd just like to say at this point a big thanks to the salesman Lee Lightley at Richard Hardie, Fiat at the Silverlink. Great lad and as I've said earlier, none of the patter you sometimes get from salesmen, just a good honest service with no pressure. If you're ever in the area and in the market for a Fiat, I highly recommend you look him up.
There was one niggle I spotted on the car before we left (and another later) and that is that the twin exit exhaust isn't perfectly level. It's nothing, but it's enough that I noticed it. I've been assured this will be dealt with at the cars first check over in a couple of months.
So anyway, all done and we could hit the road.
The next photo removes any element of surprise regarding what I've been up to car wise since the 328 Sports but anyway, that's for another day.
We went the scenic way home which involved passing by some old haunts of mine from all those years ago, including Tynemouth and Whitley Bay seafront, before heading inland back home.
Home without issue.
Driveway getting a bit full.
(The Focus actually went to its new home tonight. A guy came up from Leeds and was very happy with it.)
Bye bye Focus. It's been no bother at all that car.
Anyway, once home we put my car away and went out for lunch in the Abarth.
On the way back home and about 4 miles from our village a guy that lives along the road from us came flying up behind us in his new M5, I thought "I'll see if he can drive or if he's more of a poser" (I'm not exactly Jenson Button mind) , so I warned my wife I was going to have a bit of fun.
I pressed the sport and diff buttons (it's not really a diff) and took off. It was great fun and the car was squatting, twitching and all sorts. It's a little go kart.
Anyway it turns out that M5 man can drive and I couldn't really gap him. I did a smidge in the bends but he quickly reeled me in on the sweeping stuff. To be expected with 4 times the power of the little Abarth. Awesome fun though and it's great having a decent amount of ground clearance when attacking bumpy twisty B roads.
When we backed off and pootled into our village I said to my wife "It's a twitchy bloody thing isn't it" and she replied "I know, does the sport button make it do that? I'm not pressing that". "No love, me driving like a teenager makes it do that."
Like all hot hatches it can bring out your naughty side. I won't be doing that very often though, even if it is huge fun.
After that it was time to get cleaning. Obviously it was mint anyway but I wanted to get some protection on and they're only new once so I wanted it done straight away.
So it was up onto jacks to get the wheels off.
I cleaned everywhere and treated the suspension to a bit of ACF-50 and the arch liners to some "protect and shine".
I washed the wheels and gave them a good coat of Poorboys wheel sealant in and out, then refitted them.
Gtechniq C4 trim restorer on all the black bits. There's a lot of plastic on this car, almost as much as my old Nova from years ago.
I then used some Pinnacle Glass treatment with rain repellent on the outside of the windows and some Autoglym glass cleaner cream on the inside.
After that it was just the bodywork to do. No swirls obviously so I just gave it a coat of Autoglym super resin polish. Still my go to polish after all these years as it has some fillers and things in, rather than just being a totally clear wax coat.
Finally I topped that off with a layer of Collinite Marque D'Elegance which is a hard wax and will last for months.
I forgot to take many "after" pics.
The result - Well pretty much the same as it was but at least now I know it's all protected that bit more.
So that's it really. The little Abarth is now performing daily duties perfectly, as you'd expect.
Me and my wife are both smitten with it. It's got so much character for a mainstream new car, it honestly has.
Almost one week in and it's covered with flies and dust so I'm going to invest in some snow foam to try and get the bulk of the dust and debris off before hand washing.
So my final comment is basically anyone in the market for a small fun car, you must try one of these.
Even if you think they're not your thing. Have a test drive, what have you got to lose?
As I've said my wife loves it and that's the main thing.
Happy wife = Happy life.
That's it for now. A few of us are away to do the NC500 this weekend. Setting off tomorrow. Can't wait. Im overdue a lads weekend. Have a good weekend everyone.
Cheers MDK, glad it filled some time. Yes, the good old early days of Max power eh. Back when we thought 15 inch alloys were big.
Renault 11 Turbos. I'd forgotten all about those. The thinking man's R5 Turbo..... maybe.
How rare are those now? I can't remember the last time I ever saw one on the road. Likewise the big 21 Turbos. Cosworth performance but very much under the radar.
Right then, I'm not great at doing collection day reports so I'll keep it brief-ish. I won't fill the thread with a bazillion photos of every single feature and item on the car. That's not because I don't think the car is great, I do, but you can find out all the info on them elsewhere.
I'm sure I'll add little updates here and there though as we learn things about the car and hopefully enjoy some great trips in it.
So collection day came and I still had a bit of tidying left to do in the garage before we headed down to the dealers.
We made space eventually though.
My wife had done a mammoth shift in the garage and shed the day before, sorting things out while I was at work.
Obviously once the house renovation is finished I'll dump a lot of the gear I have or store it in the garage loft, then finally I'll be able to plaster the garage etc and make it a nice place to spend time in.
For now we can keep two cars out of the elements though, so that's great.
So we got down to the dealers and collected the car. As I've mentioned in another thread times have changed (or at least they have at the more mainstream dealers) and you don't even get a bunch of flowers or anything anymore.
I guess the days of people saving for years to buy a new car have gone and people just lease or pcp things these days, so less loyalty etc.
It was still a special occasion for my wife though as it's the first new car she's ever bought.
The car is enough anyway though, with or without the flowers.
The salesman brought the car round to the front, then spent a good while showing the missus the different features such as the Apple car play and different dash layouts etc.
I'd just like to say at this point a big thanks to the salesman Lee Lightley at Richard Hardie, Fiat at the Silverlink. Great lad and as I've said earlier, none of the patter you sometimes get from salesmen, just a good honest service with no pressure. If you're ever in the area and in the market for a Fiat, I highly recommend you look him up.
There was one niggle I spotted on the car before we left (and another later) and that is that the twin exit exhaust isn't perfectly level. It's nothing, but it's enough that I noticed it. I've been assured this will be dealt with at the cars first check over in a couple of months.
So anyway, all done and we could hit the road.
The next photo removes any element of surprise regarding what I've been up to car wise since the 328 Sports but anyway, that's for another day.
We went the scenic way home which involved passing by some old haunts of mine from all those years ago, including Tynemouth and Whitley Bay seafront, before heading inland back home.
Home without issue.
Driveway getting a bit full.
(The Focus actually went to its new home tonight. A guy came up from Leeds and was very happy with it.)
Bye bye Focus. It's been no bother at all that car.
Anyway, once home we put my car away and went out for lunch in the Abarth.
On the way back home and about 4 miles from our village a guy that lives along the road from us came flying up behind us in his new M5, I thought "I'll see if he can drive or if he's more of a poser"
(I'm not exactly Jenson Button mind) , so I warned my wife I was going to have a bit of fun. I pressed the sport and diff buttons (it's not really a diff) and took off. It was great fun and the car was squatting, twitching and all sorts. It's a little go kart.
Anyway it turns out that M5 man can drive and I couldn't really gap him.
I did a smidge in the bends but he quickly reeled me in on the sweeping stuff. To be expected with 4 times the power of the little Abarth. Awesome fun though and it's great having a decent amount of ground clearance when attacking bumpy twisty B roads. When we backed off and pootled into our village I said to my wife "It's a twitchy bloody thing isn't it" and she replied "I know, does the sport button make it do that? I'm not pressing that".
"No love, me driving like a teenager makes it do that."Like all hot hatches it can bring out your naughty side. I won't be doing that very often though, even if it is huge fun.
After that it was time to get cleaning. Obviously it was mint anyway but I wanted to get some protection on and they're only new once so I wanted it done straight away.
So it was up onto jacks to get the wheels off.
I cleaned everywhere and treated the suspension to a bit of ACF-50 and the arch liners to some "protect and shine".
I washed the wheels and gave them a good coat of Poorboys wheel sealant in and out, then refitted them.
Gtechniq C4 trim restorer on all the black bits. There's a lot of plastic on this car, almost as much as my old Nova from years ago.
I then used some Pinnacle Glass treatment with rain repellent on the outside of the windows and some Autoglym glass cleaner cream on the inside.
After that it was just the bodywork to do. No swirls obviously so I just gave it a coat of Autoglym super resin polish. Still my go to polish after all these years as it has some fillers and things in, rather than just being a totally clear wax coat.
Finally I topped that off with a layer of Collinite Marque D'Elegance which is a hard wax and will last for months.
I forgot to take many "after" pics.
The result - Well pretty much the same as it was but at least now I know it's all protected that bit more.
So that's it really. The little Abarth is now performing daily duties perfectly, as you'd expect.
Me and my wife are both smitten with it. It's got so much character for a mainstream new car, it honestly has.
Almost one week in and it's covered with flies and dust so I'm going to invest in some snow foam to try and get the bulk of the dust and debris off before hand washing.
So my final comment is basically anyone in the market for a small fun car, you must try one of these.
Even if you think they're not your thing. Have a test drive, what have you got to lose?
As I've said my wife loves it and that's the main thing.
Happy wife = Happy life.
That's it for now. A few of us are away to do the NC500 this weekend. Setting off tomorrow. Can't wait. Im overdue a lads weekend. Have a good weekend everyone.
Edited by marky911 on Thursday 11th May 23:39
Thanks Willisit, to be honest I was much more excited about these than my wife who wanted something a bit more grown up.
Luckily it's character came across well during the test drive. She loves it now and has had loads of comments when pulling up at places. Not that she's a poser mind, but it's always nice when people like something that you like.
RC - Get one bought! Sounds like you're already half way there. You get all the character from the 135hp Abarth to be honest. We just went for the 160 Trofeo as it was there in a decent colour and with the Monza system.
If you're going for a different one though do not get the salesman to start a car with a monza exhaust. Nothing else will do after that.
Luckily it's character came across well during the test drive.
She loves it now and has had loads of comments when pulling up at places. Not that she's a poser mind, but it's always nice when people like something that you like. RC - Get one bought! Sounds like you're already half way there. You get all the character from the 135hp Abarth to be honest. We just went for the 160 Trofeo as it was there in a decent colour and with the Monza system.
If you're going for a different one though do not get the salesman to start a car with a monza exhaust. Nothing else will do after that.
marky911 said:
Hi Craig - Haven't seen much of you on here lately? Or have I just missed your posts? You still in the Type R?
Still in the Type-R, over a year now! Started up another business to run alongside my other one and along with a kid, posting here just isn't top priority as much any more! I still read the forums however...Still doing the track days with my mate however we drive his GT3RS now though as much fun as it is, it's not my car so I feel like a charlatan writing up about it so my thread can be a little...thread bare! I'm not sure how many people want to read about driving a civic day to day.
How's the house coming on? It looks markedly different in the limited photos you've posted here and unless I'm mistaken I've not seen an update to the build thread in yonks?
Hope all is well with you
Afternoon Craig, sounds like you've got enough on at your end then. Growing up comes to us all eh.
At least you're still getting some track time in, I miss that.
The house is well on thanks. Bits and bobs out front to finish such as planting borders and building a pergola. Then it's back garden, which is just a pile of mud currently.
I'd like to think it'll all be done by next summer but then I'll be restarting on the rooms that were done first.
I really do want to get it to a point where I don't have to lift a finger for 5 years or so. Not sure if that situation even exists mind.
I will update the house thread eventually but time is so limited.
Anyway glad all is well at your end. Good health to you and the family. From what I've seen of your house, in the background of some of your pics a while back, it's mighty impressive.
It looks great. Well done.
Take it easy matey.
At least you're still getting some track time in, I miss that.
The house is well on thanks. Bits and bobs out front to finish such as planting borders and building a pergola. Then it's back garden, which is just a pile of mud currently.
I'd like to think it'll all be done by next summer but then I'll be restarting on the rooms that were done first.
I really do want to get it to a point where I don't have to lift a finger for 5 years or so. Not sure if that situation even exists mind.
I will update the house thread eventually but time is so limited.
Anyway glad all is well at your end. Good health to you and the family. From what I've seen of your house, in the background of some of your pics a while back, it's mighty impressive.
It looks great. Well done.
Take it easy matey.
marky911 said:
We went the scenic way home which involved passing by some old haunts of mine from all those years ago, including Tynemouth and Whitley Bay seafront, before heading inland back home.
Alright Marky.Is that the car park where the Ice cream van parks? Car looks great too.
If you see someone toot and wave on an MT 10 as it passes your place it'll be me.
Hi John, I hope you're well.
Yes that's right, Cullercoats. Sealife centre one way, church and ice cream van, the other.
Yep gimmie a wave. I'll keep an eye out.
I like those MTs. A guy that works with my wife has a one in a blackberry, purpley colour. Lovely.
I will be back on a bike at some point. I've got an itch for a small cafe racer, just to pootle to work on. We'll see.
Anyway, mind how you go.
Yes that's right, Cullercoats. Sealife centre one way, church and ice cream van, the other.
Yep gimmie a wave. I'll keep an eye out.
I like those MTs. A guy that works with my wife has a one in a blackberry, purpley colour. Lovely.
I will be back on a bike at some point. I've got an itch for a small cafe racer, just to pootle to work on. We'll see.
Anyway, mind how you go.
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