My car history and new purchase!
Discussion
I've been on these forums for quite a while now and realised that I've never really done a readers car topic. I purchased a new car on Saturday and thought it was a good a time as any to do one. Instead of just banging up pictures of the new car I thought I'd do a bit of car history. Firstly I’m sorry if it’s a load of crap, I haven’t done a topic like this before so I’ll try to include pics so people can scroll through if its bad, haha! To anyone that wants to read it I appreciate it. I’ll do it in a few posts so bare with me
So where it started, 17 years old, car mad, and just completed 12months on a 50cc Peugeot Speedfight moped. It started of course with what every 17 year old petrolhead wants...... a 900cc Fiat Cinquecento! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures but it was White, it came with colour coded bumpers and alloy wheels. I fitted a twin centre exit exhaust and Induction kit for a bit more powaaar! (in reality just noise) and looking back a ridiculous spoiler that was actually wider than the car. I thought it looked awesome, looking back it probably wasn't quite as good as I thought. However it was mine, and at 17 that means a lot! So it was washed pretty much everyday and pretty well looked after. Despite being a Fiat it also never broke down in the 18months I had it and was cheap to run and especially insure. I also like to think it taught me quite a bit about how to drive, constantly changing gear to get up hills and being at the limit of grip around almost every corner. However it wasn't long before I wanted something with a bit more 'street cred' and I sold it to make way for:
A 1994 1.4 Fiesta Si. A friend had one almost the same that I always admired, it was a step up from the little Cinq and with a massive 1.4 lump under the hood felt like a rocket ship compared to it! in reality it was 75bhp so when my uncle declared the Si stood for 's
t infested' he was probably not far off the mark 
A few weeks into ownership I also found one of the sills to be rotten, which I probably should have spotted when viewing but hey ho. As an 18th Birthday present my parents paid to have the sill chopped out, a new welded in and pretty much oneside of the car resprayed iirc it cost about £800 and I was made up! with hindsight I should have flogged it and not allowed them to spend that sort of cash. However it didn't stop me doing more, it had G-max springs and dampers, toyo tyres, a noisy 4.5inch back box, RS2000 style side skirts, Lexus lights (hangs head) and bucket seats! This is probably the most unreliable car I’ve owned and certainly one that I regret spending money on. The pic shows her toward the end of me having it, I had it for about 2 years before deciding to make the next step up.
I had been driving for around 3 years now, I’d saved some money and insurance was starting to come down so I got a car that I had always liked the look of: A Saxo VTR, pic below shows it as I bought it
This was the car that really introduced me to internet forums, I was a member of a few and trawled them all the time, reading other peoples topics for ideas and buying/selling parts. I also attended a few shows and local meets. I know the Saxo gets a bad rep but it was a cracking little car, good fun, nippy and pretty damn reliable, in fact I can’t remember it ever breaking. I did the following to it Spax suspension kit, OZ superleggera wheels, custom cat back exhaust, 106GTI leather interior, momo interior bits, BMC induction and a strut brace. I think there was more than that but I can’t remember the details. Few pics of her looking well:
I had the Saxo about 2.5 years whilst at university, I finished uni managed to get a full time job and with the money coming in, the classifieds section beckoned. I went for a 2006 Fiesta ST, it was just under 3 years old and had about 22k on the clock. I loved it and couldn’t believe it was mine. Strangely out of the box it didn’t feel ‘that’ much quicker than the VTR. I think a combination of the extra weight and better refinement blunted the performance.
When I first got it home:
In standard form the car could also feel a bit flat. It was remedied with a Code:Red CR180 performance pack which was manifold, sports cat and cat back with an enclosed induction kit. It really freed up the engine making it much more eager to rev. I went to a rolling road day at Jampsort where it made 172bhp so the kit certainly made a difference. It also sounded proper, lovely pops on the overrun and a nice raspy note to the exhaust. The handling was brilliant in standard form but a set of Eibach springs made it even better.
When I’d finished:
So where it started, 17 years old, car mad, and just completed 12months on a 50cc Peugeot Speedfight moped. It started of course with what every 17 year old petrolhead wants...... a 900cc Fiat Cinquecento! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures but it was White, it came with colour coded bumpers and alloy wheels. I fitted a twin centre exit exhaust and Induction kit for a bit more powaaar! (in reality just noise) and looking back a ridiculous spoiler that was actually wider than the car. I thought it looked awesome, looking back it probably wasn't quite as good as I thought. However it was mine, and at 17 that means a lot! So it was washed pretty much everyday and pretty well looked after. Despite being a Fiat it also never broke down in the 18months I had it and was cheap to run and especially insure. I also like to think it taught me quite a bit about how to drive, constantly changing gear to get up hills and being at the limit of grip around almost every corner. However it wasn't long before I wanted something with a bit more 'street cred' and I sold it to make way for:
A 1994 1.4 Fiesta Si. A friend had one almost the same that I always admired, it was a step up from the little Cinq and with a massive 1.4 lump under the hood felt like a rocket ship compared to it! in reality it was 75bhp so when my uncle declared the Si stood for 's
t infested' he was probably not far off the mark A few weeks into ownership I also found one of the sills to be rotten, which I probably should have spotted when viewing but hey ho. As an 18th Birthday present my parents paid to have the sill chopped out, a new welded in and pretty much oneside of the car resprayed iirc it cost about £800 and I was made up! with hindsight I should have flogged it and not allowed them to spend that sort of cash. However it didn't stop me doing more, it had G-max springs and dampers, toyo tyres, a noisy 4.5inch back box, RS2000 style side skirts, Lexus lights (hangs head) and bucket seats! This is probably the most unreliable car I’ve owned and certainly one that I regret spending money on. The pic shows her toward the end of me having it, I had it for about 2 years before deciding to make the next step up. 
I had been driving for around 3 years now, I’d saved some money and insurance was starting to come down so I got a car that I had always liked the look of: A Saxo VTR, pic below shows it as I bought it
This was the car that really introduced me to internet forums, I was a member of a few and trawled them all the time, reading other peoples topics for ideas and buying/selling parts. I also attended a few shows and local meets. I know the Saxo gets a bad rep but it was a cracking little car, good fun, nippy and pretty damn reliable, in fact I can’t remember it ever breaking. I did the following to it Spax suspension kit, OZ superleggera wheels, custom cat back exhaust, 106GTI leather interior, momo interior bits, BMC induction and a strut brace. I think there was more than that but I can’t remember the details. Few pics of her looking well:
I had the Saxo about 2.5 years whilst at university, I finished uni managed to get a full time job and with the money coming in, the classifieds section beckoned. I went for a 2006 Fiesta ST, it was just under 3 years old and had about 22k on the clock. I loved it and couldn’t believe it was mine. Strangely out of the box it didn’t feel ‘that’ much quicker than the VTR. I think a combination of the extra weight and better refinement blunted the performance.
When I first got it home:
In standard form the car could also feel a bit flat. It was remedied with a Code:Red CR180 performance pack which was manifold, sports cat and cat back with an enclosed induction kit. It really freed up the engine making it much more eager to rev. I went to a rolling road day at Jampsort where it made 172bhp so the kit certainly made a difference. It also sounded proper, lovely pops on the overrun and a nice raspy note to the exhaust. The handling was brilliant in standard form but a set of Eibach springs made it even better.
When I’d finished:
Again a couple of years passed and I was bored, I always fancied an EP3 Type R so took what I could off the ST, sold the parts and traded it in against an 04 Silver EP3.
A brilliant car that I loved hearing scream! Handled amazingly and I really didn’t do too much to it (premier edition recaros, carbon airbox and exhaust). I didn’t keep it that long, and I’m not sure why; it did everything I needed, was nice and quick handled well but for some reason I didn’t gel with it, I sometimes wonder if might have lacked a bit of character. But I’d recommend one to anybody and I did come back to a screaming n/a honda a few years later
Only one pic when I had it (note pistonheads smiley, the first car to wear one):
Another reason the Civic got the boot was a mint mk4 Golf R32 came up for sale, I really fancied something VAG and this fit the bill nicely. I loved the exclusivity and the noise, oh jees the noise!! It sounded amazing with the Milltek exhaust, it went pretty well and I really enjoyed owning it, never really got many pics unfortunately.
I also had Bilstein coilovers and Ibiza front splitter fitted.
It was a great car but never really seemed that fun to drive, it was quick and handled pretty well but it was quite lardy. I don’t know why but it never seemed to be a car that I’d take out and give a bit of a thrashing to, I don’t know if I was scared of hurting it or worried about the expensive bills if something broke. That said I really enjoyed owning it and it got a lot of good comments. I’ve never been one for private plates but I loved the V6 VVW plate which came with the car. I later found out that it was once the demonstrator for a local VW dealer and when it was sold the salesman included the plate by mistake. The plate belonged to VW UK and he did well to keep his job!
The Golf made way for what had always been a dream car of mine, I was obsessed with these back in the Cinquecento and Fiesta days. When I was 18 and driving a 1.4 fiesta I went out in one that a bloke I knew had, he wasn’t shy about giving the beans and to be honest it blew my mind! Stepping back into a 1.4 Fiesta it really showed me what a properly quick car was. It took me 10 years after that to get one but I did. Probaly the best car I’ve owned certainly the quickest by a big margin.
A 2005 Impreza Sti. I did a lot of research before buying and knew that I wanted a ‘Blobeye’ widetrack with DCCD. This one came up about 2 hrs away and I went to view it at a really sound dealer that had numerous Imprezas for sale. Super low mileage at 21k is what drew me to it. Apart from the PPP pack and aftermarket dump valve and induction it was unmolested. It did however have a lot of pink STi stickers that would have to be removed
Pic when I got it:
5 mintues from where I work theres a Subaru specialist so I ran the car for a few weeks and took it round for them to check it over. It was decided to remove the induction kit, dump valve and replace with standard. I also found out it was decatted and wasn’t running quite as well as it could so they sorted a remap by Andrew Carr. I picked it up and it was much better, it pulled a lot harder and was really nice and smooth. It felt like it could eat tarmac! I did a few other bits including Coilovers, Defi Gauges and a few cosmetic changes as below
Pics show her just after a full detail looking good! It was at around 325bhp and it felt awesome! Very quick and it never missed a beat.
To this day I’m not sure why I sold the Impreza, it seems that I get to about 2-3 years with a car and get bored, I’m sure most on here can relate. The love seems to die down and the classifieds section starts calling. I also run an old transit connect for going to work in, throwing the dog in and putting a motorbike in the back. I hated seeing the Impreza just sat on the drive going to waste so was toying with selling both the car and van and having one smart van with a second row of seats in.
A brilliant car that I loved hearing scream! Handled amazingly and I really didn’t do too much to it (premier edition recaros, carbon airbox and exhaust). I didn’t keep it that long, and I’m not sure why; it did everything I needed, was nice and quick handled well but for some reason I didn’t gel with it, I sometimes wonder if might have lacked a bit of character. But I’d recommend one to anybody and I did come back to a screaming n/a honda a few years later
Only one pic when I had it (note pistonheads smiley, the first car to wear one):
Another reason the Civic got the boot was a mint mk4 Golf R32 came up for sale, I really fancied something VAG and this fit the bill nicely. I loved the exclusivity and the noise, oh jees the noise!! It sounded amazing with the Milltek exhaust, it went pretty well and I really enjoyed owning it, never really got many pics unfortunately.
I also had Bilstein coilovers and Ibiza front splitter fitted.
It was a great car but never really seemed that fun to drive, it was quick and handled pretty well but it was quite lardy. I don’t know why but it never seemed to be a car that I’d take out and give a bit of a thrashing to, I don’t know if I was scared of hurting it or worried about the expensive bills if something broke. That said I really enjoyed owning it and it got a lot of good comments. I’ve never been one for private plates but I loved the V6 VVW plate which came with the car. I later found out that it was once the demonstrator for a local VW dealer and when it was sold the salesman included the plate by mistake. The plate belonged to VW UK and he did well to keep his job!
The Golf made way for what had always been a dream car of mine, I was obsessed with these back in the Cinquecento and Fiesta days. When I was 18 and driving a 1.4 fiesta I went out in one that a bloke I knew had, he wasn’t shy about giving the beans and to be honest it blew my mind! Stepping back into a 1.4 Fiesta it really showed me what a properly quick car was. It took me 10 years after that to get one but I did. Probaly the best car I’ve owned certainly the quickest by a big margin.
A 2005 Impreza Sti. I did a lot of research before buying and knew that I wanted a ‘Blobeye’ widetrack with DCCD. This one came up about 2 hrs away and I went to view it at a really sound dealer that had numerous Imprezas for sale. Super low mileage at 21k is what drew me to it. Apart from the PPP pack and aftermarket dump valve and induction it was unmolested. It did however have a lot of pink STi stickers that would have to be removed
Pic when I got it:
5 mintues from where I work theres a Subaru specialist so I ran the car for a few weeks and took it round for them to check it over. It was decided to remove the induction kit, dump valve and replace with standard. I also found out it was decatted and wasn’t running quite as well as it could so they sorted a remap by Andrew Carr. I picked it up and it was much better, it pulled a lot harder and was really nice and smooth. It felt like it could eat tarmac! I did a few other bits including Coilovers, Defi Gauges and a few cosmetic changes as below
Pics show her just after a full detail looking good! It was at around 325bhp and it felt awesome! Very quick and it never missed a beat.
To this day I’m not sure why I sold the Impreza, it seems that I get to about 2-3 years with a car and get bored, I’m sure most on here can relate. The love seems to die down and the classifieds section starts calling. I also run an old transit connect for going to work in, throwing the dog in and putting a motorbike in the back. I hated seeing the Impreza just sat on the drive going to waste so was toying with selling both the car and van and having one smart van with a second row of seats in.
Perhaps another reason why the Impreza went was my love of Motorbikes. I’ll not go into massive detail here but I’d had a few bikes, and the purchase of a Triumph Street Triple R meant that I was going out on that when the weather was fine so the Impreza was getting even less use. I went a few months without a car just using the old Transit Connect and bike. I was looking out for a nice VW Caddy but the more I thought about it the more I realised that I wouldn’t use it like the transit. I had visions of a Caddy lowered, with some nice wheels and carpeted rear however, I couldn't imagine myself driving it down a rough lane, or into a field and putting a muddy trials bike in the back or a dog whose hair sticks to everything but the dog itself! I decided that maybe a cheaper, practical but fun car alongside the old van was a good compromise.
I set about thinking what to get, a few cars crossed my mind including a mk5 Golf Gti, Megane R26 etc, and thought about another EP3, I’d never really had my time with the first one but I really did like the car. So I set about looking for a tidy reasonably priced example. I don’t know if it was just bad timing but there really didn’t seem to be anything standing out, a lot were high mileage (not a massive problem if well looked after) and didn’t look as mint as they were described. Finding one that’s standard was pretty hard too. I also started looking at FN2’s granted they were a bit dearer but more tidy ones were about. I found a good 1 owner car with 65k on the clock and full Honda history for sale 20miles away at a BMW dealer in Sheffield. I went over liked the car and bought it. I picked it up between Christmas and New Year in 2014.
Its strange because it was a car that I’d always dismissed previously, at the time of owning my EP3 I thought them to be inferior and didn’t particularly care for the looks. However the looks of the FN2 have really grown on me over the past few years and IMO it has aged well still looking very modern. I think the topgear review at the time has a lot to answer for in the putting down of what is in my opinion a spot on car! After owning an FN2 and EP3 I don’t think I’d have another EP3 the FN2 is the better all-rounder (all in my opinion of course) and I’m not putting the EP3 down either but on the road there very little difference in performance. Coming from the Impreza it obviously felt a bit slow and the lack of torque really showed but I liked that. It makes you really work for it, changing cogs and watching the rev counter swing round with that K20 engine screaming is so so good. On a good twisty road you could be a bit lazy in the Scoob and say keep it in 4th gear and it’d still pull your head off, whereas the Civic needed working. Some pics of the civic after a detail:
During the time with the Civic I’d also changed bikes, I really liked the Street Triple but sports bikes are where my heart really lied so I decided to part-ex it for a Daytona 675r, this really is my pride and joy I absolutely love it:
Pic of both below:
Street
And the Daytona with me looking like a bit of a muppet
And that brings me pretty much up to date. 18 months into ownership of the Civic and fancying a change. If you’ve noticed all the cars apart from the Impreza have been 3 door hatches and all have been FWD, apart from the Impreza and Golf. I fancied something completely different and definitely RWD. I picked up the new motor Saturday just gone
I set about thinking what to get, a few cars crossed my mind including a mk5 Golf Gti, Megane R26 etc, and thought about another EP3, I’d never really had my time with the first one but I really did like the car. So I set about looking for a tidy reasonably priced example. I don’t know if it was just bad timing but there really didn’t seem to be anything standing out, a lot were high mileage (not a massive problem if well looked after) and didn’t look as mint as they were described. Finding one that’s standard was pretty hard too. I also started looking at FN2’s granted they were a bit dearer but more tidy ones were about. I found a good 1 owner car with 65k on the clock and full Honda history for sale 20miles away at a BMW dealer in Sheffield. I went over liked the car and bought it. I picked it up between Christmas and New Year in 2014.
Its strange because it was a car that I’d always dismissed previously, at the time of owning my EP3 I thought them to be inferior and didn’t particularly care for the looks. However the looks of the FN2 have really grown on me over the past few years and IMO it has aged well still looking very modern. I think the topgear review at the time has a lot to answer for in the putting down of what is in my opinion a spot on car! After owning an FN2 and EP3 I don’t think I’d have another EP3 the FN2 is the better all-rounder (all in my opinion of course) and I’m not putting the EP3 down either but on the road there very little difference in performance. Coming from the Impreza it obviously felt a bit slow and the lack of torque really showed but I liked that. It makes you really work for it, changing cogs and watching the rev counter swing round with that K20 engine screaming is so so good. On a good twisty road you could be a bit lazy in the Scoob and say keep it in 4th gear and it’d still pull your head off, whereas the Civic needed working. Some pics of the civic after a detail:
During the time with the Civic I’d also changed bikes, I really liked the Street Triple but sports bikes are where my heart really lied so I decided to part-ex it for a Daytona 675r, this really is my pride and joy I absolutely love it:
Pic of both below:
Street
And the Daytona with me looking like a bit of a muppet
And that brings me pretty much up to date. 18 months into ownership of the Civic and fancying a change. If you’ve noticed all the cars apart from the Impreza have been 3 door hatches and all have been FWD, apart from the Impreza and Golf. I fancied something completely different and definitely RWD. I picked up the new motor Saturday just gone
Edited by Robins on Wednesday 25th May 22:40
A car that I’ve admired for quite a while but somehow never saw myself owning one. Until a few months ago when I found myself constantly looking online at them. Its completely different to everything I’ve had before, both in driving characteristics and looks. I love it!
The GT86
I love the low down driving position and the way hardly anybody seems to know what it is! I picked it up on Saturday and traded the Civic in for it. I’ve not had a good chance to ‘test’ it yet but I did get out for half an hour Monday night for a bit of a ‘spirited’ run and can't quite understand where the reputation for being underpowered has come from, anyone that says its too slow clearly isn't on twisty enough roads or can't extract the performace (ie too used to turbo petrol or diesel where you don't have to change gear as often to keep them in the sweet spot). In my opinion the power is fine (for the road). Don't get me wrong I bet there even better with more power but it felt perfectly adequate to me. The Impreza Sti I had was around 325bhp and it was immense but you couldn't really use all the performance on the road without fear of loosing your license. Its nice to able to feel like your working for the performance. I did however notice the flat spot that's mentioned and would like to do something about it at some point.
It such an involving drive and so much different than everything I've had. I can't stop looking out my window at it sat on the drive. I also love the retro dash lighting and switchgear
There's a couple of bits I'd like to do but in no rush. It could do with sounding better, being a bit lower and some different wheels and rear lights and maybe a duck tail spoiler.
One last thing and a major regret I have approaching 30 years old is never doing a trackday! It needs to change asap and I think the little red Toyota would be at home on track. I was close to booking one in the FN2 but just couldn’t find a date that suited, so I’ll be hopefully doing it soon. And who knows the mod list may change after tracking the ‘86
Hope I haven't bored you to tears!
The GT86
I love the low down driving position and the way hardly anybody seems to know what it is! I picked it up on Saturday and traded the Civic in for it. I’ve not had a good chance to ‘test’ it yet but I did get out for half an hour Monday night for a bit of a ‘spirited’ run and can't quite understand where the reputation for being underpowered has come from, anyone that says its too slow clearly isn't on twisty enough roads or can't extract the performace (ie too used to turbo petrol or diesel where you don't have to change gear as often to keep them in the sweet spot). In my opinion the power is fine (for the road). Don't get me wrong I bet there even better with more power but it felt perfectly adequate to me. The Impreza Sti I had was around 325bhp and it was immense but you couldn't really use all the performance on the road without fear of loosing your license. Its nice to able to feel like your working for the performance. I did however notice the flat spot that's mentioned and would like to do something about it at some point.
It such an involving drive and so much different than everything I've had. I can't stop looking out my window at it sat on the drive. I also love the retro dash lighting and switchgear
There's a couple of bits I'd like to do but in no rush. It could do with sounding better, being a bit lower and some different wheels and rear lights and maybe a duck tail spoiler.
One last thing and a major regret I have approaching 30 years old is never doing a trackday! It needs to change asap and I think the little red Toyota would be at home on track. I was close to booking one in the FN2 but just couldn’t find a date that suited, so I’ll be hopefully doing it soon. And who knows the mod list may change after tracking the ‘86
Hope I haven't bored you to tears!
Very nice write up! And a good mix of motors there, same as you I've always admired the GT86 from a far but dismissed them as a next car due to the relatively low BHP, maybe I should give one a go.
Likewise the Impreza is something I've always admired but the huge image problem has always put me off, but an impeccably well maintained one like your old one could be the key
Likewise the Impreza is something I've always admired but the huge image problem has always put me off, but an impeccably well maintained one like your old one could be the key
Thanks for all the comments. Very surprised that someone's favourite was the Fiesta Si!
As for the '86 I think a lot dismiss them due to a lack of power but if you can get past the headline power figure and want something more for the 'feel' it's great. I know I'm still in the 'honeymoon period' but I really think this could be a keeper! Or at least for 2 years
As for the '86 I think a lot dismiss them due to a lack of power but if you can get past the headline power figure and want something more for the 'feel' it's great. I know I'm still in the 'honeymoon period' but I really think this could be a keeper! Or at least for 2 years
You were definitely best rid of the STI, having it run with a full decat and a PPP it would have been pushing borrowed time on the engine with overboosting and bad fuelling, plus then you had it mapped.... not that mapping is wrong but there are good and bad mappers in the Subaru world.
Nice to end up with a GT86 though, pretty common cars now, I do see quite a few but people just mod them because they think its a base car and that is what its for, and its not, the entire point of the car was to give the driver the best enjoyment from relatively cheap motoring, in a stylish rear wheel n/a car.
For those wanting an STI, look carefully, JDM twinscroll's are definitely the best of the bunch, service history a must and try to avoid overly modded ones, any remaps and look at who the mapper was, as I said, there are good and bad mappers out there, ensure you get a good and well regarded mapper.
Nice to end up with a GT86 though, pretty common cars now, I do see quite a few but people just mod them because they think its a base car and that is what its for, and its not, the entire point of the car was to give the driver the best enjoyment from relatively cheap motoring, in a stylish rear wheel n/a car.
For those wanting an STI, look carefully, JDM twinscroll's are definitely the best of the bunch, service history a must and try to avoid overly modded ones, any remaps and look at who the mapper was, as I said, there are good and bad mappers out there, ensure you get a good and well regarded mapper.
The Sti was fine, the induction and dump valve were removed returned back to standard with a drop cosworth panel filter and then mapped to suit the mods. Mapped by a reputable mapper at a well regarded Subaru specialist so I don't think there would be any problem with it.
As for the GT86 being common, really? I'd class the type r as common but I hardly see any GT86's round my way
As for the GT86 being common, really? I'd class the type r as common but I hardly see any GT86's round my way
Robins said:
The Sti was fine, the induction and dump valve were removed returned back to standard with a drop cosworth panel filter and then mapped to suit the mods. Mapped by a reputable mapper at a well regarded Subaru specialist so I don't think there would be any problem with it.
As for the GT86 being common, really? I'd class the type r as common but I hardly see any GT86's round my way
You said it was decatted before it was mapped, very bad for an STI, will kill the engine over time and reputable and mapper.... oh you should hear the stories!! Definitely not one I would use.As for the GT86 being common, really? I'd class the type r as common but I hardly see any GT86's round my way
As for GT86's, yes see lots, see less 2015/2016 STI's and supposedly they are common around where I live, seen 3 in 2 years lol
Edited by tonyb1968 on Thursday 26th May 06:14
Edited by tonyb1968 on Thursday 26th May 06:15
Robins said:
Patch888 said:
Great write up buddy, very similar to my history including vtr, fiesta ST, ep3, blobeye and an fn2. All very good cars. New motor looks rather tasty.
Lol, great minds think alike!
Out of interest how did you rate the EP3 to the FN2?
How did you find they compare?
tonyb1968 said:
You said it was decatted before it was mapped, very bad for an STI, will kill the engine over time and reputable and mapper.... oh you should hear the stories!! Definitely not one I would use.
As for GT86's, yes see lots, see less 2015/2016 STI's and supposedly they are common around where I live, seen 3 in 2 years lol
100% agree mate, decatting without mapping is a no no, hence getting it mapped as soon as I had it. I can only go off my personal experience with the mapper and it was all positive for me. As for GT86's, yes see lots, see less 2015/2016 STI's and supposedly they are common around where I live, seen 3 in 2 years lol
Edited by tonyb1968 on Thursday 26th May 06:14
Edited by tonyb1968 on Thursday 26th May 06:15
Know what you mean about the 15/16 STI think I've only seen a couple, they look pretty damn good though!
Patch888 said:
Well... I owned the ep3 for two years and it was a great all-rounder. Did pretty much everything very well, bit like the FN2. I find the interior of the fn2 a much nicer place to be, it has a cracking inside, everythings laid out pretty well. I can see why some people complain of the harsh ride as it really feels solid. It doesn't bother me but I can see how it would bother some. Out of VTEC at lower revs the fn2 feels like it has more pull to it, but not by a huge amount. Its smooth, with a nice crossover, not as savage as the ep3 (which I initially found disappointing). The ep3 felt a lot more fierce when engaging VTEC, it felt raw and to me felt more eager and pulled harder. The ep3 had exceptional handling on the B roads, not that the fn2 doesn't but the ep3 felt lighter and more agile, even though the fn2 is only fractionally heavier. To be honest though unless I was driving it hard and fast to the limits both cars felt very similar to me. I've really enjoyed owning and driving both.
How did you find they compare?
Couldn't have written it any better mate, if I was into trackdays I'd go for an EP3 but if it was just for road I'd go for an FN2 as you say its a really nice place to sit. Like you I can see why people think its a harsh ride but when your used to cars on harder aftermarket suspension it never really bothered me.How did you find they compare?
Went for a bit of drive round yesterday. I can't remember the last time I just went for a drive, just to drive. Enjoyed it, really starting to gel with the little '86. Took a few pics, sorry there nothing special.
I sometimes forget how lucky I'am having some great roads less than 10mins away. A bit of sunshine certainly makes you realise how lucky you are. Just a pity it rains / snows for 10months of the year!
I sometimes forget how lucky I'am having some great roads less than 10mins away. A bit of sunshine certainly makes you realise how lucky you are. Just a pity it rains / snows for 10months of the year!
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff