I couldn't do it!!
I couldn't do it!!
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WildfireS3

Original Poster:

9,919 posts

276 months

Friday 24th September 2004
quotequote all
Someone came last night to look at the S, when he was driving it on the test drive, I looked out at the shiny bonnet in front of me, the grin on my face as a group of lads stood open mouthed. Once the haggling started, I couldn't part with her for less money. It was just too much. As much as I want a V8 I think it will just have to wait a while, until I get over the S obsession.

Now it's onto plan B, some light upgrades, followed by new heads and maybe a chip???

shnozz

30,086 posts

295 months

Friday 24th September 2004
quotequote all
know the feeling chris. I have been really bad and ignored several phone calls re the chim just cos I still cant make my mind up. She may not be that quick, but she is a sorted car and now reliable as ever.

WildfireS3

Original Poster:

9,919 posts

276 months

Friday 24th September 2004
quotequote all
shnozz said:
know the feeling chris. I have been really bad and ignored several phone calls re the chim just cos I still cant make my mind up. She may not be that quick, but she is a sorted car and now reliable as ever.


Why are you thinking of selling up Phill? Mine was to go for a Chim, but financially this wouldn't be too prudent either. Anyhow the Chims plenty quick.

kentishS2

1,354 posts

263 months

Friday 24th September 2004
quotequote all
WildfireS3 said:
Someone came last night to look at the S, when he was driving it on the test drive, I looked out at the shiny bonnet in front of me, the grin on my face as a group of lads stood open mouthed. Once the haggling started, I couldn't part with her for less money. It was just too much. As much as I want a V8 I think it will just have to wait a while, until I get over the S obsession.

Now it's onto plan B, some light upgrades, followed by new heads and maybe a chip???



Well done Chris, you know it makes sense!

I did exactly the same thing a couple of months ago. They are too nice to sell.

You have a lovely car and you have done a fair bit to it, so hang on to it I say.

Personally I think the reason we lust after a V8 is that we know they are available and we get used to the speed and noise of the V6 and want more of that fix we had when we first got our V6 car. Of course the V8 is faster but you can't use the speed of the V6 much, not without having to hand back your license sooner or later. I think you do get used to the 0-60 time and after a while you think your car isn't so quick.

But ask yourself this, do many other cars pass or keep up when you floor it? I reckon the answer to that is "no"

There aren't many sub 7 sec 0-60 production cars out there considering how many cars are on the road. Not much passes me when I decide to stretch her legs (steady Podie)!

bridgdav

4,805 posts

272 months

Friday 24th September 2004
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WildfireS3 said:

Anyhow the Chims plenty quick.


Not when he's following Craig...

WildfireS3

Original Poster:

9,919 posts

276 months

Friday 24th September 2004
quotequote all
Oh, right. So he's trying to keep up with Craig. Fighting a losing battle there I think.

shnozz

30,086 posts

295 months

Friday 24th September 2004
quotequote all
WildfireS3 said:
Oh, right. So he's trying to keep up with Craig. Fighting a losing battle there I think.


not when I empty his Nos bottle when he has his back turned.

The chim is a very quick car, but its all relative isnt it. The Cerbera is another league, it stays with Diablos and F40's, its supercar quick. Watching the clarkson video when the 4.2 cerb destroyed the entire field of supercars just spurred me further into wanting one. Craigs was beating Diablos and various ferraris down the drag strip last weekend at Knockhill. That was in the wet and therefore not using any Nos. Thats pretty damn quick...

My mate has an MR2 turbo, nice car. It cost him £4k and stays with my chimaera. I cant be having that, so need 400bhp. At the moment, the walnut warrior is only a few bhp down on the flying bogey (205bhp -v- 240bhp) yes yes i know it weighs 3 times as much

WildfireS3

Original Poster:

9,919 posts

276 months

Friday 24th September 2004
quotequote all
Has anybody got a vid of the Clarkson Cerbie challenge that I could download?

Well, I will aspire to the Chim/Griff, I'll get there in the end.

shnozz

30,086 posts

295 months

Friday 24th September 2004
quotequote all
WildfireS3 said:
Has anybody got a vid of the Clarkson Cerbie challenge that I could download?

Well, I will aspire to the Chim/Griff, I'll get there in the end.


there is one kicking around on Luca Brazzi's sleepyfish website IIRC. Its pretty scarey how easily the "baby" cerb destroys a field of supercars.

kentishS2

1,354 posts

263 months

Friday 24th September 2004
quotequote all
I think Nos is a good way to go on the S, lot's more power for pin money really.

No engine upgrades required either, just make sure that your engine is serviced well and that there are no other weak components likely to fail.

Basically all you are doing is adding a gas to lower your induction temperature to allow more fuel to explode in each cylinder thus increasing your bhp. Cold air is more dense (compressed) thus a greater air/fuel mixture can be squeezed into each cylinder to ignite.

Hey presto ...loads more horses for minimal wonga!

WildfireS3

Original Poster:

9,919 posts

276 months

Friday 24th September 2004
quotequote all
Except, when the insurance say: "Is it modified?" and you say:

"Yes, it has Nitrous." The rub their hands together and add x10 to your quote. I was quoted £3500 for my mini the other day!!!

shnozz

30,086 posts

295 months

Friday 24th September 2004
quotequote all
yep, Nos may be an addition to project S. Not sure yet and plenty more enquiries to be done. Been so busy at the moment that the S hasnt actually moved from under the cover since the RAC man dropped her off

So many other things to do at the moment I dont think its likely to move in the near future either

kentishS2

1,354 posts

263 months

Friday 24th September 2004
quotequote all
WildfireS3 said:
Except, when the insurance say: "Is it modified?" and you say:

"Yes, it has Nitrous." The rub their hands together and add x10 to your quote. I was quoted £3500 for my mini the other day!!!


That's why you need to get yourself a daily hack mate, you'll find the insurance goes down on the S and any mods to the S make little or no difference to your premium. Some of us were discussing this on another thread a few days back and some who had their cars chipped etc didn't get any increase.

Mine stayed the same when I changed to 17" wheels and had the engine rebuild and ported heads.

WildfireS3

Original Poster:

9,919 posts

276 months

Friday 24th September 2004
quotequote all
Ah yes, but you lot are old!! Under 25 doesn't get you cheaper insurance. If I drop 5000 miles off the S it costs £60 less.

Give it a couple of years and I'll be able to qualify for classic insurance.

I am still toying with the daily hack option, but for the price hmmm.... around £1K inital out lay + maintainence.

shnozz

30,086 posts

295 months

Friday 24th September 2004
quotequote all
WildfireS3 said:
Ah yes, but you lot are old!! Under 25 doesn't get you cheaper insurance. If I drop 5000 miles off the S it costs £60 less.

Give it a couple of years and I'll be able to qualify for classic insurance.

I am still toying with the daily hack option, but for the price hmmm.... around £1K inital out lay + maintainence.


if I was doing, say, 12k miles a year these were previously all done in the TVR. That means

fuel @20 mpg
servicing x 2 (at, say, £500)
Insurance at £640
Tyres
tax
etc etc

or splitting it (no podie)

6k in the TVR = far less at 20mpg
service x 1
Insurance at £520
1/2 as much tyres

for the sake of £1000 second car. That requires 1 service every 10k, better mpg (although thats doubtful in my case ), cheaper tyres etc etc.

Ok, it costs me another £200 to insure 2 cars even both with limited miles. But 1 service on the Rover + 1 service on the chim each year is less than 2 services on the chim. The same can be said for tyres, and any other maintenance. This is before you even take into account depreciation. The downsides are the 2 x tax costs and increased insurance. Its not hard to right down on paper the costs and work out which is the cheaper route.

I am not too fussed by the cost savings, but I do like having the walnut warrior to take passengers, trips to the tip, parking in dodgy court car parks around the country (eg hastings for the last 2 days ) etc etc.

kentishS2

1,354 posts

263 months

Friday 24th September 2004
quotequote all
WildfireS3 said:
Ah yes, but you lot are old!! Under 25 doesn't get you cheaper insurance. If I drop 5000 miles off the S it costs £60 less.

Give it a couple of years and I'll be able to qualify for classic insurance.

I am still toying with the daily hack option, but for the price hmmm.... around £1K inital out lay + maintainence.


Yes, if you are going for a daily hack on a tight budget, it's best to go for as low a mileage as possible and something that is known to be reliable (German or Jap probably best). French cars are a bit on the expensive side to repair and not the most reliable, having said that I racked up loads of miles in my Peugeot 406 TDi before I had my last BMW TDi and it was very reliable indeed but cost a lot when things like a headlight required replacement, at 200 odd pounds plus I had to fit it.

Could go for an Astra, reliable(ish) and cheap(ish) on parts although the diesel is expensive to fix as it has/had an Isuzu lump. VW are pretty good and loads of cheap specialists spares places for them.

Oddly, Mercedes service parts are cheap, so maybe an older 190D perhaps, damn good car and can be bought for very little money.

kentishS2

1,354 posts

263 months

Friday 24th September 2004
quotequote all
shnozz said:


(eg hastings for the last 2 days ) etc etc.


Is that still next to the police station, near the Hotel?

Probably not too bad there is it?

shnozz

30,086 posts

295 months

Friday 24th September 2004
quotequote all
kentishS2 said:

WildfireS3 said:
Ah yes, but you lot are old!! Under 25 doesn't get you cheaper insurance. If I drop 5000 miles off the S it costs £60 less.

Give it a couple of years and I'll be able to qualify for classic insurance.

I am still toying with the daily hack option, but for the price hmmm.... around £1K inital out lay + maintainence.



Yes, if you are going for a daily hack on a tight budget, it's best to go for as low a mileage as possible and something that is known to be reliable (German or Jap probably best). French cars are a bit on the expensive side to repair and not the most reliable, having said that I racked up loads of miles in my Peugeot 406 TDi before I had my last BMW TDi and it was very reliable indeed but cost a lot when things like a headlight required replacement, at 200 odd pounds plus I had to fit it.

Could go for an Astra, reliable(ish) and cheap(ish) on parts although the diesel is expensive to fix as it has/had an Isuzu lump. VW are pretty good and loads of cheap specialists spares places for them.

Oddly, Mercedes service parts are cheap, so maybe an older 190D perhaps, damn good car and can be bought for very little money.


My last Mondeo TD racked up 170k and was an utter heap. I swapped it for a pint of beer and understand its still going strong.

I originally looked at the Rover 600 cos it was Honda engined without the second hand price of a japanese car (which was generally higher because of the reputation of being reliable). Then I got daft and went for the turbo engined (rover engine ) version. Touch wood, its been great so far and is rapid. The downsides meaning mpg is as bad as the Tiv and insurance is group 16...

shnozz

30,086 posts

295 months

Friday 24th September 2004
quotequote all
kentishS2 said:

shnozz said:


(eg hastings for the last 2 days ) etc etc.



Is that still next to the police station, near the Hotel?

Probably not too bad there is it?


its on Bohemia Road, near the fire station. Not sure where the police station is to be honest. Not too bad around there, no, but wouldnt have felt easy leaving the TVR parked up for 2 days with me not around. Having the "i dont give a shite" second car just removes any element of worry when you leave it somewhere, and thats a blessed feeling after years of just having the 1 P&J.

WildfireS3

Original Poster:

9,919 posts

276 months

Friday 24th September 2004
quotequote all
Ok, suggestions please and if anybody knows of a good, cheap diesel going let me know.