My car history, the highs and lows...
Discussion
There has been another addition, which I obviously missed out updating before...
- 2002 Honda Civic Type R JRSC
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
I shouldn't have sold my previous EP3 Type R Premier, which I had done plenty of good quality modifications to.. but the lure of that MK7 Fiesta ST Van as a 'do-all' solution was too great?! I need to learn my lesson there, my attempt to find a 'do-all' solution was what led me to sell my E46 M3 and buy that hellish E91 335i too.
Not wanting to use my M3 as a full on track car meant that I was keeping an eye out for something to fill that gap and another EP3 seemed like the sensible way to go given that I still have a pile of modifications from my old one sitting doing nothing. The problem is that EP3s are starting to get a bit rough these days and it's not so easy to find a car without bodywork/underside issues, nevermind rough/smokey engines... and I was giving up hope a wee bit until this car popped up for sale. Higher miles at ~124k, but great condition, a mountain of receipts and lots of very high quality modifications.
With the Jackson Racing Supercharger (JRSC) and supporting modifications, the car makes around 300bhp reliably. It is also running a shorter final drive ratio in the gearbox, so it is a really quick wee car... in fact the only real issue I've got is the noise that it makes, it's almost running a straight through exhaust and even though I'm only in my 30s, I am far too old/grumpy for something this loud.
...future plans include buying a quieter exhaust, removing the Recaros and fitting my fixed back bucket seats/harnesses from my old EP3 track car and fitting the KSport 8-pot 330mm brake kit that I bought but never fitted to my old car too. 
- 2002 Honda Civic Type R JRSC
Untitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrI shouldn't have sold my previous EP3 Type R Premier, which I had done plenty of good quality modifications to.. but the lure of that MK7 Fiesta ST Van as a 'do-all' solution was too great?! I need to learn my lesson there, my attempt to find a 'do-all' solution was what led me to sell my E46 M3 and buy that hellish E91 335i too.
Not wanting to use my M3 as a full on track car meant that I was keeping an eye out for something to fill that gap and another EP3 seemed like the sensible way to go given that I still have a pile of modifications from my old one sitting doing nothing. The problem is that EP3s are starting to get a bit rough these days and it's not so easy to find a car without bodywork/underside issues, nevermind rough/smokey engines... and I was giving up hope a wee bit until this car popped up for sale. Higher miles at ~124k, but great condition, a mountain of receipts and lots of very high quality modifications.
With the Jackson Racing Supercharger (JRSC) and supporting modifications, the car makes around 300bhp reliably. It is also running a shorter final drive ratio in the gearbox, so it is a really quick wee car... in fact the only real issue I've got is the noise that it makes, it's almost running a straight through exhaust and even though I'm only in my 30s, I am far too old/grumpy for something this loud.
...future plans include buying a quieter exhaust, removing the Recaros and fitting my fixed back bucket seats/harnesses from my old EP3 track car and fitting the KSport 8-pot 330mm brake kit that I bought but never fitted to my old car too. RoadRunner220 said:
Really enjoyed reading that, you've owned some great cars.
Shadow R1 said:
Enjoyed reading all the updates.
Court_S said:
You’ve owned some cool cars. The E90 M3 stands out for me and I really like the white touring too.
snoopy25 said:
Absolutely loved reading this thread!
Thats quite the car ownership history that you have had!
Thanks for all the comments, it's good to know that people are enjoying the updates. I've had some really nice cars.. if only I had the means and storage capacity to keep them all!! Thats quite the car ownership history that you have had!
andymc said:
did you keep the Cosworth?
I've still got it at the moment Andy, had a monumental number of dreamers and timewasters contacting me.. by far the worst car selling experience I've had if I'm honest. Reason behind sticking it up for sale is probably best explained if I lift a quote from the recent update I made to my E92 M3 thread:"...in the final stages of buying a property which will require some work post-purchase and the fact that things have got a wee bit out of control with the number of cars I've got at the moment. I thought that thinning down the 'fleet' (hate that term..) was a sensible way to go and taking the paths of least resistance and choosing the cars that will be easiest to sell would be the way to go and least hassle for me."
I also wrote adverts for the M3, Subaru and Civic as well as the Cosworth & Golf.. although only the last two made it to the point of being shared publically!! As the quote says, my intention was to see what did/didn't sell and once I had reduced numbers sufficiently I'd have pulled the rest of the adverts.
Superb. Recently found this thread and gradually read it start-to-end in snippets when I could. Nicely written, great history and makes me want to do similar, although mine would be very boring in comparison. My (pedal) bike history would be much more interesting, 30+ bikes and counting…
Knockhill – is it SIDC trackdays you do? Just taking a guess given the multiple Scoob’s owned.
Knockhill – is it SIDC trackdays you do? Just taking a guess given the multiple Scoob’s owned.
a11y_m said:
Superb. Recently found this thread and gradually read it start-to-end in snippets when I could. Nicely written, great history and makes me want to do similar, although mine would be very boring in comparison. My (pedal) bike history would be much more interesting, 30+ bikes and counting…
Knockhill – is it SIDC trackdays you do? Just taking a guess given the multiple Scoob’s owned.
Thank you, much appreciated.Knockhill – is it SIDC trackdays you do? Just taking a guess given the multiple Scoob’s owned.
Breaking it up into bitesize chunks is probably the best way to work through the thread to be fair, it can get a wee bit wordy in places and I've tried not to machine gun the thread with pictures too... cause even if 56k dialup internet is a thing of the past, there are only so many different angles to take a picture.
To a certain extent, the actual vehicles don't matter to me in a thread like this.. when I read through these threads then I'm more interested to see the progression from model to model, wondering why/how the person would change from X car to Y car and then reading a bit of blurb about what they thought about the change and/or the car in general.
My post-toddler/stabiliser push bike history would make for pretty quick reading; Raleigh Burner BMX, Raleigh Extreme (with the wheels covered by solid plastic moondiscs which caught a side wind beautifully!), Raleigh Activator, Carrera Gradient and Kona Fire Mountain.
It's a combination of SIDC and Track Scotland events that I do at Knockhill, I've always cared a wee bit too much about my cars to throw them into a Knockhill Hot Hatch and run the gauntlet of being out on track with some of the late braking heroes at those events. Do you head up to Knockhill much?
andymc said:
so the cossie is still up for sale?
Yep, the Cossie is still around at the moment Andy... just checked and I hadn't realised that the advert on here had expired a few days ago, but I've renewed it now. 
andymc said:
the Cossie is lovely, I suspect it's a bell end magnet for messers
Ohhhh yes, like you wouldn't believe! I've bought and sold most of the cars on this thread privately myself, but the Cossie has attracted a completely different level of dreamer and timewaster. In amongst the 'colourful' characters wanting to clean their money, here is an example of what I mean:A guy called Steve got his mate Lee to send me a message essentially begging me to accept Steves offer, which is hilarious and pathetic in equal measure... but the really ridiculous part is that the offer wasn't bad or unfair so I'd already accepted the offer from Steve, however after that both Steve and Lee vanished.
CF-ME2-XIAAOb-3 by Grant F, on FlickrMDMA . said:
Might be better is the RS Cosworth section. Not sure if many would search the Sierra part.
Good shout, I'll go and update that now.. appreciate the heads up!! RS Grant said:
Breaking it up into bitesize chunks is probably the best way to work through the thread to be fair, it can get a wee bit wordy in places and I've tried not to machine gun the thread with pictures too... cause even if 56k dialup internet is a thing of the past, there are only so many different angles to take a picture.
To a certain extent, the actual vehicles don't matter to me in a thread like this.. when I read through these threads then I'm more interested to see the progression from model to model, wondering why/how the person would change from X car to Y car and then reading a bit of blurb about what they thought about the change and/or the car in general.
My post-toddler/stabiliser push bike history would make for pretty quick reading; Raleigh Burner BMX, Raleigh Extreme (with the wheels covered by solid plastic moondiscs which caught a side wind beautifully!), Raleigh Activator, Carrera Gradient and Kona Fire Mountain.
It's a combination of SIDC and Track Scotland events that I do at Knockhill, I've always cared a wee bit too much about my cars to throw them into a Knockhill Hot Hatch and run the gauntlet of being out on track with some of the late braking heroes at those events. Do you head up to Knockhill much?
Shamefully I've never driven on track. Get my thrills from mountain-biking and, as much as I'd love to, one expensive hobby is more than enough... But I've spent a fair bit of time at KH: quite a few SMRC days the past few years, can't be bothered with the bigger events. Pre-kids I headed up for a few SIDC and TrackScotland sessions with my cameras and really should make more of an effort to do so again. Passengered with a few folk, quite often a guy in a red S2 Elise (Bob, had a 'MOO' reg plate and ex-SIDC if I remember correctly). A mate's recently started doing a bit of track driving and I've promised I'll head along to get some on-track pics of him.To a certain extent, the actual vehicles don't matter to me in a thread like this.. when I read through these threads then I'm more interested to see the progression from model to model, wondering why/how the person would change from X car to Y car and then reading a bit of blurb about what they thought about the change and/or the car in general.
My post-toddler/stabiliser push bike history would make for pretty quick reading; Raleigh Burner BMX, Raleigh Extreme (with the wheels covered by solid plastic moondiscs which caught a side wind beautifully!), Raleigh Activator, Carrera Gradient and Kona Fire Mountain.
It's a combination of SIDC and Track Scotland events that I do at Knockhill, I've always cared a wee bit too much about my cars to throw them into a Knockhill Hot Hatch and run the gauntlet of being out on track with some of the late braking heroes at those events. Do you head up to Knockhill much?
Kona Fire Mountain - can't knock that, decent bikes.
I've only owned 9 cars over 20ish years and none that exciting, but I might still give it a try sometime...
So this thread is long overdue an update, over the past 18 months I've sold:
Sierra Sapphire Cosworth: The best example I've had of - 'Don't drive your heroes' ...I bought one 10-15 years too late.
Golf 25th Anniversary: It did less than 250 miles between MOTs, but wasn't too difficult to let it go.
E92 M3 Competition Pack: It did less than 100 miles between MOTs and was a big decision to let it go.
...which means I still currently have:
EP3 Civic Type R: Being kept for track duties at Knockhill and possibly a Nurburgring trip later on in the year. There are a few small changes that I'd like to make before trackdays restart (for me) in a few months time.
Impreza STI V6 Limited: The Impreza remains at the moment, however, I'm not sure I can justify having it sit around when I can't find the time to use it, so for the same reasons as the Golf and M3 above, it may well end up moving on this year.. and the guys at Collecting Cars seem very keen to get hold of the car, so it might well follow the M3 down the online auction route too; we'll see.
E91 320d Sport Plus: Still doing a great job of ferrying the dog around, looking good (to me anyway!) and not causing me any hassle or bother whilst doing its job.
Volvo 940 Turbo: The reason this car still remains is purely because it's stuck up at my storage unit and I've not had the time to get near it properly. Once that time comes, it'll be getting cleaned up and put up for sale.. so with or without an MOT, it's days with me are numbered.
The reason for me coming back to this thread, is to update my car history timeline and keep things ticking along in order when I buy a new car.. so in the middle of November, I bought the following car:
- 2011 Mini Cooper S
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
After my old job going in the bin with the rest of 2020, I was losing my company car and the commute to my new job was just a few miles back and forward. I thought this was the perfect opportunity for a return to shed, so I started looking at petrol non-turbo Focai and Mondeos around a decade old... until I realised that I'm only going to be doing a few miles, so why not get something a little more fun. But budget performance is rarely hassle free in my experience; I'll never forget being told 'cheap, fast and reliable; choose two' when I was younger.
I was quite picky about the spec that I was looking for and that counted a few options out before they reached my short list. There were a handful of cars which I was interested in, but this one was the closest to me and by coincidence my favourite colour combination/highest spec too... the low mileage (34k), fresh brakes and a matching set of nearly new Michelin Pilot Sport 4s were all big ticks in the box for me as well. Might even be a bit more rare than I had realised because I've already had three different people asking me if I'm thinking about selling it.
Initial thoughts are that it's a well built, well specced, nippy, brilliant handling wee thing. The grip and directness of the steering is great.. the trade off for this I guess is the ride. The MPS4 tyres fitted are (I believe) non-runflat and if I'm honest, the car is pretty stiff over broken/poor quality surfaces, so I can only imagine what it'd be like with runflat tyres fitted.
I've had the not unexpected comments from a couple of guys I know about it being a hairdressers car, my sexual orientation, etc etc... but I really don't care, I think it's great and it feels like it's going to be the fun all-rounder that I was looking for. It also averaged just over 39mpg at normal A and B road speeds after collection.
Sierra Sapphire Cosworth: The best example I've had of - 'Don't drive your heroes' ...I bought one 10-15 years too late.
Golf 25th Anniversary: It did less than 250 miles between MOTs, but wasn't too difficult to let it go.
E92 M3 Competition Pack: It did less than 100 miles between MOTs and was a big decision to let it go.
...which means I still currently have:
EP3 Civic Type R: Being kept for track duties at Knockhill and possibly a Nurburgring trip later on in the year. There are a few small changes that I'd like to make before trackdays restart (for me) in a few months time.
Impreza STI V6 Limited: The Impreza remains at the moment, however, I'm not sure I can justify having it sit around when I can't find the time to use it, so for the same reasons as the Golf and M3 above, it may well end up moving on this year.. and the guys at Collecting Cars seem very keen to get hold of the car, so it might well follow the M3 down the online auction route too; we'll see.
E91 320d Sport Plus: Still doing a great job of ferrying the dog around, looking good (to me anyway!) and not causing me any hassle or bother whilst doing its job.
Volvo 940 Turbo: The reason this car still remains is purely because it's stuck up at my storage unit and I've not had the time to get near it properly. Once that time comes, it'll be getting cleaned up and put up for sale.. so with or without an MOT, it's days with me are numbered.
The reason for me coming back to this thread, is to update my car history timeline and keep things ticking along in order when I buy a new car.. so in the middle of November, I bought the following car:
- 2011 Mini Cooper S
Untitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrAfter my old job going in the bin with the rest of 2020, I was losing my company car and the commute to my new job was just a few miles back and forward. I thought this was the perfect opportunity for a return to shed, so I started looking at petrol non-turbo Focai and Mondeos around a decade old... until I realised that I'm only going to be doing a few miles, so why not get something a little more fun. But budget performance is rarely hassle free in my experience; I'll never forget being told 'cheap, fast and reliable; choose two' when I was younger.
I was quite picky about the spec that I was looking for and that counted a few options out before they reached my short list. There were a handful of cars which I was interested in, but this one was the closest to me and by coincidence my favourite colour combination/highest spec too... the low mileage (34k), fresh brakes and a matching set of nearly new Michelin Pilot Sport 4s were all big ticks in the box for me as well. Might even be a bit more rare than I had realised because I've already had three different people asking me if I'm thinking about selling it.
Initial thoughts are that it's a well built, well specced, nippy, brilliant handling wee thing. The grip and directness of the steering is great.. the trade off for this I guess is the ride. The MPS4 tyres fitted are (I believe) non-runflat and if I'm honest, the car is pretty stiff over broken/poor quality surfaces, so I can only imagine what it'd be like with runflat tyres fitted.
I've had the not unexpected comments from a couple of guys I know about it being a hairdressers car, my sexual orientation, etc etc... but I really don't care, I think it's great and it feels like it's going to be the fun all-rounder that I was looking for. It also averaged just over 39mpg at normal A and B road speeds after collection.
RS Grant said:
- 1997 Subaru Impreza STi Version 3
Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr
Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr
Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr
I guess that this was something which was inevitable, a return to Subaru ownership. After viewing a LOT of rusty and/or poorly maintained tired examples, this beauty came up for sale in the London area on eBay. After a couple of long telephone conversations with the owner, going through exactly what had been changed/cleaned/refurbished on the car I dedided to have a bid on it. Flew down to view the car and he collected me at Heathrow, I viewed the car and came away with the car happy. I fixed a couple of small niggles, new lambda, jittery speedo and a blowing (still original!) centre section and it ran like a dream, the only reason I sold the car was that my friend told me he would have sold me his V6 STi Limited if I'd asked. I found this out just after I bought this car, grrrrreat timing. ..so I sold this black STi onto another friend and bought the Version 6 STi below. 
Just discovered that this car is up for sale again... for a bit more than I sold it for too; gotta love those rising import prices!!Untitled by RS Grant, on FlickrUntitled by RS Grant, on FlickrUntitled by RS Grant, on FlickrI guess that this was something which was inevitable, a return to Subaru ownership. After viewing a LOT of rusty and/or poorly maintained tired examples, this beauty came up for sale in the London area on eBay. After a couple of long telephone conversations with the owner, going through exactly what had been changed/cleaned/refurbished on the car I dedided to have a bid on it. Flew down to view the car and he collected me at Heathrow, I viewed the car and came away with the car happy. I fixed a couple of small niggles, new lambda, jittery speedo and a blowing (still original!) centre section and it ran like a dream, the only reason I sold the car was that my friend told me he would have sold me his V6 STi Limited if I'd asked. I found this out just after I bought this car, grrrrreat timing.
..so I sold this black STi onto another friend and bought the Version 6 STi below. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1996-Subaru-Impreza-2-0...
Still looks immaculate to be fair and it's funny that I've still got (after selling it & buying it back from another PH'er) the Impreza which I bought to replace this black Version 3 STI too.
Cannot believe it's been over 2 years since I last updated this thread and nearly 9 years since I started it!!
So here is a long overdue rundown of what is here/what has left...
EP3 Civic Type R: Covered 21 miles between MOT's last year and it's an 18 mile round trip to the MOT station. ...these days I've got zero spare time to take it to Knockhill and enjoy it, so it'll likely be for the chop at some point.
Impreza STI V6 Limited: Sold it after getting an extremely strong offer/deal for the E90 M3 below.
E91 320d Sport Plus: Sold to fellow PH'er MDMA, who is smashing it out the park and making it one of the best E91s out there... thread here: Click Here
Volvo 940 Turbo: Sold to a friend. Who then didn't collect. So it's sat in the same place ever since.
2011 Mini Cooper S: Sold, great wee car and I would definitely have another one. In fact I looked for an N18 engined JCW version but couldn't justify the price they were fetching at the time.. so ended up with the 8P S3 below.
8P Audi S3: Looking for a new daily driver as a replacement for the E91 320d and an 8P S3 ticked the most boxes for me. This one appeared painted in very rare Audi Exclusive Java Green, with low owners, high spec, 37k miles and mega service history. I've made a few small changes and I'm trying to keep a thread/journal going on the progress here: Click Here
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
F80 M3 LCI: With my folks having moved out to the sticks and the F80 M3 that my mum bought new in 2015 getting little to no use compared to the SUV that they had got to cope with the snow/ice/muddy lanes round by them. I bought the car from them in mid-2021 and set about some upgrades to braking, handling and small MPerformance extras, with the owners journal here: Click Here.
It's a fantastic car, rare being a high spec LCI car with a manual 6 speed gearbox and obviously has a very comprehensive service history too. However I'm in the process of selling this car, deposit has been taken and once the pre-sale service at BMW has been completed then I will be waving goodbye to my third M3... and hoping that I don't look back with regret for the third time too!
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
E90 M3 LCI: As I mentioned in the Subaru update, I was offered this car in a deal with my Impreza.. and given that I wasn't using the Impreza and missing my old E92 M3, it seemed like a no brainer to give the E90 a whirl. It's had all the preventative stuff done and is actually a Japanese import, so the underside is immaculate. It's got the DCT gearbox which is well suited to the engine but I can't help but miss the interactive experience of the (admittedly long ratio'd) manual that I had before in my E92. I'm keeping track of my progress with the car in this journal thread here: Click Here
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
...and that's us up to date again. With the F80 going in the near future, I will update with it's replacement as and when it arrives... and then try to keep on top of the updates from there!!
So here is a long overdue rundown of what is here/what has left...
EP3 Civic Type R: Covered 21 miles between MOT's last year and it's an 18 mile round trip to the MOT station.
...these days I've got zero spare time to take it to Knockhill and enjoy it, so it'll likely be for the chop at some point.Impreza STI V6 Limited: Sold it after getting an extremely strong offer/deal for the E90 M3 below.
E91 320d Sport Plus: Sold to fellow PH'er MDMA, who is smashing it out the park and making it one of the best E91s out there... thread here: Click Here
Volvo 940 Turbo: Sold to a friend. Who then didn't collect. So it's sat in the same place ever since.
2011 Mini Cooper S: Sold, great wee car and I would definitely have another one. In fact I looked for an N18 engined JCW version but couldn't justify the price they were fetching at the time.. so ended up with the 8P S3 below.
8P Audi S3: Looking for a new daily driver as a replacement for the E91 320d and an 8P S3 ticked the most boxes for me. This one appeared painted in very rare Audi Exclusive Java Green, with low owners, high spec, 37k miles and mega service history. I've made a few small changes and I'm trying to keep a thread/journal going on the progress here: Click Here
Untitled by Grant F, on FlickrF80 M3 LCI: With my folks having moved out to the sticks and the F80 M3 that my mum bought new in 2015 getting little to no use compared to the SUV that they had got to cope with the snow/ice/muddy lanes round by them. I bought the car from them in mid-2021 and set about some upgrades to braking, handling and small MPerformance extras, with the owners journal here: Click Here.
It's a fantastic car, rare being a high spec LCI car with a manual 6 speed gearbox and obviously has a very comprehensive service history too. However I'm in the process of selling this car, deposit has been taken and once the pre-sale service at BMW has been completed then I will be waving goodbye to my third M3... and hoping that I don't look back with regret for the third time too!
Untitled by Grant F, on FlickrE90 M3 LCI: As I mentioned in the Subaru update, I was offered this car in a deal with my Impreza.. and given that I wasn't using the Impreza and missing my old E92 M3, it seemed like a no brainer to give the E90 a whirl. It's had all the preventative stuff done and is actually a Japanese import, so the underside is immaculate. It's got the DCT gearbox which is well suited to the engine but I can't help but miss the interactive experience of the (admittedly long ratio'd) manual that I had before in my E92. I'm keeping track of my progress with the car in this journal thread here: Click Here
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr...and that's us up to date again. With the F80 going in the near future, I will update with it's replacement as and when it arrives... and then try to keep on top of the updates from there!!
Edited by RS Grant on Wednesday 6th September 13:49
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