LeglessGarage: Alpine A110, Hyundai Ioniq 5
Discussion
leglessAlex said:
Three posts in a row, ooft. If anyone is interested, I did a little bit of chatting rubbish with Collecting Cars. Have a watch!
Enjoyed that, Alex 
The car really shines in a video, one can appreciate the body and wheel colours so much better.
I have to say, it must have been a steep learning curve to become smooth with that hand control.
I'd like to see a video with Harris jumping into your car with no previous experience and seeing how he gets on.
Thanks for the super kind words everyone! I definitely couldn’t not wear my green GS for that shoot.
The smoothness with hand controls isn’t as hard as it might seem, at least in performance cars with nice progressive pedals. Shopping/small cars with grabby brakes and short throttles are a pain in the ass to drive smoothly, they need a lot of concentration.
The smoothness with hand controls isn’t as hard as it might seem, at least in performance cars with nice progressive pedals. Shopping/small cars with grabby brakes and short throttles are a pain in the ass to drive smoothly, they need a lot of concentration.
worldwidewebs said:
Just realised you have the splitter and side skirts but not the lip spoiler. Was there any reason for this?
Procrastination 
I have one, I just need to get it painted before it gets stuck on. I'm planning on doing a fair bit of work to the car over winter, so I hope it'll happen then.
I thought your username was just an expression Alex! Do you use hand controls or any adaptations at all? I have CP myself so I'm confined to a wheelchair and use hand controls (amongst other adaptations) in my Transit. As much as I like the van, your Superb probably feel like a Rolls Royce in comparison!
Michael
Do you use hand controls or any adaptations at all? I have CP myself so I'm confined to a wheelchair and use hand controls (amongst other adaptations) in my Transit. As much as I like the van, your Superb probably feel like a Rolls Royce in comparison! Michael
leglessAlex said:
worldwidewebs said:
Just realised you have the splitter and side skirts but not the lip spoiler. Was there any reason for this?
Procrastination I have one, I just need to get it painted before it gets stuck on. I'm planning on doing a fair bit of work to the car over winter, so I hope it'll happen then.
Whelp, been a long long time since I updated this.
Honestly, there isn't too much to say. The car is on 27k miles ish, and continues to be enjoyable and fault free. I wonder if I should be like some other owners and exist in a permanent state of anxiety and panic that my fuel pump is about to fail, but that seems like a waste of energy.
Well, I say fault free...
Whoops… by Alex D, on Flickr
The fault was the complete tool behind the wheel (me), and I was just not concentrating. I'll most likely get a new one, but I might see if someone can do a cosmetic repair in the mean time. Worst thing about it was a family were having a coffee nearby and clearly saw the knobber behind the wheel break his sports car.
Other than that, none of the plans I have for the car have come to fruition. I'm still looking at various mods here and there, but I haven't even got the lip spoiler I have painted. Procrastination is my worst enemy, it's irritating.
Oh, I also very recently got some stickier tyres for it. Reasoning below the photo.
Cup2 Brah by Alex D, on Flickr
Basically, I got a job and I think my use of the car will be changing. I'm not going to be driving it into work, I'd rather not draw attention to the grad job guy with a car like that, and generally I think I'll be driving it in the winter less. With this in mind, I don't mind having a more aggressive tyre and taking it easy when I drive in the winter. So yeah why not.
I gifted a mate of mine with a track day for his birthday, and the use of my car. I ended up going with him and we went to a Cooksport day at Castle Combe, quite the track for your first time! The day was brilliant, really really well run and everyone was pretty polite on track, as well as friendly in the paddock. Unfortunately I am really sensitive to heat, and ended up giving myself heatstroke in my second session, meaning I felt the rest of the day not driving, feeling dizzy and sick. I didn't really realise how hot the car would get on track.
Zoom! by Alex D, on Flickr
Zoom 2! by Alex D, on Flickr
It was fun while I lasted, and my mate really enjoyed it which was the goal of the day. The car is exactly as you'd imagine it on track, very fun and surprisingly quick. Camp was by far the scariest corner I thought, so fast and much tighter than you'd think.
And that's about it! The Skoda and Honda are still here, one of which is probably objectively the worst car I've ever owned (I love it) and the other is probably objectively the best (I dislike it).
I'm really hoping I can get a quiklift in the garage at some point, I really don't like trying to get it up on axle stands.
Last pic showing my newly aligned fuel cap, and the colour absolutely popping in the sun!
This colour… by Alex D, on Flickr
Honestly, there isn't too much to say. The car is on 27k miles ish, and continues to be enjoyable and fault free. I wonder if I should be like some other owners and exist in a permanent state of anxiety and panic that my fuel pump is about to fail, but that seems like a waste of energy.
Well, I say fault free...
Whoops… by Alex D, on FlickrThe fault was the complete tool behind the wheel (me), and I was just not concentrating. I'll most likely get a new one, but I might see if someone can do a cosmetic repair in the mean time. Worst thing about it was a family were having a coffee nearby and clearly saw the knobber behind the wheel break his sports car.
Other than that, none of the plans I have for the car have come to fruition. I'm still looking at various mods here and there, but I haven't even got the lip spoiler I have painted. Procrastination is my worst enemy, it's irritating.
Oh, I also very recently got some stickier tyres for it. Reasoning below the photo.
Cup2 Brah by Alex D, on FlickrBasically, I got a job and I think my use of the car will be changing. I'm not going to be driving it into work, I'd rather not draw attention to the grad job guy with a car like that, and generally I think I'll be driving it in the winter less. With this in mind, I don't mind having a more aggressive tyre and taking it easy when I drive in the winter. So yeah why not.
I gifted a mate of mine with a track day for his birthday, and the use of my car. I ended up going with him and we went to a Cooksport day at Castle Combe, quite the track for your first time! The day was brilliant, really really well run and everyone was pretty polite on track, as well as friendly in the paddock. Unfortunately I am really sensitive to heat, and ended up giving myself heatstroke in my second session, meaning I felt the rest of the day not driving, feeling dizzy and sick. I didn't really realise how hot the car would get on track.
Zoom! by Alex D, on FlickrZoom 2! by Alex D, on FlickrIt was fun while I lasted, and my mate really enjoyed it which was the goal of the day. The car is exactly as you'd imagine it on track, very fun and surprisingly quick. Camp was by far the scariest corner I thought, so fast and much tighter than you'd think.
And that's about it! The Skoda and Honda are still here, one of which is probably objectively the worst car I've ever owned (I love it) and the other is probably objectively the best (I dislike it).
I'm really hoping I can get a quiklift in the garage at some point, I really don't like trying to get it up on axle stands.
Last pic showing my newly aligned fuel cap, and the colour absolutely popping in the sun!
This colour… by Alex D, on Flickr
It's this one https://geg.co/msl3-mid-rise-car-scissor-lift/
I think it's about 110mm when 'flat', hence the planks as my car is on Life110 springs
I think it's about 110mm when 'flat', hence the planks as my car is on Life110 springs
Well, not much to report, Alpine is still in pretty rubbish condition and I’m sure need of a winter refresh. That, in turn, takes money… 
On the plus side, I’ve managed to use it enough do that before I start work tomorrow the odo is reading… 30k
Have a pic taken by my gf at the Wisley junction of the A3:
On the plus side, I’ve managed to use it enough do that before I start work tomorrow the odo is reading… 30k
Have a pic taken by my gf at the Wisley junction of the A3:
Some small updates, the splitter has gone off to get repaired, finally, and other than that the car is just keeping on. It's on 31,750 now, so it's done 30k miles in my ownership!
I'll be getting a service and a fuel pump recall done soon. I was tempted to keep the original fuel pump just to prove a point to hysterical people on the internet that seem to insist all of them are about to fail RIGHT NOW, but came to the conclusion that it's foolish to have a known weak point not addressed for a dumb reason like that.
Lots of plans, as always. None of them being carried out, as always.
I've got a spare rear calliper from eBay, and I'll be remodelling the attachment bracket that holds one side of the rear pad too. It's a simple part, and it's what defines how big the disc can be. I guess of course with the curve of the pads too. I want to investigate how well this'll work if I extend it by 12.5mm and hopefully that'll allow me to run a 355mm disc on the rear. I have front plans too and I've bought the necessary callipers, but I'll keep that under wraps for now.
I've also bought a spare light unit and I'm looking at replacing the LEDs with yellow ones, if this works I'll do my actual lights. Pretty nervous about this, as they're EXPENSIVE to replace if I get it wrong, but hopefully working in microelectronics will help me. I don't want a yellow film on the lights.
In other news, the Skoda and Honda have gone! It was time for my motability renewal, and I didn't have much interest in keeping the Honda, the range was just too limiting. I wanted to be sensible with a house purchase on the horizon, so I tried to find something big and semi interesting that wasn't an SUV.
Technically, I ended up with an SUV
But if you squint and you're far enough away from it, it sort of looks like a hatchback...
Ioniq5 by Alex D, on Flickr
I've already got lowering springs and wheels for it, and overall I'm reasonably impressed with it. It does what you'd expect, with the disadvantages being that the boot is small (for how big the car is) and the lane keeping 'assistance' is dangerously aggressive. Other than that, I'm happy with it.
I'll be getting a service and a fuel pump recall done soon. I was tempted to keep the original fuel pump just to prove a point to hysterical people on the internet that seem to insist all of them are about to fail RIGHT NOW, but came to the conclusion that it's foolish to have a known weak point not addressed for a dumb reason like that.
Lots of plans, as always. None of them being carried out, as always.
I've got a spare rear calliper from eBay, and I'll be remodelling the attachment bracket that holds one side of the rear pad too. It's a simple part, and it's what defines how big the disc can be. I guess of course with the curve of the pads too. I want to investigate how well this'll work if I extend it by 12.5mm and hopefully that'll allow me to run a 355mm disc on the rear. I have front plans too and I've bought the necessary callipers, but I'll keep that under wraps for now.
I've also bought a spare light unit and I'm looking at replacing the LEDs with yellow ones, if this works I'll do my actual lights. Pretty nervous about this, as they're EXPENSIVE to replace if I get it wrong, but hopefully working in microelectronics will help me. I don't want a yellow film on the lights.
In other news, the Skoda and Honda have gone! It was time for my motability renewal, and I didn't have much interest in keeping the Honda, the range was just too limiting. I wanted to be sensible with a house purchase on the horizon, so I tried to find something big and semi interesting that wasn't an SUV.
Technically, I ended up with an SUV
But if you squint and you're far enough away from it, it sort of looks like a hatchback...
Ioniq5 by Alex D, on FlickrI've already got lowering springs and wheels for it, and overall I'm reasonably impressed with it. It does what you'd expect, with the disadvantages being that the boot is small (for how big the car is) and the lane keeping 'assistance' is dangerously aggressive. Other than that, I'm happy with it.
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