From S3 to Diesel Civic and now....
Discussion
A tale of woe.
Well more a bad choice really. September 2018 my S3 lease was coming up for ending and i had this bright idea of getting a more sensible car for the commute.
I've always had a performance car, from passing my test into a 205 1.9 through Type Rs and Golf r etc so this was a bit of a risk, thinking of something normal and boring.
So, in november i (reluctantly) handed the S3 back and bought a Honda Civic FK2 diesel. not just any diesel, but the 1.6. a heaving 120bhp version. In its defence, if driven carefully i can see an indicated 75mpg and 800 miles to a tank
It's a nice enough car to look at, hasn't put a foot wrong and handles so well i can regularly put to shame (especially at big, wet roundabouts) much more powerful cars (audi S1 on brookstreet J28 M25 was the most notable, followed by M25-M11 crazy, tightening long sweeping bend). Yes, they scream past me once we are on solid straight ground again, but that isn't the point
anyway, over the course of a year's worth of ownership i have found that having the handling alone doesn't do it for me. Just before lockdown i had it mapped in the hope that i could have my cake and eat it.
It responded well to mapping, from 120bhp to 165bhp with a decent dollop of torque too. In actual, tangible 'feel', mid range is much improved, more rev range and top end has gone from an absolute 'wont do any more than 12.6mph' to a 'we now have a seen 13.7mph'. Economy has suffered, by about 10%, but i put that down to me not driving it in the most economical way after it being mapped.
i am now coming up to 2 years ownership and have decided, "to hell with the fuel cost, i need something fun again'
WBAC have offered me just shy of £8000 for my civic so i think i'm gonna save the hassle of selling privately and do that in the next few weeks.
i'm now on the look out for quite a specific car, a soft top BMW 135i, (306bhp) with less than 60,000 miles, auto box, under 4 owners, around £10k and pref not in silver
I have alerts set on autotrader, pistonheads and a few other places but i know it's going to be tough.
the point of this post, apart from sharing my trials and tribulations with hopefully like minded people, but more to say - if you enjoy a car with a bit of power and think you've 'grown out of it' then i'm here to tell you, you haven't. don't be silly. what you save in fuel you pay for with your heart, everytime you go for a drive.
Well more a bad choice really. September 2018 my S3 lease was coming up for ending and i had this bright idea of getting a more sensible car for the commute.
I've always had a performance car, from passing my test into a 205 1.9 through Type Rs and Golf r etc so this was a bit of a risk, thinking of something normal and boring.
So, in november i (reluctantly) handed the S3 back and bought a Honda Civic FK2 diesel. not just any diesel, but the 1.6. a heaving 120bhp version. In its defence, if driven carefully i can see an indicated 75mpg and 800 miles to a tank
It's a nice enough car to look at, hasn't put a foot wrong and handles so well i can regularly put to shame (especially at big, wet roundabouts) much more powerful cars (audi S1 on brookstreet J28 M25 was the most notable, followed by M25-M11 crazy, tightening long sweeping bend). Yes, they scream past me once we are on solid straight ground again, but that isn't the point
anyway, over the course of a year's worth of ownership i have found that having the handling alone doesn't do it for me. Just before lockdown i had it mapped in the hope that i could have my cake and eat it.
It responded well to mapping, from 120bhp to 165bhp with a decent dollop of torque too. In actual, tangible 'feel', mid range is much improved, more rev range and top end has gone from an absolute 'wont do any more than 12.6mph' to a 'we now have a seen 13.7mph'. Economy has suffered, by about 10%, but i put that down to me not driving it in the most economical way after it being mapped.
i am now coming up to 2 years ownership and have decided, "to hell with the fuel cost, i need something fun again'
WBAC have offered me just shy of £8000 for my civic so i think i'm gonna save the hassle of selling privately and do that in the next few weeks.
i'm now on the look out for quite a specific car, a soft top BMW 135i, (306bhp) with less than 60,000 miles, auto box, under 4 owners, around £10k and pref not in silver
I have alerts set on autotrader, pistonheads and a few other places but i know it's going to be tough.
the point of this post, apart from sharing my trials and tribulations with hopefully like minded people, but more to say - if you enjoy a car with a bit of power and think you've 'grown out of it' then i'm here to tell you, you haven't. don't be silly. what you save in fuel you pay for with your heart, everytime you go for a drive.
Edited by PixelpeepS3 on Tuesday 16th June 21:15
Edited by PixelpeepS3 on Tuesday 16th June 21:15
PixelpeepS3 said:
... the point of this post, apart from sharing my trials and tribulations with hopefully like minded people, but more to say - if you enjoy a car with a bit of power and think you've 'grown out of it' then i'm here to tell you, you haven't. don't be silly. what you save in fuel you pay for with your heart, everytime you go for a drive.
Wise words.
I regularly swing between owning something I ‘want’ as a petrol head and owning something I ‘need’ because I am a 38 year old family man.
On occasion I have tried to find something that covers both bases but so far in my experience that’s not possible. There are countless threads on here which make a good argument for a 2 car solution, I tried this last year (VW Golf and VX220 Turbo). It fell down for me because on nice sunny days, family visiting trips etc. it couldn’t be used because we are a family of 3 with a dog.
I bought a ‘13 320d M Sport Touring ‘that will do it’ I thought - wrong, 4 months down the line I have just sold it as it bores me to tears. Looked the part, nice spec, zf gearbox was sublime but it was just meh. So I am back at the beginning of the cycle again.
Your absolutely right in what you say, I admire your leap from an S3 to a diesel Civic that must have been hard to swallow! Really like the 8V S3 - considered a saloon/cab version in one of my many ‘1 car fits all’ searches.
Good luck with your next purchase.
Si
On occasion I have tried to find something that covers both bases but so far in my experience that’s not possible. There are countless threads on here which make a good argument for a 2 car solution, I tried this last year (VW Golf and VX220 Turbo). It fell down for me because on nice sunny days, family visiting trips etc. it couldn’t be used because we are a family of 3 with a dog.
I bought a ‘13 320d M Sport Touring ‘that will do it’ I thought - wrong, 4 months down the line I have just sold it as it bores me to tears. Looked the part, nice spec, zf gearbox was sublime but it was just meh. So I am back at the beginning of the cycle again.
Your absolutely right in what you say, I admire your leap from an S3 to a diesel Civic that must have been hard to swallow! Really like the 8V S3 - considered a saloon/cab version in one of my many ‘1 car fits all’ searches.
Good luck with your next purchase.
Si
Interesting to see what you did with it in the end.
I went from a 996 to a sole 1.6 civic diesel and its actually a fantastic white goods car, dont care where i leave it, literally cant get under 50mpg, extremely good steer for what it is and feels fairly torquey. I would like more power but think i’ll get a second car for weekends at some point.
Did you have any issues with the clutch etc?
The 135i convertible especially do seem great value for money. 100% get the exhaust fettled as it sings once done although the n54/55 does sound great anyways
I went from a 996 to a sole 1.6 civic diesel and its actually a fantastic white goods car, dont care where i leave it, literally cant get under 50mpg, extremely good steer for what it is and feels fairly torquey. I would like more power but think i’ll get a second car for weekends at some point.
Did you have any issues with the clutch etc?
The 135i convertible especially do seem great value for money. 100% get the exhaust fettled as it sings once done although the n54/55 does sound great anyways
lewisf182 said:
Interesting to see what you did with it in the end.
I went from a 996 to a sole 1.6 civic diesel and its actually a fantastic white goods car, dont care where i leave it, literally cant get under 50mpg, extremely good steer for what it is and feels fairly torquey. I would like more power but think i’ll get a second car for weekends at some point.
Did you have any issues with the clutch etc?
The 135i convertible especially do seem great value for money. 100% get the exhaust fettled as it sings once done although the n54/55 does sound great anyways
i did think some 'zoomies' or whatever we call them here (remote cut out / exhaust bypass modification) might be in order for when i want to pretend i'm in a racecar or something lol.. with the top down in a tunnel i think it would be epic. i've. never owned anything over a 2.0 so looking forward to an engine with some character. the other car we own is an i3 so it'd be nice to have both extremes I went from a 996 to a sole 1.6 civic diesel and its actually a fantastic white goods car, dont care where i leave it, literally cant get under 50mpg, extremely good steer for what it is and feels fairly torquey. I would like more power but think i’ll get a second car for weekends at some point.
Did you have any issues with the clutch etc?
The 135i convertible especially do seem great value for money. 100% get the exhaust fettled as it sings once done although the n54/55 does sound great anyways
not had any issues with the clutch although the remap is barely 4 months old and i've done less than 1000 miles over the last few months for obvious reasons.
PixelpeepS3 said:
lewisf182 said:
Interesting to see what you did with it in the end.
I went from a 996 to a sole 1.6 civic diesel and its actually a fantastic white goods car, dont care where i leave it, literally cant get under 50mpg, extremely good steer for what it is and feels fairly torquey. I would like more power but think i’ll get a second car for weekends at some point.
Did you have any issues with the clutch etc?
The 135i convertible especially do seem great value for money. 100% get the exhaust fettled as it sings once done although the n54/55 does sound great anyways
i did think some 'zoomies' or whatever we call them here (remote cut out / exhaust bypass modification) might be in order for when i want to pretend i'm in a racecar or something lol.. with the top down in a tunnel i think it would be epic. i've. never owned anything over a 2.0 so looking forward to an engine with some character. the other car we own is an i3 so it'd be nice to have both extremes I went from a 996 to a sole 1.6 civic diesel and its actually a fantastic white goods car, dont care where i leave it, literally cant get under 50mpg, extremely good steer for what it is and feels fairly torquey. I would like more power but think i’ll get a second car for weekends at some point.
Did you have any issues with the clutch etc?
The 135i convertible especially do seem great value for money. 100% get the exhaust fettled as it sings once done although the n54/55 does sound great anyways
not had any issues with the clutch although the remap is barely 4 months old and i've done less than 1000 miles over the last few months for obvious reasons.
I had a 130i with the N52 which had a 135i exhaust with Y pipe and de resonated and it sounded epic so can thoroughly recommend it. Without it they can be a bit muted to say it's a 3.0 straight 6 which should be more celebrated in this onslaught of blown 2.0's.
lewisf182 said:
PixelpeepS3 said:
lewisf182 said:
Interesting to see what you did with it in the end.
I went from a 996 to a sole 1.6 civic diesel and its actually a fantastic white goods car, dont care where i leave it, literally cant get under 50mpg, extremely good steer for what it is and feels fairly torquey. I would like more power but think i’ll get a second car for weekends at some point.
Did you have any issues with the clutch etc?
The 135i convertible especially do seem great value for money. 100% get the exhaust fettled as it sings once done although the n54/55 does sound great anyways
i did think some 'zoomies' or whatever we call them here (remote cut out / exhaust bypass modification) might be in order for when i want to pretend i'm in a racecar or something lol.. with the top down in a tunnel i think it would be epic. i've. never owned anything over a 2.0 so looking forward to an engine with some character. the other car we own is an i3 so it'd be nice to have both extremes I went from a 996 to a sole 1.6 civic diesel and its actually a fantastic white goods car, dont care where i leave it, literally cant get under 50mpg, extremely good steer for what it is and feels fairly torquey. I would like more power but think i’ll get a second car for weekends at some point.
Did you have any issues with the clutch etc?
The 135i convertible especially do seem great value for money. 100% get the exhaust fettled as it sings once done although the n54/55 does sound great anyways
not had any issues with the clutch although the remap is barely 4 months old and i've done less than 1000 miles over the last few months for obvious reasons.
I had a 130i with the N52 which had a 135i exhaust with Y pipe and de resonated and it sounded epic so can thoroughly recommend it. Without it they can be a bit muted to say it's a 3.0 straight 6 which should be more celebrated in this onslaught of blown 2.0's.
this means i would like some control over when my car is shouty and when it's not lol.... they do some really funky s
t these days...
lewisf182 said:
The 135i convertible especially do seem great value for money.
Also looking at the 335 convertible as it's the same engine and has the solid roof.. but just seen the 'small' difference in road tax between the N54 and N55 engine (twin turbo vs newer twin scroll)..the pre 2010 models are over £500 a year to tax! YIKES!
Not quite on the same level....but I had ( still have !) a similar dilemma.
A few years ago I had a classic Lotus Elan ( a family inheritance sort of) and had that as a 'hobby car'...over the time I owned it I did 35,000 miles in it, including a trip to Switzerland which was epic. By the time I sold it it was a Sprint model in all but name, with bigger valves etc etc and was a very quick light car ( about 700kg)
I then got into Alfa 156s, and my last one was a JTDM150 with a remap up to about 185bhp.... this was my only car and I used it for everything...a couple of track days, commuting and even a trip to Monaco.
Took it from 60K up to 160K and it was the best car I have owned...and I spent way more than it was ever worth just to keep it ! That did about 42mpg all the time and the torque was amazing.
Time moved on and I actually got a mortgage... so I had to get a more economical car to run....
After much consideration, I got a very low mileage 2010 Volvo C30 1.6 Drive E with about 109bhp (!), which had surprisingly low VED and was purportedly capable of 60mpg....( a figure that I have never seen even before the modifications !)
I lived with the standard power for about a week, then had a good tuning box kit fitted to raise it to about 138bhp and a bit more torque.
No matter how I drive it it gets about 43 mpg ( all done with pen & paper !)
The Volvo is a very capable car, it has the R design sports pack and drives and handles as well as my Alfa did, which surprises a lot of people.
However, I do miss the 185bhp and the excellent torque that the Alfa JTDM-Jet engine had !
So not sure what will replace the Volvo when the time comes....I do like the build quality.. ( even though it is a Focus underneath !), but the interior is not as comfortable/characterful as the Alfa.
A few years ago I had a classic Lotus Elan ( a family inheritance sort of) and had that as a 'hobby car'...over the time I owned it I did 35,000 miles in it, including a trip to Switzerland which was epic. By the time I sold it it was a Sprint model in all but name, with bigger valves etc etc and was a very quick light car ( about 700kg)
I then got into Alfa 156s, and my last one was a JTDM150 with a remap up to about 185bhp.... this was my only car and I used it for everything...a couple of track days, commuting and even a trip to Monaco.
Took it from 60K up to 160K and it was the best car I have owned...and I spent way more than it was ever worth just to keep it ! That did about 42mpg all the time and the torque was amazing.
Time moved on and I actually got a mortgage... so I had to get a more economical car to run....
After much consideration, I got a very low mileage 2010 Volvo C30 1.6 Drive E with about 109bhp (!), which had surprisingly low VED and was purportedly capable of 60mpg....( a figure that I have never seen even before the modifications !)
I lived with the standard power for about a week, then had a good tuning box kit fitted to raise it to about 138bhp and a bit more torque.
No matter how I drive it it gets about 43 mpg ( all done with pen & paper !)
The Volvo is a very capable car, it has the R design sports pack and drives and handles as well as my Alfa did, which surprises a lot of people.
However, I do miss the 185bhp and the excellent torque that the Alfa JTDM-Jet engine had !
So not sure what will replace the Volvo when the time comes....I do like the build quality.. ( even though it is a Focus underneath !), but the interior is not as comfortable/characterful as the Alfa.
Paul S4 said:
Not quite on the same level....but I had ( still have !) a similar dilemma.
A few years ago I had a classic Lotus Elan ( a family inheritance sort of) and had that as a 'hobby car'...over the time I owned it I did 35,000 miles in it, including a trip to Switzerland which was epic. By the time I sold it it was a Sprint model in all but name, with bigger valves etc etc and was a very quick light car ( about 700kg)
I then got into Alfa 156s, and my last one was a JTDM150 with a remap up to about 185bhp.... this was my only car and I used it for everything...a couple of track days, commuting and even a trip to Monaco.
Took it from 60K up to 160K and it was the best car I have owned...and I spent way more than it was ever worth just to keep it ! That did about 42mpg all the time and the torque was amazing.
Time moved on and I actually got a mortgage... so I had to get a more economical car to run....
After much consideration, I got a very low mileage 2010 Volvo C30 1.6 Drive E with about 109bhp (!), which had surprisingly low VED and was purportedly capable of 60mpg....( a figure that I have never seen even before the modifications !)
I lived with the standard power for about a week, then had a good tuning box kit fitted to raise it to about 138bhp and a bit more torque.
No matter how I drive it it gets about 43 mpg ( all done with pen & paper !)
The Volvo is a very capable car, it has the R design sports pack and drives and handles as well as my Alfa did, which surprises a lot of people.
However, I do miss the 185bhp and the excellent torque that the Alfa JTDM-Jet engine had !
So not sure what will replace the Volvo when the time comes....I do like the build quality.. ( even though it is a Focus underneath !), but the interior is not as comfortable/characterful as the Alfa.
i can 100% sympathise with the struggle.. interesting you mention VED - the civic is £0. or, to put it another way, £130 a year cheaper than our bloody i3 electric car - just because it has a range extender which, when on, produces 12, yes, TWELVE g/km.A few years ago I had a classic Lotus Elan ( a family inheritance sort of) and had that as a 'hobby car'...over the time I owned it I did 35,000 miles in it, including a trip to Switzerland which was epic. By the time I sold it it was a Sprint model in all but name, with bigger valves etc etc and was a very quick light car ( about 700kg)
I then got into Alfa 156s, and my last one was a JTDM150 with a remap up to about 185bhp.... this was my only car and I used it for everything...a couple of track days, commuting and even a trip to Monaco.
Took it from 60K up to 160K and it was the best car I have owned...and I spent way more than it was ever worth just to keep it ! That did about 42mpg all the time and the torque was amazing.
Time moved on and I actually got a mortgage... so I had to get a more economical car to run....
After much consideration, I got a very low mileage 2010 Volvo C30 1.6 Drive E with about 109bhp (!), which had surprisingly low VED and was purportedly capable of 60mpg....( a figure that I have never seen even before the modifications !)
I lived with the standard power for about a week, then had a good tuning box kit fitted to raise it to about 138bhp and a bit more torque.
No matter how I drive it it gets about 43 mpg ( all done with pen & paper !)
The Volvo is a very capable car, it has the R design sports pack and drives and handles as well as my Alfa did, which surprises a lot of people.
However, I do miss the 185bhp and the excellent torque that the Alfa JTDM-Jet engine had !
So not sure what will replace the Volvo when the time comes....I do like the build quality.. ( even though it is a Focus underneath !), but the interior is not as comfortable/characterful as the Alfa.
sorry.. thats a rant for another thread lol
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