R8 V10 inspection in Norfolk

[PompeyReece]

jakesmith said:

I’ve just bought a v8 and am loving it. Had a Maserati GT before so very different and some Porsches prior
In many ways it’s the perfect car. Cheap to buy and run compared with others in its class.
The looks and drive are just stunning

I managed to find a unicorn one with b&o, manual, quicksilver exhaust, gen 2 v10 plus alloys which totally update it, and most importantly no mag ride. Can’t contemplate anything else for £36k that is as special to own or drive.

Personally, despite it's tendency to leak, I think the mag ride enhances the car's ride and maybe one of the reasons why it's mandatory on the V10? You've done very well finding one without mag ride - needle in a hay stack!

And I agree on the price, they are a bargain although expensive to fix when problems occur.

Edited by PompeyReece on Thursday 11th October 08:11

[jakesmith]

PompeyReece said:

jakesmith said:

I’ve just bought a v8 and am loving it. Had a Maserati GT before so very different and some Porsches prior
In many ways it’s the perfect car. Cheap to buy and run compared with others in its class.
The looks and drive are just stunning

I managed to find a unicorn one with b&o, manual, quicksilver exhaust, gen 2 v10 plus alloys which totally update it, and most importantly no mag ride. Can’t contemplate anything else for £36k that is as special to own or drive.

Personally, despite it's tendency to leak, I think the mag ride enhances the car's ride and maybe one of the reasons why it's mandatory on the V10? You've done very well finding one without mag ride - needle in a hay stack!

And I agree on the price, they are a bargain although expensive to fix when problems occur.

Edited by PompeyReece on Thursday 11th October 08:11

I haven’t tried it with but I think it rides nicely without. Might be more needed on the v10 due to the heavier car, also it’s a very desirable option so probably a bit of marketing too in specking it into the v10.

Your comment about expensive to fix links to this, the shocks are well over a grand a corner unless you fancy the hassle of sending to Poland for refurb for half that which has a 1 year warranty. And looking online this seems to be the main expensive maintenance item on the car.

[Trev450]

jakesmith said:

I haven’t tried it with but I think it rides nicely without. Might be more needed on the v10 due to the heavier car, also it’s a very desirable option so probably a bit of marketing too in specking it into the v10.

Your comment about expensive to fix links to this, the shocks are well over a grand a corner unless you fancy the hassle of sending to Poland for refurb for half that which has a 1 year warranty. And looking online this seems to be the main expensive maintenance item on the car.

I swopped my mag rides for passives when they went bad last year and actually prefer the ride. Yes it's firmer, but in a very controlled and feelsome manner. I didn't dislike the mags, but the cost of replacement coupled to the fact that they could fail again decided me against keeping with them.
The A/C compressor is a known weak component and requires the engine to be removed to change it on the V8. You may want to consider looking into a warranty. I went with Warranty Direct and was pleasantly surprised by the cost and scope of cover.

[PompeyReece]

Trev450 said:

I swopped my mag rides for passives when they went bad last year and actually prefer the ride. Yes it's firmer, but in a very controlled and feelsome manner. I didn't dislike the mags, but the cost of replacement coupled to the fact that they could fail again decided me against keeping with them.
The A/C compressor is a known weak component and requires the engine to be removed to change it on the V8. You may want to consider looking into a warranty. I went with Warranty Direct and was pleasantly surprised by the cost and scope of cover.

Trev, although you don't have them were you able to ascertain if the mag ride shocks were included in the Warranty Direct cover?

[Trev450]

PompeyReece said:

Trev450 said:

I swopped my mag rides for passives when they went bad last year and actually prefer the ride. Yes it's firmer, but in a very controlled and feelsome manner. I didn't dislike the mags, but the cost of replacement coupled to the fact that they could fail again decided me against keeping with them.
The A/C compressor is a known weak component and requires the engine to be removed to change it on the V8. You may want to consider looking into a warranty. I went with Warranty Direct and was pleasantly surprised by the cost and scope of cover.

Trev, although you don't have them were you able to ascertain if the mag ride shocks were included in the Warranty Direct cover?

According to the warranty handbook all suspension components are covered except hoses and pipes. I didn't have the warranty in place when I changed my dampers, but it looks promising for others who want to protect themselves against the high cost of replacement. I do still have my old mag rides, Reece. May get them rebuilt at some point even if only for resale purposes.

[BlackR8]

PompeyReece said:

jakesmith said:

I’ve just bought a v8 and am loving it. Had a Maserati GT before so very different and some Porsches prior
In many ways it’s the perfect car. Cheap to buy and run compared with others in its class.
The looks and drive are just stunning

I managed to find a unicorn one with b&o, manual, quicksilver exhaust, gen 2 v10 plus alloys which totally update it, and most importantly no mag ride. Can’t contemplate anything else for £36k that is as special to own or drive.

Personally, despite it's tendency to leak, I think the mag ride enhances the car's ride and maybe one of the reasons why it's mandatory on the V10? You've done very well finding one without mag ride - needle in a hay stack!

And I agree on the price, they are a bargain although expensive to fix when problems occur.

Edited by PompeyReece on Thursday 11th October 08:11

Having owned an Audi R8 with both with and without magride I would say the non-magride is perfectly fine and I would say it sits somewhere inbetween the soft and hard setting of a magride. If the magride was a reliable system then ofcourse I would opt for that but not having the worry of leaking shocks on the non-magride made for a much more pleasant experience.

[jakesmith]

Trev450 said:

According to the warranty handbook all suspension components are covered except hoses and pipes. I didn't have the warranty in place when I changed my dampers, but it looks promising for others who want to protect themselves against the high cost of replacement. I do still have my old mag rides, Reece. May get them rebuilt at some point even if only for resale purposes.

Mag ride was a nono for me, felt like walking into a £5k bill for something I don't really care about, I've had a 987 Boxster on 19's that if you believe people on here, would have my fillings falling out, and liked how it rides.

I looked at the Warranty Direct booklet earlier after someone on this thread mentioned it. It's about £1200 a year. It is very clear that items have to suffer a sudden failure to be covered so I would not expect a misting or leaking shock to fall into this. There is an exhaustive list of non-covered bits, things like wiring. Every covered component has bits and probably failure modes that are not covered. Really, what's the point. It would give me zero peace of mind having that and would possibly make a breakdown even more stressful. I'd rather have no expectations of help and deal with issues myself, I've run some reasonably expensive to maintain cars in my time, I've just had a Granturismo for 2 years and of the £5k I spent on maintenance, the only thing that met the description of a sudden breakdown was a coolant pipe that cost £800 due to so much of the engine having to come out. I wouldn't bet that would be covered as it lists hoses as an exclusion.
I had a warranty on my 911 that wouldn't pay for a gearbox.
There are winners and losers in the warranty game but it isn't for me

[Mario149]

OP here, another bit of an ownership update

Did my first wet track day in it a couple of days ago on Brands Indy and it was a riot. Especially as we were giving passenger rides which always makes it mnore fun. Very confidence inspiring, almost as easy to chuck around as my old 997.1 GT3 in the wet. Spent the whole time being a bit of a lout and coming sideways out of Druids and Graham Hill Bend. Clark was great as well: get to the apex and on the power gently and you'd start off with a bit of understeer, then you'd give it a bit more and feel it go neutral, then a bit more and feel transition into a very satisfying degree or 2 of oversteer while doing 90+. Mega fun.

Ended up on the grass on the RHS coming out of Druids once after a bit of a tank slapper when the track was half way between wet and dry, but luckily it was a controlled exit so I just mowed the lawn for a bit and rejoined. That was the only mess up in 130 laps or so, so I can't complain.

Track days in the dry in it are fun, but there are better cars for that as the R8 feels a tad ungainly and too grippy. But for a wet track day, 10/10 would highly recommend

Few piccies Quality is better if you open the links

Love this shot, car looks wide, low and menacing!




Doing some gardening....of course it bloody had to be caught on camera didn't it!

Edited by Mario149 on Friday 2nd August 11:22

Edited by Mario149 on Friday 2nd August 12:37

[Trev450]

Thanks for sharing the pictures. They are indeed better on track than you would expect and as you say, you can be a hooligan if you want.