Car History & My current Lease Car DS3 THP 155 Cabrio
Discussion
Hello fellow P'Hers
I have been on this forum a while but don't come on here much. Some people have started to do car history posts so I thought I would share mine. I currently am "cooling off" from cars and tinkering so trying out leasing. Feel the need for speed so thought I would take a trip down memory lane and hopefully some people would like to see
Apologies if this is the wrong forum for it!
Ok to Start:
Passed test with flying colours in 2001, promptly got given a Fiat 500 Sporting which I adored as it had red seat belts and I fitted a decent Stereo and period 6x9's, the boot was like a giant airbox so the stereo sounded fantastic. Downsides were it was hideously slow, 5 people in the car and hills required second, it was also terrifying on the Mway so got sold. I don't have a pic of it but it was the same as this:
Then I got a year old 1.4 Corsa Sport which I was absolutely besotted with. Power steering, solid dash, sports seats, air conditioning, quiet and comfy not to mention the extra "grunt" from the power house 90bhp 1.4. I will always remember purchasing the car as I got it on 10/09/2001.
This is what I had (Just a random pic off the net but was the same)
Then I ruined it as I was young dumb and had no cash. (Got totally ripped off by a local "bodyshop")
I then became 21 and decided it needed fixing. At this time, I got a passenger ride in a friend's Calibra turbo powered Corsa and was taken from 0-130 on a private test track decided I needed that in my life.
So I ploughed all my money into it, new period bodykit, new wheels, dents fixed, door poppers fitted, handles removed, huge Vectra V6 discs and callipers (destroyed the handling but stopped well) I also binned the engine and installed a 240bhp C20LET engine from a Calibra Turbo (mild tune) and a full leather interior. Absolutely adored this car, I know it will prompt groans and sniggers. But don't knock it till you try it. My father thought I was insane doing it, till one day he offered to help me out by taking it for an MOT whilst I was at work.. He still asks when we are building another one! Rocket ship performance with a very raw sensation of speed. Traffic light GPs where difficult due to the obvious FWD traction issues, but on the move in gear times were like the star ship enterprise. The amount of times I nearly went into the back of people on Mways when overtaking was silly. Laggy but great FUN. Which to me, is always the most important factor in a car. I also used a popular Corsa website and made some what turned out to be life long friends. The "scene" was something I am really chuffed to be a part of. Kids these days just get brand new cars that are fast, stylish and handle out the box, so no need to spend silly money on shopping trolleys and meet up in car parks at night to discuss mods and compare motors. Sad when you think about it.
Heres some pics of it and I had fun taking it to Santa pod. Did a 14.1 up the strip, although that was at the hands of a friend, I only managed a 14.3! lol.
http://s56.photobucket.com/user/Jambo45/media/Cors...
http://s56.photobucket.com/user/Jambo45/media/Cors...
http://s56.photobucket.com/user/Jambo45/media/Cors...
During this time I inherited a W202 C240 Elegance from my late Grandfather and upon seeing it was uber low mileage and low spec decided to bring it up to average miles and flog it. Shared this with my father for about 18months and whilst I originally hated driving it, I soon became accustomed to wafting about in barges. It was actually quite a nice way to travel, so long as you weren't fussed about Titanic-esque handling (both body roll and original Titanic rudder wheel)
This was sold when it got up to average miles steed.
Corsa was troublesome due to the engine's old age, also began to quickly tire of the image which was rapidly becoming old hat in 2006, as well as growing up a bit I guess. The loud custom exhaust (for the engine swap) was getting very annoying and I decided I wanted something a bit more sensible. So, after FWD had shown traction limitations and I knew Vauxhalls quite well I plumped for some more Turbo action this time in the form of a 1996 Calibra 2.0 Turbo 4x4. Found this lovely example in Bath and thoroughly enjoyed the drive home.
Was clean with low miles. I used this for about 18months and ploughed some money into it. I replaced the shocks and wheels, fitted a stereo and a dump valve (yeah yeah, I like em, what of it?) It drove fantastically and was very practical. Comfy too. Some pics on the new 18" wheels and rubber band tyres. Oddly it rode quite well on the Koni's on softest setting.
Everyone will always start babbling about the transfer boxes on the Cav/Cally and how it wont ever work, will blow up costs thousands and be terrible to drive. I can comfortably say the ONLY part of the car I had no trouble with... was the 4x4!! It worked faultlessly throughout my ownership, not much could be said for the rest of it! Endless troubles with air con and the engine, plus some part of the suspension failed at least once a month. The central locking played up, various interior trim bits fell off and or rattled. So in the end I had had enough and sold it to a friend. The exhaust fell off on the way home..
During the time I had the Calibra I had another Corsa, this was a 1.2 8v Merit, the less said about this the better.
So wanted a newer car with less problems and better reliability and I had been begging a guy on a forum I use to sell me his car for about 6 months and he finally caved in.
So parted with some cash and took home a 2002 Astra Gsi 2.0 Turbo, in the very rare colour of red.
It was mildy tuned with a larger SMIC, solid boost pipes, air filter and a map. This was allegedly about 240bhp and 280l/b torque.
I didn't like the way it looked, so sold on the wheels, removed the very 1990's badges and added updated ones. Changed the rear lights for some aftermarket ones. Looked way better IMO.
To put it bluntly, it is the worst car I have ever owned. The map was weird, bit like a diesel, huge dollop of torque with a really flat and boring top end, it would surge with seed then just bottom out. The steering was akin to Sega Rally in the arcades, throttle response was terrible, couldn't modulate it either, this was due to being fly by wire but made 10x worse by the turbo/torque. Visibility was poor out the back, couldn't see the bonnet and it had high sides. The seats gave me a bad back, it drank uber amounts of fuel and attracted all the wrong kid of attention, including a lovely Policeman who was driving an unmarked car.
It lasted 6 months and I sold it for what I bought it for to the first person to come and view it. In its defence, it was absolutely immaculate, probably the cleanest car I have owned. It was also quite quick, sounded decent and was exceedingly good as a motorway weapon. Did a great Airport run in it in record time. Looked great too.
Now, here come the "proper" cars.
I had sold the Astra unexpectedly quick and was carless. With money burning a hole in my pocket and being giddy with excitement at a dream car purchase I rushed out and bought the first one I saw, even though in reality it was a bit of a dog. It was relatively low miles, low owners but needed some TLC. Learnt the hard way with this one!
Here it is:
1998 E36 Z3 ///M Roadster 3.2 in Estoril blue:
Dat ass...
I bought this at totally the wrong time. It was 2008 and the arse fell out of the worlds economy. First things to plummet in value? 2 seater sports cars. I had some issues that this had developed after changing the steering rack and decided I needed rid of it before it ruined me. However, it was now worth 50% of what I paid 4 months previously.
This did however have a bit of a happy ending. Because sports cars were worth nothing, I went to a local BMW trader and he offered me an amazing price for the Z3 so long as I bought a car off him. I looked around and all I could see were E46 M3's. I can't afford one of them! Can I? He showed me a nice 2002 example which had been upgraded with the facelift LEd rear lights. 67k FSH. I sat in it, and instantly knew I had to have it. Many nights of some seriously epic man maths and....
Bye bye Z3, hello E46 ///M3 Convertible 3.2
Carbon Black (Blue) and Red Leather. Sat nav and 19"s albeit refurbed by BMW in a manky colour.
Helllooooo!
This car is still the best car I have ever driven. The handling was amazing. Chassis and Steering were perfect, brakes a little pony but still slowed you up well. oh and the noise!!
So got her home and decided I didn't like the wheels, so waited a few months used up the tyres and got a set off eBay. Cleaned her up and took some photos:
This photo shows off how carbon black is actually blue and IMO doesn't reall go very well with the red leather but oh well!
Surprisingly economical when it wanted to be!
Rear brake light was the wrong colour. This was never updated by the rpev. owner so I got a facelift clear from BM
Before:
After:
Went and saw my good friend at Lemass Bodyshop
Front end repaint as people liked crashing into this car when stationary
In the end the running costs became ruinous and I couldn't make the sums add up any more. So it had to go
Needed something cheaper, that was as much fun and also had some decent spec like the BM had with auto lights/wipers etc etc.
So oddly, I grabbed one of these! Ridiculously over priced because of the colour, but boy what a colour!! I went up to see it in the dark and looked at it on a Petrol Station forecourt (LOL) but it was spectacularly clean. So I left a deposit and picked it up soon after.
2004 Renault Clio 182 FF + both Cup packs (One of only 59 in Liquid yellow!)
Ad photos:
Plate fitted, indicators changed (love/hate):
This shows off the colour, love LY:
Then spent some wonga on the interior as the silver bits made me feel nauseas.
Before:
After:
I to this day have NO idea why I sold it. It depreciated a bucket load, I lost eye watering amounts of money on the seats too. It is one of the best cars I have ever driven. So so so so good. Writing this is making me want another. It wasn't the fastest thing in the world but it just handled so so well, polar opposite to the Astra's digital simulation fell, this was practical and very real.
My father didn't have a car for a while whilst I had the Clio and the M3 was up for sale. I agreed he could use the one I wasn't using. We used to fight over the keys for.....
The Clio! True story. Just about as much fun as you can have in a car without a woman.
Will be missed:
Right, went a bit bonkers and decided I wanted a 4x4 and of all the ones I wanted I liked the 1990's Grand Cherokee. Saw one on eBay with bugger all miles in the colour and cream interior I wanted. Shot up north the following day and drove it home, glorious if a little archaic machine. Literally loved this car and nobody will understand why but I don't care
1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0 Limited
I loved this pointlessly large 80's display
Now that I had a straight six again, the temptation of a long time want was on the horizon. Saw one come up cheap locally and thought, why CAN'T you have two straight six cars at once
Unluckily it was sold before I could get there. I felt sad and continued the hunt...
One came up a bt further away and it was a steal. Parted cash, got in trouble with the Mrs and drove this unloved creature back home with a view to fixing her up! Mechanically sound but needed some de-chaving and some TLC.
Here it is:
1998 E36 M3 Evo 3.2 Convertible SMG I - Cosmos Black
First off, Internet spec grilles in the bin, brand new gen BM items on:
New indicator to replace the broken one too
I absolutely ADORED this car, probably actually fell in love. It was imperfect but wonderful. Strangely one of my favourite things about it was the gearbox! People will tell you all the horror stories about SMG and how it should be swapped to a manual straight away because we all know those never break (6th gear anyone?) Aaaany way the SMGI system is very crude and needs a bit of a learning curve to drive. Once you get the hang of it I found it fantastic. Its essentially a manual car, you just don't move your left leg. The rest is exactly the same.Never found shift speed to slow, just used the modes accordingly. it even worked in the snow! Beat that manual BMW drivers...
The main worry with the system itself is a pump that blows up because people don't maintain them (replacing the accumulator often for e.g) If it does pack up you hear stories of £2500 for a new one, you would be right. However they can be refurbished for under £300 including a new accumulator. Plenty of spares about as everyone wants a manual. My advice is try it and see, it is different ot a manual not better or worse IMO, but worked well manual shifting as well as auto shifting. Being full throttle in an M3 with the roof down and then pulling a stick back as the gear punches up a notch automatically is quite an intoxicating experience. I then seemingly lost my marbles and ploughed loads of money into it. So it went from the above to like this:
Sold it because I just kept spending and spending. I probably shouldn't have sold it but whatever, it was fun whilst it lasted!
Since then I have ventured into the world of leasing and as Citroen were giving these away for buttons I took the plunge and have been laughing ever since. 40mpg round town, all the toys and it costs less a month than I used to spend on fuel on the M3.
It is of course, a Citroen and not an M3 but hey, my bank manager likes me again.
2014 Citroen DS3 Cabrio THP155 Dsport+
Pearl Ruby Red:
Hope you enjoyed some of the pics! I might do a thread on the M3's story as there are so many pictures I felt I had waffled on too much. Anyway, all comments appreciated positive or negative!
I have been on this forum a while but don't come on here much. Some people have started to do car history posts so I thought I would share mine. I currently am "cooling off" from cars and tinkering so trying out leasing. Feel the need for speed so thought I would take a trip down memory lane and hopefully some people would like to see
Apologies if this is the wrong forum for it!
Ok to Start:
Passed test with flying colours in 2001, promptly got given a Fiat 500 Sporting which I adored as it had red seat belts and I fitted a decent Stereo and period 6x9's, the boot was like a giant airbox so the stereo sounded fantastic. Downsides were it was hideously slow, 5 people in the car and hills required second, it was also terrifying on the Mway so got sold. I don't have a pic of it but it was the same as this:
Then I got a year old 1.4 Corsa Sport which I was absolutely besotted with. Power steering, solid dash, sports seats, air conditioning, quiet and comfy not to mention the extra "grunt" from the power house 90bhp 1.4. I will always remember purchasing the car as I got it on 10/09/2001.
This is what I had (Just a random pic off the net but was the same)
Then I ruined it as I was young dumb and had no cash. (Got totally ripped off by a local "bodyshop")
I then became 21 and decided it needed fixing. At this time, I got a passenger ride in a friend's Calibra turbo powered Corsa and was taken from 0-130 on a private test track decided I needed that in my life.
So I ploughed all my money into it, new period bodykit, new wheels, dents fixed, door poppers fitted, handles removed, huge Vectra V6 discs and callipers (destroyed the handling but stopped well) I also binned the engine and installed a 240bhp C20LET engine from a Calibra Turbo (mild tune) and a full leather interior. Absolutely adored this car, I know it will prompt groans and sniggers. But don't knock it till you try it. My father thought I was insane doing it, till one day he offered to help me out by taking it for an MOT whilst I was at work.. He still asks when we are building another one! Rocket ship performance with a very raw sensation of speed. Traffic light GPs where difficult due to the obvious FWD traction issues, but on the move in gear times were like the star ship enterprise. The amount of times I nearly went into the back of people on Mways when overtaking was silly. Laggy but great FUN. Which to me, is always the most important factor in a car. I also used a popular Corsa website and made some what turned out to be life long friends. The "scene" was something I am really chuffed to be a part of. Kids these days just get brand new cars that are fast, stylish and handle out the box, so no need to spend silly money on shopping trolleys and meet up in car parks at night to discuss mods and compare motors. Sad when you think about it.
Heres some pics of it and I had fun taking it to Santa pod. Did a 14.1 up the strip, although that was at the hands of a friend, I only managed a 14.3! lol.
http://s56.photobucket.com/user/Jambo45/media/Cors...
http://s56.photobucket.com/user/Jambo45/media/Cors...
http://s56.photobucket.com/user/Jambo45/media/Cors...
During this time I inherited a W202 C240 Elegance from my late Grandfather and upon seeing it was uber low mileage and low spec decided to bring it up to average miles and flog it. Shared this with my father for about 18months and whilst I originally hated driving it, I soon became accustomed to wafting about in barges. It was actually quite a nice way to travel, so long as you weren't fussed about Titanic-esque handling (both body roll and original Titanic rudder wheel)
This was sold when it got up to average miles steed.
Corsa was troublesome due to the engine's old age, also began to quickly tire of the image which was rapidly becoming old hat in 2006, as well as growing up a bit I guess. The loud custom exhaust (for the engine swap) was getting very annoying and I decided I wanted something a bit more sensible. So, after FWD had shown traction limitations and I knew Vauxhalls quite well I plumped for some more Turbo action this time in the form of a 1996 Calibra 2.0 Turbo 4x4. Found this lovely example in Bath and thoroughly enjoyed the drive home.
Was clean with low miles. I used this for about 18months and ploughed some money into it. I replaced the shocks and wheels, fitted a stereo and a dump valve (yeah yeah, I like em, what of it?) It drove fantastically and was very practical. Comfy too. Some pics on the new 18" wheels and rubber band tyres. Oddly it rode quite well on the Koni's on softest setting.
Everyone will always start babbling about the transfer boxes on the Cav/Cally and how it wont ever work, will blow up costs thousands and be terrible to drive. I can comfortably say the ONLY part of the car I had no trouble with... was the 4x4!! It worked faultlessly throughout my ownership, not much could be said for the rest of it! Endless troubles with air con and the engine, plus some part of the suspension failed at least once a month. The central locking played up, various interior trim bits fell off and or rattled. So in the end I had had enough and sold it to a friend. The exhaust fell off on the way home..
During the time I had the Calibra I had another Corsa, this was a 1.2 8v Merit, the less said about this the better.
So wanted a newer car with less problems and better reliability and I had been begging a guy on a forum I use to sell me his car for about 6 months and he finally caved in.
So parted with some cash and took home a 2002 Astra Gsi 2.0 Turbo, in the very rare colour of red.
It was mildy tuned with a larger SMIC, solid boost pipes, air filter and a map. This was allegedly about 240bhp and 280l/b torque.
I didn't like the way it looked, so sold on the wheels, removed the very 1990's badges and added updated ones. Changed the rear lights for some aftermarket ones. Looked way better IMO.
To put it bluntly, it is the worst car I have ever owned. The map was weird, bit like a diesel, huge dollop of torque with a really flat and boring top end, it would surge with seed then just bottom out. The steering was akin to Sega Rally in the arcades, throttle response was terrible, couldn't modulate it either, this was due to being fly by wire but made 10x worse by the turbo/torque. Visibility was poor out the back, couldn't see the bonnet and it had high sides. The seats gave me a bad back, it drank uber amounts of fuel and attracted all the wrong kid of attention, including a lovely Policeman who was driving an unmarked car.
It lasted 6 months and I sold it for what I bought it for to the first person to come and view it. In its defence, it was absolutely immaculate, probably the cleanest car I have owned. It was also quite quick, sounded decent and was exceedingly good as a motorway weapon. Did a great Airport run in it in record time. Looked great too.
Now, here come the "proper" cars.
I had sold the Astra unexpectedly quick and was carless. With money burning a hole in my pocket and being giddy with excitement at a dream car purchase I rushed out and bought the first one I saw, even though in reality it was a bit of a dog. It was relatively low miles, low owners but needed some TLC. Learnt the hard way with this one!
Here it is:
1998 E36 Z3 ///M Roadster 3.2 in Estoril blue:
Dat ass...
I bought this at totally the wrong time. It was 2008 and the arse fell out of the worlds economy. First things to plummet in value? 2 seater sports cars. I had some issues that this had developed after changing the steering rack and decided I needed rid of it before it ruined me. However, it was now worth 50% of what I paid 4 months previously.
This did however have a bit of a happy ending. Because sports cars were worth nothing, I went to a local BMW trader and he offered me an amazing price for the Z3 so long as I bought a car off him. I looked around and all I could see were E46 M3's. I can't afford one of them! Can I? He showed me a nice 2002 example which had been upgraded with the facelift LEd rear lights. 67k FSH. I sat in it, and instantly knew I had to have it. Many nights of some seriously epic man maths and....
Bye bye Z3, hello E46 ///M3 Convertible 3.2
Carbon Black (Blue) and Red Leather. Sat nav and 19"s albeit refurbed by BMW in a manky colour.
Helllooooo!
This car is still the best car I have ever driven. The handling was amazing. Chassis and Steering were perfect, brakes a little pony but still slowed you up well. oh and the noise!!
So got her home and decided I didn't like the wheels, so waited a few months used up the tyres and got a set off eBay. Cleaned her up and took some photos:
This photo shows off how carbon black is actually blue and IMO doesn't reall go very well with the red leather but oh well!
Surprisingly economical when it wanted to be!
Rear brake light was the wrong colour. This was never updated by the rpev. owner so I got a facelift clear from BM
Before:
After:
Went and saw my good friend at Lemass Bodyshop
Front end repaint as people liked crashing into this car when stationary
In the end the running costs became ruinous and I couldn't make the sums add up any more. So it had to go
Needed something cheaper, that was as much fun and also had some decent spec like the BM had with auto lights/wipers etc etc.
So oddly, I grabbed one of these! Ridiculously over priced because of the colour, but boy what a colour!! I went up to see it in the dark and looked at it on a Petrol Station forecourt (LOL) but it was spectacularly clean. So I left a deposit and picked it up soon after.
2004 Renault Clio 182 FF + both Cup packs (One of only 59 in Liquid yellow!)
Ad photos:
Plate fitted, indicators changed (love/hate):
This shows off the colour, love LY:
Then spent some wonga on the interior as the silver bits made me feel nauseas.
Before:
After:
I to this day have NO idea why I sold it. It depreciated a bucket load, I lost eye watering amounts of money on the seats too. It is one of the best cars I have ever driven. So so so so good. Writing this is making me want another. It wasn't the fastest thing in the world but it just handled so so well, polar opposite to the Astra's digital simulation fell, this was practical and very real.
My father didn't have a car for a while whilst I had the Clio and the M3 was up for sale. I agreed he could use the one I wasn't using. We used to fight over the keys for.....
The Clio! True story. Just about as much fun as you can have in a car without a woman.
Will be missed:
Right, went a bit bonkers and decided I wanted a 4x4 and of all the ones I wanted I liked the 1990's Grand Cherokee. Saw one on eBay with bugger all miles in the colour and cream interior I wanted. Shot up north the following day and drove it home, glorious if a little archaic machine. Literally loved this car and nobody will understand why but I don't care
1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0 Limited
I loved this pointlessly large 80's display
Now that I had a straight six again, the temptation of a long time want was on the horizon. Saw one come up cheap locally and thought, why CAN'T you have two straight six cars at once
Unluckily it was sold before I could get there. I felt sad and continued the hunt...
One came up a bt further away and it was a steal. Parted cash, got in trouble with the Mrs and drove this unloved creature back home with a view to fixing her up! Mechanically sound but needed some de-chaving and some TLC.
Here it is:
1998 E36 M3 Evo 3.2 Convertible SMG I - Cosmos Black
First off, Internet spec grilles in the bin, brand new gen BM items on:
New indicator to replace the broken one too
I absolutely ADORED this car, probably actually fell in love. It was imperfect but wonderful. Strangely one of my favourite things about it was the gearbox! People will tell you all the horror stories about SMG and how it should be swapped to a manual straight away because we all know those never break (6th gear anyone?) Aaaany way the SMGI system is very crude and needs a bit of a learning curve to drive. Once you get the hang of it I found it fantastic. Its essentially a manual car, you just don't move your left leg. The rest is exactly the same.Never found shift speed to slow, just used the modes accordingly. it even worked in the snow! Beat that manual BMW drivers...
The main worry with the system itself is a pump that blows up because people don't maintain them (replacing the accumulator often for e.g) If it does pack up you hear stories of £2500 for a new one, you would be right. However they can be refurbished for under £300 including a new accumulator. Plenty of spares about as everyone wants a manual. My advice is try it and see, it is different ot a manual not better or worse IMO, but worked well manual shifting as well as auto shifting. Being full throttle in an M3 with the roof down and then pulling a stick back as the gear punches up a notch automatically is quite an intoxicating experience. I then seemingly lost my marbles and ploughed loads of money into it. So it went from the above to like this:
Sold it because I just kept spending and spending. I probably shouldn't have sold it but whatever, it was fun whilst it lasted!
Since then I have ventured into the world of leasing and as Citroen were giving these away for buttons I took the plunge and have been laughing ever since. 40mpg round town, all the toys and it costs less a month than I used to spend on fuel on the M3.
It is of course, a Citroen and not an M3 but hey, my bank manager likes me again.
2014 Citroen DS3 Cabrio THP155 Dsport+
Pearl Ruby Red:
Hope you enjoyed some of the pics! I might do a thread on the M3's story as there are so many pictures I felt I had waffled on too much. Anyway, all comments appreciated positive or negative!
Update.
I couldn't find a lease deal that fitted the bill, so bought an Astra Coupe cheap with the intention of having "cheap" motoring. Needed a new (upgraded) turbo and sorted that cheaper than I imagined but the rest cost a bomb, it was rusty, half of it fell off and I made a mess of the front bumper. It was great fun in a way and some good oily times but the spend got to much so I sold it on at surprisingly not TOO much of a loss. Part of the mess up was a second hand ecu that wasn't as described, could never get the thing to run right. So put it back to largely standard. I am sure most will dislike on here, but I liked the way it looked on the VXR wheels
Tidied up and how it was when sold, I liked it but the cost just wasn't worth continuing with:
In fact I liked it so much I went out and bought one of these!
Its a 2011 VXR Arctic edition, only made 500 of them. Not "special" mechanically but got white paint, black roof, wheels and mirrors etc. Plus the addition of tinted windows and full leather heated recaros.
I am over the moon with it, its got such character. I retrofitted cruise control (mad this wasnt standard tbh!) and I remapped it (Rabbid Stage 1 map with the addition of a pre-cat pipe and panel filter) RR came out at 270bhp so its a fairly decent increase for not much outlay. Feels a lot stronger to drive and removed the nasty flat spot in 4th they all have as standard.
That's all I plan to do to it (maybe sat nav!) other than clean it and possibly get the swirls removed. Other than that I shall enjoy until I get itchy feet.... (wont be long!)
I couldn't find a lease deal that fitted the bill, so bought an Astra Coupe cheap with the intention of having "cheap" motoring. Needed a new (upgraded) turbo and sorted that cheaper than I imagined but the rest cost a bomb, it was rusty, half of it fell off and I made a mess of the front bumper. It was great fun in a way and some good oily times but the spend got to much so I sold it on at surprisingly not TOO much of a loss. Part of the mess up was a second hand ecu that wasn't as described, could never get the thing to run right. So put it back to largely standard. I am sure most will dislike on here, but I liked the way it looked on the VXR wheels
Tidied up and how it was when sold, I liked it but the cost just wasn't worth continuing with:
In fact I liked it so much I went out and bought one of these!
Its a 2011 VXR Arctic edition, only made 500 of them. Not "special" mechanically but got white paint, black roof, wheels and mirrors etc. Plus the addition of tinted windows and full leather heated recaros.
I am over the moon with it, its got such character. I retrofitted cruise control (mad this wasnt standard tbh!) and I remapped it (Rabbid Stage 1 map with the addition of a pre-cat pipe and panel filter) RR came out at 270bhp so its a fairly decent increase for not much outlay. Feels a lot stronger to drive and removed the nasty flat spot in 4th they all have as standard.
That's all I plan to do to it (maybe sat nav!) other than clean it and possibly get the swirls removed. Other than that I shall enjoy until I get itchy feet.... (wont be long!)
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff