My car lunacy (incl. C-Class, 190E´s, CLK, 330i, Swift)
Discussion
This will be a brief history about the cars I owned since I got my driver´s license. The text got a bit long, but I hope that it is still readable. I am from Germany and in the recent years I got rather excited about cars and I nowadays also enjoy driving them on the Nordschleife. That will be the topic in one of the later sections. If you are asking: Laptimes are BTG and the fact that I did neither spin nor crash nor even get off the track once at the Ring although I now did almost 200 laps proves that every car mentioned here can go a lot faster and that I am driving slowly. The latter is also proven by the fact that in the 10 years of having a driver´s license I have not spent a single penny (or cent) on speeding or parking issues. I apologise for any language mistakes, because English is not my mother tongue.
Stage 1: First contact
As a youth, I cannot remember being especially enthusiastic about cars. But I have always played video games with cars (Indycar Racing, Nascar Racing, Grand Prix 2, 3, 4 and so on). My parents always drove older Mercedes. Somehow, I was not very keen on getting my driver´s license as early as possible when I was old enough. More precisely, while we are allowed to drive from our 18th birthday on, I only got my license when I was older than 19 and I did not feel that I had missed anything. So, compared to my friends, I was starting my car career very late. At first, I also didn´t have an own car and drove with my parents´ old Mercs (190E 1.8, one with automatic transmission and one with manual transmission) and my grandfather´s Golf IV (1.6, MT). At the beginning I had to get my driving right, of course. With a little bit of practice, however, I began to figure out certain things I liked and didn´t like about the cars I had access to. Although the Golf was 10 years younger, I far more enjoyed driving the Mercs.
For my first own car, therefore, it was clear that it had to be a Merc. I had started to study mechanical engineering back then and soon got a part-time job as a student research assistant at the university. My parents were quite eager to get me a safe car and thus also sponsored some money and so I got a C-Class T-model with the 122 PS 1.8 litre engine and manual transmission, built in 1999. This was my first car. It was 8 years old then and already had a bit of rust, but thanks to the generous policy of Daimler at these days, I was able to hand my the newly purchased car (from a private pre-owner) to get rid of any rust without spending a penny. When I finally got the car back, I was very proud. It was quite an item for a student. With its 122 PS it was reasonably powered. On the roads I have always been a driver, who tries to get the fuel consumption as low as possible at reasonable speeds. I bought the C180T with a set of ragged 16 inch alloys with almost new 205 section tires and I practically gave them away for free and got some original 15 inch rims with narrower 195 section tires to further improve the fuel consumption – looking back a pretty senseless action, but I felt good with it. So, overall, I averaged approx. 7.5 litres/100km or a bit more than 30 mpg´s. On the Autobahn at approx. 130 kph or 80 mph, the fuel consumption even dropped to 7 l/100km or almost 34 mpg.
I did not do any modifications on the car (except for the rims mentioned above). I just kept it clean and in good shape. My beloved C180T was quiet and spacious. The ride was comfortable and driving long distances was a pleasure. I had not discovered the pleasures of more “committed” driving, yet, but I had a fellow student, who really was a petrol-head and with the time, however, I was infected a little bit. I increasingly enjoyed driving a bit faster and felt that I could do with more power. The want for a faster car was there, but I still liked my C-class. To make a long story short, one day someone crashed into my back, my car was a write-off and I got a decent amount of money from his insurance - eventually more than I had spent for the car one and a half years ago because of the great condition of the car and because the insurance usually pays more than you get on the market. So, that started stage 2 of my car career.
Edited by crmax on Friday 23 December 21:21
Stage 2: More power!
I still was not too keen on committed driving but I wanted something with a bit more grunt than the C180T. At a local dealer, I found a CLK with the supercharged 2.3 litre engine and a 5-speed manual transmission (1999 model, 193 PS). Compared to the rather reasonable C180T, the 230 kompressor coupé was of course a huge difference. The car was 10 years old when I purchased it, and again it had a little bit of rust. Because of its age and because the policies of Daimler had changed in the meantime, I had to live with the rust. I tried to keep it in great condition, again, but I was a bit annoyed to own such a great item (I still was a student), which cost almost 100.00 D-Marks when it was new and now already had some rust blistering on the bootlid and the fenders.
Further, the pre-owner had fitted some sports suspension kit (yellow Koni dampers and a set of springs) and the car was really low on the front. I thought that the suspension was rubbish, because the car tended to jump on bad roads. So, I threw out the Koni dampers and the springs, got some original springs and some Bilstein B6 dampers. The effect blew me away. The car was much more comfortable now, but it was still ok driving some corners.
The engine added to the experience: it had loads of torque in mid-range but for being a supercharged 4-cylinder, it did not run too smoothly, which, I thought, was a shame for otherwise the driving with this car was superb. For the longer distances, the car was comfortable and you could go really fast if you wanted. I somehow still did not understand the thrill some people get when they were driving their cars fast on the Autobahn or on open roads. I kept at approx. 130 kph or 80 mph and thus averaged approx. 7.5 l/100km or 30 mpg. I was surprised that the increased power did not lead to significantly increased fuel consumption compared to my C180T.
One day my petrol-head fellow student talked of visiting the Nordschleife with his father and driving around there. I googled a bit and found a lot of crash videos. But I was kind of excited. I began to learn the track in a video game (GTR with Nordschleife mod). I agreed to join my friend on a trip there but I did not go with my own car – not yet. Being there somehow infected me completely. Later the same year, I went to the Nordschleife with my CLK. I got a 4-lap-ticket. The car understeered, which is no surprise considering its weight of about 1.5 tonnes. I have no idea about the laptime, but I think it was pretty slow. Shortly afterwards, I did a day of driver´s training with the CLK on a local track and within the final 1.5 hours of free track driving in the lashing rain, I completely destroyed the almost new front tires (Bridgestone Turanza – not really an appropriate track tire for such a car, is it?) and the already worn-out brakes.
I discovered that I wanted a car that supported enthusiast driving. The CLK could not offer that. At the time, I still had access to my parents´ 190E´s. Compared to my C-Class and the CLK, the differences in ride and noise comfort were huge, but I somehow figured out that I still enjoyed driving the 190E, especially my dad´s one with the manual transmission. I liked the mechanical and analogue feeling of everything – compared to modern days, you have to admit that also the CLK and the first C-Class are pretty analogue, but nothing compared with the 190E. Additionally, the one my dad owned was equipped with the “Sportline” kit that Mercedes offered at the time. That meant harder and lower springs, firmer dampers, a more direct steering, fancy chequered and bolstered seats and a set of the beautiful rims of the time. You see where this is going. When my dad got a new car, I sold my CLK after almost 3 years of ownership and took his 190E, which was then 19 years old.
Edited by crmax on Friday 23 December 21:21
Stage 3: Enthusiasm
The 190E is a 1.8 litre. That meant much less power compared to the CLK 230K, but also much less weight. The first attempts to corner this car in a committed way were eye-opening. The reduced weight really paid off, I thought. Since I now knew that I wanted to attack the Nordschleife more seriously than with the CLK, I did several modifications to the 190E: I replaced the solid disks at the front with ventilated disks, which also meant changing the calipers. Because I liked the Bilstein dampers in my CLK, I got Bilstein B8 dampers for the 190E and additionally some Eibach springs. Further, some camber was added on the front (-1.6 degrees) and a strut brace was installed.
So, I went for my first trip to the Nordschleife with the 190E, still with 6-year-old Pirellis on the standard 15 inch wheels. It was so much fun. The old tires were of course a limiting factor, but in principal the balance of the car was great (fairly neutral to slight oversteer) and for the lack of power and the fitted brakes, several laps were possible without any brake issues. For my next visit on the Ring, I got 205 section Hankook RS2 tires on the stock rims. The rims are pretty heavy, but the 190E still looked completely stock and I wanted it to stay like that.
I first went to several drift trainings on a local track (with winter tires, of course). Since the track was watered, the 108 PS were just enough to get the car to power oversteer around the tighter bends. Faster corners remained very challenging, since the initiation of the oversteer by weight transfer was possible, but holding the car sideways mostly failed for lack of power. However, these events greatly helped to get a feeling for the car and to be much safer when driving fast, because the fear of losing the backend just vanishes when you know how to react. The 190E helped in this regard, for its behaviour was always predictable and not twitchy at all.
The next visits to the Touristenfahrten at the Ring were pure heaven for me. I managed to reduce my laptimes to approx. 9 min 40 s, which I consider not too bad for a 1200 kilo car with just above 100 horse power, and the 1.8 litre 190E just ran and ran and ran. With the tire pressure on the rear, the balance could be adjusted from neutral (lower pressure) to oversteer (higher pressure). Understeer was practically not existent. I did approx. 20 laps per day and up to 8 laps in a row and the Merc did neither miss a beat nor did anything start to fade or fail. Finally, after every visit I got home, which meant another 500 km on the Autobahn, without any problems. Fuel consumption on the ring was approx. 20 l/100km or 12 mpg, daily driving means about 7 to 8 l/100km or 29 to 34 mpg. Of course, with the now increasing amount of Ring-experience the aim was to get faster. The decision was, however, to keep the 190E whatever the cost, because it was just THE car for me.
Edited by crmax on Friday 23 December 21:22
Stage 4: Some expensive experiments
Since I had finished studying and was now earning good money, I looked the ads in the internet, read through several forums and decided to get a BMW. The question was: E36 or E46? That was at the end of 2013, good examples of E36´s started to get rare, I feared to take on a ragged car with much money to spend. And I wanted some power, at least like in the CLK 230K, which meant 325i upwards. I found an E46 330i with the complete M package, the 6-gear manual transmission, grey leather sports seats and without a sunroof (I considered driving track and drift days and therefore needed to fit into the car whilst wearing a helmet, which, since I am rather tall, would not have been possible with the sunroof). The noise of the straight 6 was exciting at first, to say the least. And it took not too much fuel, actually I averaged approx. 8.5 l/100km or 27 mpg and even got it below 7 l/100km or above 33 mpg once.
With the mods on this car, I thought that the things, which worked for the 190E should also help the E46. So a set of Bilstein dampers and Eibach springs were purchased, some camber was added to the front (more than -1.5° were not possible without using fully adjustable clubsport strut mounts, which I considered to be too expensive) and the frame of the back axle was welded to avoid its failure. Further, a set of light and beautiful 17 inch Sparco wheels found the way to the car and 225 section Bridgestone RE070 tires were used. I also purchased a set of adjustable Eibach sway bars.
I went for a drift day to get to know the car and it was funny. Suddenly, I had enough power to do all the fast turns that were impossible with the 190E (or possible only with a great amounts of craziness). With the naturally aspirated straight-6, the car was very adjustable going sideways since you always had enough grunt to step out the back a little bit more.
So, I went to the Ring with great expectations. But somehow, the first visit there proved to be a mixed blessing. On the one hand, the car was of course significantly faster than the 190E. No wonder, since we are speaking 231 against 108 PS and 300 against 150 Nm of torque. Fuel consumption went up to almost 30 l/100km or 8 mpg, which is ok when considering the speeds and the capability to accelerate. But I did not like the balance at all. When going fast, there were significant amounts of understeer. Setting the sway bar setting to soft at the front and hard at the back helped, but in doing so, while the car got faster, it also got a lot less playful. It just was not possible to do the little, controllable skids that get the fun when driving on the ring (at least for me). Provoking power oversteer in the dry like in the drift training in the wet also was not an alternative for the obvious risk of crashing. Further, at one point I forgot to deactivate the ESP when entering the Nordschleife, which killed the brakes within a fairly short time.
I replaced the disks and got Ferrodo DS Performance pads and got some more air on the disks for cooling before the next visit to the Ring. I experimented a bit more with the tire pressures and tried to reduce the understeer by using a bit more of the weight transfer reactions during turn-in. That reduced my laptimes to 8 min 30 s, but I still was not really happy with the car´s balance. I learned that I prefer cars with very good front axle grip at the initial turn in. The 330i was not half as good at this compared to the 190E and also not half as playful as the 190E. To have fun, you needed to go fast, and to go fast you needed grip, grip, grip. It was impossible to get the car moving around a bit like the 190E did in a sensible way, that means when driving 90 to 95% (which is what I did since I did not want to crash).
With that, the driving in the BMW was admittedly fast, but I did not like it. The brakes also still were an issue and I increasingly had the opinion that I was burning a lot of money without getting a reward. The engine still sounded nice and I still liked the way it delivered its power, but I have to say that back then I rather wanted a lighter 4 cylinder above the front axle instead of the heavier straight 6 and so the magic was over. Part of the “problem” also was that I had kept the 190E. Although I had not once visited the Ring with the Benz since I had the BMW, I discovered that for pure fun at the weekends I drove the old Merc a lot more often than the Beemer. The eye-opener was a day in December, when I took the 190E for a morning ride and skidded it on the empty snowy roads and within one hour experienced more fun than the Beemer offered in the whole year before. So I decided not to blow more money into the BMW, but instead to burn a lot more money by selling it (for a bad price, but I just wanted to get rid of the thing). So, after approx. 1 year of owning it, the Beemer was gone.
Edited by crmax on Friday 23 December 21:23
Edited by crmax on Friday 23 December 22:19
Stage 5: Fun again
As soon as I had my parking space free, I started looking to buy myself a second 190E (remember I still had the 190E 1.8). The models with the 16-valve Cosworth engine were out of reach when considering the cost for purchasing the car plus the cost for preparing it for the ring. Further, in my eyes they are too rare now to thrash them on the Ring. The 2.6 litre straight-6 engine was excluded for the obvious reason of not buying a second understeer-monster so I looked for the 2 litre and the 2.3 litre 8-valve models with 118/122 and 132/136 PS (power output slightly depends on the year of manufacture). In direct vicinity, I found a totally ragged 2.3 litre without sunroof in a really pitiful condition. It was garage-rolled in sort of grey colour by the pre-owner, the brakes did not work properly, the differential made the scariest sounds and it was quite rusted but I did not care. I spent a few hundred Euros on the car and got it to my trusted workshop. Again, a set of Eibach/Bilstein springs and dampers were installed, camber was added at the front, another set of Hankook´s RS2 was purchased and I even found a set of blue Koenig seats, which were rather cheap because of their colour and because of the fact that they stood in a showroom for about 15 years. Further, all the bearings at both axles of the car, the differential, the cooler, and so on and so on were renewed. Some welding was also necessary - a lot of welding to be precise.
Finally, I had a 190E with 132 PS, with presumably over two hundred thousand miles (the counter only worked when it was cold), which still looked very ragged, which was 27 years old, but which was ready for the Ring. People I trust laughed that I spend almost 10 grands on that car. They did not laugh at me, but they laughed with me for the fun that the whole damn thing was. I wanted to go drifting and I wanted to go the Ring.
For the drifting, I purchased a set of old stock steel rims and got some tiny 155 section tires (not allowed on the street, but who cares on the track). On the watered track, I could do every corner sideways, like in the much more powerful BMW, with the advantage of having approx. 300 kilos less weight, which made the whole issue much more playful, again. I went to the Ring and I was in heaven, again. The initial turn-in was brilliant and because the suspension is still on the soft side even with the fitted Bilstein/Eibach combination, weight transfer comes slowly and predictably, which means that you can fling the car into every single corner (even the high-speed stuff) and just have to manage the absolutely predictable slight oversteer. It does not get more fun. Of course you have to manage the angles, because 132 PS is not that much so you do not want to lose too much momentum. But overall, it was brilliant.
So, with two 190E´s, one ragged and one that was track-proven (see above) but still in very good shape, I happily lived on. This year, I even took the 190E 2.3 to two track days on the Ring. I did almost 30 laps on the first one and almost 30 laps on the second one. It was pure fun riding the fuel tank empty in one stint. It felt like I was an endurance pilot. I managed 12 consecutive laps with a consistent 9 min 20 s BTG and there was no reliability problem at all. After all that abuse, of course, some components started to fade, first and foremost the differential, but also the body got a bit weaker, which expressed itself in a bit of creaking here and there at some times.
And now comes a bit of a questionable action. Since it was so much fun driving this car for two years, I thought that I should leave on a high note. On the track days, I was of course not able to keep up with all the fast stuff (Radicals and Caterhams and M3s and GT3s and GT-Rs and so on). The cars that got my attention there were the rental Suzuki Swift Sport. Depending on the drivers, they were a good bit faster than I was, but I still considered them affordable. At a day in October, I visited a local Suzuki dealer, who had several Swift Sport on sale. The bloke there was quite cool and straightly offered me a test drive – I was surprised, “Ermmm, Ehhhh, Ehhh, yes..., why not?”
I drove the 136 PS version (2012 on) and liked the punch of the little thing, the usable torque band and the power delivery of the high-revving little 1.6 litre engine. And I liked the fact that it was still 150 kg lighter than the beloved 190E. The handling was great, as far as I could tell from the perfectly reasonable test drive. It even felt much like driving the 190E. That is almost the biggest compliment I can provide to a car. Everything feels analogue, the seats are great, also much better than the sports seats in the BMW E46 considering that I am rather slim. You see, where we are going, are you not? I gave away my track-abused 190E 2.3, but kept the 1.8. It is obvious that getting rid of the 2.3 meant losing practically all the money I spent into it, but I tell you what: I do not regret a single penny (or cent) because it was so so much fun.
Now I have a little Suzuki Swift Sport built in 2012. I am planning to get a set of light rims and Federal´s 595 track tires, I will get a bit more camber on the front axle with H&R´s camber bolts and perhaps I will fit a set of Bilstein coilovers since the Ohlins are too expensive for my liking. “I will perhaps” means, of course, that I inevitably will, but you know that since this is a petrol-head forum. Up to now, I haven´t driven it properly (i.e. on a track), but I have already booked two track days on the Ring and I hope that I will enjoy it.
Summary: I regret having spent time and money on the BMW E46 330i, which may be a nice daily driver for the car enthusiast, but just did not give me what I wanted. I do not regret having spent so much money on the grey 190E 2.3, since it was totally worth it. Still owning the 190E 1.8, I have to say: despite of the lack of power I love to drive that car. 190E´s are just the coolest thing.
So what do you think (if you haven´t fallen off or fallen asleep)? Would you have kept the Beemer and fitted it with some decent strut mounts and coilovers to get more out of it? Would you have bought anything else?
Edited by crmax on Friday 23 December 21:25
Thank you for your positive feedback.
The 190E with a nice 16-valve engine would certainly do the job, but the original 16V´s are too expensive now and every one of them would need extensive rework to be track-ready. Getting another up-to-date four-cylinder engine into my standard 190E would prove a big challenge in terms of road-legality.
When I think of FUN>LAPTIME, one car comes to my mind immediately: GT86. At the moment, however, I do not want to spend as much money on a car (considering that I would certainly add another decent sum for modifying the suspension, fitting an oil-cooler etc. to get it ready for the track). But in a few years the GT86 will certainly be on the table.
(With the story above you can argue, of course. I could easily have prepared a GT86 for the track when I sum up the money I burned in the last few years with the BMW and also with the ragged grey W201.)
The 190E with a nice 16-valve engine would certainly do the job, but the original 16V´s are too expensive now and every one of them would need extensive rework to be track-ready. Getting another up-to-date four-cylinder engine into my standard 190E would prove a big challenge in terms of road-legality.
When I think of FUN>LAPTIME, one car comes to my mind immediately: GT86. At the moment, however, I do not want to spend as much money on a car (considering that I would certainly add another decent sum for modifying the suspension, fitting an oil-cooler etc. to get it ready for the track). But in a few years the GT86 will certainly be on the table.
(With the story above you can argue, of course. I could easily have prepared a GT86 for the track when I sum up the money I burned in the last few years with the BMW and also with the ragged grey W201.)
The 190e is a great car but I wouldn't have thought of it as a track car, though it has light weight and multilink rear suspension I guess.
I considered buying a 190 but then ended up with a BMW E36 325, and since have bought a 328i. They seem to be quite popular on the 'Ring.
Good to read about the 190 experience though.
I considered buying a 190 but then ended up with a BMW E36 325, and since have bought a 328i. They seem to be quite popular on the 'Ring.
Good to read about the 190 experience though.
Great thread OP, and your English is top notch!
I've had a W123 280E Benz, a 2 litre 190E and a W202 C280 Sport and none of them even got close to driving as well as my current BMW 325ti Sport Compact IMO!
Now I've seen the light I would never buy a Stuttgart product for track use, but as a diesel with vinyl seats for station duties it would surely work for ever!
I've had a W123 280E Benz, a 2 litre 190E and a W202 C280 Sport and none of them even got close to driving as well as my current BMW 325ti Sport Compact IMO!
Now I've seen the light I would never buy a Stuttgart product for track use, but as a diesel with vinyl seats for station duties it would surely work for ever!
When it comes to using the 190E on the track (I can only speak for the standard models here, not the Cosworths), even an absolutely fatuous enthusiast like myself has to admit that it has its weaknesses. The non-Cosworth engines are not that strong: the 8 valve 2.3 litre has quite a lot of torque (just above 200 Nm or 150 lb-ft already at 3000 rpm), but the maximum power output comes early at approx. 5000 rpm (rev limiter just below 6000). In connection with the extremely long gearing this results in a drivetrain, which is sufficient, but not really engaging. With regard to the suspension, even with the thicker sway bars of the “Sportline” models and the Eibach/Bilstein kit I have installed, there are still loads and loads of body roll. When you go beyond a certain speed, this means that the whole driving gets a bit sloppy and from then on the car moves around ever more. That is fun and makes you grin all the time, but it also inevitably leads to missing the apexes.
However, the mentioned disadvantages kind of disappear when you are not visiting race tracks regularly. I am spending approx. 4 days on the track per year, including both track driving and drifting. This clearly means a lack of practice, but the 190E´s soft suspension results in a slow weight transfer, the multi-link rear axle makes the handling even more predictable and thus the fun is accessible without spending the first three hours on the track to get the driving right.
I totally agree with you that if you are visiting the track regularly, if you are up to driving as fast as possible and if you want to polish your driving skills more often, the BMW will definitely the better choice when it comes to an affordable track tool (and it won´t be less fun, I suppose, although I cannot tell from own experience). The heavy E46 saloon is not optimal as I found out, but it is still miles ahead of the 190E in terms of precision when it comes to fast driving. As can be seen in the car park at the Ring, the E36 models and in my eyes also the E46 compacts do the job. I would be tempted to try one, but for me the BMW chapter is closed for the time being, I think. Further, the 190E with its comparably low power and the mentioned sloppiness only really works on the flowing Nordschleife – on any modern GP/Clubsport track it is rather annoying. Nonetheless, I experienced pure fun whilst thrashing the 190E around the Ring and enjoyed the easy handling. That made the story up for me.
I am hoping that now with the Suzuki Swift Sport I will get the better bits of both worlds – accessible performance and outright fun and the possibility to work on my driving and maybe also hit other tracks than the Nordschleife. My beloved black 190E 1.8 will of course stay for both relaxed and a bit more engaged driving on B-roads on the weekends and in some time maybe also another visit to the Ring.
However, the mentioned disadvantages kind of disappear when you are not visiting race tracks regularly. I am spending approx. 4 days on the track per year, including both track driving and drifting. This clearly means a lack of practice, but the 190E´s soft suspension results in a slow weight transfer, the multi-link rear axle makes the handling even more predictable and thus the fun is accessible without spending the first three hours on the track to get the driving right.
I totally agree with you that if you are visiting the track regularly, if you are up to driving as fast as possible and if you want to polish your driving skills more often, the BMW will definitely the better choice when it comes to an affordable track tool (and it won´t be less fun, I suppose, although I cannot tell from own experience). The heavy E46 saloon is not optimal as I found out, but it is still miles ahead of the 190E in terms of precision when it comes to fast driving. As can be seen in the car park at the Ring, the E36 models and in my eyes also the E46 compacts do the job. I would be tempted to try one, but for me the BMW chapter is closed for the time being, I think. Further, the 190E with its comparably low power and the mentioned sloppiness only really works on the flowing Nordschleife – on any modern GP/Clubsport track it is rather annoying. Nonetheless, I experienced pure fun whilst thrashing the 190E around the Ring and enjoyed the easy handling. That made the story up for me.
I am hoping that now with the Suzuki Swift Sport I will get the better bits of both worlds – accessible performance and outright fun and the possibility to work on my driving and maybe also hit other tracks than the Nordschleife. My beloved black 190E 1.8 will of course stay for both relaxed and a bit more engaged driving on B-roads on the weekends and in some time maybe also another visit to the Ring.
Edited by crmax on Sunday 25th December 09:47
Fantastic read! You are spot on - the 190E has an inherently fantastic balance, even with the soft bushes/ suspension as stock. I also learnt the basics of car control with a 1.8 190E - apart from the fairly slow steering, it was great to get sideways in the wet, and pretty forgiving when you got it wrong!
I still have a few days off. There has been some serious snowfall last night and so I was happily taking my black 190E for a slippery ride this morning. Everyone around me just tried to get to work and everyone was certainly annoyed by the weather and the conditions on the streets. I was not going anywhere, just from home to home, but I had some fun on the B-roads going "reasonably sideways". 
I thought that I might not buy a new set of winter tyres for this car and I planned to use it only on dry spring/summer/autumn days in the future, but considering the fun it is to drive this car on snowy roads, I might reconsider
Other than that, there are no updates - I still have to take some nice pictures of my recently bought Swift Sport.
P.S.: Surfing the internet, I found that my beloved grey 190E, which I sold few weeks ago, got featured in the youtube-vlog of Micha (also known as Boosted Boris) - check out at 8m00s when he and Dale from BTG stumble across the grey Merc: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPio4ZV1i2I#t=8m00...
I shed a tear
, but their comment is completely right: I was having fun, acually a lot of fun 
I thought that I might not buy a new set of winter tyres for this car and I planned to use it only on dry spring/summer/autumn days in the future, but considering the fun it is to drive this car on snowy roads, I might reconsider
Other than that, there are no updates - I still have to take some nice pictures of my recently bought Swift Sport.
P.S.: Surfing the internet, I found that my beloved grey 190E, which I sold few weeks ago, got featured in the youtube-vlog of Micha (also known as Boosted Boris) - check out at 8m00s when he and Dale from BTG stumble across the grey Merc: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPio4ZV1i2I#t=8m00...
I shed a tear
, but their comment is completely right: I was having fun, acually a lot of fun Edited by crmax on Wednesday 4th January 11:51
After a long while, here comes a little update.
Few things have been changed on the Swift and a few more (and more essential ones) are to come. But lets start with some pictures - regrettably, the car was not really clean (not even clean-ish, to be honest).
In the last weeks, I got some wheels: Autec Zenit (16x7j) with Federal SS595R (205/45). I chose the rims because of their relative lightness combined with a reasonable price and because they are one of the few of 7 inches width and 40 mm inset, which are allowed to be run on the Swift according to our German rules without any further required modifications. I think they look quite ok considering that the looks were not the primary motivation for the purchase.
Additionally, I have some camber bolts for the front lying around here. They will be installed soon. I think I´ll go for approx. -1.8 degrees of camber on the front as a compromise for daily use and track (ab)use.
Finally, some brake pads have been ordered and will hopefully be delivered soon: Endless MX72 for the front and Ferodo DS2500 for the rear. With these modifications, I hope to be ready for the track days to come.
Last point for today: I am not sure whether or not I should go for a suspension upgrade. In my opinion, the stock springs and dampers of the Suzi are significantly ahead in terms of performance compared to the stock suspension of my beloved 190E´s and also compared to the M-package suspension of the E46. So, I don´t think that going for something like the non-coilover Bilstein/Eibach kit or the Koni/H&R kit would be an improvement big enough to justify the financial investment. However, there are a few options when it comes to some quality coilovers, namely Bilstein, KW and Ohlins. Maybe I could also wait how the car feels during the first track days and then decide on an upgrade. Or maybe the one or the other of you has an opinion on that ;-) Or maybe... honestly, you see where this is going - chances are quite high that some decent coilovers are installed very soon - stupid car stupidity at its best.
Few things have been changed on the Swift and a few more (and more essential ones) are to come. But lets start with some pictures - regrettably, the car was not really clean (not even clean-ish, to be honest).
In the last weeks, I got some wheels: Autec Zenit (16x7j) with Federal SS595R (205/45). I chose the rims because of their relative lightness combined with a reasonable price and because they are one of the few of 7 inches width and 40 mm inset, which are allowed to be run on the Swift according to our German rules without any further required modifications. I think they look quite ok considering that the looks were not the primary motivation for the purchase.
Additionally, I have some camber bolts for the front lying around here. They will be installed soon. I think I´ll go for approx. -1.8 degrees of camber on the front as a compromise for daily use and track (ab)use.
Finally, some brake pads have been ordered and will hopefully be delivered soon: Endless MX72 for the front and Ferodo DS2500 for the rear. With these modifications, I hope to be ready for the track days to come.
Last point for today: I am not sure whether or not I should go for a suspension upgrade. In my opinion, the stock springs and dampers of the Suzi are significantly ahead in terms of performance compared to the stock suspension of my beloved 190E´s and also compared to the M-package suspension of the E46. So, I don´t think that going for something like the non-coilover Bilstein/Eibach kit or the Koni/H&R kit would be an improvement big enough to justify the financial investment. However, there are a few options when it comes to some quality coilovers, namely Bilstein, KW and Ohlins. Maybe I could also wait how the car feels during the first track days and then decide on an upgrade. Or maybe the one or the other of you has an opinion on that ;-) Or maybe... honestly, you see where this is going - chances are quite high that some decent coilovers are installed very soon - stupid car stupidity at its best.
Edited by crmax on Sunday 14th May 20:12
It has been a long time since my last post, but somehow I remembered this thread these days and thought I’d do a little update, also to remind myself of some things. When I posted most recently (i.e. more than 8 years ago), I was having the black Swift Sport. I did some trackdays on the Ring with it, overall probably a bit more than 100 laps. It was just a great car. Apart from camber bolts, the Federal 595 tires and some brake pads (used Endless once and sticked to Ferodo DS2500 afterwards), it remained stock. There were no issues whatsoever. Due to the light weight, the tires lasted without significant wear, only the brake pads were replaced after the trackdays. Using it as a daily at the same time, the only thing that was a bit annoying was the noise from the 595’s. But on the other hand it was of course really good to have these tires to bomb around on small roads. Wet grip was also okay(ish). Fuel consumption in every day driving was around 35 mpg (6.5 L/100km). On the Ring, it was just below 10 mpg (25 L/100km). The backend of the car was mobile and you could nicely rotate it under braking. Of course, having such a cheap and fun car which cost relatively little money was too reasonable, so here comes the next chapter.
After having the Suzuki for two years, a far relative was no longer able to drive his car because of age and health. We are talking the year 2018 now. He had a 190D (2 litre naturally aspirated diesel with 75 hp, no ABS, a sunroof, and a 4-speed manual). He had bought the car in 1991 and did approx. 400 000 km (250 000 miles) in it. Most of the distance was covered within the first 15 years of the car’s life when he was still active in business. His milage per year dropped to almost zero in the last years. As you have probably guessed from all I’ve written above, I could not say no to another 190. Remember, I still had my 190E 1.8 at this point and being unable to justify three cars, I sold the Suzuki and took the 190D. I collected it from my relative basically for free and drove it to my home. It had fresh TÜV (like MOT) and I can still remember the first drive now, years later. It was hilarious. Full throttle everywhere and for extended periods because no power, combined with the lovely chassis balance that is inherent to every 190. You could drive it as hard as you liked, throw it around corners, and stay within the legal speed limits at the same time.
After coming home from this first drive around lunch time, I parked the car in the shared underground car park and came back to it somewhen in the afternoon to do some stuff. There was a large puddle of some liquid under and around the car. Felt it, smelled it: diesel. It was continuously dropping from somewhere over the rear axle. The tank was around half full and after cleaning up a bit, it was getting late Saturday afternoon and diesel was still dropping from the car at a considerable rate. S**t. After some phone calls, I was recommended a company which usually pumps fuel from tanks after drivers filled in the wrong fuel at the petrol station. They could at least empty the tank so that there was no further mess over the weekend. I called them, they came, they emptied the tank, and I paid them around 500 Euros, if I remember correctly. I was seriously doubting my decision to sell the perfectly reliable, appropriately modern Suzuki for this pile of old metal that could not even contain its liquids. Next Monday, I went on a date with my trusted workshop and brought the car there. Thankfully, it was not the tank but “only” the fuel line that caused the leakage, but once there, I told them to have a proper look at the rest of it also. It turned out to be a disaster. I had taken the car from my relative for free, so there was no proper inspection before taking it. Had I known…
The whole underside was rusted in a way that would cause wet feet when driving in the rain. Front suspension mounting was completely rusted and hanging on the last millimetre, too. Brake lines were corroded significantly, rollbars, control arms, bushings were beyond their lifetime. You get it, exactly what is to be expected from a car this age and mileage. Remember, this car had recently gone through TÜV, which was obviously not worth anything. Still, after just this first drive, I was in love. So, the money I had from selling the Suzuki went into the 190D, completely (we are talking somewhere around 7000 Euros). Dampers and springs had to be replaced anyway, so there was at least an opportunity to fit some H&R lowering springs along with orange (comfort) Koni dampers. Because it was so hilarious and the whole thing was not to be taken serious anymore, anyway, I went for yellow alloys. I got the car from the workshop with a big grin (and a huge empty space in my wallet) approx. 6 weeks after I initially collected it from my relative. After all this, I was still a happy man, now again having two 190’s in my garage. You are free to doubt my sanity.
If you expect any more drama now, you are to be disappointed. In the following two years, the car just went reliably without any fault and provided a smile on my face every time I drove it. Also when I took other people with me in the car, they reacted very positively, car guy or not. Fuel consumption was between 39 and 43 mpg (approx. 5.5 to 6 L/100km) no matter how much abuse it had to take. Only little drawback was the 4-speed manual which lead to quite high noise level at higher speeds (meaning above ca. 110 km/h), but that was a good excuse to thrash it on B-roads instead of taking the motorway. I also went to a little road trip abroad with the car doing 2000 km in two days for a little trip to Scandinavia. I still had the 190E 1.8, which I now perceived as a rocket ship because it was so much more agile than the diesel. But all in all, I enjoyed both cars. I also abused the diesel as a transporter, removing the passenger seat which allowed easy transport of a bicycle (the tank in the 190 is upright behind the rear seats, so they cannot be folded to create larger boot space).
The trip to Scandinavia somewhat sadly sealed the destiny of the diesel. I got a job there and was about to move abroad. I could justify keeping and storing one of the two 190’s in a barn, but not two. So the diesel had to go. I sold it to a doctor who would use it for a road rally to Africa and was therefore looking for a cheap, structurally sound car, which was already hard to find then. It was a perfect fit, but of course with age and mileage, the selling price was laughable compared to the invest from two years earlier. This was now very close to the corona outbreak, so I do not know if the guy could do his trip as intended. All I know is that I got a speeding ticket with him driving the car to his place just a few minutes after he bought it from me. He paid it without discussion. Seems 75 hp were sufficient to go beyond the speed limit, at last.
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