Car enthusiasts?

[THE_Liam]

Inspired by the biker thread, anyone here into cars?

I'm a big fan of "bangernomics", buying cheap cars and running them for less than the cost of a years interest on a finance car. Currently running around in a '93 Peugeot 306 turbo diesel that cost £250 and runs on veg oil straight from Asda, and I've just bought a 1.7 Ford Puma for £600 with a years test, 2 owners and 77k miles that I'm toying with stripping out for track days, or just lowering and putting a nice exhaust on and using for the back roads on the weekends

I've been driving 7 years and had 41 cars, never spent more than £900 except for one stupid choice of a £2000 Skoda Octavia vRS, and almost always get my money back or make a profit

Anyone else?

 

[Eric_S]

I'm into my cars big time; however I expect to lose money and with that philosophy I just think what I can afford each month and buy accordingly.

I've had many many cars in the 22 years I've been driving. I've just parted with an M5 which I enjoyed very much for a couple of years and now have a 3 series convertible. As long as what's on my driveway makes me smile and I can afford it then I'm happy. I must add that I have no desire to own the car so finance/leasing is the way I do it.

Favourites have been:

1993 Escort RS 2000 (first decent car and my number 1 favourite)
1993 Escort RS Cosworth (first mad car)
1997 Astra 1.6 Sport (best company car)
2001 Peugeot 306 2.0 Cabriolet (first "fun" car)
2007 Toyota Yaris 1.0 (Cute and simple)
2008 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD (Loved the way it looked and drove)
2007 M5 Touring (proper beast but oh so thirsty)
2012 320D Convertible (fell in love when I saw it)

Hate cars!

1997 Vauxhall Omega 2.5 (so many problems)
2008 BMW Mini Cooper (harse ride and noisy)

Worthy but boring

2001 Volvo V40 (first family car when my daughter was born)
2003 Volvo V70 (second family car!)

I quite fancy a Nissan GTR but it's too license busting and as I get older economics and trouble avoidance is moving to the front of my mind. Then again, the new M6 looks pretty damn sexy...

 

[THE_Liam]

Pretty big variety there, Volvo V40/Yaris to Cossie/M5 :lol:

I'd have to say my favourites were...

'95 Peugeot 306 D-Turbo - Lowered 40mm, graphite painted 205 GTI alloys, modified fuel pump, bigger turbo, bigger intercooler. That took it from 90bhp to 157bhp and it still ran on veg oil and did 50mpg!

'90 Audi 90 Quattro 2.3 - great in winter with four wheel drive, the 5 cylinder engine sounded awesome and it cost me £400 :)

'97 106 GTI - like a go-kart, just epic fun! And it spat flames on the overrun

Most hated...

'01 Octavia vRS - fast but ugly, temperamental, hard and expensive to fix and couldn't average even 25mpg...

'98 Fiat Coupe - ALWAYS broken

Bet that M5 was a right beast, was it the V10 one?

 

[Dronfieldbrewer]

My dad used to subscribe to the bangernomic theory. Now I have a Landrover Discovery that I have had for 7years and love it

 

[PD]

I am of the mind a car gets you from A to B ..1. in time...2..in comfort...3...can take rubbish to the tip...

I got a VW Passat Estate from new in year 2000... its only done 96000 miles

 

[ScottM]

I've always loved cars. I was never much for working on them until a couple of years ago and just last year I jumped in big time.

Car history:

Peugeot 309 GTE 1.3 - Gifted by my Papa, first car. No issues at all, great little runner.
Nissan Almera Si 1.4 16v - First bought car, was quite nippy all things considered.
Vauxhaul Vectra SRi 140 - 2.0L version of the SRi's. Was OK but the DTi was miles better.
Vauxhaul Vectra SRi DTi 130 - 2.2L Oil burner, great car. I actually tried to find it in order to buy it back. Probably would have fallen to bits though.
Mitsubishi Evolution V RS - Great at the start but got boring VERY quickly. Great A=B car but not very involved.
Toyota MR2 Turbo MK2 Rev2 - I have a real soft spot for this car. Absolutely loved everything about it, would kill you in an instant if you don't respect it. Very involved and rewarding drive.
106 GTi - Great little puddle jumper, I had this as my runaround while owning the MR2. Was tuned a little and started first time everytime.
Toyota Supra MKIV Turbo - My current "weekend" car. One of the best cars I have ever driven, just as brutal as the MR2 without the same "I'm going to kill you" feeling. Not quite as rewarding due to the front engine RWD setup, but almost as good.
Ford Mondeo ST TDCi - Current daily driver. Good comfortable drive with the right amount of grunt but it's just passing 100k and things are slowly but surely starting to go a bit wrong. Nothing major yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if something nasty was round the corner.
Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec - Other daily driver. Great car, never let us down. My Dad had it before us and it was well looked after. Coasted past 60k the other day and its still purring like a kitten.

The Supra was sitting around 400-430hp before I started my major install. Currently working on a single build with a refreshed and uprated head, big single turbo, standalone ECU, etc, etc, etc. The end goal is 700hp, will have to cap it at that for now as the stock block won't take much more. It has 70k on the clock with a mix of kms and miles.

I have a website for it all too.... http://www.mkivsuprastar.com. There are pics of my old Evo and MR2 in there too.

 

[Muddydisco]

1st car a Mini Clubman Reg NON 737M 996cc rebuilt car from age of 15
2nd Car 1990 Discovery brought at 18 yrs old in 1997 I still have it! in peices but I have it!!
3rd Car 1990 Discovery Brought as a run around as the first disco died unexpectedly Run for 1 yr
4th Car 1999 Discovery TD5 Sold 2 years ago
5th Car 2002 Audi A4, Lowered, Blacked out lights, windows, All chrome blacked out, Satin black BBS CH Wheels, Front mount intercooler , Egr Deleted, Remapped, now having Hybrid turbo and custom remap in next 2 weeks, looking for something over 200 bhp and still 50-60 to the gallon, and yes it's a dirty 1.9 diesel.

I'm now 33 and not owned enough cars I think???

 

[Eric_S]

Bet that M5 was a right beast, was it the V10 one?

Yep the 5.0 V10 - proper monster! Oh so comfortable and ridiculously fast for such a big machine and the noise from the engine if you were giving it some was fabulous!

The killer was spending £100 a week on fuel which got to me in the end! But I had it for two years and it ticked the right boxes!

38 now and the 320 must be 37th car I've had!

 

[THE_Liam]

1st car a Mini Clubman Reg NON 737M 996cc rebuilt car from age of 15
2nd Car 1990 Discovery brought at 18 yrs old in 1997 I still have it! in peices but I have it!!
3rd Car 1990 Discovery Brought as a run around as the first disco died unexpectedly Run for 1 yr
4th Car 1999 Discovery TD5 Sold 2 years ago
5th Car 2002 Audi A4, Lowered, Blacked out lights, windows, All chrome blacked out, Satin black BBS CH Wheels, Front mount intercooler , Egr Deleted, Remapped, now having Hybrid turbo and custom remap in next 2 weeks, looking for something over 200 bhp and still 50-60 to the gallon, and yes it's a dirty 1.9 diesel.

I'm now 33 and not owned enough cars I think???

Looks like your into diesel tuning too then? I didn't bother with the expense of a hybrid turbo to be honest. I just bodged on a T25 off a Saab 9000 :lol:

 

[Muddydisco]

Yeah love the old bosch pumps I used to get 12 mpg in my old disco diesel, but the power was awesome :) the one being rebuilt is being twin charged, turbo and supercharger work that one out

 

[THE_Liam]

Yeah love the old bosch pumps I used to get 12 mpg in my old disco diesel, but the power was awesome :) the one being rebuilt is being twin charged, turbo and supercharger work that one out

Compound charged? Nice! If you need any advice I know a guy off a 306 forum who runs a 1.9 DT with 2 Garrett turbos installed sequentially with an Eaton supercharger?

You tried shimming the governor on the Bosch pump? 6.5k revs in a diesel :lol:

 

[critch]

me fave car was a tricked out old series 2 landy, parabollic springs, freewheel hubs, 2.5 pergeot van engine conversion gas shocks ratty as fek to look at 100 quid a year insurance free tax 50mpg and a big smile

current car? crappy old galaxy to ferry the kids in..... :?

still, id rather be riding my bike :P

 

[Muddydisco]

Never did the governor mods as always found enough power in the rev range I had, I might do it this time just to play with it :)

 

[THE_Liam]

It's easy enough unless you let the governor spring ping out of the cradle, drop the shims all over the floor and then have to work out how it all fits together...

Not that I did that :lol:

 

[Muddydisco]

:lol: :rofl: :lol:

 

[TRXnMe]

I've done the bangernomics bit, but tend to buy something younger, but undesireable, for a smallish outlay now and then run it into the ground, all be by keeping it well serviced.

My current car is a Rover 75 diesel, I paid £4k for it 4 years ago and expect to keep it another 3 to 4 years, it does 40 mpg commuting and carries 2 boxer dogs and 4 adults in comfort :)

My real petrol head energies go into 2 wheels, an Aprilia Falco lives in my shed.

Over the years I'vve had some nice cars and motorcycles, an RRV 'Blade, a TRX50, a FZS 1,000 to name three more recent bikes.

My favourite car was a Ford Capri, with the Savage 3.1 big bore conversion, along with a few suspension upgrades and body work mods. It would wheel spin in third gear! I had to sell it in the end, I was earning about £400 a month on basic, but due to the terrible fuel economy and an addiction to 'the rush' I was spending close to £300 on petrol, overtime was very welcome during the couple of months I had it.

 

[THE_Liam]

I'd actually kill for a Capri with a Cleveland small block fitted. Seen the price of decent ones now?!?!

 

[beermaker]

Currently have a Renault Megane Scenic which is quite good for carrying tons of ****, although I use my rather splendid Kawasaki ZXR400 for getting to work (£600 to buy, £36 tax, £80 fully comp, 48mpg and it does 140mph, so I'm told.....)

Best cars were my first ever car, a B reg VW polo which was seemingly bulletproof, and then my beloved Audi 80 1.9TDi Avant estate. Bought it for £800 cash with 140000 miles on it and it ran like a train, pulled tree stumps out, went like stink, ran on cooking oil, and was a fantastic car until it threw a rod through the side of the crank case

Worst car - ford fiesta 1.8 diesel. Nothing but trouble from start to finish.

 

[TRXnMe]

I'd actually kill for a Capri with a Cleveland small block fitted. Seen the price of decent ones now?!?!

No, and I'm not going to look either

I'm of the age that thinks youthful memories were brilliant, but having tried to re-live some of it I've learnt it was OK at 18 when I could go a week on 4 hours sleep, but not so good now I need my 6 hours a night

 

[beermaker]

I'd definately have another Audi 80 Avant. I'd be happy with the 1.9 TDi again, but would LOVE the
RS-2 one tricked up by Porsche!!

Other toys I want - an Audi Quattro, a Landrover Defender 130 TD5, a Mercedes Unimog and a John Deere 8650, just for the crack!