Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Hmm...

strokes chin

I should edit that to "I'd love an E39 M5..."

I think only for a maximum of 6 months, and I couldn't insure it here on Irish plates. My insurance in Ireland only covers me for 90 days abroad. Irish motor tax is insanely high compared to UK motor tax (€1000 a year vs £300 a year).

So in order to keep the Irish plates I'd need to keep it taxed and drive home every 3 months. Not worth the hassle.

Will those ITBs take the boost levels you're running at? And bear in mind you'll need to fabricate a plenum which will survive both the boost and the induction pulses, so will need to be fairly sturdy. Other than that, hell yeah, JFDI. Although I'd suggest making sure the ITBs have take-offs so you can use something like a Morgan Carbtune for balancing the ITBs, otherwise that's going to be a Right Royal PITA.

Insure off chasis number ;)

I've had to do that to transfer the plates, massively inflated price, £270 for 30 days!

I had convinced myself I wanted a new car (see a few pages back) with a budget of about 20k.

On Saturday I took both a clio 220 trophy and a fiesta st for a whip around Kent.

Clio 220 trophy:
It is a much bigger car than previous clios, very refined, great fit and finish. In standard settings it's quite a nice tame car to drive. Can make good progress through the gears, steering is adequately weighted, seats are ok. Flick it into RS1 and instantly you notice the sharper throttle, it holds the gear much longer in auto mode, the gears snap a bit quicker in paddle shift, the exhaust is quite a bit louder and pops and farts a bit as you slap up through the gears. I've read reviews where people think the change isn't fast enough, but I would challenge anyone to shift a manual box quicker. It's very well damped, and you can make great progress on quiet B roads. It feels like a safe, new, modern car.

Fiesta ST:
Feels like a much smaller, older design than the clio. The doors feel a bit lighter and there is a less reassuring clunk as you close them. The cabin is a bit noisier, but that also makes it feel a bit faster, even though it isn't. The gear change is very positive, it pulls hard through the gears and you can hear the turbo spooling from 2nd through 6th. I think boost must be restricted in 1st. The steering was nicely weighted, probably a bit more feedback through the wheel than the clio. The seats are much better in the fiesta. Its certainly a bit stiffer on the road than the clio too.

I think on drive alone the clio is a much more appealing prospect, it would be a much more appealing car to live with day to day.

But then there was the price. The ex-demo clio trophy was £18.5k, they are not taking any orders for new cars as there is a facelift on the way. I was offered a fiesta that had been ordered into the dealer as a demo car, st2 with a few optional upgrades for £16.5k.

I was sorely tempted by the fiesta, and even dropped at small refundable deposit on it, but having slept on it opted to cancel.

I wasn't eligible for finance on the renault on the basis that I have only been back in the UK 3 months, and my UK bank account essentially lay dormant for 14 months prior to that. Ford were confident I'd have no problem getting finance on the fiesta.

But in the end, I didn't want to buy the fiesta just for the sake of buying a new car. It was great, but I much preferred the clio, and would be much happier to keep that long term, so I'll hold off until the new RS clio is out in 6-9 months time and see if I can qualify for pcp on that.

TLDR: don't listen to the poor reviews about the RS Clio 200 EDC, it's a blinder of a car!

Volvo 240 featuring push-rod suspension:

I think I have found my perfect car: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Porsche-912-/182176690910?forcerrptr=true&hash=item2a6a93b2de:g:VK4AAOSwzJ5XZrJ6&item=182176690910

It's a short bus ride away, I'm tempted to go and have a look at it.

And one big ass turbo!

I ran Blitz ITB's on my CRX back in the late 90's. It had a decently spec'd gsr motor. I could never get them to run right. If I ran WOT they would run fine...but the gas/let off was like an on/off switch. Sounded incredible though. Almost ended up going to 40mm Mikuni's but sold the car. I remember Mugen getting 180-200ish out of 1.5 NON-Turbo SOHC using Mikuni's back in the 80's.

At the time they had some $2500 programmable ECU...either JG Racing or something similar. I had some modified Honda ecu with some rich fuel program and some janky piggyback programmable fuel deal. The stuff they have now for ITB's/tuning is incredible...and cheap.

I actually had an easier time with my triple Mikuni'd 240Z. Just get the linkage set, sync them, fiddle with jets, and just leave them alone. More you fiddle, the more issues.

This thread is giving me the itch again. I've had a FJ80 Land Cruiser that's been rock solid but I want to get around to messing with cars again. Trying to convince pops to do a father/son restoration on something fun. Trying to convince him to get an old 911E 2.2 like he used to have. Such a simple car to work on. You can work on a bug, old 911s are cake. Another possibility is a BMW 1600/2002, one of the mid to late 60's Alfa coupes (preferably a stepnose), or even a E30 318IS or later Quattro coupe.

My step mom is all for it since it will get my dad occupied...time will see.

Lovely looking car in that brown.

I like it a lot.

Project '76 part 2...

Yeah ITB tuning has got much, much better. I'm running a MegaSquirt PNP and the guy who mapped it on the dyno in Alpha N is nothing short of a genius. I get a small amount of cold start issue but other than that it runs really smoothly.

Yesterday I had a bit of an amazing experience. I have been obsessed with the Porsche 930 Flatnose since I was a kid, especially the 930 Turbo. Yesterday evening I just happened to see one trundling down Kingsland Road banging away on overrun, so I just started sprinting after it in the hope I could take a photo. As luck would have it, the guy driving happened to turn into the Turkish mosque round the corner and I caught him up and asked if I could take a couple of photos. I took some photos, he got me to sit in the driver seat and took photos of me in it (I'm such a loser...), and then he told me to get in the passenger seat and took me out for a drive in it.

This guy said he used to run a specialist garage but he's retired now. He bought the car in 1987, 1 year old, and he's done some fettling over the years, and it was fucking fast. A fair bit of lag but when it came on boost the back end was squatting hard and lighting up the tyres. I won't say exactly how fast he managed to go between traffic lights but it was insane.

It was so epic. I know at the end of the day it's "just" a 930 Turbo with a 935 front end on it, but to me it was Porsche's half-way house to the 935, sure you could get a street-legal 935 but that's me as a kid, I knew I would never be able to get my hands on a 935 so why dream too big...?

And yet you've posted no photos....

Kremer.

Even the name makes u warm. Stealth!

What do you mean "never get your hands on one"?

https://www.classicdriver.com/en/car/porsche/935/1977/391365

Rode past a lotus tuning place in Artarmon, Sydney today. Many race prepped lotii. Will have to take a snap next time. Also saw a lime green volvo coupe from around the 240 era. And many many "tuned" gt86's. Seems to be the p plater car of choice here. All useless info without pics...

Cheeky milli

930 Flatnose Turbo by NurseHolliday, on Flickr

930 Flatnose Turbo by NurseHolliday, on Flickr

930 Flatnose Turbo by NurseHolliday, on Flickr

And looking 100% gimp:

930 Flatnose Turbo by NurseHolliday, on Flickr

Mint.

Lovely car.

Shame about that pose though. :)

Love it!

just back from le mans, what a brilliant experience :)

https://youtu.be/GmvXF0smtks