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

Aren't you supposed to start at the same time as the other bloke?

Not always, it's what's called a car length in racing terms (e.g 5x the actual car length.

Was popular back in the day and still is with street racers as you do a trial race where people usually sandbag (not giving it their all) so you have to call someone's bluff.

Just placed order for one of these :) 2ltr turbo diesel, coming march 1st.

New wheels, remap, custom exhaust, better breathing, proper ARBs, humongous porsche brakes and it should be good to go. 141bhp as standard so hoping I can squeeze some more out of it

Looks nice, but if you want more power a petrol motor would have been a start.

tractor engines >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

200lbft torque and 60mpg from the same car = epic win.

Diesel Engined Race Vehicles <<<<<<

Just placed order for one of these :) 2ltr turbo diesel, coming march 1st.

New wheels, remap, custom exhaust, better breathing, proper ARBs, humongous porsche brakes and it should be good to go. 141bhp as standard so hoping I can squeeze some more out of it

Just wind boost up, no?

Looks pretty decent, I would have gone for a Mini personally, but then, I am biased.

Who wants to lend me about £12,000 to do a 20B turbo conversion to the MX5?

200lbft torque and 60mpg from the same car = epic win.

Diesel Engined Race Vehicles <<<<<<

60mpg unlikely to be possible after it's been souped up though :-)

The horrible sound, lack of flexibility & high-end power, the stench of the exhaust, and the clouds of soot from the inevitable DPF removal strike me as too high a price to pay for a bit more fuel economy. If you're not doing tens of thousands of motorway miles every year then there's no financial saving to be had opting for diesel.

You hit on longevity. Second hand petrol cars tend to depreciate moAr than diesel? Diesel good fo 200k fagetaboutit.

But is the turbo? Usually they are knackered in half that time as the car drops out of regular servicing.

It's no coincidence that the Merc diesels renowned for doing interstellar mileages are the non-turbo models.
My petrol car runs like new and it's done 208000 miles so far.

the mercedes OM642LS is a pretty good diesel unit

Looks nice, but if you want more power a petrol motor would have been a start.

tractor engines >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

True, however I have family who work at audi and I got a really, really good deal on this, if I had to pay the extra for the petrol version I wouldn't have gone for it

Excited to get it!

If you want a diesel for the economy then fine, and it does look like a very nice car.
I just don't understand the logic behind buying one and then immediately planning to spend lots of money making it faster and thirstier when even the 1.4 turbo is faster, and the 1.8 is even more so (and the 2.0 S3 goes like shit off a shovel)

^this, not to mention insurance ramifications

If you want a diesel for the economy then fine, and it does look like a very nice car.
I just don't understand the logic behind buying one and then immediately planning to spend lots of money making it faster and thirstier when even the 1.4 turbo is faster, and the 1.8 is even more so (and the 2.0 S3 goes like shit off a shovel)

Like I say the deal was only on a 2ltr diesel, would have cost me an absolute fortune to get any other model. Don't really want to post the facts and figures but anyone would be stupid not to go for it. Not looking to do all the mods at once, probably spaced out over a year or so. Something more appealing about a fast diesel too

Changed indicator assembly, rebuilt wiper stalks, changed wiper motor and sorted out my outer steering column! MOT tomorrow hopefully my new fog light will arrive in time!
Car is essentially fully rebuilt now
Also fitted a new alpine headunit with built in parrot bluetooth handsfree and some jbl 3 way 6x9's BEST. THING. EVER
Looking at getting some new alloy 10's
Also a real carbon fibre dash to replace the rotten wooden one I have which I've rattled canned black

How much of the car that you bought is left now?

The shell, front subframe and engine :P

So fully rebuilt is a bit of a stretch, no? :)

Good luck with the MOT

Day after the MOT, V-L's garage:

The car was running 10% emissions lol
Now down to 3.5% to get it through....probs needs a new carb

Wasn't the engine tuned?

Still running the SU?

It was last June that it got rr
SUs tend to lose their tune over time / big changes in temperature like we have been having

I'd expect it to be running leaner with the colder temps.