Car Thread II

[bigcheez2k3]

I finally bought an RX-8 last week



Swapped the front strut brace for an after-market one that has a master cylinder brace too.

[False]

Congrats dude

How are you finding it

[Death's Head]

Someone who used to work for me had one of those but the fuel consumption got to him in the end (not sure if he still has it).

[Poser]

Nice! Have you budgeted for the annual VED payments?

[Death's Head]

He will already know about that as he'd have had to pay for it already as the road tax is no longer transferable. There was a time when the tax was lower on this car as the government based it on engine size, but then got smart.

[Poser]

I was being facetious, but yeah... I keep looking at top-bracket cars but even the monthly payments are about £50.

[shadow202]

Currently driving a Toyota Aygo, it's about a year old and I'm thinking of changing it for a DS3, has anyone on here ever driven one?

[Rightey]

That looks very nice BigCheez, I really like the colour as well!

[bigcheez2k3]

Congrats dude

How are you finding it

Compared to the 306 it's quite an upgrade. Finding it awkward trying not to stall it as I've pretty much exclusively had diesels since passing.

The engine was rebuilt about a week before I got it so I'm currently running it in but I really want to give it some beans as it feels like there is some fun to be had.

Someone who used to work for me had one of those but the fuel consumption got to him in the end (not sure if he still has it).

On the owners club forum they have a "300 mile club" as it's good to get 300 miles from a tank which is going to be a shock as I'm used to 550-600 with the diesels. I don't do a massive amount of mileage a year though and I'm keeping the 306 so it shouldn't be too bad.

Nice! Have you budgeted for the annual VED payments?

Yeah, that one is pretty scary. Initially I was looking for the pre March 2006 cars but it really reduced my choices so I kinda just gave up on that idea. I've paid for a year, I'll worry about it again in March

[Rightey]

Looking for that new car, just came across this...

http://www.autotrader.ca/a/Hupmobile/Ce ... rup=1_15_1

Pros:
+ Convertible
+ No Rust
+ Classy
+ Leather Interior

Cons:
???
I'm not really seeing anything

[Death's Head]

I think getting parts could be a bitch but other than that I cannot see one issue that could be a problem. What could possibly go wrong with an 80 year old car? Go for it, one in three people here drive a car that is over 60 years old.

[bigcheez2k3]

Pro - Could have a steering wheel mounted throttle.

[False]

Congrats dude

How are you finding it

Compared to the 306 it's quite an upgrade. Finding it awkward trying not to stall it as I've pretty much exclusively had diesels since passing.

The engine was rebuilt about a week before I got it so I'm currently running it in but I really want to give it some beans as it feels like there is some fun to be had.

Good gooseberry fool. Took me a couple of weeks to get back into the flow of petrol manual after a year or so of driving the DSG, but now Im shifting like a badman, way more fun.

--

I saw some Puma Drift Cat shoes in a shop a few weeks back and they look awesome for driving in, but they all have some sort of cringey manufacturer branding tie in. I want the shoes but I dont want to be a wanker advertising Mercedes or Ferrari or BMW or some gooseberry fool.

http://uk.puma.com/uk/en/mens/shoes/mot ... efv1=false

[Poser]

There are plain black or white ones there that don't look tarty. Or just get some loafers, like Senna.

[False]

I dont like the logo placement of the plain ones and I prefer the sole configuration of the future design.

[Corazon de Leon]

Noob question - how regularly do you guys get your tires changed? I know precisely strawberry float all about cars(hence why I drive a 2013 plate Corsa), and am interested to know how regularly I should be budgeting for this.

[False]

When they need it tbh. Maybe about every 10k with premium sports tires.

[Rightey]

Noob question - how regularly do you guys get your tires changed? I know precisely strawberry float all about cars(hence why I drive a 2013 plate Corsa), and am interested to know how regularly I should be budgeting for this.

As Falsey said, you need to measure them, there is no precise mileage it depends on your driving habits.

I don't know about UK currency, but here you can use a quarter, and going by how much of the queens face is visible you can know how much tread depth you have left, or you could buy a tread depth gauge if you are some sort of millionaire.

The search for my car continues. I'm going to go tomorrow to a Kia dealership to check out a Soul, AKA a sportier version of the Nissan Cube.



Pros:
+ Cheap, like very cheap, I can get a new one with some good features for the cost of a 2-3 year old CR-V or Rav4.
+ Looks roomy (Wife is thinking about the future, so need to think of putting in baby seats and the like)
+ Good on gas
+ Reliability is predicted to be Ok (Based off Consumer Reports review).
++ I can use my current rims (I bought some nicer ones for my Lexus and the bolt pattern/offset is the same which would be very nice as I spent a decent amount of money on those).

Cons:
- Not exactly fast, comes with a 1.6L @ 130HP or 2.0L @160HP if I go a bit above my budget
- Probably won't be as reliable as a Rav4, CR-V.

Because I want something for the future I'm leaning towards SUV's, it's just their all so... slow.

I did however come across something a bit faster...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Flex

I would need to get a used one as the new one is $10K above my price range of $20K, but it looks fairly decent:

Pros:
+ Fast
+ Probably nicer inside than a comparably priced CR-V or Rav4
+ Lots of Room
+ Predicted Reliability is good.

Cons:
- Maybe too much room, seats 7, I don't really need something that big right now.
- Terrible on gas, it gets 18MPG, pretty much the same as my car now, except thankfully this takes regular so it would still be cheaper for me
- The twin turbos in the ecoboost engine (which I want) is another thing which could go wrong.

Other cars I'm considering as you've probably deduced would be the Rav4, CR-V, or Subaru Forester if I can find some good condition ones but I don't really feel like I want any of those. The Soul, and the Flex at least have some interesting points about them, the others just seem so bog standard. I know the forester comes in with a sportier engine, but I would be looking at a newer one, and I don't think that's available anymore.

Any opinions?

[Poser]

Re the reliability of the Kia, doesn't it come with a 7 year warranty?

If you get one of those, try to push for the 160bhp model. A 1.6 engine pushing out 130bhp will likely feel very wheezy. Always get the best you possibly can.

It's a big thing for me to have a car I want to be driving, so try not to let your head rule your heart totally

[SEP]

Kia Soul is strawberry floating ugly as sin, though.