Hi all,
I dont know if any of you on here remember me, I guess probably not as I was not a big poster here and I actually owned a Skoda not a Seat.
However I am thinking of returning to the sooty side, I have not made my mind up yet and that is why I am here, to see if anyone here can give me some insight.
OK, to briefly tell you how I arrived back here, back in 2004 I bought a Skoda Fabia vRS, a car which I did like, but frustrated me in some respects, in that it was a rather heavy old beast, not all that quick (but mine was standard), and not as economical as I had kind of hoped it would be.
I ended up getting rid of it, and to cut a long story short, today I am driving a Japanese Import, a Honda Integra Type R. Let me say that I really do like this car a lot, its fast, it sounds wonderful, and it handles superbly.
So why am I here, you might ask? The problem is, it is just too addictive to drive, and I end driving it a LOT.
Basically, it is costing me a bloody fortune. Ironic really, because its not actually that expensive on the grand scale of things. However, I have over the years got myself into £13,000 of debt and my teg is really the only asset that I have of any real value to help get rid of the debt, and thats only worth probably £6,500!
While I love the way it looks, and like the way it drives, there are other things about it that are starting to grate.
Its a very focused car, which is great when you are in the mood, but becomes somewhat wearing when you arent. Its very noisy, no point in having a good stereo (4,200 RPM @ 70 mph, no soundproofing, lots of tyre noise). It needs to be revved hard to make good progress. Its not as bad as most people make VTEC engines out to be, but making even modestly rapid progress involves revving to just under 6000 RPM, which to be fair to a Honda B18 engine, isnt actually thrashing it, so its deceptive in a way.
Main bad points for me though are its running costs. Fuel economy is around 25 MPG around town and on the B-roads, although with enough determination, a B-road blast can return mid-teens MPG. Not only that, but insurance is over £800 a year.
Now normally, I wouldnt mind this, but considering I am paying my debts off at a rate of £350 a month, to have to do almost 15,000 miles a year in a car that does 25 MPG, with a thirst for V-Power, which is 8p a litre more, and to have to pay over £70 a month insurance is starting to take its toll on me, particularly as the only time I feel like I have fun in it is when I go out specifically on a B-road blast, because to be honest it aint much fun the rest of the time.
It is an eye catching car, but it also attracts some rather unwanted attention too... I have had one or two threats made against it in the last few months by idiotic plebs who are obviously jealous, and the amount of boy racers who think you are up for a race can also be a little tiresome when you arent in the mood.
I now notice that 2003 shape Ibiza TDI Sport 130 can now be had for £5-£6k.
My mate who was a member on here (geordiesherman) had one, and he had his remapped, and the performance was very impressive for a dag dag, much faster than my standard Fabia vRS was.
Now, I love cars, and it pains me to even consider getting rid of the teg after 9 months, but ultimately i need to clear my debts ASAP, and in some ways I am starting to get a little bored of driving anyway, but not so much that I want a slow, crappy car.
One thing about my mates TDI Sport was it didnt really handle well, and the brakes were crap.
I am assuming these cars can be made to handle reasonably well though? I am not really after handling as good as an ITR, because quite simply, its not going to happen, but as long as it can be hustled around corners in a fun manner, and also stop without the brakes fading, then I will be happy enough. I think I would miss the engine note of the teg, but I wont miss it day to day having to rev the knackers off it all the time when I aint in the mood, and the torquey TDI engines have their own rewards with a good shove in the back.
So, I was thinking, a TDI Sport for maybe £5,500, some Eibach springs to lower it, 312 mm discs and calipers from the Golf / Audi, and a reasonable remap should give me a 170ish BHP car with lots of torque that should be a reasonable performer in most respects while giving 50 MPG day to day, does this sound reasonable?
I dont know if any of you on here remember me, I guess probably not as I was not a big poster here and I actually owned a Skoda not a Seat.
However I am thinking of returning to the sooty side, I have not made my mind up yet and that is why I am here, to see if anyone here can give me some insight.
OK, to briefly tell you how I arrived back here, back in 2004 I bought a Skoda Fabia vRS, a car which I did like, but frustrated me in some respects, in that it was a rather heavy old beast, not all that quick (but mine was standard), and not as economical as I had kind of hoped it would be.
I ended up getting rid of it, and to cut a long story short, today I am driving a Japanese Import, a Honda Integra Type R. Let me say that I really do like this car a lot, its fast, it sounds wonderful, and it handles superbly.
So why am I here, you might ask? The problem is, it is just too addictive to drive, and I end driving it a LOT.
Basically, it is costing me a bloody fortune. Ironic really, because its not actually that expensive on the grand scale of things. However, I have over the years got myself into £13,000 of debt and my teg is really the only asset that I have of any real value to help get rid of the debt, and thats only worth probably £6,500!
While I love the way it looks, and like the way it drives, there are other things about it that are starting to grate.
Its a very focused car, which is great when you are in the mood, but becomes somewhat wearing when you arent. Its very noisy, no point in having a good stereo (4,200 RPM @ 70 mph, no soundproofing, lots of tyre noise). It needs to be revved hard to make good progress. Its not as bad as most people make VTEC engines out to be, but making even modestly rapid progress involves revving to just under 6000 RPM, which to be fair to a Honda B18 engine, isnt actually thrashing it, so its deceptive in a way.
Main bad points for me though are its running costs. Fuel economy is around 25 MPG around town and on the B-roads, although with enough determination, a B-road blast can return mid-teens MPG. Not only that, but insurance is over £800 a year.
Now normally, I wouldnt mind this, but considering I am paying my debts off at a rate of £350 a month, to have to do almost 15,000 miles a year in a car that does 25 MPG, with a thirst for V-Power, which is 8p a litre more, and to have to pay over £70 a month insurance is starting to take its toll on me, particularly as the only time I feel like I have fun in it is when I go out specifically on a B-road blast, because to be honest it aint much fun the rest of the time.
It is an eye catching car, but it also attracts some rather unwanted attention too... I have had one or two threats made against it in the last few months by idiotic plebs who are obviously jealous, and the amount of boy racers who think you are up for a race can also be a little tiresome when you arent in the mood.
I now notice that 2003 shape Ibiza TDI Sport 130 can now be had for £5-£6k.
My mate who was a member on here (geordiesherman) had one, and he had his remapped, and the performance was very impressive for a dag dag, much faster than my standard Fabia vRS was.
Now, I love cars, and it pains me to even consider getting rid of the teg after 9 months, but ultimately i need to clear my debts ASAP, and in some ways I am starting to get a little bored of driving anyway, but not so much that I want a slow, crappy car.
One thing about my mates TDI Sport was it didnt really handle well, and the brakes were crap.
I am assuming these cars can be made to handle reasonably well though? I am not really after handling as good as an ITR, because quite simply, its not going to happen, but as long as it can be hustled around corners in a fun manner, and also stop without the brakes fading, then I will be happy enough. I think I would miss the engine note of the teg, but I wont miss it day to day having to rev the knackers off it all the time when I aint in the mood, and the torquey TDI engines have their own rewards with a good shove in the back.
So, I was thinking, a TDI Sport for maybe £5,500, some Eibach springs to lower it, 312 mm discs and calipers from the Golf / Audi, and a reasonable remap should give me a 170ish BHP car with lots of torque that should be a reasonable performer in most respects while giving 50 MPG day to day, does this sound reasonable?
