11-06-2012, 09:57 PM
That's it, i'm converted. Bit of an essay this but I just felt like expressing my, erm, expressions.
Ok, where to start? I've always been a petrol head. Can't beat a V8 rumble or the scream of throttle bodies. And before today, the only cars i've ever driven have been petrol, with the exception of my asthmatic Transit 85/250 that has an electronic limiter to 70mph although god knows why, it barely even makes it to 65.
Today I went and threw caution to the wind and sent the Estate for it's MOT. No idea what the drive would be like, or fuel economy, boost leaks under load, state of tune, what crap was lurking in the bottom of the fuel tank, a complete unknown. Imagine someone saying "here's the keys for that car over there. Take it to its MOT. It might pass, might not. It's been sat dormant with no engine or suspension for 6 months and it's just been fitted with an engine that may have a warped head. And here's the thing, if it doesn't pass, you can pretty much kiss goodbye to that romantic weekend you have planned this week".
Fills you with confidence, right?
Nerves ran high as I slowly rolled it off the drive, backwards too to soften the pain of the sound of several things grinding around behind me. What I can't see can't hurt me, good philosophy. A sideways glance out of the wingmirror to make sure I give the curb plenty of room reminds me that 9" wide wheels don't fit on 306's. Not normally anyway.
Clunk the doubly shortened gear change into first, slight revs, and away we go. Nerves still there and i'm not sure what of more; the impending MOT or the drive to the station. Hopefully the extra 1" ride height will allow some suspension movement to make things more.. bearable?
Down the bottom of the street and round the village. 2nd gear. Sunken manhole covers seem to make a nice loud thud as they're traversed, maybe stay away from most of them. Lots of patch repairs around the place too, bang bang bang but nothing too bad, not like yesterday, not like when they were static. No bouncing, dampers seem to be controlling rebound ok. Up the hill to the top of the village, onto the main road.
Indicate right, roads are quite, rush hour is over. Should I? I probably should. No point being scared to rev it given the fact it's going to cover 800 miles in a week. Rather something breaks in the village than outside Manchester or, even worse, southern england...
Hold the revs, first gear, drop the clutch, BANG! Launches out of the side street and down the main road. Second gear comes too soon, almost pointless having first. Probably shouldn't have hit third at the revs I did in a 30mph limit. This doesn't feel standard though. This feels.. impressive. Boost gauge reads 18-19psi and holds it to 4.5k rpm. Not bad for an engine that just had the headgasket replaced and a custom FMIC. Only internal mod is the LDA grind and not a hint of smoke.
The avoidance of pot holes becomes second nature, and the sheer grip from the 350+lb springs and camber make it drive like it's on rails. Yes it's bastardly low but, combined with the GTI suspension parts, it drives better than the Sundance.
WTF?
Figured i'd take the scenic route to the MOT, up the motorway. Banged it up to 4krpm in 4th and saw the temp gauge climb so backed off. Soon as I did though it dropped back to bang on 83deg. Looks like the head's holding and the thermostat's working, that manual fan switch can stay off for now.
Pull in to the MOT station, hand him my keys, go for a walk.
An hour later, he hands me an A4 bit of paper declaring NOTHING went wrong, nothing to even advise me of. Three hours later and insurance paperwork is printed and the Post Office has my money.
10 hours later and i'm loving every minute of DTurbo ownership so far. Well played little estate, we got there.
/bored
Ok, where to start? I've always been a petrol head. Can't beat a V8 rumble or the scream of throttle bodies. And before today, the only cars i've ever driven have been petrol, with the exception of my asthmatic Transit 85/250 that has an electronic limiter to 70mph although god knows why, it barely even makes it to 65.
Today I went and threw caution to the wind and sent the Estate for it's MOT. No idea what the drive would be like, or fuel economy, boost leaks under load, state of tune, what crap was lurking in the bottom of the fuel tank, a complete unknown. Imagine someone saying "here's the keys for that car over there. Take it to its MOT. It might pass, might not. It's been sat dormant with no engine or suspension for 6 months and it's just been fitted with an engine that may have a warped head. And here's the thing, if it doesn't pass, you can pretty much kiss goodbye to that romantic weekend you have planned this week".
Fills you with confidence, right?
Nerves ran high as I slowly rolled it off the drive, backwards too to soften the pain of the sound of several things grinding around behind me. What I can't see can't hurt me, good philosophy. A sideways glance out of the wingmirror to make sure I give the curb plenty of room reminds me that 9" wide wheels don't fit on 306's. Not normally anyway.
Clunk the doubly shortened gear change into first, slight revs, and away we go. Nerves still there and i'm not sure what of more; the impending MOT or the drive to the station. Hopefully the extra 1" ride height will allow some suspension movement to make things more.. bearable?
Down the bottom of the street and round the village. 2nd gear. Sunken manhole covers seem to make a nice loud thud as they're traversed, maybe stay away from most of them. Lots of patch repairs around the place too, bang bang bang but nothing too bad, not like yesterday, not like when they were static. No bouncing, dampers seem to be controlling rebound ok. Up the hill to the top of the village, onto the main road.
Indicate right, roads are quite, rush hour is over. Should I? I probably should. No point being scared to rev it given the fact it's going to cover 800 miles in a week. Rather something breaks in the village than outside Manchester or, even worse, southern england...
Hold the revs, first gear, drop the clutch, BANG! Launches out of the side street and down the main road. Second gear comes too soon, almost pointless having first. Probably shouldn't have hit third at the revs I did in a 30mph limit. This doesn't feel standard though. This feels.. impressive. Boost gauge reads 18-19psi and holds it to 4.5k rpm. Not bad for an engine that just had the headgasket replaced and a custom FMIC. Only internal mod is the LDA grind and not a hint of smoke.
The avoidance of pot holes becomes second nature, and the sheer grip from the 350+lb springs and camber make it drive like it's on rails. Yes it's bastardly low but, combined with the GTI suspension parts, it drives better than the Sundance.
WTF?
Figured i'd take the scenic route to the MOT, up the motorway. Banged it up to 4krpm in 4th and saw the temp gauge climb so backed off. Soon as I did though it dropped back to bang on 83deg. Looks like the head's holding and the thermostat's working, that manual fan switch can stay off for now.
Pull in to the MOT station, hand him my keys, go for a walk.
An hour later, he hands me an A4 bit of paper declaring NOTHING went wrong, nothing to even advise me of. Three hours later and insurance paperwork is printed and the Post Office has my money.
10 hours later and i'm loving every minute of DTurbo ownership so far. Well played little estate, we got there.
/bored
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