Advice on Projects! Estate, 1.8, Track?

[Eeyore]

Okay I need some advice guys! its a bit of a read but id like some opinions. I know its my choice but i would really appreciate your thoughts!

Im 20 and about to finish my final year in uni. Will probably be living with my parents for the next few years and have possible access to a single garage and car port!

Currently I am driving the hdi estate i got for £300 and in the end the car cost £600 quid on the road, new clutch and full years of MOT and tax. Pretty good I feel!

I still have the 1.8 stored in said garage. Now I paid £900 for it last year and I have done a bit of work to it since. Its up for sale at £800 which i presume everyone agrees is a fair price!

So questions...

1) Shall I take off all the bits I want off the 1.8 or will it put people off?

The possible people interested in the car are either my mates or people off here who know the car and the modifications on it. Should I take off everything I want (gti6 brakes, strut braces, mint leather seats, black masks, wind deflectors) or are people going to say 'oh but it had this and now it doesnt so i want £50 off'. Granted the parts are worth more removed from it so i may as well put them on the estate and people will have to deal with it.

2) Projects. Estate and ... ?

Im going to finish uni at easter and be permanently back down south unless i get a job somewhere else. Now I need the estate as a daily as it can actually go over speedbumps, take all my sailing kit and everything and it can tow the speedboat better than the 1.8. And it much more fuel efficient. The question here is... where is the fun? D:

I really enjoyed Pugfest and FCS on track this year and I dont want to miss out on the track action so Ive been thinking of a second hatch project which is only taken out now and again. Granted I have the estate which is going to be a big project already as I want to FMIC and stage 2. Fit my gti6 brakes. Lower. I would lower it 60mm but im not sure how the back would cope with loads and towing D:

I presume I cant afford to run two cars however ill ask flux to give me a quote with a second car with only a few thousand miles per year. A gti6 is the obvious progression after the 1.8. But would a decent XUD be good too? I have spotted this on ebay local to me and if i could get it for £500 then maybe it would be a really good project?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?V...TQ:GB:1123

3) Definitely sell the 1.8?

I keep having thoughts. Should I be keeping the 1.8 and making it more awesome? its already exactly how i want it and it would be even better with a 6 speed box! Eventually maybe it could be the first super charged 1.8? D: I have also got the opportunity to buy all new bumpers bonnets and boot cheap to make it absolutely mint! It was brilliant fun on track this year and I dont want to miss out on track action! Problem is... its 5 door so its never going to look right with buckets so if i sank a load of money into it Id probably realise i chose the wrong car as a base!

Then again I have been offered £700 for it which... isnt bad but isnt what I want either!

Hopefully ive got years left of my life to spend on 306s but Im sure we all feel we would like to have an epic project at some point so maybe I can wait a few years for the right 6.

Thanks for reading and all opinions are appreciated apart from anyone who decides to be a massive joker. Id like to think this is one of my more serious threads!

Sam
not a racist

[samass]

right, read halfway thru, got bored. got the jist tho

1. put the 1.8 back to standard and sell, probably cheap. IMO, 800 is a bit high, but if you're willing to hold out, it will get that I'd imagine.

2. Stage 2 the hdi estate. went out in little jonny's at the christmas meet, and ohmyfuckingjesustittyfuckingchrist, I want one. that thing seemed brutal, and seemed to grip the road really well, and it sounds epic! for a filthy diesel.
get thicker tortion bars on the back, and it'll be fine for towing your paddle boat, and still be practical. probably be another group buy sometime soon. fit the rest of the shinies off the 1.8, and i'd reckon you could have a cracking car.

3. deffo sell the 1.8. unless you boost it.

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oh and since I've been faaaaar too nice to little jonny in that post, his car's shit, and he's too short, he's northern and he smells. of cheese.

[Eeyore]

And will I look like a plonker if I track it at FCS or pugfest? I think It would be pretty cool if it was going fast enough to surprise people! Actually that does sound good having a track setup estate with a kind of show car/daily style interior

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?V...TQ:GB:1123

Any thoughts on that ebay XUD? I have been messaging the guy and he has a super charged bmw and a tracked estate and does some other buggy/military style offroading and apparently doesnt have room for it. Only reason he is breaking is because he thought he would get more for it than selling. He says he has put a good grand into it (havent we all) Im pretty sure those body kits are worth nothing. 6 beam is worth 100 so with no T&T he would probably get about £450-500 breaking it? So I could buy the car complete off him for that surely?

i guess all the time im running the estate I am saving fuel money that could eventually go towards a 6 when im older!

[samass]

tracking the estate would be win. strip it, cage it, make it a balls out track slag. stage 6 the fucker! and you probably won't want a '6 if you get a stage 2 hdi, I'v never driven either, but been passengers in both, and I reckon a stage 2 hdi would be more fun.... less bwarp tho, which is a massive downside...

i say leave that dt alone, no money in the panels, little money in the engine, maybe a few shinies, but probably not worth your time and effort

[Eeyore]

After ive finished uni i cant see any reason why Ill need space for 5 people anyway. Track estate would be mental...

[Matt]

After driving a Rallye and being passenger in jonnys stage 2 it pains me to say it but the estate was epic. Torque steering wheels spinning and that was with mega clutch slip.
Was insane!

[samass]

Exactly. And f*ck giving people lifts anyway, ruins the weight distribution!

[Matt]

Exactly. So want a stage 2hdi now. Was an animal!!!

[samass]

but dont tell jonny!

[Matt]

His ego will be taller than him if he finds out

[samass]

But it still won't pass our knees

[Matt]

Or shins for that matter

[procta]

id sell the 1.8. never drove a remapped estate, but drove a stage 2.5 HDI. it was about a vicious as my vvc, laugh is estates make great sleepers, having a sleeper is a propper scream!

[Toms306]

1) Yes take what you want off the 1.8! It'll cost you more in the long run to buy/paint the bits over again than it will to just keep them and knock say £50 off for someone if they ask. Wish I hadn't left certain bits in my 1.8 when I got rid, then again I didn't expext to be back in a 306 so soon lol. Not sure about taking the brakes off though, unless your standards are still in good enough condition to put back on and bleed up ok. Atleast the GTi ones havent been on long enough to sieze up I guess.

2) Down to money really, I almost guarantee you can't insure 2 cars permanently (but could maybe use one on a temp basis now and then instead). Personally I can't see the point in having 2 diesels, I know they're different, but I don't think they're different enough to make the weekend/track car fun. Personally I'd have something fast and petrol (probably low boosted 6) for the track, but each to thier own really. Your HDi should be failrly 'quick' when you FMIC and stage 2 it - but bear in mind due to the weight it'll still only be about 120bhp/tonne. Just to make some sense of that, the Golf was 150bhp/tonne, stage 1 HDi estate is 105bhp/tonne, your 1.8 (going on the dyno'd 125bhp and weight of 1100kg) is 113bhp/tonne. So the stage 2 estate won't really be much quicker than the 1.8, although obviously the power delivery is different and you'll have (albeit a small amount) boost. So I'd imagine you'd want something MUCH quicker for a toy, whats the point otherwise? Each to thier own though as said, thats just my opinion.

3) Totally your choice really. You won't get money back that you put into the 1.8 now. So if you do it, it's gotta something you really want to commit to, not just some half arsed attempt where you get bored halfway through lol. But it's also gotta be something really different to justify the amount of money you'd need to spend.....

[InkedMuttley]

Sam
not a racist

The fact that you're not a racist Sam is a bit of a grey area (See what I did there BADABUM-Tshhhh)

But you are right in the fact a 5 door is not going to look right with buckets at all!

But totally agree with Procta...Estate's are the way to go good and comfortable on the daily drive but when you want to f*ck around they're epic, I had the good fortune to be able to throw mine around Cadwell Park (was a marshal there for the season and will be there next year) and it was much more fun than I actually thought it would be and when it used to cock its leg up in some of the corners (the hairpin was great!) and was surprised that it managed to keep up with a couple of bigger cars and outcornered a couple of the marshal's cars...PLUS. There is also the fun factor of overtaking people with the boost and then coaling them to add insult to injury!

[puglove]

Hdi as a daily. Take a few bits off the 1.8 take the 700 and run. Then buy a cheap 6 next year

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IMO!!

[Tom]

Sell it all and get a k20 converted mini?

[Eeyore]

thanks for the input guys! Yeh the sound of a fast track estate sounds epic so I think Ill have to work towards that. Ill get a project thread up soon and over christmas Ill swap the nice bits from the 1.8 to the estate Then the money from the sale will go towards FMIC and maybe some thicker torsion bars! Ive already got some more lovelies lined up so the front end should look mint when I get round to fitting them!

[puglove]

In that case break the 1.8 keep all your trick bits then sell me the boot lid

[Ed Doe]

Track estate would be mental...

#benchmark

[samass]

Track estate would be mental...

#benchmark

Hmmm.....

[Matt]

No Sam. You need to sell yours haha. Tracks don't have a a dock. f*ck knows how that ^^^^ got there

[cwspellowe]

Personally I like the way the estate drives, especially with the thicker tb's at the rear, the extra weight (although not that much extra) makes it feel much more planted than my GTI was. Bit soft on the 20mm tb's but amazing on the 23.5's.

I'm considering tracking my 'state next year. If I get the engine a bit more abuse-proof. GT2056 XUD track weapon ftw!

[Eeyore]

Yeh the estate definitely feels more planted. Everytime ive got a new 306 it always feel better. The 1.8 felt a more well made than the 1.4 and the gear box actually seemed to be connected to something. The estate feels a lot heavier and planted than the 1.8 which is down to the extra weight on the back but it does feel very rolly cornering at 70mph (+10 maybe). I presume some lowering and strut braces will make it alot better. Along with 50 profiles instead of 55s.

Maybe if i get some 23.5 tbs then ill fit them lowering. Will make two jobs into one then!

[Toms306]

I've said so many times before stripping the rear of a hatch is pointless, you need weight over the beam to keep the rear end planted, it always feels much better with a full tank of fuel.......and everytime people go 'ooooooow but that adds weight and slows you down and wastes fuel', well I'd rather have handling than a little more speed lol. The estate gets that effect without the extra fuel though!

The problem with your estate is the swallows if you're still on those Sam. The steering gets a better weight and the handling gets better with less sidewall flex on 'clones! Was the first thing I noticed when I put the swallows back on....how shit they are lol. And how uncomfortable the 'low profile' rear swallows were, 185/55/14 wasn't nice lol, caused rattles everywhere too.

[Eeyore]

As if I would leave the swallows on! They came off 2 hours after i picked up the car lol Its on cyclones now! Ill probably swap them for my shadow chrome ones!

[Toms306]

Try putting some air in the 'clones then!

I've driven mine pretty hard and not had any rolly problems lol, but I suppose anything feels less rolly than a mk4 golf with f*cked wishbones haha. Oh, forgot I put those Eibach springs on though! It does feel even more planted since them, was a little rolly before I guess.

It doesn't feel at all stable at speed though which is annoying, Golf didn't feel any different at 120mph or 60mph, the 306 seems to go really light and wobbly at anything over 90. But of course you shouldn't be doing that anyway.

[Eeyore]

yeh it only leans a lot when youre going round a long bend at 80 D: I guess its just gripping on and the body is trying to escape!

[Toms306]

I can't think of any long bends at 80 round here to try it out lol. But yeah you're probably right, I'd guess its to do with the really soft front springs though, get rid of them and I bet it gets better.

[Jonny81191]

sam don't bother with 50 profiles. If i were you I'd lower it on springs, uprated dampers, thicker (23.5mm) torsion bars, decent uprated rear shocks, and get some 16" wheels. Then check everything's attached properly suspension wise and you should have a pretty epic machine. Mine is happy around corners at some pretty silly speeds, always feels very predictable though, and never feels like it's leaning at all.

Also, I'm sorry tom, but you're talking bollocks. There's no way on this planet sam's 1.8 could keep up with my estate. Wouldn't even get close. Unless we're talking well into 3 figures, but even then I'd possibly have the edge.