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I bought my dream car.



Jason_E

ClioSport Club Member
  Elise, 530d
It does such a great job of feeling very small and light. It’s honestly got such a “special” feeling I can’t quite put my finger on exactly why?

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mikekean

ClioSport Club Member
  996 C4S, 135i, E30x2
It does such a great job of feeling very small and light. It’s honestly got such a “special” feeling I can’t quite put my finger on exactly why?

View attachment 1506566

It's all down to weight distribution, Porsche really got the rear engine thing nailed by the time the 996 came around. It makes a reasonably heavy car, feel very much on it's toes. Not so great on track when someone cuts you up coming into a corner and you have to honk the brakes on though 😂 . Running them with a full tank is a must on track also, I found when getting under 1/4 you start to get understeer coming out of corners.

The 996 is a great car and very much under appreciated, my bog standard C4S (bar pads) will easily keep pace with modified E46 M3's (brakes, coilovers, final drive etc). Modifying them is extremely expensive though, just a set adjustable front arms was near on £1k! Just as well they are very good standard. You have to be careful what you change as well, I just removed a CSR LWFW and clutch from mine after 250 miles as I didn't like the idle chatter. Great performance upgrade but the chatter and loss of smoothness wasn't what 911 ownership is about IMO.
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Here is mine
 

Jason_E

ClioSport Club Member
  Elise, 530d
New updates!

In between lockdowns on a thrash around the Cotswolds, I had a coolant light appear flashing (low coolant). From that day on, I had the light come on seemingly not long after top up.

I initially thought the expansion tank had cracked as it’s very common, but there was no leakage and it didn’t seem to be bubbling. When storing the car over a Christmas, it became obvious that the culprit was one of the radiators! Luckily these are surprisingly cheap, and the other had already been replaced by the previous owner last year (why wouldn’t you do the pair?).

While it was at my friends place getting the work done, I had him write a list of “to-do” before the MOT. Whilst it would pass, there’s a couple of items that may come up as an advisory:
  • Front track rod dust boot cracked
  • Surface rust on the rear brake discs
  • Rear brake line has some rubbish routing with a kink on one side
  • Patch of rust on the chassis which has been picked up by a few previous MOTs
As well as this, it looks like I could do with a bit of a suspension overhaul. So I’ll be pulling the trigger on all new coffin arms, tuning forks and track rods (front and rear). Oh, and a set of PS4’s for the summer.

Even with all the above, I still think I’ll be doing pretty well on price!

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Jason_E

ClioSport Club Member
  Elise, 530d
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All new shiny bits!

Thats coffin arms, tuning forks, front and rear track rods and read upper control arms all brand new. As you'd expect, my tracking is way out but it feels SO MUCH better to drive now.

I also have a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4 to throw on tomorrow, then I'll get the tracking sorted. From then on, the car is pretty perfect. It did seem to leak a bit of coolant on Saturday from the radiator the previous fucktard replaced, but its stopped so I'm guessing its a dodgy clamp or something. I'll investigate eventually !

As for how its getting on as my "Daily"? Well given I dont really drive anywhere... great! Its actually really nice to drive around town as well as out on more open roads, although its not that comfortable. I've been missing having a big boot so I may pick up a bangernomics estate or hatchback soon to throw the dog in and pick up car parts with!

I actually took a photo with my camera as well....

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DSC_0871 by Jason.Easton, on Flickr
 

Stay Puft

ClioSport Club Member
  Clio 172
Thats coffin arms, tuning forks, front and rear track rods and read upper control arms all brand new. As you'd expect, my tracking is way out but it feels SO MUCH better to drive now.

Good work. How much did that lot set you back if you don’t mind? Did you do front and rear coffin arms? Mine is all in decent nick but i’ll re-new it eventually.
 

Jason_E

ClioSport Club Member
  Elise, 530d
Good work. How much did that lot set you back if you don’t mind? Did you do front and rear coffin arms? Mine is all in decent nick but i’ll re-new it eventually.
It was just over £675. I used a company called Spyder Performance. They certainly seem like good quality!

4x Coffin Arms
4x Tuning forks
2x upper rear control arms
2x Front track rod ends
2x Rear track rods

Thats every single arm that connects hub to chassis on both front and rear. My shocks and springs look almost new, but then again they were upgraded to M030 not that many miles ago! Arms appear (from history) to have just been replaced as and when they need it, rather than doing them all. Plus it sat for a couple of years, not good for rubber. The rear arms and track rods were probably fine but while you're doing it, may as well do it all!


I was in the same boat as you having dreamed of one forever. I took the plunge last week. I’m over the moon with it. It’s been worth the wait

View attachment 1524311
Love the look of the C4S, its just perfect and that looks stunning!
 

Jason_E

ClioSport Club Member
  Elise, 530d
So thought I better update this thread for once!

After fitting all the new suspension arms, getting the tyres and tracking done I've basically just been using it as much as I can! There were a few jobs that I wanted done before the MOT though.

  • First up, the left hand side radiator, the ONLY one the previous mong replaced, was leaking now. It was just a drip, but pissing me off.
  • Secondly, there was a bit of chassis rail that had rust. Its been on the MOT for the last few, seems like someone repaired one side and the other they just stopped the rust.
  • Finally, one of the rear brakelines was poorly routed and had a kink.
  • And as an added bonus, I stripped one thread on the rear anti roll bar mounts when I was doing the coffin arms. Did the same on my Boxster, really common.

As much as I just love working on cars..... Ive given the car to my guy at OBD Works to do it all and take it for its MOT.

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Thats the main thing I wanted done. Not content there, he sorted the RARB mount out to his usual OCD Levels, most people just drill through and use a nut and bolt...

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Even used OEM bolts! Okay, VW OEM, but close enough?

Also did the brake lines but youve all seen that. And turns out the radiator had a leaky bung, we've all been there.

Miss this thing to death now. Cannot wait to get it back! Theres a whole host of little bits hes picked up and tweaked both in this visit and the last for the rad replacement, so its proper sorted.
 

Jason_E

ClioSport Club Member
  Elise, 530d
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Peak car right here. Ignoring the Audi 'vert obviously.

Back and in fine fettle. The new brake lines have definately made a difference, but I'm shopping for pads soon. I have a track day booked in July, what could possible go wrong?
 

Jason_E

ClioSport Club Member
  Elise, 530d
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I’ve had over 30 cars in the last 10 years. I get bored and chop and change a lot.

But if there was one car I could keep for life, it would be this. Inevitably I will have to buy a house at some point which will probably be the reason to sell it.

So here’s hoping I can keep delaying it some more!
 


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