Car history?

[TopCat]

Wow, you've had More than one 316, that usually never happens

I'll agree that there are under powered, but even the 316 is a lovely driving car. They would have been 10+ yo cars at the time and still felt very tight. Its a shame you have to go 2.5l or more to have reasonable power (though the 320d had a bit of torque so was fine to live with). And sure when I go that far I guess I may as well go the whole hog and get an M.

2006 Audi A4 (Great solid car, will probably keep til new year)

He says on the 4th of December...

I said probably.

[CJ]

Sadder still (don't judge me!), I had worked out the power of each and graphed the progression...

Good idea! I need a diversion from exam prep, thats my excuse



PS rounded up to the nearest BHP value where appropriate. If I was really bored, I'd have graphed the torque, power/weight ratio, fuel consumption rate - any takers?!

[colm_mcm]

The only 316 I've ever extensively driven was the 1.9 litre from work, drove e36 1.6 models the odd time and always found them woeful.

[holio]

5. 1.7td Opel Vectra

And im only 21

21 turning 52

[Dragonheart]

Hmmm, mines not so exciting.....

[TopCat]

Hmmm, mines not so exciting.....

Looks pretty exciting going from the Mark 3 to the Mark 4?

[holio]

Hmmm, mines not so exciting.....

Looks pretty exciting going from the Mark 3 to the Mark 4?

Its that 30bhp that stopped him making the "vroom vroom" noises when driving.

[Dragonheart]

Looks pretty exciting going from the Mark 3 to the Mark 4?

Ya that was an increase of an extra 50%, saying that my next increase was almost an extra 200%! Wouldn't mind having a Mark 1 Fiesta again though, for restoration that is, very few models around nowadays. One lovely one in Cork somewhere, even still has the old red plates, in great nick!

[TopCat]

Actually, I did see this, first Fiesta I was ever tempted to buy!

[holio]

I came very close to buying this in red there two years ago. Very tempted indeed, stunning

http://classiccarsales.ie/buy/view/Toyota_Celica_ST/1024

A dealer down in Cavan i think was selling it for 5,000 or in and around that mark

[Dragonheart]

Actually, I did see this, first Fiesta I was ever tempted to buy!

Nice Escort. I'd love one of the Mark 3 RS Turbo Fiestas, stunning little car.

[Mustang]

Next on the list hopefully:

Porsche Boxster S
Lotus Exige S2

Then I'll be done I reckon, realistically.

Eh? Ye wha? Will you give up driving altogether and get a push bike, or are you planning to hang on to the exige..... do you think you’ll fit your zimmer frame in the boot?

What I can remember is the following. For a long time limited by insurance, up until the GPX. Since then its been fun, sensible, fun, sensible.

1995 Peugeot 306 (First )
1992 Toyota Corolla (Never a fault)
1994 Toyota Starlet (In between car)
1998 VW Golf (Nice solid car)
1994 Mazda MX-3 (First time pulled for speeding)
1994 BMW 316 (First of many, first import)
BMW 316 (Another import)
Peugeot 306 (Borrowed. Diesel, 'nuf said!)
1996 Mitsubishi FTO GS (One of my favourites ever. First car I modded)
1995 Mitsubishi FTO GPX (Great fun)
1998 BMW 316 (Temp, part exchange)
2001 BMW 320d (First decent oil burner, great long distance driver)
2000 Honda S2000 (Best car yet, without question)
2006 Audi A4 (Great solid car, will probably keep til new year)

Sadder still (don't judge me!), I had worked out the power of each and graphed the progression...

Next one is due to be an exciting prospect, but we'll have to see.

Disclamer: Past performance is not an indication of future performance. The performance of your car may go up as well as down.
Based on the support and resistance levels the channel in which you are currently trending is generally upward -Remember vehicle ownership is a long term propect - a marathon not a sprint. The good news is that your next car could reasonably be expected to have ~250 bhp. However it is also due to be fwd -so should be a bit of a handful

[TopCat]

Disclamer: Past performance is not an indication of future performance...

Very true. Sadder still, I did the stats on it. On average I'm increasing by 13.5bhp/year. As you say though, 250bhp going though fwd, not sure about that. 343 to the rear has a nicer ring to it.

[Myfeckin FTO]

Of course the big elephant in the room here is "KIDS".
Its all well and good going swanning around in your 420bhp RWD 2 seater while you're single but a nice dose of 3 kids under 3 yrs old won't half put a stop to your gallop.

Ah well - it was nice while it lasted!

[CJ]

Ah well - it was nice while it lasted!

Of late, I'm sadly finding myself more drawn towards big engined diesel Audi's, ISOFIX, boot cubic capacity and NCAP ratings. Have faith though - theres a mid-life crisis or two in us yet!

[Myfeckin FTO]

... Have faith though - theres a mid-life crisis or two in us yet!

Looking forward to it!
What a road trip it'd be -
The year - 2050
The cars - 1990's FTOs
The engines - transwarp drive transplants
The trip - a spot of karting in Tynagh - overnight in Kinvarra and a 12 minute hop to the tunnels on the Healy Pass in Kenmare.
The drivers - 10+ aul fellas talking sh1te about how sports cars these days have lost their character and young fellas have no respect for their elders.

Just a regular FTO Ireland meet then.

[colm_mcm]

The trip - a spot of karting in Tynagh - overnight in Kinvarra and a 12 minute hop to the tunnels on the Healy Pass in Kenmare.

20 minutes if you're in a gs

[Bernard]

I wonder how a transwarp exhaust would sound inside a tunnel, and more to the point what will the NCT make of it?

It won't be long coming though, just over 12 months and FTO-Ireland will be 10!

[StewyD32]

By the way things are going now we'll have to pay a toll at a either end of the tunnels
Drove up there on the way back from Killarney at the weekend and said it to me misses and she believe me for a while until I nearly drove of the edge laughing when she went on a rant

[holio]

By the way things are going now we'll have to pay a toll at a either end of the tunnels :lol

More likely to bill you for using it which will be worked out by multiplying engine capacity by number of occupants minus emissions and then doubling it for good measures.
Then once you pay that theyl bill you again for the cost of the letter and postage.
Oh the joys of living in a country thats cold and wet and screws you any way it can.

[optical illusion]

Of course the big elephant in the room here is "KIDS".
Its all well and good going swanning around in your 420bhp RWD 2 seater while you're single but a nice dose of 3 kids under 3 yrs old won't half put a stop to your gallop.

Ah well - it was nice while it lasted!

Snip snip...

[mcgon1979]

Great idea for a thread...

2000 - 92 Ford Escort Xr3i 1.8 105ps model
2001 - Same as above but dropped in 2.0 Zetec from mondeo and added unichip 150bhp
2004 - 97 2.0 Alfa 145 Cloverleaf - 150bhp but balls of Torque. Looked like breadvan. New lamda every 6 months. New airflow meter. etc
2007 - 99 FTO GPvR Aero Manual. - Still driving it daily, love it, and never caused me any grief.

[goz_83]

(1999) 88 Ford Fiesta van. Learned how to drive in it. Axle snapped after 2 weeks.
(2003) 01 Opel Astra Club. 1.4.
(2006) 06 Toyota Corolla 1.4. Company car.
(2007) 01 BMW 318iSE 1.9 Auto. Jap import. Robbed in 2010.
(2010) 98 Mazda Bongo people carrier. 2.5 Diesel. Jap import.
(2011) 02 Ford Transit lwb van. Hated with passion.
(2011) 95 FTO GR tip. Silver. Broke for next car.
(2011) 94 FTO GR tip. Silver. Was hit and sold to brother. Perfect again.
(2011) 97 FTO GPX manual. Icelle blue. Keeps me smiling.
(dreaming) Ford Mustang GT500 fastback. Eleanor.

[TopCat]

Its been a while, and not sure what put this specific thread in my head, but thought it would be interesting to review and update.
So my old list was as follows:

1995 Peugeot 306 (First )
1992 Toyota Corolla (Never a fault)
1994 Toyota Starlet (In between car)
1998 VW Golf (Nice solid car)
1994 Mazda MX-3 (First time pulled for speeding)
1994 BMW 316 (First of many, first import)
BMW 316 (Another import)
Peugeot 306 (Borrowed. Diesel, 'nuf said!)
1996 Mitsubishi FTO GS (One of my favourites ever. First car I modded)
1995 Mitsubishi FTO GPX (Great fun)
1998 BMW 316 (Temp, part exchange)
2001 BMW 320d (First decent oil burner, great long distance driver)
2000 Honda S2000 (Best car yet, without question)
2006 Audi A4 (Great solid car, will probably keep til new year)

Since then, the rate of change has slowed a bit, but I definitely still like to mix it up...

2006 Ford Focus ST (Very underrated car, such a blast to drive, and Mustang called it pretty damn close)

...The good news is that your next car could reasonably be expected to have ~250 bhp. However it is also due to be fwd -so should be a bit of a handful

Audi A5 (Another Diesel, great cruising machine)

Then I move to Texas, so opened up the options a bit...

2012 Mustang GT CS (California Special. Great looking and sounding car. Savage power, but in a straight line only. All the cliches, and a ton of fun)
2012 BMW 335i (Not as much power as the Mustang, but it usually got places faster, lol)
2014 Toyota 4Runner Limited (I liked this more than I expected, TONS of space, cheap to own, and super reliable)
2018 Kia Stinger GT (Current car, and absolutely LOVE it. Great mix of power (365bhp), tech, comfort, space and value. Yeah, the badge isn't great, but there are more "love" design elements than "hate", and the only other car get this much positive attention was the FTO. I don't trust the resale rates on something like this though, so have a lease to protect against that. It also means it'll be the longest I've ever owned a car.)

Figured this would be an interesting exercise, and would love to see some other histories updated... its been awhile.

Hope everyone is keeping well,

Tom

[Bernard]

1. 1988 Mitsubishi Colt (1.3) , loved that car despite the balloon graphics.
2. 1998 Ford Escort (1.4) bought in 2000 with low miles, driven into the ground over 10 years.
3. 2000 FTO GPX, bought in 2007 after being on the forum for 4 years.
4. 2002 Ford Mondeo (2.0) Forced into buying it when the escort developed chassis rot.

5. 2006 Ford Transit connect (For work)

In my ever fast paced world I have since sold the Mondeo and bought an Accord, it's only been 8 years.