Finally got my dream car :)

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Always wanted one of these and after many years of saving I have one , you can probably guess what it is from this?

 

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Obligatory 'Renault Clio?' post.

the second I posted I thought "I know what the first reply will be"

 

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some quick ones I took just now.

I must win something for this surely

 

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I'm sure there will be peoples saying "meh" "overrated" "should have got the R32" "dated"....

But then one can't help what one lusted after all those years ago DO WANT has it been modded? The exhaust would suggest so.

PS take some better pics man! They're not very flattering

I love the stock looking car so I will be keeping it looking this way, it has been modified underneath, rolling roaded at 502 bhp.

I'll take some better pics when ive finished cleaning it properly.

 

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Awesome- what are the black pipes coming from the bottom left tank doing? Sat trying to work it out, not meth, not an oil catch tank?

bingo, oil catch tank.

Plans are to just enjoy it, ive been working towards owning one for about 8 years so to finally be in a position of having one seems a bit surreal!

 

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Pretty good guess on the price!

It was made in 2001 and has done 31k miles.

I saved up for years to get enough for a deposit on a house with my gf, a decent place with a garage, and also have enough left over to buy the car. I dont earn a lot, so I lived at home with my parents longer than I was expecting but I knew if I moved out early i'd never be able to save that much up whilst paying a mortgage, so I stuck to the plan. Now after all this time it is an odd feeling to know I actually did it.

 

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Was this the one on JM Imports a few days ago?

Nope, they import from Japan mostly, mine is a UK spec car, one of only 80, hense the leather interior.

Congrats on dream car, looks really clean!

Nice garage also

thanks! took me 2 months to get it looking like that, it was a state when I moved in, had a partition wall up, the back was a room and the front was a dirty *** builders storage area. Now it looks like a lab! a big white box to keep my car in, I also needed enough space for a work area where I could have my lathe and mill. Took a long time to find a house with a big enough garage in my budget.

 

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Seriously nice work with the garage!

I thought it looked special from that first picture but inside, wow!

Thanks, some pics from when I first started work on it:

Took me a long time to get all that sorted!

Regarding the 4ws/hicas, ive heard a few people say its crap and a few say its good. Another thing I heard also is the ball joints for the rear steering can get loose over time and need replacing otherwise you end up with the rear wheels moving a bit on their own. The guy who owned it took me out for a test drive and threw it into some bends at massive speed, tbh I have never experienced such G force in a corner and it all seemed totally under control, it just gripped and got on with it! which put my worries of the hicas system out of my mind. Im never going to drive it at those sort of speeds, too many coppers about round here and you do rather paint a bullseye on your forehead when you go out in this thing.

 

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would love to read more about the garage

you should post something in home and bargain

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=151

Not a bad idea that, hadnt occured to me, I took lots of photos as I went. I'll do a write up tonight or tomorrow and post all the pics.

Always wanted a bayside one too, I had a silver one many years back made the ground shake when you drove by, and ATE fuel, 6x1200cc rc injectors+ 6x800cc injectors on a motec m800.

Mine is loud but not too bad, fuel is good. When I bought it, it was on fumes so put £50 in and drove the 100 miles back as gently as I could, since then ive been out in it about 6 times, 10-15 , mile trips and ive got about 1/3 of a tank left. I worked out it did 29mpg on the motorway back, 6th gear is really tall and I stuck to 70.

In terms of modifications it has:

HKS 2610 turbo's
HKS R Type intercooler kit
HKS mushroom airfilters
HKS hard pipes
HKS F-Con V Pro piggy back ecu
Apexi Power FC ecu
Greddy profec b-spec 2 boost controller
Tomei poncam cam kit
Exedy twin plate carbon clutch
Stoptech brakes

plus a whole bunch of other bits and pieces like nismo carbon pillar trims, tein bonnet lifters, alloy oil catch tank, polished cam/rocker covers, carbon slam panel, etc .

 

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Lovely car and lovely garage! Well done.

Since you have gas struts for the bonnet fitted, why not get rid of that damn ugly bar?

yes yes im getting to that , my priorities were cleaning it, checking oil, water, getting underneath it and re-doing some bits of underseal, etc. On the plus side under the spare wheel I found £7.25 in change!

 

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Whats the underneath like? Heard some horror stories about UK spec R34s!

Yup a lot are rotten as a pear, reason being the 80 UK cars sat in a field waiting for SVA approval for months, mine was one of the first out. The underneath was undersealed quite early and it all looks pretty good, infact there isnt any rust to speak off, just a little surface rust underneath that I have now wirebrushed off and undesealed.

better have another picture!

 

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Are the uk cars more insurance friendly?

Not much in it really, probably get it a bit cheaper because its not an import.

I tend to agree with that I must admit, a 30mm drop and this would be utter perfection

I agree, however I went out in one that was on coilovers and the ride was so hard, it was aweful! So I dont want to ruin it as it rides so well at the moment, plus the rear carbon diffuser sits very low at the back and i'd have to be quite wary of speed bumps and catching it on stuff. I might look into it in the future.

 

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Having seen some of your other work BC, I'm not surprised you got that garage looking as good as it is.

Not a bad example of R34 either.

Thank you, i appreciate that.

 

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If I had a R34-GTR that is how I would stand next to it.

Such an epic car.

aaaghhhh i was going to do that aswell! I totally forgot, must remember next time im out

 

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Your car would look so much more awesome if you lowered it

Finally got round to doing that

 

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Yes behind there is a big oil cooler, the exit for it is the vent on the side of the bumper, there isnt one on the other side. As you can see below, no style for styles sake. This was only on the UK spec cars as they were one of the few to come with the extra oil coolers.

 

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How's the ride now?

General ride is much the same as before, just a bit harsher when I hit a bump or a hole.

 

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Had time this weekend to try out my "Dr. Leather" Leather wipes, my steering wheel and drivers seat had a bit of shiney on them and after some research these seemed like the thing to use. The wipes are a cleaner, they dont leave anything on the leather, no conditioning.

Below is a before and after on the center part.

after doing the seats and steering wheel, this was the state of the 5 wipes I had used. Out of curiosity I went over the rear seat and the wipe was clean so its defo dirt, not taking the colour off the leather!

A couple of the interior now, much matt-ness

My battery is getting a bit low after a week so might be time for a fresh one, not the easiest to get to but it could be worse. The original batery would have been pretty small, to keep the weight low presumably. This delco one is a normal/common size and looks to fit ok so i'll just get another like this. The rear brace and half of the metal panel will need to come out.

lots of funny looking electronics back here, one with "yaw rate sensor" on it, awesome!

Couple of random pics, you can just see the back of the 2 oil pumps and radiators under the rear bumper, one for the rear diff, one for the gearbox.

and this one just because its ******* awesome

 

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I know, I said it numerous of times now. But that car looks marvellous, I don't think newer cars for the same money will provide as much fun and enjoyment as this legendary R34. Good choice!

Will the car be kept stock for as long, as it'll remain yours?

Thanks, I think its awesome, I look forward to driving it at the weekend and get grumpy if its wet out, I dont like to get it wet.

Standard in terms of looks yes, the engine has had a lot done to it, brakes, exhaust, suspension, all modified. Im just doing little bits, detailing etc to keep it nice.