Does anyone here know this car?

[Randles 2402]

OK folks, my trip to Harrogate is on for tomorrow!
The rattle, as expected, was from the front strut top and the mechanic has fitted two new complete struts to be on the safe side.
I should be there at about 13:30 so hopefully heading south with a new toy by 15:00 all things being equal!
Thanks for all your help and advice; I will try to remember it all and not to get too carried away when I see the car.

 

[Charlie1875]

Hi Andy, glad the R has been rectified and ready for collection, hope you like what you see and enjoy the long drive home!

 

[JvdBosch]

Good luck with the drive home! Drive safely! Out of curiosity, how many miles has it done? New struts seems to suggest many miles?

 

[Randles 2402]

Arrived home after a six hour journey and all I can say is ‘wow’!
The car is awesome and the seats are amazingly comfortable. The ride is definitely firm and got a touch jittery on poor surfaces but OMG THE GRIP!
Once I got off motorways and dual carriageways and onto roads through the South Downs that I know well, I found myself arriving into corners and coming out the other side 10-15 mph quicker than I normally would (even though it was dark and drizzly) and I’m still adjusting to the way the car drives. This car has the potential to do serious damage to my hitherto flawless licence if I’m not careful.
The car has done 75000 miles as of today. The rattle was coming from the strut top mount on one side but rather than just replace it they changed the whole strut even though it probably didn’t need replacing and of course you always do them in pairs so I have new suspension at no extra cost to me

 

[Charlie1875]

Well that a decent test drive Andy, 6 hours! I’ve got to do my strut top mounts as I’m getting rattling/knocking noise over minor bumps.
i agree with you about the grip, with decent tyres on they are good fun, just watch that unblemished licence!
Glad your happy with it

 

[Randles 2402]

What i found odd to a degree is the way the power comes in: it doesn't get frantic and feel explosive in the way my wifes Polo GTI does; it comes on smoothly and just keeps building and building without ever feeling lairy. That's half the reason I had the confidence through the corners, because it all felt under control.
Weirdly, the last car I had that inspired this much confidence in the corners was my 1983 Alfasud Green Cloverleaf. To this day ,and more than 1.5 million miles later, I still maintain it was the quickest car I have driven point to point through the twisty stuff because it also had unreal levels of grip and composure through the corners.

 

[apple3337]

Glad you like the car. I'm not surprised you like it haha. The cornering is amazing. I had a Clio MK3 200 for years and years and I thought it had good handling. The R is next level. It sits much flatter yet absorbs bumps wayyyy better. The chassis tuners did a great job. Yes, it definitely needs good tyres to make the most of the chassis. Enjoy and keep the updates coming!

 

[Randles 2402]

I was pleasantly surprised to find the car is sitting on almost new looking Goodyear F1 tyres so I I definitely have grip!

As an aside, last night I went with an American friend who was buying his first car in the UK (Suzuki SX4 in case you were wondering) and the dealer we were at almost blew a fuse when he saw my car and the work done on it by Zero Automotive in Harrogate. He was blown away by the interior and he reckoned, given the trade values and what they spent after I put the deposit down, that they will have made very little out of the deal.

I don’t often do this, but a huge thank you to Harris at Blackstone Automotive in Hounslow for last night. What an amazingly nice bloke he is. We got there for around six as arranged and the Suzuki was absolutely as described so my friend decided to buy it, and that’s where we had an issue; not with Harris, but the bank. They took the money out of his account and then held it and wanted to do fraud checks which took nearly two and half hours!!!
In that time Harris never once got cross or agitated and when Tyler was told the waiting time on the phone was fifty minutes, Harris went out and bought pizzas and chicken for everyone and point blank refused any money towards them. He made what was a quite stressful situation really calm and reassuring.
Two cracking car dealerships in two days; who’d have thought it