chopper-lew

I change my mind more than a woman. All it'll take will one to pass me on the way home from work, with a wortec exhaust on full chat and i'll be sold. Plus I do like your point about blaming the wife if it all goes pete tong hahaha!

Wierdly, the wife is trying to push me towards the VXR8. Her opinion is I aint gonna shut about them till Ive owned one. The thing is, when we finally tie ourselves to a mortgage in the next 6 - 12 months, id have to sell it as I couldnt comfortably afford it any more. I would still be able to afford a 335d though, so wouldnt have to sell. She is saying get an R8 for 6 months or so (to get it out of my system lol) then get a 335d. Problem is, I'd own it over the worst (winter) months, and probably loose substantial additional cash through buying/selling/advertising etc, plus its hassel you dont really need when your trying to buy a house.

Thanks for all the input guys. I really am torn at the moment as A VXR8 is a dream of mine, and even though Im currently in a position to just about afford the running costs, I cant help feeling that (as mentioned in a previous post) I will start resenting it due to the running costs. The More research I do, the more im swaying towards the 335d. The tax cost for the R8 is now £475 a year and that is verging on insane. Although their basic mechanics are sound and reliable, and servicing is cheap, I have found that consumables (brakes/suspension) are not so reliable or cheap, and dont last long. Also, the VXR8's (being australian) dont come with certain things you'd expect on a large expensive saloon, like heated seats and wing mirrors - very handy here in scotland in the winter) They are not undersealed either from the factory, somthing I would consider essential with the amount of salt put on our roads in the winter. But all this aside, its the performance figures that are most supprising. A remapped 335d (i would definatly have it remapped) - 219bhp per tonne and a VXR8 - 226 bhp per tonne. Dosent seem like theres much in it really, except the remapped 335d has 507 lb-ft of torque, and the V8 'only' has 406 lb-ft. So in reality, a mapped 335d is probably gonna be faster in just about every situation. Its basicly gonna come down my mood on the day when I come to hand over the cash!

I have driven my mates Monaro with the similar performance(albeit 100 bhp less powered with the LS1 5.7L V8 lump) numerous times and it is an experience. Very brutish and vocal with plenty of grunt. Not driven a 335d yet admitidly, but I have never read a bad review of them. Smooth and really tourquey, and rev like a petrol! Secure parking not an issue. Insurance not really an issue. Last two cars have been a highly modified (420 bhp Mk 2 focus RS and a Fabia vRS diesel. The insurance was 600 and 300 respectivly, so pretty much anything on the road will be between these figures. Yeah, I think the book figure for a 335d is 44 mpg and a VXR8 19 mpg. Factor in the additional cost of diesel, and it is basicly twice the fuel costs in a VXR8.

Both have steadied out quite well now. For similar money, I'd be looking at a low mileage (less than 20k) 2009 VXR8 or a 50,000 mile ish 2008 335d for about the same sort of money. Neither should drop dramaticly from now on.

Well, im in a position where Ive came into a bit of cash and am looking to trade in my 2004 Fabia vRS for one of the above. The VXR8 does crap MPG, but looks far better in my opinion, and definatly sounds better being a V8, and is 5 door. The tax is also in the top band. The build quality is generally regarded as inferior to a BMW's, but still quite good. It is a simple, unstressed, tried and tested engine with few reliability issues. The BMW has aprox half the the fuel costs of the VXR8, and half the tax,although servicing is about twice as much. It has far less power (282bhp Vs 430 bhp) but does have slightly more torque. Although with a cheap remap, the real world performance figures are going to be very similar to a VXR8. The BMW is a lovely car, but does tend to blend in with every other BMW on the road. The VXR8 is exclusive, there are very few of them, and folk will approach you to chat about your car. Cant see that happening in a BMW 3 series. It is kind of a head/heart decision. I only do about 10,000 miles a year so although the VXR8 will undoubtly cost more to run, would it really be that much more? Anyone got opinions on what they would buy?

Has anyone got a vrs with a tow bar fitted? One of thosh quick detatch ones would be ideal for me!

Depends when it was registered. I think the emmissions are slightly different depending when the vRS was made. Mines £135 too.

Should be fine if you use a steel can, as opposed to an aluminium one.

I undid the 3 retaining bolts that hold them in place but didnt remove them. Doing that gives you about 2cm of free movement which is enough to get your fingers underneath/around the edges to tuck in the film around.

You only really need the heat gun to 'shape' it over curvy headlights. As the fabias is like a brick, it needs very little heating and shaping. I used the wifes hair dryer on low speed/high heat to fold/tidy the corners and go over the whole thing slowly afterwards to make sure it was all dry/stuck (you apply it on wet).

Cheers guys, some good choices there.

I really like the first one. (Sony DSX-S100) Like the way the hardware is concealed inside and it says it'll play from a USB flash drive which is what I want. What bits do you need to put it in the fab? Halfords are saying you need a harness adaptor (£5), facia adaptor (£10) and a antenna adaptor signal seperator (£10). Seems like a lot of extras?

Yes, but I cant stand buggaring around with itunes. Im an old fashioned kind of guy that prefers MP3's off a memory stick lol!

One thing im realy missing from my old car is the facility to drag and drop 10 gig of music files onto a USB memory stick and play them through the stereo. So much eaiser than fannying around with CD's. Also, my standard Symphony head unit is a bit fussy about playing CD's than I have burnt and gets quite skippy. So im looking for a simple 'plug and play' replacement unit. This is what im looking for - Under or around £100 Must play directly off a USB stick Not cheap/nasty unbranded crap Single DIN Easy to fit (are most just a case of swapping the connectors around at the back?) Preferably with a concealed cavity for the USB stick (I think wires and sticks poking out the dash looks ugly) but this isnt essiential. If it plays off a USB stick, im not even fussed about it being able to play CD's. Not to fussed on power output etc as I'll probably just keep the standard speakers. Any ideas? Cheers.