1783 replies to this topic

[vee ex]

Are you getting needled with this thread... (gedditt??) top form today...friday and all that .....

[s1oww]

Cool little story, you've just missed that you were driving a corsa at the weekend

[robfenn]

Awesome. How many miles have you done now out of interest?

[LazyDonkey]

Are you ruining my thread?

Did you not do that yourself ? !?!?!

[JG]

Awesome. How many miles have you done now out of interest?

around 5k ish. maybe a little more

[JG]

  Are you ruining my thread?   

Did you not do that yourself ? !?!?!

As if i ever go off topic!

[TurboTomato]

In case you're interested

glol

[JG]

I'm updating my little diary, so here we go. As mentioned in the first post. If you're called M3_BFG or have a short attention span or look at this site too often and have already seen all the pics, look away now.

I think at the last installment, the car was in chelthenham having a new rack fitted. This was as a result of me finding the steering slightly sloppy on the straight ahead. It was all changed under warranty as was the lower column and the track rods. At the same time, vxl put in new brake servo pipes and new rear light clusters. I also had a few adjustments made to things like windows and rattles.

Unfortunately i missed the national with the car and as S1oww pointed out attended in a corsa

A week later i got the car back and it was like that first summer day with it back in June.
The nights also started drawing in:






VSE was very quickly fitted to the car



Its nice to have a few vxs in the area, i stole one of their roofs for the day:





and the north kent meet seems to have a few regular members now too

Edited by JamesGray, 23 June 2006 - 06:51 PM.

[TurboTomato]

[christurbo]

Nice pics mate Glad I have def picked the right colour! You need to start a blog up mate

[JayK]

I WANT A BLACK ONE !

[JG]

Well its been a while. This was last updated in December. So hold on tight i've a feeling this might be a long one.

Right where do we start:

GV03DDY had a fairly quiet winter as the bmw replaced it as an everyday car, relegating the vx for use on just a hand full of days. Even so there is no feeling quite like that of the coldest, dry crisp mornings when fingers freeze just trying to take the roof off. Scarf and wooly had to the ready, i can remember getting to work eyes streaming thinking that maybe i'd pushed, roof down motoring, a little too far. Usually though it was the best way to start the day.

The bmw had to go on holiday to France for a 6 months at the end of April, re-instating the vx as my only car. I think that anyone who owns a vx should try and run it an only car for a short while. On occasion when i propably would have chosen the boring car, the road would open up, the traffic would disapear, the sun would shine through the clowds and sundenly the vx was the perfect car at the perfect place at the perfect time.

Of course being the end of April the London to Brighton was nigh, and what better way to dust the cobwebs from the winter and finally have a chance to do what the vx does best. Ben chose some of the best roads around east sussex and Kent, and it was a delight to be able to pick up a little pace.
It never ceases to amaze me, the speed and control the vx manages to carry through corners. The detail and nature of the information constantly involving the driver to provide constant awe and amazment corner after corner.

Lunch at hether Caslte.


And we didn't even get lost once! This paticular time we were waiting for TT to catch up.


Soon after that it went in for its first MOT and 3rd service- Sailed the MOT and its was time to start Europeen motoring again:

So the vx took its first trip to France this year,
photos to come

After that came a few troubles. First the rear O2 sensor required replacement, and in the end the whole cat was changed. On the way back from this being done i noticed a very light ticking at idle, I turned around and took it straight back to Baylis who decided to replace the cam chain, cam chain tensioner and a couple of the sprokets. The Chain had lengthend slightly so it seamed like a good idea. Infact no sooner had i got 1o miles down the road that i realised the light tick was still present. in the end it was sourced the bearing on the alternator belt that was slowly falling apart, a thirty pound component that would never had affected the running of the engine.

By now the car was sweet as a nut again, and was gearing up for trip number two to france. And it was a big one:


Greated by rain in Boulogne, i didn't chose the best place to stop:


Waiting for the pack at the peage:


And then Staying in Le Mans


The return was fun too, with the car going back significatly dirtier that on its way.


The wait in bolougne was longer than expected:


Today the car is 1 year old in my conpany and i cannot see myself ever selling (i know they all say that).
Going to Le Mans in my dream car had always been a school boy dream that is now accomplished, so i'm not quite sure where the vx is going to take me next but i'll let you know....

Edited by JamesGray, 23 June 2006 - 08:07 PM.

[LazyDonkey]

been a school boy dream

#

You really should leave dreams a bit longer than 6 months before chsing them james

[JG]

Just realised it coming up to 2 years since i got the vx, seems longer in many ways and yet i can't believe how fast its gone by.

The odometer is showing 27,500 now and if anything the wee little plastic car has never felt better. Its just had a major service at plans who are less that 10 miles from my house making it by far the most convenient of places. This coupled with an excellent customer service has made the experience nothing other than flawless. Set-up, MOT, brake fluid change etc all done at the same time, the car was in for a few days. The front tyres on the car were changed for the first time in the cars life just before the service. I also did the disks and pads at the same time. The wear on the driver seat is also being taken care of as we speak by the trimmers that do all the reverie work.

Rewind 6 months and we pick up the story with a slight change in circumstance that meant the vx was taken off the road for six months as I really had no where to keep it and didn't want it to be kept anywhere other than in a garage. Following fairly strict laying up procedures the car eventually ended up being in storage for around 5 months. With a very wet winter I didn't really miss it.

Going into the garage in October 2006



Looking shiny as ever, it took me two days to prep the car!





Not a lot happened then until March when I moved and the car cam out of storage:

This was the first picture as it came out, its was a good day


And into its new home


And a 'quick' clean:







In other news the London to Brighton entered its 3rd instalment and for me was better than ever thanks to a huge effort from John(Aachen), Ben(w) and Lee(coco)

London Marina which was the biggest change for this years l2b:


I've toyed with the idea of selling and putting the cash into investments but realisticly its never going to happen. Supercharger is next on the cards as well as nitrons and speelines. All in due course though...

Edited by JamesGray, 16 May 2007 - 02:54 PM.

[SAPD]

[medlow]

Good pics!

Who said silver VX's are common?

[JG]

3 years today since my little vx fell into my hands.

Not a lot to say really. This year may be the year that its starts to get a little modification to keep it up with the times. First thing will be a powdercoat of the wishbone this winter and then at the start of the new year i should be able to afford the supercharger.

I've no new pictures, these are the most recent

[CocoPops]

I do like that bottom picture... I wonder who took it

[JG]

...pictures courtesy or Mr Pops

[m4t7y]

Good picture
Could be mistaken for a toy
Looking good