The First Project Car…

[ebarratt]

Not done much to it recently, but did find electronic seat buttons online which I 3D printed and they fit perfectly! Unfortunately the forward-back electrics don’t work, so I can only really change the angle.

Did also get a fine down my road because I stupidly forgot to change my registration on the parking permit website. Hopefully they’ll accept my appeal!

Going to be saving up money for some larger tasks next, and I want to get some new trim clips as some are missing and others are very brittle.

Oh, and anyone know about the different seat configurations you could have? For some reason the drivers side seat, which is the only electric one, is black leather rather than black and red. Didn’t know if that was a quirk of this car or a standard thing.

[350matt]

no thats not standard, someone has swopped in a black seat at some point as the original would have been red and black to match the rest

[ebarratt]

Took it for a relatively long drive last night as I haven’t been able to recently. Good news is that the death wobble at ~70 appears to be fixed with the new calipers and pads, bad news is that I now get a braking wobble. First port of call for me will be to look at the disks and see if they’re warped at all, which wouldn’t surprise me if it was running on seized calipers. Next will probably be getting the car balanced again.

[ebarratt]

Brake discs are definitely warped which is a shame. Will have to get some new ones!

While i'm on the subject, what discs do you guys use? I've heard a lot of praise about EBC brakes in the forum.

I aim to *eventually* take it to a few track days but that won't be a while yet. I need an all-rounder good set for casual driving and maybe the occasional track day here and there. Unfortunately I am not made of money nor have a tree where it falls from so some relatively good, affordable discs would be ideal.

[warpc0il]

Avoid drilled discs as they just encourage cracking.

Slotted or J-groove are popular, if you want to look "upgraded" otherwise oem or plain discs like Pagid are fine.


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[ebarratt]

Thought i’d get some of the “cheaper” things done today. Replaced the windscreen wipers and decided to check the cabin air filter, definitely should’ve done that sooner as who knows what was living in there!! New one has been ordered, and i’m very surprised that old one didn’t smell.

[casey]

I can recommend MTEC disks. Good on the road and have survived quite a few trackdays too on the front of my car . Very reasonably priced. I recommend the grooved only. Avoid drilled disks, nothing but trouble with cracking.

https://www.mtecbrakes.com/brake-discs/ ... 7-03-12-10

[ebarratt]

Well, some good and bad news today unfortunately.

Trying to get insured for a good price on this car with only a couple of years driving experience wasn’t easy, and coupled with many phone calls to insurance raising my prices due to my private plate and change in location, I cannot currently justify insuring the car. At £170 per month (was £115 before the changes) it just seems to extreme.

However, hope is not lost and I will NOT be selling the car!
The current plan is to drive it to a relative of mine (150 miles away) and get it SORNed for about five months. This gives me time to save up some money and move into my next house, which will hopefully have a driveway rather than needing to pay the £150 permit for street parking. My insurance should then reduce due to the parking, location, and additional year of no claims, to be able to tax it again (hopefully before Brooklands and Classic Japfest).

This will also give me some time and extra money to do work on the car that is needed from alloys to painting to brakes. With a driveway it means I can actually work on the car when i’m nearby.

So overall it is sad news as I love driving the rx-8, but it’s for the best and will give me the opportunity to get the car to the standard I want it.

[warpc0il]

Do you have a partner you could add to the insurance?

It's a bizarre fact that adding another driver, especially one with a potential low risk factor, can lower the premium.

It's also perfectly legal, as long as the insurance is in your name, as the primary driver.
It would be illegal for them to take out a policy in their name, and add you as a named driver, when you're the primary driver.

[ebarratt]

I’ve tried that unfortunately and it doesn’t seem to lower the price enough. My partner only has a couple of years no claims like me. I can add a parent too but only reduces it by £20 per month, which still makes it £150 per month.

I think considering my circumstances and how work does need doing it’s better to SORN the car for a few months and then look at it again in the future when I fix some much needed things.

[ebarratt]

Checked my quotes again, and tried with a variety of names drivers and most seem to increase rather than decrease my insurance. Tried it with a parent, who has had no claims, and over 30 years driving experience, and this increased the insurance to £220 per month. The best reduction has been by £20, which still isn’t really viable. Just doesn’t seem to make sense.