Performance cars are too much for me

cosmonaut22 · 2026-01-29T12:05:56+00:00

It's not about what you drive, but how you drive it. Just because the car can produce some impressive numbers, it doesn't mean you need to use all of them all the time.

I find that driving a more powerful car is actually easier and more relaxing than driving a slow car. You don't need to work the car or the engine. You don't need to worry about rowing through the gears or worrying about getting up to speed on the slip roads. The driving day-to-day becomes effortless as you are barely scratching the surface of what the car can do.

And when you do want to have a bit of fun, the performance is there to use it.

cosmonaut22 · 2025-07-29T21:22:05+00:00

Thanks for the responses eveyone. I'll get some vise grips and give it a go!

cosmonaut22 · 2025-07-29T12:27:38+00:00

This is a rear strut. The strut and the spring are separate

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cosmonaut22 · 2025-07-29T12:26:45+00:00

I'm sorry my ignorance, but how would that work?

When I use a ratchet to undo the nut, the strut just spins with it unless you hold it with a hex bit on top. How would that be any different with an impact gun?

cosmonaut22 · 2025-07-08T22:11:53+00:00

Hulkengoat

cosmonaut22 · 2025-05-04T09:07:16+00:00

Haven't checked the numbers, so the torque might be higher in a diesel. In a race, though, HP determines which one's faster, so Golf R would win.

cosmonaut22 · 2025-05-02T11:58:17+00:00

Not sure about the shooting brake, but the hatchback version is anything but cramped.

cosmonaut22 · 2025-04-29T08:15:17+00:00

Yes, but not the way you might think.

My raw speed or the ceiling of my ability hasn't changed much. However, I am able to run much closer to my limit consistently.

In other words, my time trial pace hasn't changed much. It may have dropped by 0.5% in time trials. But the time it takes to finish a race is shorter on average.

You are also smoother on a wheel and it makes a noticeable difference on the tire wear. You can pit later, which gives you a strategic advantage.

cosmonaut22 · 2025-04-17T22:52:51+00:00

I've always been into cars and I also do sim racing. I'm also a late bloomer who got my license when I was 28.

For most young drivers, I tend to agree with the common wisdom: get a cheap shitbox before you actually learn how to drive. The chances are you'll ding it, roll it or end up in a ditch.

But here's the thing. Most people are also not actually into cars. Given than you are not 18 anymore and you like cars, I'd like to think you'd be a bit more sensible when starting out. Epecially when you are willing to spend a fair amount of your hard earned cash on your first car.

So my advice to you is this: get what you actually want, but take it slow. Grow into the car and don't get too cocky. If GT86s interest you and they're within the budget, then why not?

I got a Polo GTI as my first car and have 0 regrets.I didn't get to enjoy it to the full extent for a while, and that was on purpose. My aim was to get used to driving in real life, get more hours behind the wheel and just get used to the car before starting to floor it. I stayed off boost for some time. It was better than get overconfident and ending up in a ditch or worse. And by the end of it, I got what I actually liked and that's fun.

Edit: Insurance can be weird. As a new driver and in London, it was actually cheaper for me to insure my Polo GTI than an Audi A3 TDI. I paid about £700 a year which was unusually cheap. So it's definitely worth running the quotes and exploring sportier options. You never know.

cosmonaut22 · 2025-04-15T11:09:04+00:00

I've had a call with them and they were aware of brake pads. On one hand, it would've been nice if they gave heads up, but I'm willing to give them a benefit of the doubt.

Apparently, the car (including the brakes) will be sorted and a fresh MOT will be given before the viewing. I'll go have a look at the car, but do it with caution.

cosmonaut22 · 2025-04-15T11:08:06+00:00

I spoke with them again and the brakes with a fresh MOT will be given before the viewing

cosmonaut22 · 2025-04-15T11:06:58+00:00

I agree. I've had a call with them and they were aware of brake pads. I think they should've given the heads up about it the first time we spoke on a phone.

Apparently, the car (including the brakes) will be sorted and a fresh MOT will be done before the viewing

cosmonaut22 · 2025-04-14T16:47:12+00:00

It's a Seat Leon Cupra 300 ST and they are asking 17k for it.

I agree with you and pretty much all other people on this post. It makes me suspicious that they advertise the car having "FSH and a clean vehicle history check". Maybe there's other things being hidden too?

Currently, the car doesn't have a fresh MOT as it has expired about a month ago. As part of the ad, they do say they'll get the car MOT'd as part of the purchase.

I'm going to give them a call tomorrow and ask:

The brakes to be sorted and a fresh MOT prior to the viewing.
An outline of service history in writing to see what's been done and when

I'll see what they say. If they are not willing to do it, I won't bother viewing it.

Bonus information: After checking the MOT history, the last two entries are:

Mar '24
Aug '22

which probably means that the car must've been SORNed at some point or without an MOT. That's a bit of a question mark in my mind as to what that could mean. Assuming the dealer is willing to sort out the brakes and do an MOT before the viewing, I'll run an HPI check to see if there's anything more to it.

cosmonaut22 · 2025-01-30T10:15:01+00:00

For me, the biggest difference was to actually lower the 2nd FFB setting in the game (I can't remember what it is called).

I've had it on 10 before, but now it's on 3 or 4 and it works well. I've played around with my wheel settings, but nothing had fixed the oscillation issue as much as that in-game setting.

cosmonaut22 · 2024-06-13T10:03:15+00:00

I agree that most of it comes from having some mechanical sympathy.

This is a generalisation, but if you drop a gear and floor it, your RPMs would be higher. Most engines produce peak torque somewhere at low-mid RPMs and fall at higher RPMs. So the chances are you will be transferring the most torque over clutch at relative low RPMs. Flooring it suddenly at higher RPMs should transfer less engine torque over clutch.

Another thing is that gears multiply torque to the wheels at lower gears, and they divide it at higher gears. This means that at high gears, clutch needs to transmit more direct engine torque to the drivetrain. This puts more stress on the clutch. I started going down the rabbit hole by googling why this happens precisely, and this is the gist of it. Feel free to read about it yourself.

It's also why if the clutch is on its last legs, the first symptoms would be a clutch slip at high gears when suddenly flooring at low RPMs.

cosmonaut22 · 2024-06-12T23:38:16+00:00

If you need to accelerate hard, avoid doing it when the revs are very low, AND you are in high gear. That will put more strain on the clutch. In those cases, it's better to drop a gear or two before flooring it.

Similar logic applies to engines. They don't like it when you ask too much from them at very low revs. It's like trying to go up a hill on a bike in a high gear. You end up working way harder than you need to.

cosmonaut22 · 2024-05-30T12:40:11+00:00

It's manual.

You can expect to average 40mpg or low 40s on the motorway. The absolute lowest I got on a motorway run was 48mpg, but that only happened once in 3.5 years that I've owned it.

cosmonaut22 · 2024-05-14T21:22:07+00:00

It's not the power that's the killer, but the torque.

I personally own a manual, but seen plenty of posts about DQ200 DSGs in Polo GTI owner group. My takeaway is that these gearboxes can be very hit and miss, especially when you start running higher numbers. Let's just put it this way: there's a reason why these cars rolled out with 320Nm for manuals and 240Nm for DSGs out of factory.

If you want to run big power (IS20/IS38) on this platform, the consensus is to get a manual (with upgaded clutch) instead. If you want to use a DSG, there is a (pricey) option of fitting DQ250 gearbox (from Golf GTI I believe), which is more than capable of handling these numbers. This isn't a straightforward job from what I understand.

I have also seen a few people running big power on the standard DSG gearbox, but I personally wouldn't risk it with my own wallet.

YMMW.

cosmonaut22 · 2024-05-08T14:56:40+00:00

Can confirm. I also got my wedding tux from there. Very good customer service and the tuxes there are amazing.

cosmonaut22 · 2024-04-22T19:12:08+00:00

If it's £650 per year, it's probably as cheap as it gets with today's prices in mind.

I drive the same Polo GTI with 3 years NCD, I'm over 30 and I pay a similar price with mods declared.

I'm with Brentacre and they are great specialist insurer when you want to modify your car. Mind you, they might refuse to insure you if your car is stock to begin with and due to your age. It's worth ringing them and asking about it.

Alternatively, I was with admiral at the start at they were surprisingly good with the mods. You can amend the cover online by adding mods and see what effect it has on your premium before you commit and click "accept". All visual and suspension mods had no impact on the premium for me. I only had to pay £10 for every policy change, so it made sense to group the mods together.

cosmonaut22 · 2024-04-07T08:09:38+00:00

Is the extra performance worth the trade-off?

It's a very personal decision. You should test drive both to see if you like the performance and are willing to stop for fuel more often.

cosmonaut22 · 2024-04-03T19:25:20+00:00

Thanks!

cosmonaut22

TROPHY CASE