lpitt

..what do you think.

I had to part with my MY98 recently 'cos I couldn't justify the costs for the mileage I'm now doing with work. After looking around for a suitable but economical replacement this is what I came up with. Ordered on 12/11/01 collected 24/11/01 - what waiting list

It's an MY02 Honda Civic Type R in Silver. Only mods are a 6-CD autochanger, didn't even get air-con this time. Goes really well, handles brilliantly - looking forward to trying it on track next year.




Pictures taken at Bedford SIDC day on Friday. Thanks to simon_prickett for hosting them.

Laurence

**Edited: why do I always get one picture wrong!


[Edited by lpitt - 12/4/2001 10:17:15 AM]

jimi

Hi,

I saw that car at bedford too,nice looking motor!

JIM

S***JTR

Good looking car you've got there.

DominicA

what the **** is that??

lpitt

Quicker 'n' a UK Turbo, that's what. And whilst returning 35mpg in comfort

Steve Perriam

quicker than a uk turbo!! is that wot the salesman told you eh laurence

nice m8

how was leeds ? i had fun damn fine italian restaurant nr the office and the sights

hope 2 c u and the car soon................

mikeesingh

iTrader: (3)

car looks pretty cool

lpitt

Thanks Mikee - did the lights and stuff arrive Ok?

Steve: My trip wasn't as exciting as yours, the staff party was last night and everyone went off early for that. I finished up going out on my own. Still, I'm back for another four days in Jan/early Feb so maybe we'll match up then. (PS Was it yours parked outside?)

Laurence

scooby_si

Nice car dont get me wrong but sumin was clearly up if that's quicker than a scoob turbo!

lpitt

Ok, I'll run it by you.

0-60 6.5 seconds (would be quicker but needs to change up at 55mph)
0-100 quicker than a UK MY01 (can't remember figure, it's late )

Story
=====
I'm sat at some traffic lights, fairly early in the morning, in south London. A pre-01 scooby pulls up alongside, we look and then exchange the signal to see what they can do from the lights (all in fun). When the lights changed we pull away, initially the Scoob is in front, CTR catches up to around 50 then loses it from the change-up, but then catches up at around 70. Unfortunately the next lights stopped the fun then. We exchanged a wave and a smile and drove off separately.

Ok, so the CTR isn's going to leave the Scooby for dead (and my old modified one would have left it) but it's close enough for me

I'm planning to take it on track next year (don't tell Honda) and think that it's going to be pretty interesting. Obviously I don't stand a chance against a modded-STi a-la Trout or CraigH but against the UK models it's going to be much closer.

Whatever happens it's going to be loads of fun

Laurence

Steve Perriam

was in mine where ?

in Bristol on Thur ? If so yes i did drive the scoob to the office on thursday.

i didn't take it to Leeds.

looking forward to seeing you and the car then in the new year.

lpitt

No, there was a rather nice silver STi parked outside on the road Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning. Wondered if it was yours.

Laurence

Z75

Nice car.

You might like to know that Diesel Car magazine (I'm not making it up there is a sad publication by that name) are doing a

Honda Civic Type R vs. VW Golf TDI

test in their current issue.

I skimmed through only briefly (in case someone I knew caught me looking at a magazine about diesel cars) but it seemed that they thought the Golf was the quicker car! I reckon you might have something to say about this.

If you get Golf Diesels having a pop at you at the lights now you know why. Watch out for those diesels on the track day too. They'll get the better of you by spilling diesel on the corners to scupper your superior power and handling. You'll be all over the shop

These diesel maniacs really think that carcinogenic sludge is the fuel of the future.

Nice car - keep the petrol revolution going and let me know what you think of the review.

ssubaru

Hi
went to buy one of these ,girlfriend said she thought it looked like a ford focus and walked out so still got scoob ,what should go scoob or girlfriend
ssubaru

Steve Perriam

we talking leeds or bristol m8 ?

i did not see a silver sti in bristol on thur ?

yeah i bought that diesel mag yesterday - shock horror admission i know

but i'm looking at a diesel golf 130/150 as a company lease car so its interesting reading.

Z75

Can't you lease a petrol company car? Why does it have to be diesel?

scooby_si

££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££ £££££££££££££££££ is the reason

Z75

I thought that it might be ££ but not that many £s. I've been offered a company car as part of my new employment package. They offer either:

1. £415 per month on a lease car
2. £500 car allowance per month
3. Some PCP thing with a list of cars - the usual suspects like 2 litre Mondeos etc.

I'm taking the money.

Still don't understand why diesels are cheaper in the UK. The fuel is the same price and the consumption is not that much better. You need at least a 3 litre diesel engine to make the thing go. Oh and they sound like s h i t.

Can some accountancy boffin explain what it is that make diesels so popular with company car drivers. Is there some loophole.

Steve Perriam

ndeed si

Z75 - u not seen the new company car tax rules that come into effect on april 1st next yr ?

tax u pay then based around the CO2 emissions the car puts out. scooby would cost a fortune...and as for anything worse than that !

also the company i work for limit the cars u can have...no subarus...no bmw's....no lexus's..no 4*4's....no coupe's......

u get the idea.

therefore all told its gotta be a turbo diesel and hence y the scoob might go.

looking at the golf, a3, a4, saab 93, laguna and passat.

Z75

I don't really understand tax plus I've never had a company car before so I'm trying to understand what the attraction of diesels is. It must be financial because nobody is going to buy one for performance or nice engine sound.

All I know about new co car tax is what some people have told me. So its based on CO2 emissions. But diesels pollute the most. Why is it just on CO2 and not on all the other muck that gets chucked out. Apparently there is some surcharge on diesel emissions but it seems small.

So what CO2 does the 2l turbo put out then? (>200).

Well good luck with the diesel anyway, seems like you're reluctant to let the Scoob go.

lpitt

Z75: I read the article from Diesel Mag. They summed up that the CTR is faster 0-60, 0-100, track etc but that the TDI150 is closing the gap. For example the 50-70 had a .3 second difference. Taken with a pinch of salt though as they also gave 48mpg as the least for the TDI150 and 23mpg for the CTR. Worst I've had is 31 and that was after a day round town, crawling into London and blasting some 'B' roads. Mind you (sorry to ramble) I did test drive the TDI150 and it is a hell of a performer, no handling to speak of but feels quicker than the petrol GTi by far - I would have chosen one as a company car if forced.

Steve: I'll be at both sites in the new year. It's up to the guys to decide when but I let them know that we kept missing each other! (+ no BMW's in the leaseplan - that's a bit unusual, our car park is full of the bloomin' things!). On your choices of company car:

Golf: Nice and solid, definite choice if you're going for the diesel.
A3: Nice again but the diesel isn't as good as the VW. The 1.8T Quattro is a nice car though.
Saab and Laguna: Hmmm....
Passat: The new ones are a massive improvement over the old. Diesel is really good, petrol is a bit thirsty.

As you can see this is something I have researched strenuously

ssubaru: If she's a good cook the Scooby goes, if not then the girlfriend goes (that's what my wife said anyway )

By the way, as a company car -

The Scooby has Co2 of 240+, this puts it in the highest bracket.
The Civic has Co2 of 210 and is in a slightly lower bracket, however when the scales shift over the next two years it will move up.
The Golf is very low (can't remember) but attracts an extra charge because of the carcinogenic fumes from diesels. The real consideration for a diesel company car is if you don't get a fuel card.

For the record: I took the allowance after a massive amount of research!

Thanks for the nice comments by the way. I'm still planning to stay in the SIDC and so you'll be seeing me around

Laurence

Z75

Nice one Laurence.

I'm going for the allowance. I don't get a fuel card but my business mileage will be zero anyway (it's a perk).

Z75

Nice one Laurence.

I'm going for the allowance. I don't get a fuel card but my business mileage will be zero anyway (it's a perk).

Steve Perriam

yeah a petrol car a company car now with new tax laws is a poor idea.

so its gotta be diesel and anyway no way on our scheme i will get anything decent in the pertol range anyway !

and i cannot take an allowance either.

hope to see you soon laurence and take a ride in the civic.

lpitt

Steve,

Does this mean that you're Scooby is going then?

I'd go for the 150TDI if you have to have a diesel, just make sure it has the handling kit (17"'s and lowered suspension) as an extra otherwise the handling's waayyyy to soooffftttt. They are on a bit of a delay for delivery as a company car though, looking at around four months according to the dealer I went to.

Laurence

Steve Perriam

dunno about the scoob yet.

i dont want it to go but paying for 2 cars is not going to be good news

trouble with extras is i pay for them all not a percentage !!

lpitt

But remember that if you pay for the extras this can be offset against your tax for the year, could help?

Is this a role change causing this then or like me, too many miles to justify a Scooby at the moment?

Laurence

Reffro

If anyone wants to find out what the CO2 emissions are for any car on sale in the UK there is a searchable database at www.vca.gov.uk

Regarding the forthcoming changes in Company car tax, they are going to base the amount you pay on the CO2 emissions of your car. So all those people doing mega miles in their company cars, are going to be in for a big shock soon. The lowest band is going to be 15% rising to 35% max of purchase price of the vehicle. Diesels produce far less CO2 than petrols and to balance the other nasties they produce (soot etc) they have a 3% surcharge, so the minimum you pay for any diesel is 18%.

Just so you know buy the way the CO2 figure for a MY01 WRX is 242g/km, which means a tax bill of circa 28-31% ( I can't remember the exact banding), and remember there is no discount for high mileage users anymore. A Civic Type R is 212g/km which knocks 6% of what ever the WRX's figure is.

Steve Perriam

yeah i've got a new job which means more travelling which means they forcing me to have a company car

lpitt

Well, to help with the decision (whilst sitting on-site having major problems avoiding the need to go to India!)

Here's the IR72 that explains it all:

http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/pdfs/ir172.htm

But to save you looking it all up for next year the figures are (remember that this is a sliding scale and it all gets worse after that!):

Impreza MY01 Turbo: 242g/km = 31% (taxed on £6510pa)
Impreza MY01 STi : 290g/km = 35% (taxed on £9798pa)
Civic TypeR : 212g/km = 24% (taxed on £3838pa)
Golf TDI139 : 146g/km = 18% (taxed on £2700pa)
Golf TDI150 : 178g/mk = 20% (taxed on £3599pa)

**Note the figure for the TDI150 is based on a brochure I had and was stated as for reference**

Hope this is of some help to you.

Laurence