Jack94 Posted January 8, 2023 Share Posted January 8, 2023 (edited) For ages I've had the itch for a manual V8, and within my budget there were only 2 options I liked- first gen Audi R8 (4.2L) or newish (2018 onwards) Ford Mustang GT. After countless hours of research and viewing/driving both I finally decided on the R8. Found a lovely 2009 example in Ibis White being sold by a small independent specialist car dealer down in London, which I collected today 😁 It's pretty low mileage (46,000), in brilliant condition, got a full service history and nearly every optional extra available (crazy how much stuff was optional on these cars considering they started from 75k back in the day). Only got 1 (crappy) photo of it so far because it's dark and the car is already dirty from a 2 hour drive home in the pouring rain, so I've attached a few from the advert too. Sadly this does mean the zed has to go, but hopefully it'll go to someone who will cherish and enjoy it as much as I have! Edited January 8, 2023 by Jack94 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATTAK Z Posted January 8, 2023 Share Posted January 8, 2023 Nice ... can't beat a V8 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GranTurismoEra Posted January 8, 2023 Share Posted January 8, 2023 (edited) Would be good to get a closer look at this car. Jheeze! Just saw you picked it up from London. How does it drive? Edited January 8, 2023 by GranTurismoEra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy_Muxlow Posted January 8, 2023 Share Posted January 8, 2023 Very nice indeed! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted January 8, 2023 Share Posted January 8, 2023 Supercar!!! Looks wonderful. The extra shove must be nice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack94 Posted January 8, 2023 Author Share Posted January 8, 2023 Cheers guys 🙂 The drive home was mostly busy motorway and the weather was pretty bad so didn't get much of a chance to properly stretch its legs. It drives lovely though! Plenty of power (and traction thanks to quattro), far more refined than the zed, brilliant feel from the gated box & addictive soundtrack from the V8 😍 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee370Z Posted January 9, 2023 Share Posted January 9, 2023 That is lovely. I bet it is great to use that gated manual mated to the V8 engine. Enjoy it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack94 Posted January 24, 2023 Author Share Posted January 24, 2023 Spent Sunday getting a few odd jobs done on the R8. Washed it for the first time, although due to time constraints only a basic one. In the summer when the weather is better and the days are longer I'll properly decontaminate, clay bar, polish & seal it. Once clean I set about the task of getting the rear bumper back to standard. One of the previous owners decided to spray part of it black with plastidip, I assume to mimic how the V10 looks. It looked alright from a distance, but up close it had bits of white coming through in places, plus I'm not a fan of trying to make a car look like something it's not. It took a pressure washer, some plastidip disolver and a lot of time & effort but I got there in the end. Thankfully there were no nasty surprises underneath and it's back looking OEM, with my new gel plates & private reg on. Next up was to replace the failing engine bay struts with some new ones from SGS, super quick and easy. Last job was to remove the old ipod cable that'd been run into the glove box and fix the non-functioning CD changer, which I guessed were probably connected. I removed the headunit and found a a denison module, which basically fools the car into thinking the connected ipod is the CD changer. Luckily it was all just plug and play so no hassle removing, and hey presto the CD changer is now working. Not much else planned at the moment other than get the engine carbon cleaned (FSI engines are notorious for getting gunked up) and maybe look into whether a remap is worthwhile. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GranTurismoEra Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 Any videos would be great from cold starts to taking off. Or some POV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeybrain1234 Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 Welcome to the 350z to R8 club. 😊Had my V8 for 1.5yrs and love it. Few things to look out for and keep on top of. Great car different to the Z in many ways, particularly maintainence and running costs. While this Z Forum has always been amazing there are a few great R8 ones too PM me if you want any further info. Happy to meet up, I am in Cheltenham so not far from you. P. S. If you are running standard exhaust, consider swapping it out, simply makes it a different car. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack94 Posted January 25, 2023 Author Share Posted January 25, 2023 17 hours ago, GranTurismoEra said: Any videos would be great from cold starts to taking off. Or some POV. Haven't got any videos as of yet but I'll try and take a couple when I get a chance! 10 hours ago, monkeybrain1234 said: Welcome to the 350z to R8 club. 😊Had my V8 for 1.5yrs and love it. Few things to look out for and keep on top of. Great car different to the Z in many ways, particularly maintainence and running costs. While this Z Forum has always been amazing there are a few great R8 ones too PM me if you want any further info. Happy to meet up, I am in Cheltenham so not far from you. P. S. If you are running standard exhaust, consider swapping it out, simply makes it a different car. Cheers mate, nice to meet a fellow 350z to R8 convert! I'll send you a PM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack94 Posted February 5, 2023 Author Share Posted February 5, 2023 Only a couple of very minor jobs completed this weekend. Updated the infotainment software and navigation maps to the latest (final) version. Still very dated compared to modern systems but at least it's as good as it can be now. Also fitted a Brodit phone holder. The oem headunit has bluetooth, but only for calls sadly, luckily it does at least have aux input. Ideally I'd like to keep everything as oem looking as possible, but if I decide I can't live without bluetooth audio, android auto etc I'll look into replacing it with something aftermarket. Finally gave it a good wash and polished the exhaust tips up with some autosol metal polish. Never had a white car before and although it looks lovely when clean, it's obviously a nightmare for showing every little bit of dirt! I have a feeling I'm going to be cleaning it every other week 🙈 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortPaul Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 I have always liked the r8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortPaul Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 They are like a TT on steroids Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 Wow those tips were shocking before!!! Lovely pictures and just noticed she's on Continental SportContact 6's ✅ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack94 Posted February 6, 2023 Author Share Posted February 6, 2023 18 hours ago, davey_83 said: Wow those tips were shocking before!!! Lovely pictures and just noticed she's on Continental SportContact 6's ✅ Yeah they were filthy with carbon build-up! But also one of the previous owners had done a crappy attempt at painting them, which was coming off in places. Shame because I actually quite liked them in black, went with the theme. They're just finishers attached to the bumper so I might look at getting another set and having them properly powder coated at some point, that way I can revert it back to standard if I ever want to. Never really had continental performance tyres before, always had Eagle F1s on the zed. Was going to try pilot sports next seeing as everyone seems to rave about them but will see how I get on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 (edited) Yeah be nice to have the option to swap out the look, never knew it wasn't the actual exhaust tips on show. Unless you go to Michelin Cup 2's you might find you'll be taking a backwards step in outright performance. I know it's a FWD hatch, but if you're going to use one might as well use the best. https://tyres.rezulteo.co.uk/expert-advice/tyre-reviews/2019-best-sports-tyres-sport-auto-magazine-test-on-a-honda-civic-type-r Edited February 7, 2023 by davey_83 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humpy Posted February 8, 2023 Share Posted February 8, 2023 What a beaut! Keep updating this post with progress etc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack94 Posted April 1, 2023 Author Share Posted April 1, 2023 (edited) Few more little jobs done. Firstly a bit of interior trim removal to locate the hidden manual boot release cable. It must've been apart before and whoever put it back together forgot to route the cable through. Hopefully I'll never need to use it but it's good to know it's there now just in case. Next up was to replace the boot poppers because the rubber on the end of the old ones had started disintegrating due to age. I was dreading how much these would cost with the "R8 tax" considering 350z ones are nearly £50 each, but was pleasantly surprised to find they were only £15 each. Lastly I replaced the standard LED entry lights in the door cards for genuine Audi projector ones, just because they look cool. Edited April 1, 2023 by Jack94 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEADPHONES Posted April 1, 2023 Share Posted April 1, 2023 £15 each is verging on FREENESS considering R8 tax! WINNING 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GranTurismoEra Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 3-4 weeks from decent weather. Are you in Gloucester? Some decent roads up that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack94 Posted April 2, 2023 Author Share Posted April 2, 2023 4 hours ago, GranTurismoEra said: 3-4 weeks from decent weather. Are you in Gloucester? Some decent roads up that way. I'm in Warwick so about an hour away. I think the better weather is definitely on the way, it'll be nice for the car to actually stay clean for longer than a day after washing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pintopete58 Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 A very important bit of info . Now I'm looking at a f type 3 litre S Witch is 380 bhp 0 60 4.8 and un restricted to 170mph plus. And road tax is half of the 370 before 2017 . And body own or can send me in right direction cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortPaul Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 A f type with a ford focus lump? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pintopete58 Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 Hi Paul which model are you referring to. There is a lot and i own a fiesta zetec sport 15 plate with everything and 26k I'm in my 7 year of owner ship 180 a year tax & insurance. Which will be in demand shortly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.thumb.png.33a006e68a0043c68f319d9956befc69.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.