The Smart car sold for asking price a couple of weeks back after relisting it on eBay as a classified, buyer paid cash and seemed happy with the purchase, I hope it treats him well. Not much to say about it in terms of the EOTR, it served a purpose but the iQ (which is only one generation newer) really shows it up, and I won't miss its super crappy gearbox, how that abortion was ever signed off I do not know.
In Honda news I've been looking around for seats to replace the slightly manky and unsupportive ones it came with. Initially I wanted a couple of the Recaro DC2 Integra seats but missed out on a pair in black for £500, and ever since when they do come up for sale they seem to cost that much for one. Add in £200 for some Teg seat runners to suit (they bolt straight in to the Civic) and I decided its not worth it.
So, the next plan was to pick up a single Recaro SPG or Pole Position fixed seat, but the scene tax is strong and 20+ year old ones were going for a good percentage of what a new one costs, so I fucked that off too and started to look further down the food chain. A Sparco Alpha popped up on the bay and I managed to get it for £128, bargain. I realised afterwards it was a bloater spec seat (wider) but its not actually too bad, I must have put some weight on during lockdown
I threw it in the car on Saturday using some Buddy Club Civic specific slider mounts and am reasonably happy with it. I need to sort the seatbelt out as I'm still using the three point belt, and I'd like to try and get it lower, but it'll do for now.
On Sunday I took the car out for it's first proper drive since purchase, and I have to say I really enjoyed it
There's a few issues - something in the suspension is squeaking, the brakes have a bit of a squeal (might be EXTREME track pads) and the rev counter goes round but bears no resemblance to the actual engine speed, however there was nothing disastrous. The exhaust is also a bit loud, or I might be a bit old, or both. I managed to do proper heel and toe downshifts in it, which I've never pulled off before in any other car, weird. Driving impressions are that the steering doesn't have a ton of feel (I may yet go for a smaller wheel) and it is not fast, but is fast enough - things don't happen so quickly that you struggle to keep up, unlike the Spazda which is really a bit much on the road for my skill level.
Future plans may still involve a turbo, but for now I'm going to give it a full service, change all the fluids, etc. and look to fit some gauges - water temp, oil temp, and oil pressure, but I'm struggling to find any I like that aren't £300 a piece Stack ones. In keeping with the attempt at keeping to a budget I may try and hack something together using an Arduino.