swift sport zc31s
Discussion
certainly unplanned but we all know what happens when we browse ebay!
id been admiring these and mk3 mr2 from a far keeping eyes on prices etc... spotted this one with an hour to go at £870 and thought ill watch it chuck just over a grand at it and see what happens, to my surprise i got a update saying id won for £1021!
so what have we won exactly
2007 swift sport zc31s
107k miles
mot till march 2024
seller was a great chap to deal with and was spot on
the listing was if anything too hard on the car and i expect that's why it didn't make anywhere near what others make
has an invoice from june for £700 for brakes all round, rear calipers, front arms, alignment etc.....
Michelin pilot sport tyres all round
silicone rad hoses, braided brake lines
one fault is no doors open with remote fob, indicators flash and interior light comes on just no physical unlock from the doors, seller was kind enough to include a spare n/s door lock so I've fitted that and now have a functional passenger door lock
just need to locate a os door lock and were fully functioning
not entirely sure what im doing with this but i do know my trip home from Sheffield to Manchester over the Woodhead pass a628 was great fun
few little niggles and then ill look into how i can improve the fun factor on a budget i think the key will be keeping the weight low and suspension wizardry
id been admiring these and mk3 mr2 from a far keeping eyes on prices etc... spotted this one with an hour to go at £870 and thought ill watch it chuck just over a grand at it and see what happens, to my surprise i got a update saying id won for £1021!
so what have we won exactly
2007 swift sport zc31s
107k miles
mot till march 2024
seller was a great chap to deal with and was spot on
the listing was if anything too hard on the car and i expect that's why it didn't make anywhere near what others make
has an invoice from june for £700 for brakes all round, rear calipers, front arms, alignment etc.....
Michelin pilot sport tyres all round
silicone rad hoses, braided brake lines
one fault is no doors open with remote fob, indicators flash and interior light comes on just no physical unlock from the doors, seller was kind enough to include a spare n/s door lock so I've fitted that and now have a functional passenger door lock
just need to locate a os door lock and were fully functioning
not entirely sure what im doing with this but i do know my trip home from Sheffield to Manchester over the Woodhead pass a628 was great fun
few little niggles and then ill look into how i can improve the fun factor on a budget i think the key will be keeping the weight low and suspension wizardry
KTMsm said:
That's how I bought mine probably five years ago
I loved it so after 6 months I bought a better one but still for not much over £1k
I've bought lots of cars to replace it and yet they've all been sold and it remains - for thrashing about locally it's unbeatable
ive had various ignis sports over last 6 years. love the lightness and the fact you can thrash the arse off it and not worry about your licenseI loved it so after 6 months I bought a better one but still for not much over £1k
I've bought lots of cars to replace it and yet they've all been sold and it remains - for thrashing about locally it's unbeatable
Ste372 said:
. love the lightness and the fact you can thrash the arse off it and not worry about your license
Yes I've come from much faster cars but was sick of not enjoying them as they were too capableIt's slightly heavier and slightly more BHP than an 8v Mk 2 Golf GTI - so the performance is very similar and I loved thrashing them 20+ years ago
Both of mine came with stainless steel performance exhausts and to me it's worth it for the noise alone - in fact I've got a spare one in the garage I've got to get round to putting on eBay
KTMsm said:
Yes I've come from much faster cars but was sick of not enjoying them as they were too capable
It's slightly heavier and slightly more BHP than an 8v Mk 2 Golf GTI - so the performance is very similar and I loved thrashing them 20+ years ago
Both of mine came with stainless steel performance exhausts and to me it's worth it for the noise alone - in fact I've got a spare one in the garage I've got to get round to putting on eBay
know the feeling previous toy was a stage 2 a45 440ish hp, couldn't enjoy it a few seconds and you're not just breaking the law you're at license losing and potentially jail time speedsIt's slightly heavier and slightly more BHP than an 8v Mk 2 Golf GTI - so the performance is very similar and I loved thrashing them 20+ years ago
Both of mine came with stainless steel performance exhausts and to me it's worth it for the noise alone - in fact I've got a spare one in the garage I've got to get round to putting on eBay
i prefer a twisty quiet road on a sunday now exploring the cars limits in a relatively safe manner and enjoy the tinkering and fettling more these days than the actual driving. besides my 10 year old lad likes to come out so theres only so much you can do
Not a fan of these, there is barely any torque until well into 4k rpm.
The driving position is comically high, and the suspensions are far too hard made worse by awful seats.
Handling is ok, but the steering has zero feel due to being too light, and the gearbox is garbage.
For £1k it’s ok, but there is far too much hype over these.
The driving position is comically high, and the suspensions are far too hard made worse by awful seats.
Handling is ok, but the steering has zero feel due to being too light, and the gearbox is garbage.
For £1k it’s ok, but there is far too much hype over these.
Jiebo said:
Not a fan of these, there is barely any torque until well into 4k rpm.
The driving position is comically high, and the suspensions are far too hard made worse by awful seats.
Handling is ok, but the steering has zero feel due to being too light, and the gearbox is garbage.
For £1k it’s ok, but there is far too much hype over these.
It's true they come alive above 4K, can't say I've found a problem with the seats, position or gearboxThe driving position is comically high, and the suspensions are far too hard made worse by awful seats.
Handling is ok, but the steering has zero feel due to being too light, and the gearbox is garbage.
For £1k it’s ok, but there is far too much hype over these.
I'd be intrigued what do you call a good fun car because I've had literally thousands and there's not many I've kept as long as this
Jiebo said:
Not a fan of these, there is barely any torque until well into 4k rpm.
The driving position is comically high, and the suspensions are far too hard made worse by awful seats.
Handling is ok, but the steering has zero feel due to being too light, and the gearbox is garbage.
For £1k it’s ok, but there is far too much hype over these.
Yeah I've just seen your short thread on yours. Looks like you got stitched up badly with that one! The driving position is comically high, and the suspensions are far too hard made worse by awful seats.
Handling is ok, but the steering has zero feel due to being too light, and the gearbox is garbage.
For £1k it’s ok, but there is far too much hype over these.
I think these are what you make of them. If you take them at face value for what they are then they are cheap fun car. The downside to that is cheap and fun often result in a younger buy who more often than not doesn't pu maintenance at the top of the list of priorities
KTMsm said:
It's true they come alive above 4K, can't say I've found a problem with the seats, position or gearbox
I'd be intrigued what do you call a good fun car because I've had literally thousands and there's not many I've kept as long as this
I know it’s a PistonHeads cliche but the mx5 is light years ahead in terms of driving position, gearbox, steering feel and general build quality. My old zc31s was a fun Sunday runabout, likewise so is my mx5 that replaced it, so practicality never came into the equation. I'd be intrigued what do you call a good fun car because I've had literally thousands and there's not many I've kept as long as this
I've always liked these because they have an N/A engine.
They remind me of the MK1 and MK2 Golf GTis I had in the past, and they were quick enough to have fun without getting to silly speeds.
After having 2 stroke motorbikes in the past I don't mind having to get engines revving before much happens!
They remind me of the MK1 and MK2 Golf GTis I had in the past, and they were quick enough to have fun without getting to silly speeds.
After having 2 stroke motorbikes in the past I don't mind having to get engines revving before much happens!
Absolute bargain that.
I had the ZC32S and loved it. Had a couple of cars since but a big part of me wishes I'd kept it and spent money making it even better. My partner has the 33S and while it's a good car, it's just not quite the same.
Hope you enjoy this and look forward to updates.
I had the ZC32S and loved it. Had a couple of cars since but a big part of me wishes I'd kept it and spent money making it even better. My partner has the 33S and while it's a good car, it's just not quite the same.
Hope you enjoy this and look forward to updates.
Jiebo said:
, and the suspensions are far too hard made worse by awful seats.
Yours will have some aftermarket suspension as the factory stuff is very, very well judged for UK roads.Although my back to back experience is a 32 I find that more comfortable than a 545i SE.
Its a genuinely comfortable car in my experience. I've had sporty Fords and found the suspension stupidly hard and the handling no better for it.
That is a real bargain, my wife had a silver one which she loved...she has had the ZC32s that replaced it for about six years, so a ZC33s is on the horizon. SSS fans here 
No major issues with either car and great fun for what they are, sticky sliding pins if not maintained, so good these have been done. I can't relate to any of the negatives as posted above, I found the 31 to have more of a frenetic go-kart vibe about it, and five speed gearbox nicer than the six speed in the 32s too.
Look forward to further updates OP
No major issues with either car and great fun for what they are, sticky sliding pins if not maintained, so good these have been done. I can't relate to any of the negatives as posted above, I found the 31 to have more of a frenetic go-kart vibe about it, and five speed gearbox nicer than the six speed in the 32s too.
Look forward to further updates OP
trickywoo said:
Yours will have some aftermarket suspension as the factory stuff is very, very well judged for UK roads.
Although my back to back experience is a 32 I find that more comfortable than a 545i SE.
Its a genuinely comfortable car in my experience. I've had sporty Fords and found the suspension stupidly hard and the handling no better for it.
Nope in my old car I had to change the struts and went for normal bilstein stuff, plus OEM springs from Suzuki. The set up is extremely hard and crashy, and not very compliant. Im comparing this to my current mx5 which is the sport tech version with bilstein shocks too, which is a far more compliant and comfortable ride.Although my back to back experience is a 32 I find that more comfortable than a 545i SE.
Its a genuinely comfortable car in my experience. I've had sporty Fords and found the suspension stupidly hard and the handling no better for it.
I’m not sure if I can take your comment seriously if you seriously are comparing it to a 545i SE. I’ve had a 640d which is probably fairly close to a 545i, and it’s in another planet of comfort in comparison to a swift sport.
Jiebo said:
I’m not sure if I can take your comment seriously if you seriously are comparing it to a 545i SE. I’ve had a 640d which is probably fairly close to a 545i, and it’s in another planet of comfort in comparison to a swift sport.
My 545 wasn't even on runflats. Comfortable enough but I prefer the standard 32 Swift.admittedly the swift hasnt been touched as im in the middle of a run of night shifts at moment.... but after speaking with previous owner he had some goodies stashed away that he thought i may be interested in
so took a trip over to sheffield again this morning and collected the following
standard headlights and associated wiring/plugs that were removed to fit the aftermarket headlights (will be sold)
the previous owner changed the radiator not long ago and had purchased a full set of replacement silicone rad hoses. he replaced the ones that had to come off for the radiator and had left the others for another day so scooped them up
i plan to do a full coolant flush, thermostat change anyway so theyll get put on when that happens
and finally some integra dc2 wheels in 15" to try and lose a few kg each corner these feel noticeably lighter, i have driven a swift with 15s on it was much more nimble than this was driving home with the oem 17s on
so over next few days im going to try and get some time to get it jacked up and power washed under the arches have a decent look under the car, stick the wheels on and a general tidy up doesnt need much just to blow the dust from sitting around off
so took a trip over to sheffield again this morning and collected the following
standard headlights and associated wiring/plugs that were removed to fit the aftermarket headlights (will be sold)
the previous owner changed the radiator not long ago and had purchased a full set of replacement silicone rad hoses. he replaced the ones that had to come off for the radiator and had left the others for another day so scooped them up
i plan to do a full coolant flush, thermostat change anyway so theyll get put on when that happens
and finally some integra dc2 wheels in 15" to try and lose a few kg each corner these feel noticeably lighter, i have driven a swift with 15s on it was much more nimble than this was driving home with the oem 17s on
so over next few days im going to try and get some time to get it jacked up and power washed under the arches have a decent look under the car, stick the wheels on and a general tidy up doesnt need much just to blow the dust from sitting around off
I've had my Zc31 for 4 years and I still love it. 138,000 on the clock now, and it's been mega reliable and fun. Only issue is the P0420 ghost code that pops up, I just clear it with a cheap ebay ODB, and never had issues with emissions at MOT.
I came from an MX-5, and had original Mini's in the past, and it's got a similar sense of fun about it.
Only thing i'd change is a 6 speed box, I use it to ferry my MTB racing around the country, and it's a bit frantic on the motorway.
Enjoy!
I came from an MX-5, and had original Mini's in the past, and it's got a similar sense of fun about it.
Only thing i'd change is a 6 speed box, I use it to ferry my MTB racing around the country, and it's a bit frantic on the motorway.
Enjoy!
They are brilliant little cars.
What struck me about mine when I first got it, is how solid it feels inside.
Seats are great and supportive in my opinion and the gear change is lovely, confused why someone mentioned that these were both not very good.
I will be interested to see what yours look like with smaller wheels, I am a fan of small wheels for obvious reasons.
Anyway here is mine...with a monster sport supercharger kit...absolutely brilliant fun, much prefer it to any of the c300 bhp 4*4 jap cars I have had.
Currently out of action though, think the gear linkage is playing up so won't go in to first/second.
What struck me about mine when I first got it, is how solid it feels inside.
Seats are great and supportive in my opinion and the gear change is lovely, confused why someone mentioned that these were both not very good.
I will be interested to see what yours look like with smaller wheels, I am a fan of small wheels for obvious reasons.
Anyway here is mine...with a monster sport supercharger kit...absolutely brilliant fun, much prefer it to any of the c300 bhp 4*4 jap cars I have had.
Currently out of action though, think the gear linkage is playing up so won't go in to first/second.
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