Potential c30 owner

[Steveoz32]

Hi guys,

I’ve had a little hing for the look of the c30 for a while, and one had popped up that has peaked my interest.

If you look on eBay it’s the 2012 rebel blue one.

I’d appreciate some honest opinions about how they drive, what they are like to own and if here is anything I should look out for

My current daily is an abarth 500 Fun, nippy little thing.

The car in question has had the elevate intake manifold and induction kit fitted, I found a video on YouTube where there seems to be quite a bit of excessive turbo noise, is this normal with those mods? My only experience of a very whistle almost Whitney turbo sound is when my T3 list it’s bearing cage :/ so a little paranoid about noisy turbos.

Thanks all!

[Markos01]

That's the T5 Car Cleaning Guru one? No idea why that's not been snapped up yet, to my mind at that price it's a steal. Can't help regarding noise as I've no idea what all those mods do in terms of changing the noise. Is it worth a trip up to Manchester way to check it out in person?

[Steveoz32]

It said on the previous listing it has a vibration on the front end at low speed, I assume the drive shaft and other bits were changed but they couldn’t solve that issue.

The whining is pretty loud, seeing the motor in person isn’t going to help identify whether thats abnormal or not though :/ not sure if anyone else knows whether this is normal? I’ve watched quite a few c30 t5 videos on YT, a guy in the states has the elevate manifold etc and the turbo isn’t whining. A friend has an RS with a similar set up and that doesn’t whine either, just a nice whoooshing sound.

I’d have been there today looking at it though if it wasn’t quite so far, about a 4hr driver way from me unfortunately.

I’ve asked him some questions about the vibration and the whine, but he hasn’t come back yet.


Cheers.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Steveoz32

It said on the previous listing it has a vibration on the front end at low speed, I assume the drive shaft and other bits were changed but they couldn’t solve that issue.

The whining is pretty loud, seeing the motor in person isn’t going to help identify whether thats abnormal or not though :/ not sure if anyone else knows whether this is normal? I’ve watched quite a few c30 t5 videos on YT, a guy in the states has the elevate manifold etc and the turbo isn’t whining. A friend has an RS with a similar set up and that doesn’t whine either, just a nice whoooshing sound.

I’d have been there today looking at it though if it wasn’t quite so far, about a 4hr driver way from me unfortunately.

I’ve asked him some questions about the vibration and the whine, but he hasn’t come back yet.


Cheers.

you can get the volvo polestar engine software on this engine which takes it to proper T5 power of 260 bhp ...thats all you need :-)

[domhart10]

sounds a bit weird, I would go have a look at the car in person as that would be a potential turbo on the way out.

hmmm thats weird on the vibration, I would of suspected driveshaft culprit. I know people have replaced these driveshafts with aftermarket one where the vibration is still there .... would only recommend OEM driveshafts, might be work checking.

I will probably have a similar setup and the only real noises you should be able to hear is really the induction noises and some nice turbo spools.

With regards to the handling, would need to know more about the setup but im guessing its on coilovers? if coilovers it will handle like its on rails but will be mega firm. if its just lower coils the car should still handle pretty well. I have an S40 so a bit bigger but pretty fun cars to drive after a few handling mods.

[Steveoz32]

Thanks for the reply.

The only other time I heard a whine like that is when a boost pipe blew off pre IC on one of my cars.

I love the look of it, later reg than most that come up and lower mileage too.

How much would a pair of OE drive shafts fitted cost? And a replacement turbo if the worst happened?

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Steveoz32

Thanks for the reply.

The only other time I heard a whine like that is when a boost pipe blew off pre IC on one of my cars.

I love the look of it, later reg than most that come up and lower mileage too.

How much would a pair of OE drive shafts fitted cost? And a replacement turbo if the worst happened?

about £2000+ i would say ...

[Steveoz32]

Cool thanks, the gt2860r I replaced on my mr2 cost me best part of £700 (bearing cage failed and chewed up the impellers). I could only salvage the exhaust and intake housing, so had an entirely new chra, but that didn’t include labour as I switched it myself. I was think perhaps £1200ish for fit and supply would be alright.

Are the driveshafts a big job?

[Markos01]

Steve there's been some discussion of this car on the FB group for C30s... not surprising as it's a well-known car thanks to the YT videos of it, and the fact it's a late, low-miles, well-specced Rebel Blue T5:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...&theater&ifg=1

As I say I'm still amazed this hasn't sold but on the above link there's mention of a HPI check showing up inconsistent miles.... MOT history is all good but if HPI is throwing up a curve ball then it needs investigating: could be a clerical error but might not be. Interestingly there's also mention of the whine.

Everything sells for a price so this will go eventually and it might go for a good price or even a bargain price, but normally an RB T5 of any spec will sell very fast so it's a real shame that this has a question mark or two against it...

[FunkyMelon]

Originally Posted by Markos01

As I say I'm still amazed this hasn't sold

It's a nice car but it's overpriced - Mods never add value and the ones that do, he hasn't done (block mod, RS clutch etc).

Most of the mods he's done are only worth a few hundred each and any potential new owner could probably afford to do themselves if they wanted.

The one's he's done don't warrant thousands more on the asking price.

Secondly is the colour, it's not everyone's cup of tea. I've seen maybe one V40 outside of the polestars that are in this colour....

It is very tidy though, the detail he puts into it when cleaning is ridiculous! To be honest though, if any of us could be bothered we could do the same to any of our cars in a weekends work....