New Car Time / Paging the Car-isti

BMW 330D. Very quick and economical on fuel. You would be looking at a
2002 - 2003 model for that kind of money but if you buy one it won't
depreciate much.

For something a bit different how about a Chrysler Crossfire? 0-62mph in
6.5sec and 155mph top speed and unique looks.

 

There are two very good ones, for rotary specialist values of 'nearby'
- RoTechniks in Grazeley near Reading and Carl Hayward in Newbury. Both
my current RX-7s were bought from RoTechniks so they're looking after
them despite the distance but I'd be equally happy to have Carl look
after them.

You should be OK with a rotary then, but they're still not exactly fuel
saving devices.

I wasn't thinking about olde English or Italian cars, honest. I was
more thinking about something like an early- to mid-Nineties Mercedes
W124 Coupe (300E), Honda Legend Coupe or somesuch. At a stretch even a
very late BMW 635 *if* you can find one that's more or less rust free.

Most of them could be had for 1/3 to half your budget in very good nick.

 

**** me.
Mine was merely a crude water distribution device.

When it rained it used to drip on my burd (now SWMBO) and not me, so
IDGAF.

In the winter, there were icicles hanging from the centre rail.

I sold it within 6 months of meeting the current Mrs Dan L, and bought
a nice, sensible Mk2 Escort 1100L (which was the biggest POS ever built
and got moved on within 3 months).

The 1250 Civic Hondamatic which followed was, erm , an interesting car.
More environmnetally friendly than a Prius in view of it's
biodegradability.


--
Dan L

http://thebikeshed.spaces.live.com/
1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr

BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005/6/7)
X-FOT#000
DIAABTCOD #26
BOMB#18 (slow)
OMF#11

 

As a private car the £1.5k+ purchase cost saving and extra 5mpg might make
sense but for a company car you'd be daft to turn down the 2.0.

I've seen a few mentions of head gasket failures on the 2.0 (in all VAG
cars) but that's about it.
What have they died of?
--
Alex

"I laugh in the face of danger. Then I hide until it goes away"

www.drzoidberg.co.uk www.ebayfaq.co.uk

 

[..]

Depends on what you've tried I guess. Hondas have always had a nice
clutch and gear action (when I say always, I started working on these
back at the Mk1 Accord, MK2 Civic and MK1 Prelude).

Yup, it's great to see them being brave for once.

 

TMack wrote:

The 330d was on my list of possibles, but they seem to come up rarely
and have starship mileage (presumably ex company cars)

I had considered this, but find them to be over priced and somewhat gay.


--
Dan L

http://thebikeshed.spaces.live.com/
1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr

BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005/6/7)
X-FOT#000
DIAABTCOD #26
BOMB#18 (slow)
OMF#11

 

At least 2 have had turbo failures, there's a whole multitude of
recurring ECU faults and injector issues - leaving the car in 'limp
home' mode, and one is still with VW.

The turbo fails can only be because oil levels haven't been checked and
/ or the turbo hasn't had chance to cool before switching off the
engine.

All the other issues would appear to be iffy build quality or because
they've been serviced by Leaseplan and not VW. (Mine's always gone to
VW, 'cos there isn't a decent Leaseplan authorised garage local to me)

 

Erm, I'm not too sure how the weather in the UK manages to be 'too hot'
for a a convertible?

The too cold I grant you but I haven't found too hot yet.

 

On the odd occasion I got the roof down on the Midget I did find that
when stationary in traffic it did get a bit too warm on very sunny
summer days.

Mind you, this was only a piffling diversion from the main subject of
worrying about whether the oil pressure gauge was *really* that low
(and why), whether the fuel gauge glass was meant to be obscured by
white smoke, and whether the throttle cable would stay clamped, or slip
(as it usually did) giving a mere 10mm of throttle openage. The
prospect of rain opened up a whole new horizon of concern, and then,
just when one thought it was safe to go back in the water either a
complete leaf spring set would shear [1] or the starter motor would
completely fall out [2]. When it wasn't doing this kind of shit all
one had to deal with was loose air cleaner retaining bolts dropping
into one of the SU's, holding it wide open befor being sucked into the
inlet manifold. Oh, happy days.

[1] The fucking thing did this one evening as I was reversing out of my
folks driveway en-route to take SWMBO's older sister to Friars in
Aylesbury (I hadn't at this stage been formally introduced to SWMBO, so
was working may way through her siblings). A full set of leaf springs,
just snapped, un fucking believeable.

[2] Ho yuss, despite the protestation of the chap at Platts garage in
Marlow, starter motors *do* fall out. Interesting bit was being towed
to the garage and realising the steering lock was engaged and the key
was in my pocket just before we turned left...


--
Dan L

http://thebikeshed.spaces.live.com/
1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr

BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005/6/7)
X-FOT#000
DIAABTCOD #26
BOMB#18 (slow)
OMF#11

 

Nah, it's just the reputation that modern Alfas have for destroying bits
'cos they often burn oil.

See above - ref: Alfas. TSparks are dangerously low by the time the
light comes on.

Yes. I have to top up the Passat at least once between services. Usually
a litre every 5k miles or so.

 

I dunno, I never found it a 'nightmare' when I'm out and about in my
convertible. Then again, southern Germany (where I grew up) is a tad
warmer than the UK.

Oh, and I also don't tend to use it during the week. Getting stuck in
traffic in London on a hot day is probably fairly nasty, I grant you
that.

 

Try a traffic jam on the M6, near Birmingham, in December.

In a Fiat 124 Spider.

Thankfully, cabrio roofs have come a long way since then.

 

frag secured a place in history by writing:

Because BMWs are driven by the worst sort of aspirational cunts and a lot
of people wouldn't be seen dead in one.

 

The VXR uses the same 2.8 V6 Turbo that some Saabs have. And they share the
diesel engines I beleive. 9-3 and the Vectra are the same basic
underpinnings IIRC, but the Saabs have better bits inside (Vectra seats are
literally the *worst* I've ever been in, and I also have a fucked back heh),
and have the all important plus of not been a Vectra heh. Pretty sure the
suspension setups of the Saabs are very different to the Vectra as well. Of
course, sharing some DNA with a Vectra isn't necessarily a bad thing these
days...

Dan, have you considered a Leon Cupra / Cupra R? Or possible the Leon FR
Diesel (or Cupra Diesel)? All are nicely equipped and quite pokey, and if
tinkering if your thing a remap for £300-400 will see a Cupra R to a bomb
proof reliable 270bhp from the 1.8T (engine shared with the Audi TT 225 and
the Audi S3 - fancy turbo and twin intercoolers etc).

 

In

I wouldn't chip a Cupra R beyond about 240 bhp.

As for the Saab being the same as the Vectra, that's like saying a Monaro
VXR handles the same as a 2.0 Omega estate. ie utter bollocks.

Strange the way floorpan sharing with a VW produces devastatingly quick
cross country missiles but if anyone other than VW or Fiat does it the car
is inferior because it shares the odd suspension pickup point and seat
mounting with something less likely to impress during a pub carpark job
interview.

Saab 9-5's are nice cars, as mentioned elsewhere stupidly comfy seats,
excellent torque, reliable, well built, decent handling and much less "sales
rep" than a 3 series or similar.

--
Pete M - Using the Scouse Side of the Force -
Golf GTi Mk2 2.0 8v
Wood and Pickett Range Rover V8 Turbo
Golf GTi Mk1 (For Sale)
OMF#9

Currently listening to The White Stripes

 

It's still platform sharing, though.

Which is why the Chevvy BLS can be built on the same production line as
the 9-3.

Erm, no. All platform sharing sucks. That's how the world got FWD Alfa
Romeos. The only reason the 156 worked was because it was a completely
separate diversification of the Tipo platform and was only ever used for
the 156.

VW platform sharing sometimes works 'cos it's often provided a cheap way
to get an Audi, but that's now gone since the Passat reverted to Golf
based underpinnings. However, the opposite could also be said - that an
Audi was just an expensive VW.

I'd prefer everyone to design their own kit, but it's no longer
economical - unfortunately, this has effectively ruined some legendary
brands, such as Saab, Jaguar and Alfa.

Even Subaru are at risk of becoming another generic GM product.

That's comparing apples with oranges, though, given that the 9-5 is the
next size up.

Just for comedy value alone, the 9-5 is based on the GM2900 platform,
which was more commonly seen as a MkIII Cavalier.

 

platypus secured a place in history by writing:

*ding*

 

Ah but the ones specifically found in the 225 spec motors are quite
different. They have uprated internals, a bigger turbo (K04), twin
intercoolers and some other fancy crap. Also to be fair, the claims of
270bhp are in reality often closer to the 260 mark, but there are many
posters to the SeatCupra.net forums that have 250+ bhp Leons that do plenty
of miles in them, and off the top of my head I can't think of any major
failures I've read about on there - and some of them are nicely over 100k
miles. I suppose it depends on your definition of big miles tho heh.

 

Whaa-at?

 

In

Which isn't that much of a bad thing if done well. Saab do it well, ok the
first GM 900 wasn't a good example, but the 9-5 is brilliant.

Yup, Alfas first platform share was with the Datsun Cherry. Class.

Audis were pretty much always expensive VWs though. Even the ur-quattro
shared plenty of engine internals with the Mk1 Golf GTi, the 4wd system was
derived from the VW Iltis for example. The only thing that has changed is
people now perceive VAG stuff as being "Prestige", which it isn't, it's just
nice cars built by clever people and sold with very clever marketing.

It's not ruined Jaguar at all. The current XJ is magnificent, the X-type is
a nice enough car (although not as good as a current Mondeo), the S-type
isn't a bad car at all. Jaguar have a long history of cost cutting, platform
sharing is cost cutting.

Because they share things with Saab? Hardly makes them responsible for
atrocities like the Corsa.

The 9-5 has a common platform with the old Vectra so it's apples v apples
I'm afraid. No different from the Skoda Octavia sharing a platform with a
Golf, for example.

Which in SRi / GSi form actually drove rather well, different rear
suspension setup, y'see.


--
Pete M - Using the Scouse Side of the Force -
Golf GTi Mk2 2.0 8v
Wood and Pickett Range Rover V8 Turbo
Golf GTi Mk1 (For Sale)
OMF#9

Currently listening to The White Stripes