Practically Classics Forum

Dick wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:53 pm

How do you feel about the 2000 3.8 mustang convertible??

Seriously? You've not been on the magic mushrooms? You actually like it? There's no hope!

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... 517282910/
I quite like it

Dick wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:53 pm

How do you feel about the 2000 3.8 mustang convertible??

Much the same as a turkey feels about the Christmas, but thanks for the suggestion. I'm looking at uk market Yaris versos, must be the earlier, uglier one with an actual automatic gearbox and not the cvt model, which are probably among the best of their type but can be badly broken if not given much attention. So in a cheap, scabby example that's probably going to have been neglected, only an actual gearbox with a torque converter will do.
Either the 1.3 or the 1.5 would do, the 2nz (1300) being my preference as they tend to be indestructible.. Even when propelling the vehicle over the edge of a cliff the 193000 km one in my bB was as sweet as any one of the low mileage ones I've met, burned no oil and never failed to manage at least 38cmpg, apart from during track days when overdrive tended to remain switched off and I'd tend to see mid 20s mpg.

I've tried on a Ford which, had it not come with lots of rust, would have been acceptable but £800 for a scabby Connect? No way! I am gravitating toward the Fiat version of the small mpv most commonly seen as the Citroën Nemo or Peugeot Bipper. The Fiat uses a lower capacity, but much more willing little Diesel engine but is, on the other hand, much less easy to find, at least it's not called Bipper so there's another reason for fancying the Fiat which, I've discovered, comes with an MMT and I know it's not a real automatic, but the one I've tried on so far made acceptably efficient gear changes. I put an offer up for that one as it was very tidy, came with a full dealer service history to back up its 134000 recorded miles and was supremely comfortable. I even paid a decent deposit but between the trader deciding that they wouldn't accept bank transfer and their providing this information to me, the sly bugger let it go to someone else because they'd tipped up with cash and offered more.
The Citroën version is even more comfortable (my neighbour loves her 2009 Solo, which is the campervan version of the Nemo, as built by Romahome) but the MMT option is slow. Odd, given that the PSA models use the same gearbox as the Fiat. Hmm, maybe it's down to the mapping? I should look into that as these wee things fit me pretty well and they don't seem to suffer from too many known issues beyond broken springs and strut top mount wear, both easily fixable at low cost.

I'm still open to suggestions though, as long as they don't involve cars that aren't accessible or are just too limited in their legroom behind the wheel.

I may already have suggested a nissan prairie before but i think its still worth a look... its just a big micra really really so what's not to like... in my quest for the xk8 i have found an 88 xjs 3.6 with dodgy brakes... just need to convince the other half...

Dick wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 20, 2021 9:39 pm

I may already have suggested a nissan prairie before but i think its still worth a look... its just a big micra really really so what's not to like... in my quest for the xk8 i have found an 88 xjs 3.6 with dodgy brakes... just need to convince the other half...

Edit
This sort of thing john

https://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/2091066169.htm

Rich, You know I'm a sucker for a first generation Prairie, they're pretty much the right shape and the extremely scarce automatic ones aren't too bad at all....

But, like many Japanese cars of their era, prices (I hesitate to say "value," because it may not be to some folk) tend to be in silly money territory, so lovely things though they are, they don't fit the bill for a throwaway pile of pooh to give the Discovery a chance to swerve the worst of the winter conditions, which matters as I really don't want to see the steel parts of the car turning to dusty brown flakes on the floor.

Talking of the incredible way in which certain cars' values are crazy just now; friends turned up at the door yesterday to drop in their Chrimbo prezzies and to show off their latest car purchase, a split new Tesla Model 3 with the twin motor, high capacity battery and performance pack options. They'd sold their lovely, low mileage Porsche Boxster and their daily driver, a 3 year old Civic Type R, to finance the new EV's purchase and the Honda had sold for a mere £100 less than it had cost when new! The Tesla is a very impressive appliance in many ways, not least in its crazy amount of grunt, but the Civic was, so I'm reliably informed, cheaper to run than the new vehicle, whose owner finds that the fast charger needed to give the thing its incredibly solid range costs a whopping £15 for a top up from 80 percent to full in order to facilitate a run up to Aberdeen and back which, thanks to the need for heating and other essentials to be employed on the run. That same £15 would have bought enough petrol to fuel the Honda all the way home. I did ask about the cheaper, less frequent maintenance that some cite as the killer blow to IC cars, but apparently the Tesla needs more software updates than Windows 7 and these cost up to £1500 - for even more performance - and the Honda, because Honda, is in fact extremely fairly priced for dealer maintenance and servicing is cheaper than Tesla's OTA updates.
I would still have an EV if forced to give up the Disco, (no effing chance, not when I've at long last found a genuinely straight examplebut I'd go for an Ora Cat or something by Kia, who seem to know what they're doing with the new witchcraft that is building electric cars.

Actually, scratch that. The cost of even the Ora Cat would probably buy me an EV conversion for a Series 1 Discovery, hmm, even more lovely torque than a 300TDi? Meh, I'd miss the noise. A lot!

JPB wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 23, 2021 10:29 am

They'd sold their lovely, low mileage Porsche Boxster and their daily driver, a 3 year old Civic Type R, to finance the new EV's purchase and the Honda had sold for a mere £100 less than it had cost when new! The Tesla is a very impressive appliance in many ways, not least in its crazy amount of grunt.

That crazy speed comes from the simple physics that rotation does not stop/start the way oscillation does. Steam trains have pistons, which is why Mallard achieved what was, an incredible speed of 126 mph. When trains no longer needed pistons their electric motors could rotate, allowing the French TGV to pass the 300 mph easily. Even something a simple as a sewing machine improves when the oscillating bobbin is replaced by a rotating one.

My only regret with Tesla is that the design could give The Ford Sierra a run for it's money in the title: "Jelly Mould." Why couldn't they be inspired by the aerodynamic shapes of those creators of The Art-Deco culture?

GHT wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 24, 2021 12:50 am

That crazy speed comes from the simple physics that rotation does not stop/start the way oscillation does.

My only regret with Tesla is that the design could give The Ford Sierra a run for it's money in the title: "Jelly Mould." Why couldn't they be inspired by the aerodynamic shapes of those creators of The Art-Deco culture?
Hispano-Suiza1.jpg

The other reason is that electric motors give full power right across the rev range and high torque from a standstill. Teslas seem very popular round here, I think their ugly appearance is further uglified by the fact that the preferred colour seems to be porcelain white.

The Model 3s centrally mounted "dash" would annoy me .. still makes it easier to convert from LHD to RHD I suppose ...

Must have looked at an Austin A30/A35 when they were designing it!! (Yes, that annoyed me in 1971 as well ....)

How to replace the battery on a tesla
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/expl ... -76mhn9snt