Re: breakdown truck
Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2020 9:01 am
Agreed.
Strangely enough, my late father, 86 when he passed, used to think in Kilos. His reasoning involved the fact that the metric system was a British invention, where as the Avoirdupois system is French.. OK so it might not be but he was right about metric being a British thing before other places adopted it.
Proof, were it necessary, that cussed awkwardness is hereditary.
Rich, I enjoy a good CVT, they're incredibly efficient if driven correctly and, for those of us who prefer a conventional gearbox with a torque converter because it has clearly defined ratios and doesn't - unless its clutch papers are toast or its converter slips - feel like driving a car with only porridge forming the mechanical link between engine and wheels, then modern CVTs from Aisin and Jatco, plus the Daddy of them all, the Van Doorne system found under Dafs and Dafs with Volvo badges, are in fact really good to use if used correctly by someone who knows how.
That setup used in Fiats with the "Selecta" badge and also in Ford Fiestas of the Mk2 variety, however, can be a bit less dependable than other CVTs thanks to its use of ferrofluid clutches, rather than conventional centrifugal or similar, almost sane devices.
The Fiat / Ford transmission does feel good when it's behaving itself, but oh man, when it's bad it's effing terrible!
That looks like a potentially good Uno though, it's possible that its clutches aren't buggered yet at that low mileage, but the trouble with a Uno is that they go and handle so well that driving everywhere flat out is too much fun to resist. I bought a two year old, 1100cc manual one from a scrapyard back in 1989, fixed its horrendous looking but not distorted collision damage using parts the same shade of blue from the same yard and that was then sold on, with a full photographic record of the work done, no issues with selling it either, as its owner hadn't been insured so no claim had been made. That thing was incredibly good to drive, just wring its neck in every gear and keep up with lots of more performance oriented cars.
But try that approach with that CVT and the poor car will complain. Such a good, low mileage survivor now though, should definitely be treated with respect, not that it won't still get along pretty swiftly, but save some cash for any transmission parts that may be needed..