citsncycles wrote:I would have happily pitched my old 14TGE against the valvers and oil burners on the Challenge this year.
Yeah, but instead you happily pitched a 1200cc GS against the valvers and oil burners! And didn't do too badly...
I guess that people are now snapping up cars they wanted to have when they were new, and more people hankered after a 16v, even if (perhaps) they would actually enjoy another model more.
My Cars: 1999 Xsara LX 2.0HDI (90) Hatch - Fern 2002 C5 2.0 HDI (110) Estate - Jasmine - SORN 2011 Mini Cooper D Clubman - SOLD 2016 Mercedes A180D Sport - Auto refinement 1992 TZD Turbo - Bluebell - SORN 1992 TZD Turbo Estate - SORN 1991 Gti 16V - Blaze - crash damaged, will get repaired - SORN 1990 Gti 8Valve SOLD - looks like it's been scrapped 2002 Mini Cooper S - SOLD - i miss this car 1992 TXD - Scrapped in March 2014 1988 CX 25 GTI Turbo2 - SORN 1996 - AX Memphis 1.5D - Dream - SORN
I've got fond memories of my 8v Gti, it went very well & was a relaxing drive if i was taking it steady & had plenty of oomph when needed & i once managed 36mpg
2002 C5 2.0 HDI Estate - Jasmine - Now SORN
2011 Mini Cooper D Clubman - SOLD
2016 Mercedes A180D Sport - Auto refinement
1992 TZD Turbo - Bluebell - My daily
1991 Gti 16V - Blaze - crash damaged, will get repaired.
1990 Gti 8Valve SOLD - looks like it's been scrapped
2002 Mini Cooper S - SOLD - i miss this car
1992 TXD - Scrapped in March 2014
1988 CX 25 GTI Turbo2 - SORN
1996 - AX Memphis 1.5D - Dream - SORN
Yeah, but instead you happily pitched a 1200cc GS against the valvers and oil burners! And didn't do too badly...
When it comes to driving cars I follow James Hunt's line of thinking - his daily driver was an A35 van, his reasoning being that with such a slow, low powered vehicle he could have much more fun at legal speeds than in some high powered sports car. I certainly had more fun pushing the GS towards its limits than I would have driving a car that was able to go round those bends much quicker!
Mike Sims
BX 19RD Estate Mk1 - Timex!
BX 4X4 Estate - Oh god, I've done it again!
BX 17RD MK1 - it called to me!
BX14 TGE, - SOLD
XM Turbo SD,GS Club Estate,Visa 17D Leader,HY Pickup,Dyane Nomad,Dyane 6,2CV AZL,Falcon S,Trabant P50,3x Land Rovers (88" series 1,109" series 2a FFR,series 2a Marshall ambulance),DKW F7, Lambretta LD150 x 1.5,Mobylette SP93,Ural Cossack,Ural M63,CZ 250 Sport,Honda Varadero 125,lots of bicycles & tricycles including (but not only) Sunbeams,Higgins & Bates!
the Gti manual i find to be a very relaxing drive, but loads of power when you need it. I find it economical as well, probably i think because it's so light and you can trundle around town at 1-1500 rpm all day cos of the low end torque and it just ticks over really solidly at those low revs.
I get around 35-40 mpg on a run 60-80mph, being careful and it will do 45mpg. Around 28-30 round town.
My only bugbear with it is the exhaust is noisy, in a hot-hatch kinda way, certainly compared to the 16 carb which is quiet. But it does have a stainless steel exhaust from the downpipe onwards so a different setup might help.
Tim, i'd be interested in how the TZi is on that front. Bearing in mind i'm probably more (over?)sensitive to sound as it's my profession.
'92 16TXS (m), Dark metallic green, 74k
'90 16TZS (m), White, 86k
'89 19TRS auto, Olympic Blue, 133k
'88 Saab 900 8v Turbo (auto) 107k Red with Tan leather, lovely drive and well maintained.
'07 Hyundai Santa Fe 2.2 CRDi 85k (m). Practical family wagon
the 8v 4x4 is about the same feel as the 2wd power wise as it biases the front wheels 53% to 47% under normal driving the transfer diff is freewheeling the rear drive train so very little power loss. when you loose the front end grip lots of power isn't the answer anyway but i do like the way when pushed on the limits the 4x4 starts to under steer you feel a slight shuffle and then you get your steering back and the back end hunkers down a bit and away you go sadly it still cant touch the activa on corners but the activa has a habit of feeling perfectly composed and you wonder what the screeching noise is then you realise its all four tyres bitterly complaining thay dont want that much sideways G it's not unusual for the activa to corner with all four wheels sliding the BX 4x4 never does that. The 2wd Gtis ive had had a nasty habit of spinning away from junctions the 4WD cures that
1992 BX 4x4 Gti aircon Silver
1991 BX 19 TGD Red(the Red Baron)
1993 BX 17 TZD Red the new Daily
1986 BX 16 RS Leader (The only 1 left I believe)
2003 Landrover Defender 110 CSW TD5
1985 Landrover Defender 90 4SC County
some other newer Nissans
I don't agree the handling; the 4x4 is a lot more neutral and it really is not a lot slower through the corners than an Activa. Of course it rolls (and quite a bit more than a 16V) but once you overcome the fear induced by body roll it can be stuffed through roundabouts and corners a lot faster than a standard BX and will surprise many modern hot hatches... The 16V is lot nicer in feel when driven hard than a standard BX but ultimately understeers more than the 4x4. Unworn grippy tyres make a lot of difference on the 16V - worn front tyres dramatically increase the understeer.