Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Car Chat => Topic started by: STEMO on 12 April 2017, 20:21:23
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Drove over to Liverpool and back today in my 1.4 astra estate. About 190 miles in total, M1, M62, M60, M62, M57 and I must have been able to hit 70 for all of about 10 miles. Smart motorways where every gantry has a camera or making motorways smart where average speed cameras hold you down to 50.
If I had a big beast capable of starship acceleration and mind blowing top speed, I would be more than a little pissed off watching a 1.4 astra crawling past because it had picked the faster-moving (up to a hair-raising 55mph at times) lane in the never ending roadworks.
I returned almost 50mpg on the day....no brainer (for me)
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50mpg is very good for a petrol :).
Is it a turbocharged or NA lump?
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50mpg is very good for a petrol :).
Is it a turbocharged or NA lump?
NA, Jimmy, but still nippy enough for the town driving I mostly do. With Tunnie-esque driving I get 40mpg around and about. Having said that, Barnsley is not Leeds, or Liverpool, or Manchester. I very seldom get held up for long...it makes a hell of a difference to both mpg and my mood.
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Of course, I occasionally get pissed off being out accelerated by a transit van, but transits are quite quick these days. ;D
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Of course, I occasionally get pissed off being out accelerated by a transit van, but transits are quite quick these days. ;D
Transits are very quick these days, not unusal to see one bombing past doing a ton, while on the phone, eating a burger, shouting at female drivers and having a w**k, all at the same time >:(
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Last year, I sold a low mileage 1.6 16V mk4 astra sport (50K) to buy a high mileage 3.2 MV6 (163K - now with 175K), because
a) Too many miles in pain for both driver and passenger, because of sporty seats and rock hard suspension as standard in astra :'(
b) Cruise, allowing the pain of long journeys to be eased. :)
c) Auto, allowing the pain of stop start M6 traffic to be eased. ;)
d) (Alot) Faster than a mk4 astra when asked to be. I won't say how much faster I've been but a tuned moped might be capable of the difference. Only useful in foreign lands obviously, but will out drag a 1.6 astra from zero to 70 which makes joining motorways less hairy :o
e) Fuel consumption is only 10 to 15 MPG less, which can't be costing me more than 20 quid a week :-\
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Drove over to Liverpool and back today in my 1.4 astra estate.
But if you were driving to Scouseland in a 1.4 Astra, you were probably hoping to come back in a nicked 4.0 Merc or something ::)
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My house is 100 yards from the M57, That'll explain the cold shiver I felt at one point today ;)
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My house is 100 yards from the M57, That'll explain the cold shiver I felt at one point today ;)
I saw your house, big old yard with 'Jon's Scrappy' on an evertonian blue board. ;D
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;D :y Kettles always on
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;D :y Kettles always on
Wow, your leccy bill must be huge ;D
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Each to their own I suppose, me I would do every trip in the V8 effortless power when needed & such smooth comfort at any speed as for fuel consumption 30mpg is not a strain on the wallet.😎
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Although I've had a few small cars I've always preffered big cars,which for me means having a big engine to pull it.I'm not bothered about the 0-60 sprint time nor the ultimate top speed,just a nice easy comfy cruise with enough power in reserve when/if needed.Given the mileage I do [less now than previously]fuel consumption is totally irrelevant to me.but as Tilbo says it's each to their own.
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50 mpg is what I dream of, but for me I just love big engines.....the noise......the roar..........the acceleration........the feeling of POWER!!
Along with that I once had to drive a Wolseley Hornet III (an upmarket Mini variant to you youngsters!) on a long motorway trip. Never again!! All too many lorries tried to bully me and my car, coming up so close to my rear bumper and I couldn't accelerate away as I can in my big engine cars. Horrible!
However I was once out accelerated by a Volvo tractor unit without it's trailer. He just put his foot down, I think to show me who was boss, and roared away. I suspect he had no limiter fitted / connected, and I researched at the time what engine he could have had, to discover it was of the largest turbo units type that Volvo build for lorry units. I have often wondered what his mpg was :D :D
It was impressive though. It made me wish I had the space under the miggie bonnet to fit one of those. F.ck the mpg, I, just wanted one of those :y
So 50 mpg would be wasted on me ;D ;D
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hmm. Power is useful where I live as there are many hills, lots of open road, very few speed cameras (except in and around Malaga which is riddled with them). I used to have to fill up the Omega everytime I went out averaging 23 mpg. The compromise is something like a modern 2 litre diesel. I hired an auto 2013 Passat auto in the Uk a few years back. Despite err putting it through its paces it still returned a ridiculous mpg (low 60's possibly).
I can empathise with STEMO - fairly pointless having a big engined car in England. Where are you going to use the performance? My last trip over I remember grinding along from Leicester to Scarborough and back stuck in sheer volumes of traffic. Oh and Smart imotorways at 50 mph for mile after mile. ???
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hmm. Power is useful where I live as there are many hills, lots of open road, very few speed cameras (except in and around Malaga which is riddled with them). I used to have to fill up the Omega everytime I went out averaging 23 mpg. The compromise is something like a modern 2 litre diesel. I hired an auto 2013 Passat auto in the Uk a few years back. Despite err putting it through its paces it still returned a ridiculous mpg (low 60's possibly).
I can empathise with STEMO - fairly pointless having a big engined car in England. Where are you going to use the performance? My last trip over I remember grinding along from Leicester to Scarborough and back stuck in sheer volumes of traffic. Oh and Smart imotorways at 50 mph for mile after mile. ???
Something that some members here find hard to grasp, 65mpg? Well you must have been driving like miss daisy, holding up traffic, not having fun, bla bla.
;D ;D
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Hi Varche
Also here in Germany it has become difficult to drive fast legal. So a 4 pot Omega is a good decision these days.
But I remember good old days on nightflight Bremen Berlin in 125 minutes for 410 km.
It was a Senator B 24V.....
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I've always done a lot of driving between Wales and London. On the Westbound M4 around Swansea way there is a long uphill stretch, with a slow lane for HGVs. Years ago when I only ever had small cars I can clearly recall the struggle to get up that hill without slowing to a crawl. I've always appreciated the ability to just touch the accelerator and effortlessly glide up it in Omegas and Volvos.
Even today on the same hill I always have some sympathy for the lesser vehicles to my left.
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I've always done a lot of driving between Wales and London. On the Westbound M4 around Swansea way there is a long uphill stretch, with a slow lane for HGVs. Years ago when I only ever had small cars I can clearly recall the struggle to get up that hill without slowing to a crawl. I've always appreciated the ability to just touch the accelerator and effortlessly glide up it in Omegas and Volvos.
Even today on the same hill I always have some sympathy for the lesser vehicles to my left.
That is a great example of why big engines are so useful. It is not all about top end speed, but those moments when you need something considerably larger than a 1.4 to climb a hill or get you fast out of trouble :y
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I've always done a lot of driving between Wales and London. On the Westbound M4 around Swansea way there is a long uphill stretch, with a slow lane for HGVs. Years ago when I only ever had small cars I can clearly recall the struggle to get up that hill without slowing to a crawl. I've always appreciated the ability to just touch the accelerator and effortlessly glide up it in Omegas and Volvos.
Even today on the same hill I always have some sympathy for the lesser vehicles to my left.
That is a great example of why big engines are so useful. It is not all about top end speed, but those moments when you need something considerably larger than a 1.4 to climb a hill or get you fast out of trouble :y
My (modern) 1.4 would sail up it, same as it does going over the top of the M62, the highest motorway in the country. :)
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TBH, pretty much anything made in the last 5yrs (excluding some electric cars and some of the super-mini shopping trolleys) will maintain 70-80 comfortably on any UK motorway/dual carriageway. On UK roads 120-150bhp is ample for all normal applications other than towing trailers/caravans. I'm shooting in the dark, but I'll bet STEMO's car has around 115-125 bhp.
Even my 1998 1.4 astra had very few problems on motorways (unless carrying more than 2 people) and that had well under 100bhp when new.
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Think it depends if you enjoy deploying that power, you can have fun but at much higher risk of loosing your license.
As mentioned before I've hugely enjoyed giving a M235i giving it a blast around the lanes, they corner like it's on rails, light, very fast (sub 5s to 60) - I found myself quite addicted to the go faster pedal.
To the point I've looked on auto trader to see how many bank's I would need to rob ;D
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My problem with driving the M140i at pace was that I couldn't get the car on the edge, or even feel like I was scratching the surface of the performance really. That said, I was never stuck behind a dawdler for very long ;D.
If I were buying a car as a toy, I honestly think it would be one of those twingo sport jobbies, you could drive it everywhere at maximum attack and never be in danger of losing your license :D
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My problem with driving the M140i at pace was that I couldn't get the car on the edge, or even feel like I was scratching the surface of the performance really. That said, I was never stuck behind a dawdler for very long ;D.
If I were buying a car as a toy, I honestly think it would be one of those twingo sport jobbies, you could drive it everywhere at maximum attack and never be in danger of losing your license :D
Done a few over-takes in the 235i.... scary how quickly you get into 3 figures. :-X
Best way to describe it is you can go for gaps with that extra power, gaps I would not attempt in the CC.
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SWMBO has a Citroen C1. Tiny little thing with a 1 litre engine & 3 cylinders. It produces 68 BHP, which ain't a lot - however, it will easily do 80+ on the flat but doesn't like hills! First proper new car I had was a Mk4 facelift Cortina estate 1.6 - that only made 74BHP. So I suppose it's all relative. Biggest difference I can "feel" is in the seating. I can only survive the C1 seats for local running around, they really don't support properly for longer journeys.......
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My problem with driving the M140i at pace was that I couldn't get the car on the edge, or even feel like I was scratching the surface of the performance really. That said, I was never stuck behind a dawdler for very long ;D.
This is exactly it, though. When you come across a short straight section with good visibility and clear road ahead of a few dawdlers, and you can gain 30 MPH in the blink of an eye to get past them, it makes the driving experience so much better. It was being able to do this effortlessly in the Westfield that made me realise how tedious life in my 120something BHP Laguna had become, so out with that and in with the MV6 and I haven't looked back.
Yes, you can go places in a lesser car, yes it might cost you less, yes you will lose your licence if you max out a V6 Omega everywhere, but that doesn't mean there's no point. ;)
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I've grown fond of being in the wrong lane at the roundabout, just because no one is queuing in that lane. Then deploy a shed load of power and you basically skip the queue ;D
In the 235i of course ::)
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I've grown fond of being in the wrong lane at the roundabout, just because no one is queuing in that lane. Then deploy a shed load of power and you basically skip the queue ;D
In the 235i of course ::)
Do you remember not to bother to indicate while doing the above? ;)
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My problem with driving the M140i at pace was that I couldn't get the car on the edge, or even feel like I was scratching the surface of the performance really. That said, I was never stuck behind a dawdler for very long ;D.
This is exactly it, though. When you come across a short straight section with good visibility and clear road ahead of a few dawdlers, and you can gain 30 MPH in the blink of an eye to get past them, it makes the driving experience so much better. It was being able to do this effortlessly in the Westfield that made me realise how tedious life in my 120something BHP Laguna had become, so out with that and in with the MV6 and I haven't looked back.
Yes, you can go places in a lesser car, yes it might cost you less, yes you will lose your licence if you max out a V6 Omega everywhere, but that doesn't mean there's no point. ;)
Indeed, and I was speaking after having a brand new manual 1.4 Fiesta on loan whilst mine was being assessed after my prang. It was so in need of dropping down in gears to get it going, especially when overtaking. It is that vroom of acceleration I get in the 3.2 that allows me to overtake so safely, but in the 1.4 it took an age in comparison and limited your ability to overtake safely. Yes, modern 1.4's are a lot faster than my 1.6 Cortina's of the past, but I would still favour a big powerful engine anyday :y
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Low power cars can be fun, as you have to get everything just right in order to keep up. That can be really satisfying :y...
...until the next straight, when you hard fought overtake is nulled as you are annihilated in the next straight.
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Did you not read the title of the thread? For me, I said. I'm not interested in what anyone else thinks so shut up. ;D
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Low power cars can be fun, as you have to get everything just right in order to keep up. That can be really satisfying :y...
...until the next straight, when you hard fought overtake is nulled as you are annihilated in the next straight.
So, you've driven a 190D then. :)
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However I was once out accelerated by a Volvo tractor unit without it's trailer. He just put his foot down, I think to show me who was boss, and roared away. I suspect he had no limiter fitted / connected, and I researched at the time what engine he could have had, to discover it was of the largest turbo units type that Volvo build for lorry units. I have often wondered what his mpg was :D :D
It was impressive though. It made me wish I had the space under the miggie bonnet to fit one of those. F.ck the mpg, I, just wanted one of those :y
The largest volvo at the moments is the Fh16,750bhp, 8mpg should be achievable at 44tonne, as for acceleration, tractor unit only 0-56, would make quite a few cars embarrassed, the Fh13, 500bhp isn't no slouch either.
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You get better traction with a trailer on the back, although it needs to be empty to maintain respectable performance in the traffic light gp :D that and put the ishift intomanual mode... bury your right foot and knock it up every time the revs hit 3500...
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However I was once out accelerated by a Volvo tractor unit without it's trailer. He just put his foot down, I think to show me who was boss, and roared away. I suspect he had no limiter fitted / connected, and I researched at the time what engine he could have had, to discover it was of the largest turbo units type that Volvo build for lorry units. I have often wondered what his mpg was :D :D
It was impressive though. It made me wish I had the space under the miggie bonnet to fit one of those. F.ck the mpg, I, just wanted one of those :y
The largest volvo at the moments is the Fh16,750bhp, 8mpg should be achievable at 44tonne, as for acceleration, tractor unit only 0-56, would make quite a few cars embarrassed, the Fh13, 500bhp isn't no slouch either.
Thanks for the info. The Volvo certainly left me standing. :D :D :y
To think his mpg is only just under half of what I achieve most of the time, and I haven't got 44 tonnes on the back! :o :o :)
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However I was once out accelerated by a Volvo tractor unit without it's trailer. He just put his foot down, I think to show me who was boss, and roared away. I suspect he had no limiter fitted / connected, and I researched at the time what engine he could have had, to discover it was of the largest turbo units type that Volvo build for lorry units. I have often wondered what his mpg was :D :D
It was impressive though. It made me wish I had the space under the miggie bonnet to fit one of those. F.ck the mpg, I, just wanted one of those :y
The largest volvo at the moments is the Fh16,750bhp, 8mpg should be achievable at 44tonne, as for acceleration, tractor unit only 0-56, would make quite a few cars embarrassed, the Fh13, 500bhp isn't no slouch either.
Thanks for the info. The Volvo certainly left me standing. :D :D :y
To think his mpg is only just under half of what I achieve most of the time, and I haven't got 44 tonnes on the back! :o :o :)
check the bottom figure. :P
(http://[IMG]http://i969.photobucket.com/albums/ae180/biggriffin64/temporary_zpsk50dzvhh.jpg)(http://i969.photobucket.com/albums/ae180/biggriffin64/temporary_zpsk50dzvhh.jpg) [/img]
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check the bottom figure. :P
(http://[IMG]http://i969.photobucket.com/albums/ae180/biggriffin64/temporary_zpsk50dzvhh.jpg)(http://i969.photobucket.com/albums/ae180/biggriffin64/temporary_zpsk50dzvhh.jpg) [/img]
PUT YOUR SEATBELT ON! ::) :P ;D
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no need to shout. ::),
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If that is what one of "our"trucks achieve what kind of figures are they getting from one of those huge Australian land train jobs?
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100l/km on steeper hills :o
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This thread should be titled "The futility of being stuck behind and £80k Porsche doing 37mph on one of the best bits of driving road in Sussex..."
I reckon there's a market for a Porsche Cayenne/Audi Q7/Toerag etc with a 1.2 Tsi lump for circa £75-90k ::)
I should perhaps add that passing them at a speed the road should be driven at may only serve get me to the back of the next caravan/camper quicker, but at least I could say I enjoyed catching them up...
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^^this^^
I used to work with a guy who owned a 435d. Serious piece of kit, every night going home I'd pass him in my 9-5 aero (all 275bhp and nearly 2 tonne) like he was standing still! I honestly don't think it ever saw the naughty side of 70mph.
His PCP is up this year and he's swapped it for.... an M4 :o. And not just that, but an M4 with that hardcore go-faster pack thingy ;D
I mean, I'm all for what makes you happy, but I just honestly can't understand the motivation, I mean, he wouldn't get near troubling the performance limits of a 420d m sport. :-\
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On the flip side to Dr G and jimmy944, my old ZX10 was, even in todays world, quicker than most cars on the road. But I never really rode it fast - my thrills came from the acceleration, and that feeling you get when you get a corner just right, and power nicely out of it. I never maxed it out, or even attempted to. The time I rode it the fastest, I remember thinking to myself "this is a 20yr old bike, if anything fell of now, it would probably hurt". Whilst pondering that thought, a car pulled out in front of me, and I swear it felt like my back wheel was in the air, and the front suspension fully bottomed out.
That said, unless you can see a particular danger, I believe the speed limit should be the target.
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Was driving back along said stretch last night thinking how nice it was that there were no caravans or bikes around... not a road to ride a bike along in the dark as most of the bends and crests are blind...
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Was driving back along said stretch last night thinking how nice it was that there were no caravans or bikes around... not a road to ride a bike along in the dark as most of the bends and crests are blind...
Au contrare, country twisties are great in the dark, as you can see if someone is coming the other way. :y
Unless they're driving with no lights on! :o ::) :D
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Sounds like a fun challenging road for a sweet handling sportsbike. ;) ;D
I'm too old for all that malarkey now though. ::)
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Unless they're driving with no lights on! :o ::) :D
Like bloody cyclists around this way. The few that do have lights have those dazzling retina burners. Frickwicks, the lot of them
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Wifeys 1.4 "hundey" is pretty nippy. It eve has a sports mode :o