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[tunnie]

No oil temp on his either (my VW has it though in MFD) 

The popping and banging of the petrol he has is addictive, we try not to get over 30mpg 

His has Xenons and is on some kind of finance, deal, can see it being £400-£500 a month. 

He has done 18k in a year, when he said he would do 12k. One of the reasons he was looking to car share 

[Doctor Gollum]

I've had various thoughts on my car share buddies M235:


It is surprisingly encomical, over 30mpg even when driving in "TheBoy" mode. That's the efficient dynamics at work. Also big engine/small car tends to be more economical than you might think.

Car tax is lower than the 3.2 Omega See above

Why no engine temp gauge? Can't tell when it's up to temp before spanking it. Be a display within vehicle settings

No active cornering lights, standard on my VW. Turning the fog light on is gimmicky. The optional lights on the BMW are fully dynamic xenon and LED and are fantastic. Expensive though...

BMW connected system and Nav is very impressive. Unlimited data, remote options to warm car etc. All great. Postcode wouldn't accept a postcode for Gills Bay, but took us straight to the ferry when selecting Kirkwall as the destination

Seats are nice, but ride is very, very firm. Large wheels and sports springs won't help, but should have a comfort setting which helps

You can't sync the climate controls back to driver settings, after each side has been manually set on passenger side. Has to be manually done. A design compromise, even with a digital panel as the outer part of the temp knobs set temp, whilst the buttons in the centre of the temp knobs serve entirely different functions (Auto and Eco iirc), no hardship to reach another 6" to adjust it.

It's fast. Little rocket, 8 speed autobox big help.Gearbox is very good. Only flaw imho, is that it won't change into to when in Sport mode. Has to be done manually

[Doctor Gollum]

No oil temp on his either (my VW has it though in MFD) 

The popping and banging of the petrol he has is addictive, we try not to get over 30mpg 

His has Xenons and is on some kind of finance, deal, can see it being £400-£500 a month. 

He has done 18k in a year, when he said he would do 12k. One of the reasons he was looking to car share 

That be on a PCP then... and will see him getting stung for around £1,200 a year when the agreement ends. The extra £100 pm would see it on HP with no mileage restrictions

[tunnie]

I've had various thoughts on my car share buddies M235:


It is surprisingly encomical, over 30mpg even when driving in "TheBoy" mode. That's the efficient dynamics at work. Also big engine/small car tends to be more economical than you might think.

Car tax is lower than the 3.2 Omega See above

Why no engine temp gauge? Can't tell when it's up to temp before spanking it. Be a display within vehicle settings

No active cornering lights, standard on my VW. Turning the fog light on is gimmicky. The optional lights on the BMW are fully dynamic xenon and LED and are fantastic. Expensive though...

BMW connected system and Nav is very impressive. Unlimited data, remote options to warm car etc. All great. Postcode wouldn't accept a postcode for Gills Bay, but took us straight to the ferry when selecting Kirkwall as the destination

Seats are nice, but ride is very, very firm. Large wheels and sports springs won't help, but should have a comfort setting which helps

You can't sync the climate controls back to driver settings, after each side has been manually set on passenger side. Has to be manually done. A design compromise, even with a digital panel as the outer part of the temp knobs set temp, whilst the buttons in the centre of the temp knobs serve entirely different functions (Auto and Eco iirc), no hardship to reach another 6" to adjust it.

It's fast. Little rocket, 8 speed autobox big help.Gearbox is very good. Only flaw imho, is that it won't change into to when in Sport mode. Has to be done manually

Re engine temp, apparently it's not hidden away. It's just not there, says he has looked at forums, was an optional extra on 235i 

[Viral_Jim]

No oil temp on his either (my VW has it though in MFD) 

The popping and banging of the petrol he has is addictive, we try not to get over 30mpg 

His has Xenons and is on some kind of finance, deal, can see it being £400-£500 a month. 

He has done 18k in a year, when he said he would do 12k. One of the reasons he was looking to car share

If he has it pcp via BMW finance, they were running a promotion a month or two ago to extend the mileage to 15k/yr at no extra charge. Worth giving them a call as it will offset some of the cost.

[tunnie]

No oil temp on his either (my VW has it though in MFD) 

The popping and banging of the petrol he has is addictive, we try not to get over 30mpg 

His has Xenons and is on some kind of finance, deal, can see it being £400-£500 a month. 

He has done 18k in a year, when he said he would do 12k. One of the reasons he was looking to car share

If he has it pcp via BMW finance, they were running a promotion a month or two ago to extend the mileage to 15k/yr at no extra charge. Worth giving them a call as it will offset some of the cost.

Fairly sure it is BMW Finance, they made some issues around collection time. So he got them to throw in service pack.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

No oil temp on his either (my VW has it though in MFD) 

The popping and banging of the petrol he has is addictive, we try not to get over 30mpg 

His has Xenons and is on some kind of finance, deal, can see it being £400-£500 a month. 

He has done 18k in a year, when he said he would do 12k. One of the reasons he was looking to car share 

This seems to be a common theme these days.

As already said I have no way of knowing when my XFR is properly warm. I assume there is some sort of warning if the car overheats.

But what if the car is running too cool (thermostat problems perhaps) How would I know?

[tunnie]

No oil temp on his either (my VW has it though in MFD) 

The popping and banging of the petrol he has is addictive, we try not to get over 30mpg 

His has Xenons and is on some kind of finance, deal, can see it being £400-£500 a month. 

He has done 18k in a year, when he said he would do 12k. One of the reasons he was looking to car share 

This seems to be a common theme these days.

As already said I have no way of knowing when my XFR is properly warm. I assume there is some sort of warning if the car overheats.

But what if the car is running too cool (thermostat problems perhaps) How would I know?

Same problem in the BMW 235i 

Fine when new, but what when these are 10 years old and 100k miles

[Mr Gav]

No oil temp on his either (my VW has it though in MFD) 

The popping and banging of the petrol he has is addictive, we try not to get over 30mpg 

His has Xenons and is on some kind of finance, deal, can see it being £400-£500 a month. 

He has done 18k in a year, when he said he would do 12k. One of the reasons he was looking to car share 

This seems to be a common theme these days.

As already said I have no way of knowing when my XFR is properly warm. I assume there is some sort of warning if the car overheats.

But what if the car is running too cool (thermostat problems perhaps) How would I know?

My Datsun has oil and water temps, I always wait until the oil has reached 90 degrees before I start taking the revs above 3k, the engine warms up pretty quickly but the oil takes around fifteen minutes to reach a good operating temperature.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

No oil temp on his either (my VW has it though in MFD) 

The popping and banging of the petrol he has is addictive, we try not to get over 30mpg 

His has Xenons and is on some kind of finance, deal, can see it being £400-£500 a month. 

He has done 18k in a year, when he said he would do 12k. One of the reasons he was looking to car share 

This seems to be a common theme these days.

As already said I have no way of knowing when my XFR is properly warm. I assume there is some sort of warning if the car overheats.

But what if the car is running too cool (thermostat problems perhaps) How would I know?

My Datsun has oil and water temps, I always wait until the oil has reached 90 degrees before I start taking the revs above 3k, the engine warms up pretty quickly but the oil takes around fifteen minutes to reach a good operating temperature.

This works. Why change it?

[Nick W]

I'd be inclined to agree, except some of the discounts available are very generous. A reasonable spec can be had for £27-28k. Or, more realistically, about £320pcm. Good value for what you get in my book. Well, as good a value as any new car I suppose. 

However, revisiting my previous point, I suspect a gti would give you all the performance and fun required for £75 or so less PCM. I've very quickly come to the conclusion that modern performance cars are utterly unnecessary in the uk.

An eccentric friend of mine runs a triumph gt6 all year round and I love being in that. You can put it on the ragged edge at about 43mph. To do that in mine you'd be well over the ton. Far too much at stake for it to be any fun (for me at least). I suspect this is where cars like the mx-5 or gt86 really come into their own.

That's been my opinion for some time: modern cars are far too fast to be fun. Hell, bigger engined old cars can be less fun than the smaller engined variants. My last Capri was a 2.8i with a tweaked 2.9(fitted because it solves the 2.8engines major deficiencies), and I regularly found myself missing the turning into my road because it would effortlessly do 90mph in a 30 limit. It was faster than I am, and that's one of the main reasons I sold it.  A 2.0l can still be driven hard, but not exceed the speed limit by too much. Plus, it can easily be made to drift around a large roundabout with all four tyres just starting to let go at about 60mph until you get dizzy. Or arrested


The Caterham 160 is a good example along with original Mx-5s or the GT86, is it really any less fun than the mental versions at 3 times the price?


Once I get back on my feet financially, my plans have changed from a 3.0l V6 engined hot rod(that I didn't have the facilities to build, and was already a downgrade from the 360Mopar that was my original plan) to a simple '27 track T with a 1300 Jimny engine. I reckon a budget of £4k should see a nicely finished car that looks like a traditional '50s example but is fully usable. Hell, the 1.3 Suzuki engine has about the same amount of power as the flathead V8s that were often fitted to such cars back then!

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

I'd be inclined to agree, except some of the discounts available are very generous. A reasonable spec can be had for £27-28k. Or, more realistically, about £320pcm. Good value for what you get in my book. Well, as good a value as any new car I suppose. 

However, revisiting my previous point, I suspect a gti would give you all the performance and fun required for £75 or so less PCM. I've very quickly come to the conclusion that modern performance cars are utterly unnecessary in the uk.

An eccentric friend of mine runs a triumph gt6 all year round and I love being in that. You can put it on the ragged edge at about 43mph. To do that in mine you'd be well over the ton. Far too much at stake for it to be any fun (for me at least). I suspect this is where cars like the mx-5 or gt86 really come into their own.

That's been my opinion for some time: modern cars are far too fast to be fun. Hell, bigger engined old cars can be less fun than the smaller engined variants. My last Capri was a 2.8i with a tweaked 2.9(fitted because it solves the 2.8engines major deficiencies), and I regularly found myself missing the turning into my road because it would effortlessly do 90mph in a 30 limit. It was faster than I am, and that's one of the main reasons I sold it.  A 2.0l can still be driven hard, but not exceed the speed limit by too much. Plus, it can easily be made to drift around a large roundabout with all four tyres just starting to let go at about 60mph until you get dizzy. Or arrested


The Caterham 160 is a good example along with original Mx-5s or the GT86, is it really any less fun than the mental versions at 3 times the price?


Once I get back on my feet financially, my plans have changed from a 3.0l V6 engined hot rod(that I didn't have the facilities to build, and was already a downgrade from the 360Mopar that was my original plan) to a simple '27 track T with a 1300 Jimny engine. I reckon a budget of £4k should see a nicely finished car that looks like a traditional '50s example but is fully usable. Hell, the 1.3 Suzuki engine has about the same amount of power as the flathead V8s that were often fitted to such cars back then!

Hayabusa?

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

I'd be inclined to agree, except some of the discounts available are very generous. A reasonable spec can be had for £27-28k. Or, more realistically, about £320pcm. Good value for what you get in my book. Well, as good a value as any new car I suppose. 

However, revisiting my previous point, I suspect a gti would give you all the performance and fun required for £75 or so less PCM. I've very quickly come to the conclusion that modern performance cars are utterly unnecessary in the uk.

An eccentric friend of mine runs a triumph gt6 all year round and I love being in that. You can put it on the ragged edge at about 43mph. To do that in mine you'd be well over the ton. Far too much at stake for it to be any fun (for me at least). I suspect this is where cars like the mx-5 or gt86 really come into their own.

That's been my opinion for some time: modern cars are far too fast to be fun. Hell, bigger engined old cars can be less fun than the smaller engined variants. My last Capri was a 2.8i with a tweaked 2.9(fitted because it solves the 2.8engines major deficiencies), and I regularly found myself missing the turning into my road because it would effortlessly do 90mph in a 30 limit. It was faster than I am, and that's one of the main reasons I sold it.  A 2.0l can still be driven hard, but not exceed the speed limit by too much. Plus, it can easily be made to drift around a large roundabout with all four tyres just starting to let go at about 60mph until you get dizzy. Or arrested


The Caterham 160 is a good example along with original Mx-5s or the GT86, is it really any less fun than the mental versions at 3 times the price?


Once I get back on my feet financially, my plans have changed from a 3.0l V6 engined hot rod(that I didn't have the facilities to build, and was already a downgrade from the 360Mopar that was my original plan) to a simple '27 track T with a 1300 Jimny engine. I reckon a budget of £4k should see a nicely finished car that looks like a traditional '50s example but is fully usable. Hell, the 1.3 Suzuki engine has about the same amount of power as the flathead V8s that were often fitted to such cars back then!

You could add Mazda RX8 to this list. They have no torque so you have to rev the boll*cks of them to get anywhere.

[citroenguy]

No oil temp on his either (my VW has it though in MFD) 

The popping and banging of the petrol he has is addictive, we try not to get over 30mpg 

His has Xenons and is on some kind of finance, deal, can see it being £400-£500 a month. 

He has done 18k in a year, when he said he would do 12k. One of the reasons he was looking to car share 

This seems to be a common theme these days.

As already said I have no way of knowing when my XFR is properly warm. I assume there is some sort of warning if the car overheats.

But what if the car is running too cool (thermostat problems perhaps) How would I know?

Many newer cars can measure if the thermostat is duff. If so the ECM lays a fault code and illuminates the MIL

[Nick W]

That's been my opinion for some time: modern cars are far too fast to be fun. Hell, bigger engined old cars can be less fun than the smaller engined variants. My last Capri was a 2.8i with a tweaked 2.9(fitted because it solves the 2.8engines major deficiencies), and I regularly found myself missing the turning into my road because it would effortlessly do 90mph in a 30 limit. It was faster than I am, and that's one of the main reasons I sold it.  A 2.0l can still be driven hard, but not exceed the speed limit by too much. Plus, it can easily be made to drift around a large roundabout with all four tyres just starting to let go at about 60mph until you get dizzy. Or arrested


The Caterham 160 is a good example along with original Mx-5s or the GT86, is it really any less fun than the mental versions at 3 times the price?


Once I get back on my feet financially, my plans have changed from a 3.0l V6 engined hot rod(that I didn't have the facilities to build, and was already a downgrade from the 360Mopar that was my original plan) to a simple '27 track T with a 1300 Jimny engine. I reckon a budget of £4k should see a nicely finished car that looks like a traditional '50s example but is fully usable. Hell, the 1.3 Suzuki engine has about the same amount of power as the flathead V8s that were often fitted to such cars back then!

Hayabusa?

Bike engines in road cars are horrible. And as I wrote, I don't want a lot of power. So a 1.3 Jimny engine will give 80bhp for about £500 complete with the management and 5speed RWD gearbox.