Re: If the deity I've obviously upset is reading this, can they please tell me...

Phil

Well i've been looking around at 205 TDs coz i've been thinking about going back to diesel power. You can pick up basic models for ~£600. But i've seen a couple of STDTs (top of range - elec windows, GTi body kit, spoked alloy wheels etc - very nice) for ~£1000. If i could afford i'd snap one up, but that would involve selling my XS and then trying to find another £500 or so to finance it, which aint gonna happen.

Look better than a Nova, probably goes better, handles better and doesnt rust like a nova. Just my 2p.

Debatable... especially as I have the kit and bumpers off a GTE sitting in the backyard (although given it is a workhorse, I'm not fussed about s**te like that)

On paper... however, the Nova TD does seem to wear in quite nicely as they get older... I saw just over 120 on the clock of mine on the flat at one point, and it would have gone a bit faster if I'd held it longer.

It's not just that though... what I really liked about it, was the way it had a lot of grunt, even from tickover... that's what makes them so economical - you can make half sensible progress without even spinning the turbo up - I was getting 54mpg on local short runs, just before it died, and I've yet to own anything else that has got near that, AX and Corsa diesels included.

And there was no dropping it down the gears to get up hill...

Probably, unless you spend some time and money sorting the suspension etc.

Still, what's wrong with a bit of scrabbling on roundabout exits etc., to liven up your day :-D

Can't argue with that one... ;-)

The most important thing though, is that because I have to spend so much time behind the wheel of whatever it is I have as my 'workhorse', I need to enjoy driving it, and for some reason, I always find Novas fun to drive.

Sad, I know... ;-)

-- JackH

All about personal preference i guess. Personally i think an 205 STDT / D turbo is one of the best looking cars of that era in that class.

I had 120 out for my D turbo, probably could have got a few more out of it. I have no idea what mpg i was getting out of mine, never really been one to work it out. Probably 50+. I know i did work it out after a rally and it was about 40, but it took a lot of stick! Also like the Nova it had plenty of grunt - great for pulling you out of corners.

Remember its still a 205. You can still have a lot of fun! I had 185 tyres on mine, but they're 165 as standard - i can imagine that makes the car a lot more 'interesting'. The thing i also liked about it was that the suspension is GTi based so its all strengthened at the front.

It certainly is :) But at the end of the day its down to personal choice!

I know the handling's abysmal, but Mk3 Fiesta diesels will do 55mpg all day long - have a look at Dervy's website. They do handle like a sack of s**te though.

The other day in the petrol station in Putney I saw an absolutely mint J reg

205 Diesel - think it was a GLD or something, probably just a n/a diesel, but even those are supposed to pretty pokey though. I'd almost be tempted to get one of them if they were that mint.

Well I quite like my TD Fiesta - has it since 95k, now got 131k on the clock, with no problems except one shredded aux drive belt (the day I went to buy it a bolt head holding one of the tensioner pulleys snapped off for no reason and the belt slipped on and off the pulley, which must have weakened it - should have replaced it asap but didn't). That led to it boiling over a little as I drove it for a little while with a snapped belt (didn't realise it drove the water pump), and when the garage fitted the new belt they topped it up with the wrong type of antifreeze, which caused some sort of leak around the water pump (different chemical makeup) - I've just given it a bloody good flush through today, and refilled it with the correct concentration of antifreeze, given it a quick drive around the block, and left it running until the rad got hot (i.e. the thermostat opened), and touch wood it hasn't lost any yet, so hopefully the leaking around the water pump was just due to some chemical reaction between the two different types of antifreeze and something seeping through some seal somewhere, but if not, it'll need a new water pump, no major drama. And it needed a new battery last week as the other one just died on me for no reason.

Other than that, it's had oil changes every 5k (that's the theory, sometimes it's lapsed to 6 or 7k), an air filter the other week, a fuel filter soon and it's always started first time, no hint of any smoke, and still going strong at 131k. I'm averaging around 53mpg on general round town usage, and I get around the same on a run at 70mph, though if I've done loads of

50-60mph long-ish runs (nice open A roads etc) then I'll see 60mpg (which I have done twice). Oh, and it's still on the original engine, turbo and clutch, and none show any signs of packing up.

It's not all that nippy, but performance is definitely adequate, and an improvement on the n/a diesels in the Mk4 Fiestas (which aren't bad for what they are), and the handling is great, though the firmness of the suspension setup does lead to the inevitable bouncing a bit on potholes.

But they don't quite fall into the sub £500 category yet, but still well worth getting.

Peter

Thats what you get for buying vauxhall...

Given the other 20 or so Vauxhalls that I've had over the years have been pretty good (two Corsa TDs with over 200k on the original engines with no bother, amongst them), I'd hardly write the marque off due to these two unfortunate incidences.

The fact that the Vectra can only be repaired by a main dealer, so it seems, and will cost over £680, and considering the decent, easy to fix design in the pre ecotec engines that these superseded, has however made me reconsider where my loyalties lie.

At the moment a Nissan Micra is the favourite, and even though it'll not really be big enough for what I want, I can't put up with this sort of unexpected nasty s**te again.

-- JackH

Yup... tracking a couple as we speak - at least the parts are plentiful and cheap.

-- JackH

Stop driving Vauxhalls :D

!!!!

Yuck. Vauxhall's derv lumps of that era were nasty ! Why aren't you buying a Pug ?

Seconded - the STDTs are very nice. And there's plenty of extra power available if you want it - Diesels are very easily tweaked.

They're hard to come by - if you've seen a couple of minters, then get one ! Surely you can scrape £500 together ?

Standard fare with any decent Diesel lump - that's their appeal !

Go and buy a Pug 405. Stupidly cheap to buy/run/fix/insure, and parts are plentiful from the likes of parts4peugeot.com and eurocarparts Best ride and handling in class at the time, big, comfortable, the 1.9TD lumps are excellent, and last forever. They don't rust, decent spec ones come with leccy everything - you can't go wrong !

Not like this, in this size of car it isn't.

I've driven enough in my time to know what is, and what isn't worth having.

-- JackH

Yes, I may look at one of those, although finding one worth having is getting quite hard now.

-- JackH

Not really, unless i put my credit card on the limit, and my overdraft on the limit. Just moved into my own house, so a lot of money has being soaked up into that. Plus the fact that i've spent hundreds on the XS already, so makes sense to keep it till i destroy it or *really* have enough money to replace it! Besides, just got some new brakes for the XS (off an STDT ironically), and when i get chance i'm gonna rebuild the spare cylinder head i've got so it revs all the way to 7 and beyond (like it should!)

Heh, my mate used to have a 205 GT - a four door XS for all intents and purposes.

Totally mad.

-- JackH

indeed they are. not quite so mad at the mo though, as its got the wrong cam in after a rushed engine change! Still, it gets me about ok though :) Once i've got it all up together (seems like a never ending task!) i'll probably have given up with this diesel nonsense!