ANOTHER new car for me to try out

and let me tell you this, over the last few weeks, the best car I've driven has been the new new vectra SRi but today I got hold of a 02 plate mondeo estate with the 130 bhp TDCi engine and BOY, does it FLY!!!!!!!!!!! ok, so teh power band is only from 2 to 4 k but it shifts and what's more, it handles like the vectra could only dream about traction control only cuts in when you can hear the tyres chirping the ride is brilliant and the seats are a lot more comfortable even in a lowly LX spec than they were in the Sri with it's mullet lumbar stuff and nonsense

all in all, looks like I'll be spending my hard earned on a mondeo now

unless I like the little fiesta zetec I'm getting in a few days time that is.....................................

Reply to
dojj
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Woohoo!

Make sure you run it in properly over the next five years for me.

They're good, are they not? :)

Reply to
DervMan

Well - thats gonna of seriously stirred the hornets nest :)

I agree with you tho - i don't like diesels.

Reply to
Dan405

Are there any engines that are not like this?

This is a matter of personal taste. All too many petrol engines these days have a banal drone or whine with no character.

Some vibrate. Some petrol engines vibrate.

Because it's more fun, and in the case of the Mondeo, drives very well too.

Again, that's down to personal taste.

Perfect. I want people to think this, that way used values will fall so I'll be able to pick one up at a knock down price in a few years.

But, hell, Mondeo and handling, Golf GTi and . . . wallowing.

That's the sort of stereotypical viewpoint people take. I don't care, I think I should be encouraging it really!

Reply to
DervMan

It's all in the exhaust design.

Rumour has it that Alfa have a whole team devoted to getting it sounding 'just right'.

I _love_ the sound of my Alfa TS motor. However, the 16v Boxer sounded better until it died :-(

Reply to
SteveH

Heh, that must rank pretty high on the list of stupid statements anyone has ever said in here.

4pot BMWs always sound tinny and s**te, and modern Alfas are certainly nothing to write home about.

Clearly you forgot a lot of things. Like the crucial fact he doesn't drive a diesel :)

Reply to
Lordy

Lordy waffled on in a quite bewildering manner to produce...

Why is that a stupid thing to say? There are diesels that sound like TVRs now are there?

so the above all don't sound as good as say, a 1985 Orion 1.6D in your mind?

so the proper M3 didn't sound great then? How about the Ford BDA?

I honestly just assumed he did drive a diesel, I can't grasp the thought of anyone actually liking the things out of choice.

Reply to
Pete M

Because you're comparing it with things it isn't meant to be compared with. TVRs, Porsches, etc are irrelevant to the decisions involved in buying a modern diesel.

What the fk are you waffling on about, is it caused by drugs or just plain old weirdness ? :)

Dunno, it's old and completely irrelevant as far as this thread is concerned.

Hehe, a Cosworth tuned Mk1 Escort Racing car from more than 30 years ago (such a critical factor in modern motoring, heh).

You are *really* strange :)

Reply to
Lordy

Lordy waffled on in a quite bewildering manner to produce...

I was talking about diesels in general, not buying one.

besides, you could buy a secondhand Quattro, a TVR (not the tuscan), a 911, or for example a corvette for less than the price of a new Mondeo TDCi. I know which I'd rather own.

the fact that any of the above sound much better than any diesel.

(I'm not stoned yet)

why is it irrelevant to what Dervman and I were on about, which was diesel and petrol cars?

He said it was hard finding a petrol 4 pot that sounded good, I said BMW M3.

based on the same original block as the Ford Ka. Which if I'm not wrong is a modern car.

thank you.

Reply to
Pete M

Do it.

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will sell you a big power increase for a few hundredquid too !

Reply to
Nom

The torsion bar isn't the problem - Pug have used em for years, and the

106/205/306/405 are all regarded as having EXCELLENT handling.
Reply to
Nom

But all of the petrol examples you have picked are pretty much tuned or highly powered performance engines. It's almost as daft a comparison as that made by the people who compare my daily steed to sports cars that it wasn't meant to 'compete' with.

It's also one of those whiny character-less engines that he was on about :)

np, heh.

Reply to
Lordy

Nom waffled on in a quite bewildering manner to produce...

because there's never been *any* diesel engine that could sound as good as

*any* of the above petrol engines?

my point exactly.

Thank you very much gentlemen. ;-)

Reply to
Pete M

Sorry, have to disagree - slightly. This may be a bit of a historic statement, but the BMW 4 pot as found in our old 2002tii with mechanical injection was a fantastic sounding thing. Not harsh sounding, but certainly hard sounding. It really did have an engine that made you want to gun it. Almost as good as a bda in terms of engine note.

Reply to
Bob Sherunckle

Are there four cylinder engines FULL STOP that sound like TVRs?

So are we talking about current donks, current cars, or all donks and all car? Because I said "This is a matter of personal taste. All too many petrol engines these days have a banal drone or whine with no character."

Again, see above, heh. The "proper" M3 as you say was built and driven back in a time before modern emission and noise laws. Them were the days, heh!

That's two assumptions and personal digs you've made.

It would be like me making the assumption that because you drive a Golf, you either couldn't afford an Audi, BMW or Mercedes Benz, or because you read Which? and it said it was a good car. I could also make the assumption that you hate the thought of something smaller wearing a Ford badge overtaking you, especially on a twisty bit of road or on a dual carriageway roundabout, so you deliberately block off all lanes (which isn't hard, considering the Golf's girth).

But I'd be wrong on the above. :)

Reply to
DervMan

Indeed. Unless there's a reason why a person wanting a Porker 911 turbo would suddenly change their mind and go for a Mondeo TDCI?

Kiddies excepted, I suppose. :)

It is indeed. The newer Duratec engine is a better piece of kit, but it's muted to the point of you get nothing *but* the whiny droning noise. With the older Endura-E, you do get other noises.

Reply to
DervMan

Like the beautiful sound of rattly tappets :-)

Peter

Reply to
AstraVanMan

Ours is very subdued from inside the car, though, but he has his loud days and his quiet days, you cheeky git! :)

Reply to
DervMan

it's amazing the power band is only between about 1800 and 4200 prm but the gearing is perfect for it

50 mph in 5th and toe down = acceleration i didn't even realize i was doing the speeds i was doing :) all i can say was that there was nothing in the rear view mirror for a while after i slowed down to 85 :) and on another note, i think i might settle with the lowly LX rather than the fully loaded ghia X, simply because of the wieght issue :)
Reply to
dojj

I will give you the fact that out of the powerband it's pants at pulling though putting it into 5th at 30 means that it's actually trying to accelerate when you lift off the pedal and it also has a nasty habit of staling if you try to pull away in 2nd, even on a slow roll

Reply to
dojj

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