I take it all back...

How about swapping motors with Vamps old one and flogging the rest as parts?

Fraser

Well I would have had the block from Vaps and the head off the new one as it was stripped down and cleaned out a while back, but unfortunately I sold the gold one on monday!

D'oh! mine had replaced working bearings you coulda nicked too! although my one was a 1a model and you're blue one is a 1b model and had a slight difference in engines and brakes ect oh and bearings so mine wouldn't have fitted :)

Its an early one though, I thought the engine is still the same. Same coloured lettering on top i think. Not that it matters because I havent got it any more!

there was red and blue top engine covers but they tended to fade after a few years, the change was around '86 and you got some funny ones around, early spec interiors with late engines ect. the engine had differences like on later models the air box was in the boot. other differences were the big end bearrings being wider on the later engines. i can't remember all the differences but there was quite a few, brakes on later models were bigger oh and later models had front spoilers and side skirts too.

Whereas the ZX is a dedicated sports car???

Get real - go for the 216 every time- part of the fun is the smooth power right through to over 7600rpm, and just budget for attention to the rear calipers once a year - the rest of it will be spot on, even in old age, if you buy a reasonable nick one in the first place.

Heh, of course not. What I wrote above was in a hurry. ;)

I've driven a fair bunch of 200s and they've always impressed (aside the Honda engine's thirst). But against the 400, they've not felt as good on the road (probably that the 400 has a stiffer body). Pity because the 200 looked so much nicer...

What I'm not so keen on is that they rust and that the power delivery on just about all engines is toppy (including the turbodiesel, but not the atmo diesel).

Annoyingly, the ZX just doesn't seem to rust. And that 1.9 litre engine in the Citroen is a _wonderful_ piece of kit. It may not be as sophisticated as the Honda donk, may only produce broadly the same amount of power, but has stacks more torque in the bottom half of the rev range.

Conversely, the ZX's old school engine does away with this high revving trickery and delivers great acceleration from under 2,000 rpm. You've less chance of transmission wear caused by some yoof changing down to second at

55 because he knows he has 1,500 rpm left of acceleration in that gear...

It's not that thirsty, compared to other hot hatches of the time - I was getting 40mpg out of mine when I took it easy, and around 30mpg when I beat its arse.

Erm... they don't rust really... and certainly not compared to some of their era.

Have you spent any real time driving the DOHC ones?

I, given the above statement, really don't believe you have - outright performance, yes you wring their necks, and the power build up is excellent - builds right up to, and beyond the redline. It doesn't mean they're a gutless wonder that need constant gear changes, when you're plodding about.

Nope... but the brakes need even more regular attention than a 200s back calipers do, and they have a nice appetite for drop links etc.

That, and the trim is flimsy, the seats are unsupportive in old age, whereas my 165k 216GTI had half leather that hadn't cracked, and was still very supportive.

For every ZX, there about 3 variations of the same part, when you try to fix it...

I'm not saying the ZX is a bad car... but the 216 DOHCs I've had, have been bulletproof, even in the case of one, with a suspect head gasket - it still showed an indicated 140mph, a couple of times, when floored off a hill, and didn't deterioate as a consequence.

So buy a diesel (not a PSA of the same era), if you want a torquey delivery - I've had loads of hot hatches over the years, and rate the 216 DOHC, over most of the others.

Methinks you're totally missing the point of a hot hatch, if this is a major plus point for you.

169k I think my first 216GTi had on it, when we parted company... it still had a nice smooth gearchange, and had been ragged the whole time I'd owned it.

PSA boxes were never their strong point, and will not put up with anywhere near the abuse a Honda box will.

What are the symptoms?

Well I would have liked a 216 DOHC but I couldnt find one I liked locally and wasnt prepared to drive 100 miles for one so I've settled for the ZX, and its perfect for what I want it for. I can pootle around using the lovely amount of low end torque but if I want to get a move on its more than happy to oblige. Its got lots of history and lots of work done on it so with any luck I wont need to do much to it. All it really needs is a bigger battery as the current one is a bit weedy.

A very horrible ratle/knock coming from the engine when its warm

You wear this all the time, or just on the weekends? ;-)

Each to their own... how sad am I, really hankering after my Golf TDI Estate that father has threatened to allow me to buy back off him! :-D

No you're right, it's not, it's comparable.

Hmm - Citroens and Peugeots only tend to rust when damaged. The odd Rover starts to rust. The odd Vauxhall too. Escorts of this era are very variable, but rust anyway. ;)

No, regrettably not. I don't reckon thirty minutes is long enough.

Right.

Yup. They're lightweight and get lighter with age (I wish I was the same way). But not always relevant to a hot hatch.

Heh.

Not quite. Part of the appeal of a hot hatch is that you get the performance when you need it, but when you're carting kiddies / mother-in-law / shopping about, you can do so as you can with a normal model.

I'm being unfair about the Rover / Honda car, I know this. It is a superb engine, but it's not as tractable as that 1.9 PSA four banger. The four banger matches it for outright poke too.

Guess what I'm saying is that there's little substitution for cubic inches. Or whatever Charlie says. :)

Heh. One of our fleet drivers broke the transmission in his 214. He was one of these "gotta see 5,000 rpm on the dial to overtake everything in front of me" drivers. We replaced the 214 with a 618. He broke that too, but via a bus and a tree. :-/

Sounds like the big ends, have you posted on the mr2 owners groups? Could be as simple as really noisy tappets... if you don't believe me you should hear an old Subaru engine with a tappet problem...

Might be worth getting one of those little gauges that show the pressure inside each cylinder to see if there is anything wrong with the valves..etc, it screws into the spark plug socket.

Its definately the bottom end. Difficult to know what gone until its apart.

Done that and the top end is fine

You're "DervWoman" for the weekend again?

No, hot pants, I'm DervChick, heh.

Heh.

What you tend to get on the three door 216s, is tiny bit of rust bubbling up on the sill where it meets the rear arches. Other than that, they're pretty damn good, and I think that amount of rust on something about 14 years old, isn't exactly a heinous sin.

But what I'm saying, is the Honda lump, is hardly asthmatic by comparison, and when you are looking for the fun factor, it wins squarely hands down, in this company.

It has one of the best power curves I've had, in a car - the power doesn't, like so many other cars, tail off before the redline - it pulls stronger and stronger, right up to the point the rev limiter kicks in.

That, and it doesn't suffer with manifolds that crack, rattly tappets, and loads of other attributes that the PSA 1.9 show from time to time - I've not driven a 205GTi yet in old age, with what you could call a nice, tight gearchange. I've driven plenty of ZX diesels / my Berlingo etc., that have worn well over the years in this respect, but then I suspect respect is the key word here, and they've not had nearly as much abuse in gearchange terms, as their hot hatch siblings.

The other point is... the 216GTi came with both the SOHC and DOHC variants - both are good performers, but I think maybe a lot of people have driven the SOHC, seen the GTi badge on the arse, and assumed they're all the same, when the DOHC is that little bit quicker. :)

Rev limiting in top, with the speedo pointing at 144 is pretty sad for an NA

1.6 in a car that size, I think... not. ;-)

Now that, isn't always the case, as well you know. :)

The PSA 1.9 as seen in the 205GTi and the ZX, is extremely responsive and torquey at low revs.

It's not all that, at higher revs - some say the 1.6 205GTi, is the one to have if you're looking for the most fun, out of that and the 1.9.

Heh, i'm probly the biggest Pug fanboy here, and i'm yet to drive a PSA car with what i'd call a nice, tight gear change, except mine and i suspect that was only because it was brand new. That includes a brand new 206 GTi 180 as well (although if everyone drove that demonstrater like i did....)