The neighbour of the beast returns.

So now you've got what you paid for?

Looks like yup.

Nipped over to Alison's mum to drop off her birthday pressie. General driving seems to be 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th. It will sit at a solid 60mpg in 6th at 30 and accelerate. 40 in 6th is

I can see that the caliper (just one sticking but they replaced the pair) can make a hella difference to performance and consumption. At 70, held it will sit at 30mpg.

Normal braking no sign of any disc warp, at hard, hard braking from 70 for a set of lights, the slightest flutter at full pressure, but not enough to piss and moan about. I've had new discs give that kind of feedback, not even anywhere near as noticeable as the abs pulse in the Saab.

And I've had the letter from the DVLA that says the Saab isn't mine anymore. Dated same date as the letter from the recovery company asking me to pay and arrange collection. The towing company know it isn't mine now, so if any tickets come in I have additonal proof.

Good!

I could tell as soon as I got in it was different. Drive slightly forward dip clutch, car doesn't stop until you brake. Yay.

Glad you got it sorted. Might be worth asking them to put a new MOT on it as a good will gesture.

Regarding the instantaneous economy readings - my Carlton used to give very impressive mpg readings at 30/40/50 on a flat road, but forget all that - any form of acceleration will drop it right down, as will the slightest hint of traffic. I guess small capacity 6s just aren't economical in general, judging by IS200s and Tim's 2.0V6 Rover 75 (BMW 520i's are maybe a bit better, but not much, I don't think).

I reckon you'll average around 25mpg from it. Anyone else care to guess? When Carl reports his first tank average based on an average week's driving, having brimmed it after having got it sorted, we'll use that figure. Closest to the correct figure gets a Mk2 golf coolant cap.

Oh yeah, I know that, but drove 6 miles with the luck of the lights in moderate flowing traffic, in a national/40 area and never dipped below

I'm going to guess closer to 30, maybe 28-29. If I do that, it will be about the same as the Saab, driven over the same route as the Saab, but on cheaper fuel, and less likely to break anything serious, so I will be happy.

You mention the "80mpg stop" - I take it it's an analogue needle then? You've probably mentioned it before without me noticing. Obviously digital ones just say 99.9 or whatever when it's on overrun.

Keep the guesses coming in, folks. I should point out that the winner must collect the prize.

I like petrol as much as the next man, really - I do. But if you would have bought a grunty oil burner, you could drive it like a bank robber and get 45mpg. I'm afraid that for me, having to drive like a nun so you can have a petrol engine doesn't quite stack up.

But hey, we're all different.

Driving like a nun on the work run, so there is more left for fun at the end of the week.

I usually drive like a nun anyway in traffic, I don't see the point of the usually BMW, but more often now, AUDI, VW, SAAB drivers who race up right behind the car infront, brake hard, then do it again. I prefer a nice steady cruise with a gap that I can just back off to maintain. I like to get to the end of the journey not ragged and screaming.

I take your point about this last bit, especially for getting to and from work. I guess that's also why I'm building a car which has the sole purpose of getting me ragged and screaming.

If I had the space/cash to do it properly, I would be happy to have the most tedious 9 to 5 car, for the odd days when I could let rip on the project.

I don't so one car has to be a compromise in function, but one I have to love.

My car doesn't have to be my office, but it does to start every day, and stop on demand. As long as I get some fun along the way I can live with it.

I'm pretty happy with the MX-5 as it can do both. This last week the roads have been dry since the first time I've owned it. I've had a right laugh on the roads in South Berks out towards Legoland and Bracknell

Mike P

Nice one :-) Hope you are happy with it and don't get bored too soon :-P

I know there's no point in telling you to get a 1990s french Diesel like a 205, then a lockup complete with weekend screamer of your choice with the money you save on payments and driving a car with real MPGs. Rather than buying the most expensive car with the silliest MPG you can afford.

So I won't bother. (c:

Or, get an MX-5. I've recently added powerslide to the list of things that should be done in my car every day. Hitting the rev limiter was already in the list. Combining the two gives me a warm, squishy feeling.

The leather seats just wipe down.

What's a rev limiter?

Talking of which,