November 2001
I watched some old British touring car videos yesterday ( 1992/3/4/5) and soon came to the conclusion this truly was a Golden era for touring cars.
Some of the racing was superb - real overtaking, spectacular crashes and great characters.
The most obvious difference between then and now is the technology and money spent. It seems the BTCC appeal dwindled once the cars became 'racing cars with roadcar bodyshell' instead of ' roadcars with a few racing bits added'. Also the inevetible effects of all this money being spent on the series caused any normal racing incident to become a full stewards inquiry.
With the high cost of running a team most manufacturers left leaving what we have now ,just an embarassing 4 manufacturers.
Hopefully the new regs for next year will interest more manufacturers and bring back some of the entertainment the BTCC has offered before. Read more
I am seriously considering buying an old (pre 86) Audi Quattro 2.1, probably the turbo. To be honest l have no intention of doing so for at least 6 months. However before l start getting all excited and reading/thinking about it like some obsessive l wouldn't mind a bit of initial advice from you knowledgable folks.
I know that they can be very expensive if they go wrong and l am also aware of the insurance. BTW HJ's car breakdown's do not go back this far.
dan Read more
The quattro Owners Club was formed for owners and enthusiasts of the ur-quattro in the UK. It has over 700 members, most of whom own one. Considering that there are maybe 1000 ur-quattros in the UK, that's an impressive %! The club has monthly regional meetings and I'd strongly advise going along to learn more about the car. There is a wealth of knowledge about the car, with technical advice and assistance. Many people join the club after they have bought one, once it starts to go wrong, but by joining beforehand you will know what to look for and avoid!
Classic insurance is available, with the usual conditions of limited mileage (up to 5000 miles pa) and if it's not used as your main car. Costs around 300pa, with agreed value.
As mentioned in other replies, part prices can be expensive, but Audi have lowered some prices and there are other sources.
It is a great car, but make sure you buy a good one!
For more details:
dave@quattroownersclub.com
www.quattroownersclub.com
or email me off list
RichardC
hi
I have a 98 R reg passat that leaks.Two vw dealers have tried to find the source and with no success.It is not the aircon causing it as it only happens when it rains heavily and it only affect the rear drivers side footwell and is only wet under the carpet any ideas!!! Read more
I work at a VW dealers. This problem is not unknown: water gets in via the heater air intake seals, this is on the left side of the car under the windscreen and contains the pollen filter.Usually the seals need replacing,about 45 minutes work. Problem is that water enters the ECU that controls windows & central locking and also corrodes the wiring loom to this unit.Carpet will be sodden & smelly.We have had to replace ECU,looms & carpet on several cars... £600 plus job. Water usually runs back into rear footwell. Sorry I come bearing bad news!
I once found out, at some cost and inconvenience - (£2200), where the air intake on my Clio Diesel was. It's very low down near front wheel, apparently to improve airflow through it. I DO NOT drive through deep fords any more. As winter's on it's way, does anyone have experience of other vehicles abilities to tackle deep water. You see adverts of 4x4 S.U.V's fording streams etc. I thought that my diesel would be OK in water. Plainly, I was foolish to try. A warning to others who may not be aware. Read more
My only soft roader experience in water was with a hired Suzuki Vitara three years ago in Costa Rica. We'd passed through a 50m wide shallow river a few hours before without too much problem but then grounded for a couple of hours on a rutted track before turning back (fortunately there are always a couple of German mountain bikers around when you need a push). By this time the river had swollen from the night's rains and was running at 500mm. I walked it and worked out a route avoiding the biggest rocks. In the middle I met a party coming the other way in a Land-Rover Santana SWB with a local driver who was refusing to take his livelihood in there. We had no option so went for it without any trouble using the bow wave technique. I'm afraid I didn't check intake positioning first so don't recommend trying this at home. Fortunately, it also cleaned all the mud off the underside because the hire company checked underneath for offroading evidence when it went back.
I have also been fortunate enough to drive the Land-Rover 110 on the Eastnor Castle off-road course used by Land-Rover. The late owner, a most hospitable gentleman, insisted on swapping road tyres for some 'proper' military spec tyres he kept for his own use. They transformed the grip and the Defender sailed through the water features which were again designed for bow wave travel. From memory a bit more than 500mm but not that much. For truly muddy, wet jungle conditions I would choose the Defender or a G-wagon. The prevalence of Toyota Land Cruisers in dry rough desert areas suggests they may be more comfortable for that type of terrain.
David
PS: I heartily recommend Costa Rica for a once-in-a-lifetime holiday. There are a variety of 4WDs for self-drive hire in the capital San Jose but on the recommendation of others I would make very sure that any pre-existing dents or other damage are written down at the start of the hire, take before and after photographs to confirm, and check the tyres thoroughly. For normal tourism you don't need 4WD but a big one with higher vision might make you feel more secure on the Pan-American Highway and if you do want to go even a little way off the tarmac. However, a Vitara will not make it around the 'wrong' side of Lake Arenal!
Why is it so hard to spend money? There is a recession on, Christmas is coming, and no one seems to want to buys cars. Well I do, and all I've met with is totally apathy and crap service. If I had my way then every dealership within 20 miles of my house would be closed down. Read more
I once experienced a Toyota dealer who refused to give me a test drive until I had agreed to buy a car!!!
I asked him what didn't he undesrtand about the words 'test' and 'drive' - in the end I gave up and bought another make.
Very first car I had was a Peugeot 404 - 1973 on an L with about a zillion miles. Probably saved my life when a mate (?) drove it into a ditch. Wonder how practical such a thing would be now, haven't seen one for years.
Question - Peugeot's used to have character and were pretty well screwed together, the new ones seem to be total cr*p. What happened? Read more
mARTYN, THE 316 (on this side anyway) was horrible anyway, even when it was new! had all the interior styling of a bottom-end toyota corrola of the same era, and less acceleration!
Why is a litre of petrol 69.9 pence per liter. Why can they cut out the psycology and call it 70? Do they really think we're stupid enough to worry about 0.1 pence a litre (or half a pence a gallon)?
I suppose it's like shops selling stuff at £5.99 instead of £6.00 so you think you're saving money. Isn't it about time we dumped this. Think of all those 1p coins you wouldn't need anymore!
JM Read more
Diesel is always slightly more expensive in winter, because it is interchangeable with heating oil and demand determines price.
Just an observation.....
We sell new and used cars at our Dealership site in Devon. Used cars 'appear' to know when they have changed hands. An example follows. M reg Metro - one owner - full history with us etc., comes in as a part-exchange. It goes through the workshops and is fully serviced/MOT'd.
The new owner drives to London and breaks down (cuts out) at Bristol. Why does this happen? The car had performed faultlessly for the last 6/7 years for the previous owner.
We have another example of another car knowing when it has changed owners - it was faultless with the previous owner - but the battery now drains down overnight. I have personally inspected the car when in a flat condition and can confirm NOTHING is left on. It sounds as though the alternator is draining the battery.
One question - why does it always seem to happen when the car changes hands?
David Read more
And of course we all remember "Christine"?
Colin
Reading these columns, I wonder why on earth people seem to get exercised about Volvos.In July while on a 2 week UK visit I rented one, an S40 I think (shows how forgettable it was). I had specifically requested a VW, a brand I have always liked and found reliable, but owing to the Air Chance crew, as is its wont, deciding to prolong its breakfast in that equally forgettable airport at CDG, I arrived an hour late after 23 hours of travel from Asia and in dyspeptic mood. So it was that a pimply person with a football haircut and what appeared to be a nasal disability, clearly unused or unable to interpret the airline arrival times appearing on the terminal screen in his office, or to relate them to my booking, on another computer screen, announced my VW had been given to someone else because I was late. No, I explained carefully but to no purpose, I was not late, the airline was, as he would have discerned from applying what was on his screen to what was on my reservation as to ETA. This transaction was managed with such a total disregard for anything resembling customer service or personal consideration that I wondered, as I always do within minutes of arriving in Britain, whether people actually go to classes to learn how to alienate customers, and that these behaviors are in fact a job requirement in UK following some sort of Euro-ruling by the Ministry of Grey.
Anyway to the dog. The Volvo, I mean. The car was extremely cramped, possessed of a cheap and tacky interior from which a number of things, including the rear seat catch, had already dropped off, had a gearbox with 1st and 3rd so close together it was hard to know which was which, discovered embarrassingly several times, a reverse the attempts to locate which could have been construed as an unwelcome importunate advance by a female front-seat passenger with a good lawyer, a performance that would fail to worry even the most nervous rice pudding, an aircon that wouldn't threaten the tepidest of capuccinos with further temperature loss, and blasted headlamps which were on all the time, obviously annoying everyone coming at me as much as they did me. We were not after all in Sweden or Canada, but in UK summertime, where we have the benefit of daylight. One of these lamps blew half-way through the trip, giving the car a ludicrous one-eyed appearance and inviting all sorts of amused pointing from children in the back seats of cars in front. Nowhere could I find any way of switching it off, bar a tire iron. My daughter (5' 1") continuously complained about the lack of legroom in the back and the bumpy ride. The car was also very low, adding to the feeling of inferiority one suffered just being in the thing. The car had only managed 4,000 miles when I got it, heaven knows what it would have been like with more on it, assuming it managed any. I supposed I should have changed it, but had a very hectic schedule. The Growlette said it was such a tacky car she refused point blank to drive it and anyway she hates driving on the wrong side and why do we have to come to UK etc etc.... But that's another story.
Luckily there was little danger of being blitzed by the Citizen Surveillance Cameras, anyway I always drive on a foreign license in UK.
After 900 miles around UK in this lump it was a great relief to get back to Manila, board the Better Half (by now the Bitter Half)'s Ford Lynx 1.6, zip away from the car park with a tropical spec aircon blasting ice-cold air, room to move one's corpus, plenty of space for the luggage, and to be thankful for being reminded of the American interpretation of what automobile travel should be about. Only a little cheap car but a well-made delight with everything in the right place.
One more thing. I have learned from these columns that the term 'doom blue' has a mystic, almost preternatural connotation with the destiny of the car painted in it, and, presumably by association, that of the driver/owner. (I can never embrace the UK term "keeper": sounds like someone who works at the zoo). This Volvo was what I imagine doom blue to be, undoubtedly the reason, and I know you posters out there will now shout "I told you so!".
When I lived in the Gulf, all my accountancy team used to drive Volvos. In white.
One can but hope Ford will now do something to the Volvo now they have the brand in their collection. Preferably crush it. Or at least put some metal on it and chuck a V-8 in it. My Chinese motor-mower is more fun to drive and looks better. Before someone says "you should have rented a Lada", let me say I was overtaken by at least one.
I find it hard to believe that anyone will now emerge to defend this ghastly car, but I suppose, like Rovers, someone must like them. After all, Rover was always a popular name for a dog. Read more
Thank you for the supportive comments, sometimes I feel I'm like a voice in the wilderness when challenging what appear to be the cast-in-stone tenets of the great motoring public. But as the saying goes it's the pioneers who get all the arrows.
One does not get as attached to one's three piece suite I suppose simply because it doesn't cost as much. and it is not the extension of personality that a car is for so many. (If we accept that last proposition, however, I don't know what that says for Lada owners).
Well if you got a Daewoo you certainly did do worse and deserve sympathy. The rental company deserves to be struck off, however.
When (if) I get back to Britain, no more Volvos for me. No more *** and Van Rental, The Arcade, Sipson Lane, Harmondsworth either.
In the Philippines as in some other countries you can't rent a car unless its with a driver (that's to make sure you bring the car back).
Reading these columns, I wonder why on earth people seem to get exercised about Volvos.In July while on a 2 week UK visit I rented one, an S40 I think (shows how forgettable it was). I had specifically requested a VW, a brand I have always liked and found reliable, but owing to the Air Chance crew, as is its wont, deciding to prolong its breakfast in that equally forgettable airport at CDG, I arrived an hour late after 23 hours of travel from Asia and in dyspeptic mood. So it was that a pimply person with a football haircut and what appeared to be a nasal disability, clearly unused or unable to interpret the airline arrival times appearing on the terminal screen in his office, or to relate them to my booking, on another computer screen, announced my VW had been given to someone else because I was late. No, I explained carefully but to no purpose, I was not late, the airline was, as he would have discerned from applying what was on his screen to what was on my reservation as to ETA. This transaction was managed with such a total disregard for anything resembling customer service or personal consideration that I wondered, as I always do within minutes of arriving in Britain, whether people actually go to classes to learn how to alienate customers, and that these behaviors are in fact a job requirement in UK following some sort of Euro-ruling by the Ministry of Grey.
Anyway to the dog. The Volvo, I mean. The car was extremely cramped, possessed of a cheap and tacky interior from which a number of things, including the rear seat catch, had already dropped off, had a gearbox with 1st and 3rd so close together it was hard to know which was which, discovered embarrassingly several times, a reverse the attempts to locate which could have been construed as an unwelcome importunate advance by a female front-seat passenger with a good lawyer, a performance that would fail to worry even the most nervous rice pudding, an aircon that wouldn't threaten the tepidest of capuccinos with further temperature loss, and blasted headlamps which were on all the time, obviously annoying everyone coming at me as much as they did me. We were not after all in Sweden or Canada, but in UK summertime, where we have the benefit of daylight. One of these lamps blew half-way through the trip, giving the car a ludicrous one-eyed appearance and inviting all sorts of amused pointing from children in the back seats of cars in front. Nowhere could I find any way of switching it off, bar a tire iron. My daughter (5' 1") continuously complained about the lack of legroom in the back and the bumpy ride. The car was also very low, adding to the feeling of inferiority one suffered just being in the thing. The car had only managed 4,000 miles when I got it, heaven knows what it would have been like with more on it, assuming it managed any. I supposed I should have changed it, but had a very hectic schedule. The Growlette said it was such a tacky car she refused point blank to drive it and anyway she hates driving on the wrong side and why do we have to come to UK etc etc.... But that's another story.
Luckily there was little danger of being blitzed by the Citizen Surveillance Cameras, anyway I always drive on a foreign license in UK.
After 900 miles around UK in this lump it was a great relief to get back to Manila, board the Better Half (by now the Bitter Half)'s Ford Lynx 1.6, zip away from the car park with a tropical spec aircon blasting ice-cold air, room to move one's corpus, plenty of space for the luggage, and to be thankful for being reminded of the American interpretation of what automobile travel should be about. Only a little cheap car but a well-made delight with everything in the right place.
One more thing. I have learned from these columns that the term 'doom blue' has a mystic, almost preternatural connotation with the destiny of the car painted in it, and, presumably by association, that of the driver/owner. (I can never embrace the UK term "keeper": sounds like someone who works at the zoo). This Volvo was what I imagine doom blue to be, undoubtedly the reason, and I know you posters out there will now shout "I told you so!".
When I lived in the Gulf, all my accountancy team used to drive Volvos. In white.
One can but hope Ford will now do something to the Volvo now they have the brand in their collection. Preferably crush it. Or at least put some metal on it and chuck a V-8 in it. My Chinese motor-mower is more fun to drive and looks better. Before someone says "you should have rented a Lada", let me say I was overtaken by at least one.
I find it hard to believe that anyone will now emerge to defend this ghastly car, but I suppose, like Rovers, someone must like them. After all, Rover was always a popular name for a dog. Read more
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Steve, no need to apologise, my daft question comment was just a friendly leg pull.
No I can ask equally daft questions, like who are the Gorillaz?