my 98 peugeot 106xs suffers from front brake fade when driven hard. I have renewed the front discs and pads as well as rear shoes but the front still overheat when driven hard resulting in nasty brake fade. I was surprised to find that the discs are solid and not vented. Presumeably this is the problem. Anyone else experienced this problem? And is there a solution, maybe uprated discs and pads?

Also can anyone tell me the difference between the 106 xsi and 106 gti ?

Thanks
Pete Read more

Evening all.

My brother, Xmas bonus in hand (alright for some!), is looking for a new car now that he can afford to get out of his decrepit Volvo 440, which has reached the end of his useful life, and has asked me to vet potential purchases.

He has a maximum of £2,000 to spend, and whittling through his list of what he wants from a car, he has shortlisted the Audi 80 2.0E, in either 8 valve or 16 valve guise, or a BMW 3-series.

Looking at Autotrader I was surprised to see you can get an E36 3-series for under £2k these days, but personally think the Audi is the better bet at this age and mileage (K/L-plate with around 100k on the clock). I make it a golden rule never to consider anything without a full service history, which means there are a lot more Audis in the frame than Beemers.

8 valve 80's seem to abound more than the 16-valve version, but my brother has done his homework on the insurance front and seems dead set on the 16-valve version. Has anyone had experience of running one of these cars, and knows what to look for? I've consulted Car-By-Car Breakdown of course, but any other points would be much appreciated. I used to run a 1984 80 quattro which was good as gold, but I have no experience of later Audis. Another possibility is an early Coupe which uses the same underpinnings as the 80 - I've seen a J-plate 2.0E in his price range.

He's only really interested in a 320i BMW-wise, in order to get the six-cylinder engine, but I personally think (if we can find an unmolested one) an E30 318is would be a good choice. Failing that, there seem to be quite a few 518is and 520is about (E34 model), in some cases for less than the equivalent age/mileage 3. Again, any points to note?

Failing that (tall order I know), are there any other cars in the price bracket that would suit? Insurance group 15 is a maximum (he's 23 with two years NCB), something reliable and with a bit of class. Honda Preludes and late Mk2 Golf GTIs (8 valve) have been considered, but the Hondas in the price range seem a bit ropey and it's a tall order to find an unmolested Golf.

Your thoughts would be much appreciated.

PS The Volvo in question is bodily shot (offside badly creased, although doesn't affect chassis or door function) but has 11 months MOT. Are dealers likely to turn their noses up if he tries for a trade-in, even at a nominal value of £50-£100? Read more

I\'m thinking of buying a B class corsa (1997 P) it\'s one of the 16 valve models is 7 years old with one owner so I\'m assuming e\'s done a fair bit of motorway driving with it. The mileage is at 110k. Any thought onto how much life the vehicle has left? It\'ll be used as a school run/shopping car so not much mileage but alot of the obvious start stop strain.

TIA

Himji Read more

Yesterday, I took a taxi ride from the Solna region of Stockholm to Arlanda airport in a V70 D5 auto. Nine months old, with 187,500 km showing. In English, that's approximately 116,250 miles, or about 13,000 miles a month, which equates to the approximate frequency of 'annual' service. Average fuel consumption coverts to a pretty impressive 44 MPG. The cabbie's previous car was a petrol Volvo 740, which his son then purchased, and which has clocked up over 1,300,000 km (800,000 miles). The engine and auto gearbox are originals, and have never been taken apart beyond routine servicing, although the engine barely scraped through the annual Swedish emissions test this year.

As if these statistics are not enough, Taxi Stockholm is a franchise operation with 1,600 cars on the books, mostly E Class Diesel Estates and V70 D5s, all clocking up this sort of mileage, all requiring servicing, and all requiring dispatch coordination. Instead of the Volvo RTI traffic avoidance and navigation system, the franchise entitles the cabbie to an integrated dispatch control and touch screen navigation system that was truly impressive. The cabbies even send speed trap alerts to each other using the system. Makes the beat up, dirty, old Toyotas and Nissans that ply my neighbourhood look decidedly low rent, though at £40 for a twenty minute ride, Swedish comfort and accuracy of journey does not come cheap.

Read more

I know H.J. is a strong advocate of the above product for keeping injectors clean and adding lubricity to the fuel to prolong fuel pump life.

Its use has been discussed on this forum sometime ago, but I have run a search and been unable to trace any threads on the subject.

As I do a lot of short runs with my diesel, I am considering using this fuel additive and would appreciate any feedback from any users in the B.R. Read more