September 2006
Cheddar's second road test of the week ;-) - after the Yamaha FZ1 Fazer 1000 that is !.
From reading various press reports, including HJ's, it seemed to me that the 177bhp 2.2 D4D T180 Toyota engine might be the next big thing in diesel motoring this side of a 335d so I was interested to compare the new Avensis T180 with other TDs I have driven and in particular with my own Mondeo TDCi 130 which has over 4 years and 100k + miles provided a fantastic blend of performance, economy and driving pleasure.
I reckon the piezo injected Toyota motor idles more noisily than the Mondeo when cold though when warm it is as quiet and is the only other four cylinder diesel I have come across that, like the TDCi, idles smoothly in a petrol like way rather than the urgent thrum that usually defines a diesel at idle. On the move it is a very refined engine with no sign of any diesely tinkling, pretty crisp and free revving though again no real gain over the TDCi. It soon became apparent that the journalists that have reported that the T180 lacks torque at very low revs are right, trickling along at 1500 rpm or so it feels responsive though when you put your foot down it only really gets urgent once it hits 2000 rpm, in contrast the Mondeo pulls strongly at 1500 rpm and is really on the move by about 17 -1800 and - it has to be said - the 2.2 TDCi 155 is simply stonking in comparison. The difference it seems is that the T180 produces it maximum (400nm) torque at over 2000 rpm where both TDCi motors hit their maximum at 1800 rpm with torque building strongly from below 1500 rpm. I would say that a 320d would also feel more torquey than the T180 below 2000 rpm however I should also say that this particular car had done 1500 miles so was not too tight though may loosen up with more miles. The T180 certainly pulls well between 2000 and 3000 rpm though when revved beyond 3500 where it makes it's maximum 177bhp it did not feel like it has 177bhp relative to the Mondeo's 130. In part that is probably because the TDCi 130s actually produce around 148bhp as standard according to the likes of Superchips so the difference is probably more like 25 to 30 bhp at most rather than the 45 to 50 bhp on paper, and the Avensis is also probably a little heavier.
I have not said much about the car itself because it was the engine that really interested me however the Avensis is very pleasant to drive with a nicely laid out dash, it does not steer as sharply as the Mondeo and feels a little dead around the straight ahead position though it holds the road very well, the ride is very good, better over sharp bumps and pot holes than the Mondeo, and it is nice and quiet at speed despite a bit of wind noise around the mirrors. Talking about 'at speed' the 6th gear ratio offers nearly 40mph / 1000 rpm, ludicrously high for UK roads, at anything less than 75 - 80mph you have very little response when you put your foot down making 5th, in my mind, much more practical for anything other than 100mph plus continental cruising, in fact if you slow down to 50mph, due to the high gearing and lack of torque below 2000 rpm, you really have to change down to 4th to quickly pick up speed again where my 5 speed Mondeo geared to 31mph / 1000 stomps away from less than 50 in top and still offers a relaxed 80mph cruise at about 2500 rpm.
All in all I reckon the Avensis D4D T180 is a very good engine in a good car, I didn't have any real preconceptions of the Avensis itself though the T180 engine on balance does not quite meet my expectations, that of being the next big thing in diesel, however I could certainly live with one and the wife has worked out that you can get a seven seater Corolla Verso T180 which I reckon will be on our list as and when we seriously get around to a new car.
Regards.
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Hi all,
I have an 05 model Accord with the i-cdti diesel engine and I'd like to perform an interim oil change. Having only ever worked/changed the oil on cars fitted with the single screw-on metal can arrangement, I could do with a little reassurance that the replacement will be as obvious as my dealer suggests when I get it to bits!
The replacement oil filter box contains the paper filter element but also comes with 3 o-ring seals. The paper element itself seems to be manufactured to a plastic cylindrical former which has an o-ring seal at either end. Of the outstanding three o-rings, the large one I assume is a replacement seal for the screw-on 'cover' for the oil filter housing at the top of the engine, but the other two (different sizes but about 1-2cm diameter) I can't easily imagine a home for! I have a replacement metal alloy washer for the sump plug, so I assume there's no call for an o-ring there... Or perhaps it will indeed be blindingly obvious when I unscrew that oil filter cap...
Anyone changed the oil on their i-CDTI diesel before and thus able to offer some guidance?
Many thanks,
Toby Read more
Thanks very much for that Grease Monkey. As you say - very straightforward once you have taken the old one off! My Accord is now running very happily with a sump-full of fresh oil.
As to avoiding overfilling - I did all I ever do - fill it to max on dipstick, start the engine and let it idle for a couple of minutes, switch off, have a cup of tea(!), and top up as needed. As an aside - I wish the garages would do something similar. The supplying Honda dealer (it was an approved used Honda) had overfilled it by more than a litre when I picked it up, as I discovered when I checked it the following morning. Their excuse was that they have a filling machine which is set to dispense a certain amount of oil and they don't check the dipstick afterwards!!! I'll be checking it before I drive off the forecourt next time they've been at it!
Thanks again,
Toby
my car (12 year old mkIII fiesta) failed it's mot on wednesday. I've been given an estimate of £250 plus VAT to get it through the re-test. can anyone give me an idea if this is reasonable or I'm being ripped off?
offside front (sill to floor) and nearside rear (inner sill) subframe mounting prescribed area excessively corroded.
Offside (front and rear), brake pipe excessively corroded.
Centre exhaust split, needs welding. (passed emissions test)
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Offer him £250.00 cash.
I took one for ride yesterday, 40 miles or so, a mix of motorway and back roads, one or two of the bikers on here might be interested in my experiences.
It was what I thought it would be from reading the write ups, a superb compromise between sports bike and naked, no aching wrists though great wind protection at speed. The bars are actually closer to me than on my upright Kawasaki ZRX 1100 so it almost felt like a scooter as I pulled away for the first time and once on the move it was so well balanced, rock solid and well planted in a ZX7R kind of way though it is a lot lighter that a ZX7R. The engine is nice and throaty at low revs, not as smooth as my ZRX below 3000 rpm however above that it is sooooo crisp and free revving, it's an R1 motor tuned for a little more midrange and a little less top end though BIKE have dynoed one at over 135bhp at the rear wheel, that's over 150 at the crank. I found myself sitting on the M5 at 70 in 3rd (out of 6) just so I could roll the throttle on and off and feel the zing.
And does it fly, it pulls well low down though just takes off around 6000 rpm with relentless rush whatever the gear and while you have to watch the front coming up in the lower gears the weight is well forward so it would be hard to flip.
The press have reported a fueling glitch on these causing a very sharp throttle response, the only thing I noticed was that it felt a bit sharp when rolling back on the throttle after a quick overtake, i.e if you nail it then ease off and then roll the throttle back on again however it was fine feathering the throttle in corners etc.
www.yamaha-motor.co.uk/products/motorcycles/sports...p
Interesting getting back on the ZRX 1100, it felt like home, it has a little more inherrant torque (a longer stroke motor) though not as strong from 5 to 6000 rpm or so, after all athough my 1100 has a titanium Akrapovic exhaust system etc is is actually 1052cc so is ony 54cc bigger than the FZ1 and is a 9 year old bike with an engine that can trace it's roots back to the GPz900R of 1984!
I do love riding the ZRX, it is more traditional, has real integrity and is close enough to the latest bikes to not be left behind dynamically however today's bikes are amazing, the Fazer has a totally contemporary chassis and brakes etc, it would run rings around a four or five year old Fireblade or GSXR and is a lot faster than any Ducati 999, all that and it is a comfortable as a Hornet or Bandit to ride. That appeals to me.
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Thanks Cheddar,
Yes I was just going around the ouside of the NSR400 at "Mansfield"
The bike was "new" when I got it in 2001 but was actually 11 years old at he time (if you see what I mean).
I think the dealer had decided to sell some of his collection, but as I never dealt with the actual owner of the business directly, I never found out for sure.
Good luck on the MT01.
Nick
my daughters yreg clio 1.2 16v has done 30k and has a weird intermittent problem - it sometimes cuts out when slowing down at lights etc.there is an orange light comes on(electronic fault) and the car idling speeds up and slows down of its own accord.it also nearly stalls and if it does it wont start again for a while.this only happens when the light appears otherwise the car runs perfectly.it has happened 4 times in the last 2 weeks.we have had a diagnostic computer check done but the light wasnt on at the time and the garage couldnt find anything wrong.if the light appears can it be sorted by dipping the clutch and revving the engine?? my daughter needs her car for getting to work and is worried she will break down all together.any suggestions of help would be appreciated.btw the car is fully serviced and looked after.we are going to get the timing belt done as it is 5years old.
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we took the car to a garage today to get checked again and they think it is the air/idle control valve that will need cleaned out with carb cleaner.we mentioned the cover and they are going to check that also.the cover appears to be loose and could well be contributing to the problem, so thanks for your suggestion.
Moved from dangerous driving pt2 thread as became more of a speeding discussion - DD
Hmm. I'm not really persuaded that prison is a wonderfully effective punishment, though I don't like this release-with-a-tag business: it'd be much better to have such folks released to heavy-duty community service.
But the thing that does horrify me is that the driving ban was only four years: he'll be back on the road far too soon, and I'd have thought that a ten-year-ban would be more appropriate. Or better still, a ban until his victim has fully recovered (which will probably be never).
However, it strikes me that one of the issues here is the whole fast car culture. Compulsory speedlimiters would remove a lot of the appeal of cars like the one Naseem was driving.
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The more I think about it, the more I'm concluding that the story must be complete pink fluffy dice. It just doesn't make sense to blog a highly illegal journey like this in real time - you would be just asking to get yourself in trouble. Also, I can't believe you would do so while obviously acting on the half of your employers. Health and safety law in the UK would make this illegal, and I can't imagine that US law would be terribly sympathetic to a coordinated approach to law breaking such as described.
There are other parts of the story that don't really make sense. For example, at one point the main blogger is arrested, and his mate comes on to tell us such and say that his friend is in handcuffs. Given how twitchy the US police normally are about anyone in the car, I simply can't believe this would be possible.
All in all, it's an entertaining read, but I think it's a load of rubbish.
What a cracking idea - linked to GPS technology to automatically reduce the speed of the car to the immediate prevailing limit.
Advantages:
lower fuel consumption
less points on licenses
probably less accidents/road deaths
less chance of being slammed into at 90mph by someone coming the other way.
It wouldn´t be too expensive, as the cost of producing 30,000,000 would drive the prices down.
Obviously you could raise the motorway limit to 85, safe in the knowledge that noone could exceed it.
There would be small portable units available for shortterm hire at the ferry ports for foreign vehicles.
What does the BR think? Read more
I've seen some scary dangerous ideas in my time but this is the limit.(er)
My 2000 115BHP TDI PD Passat is making what I can only describe as a "quacking" sound!!!
Its coming from the top of the inlet manifold and I thinks its something to do with the EGR valve arrangement thats there. The "quacking" noise sounds like air escaping from one of the diaphragms and happens approximately every second at tickover speed.
The car is running fine, normal MPG and is using no oil.
There is a small air operated valve on the EGR arrangement, this appears to be working normally (operates when engine is turned off for approx 5 seconds and then returns to original position)
There are no signs of leaking or split pipes.
Any of you VW diesel experts have any ideas/suggestions?
Cheers,
Nick Read more
Quacking!! I wish my cars quacked. Is it an optional extra?
Hi all, I have a 1994 P106 diesel which makes a "knocking" sound when turning - this started quite some time ago but seems to have got worse recently. It's just passed an MOT without problems but I'm worried that this may be a safety issue - can anyone advise the likely source of the noise and whether it's worth fixing on a car of this age?
All advice gratefully received! Read more
A knocking soun on reversing only may be the exhaust system - check for signs (rust/shiny surfaces) , It could also be a the lower engine mounting (altho may give noises in 1st - more likely)...
madf
Good morning all.
I'm new to this forum and would appreciate a little advice on a small matter. I'm sure this chestnut has been dealt with on a previous thread. I'll try and start somewhere at the beginning.
I bought a 02 Astra Envoy from Yes Car Credit (I know, but I have a few glitches on my credit file) in November 2005. The deposit was paid and the agreement set up. The first payment was due to be deducted on 24 Dec but because their system didnt recognise mt bank account number, it never went through.... anyway, many phonecalls and penalty payments later I decided to let them have the car back in March 06.
I never heard from them for 6 weeks until receiving a letter from their solicitors threatening court action......I ignored it, thinking the car is here let them take it!
a week later I receive a county court summons... the interesting thing is, the summons mentions nothing about the car, instead saying I was advanced a sum of money by the finance company. I replied to the summons making an offer of payment. After 8 weeks I heard nothing. I have since moved house and took the car with me, registered it at my new address and am waiting to see what happens
I know the car is not legally mine, but the judgement failed to mention the car, nor did the finance company request the court to order me to return it.
I would like to know what is likely to happen with the car... are they likely to come and take it i'm still using it at present until its taken. Any advice would be appreciated
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Globalcon, if you enjoy getting in a whole heap of bother with people that have no sense of humour, thus adding to the other difficulties that you're having, then by all means sell the car now.
Seriously, don't go there if there remains uncertainty over who actually owns it. I have to deal with the repo arms of various finance houses in a professional capacity and "nice" isn't an adjective that applies.
I would echo what other people have said about considering petitioning for your own bankruptcy. These guys are the Gov't department who deal with such matters in their initial stages:
www.insolvency.gov.uk
The advice on there is pretty sound. Also, most reputable firms of insolvency practitioners will give a free initial consultation if you want advice. Many advertise in the Yellow Pages.
Be warned, though, that there are firms out there who will offer to get you out of trouble by means of getting you to enter into an individual voluntary arrangement in which you agree to pay £xxx per month for a period of up to five years; they will tell you that this is always preferable to bankruptcy but that may not be correct in your circumstances.
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No, I drive one and when I drive another car I naturally compare it principally withn the car drive most, likewise motorcycles, I am sure you would do the same. I believe my post it is fairly well balanced, I simply tell it as I find it, it is true to say the Mondeo stands up well against this newer competitor however I have praised the Avensis where praise is due particularly it's relative ride quality. Furthermore I have said that a Verso with the T180 engine is certainly on our shopping list.
Oh, and no Aprilia, I did not compare the quality of the electrcal connector on the respective CR systems all I can say is the the Delphi connectors on the Mondeo have stayed quite well, er, connected and the Denso ones on the Avensis were, while I was driving it were also apparently quite well connected.
Regards.