What car do you drive, and why?

Because it is a lot of fun, has character and isn't the same as everyone elses.
It can be a pain but I love it.

R-reg diesel Mondeo.

It was all I could afford at the time that would carry bikes well, decent on motorsway and reasonable mpg. Rear seats live in the garage, will take 5 bikes with just wheels and seatposts out and two people. Couldn't afford the estate. Now done 135K, 40 of them with me, lasted longer than the other three I've had put together. Shame it's woefully slow, used to drive a diesel Landy and they are about the same speed, overtaking is a big adventure.

Wnat one like Cranberry's next, ideally a V8 with an LPG conversion. Can fit bed and bikes in that.

diesel mondeo estate. With wheels and pedals off it'll take 5 people and 5 bikes *inside* the car at a squeeze. does the same with 4 and full weekend gear. 45mpg, cost a grand 4 years/40,000 miles ago and has never gone wrong. girlfriend mashed it into a curb causing some damage and I don't really care. Fitted aftermarket cruise control and it'll just sit on the motorway till i get to wales\scotland\devon\wherever

isn't the same as everyone elses.
It can be a pain

What price "individuality" eh? 🙂

Buzz lightyear – was it a plainclothes coppa car or blues n twos? Whats the history?

328i, because it's fast and practical, and lots of RWD fun.

But mainly because a mate was selling it for £200 😀

Cheers, Rich

molgrips – Member

by driving very slowly and coasting a bit)

Coasting doesn't save fuel in a modern car (if by coasting you mean putting it in neutral and rolling). Lifting off saves fuel.

Can anyone explain this for me please. I am not dissagreeing and the fuel computer certainly backs up this theory but how does it work. Surely when you are coasting your revs have dropped and your engine is not putting much fuel in. Surely when lifting off you are doing a similar thing but your revs have actually increased???

Yours confused 🙂

The difference between coasting in neutral and lifting off is the amount of fuel which the management system has to inject.

When coasting, the engine needs fuel to keep it turning over, albeit not very much, as it isn't doing any work.

When lifting off, the computer stops injecting any fuel, and the engine is turned over purely by the the drivetrain.

This is certainly the case in most modern fuel injected vehicles, although with carbs I suspect it won't be quite so dramatic.

Cheers, Rich

but on a car 100kg either way is generally not an issue.

100kg on a 1200kg car makes a pretty hefty difference. In fact the only difference between the 306 HDi and the 406HDi estates is about 250kg, but it knocks 10mpg off the combined fuel economy.

I must be úber-geeky – I've weigh-bridged my Celica before and after some weight removal lol 🙂

Thanks rich. Always wondered why it was so and that makes sense.

Hey Rickmiester, you have mail. Pop in for a coffee and we can compare motors.

Skoda Octavia 2.0 TDi

Its cheaper than an Audi/VW but basically the same car.
It has a huge MTB friendly boot.
It is fun to drive.
Plently of room for sprog and all sprog equipment.
It has an MP3 connection for my phone.
It has cruise control for motorway driving.

Ford Puma 1.7i

Its is very fun to drive.
It does 40mpg when driving normally.
It doesn't do 40mpg if you drive it fast (but has grin content involved).
It still takes the sprog but not much sprog equipment.
It has a small boot (not MTB friendly) but will take a bike with the seats folded down.
It was very cheap.
The Steve McQueen advert was very cool.

Regards

Volvo T5 estate. comfy, takes bikes and all our kit. looks like a normal boring car but can really move when you want it to! fuel consumption not so good.

Honda F-RV
Can get bikes in back with family of four and all kit for long weekend away/holiday.
Fuel consumption not great but no worse than old Ford Focus it replaced.

Porsche 911 C2S

Because it's got 4 seats, reasonable(ish) boot, can take 2 bikes on the roof and it's bloody gorgeous…

1999 – Subaru Forrester because it was about half the price of the next cheapest car that I could find in Dubai at AED 5,000 (about £850). It's 4 wheel drive so goes in the desert and the mountains. I can fit my bike in it without taking out the wheels and I can sleep in the back (yes I'm quite short).

lookout meesterbond – your penis size will be questioned any second!

Audi RS6

Because it holds bikes 2 kids and still burns off Meesterbond at the lights 😉

MMmmm V8

I've got one of these, a Daewoo Nexia:
1500cc of throbbing four cyclinder power, ready & willing to call me 'Master'.

Anyone who knows me will confirm that mine is in nowhere near as good condition as this example 😀

It's called Shedric.

It was given to me by my cousin. She lives near a particularly dodgy boozer and the regulars had shown their appreciation of such a fine car by walking over the top of it after leaving the pub. Jesus, everyone's a critic these days.

Never broken down or failed an MOT. Can get two bikes and a weeks worth of camping kit into it. Not one straight panel on it.

Never had a car that was worth more than my bike and believe me, I've had some really cheap bikes!

To drive, it's even worse than you could possibly imagine. 🙂 I love it.

I like the opposites of these last two posts! Throbbing V8 and straight after a knackered Nexia!

I like the style of the Nexia actually.

Its transport nothing more nothing less

PePPer, you obviously are an individual possessing exquisite taste.

A grand and it's yours. Very rare now, potential collectors item etc.
AND I have all the original bits of trim that have fallen off over the last few years. 😉

100kg on a 1200kg car makes a pretty hefty difference.

Hmm.. I got one of my best runs in the Prius with close to 200kg of passengers in the back. Normally, you're hard pushed to tell if the car's loaded up or not in terms of mpg. Performance and handling are affected though clearly.

V70 4WD Turbo – Because it's effing fast, effing safe, handles well, is really comfy and has a simply massive boot. Perfect cyclists car.

Skoda Octavia 4WD Turbo – Because it is all of the above but about a third of the price

Another Passat TDI estate here – Sport 170 though (so you can assume I only have a small knob).

Why – wanted an A4 (cockmobile) but it was too small, A6 far too expensive, depreciation on Mondeos was terrifying, never liked Vauxhalls especially Vectras and couldn't find an Accord or Mazda 6 on budget. Oh, and Octavias are pretty shabby in comparison to all of the above IMO.

Good – It's plenty quick enough, will fit 2 people, 4 bikes, 100 bottles of wine and three weeks of stuff inside without too many problems, does mid-40s if not driven hard (more if I take roofbars off) and low 40s if pwned down the autoroute at 130kph (mais oui, monsieur gendarme).

Bad – Boot is a crap shape seats up – struggle to get an MTB in even with wheels off and saddle out. It's not as fun to drive as the Focus I had before and it's a bit of a bugger to park on street and manoeuver in tight spaces but other than that hard to fault.

Edit – probably weighs about a tonne and a half.

MountainMutant wins so far as far as I am concerned 🙂

audi 2.5 tdi avante
skoda superb 1.9tdi{taxi}
landrover defender2.5 tdi

That 200kg of passengers in the Prius would have much less effect on mpg than in a normal car as the energy used to move the extra 200kg would be partly recouped through regenerative braking, rather than being wasted/heating up the brakes.

What does "P111L AX" mean?

Is it PHIL?

Or is some Laxative related joke round your parts?