Your fleet running reports

[Nic]

Needs running in so have left it with the garage for them to get on with it, regular photo updates as we go along which are nice

Such a cool looking car. Always been a fan of these.

Thanks! Driving the Golf on Thursday and I felt a vibration at pretty high speeds, took it in to my local tyre place thinking that it had lost a wheel weight, turns out that drivers side wheel bearing has failed which isn’t great when I’m on track at goodwood next Saturday at Retro Rides. Dropped it off at BP and picked up the lupo instead, had a quiet half hour this morning so took the lupo out for a thrash, it’s still limited to 5000rpm at the moment while running it in for the first 500 miles, and even with the imposed 5k rev limit you can still keep it going at a good rate because of the gearbox, 3rd to 4th hardly feels like you’ve changed gear at all!

What was different and good about the Lupo aside from the tiny foot print for the tight welsh B roads was the weight transfer, you barrel in to a corner probably a little too fast, turn in, lift and the back comes round a tiny bit to help it round, foot back in and drags itself straight again. And this is all happening at speeds within the speed limit, I’d never be able to drive my Golf this hard and enjoy myself without fear of license losing speeds.

[McSwede]

240 was in at bmw on Tuesday. New rear cluster fitted to sort the intermittent indicator failures. Also had a look at a dash rattle. Seems to be coming from the steering column. They tried to pad it out a bit and it’s better but they say it’s a dash out job and they’ll need it for 3 days if it gets worse.

Have a look on babybmw as I am sure there are plenty of there who have had issues with the steering column. Some of them have a tool with which they can fix it in a matter of minutes.

[Mito Man]

Well I tried to be lazy and take the Defender in for an alignment at Halfords as it’s only 5 mins away but the steering box set up is too old fashioned and they could only do a basic alignment which wouldn’t fix my problem. At least they were honest. So drove 30 minutes to my dad’s recommended place and they sorted it. Luckily all the winching hadn’t fucked anything.

Then helped my dad service the F150 - now that the car has washable K&N filters the service only costs about £12 a year. I checked the book to see if it’s due anything else but the next thing is spark plugs and coolant at 100k miles and gearbox and diff oil at 150k. Brake fluid is not recommended to be changed and should only be inspected to make sure it’s not changed colour. Looking online the murcans usually change every 10+ years on the older models. For a country obsessed with oil changes they don’t seem to give a crap about anything else.

[Mike1215]

Needs running in so have left it with the garage for them to get on with it, regular photo updates as we go along which are nice

Such a cool looking car. Always been a fan of these.

Thanks! Driving the Golf on Thursday and I felt a vibration at pretty high speeds, took it in to my local tyre place thinking that it had lost a wheel weight, turns out that drivers side wheel bearing has failed which isn’t great when I’m on track at goodwood next Saturday at Retro Rides. Dropped it off at BP and picked up the lupo instead, had a quiet half hour this morning so took the lupo out for a thrash, it’s still limited to 5000rpm at the moment while running it in for the first 500 miles, and even with the imposed 5k rev limit you can still keep it going at a good rate because of the gearbox, 3rd to 4th hardly feels like you’ve changed gear at all!

What was different and good about the Lupo aside from the tiny foot print for the tight welsh B roads was the weight transfer, you barrel in to a corner probably a little too fast, turn in, lift and the back comes round a tiny bit to help it round, foot back in and drags itself straight again. And this is all happening at speeds within the speed limit, I’d never be able to drive my Golf this hard and enjoy myself without fear of license losing speeds.

[scotta]

240 was in at bmw on Tuesday. New rear cluster fitted to sort the intermittent indicator failures. Also had a look at a dash rattle. Seems to be coming from the steering column. They tried to pad it out a bit and it’s better but they say it’s a dash out job and they’ll need it for 3 days if it gets worse.

Have a look on babybmw as I am sure there are plenty of there who have had issues with the steering column. Some of them have a tool with which they can fix it in a matter of minutes.

Interesting. I’ll have a look.

[integrale_evo]

The mrs fancied a trip to the farm, so I quickly welded the cracked exhaust for the compact and we headed over. I spent 15mins sticking the exhaust and undertrays back on, then lowered the compact to the ground and took it for a test drive.

Clutch feels miles better, can't believe I put up with it feeling so bad for so long.

With the compact out of the way we wheeled the fiat into the sunlight for the first time in decades. Didn't take it right outside as a bit worried we wouldn't be able to get it back in over the entrance lip.

[JLv3.0]

snip

Nice article! I always had the Lupo down as a 6-speed in my mind as they weren't so common then and sent a really clear message of intent. Am I, shock horror, WRONG?

[integrale_evo]

Early ones were 5 speed, later ones 6.

[Coaster1]

Lupo stuff...

Sounds like a very fun car to drive.

Just had a quick look on eBay; I can’t decide if they’re still a bargain or they’re overpriced for a sporting supermini. As I said they damn cool though.

Thanks Mike for the article; high praise from Andrew Frankel.

[JLv3.0]

Early ones were 5 speed, later ones 6.

That would explain that then

[Jobbo]

MX5 advertised for sale now: https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds ... 94/9686925

I took the Grand Vitara out for a drive round the Cotswold lanes on Saturday. Fortunately I was told by my neighbour as I was leaving that there was a charity cycle ride on, so I went the opposite direction to their route where I couldn't avoid them.


I'm really quite taken by the Suzuki. It's spacious inside but externally quite a bit smaller than a Discovery or Shogun; it handles well on the road so you can chuck it around and even though it's 4wd it feels more rwd when you put your foot down at the apex of a bend (in contrast to my Volvo which feels fwd despite being 4wd). It certainly wouldn't be a chore to drive into the middle of Wales; it would be quite fun.

Of course I found a couple of green lanes, though nothing too taxing yet. I was curtailed somewhat though; I'd checked the fluids and cleaned the rad cap before going out, and it decided after a while to try to overheat, just when I was opening a gate. So I turned off for a while and let it cool before carrying on. It did it again a few times, so I gave it longer to cool off and then headed all the way home. I discovered that the temp guage would rise towards the red but sometimes it would come all the way back down without stopping to let it cool down, which I suspect means a sticky thermostat or possibly dodgy rad cap. It didn't try to overheat on the 100 mile trip home from Notts, nor when my wife was driving it before I fiddled with the radiator. The coolant is certainly in need of a flush.

Anyway, I'm really liking the GV even before I do any proper green-laning in it. It doesn't feel like a faux-by-four, but it's well-mannered and even fun to drive on road. Just a shame we didn't get the 3.2 V6 version sold in other markets.

[Coaster1]

MX5 advertised for sale now: https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds ... 94/9686925

How did you find the Meister R? They seem to have pretty good rep in the Honda circle.

[Jobbo]

They've been good - no problems with them except me messing up the adjustment and getting Flewy to set them up for me again.

[ste]

MX5 looks great. Imagine it'll sell quickly.

[evostick]

Subaru is going back to the dealer with suspected HGF.

People warned me that the 2.5l petrol was no good.

I should've listened. At least it's still under warranty. Think I'll get shot when it's fixed.

[drcarlos]

MX5 advertised for sale now: https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds ... 94/9686925

I took the Grand Vitara out for a drive round the Cotswold lanes on Saturday. Fortunately I was told by my neighbour as I was leaving that there was a charity cycle ride on, so I went the opposite direction to their route where I couldn't avoid them.


I'm really quite taken by the Suzuki. It's spacious inside but externally quite a bit smaller than a Discovery or Shogun; it handles well on the road so you can chuck it around and even though it's 4wd it feels more rwd when you put your foot down at the apex of a bend (in contrast to my Volvo which feels fwd despite being 4wd). It certainly wouldn't be a chore to drive into the middle of Wales; it would be quite fun.

Of course I found a couple of green lanes, though nothing too taxing yet. I was curtailed somewhat though; I'd checked the fluids and cleaned the rad cap before going out, and it decided after a while to try to overheat, just when I was opening a gate. So I turned off for a while and let it cool before carrying on. It did it again a few times, so I gave it longer to cool off and then headed all the way home. I discovered that the temp guage would rise towards the red but sometimes it would come all the way back down without stopping to let it cool down, which I suspect means a sticky thermostat or possibly dodgy rad cap. It didn't try to overheat on the 100 mile trip home from Notts, nor when my wife was driving it before I fiddled with the radiator. The coolant is certainly in need of a flush.

Anyway, I'm really liking the GV even before I do any proper green-laning in it. It doesn't feel like a faux-by-four, but it's well-mannered and even fun to drive on road. Just a shame we didn't get the 3.2 V6 version sold in other markets.

Could just be an airlock, cars these days seem to be an utter twat to bleed and so many fail.

Carl.

[Sundayjumper]

Anyway, I'm really liking the GV even before I do any proper green-laning in it. It doesn't feel like a faux-by-four, but it's well-mannered and even fun to drive on road. Just a shame we didn't get the 3.2 V6 version sold in other markets.

What's the towing capacity ?

[Nic]

Lupo stuff...

Sounds like a very fun car to drive.

Just had a quick look on eBay; I can’t decide if they’re still a bargain or they’re overpriced for a sporting supermini. As I said they damn cool though.

Thanks Mike for the article; high praise from Andrew Frankel.

To echo, thanks Mike for the scan, have saved it.

I agree with you, all told including buying it it now owes me around £3k but that’s now with a fully rebuilt engine and new clutch. I’m thoroughly enjoying it.

[Jobbo]

Could just be an airlock, cars these days seem to be an utter twat to bleed and so many fail.

Carl.

You could be right - but it was fine before and I didn’t do anything except remove and clean the rad cap, and top up the coolant by 400ml or so.

Steve, the towing capacity is probably insufficient for you! I sought one without a tow bar because the Suzuki bar really hampers rear departure angle. It’s only a 2.4 so it’s not massively torquey like your Touareg.

[integrale_evo]

Lupo stuff...

Sounds like a very fun car to drive.

Just had a quick look on eBay; I can’t decide if they’re still a bargain or they’re overpriced for a sporting supermini. As I said they damn cool though.

Thanks Mike for the article; high praise from Andrew Frankel.

They're quite expensive really, but then they always have been. But they do seem to be lasting better than many similar cars of similar age so I'd imagine overall as an ownership proposition they work out pretty well.

I thought my step daughters little 75bhp 1.4 16v lupo was a laugh to drive and definitely had character, would like to try a 100bhp sport or a GTi at some point.

Suspension on them is virtually identical to a mk2 / 3 golf, they just had a shorter separate rear spring under the floor to save boot space over the golfs coil over damper setup.