Citroën BX "Muffy" - M'colification

[dollywobbler]

Funnily enough, I reckon my best BX was the silver TXD Turbo that Barrett now has, though the Mk1 estate was fun in its own shabby way. I reckon gearchange has a lot to do with it though. Even the XM's feels pretty poor. Jump out of a Citroen of this era into something like a Ford Puma and the difference is just staggering, because the clutch and gearchange are so sweet.

[xtriple]

I had a BX 'leader' for a while. Bought from the auctions as a bit of a 'punt' as there was nothing else about and I didn't want it to just be a day out... It was a great little thing, 1.4 I think and went fine and handled great. Was an absolute ballbag to sell though.....

[twosmoke300]

The 1.4 upright tu engine was the best one in a bx imo. Certainly from a maintainance point of view anyway. You could almost see the octopus on a 1.4 , almost.

[barrett]

I still don't understand the hate for the BX gear change, I reckon it's great. I would advise anyone who doesn't like them to drive around in a four-speed Allegro for a year and then have another go

[twosmoke300]

Can't say I ever found them too bad but I do agree that a Ford one is much nicer.

 

If you want a bad gearshift try an iveco from cold or a Bedford tk1630 where the lever is so far back its under your armpit.

[barrett]

I think the only Ford I've driven is from 1937. The BX has a nicer gearchange.

[Lacquer Peel]

I find PSA gearboxes a bit notchy but pleasant enough to use, much better than the worst offenders like VAG, Regie and GM.

[xtriple]

Thinking about it, I had another BX, must have been a good (ish) spec as it had gold metallic paint (with lacquer flake) and electric windows. It was another great drive but the interior was dire - all the ones I saw back in the day seemed to have cloth trim that just rotted away in the sunshine, and this one had rotted! The top of the backseat was gone and the fronts weren't much better.

 

I don't like untidy interiors...

 

Had another (again, thinking about it) that got me in trouble with trading standards! That was a GTI and I steered clear after that!

[twosmoke300]

Oh yeh I forgot about how terrible mk2 golf and scirocco gear changes get

[forddeliveryboy]

I quite fancy a 1.4, either suitcase or the cambelted Pug affair - the low mass would match the rest of the machine nicely. Were these things typically French in the gearing?

[M'coli]

The gearchange on this one's fine, although there's a collar on the stick that I keep trying to lift to get into reverse.

 

If you want to try a poor gearchange, find a Renault 12...

[Richard]

I think the Simca 1100 and its descendants are the benchmark for poor gearchanges. A friend of mine dislocated his shoulder trying to get reverse on one.

[dollywobbler]

I quite fancy a 1.4, either suitcase or the cambelted Pug affair - the low mass would match the rest of the machine nicely. Were these things typically French in the gearing?

 

I don't know what typical French gearing is. My 2CV is flat out at 70, the XM is at 2600rpm. BX 1.4s are rather short of gearing, which means they're an absolute hoot most of the time, but tiring on long journeys. So, more 2CV than XM.

[twosmoke300]

Dads mk1 1.4 seemed v revvy on the way to and from Wales. Pretty hardy to revs tho but you knew it was screaming. No rev counter so you didn't really know. Maybe ignorance is bliss

[HMC]

+1 on the bx gearchange, the ex wobbler bx ( now with barret) was a pleasure to swap cogs with, my least fave boxes - or maybe the linkages were to blame, were in several ( admittedly well used ) classic shape saab 900s.

 

Nice work on the pedal box and the recycled gas bottle!

[M'coli]

Thank you!

[forddeliveryboy]

I don't know what typical French gearing is. My 2CV is flat out at 70, the XM is at 2600rpm. BX 1.4s are rather short of gearing, which means they're an absolute hoot most of the time, but tiring on long journeys. So, more 2CV than XM.

 

Traditionally, gearing of French cars was longer than the average to suit the torquey engines and their roads, in the same way I'd suggest lesser English crocks had shortish gears for this country's small, slow roads (pre motorways). I think an Austin in the 50s may have been the exception, with top speed achievable in 3rd, like a Polo Formel E from the early 80s.

 

2cvs had longish top gears - which isn't to say the engine's not revving well at 70, but there's at least another 1000 revs left to go even if you respect the official limit. With such a large body and miniscule output on an engine which can handle revs to 7500 fairly easily, that's longish!

 

Of course, things have all changed - turbos and high output engines together with Euro-norm-ness mean there's less contrast between stuff than there used to be. But Audis still seem to have that stupid gap between 2nd and 3rd which has afflicted VW stuff since time began. I see why they have so many models with 6 speeds.