Pointless engine combos.

[Bren]

My A6 has the 2.4V6 - 177 bhp in a big car makes for a good cruiser, however off the mark it is about as quick as the pontiff in full regalia.

 

The best fuel economy I have seen is 35mpg, and tax is an eye watering £290 a year. I bought the car on it's condition and history.

 

I can get the 2.8/3.2/4.2 with the same VEL and not much difference in fuel consumption.

 

So what was the point of the 2.4?

 

My mother in laws granada has the 2.4 cologne - only marginally more powerful than a pinto but economy of a 2.9.

 

My 2.5 senator was slower than a broken clock and did 20 mpg.

 

Ditto 2300 SD1. 1.3 cortina, 1.8 petrol mk 3 mondeo's and vectra C's.

 

Can anybody else think of utterly pointless engine combo's - there must be hundreds.

[djimbob]

Any XJ40 that wasn't the four litre - although the 3.6 was the only big engine offered at first, but I hope you get my point - buying one now to me there is only one logical option (illogical preferences are perfectly understandable)

[cort16]

BMW 518i

 

Lets throw a 100bhp 4 cylinder engine in this huge car and see what happens (not much).

[Lacquer Peel]

Does the 2.4 V6 make sense in other markets where the road tax structure is different? Large naturally aspirated non-performance petrol engines must be nearly extinct now.

[Liggle]

E36 320i - performance of a 318is but the economy of a 323/325/328! 

[Kiltox]

1.6 petrol Insignia (hire car special, doubt they still make it)

[Liggle]

The new Mondeo has the 1.0T ecoboost 125bhp, yes impressive for a 1.0T engine but it has the power of a 1.6 NA from the 2000's. Completely out of its depth in a Mondeo surely?

[cort16]

Any XJ40 that wasn't the four litre - although the 3.6 was the only big engine offered at first, but I hope you get my point - buying one now to me there is only one logical option (illogical preferences are perfectly understandable)

 

The did the XJ with a 2.9 didn't they?

[Asimo]

Mondeo itself is pretty pointless - Escort  space for Granada money.

 

And I would like to Defend the BMW 518: all the good things about the 5 series but without all that pointless "equipment" that burdened most of them.

Sure it would have been faster with a 3 litre six, but car buyers never get a free choice like that do we?

[Parky]

Didn't the Montego have the 1275 A Series in the base models?

 

That must have been a right barrel of laughs....

[face]

They did.

 

Sierra 1.3 too.

[cort16]

E36 320i - performance of a 318is but the economy of a 323/325/328! 

 

The e39 520i's are the same. They're just there to fit a gap in the range.

[Longblackcoat]

I've got a 4.0 twin-turbo V8 in my Merc GL, and it's only a bit faster 0-60 than the 3.0 V6, but much thirstier. Only manages 27-28 on the motorway, or 24 if you set the cruise at 90-ish.

 

Then again, it's a lot quicker 20-80, or 30-70. If you use that extra mid-range, it's worth it, but if you don't it's an utterly pointless engine.

 

Me? I've got a fuel card...........

[egg]

1.1 Citroen BX?

 

903cc pushrod Uno when the 999cc FIRE was so much better (both offered at same time)

 

Using the 1.3 pushrod in the original KA when Ford had other engines available?

 

Mondeo itself is pretty pointless - Escort  space for Granada money.

 

Some truth in this - extra space over mk5 escort is surprisingly little in the cabin.

[Negative Creep]

Have to say my 2.0 v6 feels a bit pointless. All the thirst of the 2.5 with none of the performance

[Liggle]

Using the 1.3 pushrod in the original KA when Ford had other engines available?

 

I've driven a Ka and was pleasantly suprised, a Zetec 1800 GTi or similar would have been a right laugh as the chassis felt like it could handle a lot more. The SportKa got a 1.6 8v for some odd reason!

[saucedoctor]

Parky, on 11 Mar 2016 - 11:12 AM, said:

Didn't the Montego have the 1275 A Series in the base models?

 

That must have been a right barrel of laughs....

 

Surprisingly, the Montego 1.3 wasn't bad at all. I took a spin in one years ago when I worked for Carlos El Bastardo.

[sierraman]

Not sure about the Mondeo comparison. There was a world of difference between the Escort and the Mondeo. The escort drove like a dog, the Mondeo didn't.

 

Pointless for me would have been the Focus mk1 1.8 petrol. No quicker than the 1.6 but considerably more thirsty. Also Fiesta mk4 1.4 petrol.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

The transport manager, who was my boss in the 80's told me how in the early 70's he did a deal with Chrysler to supply 100 Avenger 1300s itted with 1600 badges. They were issued to reps a replacements for 1600 Cortinas and he reckons nobody ever noticed or complained

[egg]

Not sure about the Mondeo comparison. There was a world of difference between the Escort and the Mondeo. The escort drove like a dog, the Mondeo didn't.

 

Aye, that's very true as well. Escort rattled and creaked all the time.

[Longblackcoat]

Heresy on here, perhaps, but I always thought the 2.3 V6 Mk4 Cortina was a total waste of time. Same speed and acceleration as the 2.0 Pinto; OK, maybe a little bit smoother (with the emphasis on little) but waaaay thirstier.

[TataBobu]

Let me tell you how the tax is calculated in my home town (Bucuresti): the only thing take into account is the engine capacity and wether is a car or a van. Strictly for cars, there are some angine capacities where the tax has a huge increment for one extra cubic centimetre. The limits are1601, 2001, 2601, 3001

 

1600 cmc: 74.24 RON/ year; 1601 cmc: 167.14 RON/ year

2000 cmc: 208.8 RON/ year; 2001 cmc: 835.62 RON/ year

2600 cmc: 1085.76 RON/ year; 2601 cmc: 2172.35 RON/ year

3000 cmc: 2505.6 RON/ year; 3001 cmc: 5047.68 RON/ year

 From here it really starts to grow, reaching 9000 RON/ year for a 5 liter engined car, and 15000 RON/ year for a 9 liter engined car.

 

I know that in other countries the tax is calculated differently (for instance in China the engine size where is a big rise in tax is 1500 cmc, hence a lot of new 1.5 liter diesel engine from manufacturers that used 1.6).

[oldcars]

There was a Reliant Robin on ebay last year i think. It had the Fiat FIRE engine in it from a Cinquecento. Half of it was in the passenger footwell, no idea how it got an mot.

[Guest Hooli]

The did the XJ with a 2.9 didn't they?

 

They did, even offered an auto version!

 

I had a 3.2 auto & it only had enough power. The 2.9 must have been horrible.

[dollywobbler]

Rover P6 TC. Almost as quick as a V8, but just as thirsty and sounding nowhere near as nice.

[HMC]

They did, even offered an auto version!

 

I had a 3.2 auto & it only had enough power. The 2.9 must have been horrible.

Yes. I had a 2.9 auto sov. A rare beast even when new in sov spec- the smallest engine struggling against a bodyshell full to the brim with extras. Due to being worked harder I found it no less thirsty than the 3.2 or 4.0 examples I later had. As usual there was a reason for its existence- the boggo spec tweed interior 2.9 was priced at around granada money to lure in the punters. Grace and space yes. Pace no. Which sort of misses the point really.

[forddeliveryboy]

The flip side to this is cars with engines too powerful for the handling and brakes. Perfect for selling to those with a goldfish's attention span who keep on enjoying the cheap thrills of acceleration for years, but bloody frustrating if you simply want to go quickly on anything other than a quiet motorway. You could cross country quicker in a 1.2 GS or 1.4 BX than many an 80s be-spoilered 'performance' machine.

 

The original Golf GTi was a bit lame after something like a Sud, but it was German therefore the best.

[djimbob]

They did, even offered an auto version!

 

I had a 3.2 auto & it only had enough power. The 2.9 must have been horrible.

I had a 2.9 for a while, it was ok, obviously underpowered, but for wafting it sufficed, but the four litre drank as much or even less, had loads more poke and torque, just everything was better!

The 2.9 povvo spec with cloth seats is becoming desirable weirdly as they are now so rare

[face]

I've driven a Ka and was pleasantly suprised, a Zetec 1800 GTi or similar would have been a right laugh as the chassis felt like it could handle a lot more. The SportKa got a 1.6 8v for some odd reason!

 

 

The SportKa should have had the 1.7 out of the Puma.

[saucedoctor]

S.S. Logan in Newtownabbey (now an MG Flying Bomb & Crispy Duck Concern UK dealer) had a white pov spec XJ40 2.9 in stock for 5 years. Just couldn't shift it. They have form for just putting unsold stuff away, so might be on to a winner.

 

ISTR there used to be some kind of company car tax break at £19500, and car did a test with one of these, a Rover 820e, some sort of Audi and a B** 518.