HMC- New- 500 Twinair

[HMC]

Considering the dreadful rep these have, I was suprised at the level of iron curtain instrumentation…

Vacuum, volts, plus the usual. They are not damped, so the volts in particular tend to flick about erratically, but seem accurate. I like that this info was considered important even on a cheap car.

Bizarrely despite these details there is no clock on this mid level SL. Presumably such frivolities only happened on the top trim level?

There is also no rear view mirror, but thats because its just fallen off.

[wesacosa]

 

 

[HMC]

Ms_HMC would like to do the mongol rally in it, as its finish point is a Russian lake that she used to go on holidays to, i think they may have a countryside house (Dacha)  there. Sadly the next scheduled one isnt allowed into Russia from the —-stan border, and also IIRC the car needs to be 1 litre or less, and this is a mighty 1.5

[IronStar]

1 hour ago, HMC said:

 

They are not damped, so the volts in particular tend to flick about erratically, but seem accurate.

I never understood this. It costs pennies to dampen them, and having them undampened makes it look incredibly cheap and is shit to use. 
Fuel gauge bouncing around always drives me insane. Is there half a tank? 1/4? 3 liters and about to run out of fuel? No clue, make a guess! Surely it’s not about to stall and that hiccup just now didn’t really happen, it’s just you overthinking? Right? Right????

[Ian_Fearn]

On 01/09/2024 at 17:31, HMC said:

 

 

 

 

@HMC useless bit of trivia for you….. Rally Motors still exists. It’s owned by a good friend of mine and he pretty much remembers every customer and car they’ve ever sold. They’ve not sold new cars for years now but they remain a local landmark in Allestree, Derby. The phone number is still Derby 559901 too!

[HMC]

Flashback to 2020 and the crown vic i had at the time…

Its available on facebook marketplace (for more money than i paid at the time when i bought it) , but is looking a little sad, minus its engine and gearbox…

[Schaefft]

That sucks as I remember this being on here. Looks like they have a few interesting cars in their yard.

[grogee]

On 25/10/2024 at 18:28, HMC said:

Considering the dreadful rep these have, I was suprised at the level of iron curtain instrumentation…

Vacuum, volts, plus the usual. They are not damped, so the volts in particular tend to flick about erratically, but seem accurate. I like that this info was considered important even on a cheap car.

Reminds me of another Soviet engineering triumph*

[grogee]

On 25/10/2024 at 18:46, HMC said:

Russian lake that she used to go on holidays to

Is it this one? 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Karachay?wprov=sfla1

[HMC]

On 28/10/2024 at 17:47, grogee said:

Is it this one? 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Karachay?wprov=sfla1

I think its further east toward the border with Mongolia.

Fleet news…

Samara is a great little runabout, great for parking with a massive glass area- presumably not so handy in a crash 😂

Jag being great also, although im not a fan of washing cars i should clear the bird crap off it

And i have done a buy. 2 cylinder turbo. Free tax, dirt cheap insurance. Itch being scratched on  a 500 twinair arrives friday. Ive read mixed reviews but i want to love it from the technical description.

 

[Schaefft]

Not the biggest fan of my GF's 65hp 500 (or the automated manual "convertible" I drove on Santorini which was probably one of the worst cars I've ever driven). The Twin Air certainly is an interesting choice though, the extra 20hp will come in handy.

[HMC]

This little 500 was dropped of by a nice Lithuanian guy this lunchtime.

“This is Lady car” was his proclamation- maybe, but I like them. My first was an Abarth, but what attracted me to this one was the twin air engine- and its ambition, and the (tenuous) link to its 2 cylinder forebears.

Here in a sort of What Car? group test photo…

 

[grogee]

I had a twin air for a weekend when they came out. I drove it like an absolute nun and still only got about 40mpg. Word on the street is they were designed to ace the old EU test in order to get good co2 figures. 

I hope yours behaves, you seem to do quite well with the shite turnover. Of course if the Fiat shits itself you've got the luxury of a brown Lada on standby. 

BTW I have an XK8 book that I was going to give to you @HMC, I can post it if you're keen or I'll deliver it when I next venture into Tavi. 

[DSdriver]

On 04/10/2024 at 09:13, loserone said:

No more so than anything requiring welding, HGF, a DPF, DMF clutch...

That's the problem with any car less than 20 years old, too many three letter things in them. 

[EyesWeldedShut]

22 minutes ago, DSdriver said:

That's the problem with any car less than 20 years old, too many three letter things in them. 

Most truly modern stuff I get into has multiple WTFs fitted - that's enough for me

[crad]

1 minute ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

Most truly modern stuff I get into has multiple WTFs fitted - that's enough for me

i found all my old banger's had/have lot's of WTFs in them as well!

[tooSavvy]

When I collected AVAS the guy confirmed NOT TPMS = GR9👍...

Later I discovered 1.8 Z18XER manuals have a bad rep for DMF = GR9👍...

I'm currently cutting the rad/tranny cooler off... NO cross contamination= GR9👍...

It's not disgraced itself *expensively YET 😁

🚙💨

[wuvvum]

I had a Lancia Chrysler Ypsilon with the Twin Air engine.  I really liked the way it drove and it didn't give me any issues, but the fuel economy was so far adrift of the official figures that it was almost laughable.

On 25/10/2024 at 18:46, HMC said:

mongol rally

@willswitchengage is our resident expert on that topic if you do decide to give it a go.