The new news 24 thread

[stuboy]

17 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

Are you driving a small 3 pot car? If so, BMW driver has assumed they're more important than you. 

 

[bangernomics]

Mrs SiC has found a picture of said car. Turns out it's a Clubman. Also harvest gold by the look of it - the colour of my BGT that she have never liked

Mum had a poo brown inverted colours to that one that had a loom fire and melted her tights to her legs.

Then the battery lead shorted out and nearly torched us all.

Final straw was the rocker started leaking badly and it smoked us out. She chopped it in against a copper coloured chevette saloon.

[wuvvum]

And home. 

 

[wuvvum]

1 hour ago, omegod said:

Bizzarely this might have been in my rear view mirror a couple of days ago as I intitally thought WTF is that then the penny dropped! whereabouts in my fair city did it reside ? 

It was Everton way.  L5 postcode.

[SiC]

16 minutes ago, bangernomics said:

Mum had a poo brown inverted colours to that one that had a loom fire and melted her tights to her legs.

Then the battery lead shorted out and nearly torched us all.

Final straw was the rocker started leaking badly and it smoked us out. She chopped it in against a copper coloured chevette saloon.

Quirks and imperfections add character to a car!

[wuvvum]

4 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

(was quite surprised to find that it only has an 875cc engine mind! we need a back to back comparison/review with a singer chamois LOL)

Half the cylinders and over twice the power, so not much of a comparison really...

[bangernomics]

Quirks and imperfections add character to a car!

I hope it is bean cans by now. It did start a long love affair with minis though. Probably the thought that my annoying sisters were stuck in the back and would’ve been toasty.

[brownnova]

10 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

And home. 

 

I wasn’t expecting an Ypsilon!!

Nicely bought! 

[Cord Fourteener]

1 hour ago, Supernaut said:

Did they go feral? Fucking hell!

Yes, serves me right from putting the 2 year old in a place I thought he is safe and enjoys being in while I get on with some work close by...

 

[Eyersey1234]

3 hours ago, richardmorris said:

I thought ypsilon were lancia? The gov history site says Chrysler.

They were sold as a Chrysler in the UK 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

1 hour ago, stuboy said:

 

Well, it did sound like it had a multiple of three cylinders, so I was halfway there 😅

[wuvvum]

So I am now the proud owner of a slightly* dented 2012 Lancia Chrysler Ypsilon.  First time in ages that I've owned a car that is still in production (albeit not sold on these shores anymore).  It was slightly daft to buy an 875cc shopping car on the other side of the country and get the train up to drive it back based on a rather sparse description, but it all worked out as well as I could have hoped.

It's a funny little thing, the Ypsilon.  I'd been wanting to try a Twin Air engine for a while, and this was the cheapest road legal Twin Air-powered car I'd seen for sale, so I went for it.  Reading contemporary road tests though, they all seem to concur that the Twin Air isn't really suited to the Ypsilon, and I can kind of see what they mean.  The Ypsilon is designed as a sort of semi-luxurious small car (much as its direct ancestor the Y10 was), and the Twin Air isn't really a "luxury" engine.  It's a buzzy little thing that needs thrashing to make much in the way of progress, so it's great fun but not exactly relaxing.  It also really doesn't like pulling from low revs - it gets rather vibratory if you labour it, as vertical twins have a tendency to do.  It's fine on the motorway though, 70mph is just over 3,000rpm but being a twin it sounds like it's revving a lot lower than that.  Performance is decent rather than rapid, but pretty good given the diminutive engine. 

Ride isn't bad at all for a modern small car - the suspension is slightly firmer than the diesel C2 but the longer wheelbase means it feels less bouncy.  I tried chucking it round a couple of bends on the A628 in the brief period when I wasn't stuck in a line of traffic, and it seems to handle well enough, although the steering is slightly devoid of feel as is the modern way.  It's not as well soundproofed as I'd expected and there's a fair bit of road noise at motorway speeds - although to be fair I did have the back seat down to fit my bike in which won't have been helping.  The driving position is also rather Italian (bent legs, straight arms) which I thought was a thing of the past by 2012 but evidently not.  It's comfortable enough though, and doesn't feel cramped at all.  The stereo sounds pretty decent too for a small car.  Being a mid-range SE it gets aircon and a sunroof, but no cruise control and electric windows in the front only.

Apart from the obvious bodywork issues there are a few minor faults with it.  The only one I need to rectify immediately is the offside rear indicator is out.  So is the rear fog but I never use those anyway.  The dash display is also very dim (couldn't see it at all in daylight) and flickers somewhat, but that just displays the mileage and (presumably) the trip computer functions, which I can live without.  The instruments (speedo, rev counter, fuel gauge and, wonder of wonders, temp gauge) all work fine.  The other electrical issue is that the headlights are on all the time when the ignition is on - the light switch doesn't seem to do anything.  Better that than not having them work at all though.  The dipped beams are pretty shite, annoyingly, although main beam is fine.  The car also has working rear parking sensors - the only car in the current fleet where they actually work.  I haven't tried the A/C yet.

Fuel consumption seems to be on a par with the diesel C2, which is pretty good going.  In fact I can see this taking over commuting duties once commuting is a thing again - 60-odd mpg and zero VED means it's going to be a pretty cheap thing to run.

 

On Saturday I went and picked up the Swift from my mate's place and brought it home to give it a once over before its MOT on Tuesday. 

Only areas of worry I found were a small area at the back of the nearside sill which feels a little soft, and the exhaust is blowing round the join for the cat, which I will gun gum up for the test.  Obvs there may be other issues with brakes etc, but I've checked the obvious (lights, indicators, wipers, horn, tyres etc) and they all seem fine.  It has done almost no miles in the last few years so there shouldn't be much in the way of wear on anything, but sitting around doesn't stop rust and it also doesn't do braking systems a lot of good.

Speaking of which, the job I had planned for Saturday afternoon was to do the brake pads on the Innocenti.  That didn't happen though.  I got the calipers off, prised out the old pads and the (knackered) retaining springs, only to find that the pistons looked like this.

There's no way those are going to clean up well enough to be able to be wound back in without shredding the seals, so new pistons will be required.  I'm wavering between buying a piston and seal kit and attempting a rebuild, or forking out a bit more and buying a pair of replacement calipers, which will be a lot less faff.  They're standard Mini items so not stupidly expensive - although the bits I've bought for the car are really starting to add up...

[Ghosty]

10 hours ago, wuvvum said:

No pez shot yet as it had a third of a tank, but I've pulled into a layby on the A628 for a bite to eat.  

I've bought a car with no logbook off a Scouser.  What could possibly go wrong? 

The south's the other way m9, your car's facing Manc! 

That's my part of the world, I live a couple of miles from the end of the M67. 

[Stanky]

Nice work, the drive back will have done it the world of good. How well do the twinair engines cope with high mileages?

Re the innocenti brakes, from bitter experience I would suggest replacing the complete caliper rather than fiddling about with a repair kit, or potentially even contacting biggred and seeing how much to refurb these. It's a bit more expensive but even if you mentally charge your time a £5/hour then outright replacement will be substantially cheaper I suspect. Also you have a better chance of getting the bleed nipples to crack off with brand new ones!

[Split_Pin]

Put Cataclean in on the stated 1/4 tank, checked the air filter which was spotless, did an oil and filter change, took the Cav for a long run, drove great but didn't even bother testing it. Went straight on the emissions but they were 0.7 when they should be 0.2. I don't really know what that means but its a country mile out.

They are going to have a look into why they are so high but, given that I have tried just about all the options I don't think it looks good. He asked how I managed to get it through last year but I obviously couldn't answer that as I've only had it a couple of months.

Going to complete the test just to see what the rest is like anyway.

Pretty disappointed after all the work I put in but at least I gave it my best shot up to this point. Just glad I didn't sell the Corsa.

[Split_Pin]

Well in spite of that Conversation, this certainly looks like its worth persevering with.

 

[Stanky]

How much is a new cat @Split_Pin? That suggests to me that its either original and knackered, or (more likely) a shit pattern/aftermarket one thats just not working.

[outlaw118]

17 hours ago, wuvvum said:

I've bought a car with no logbook off a Scouser.  What could possibly go wrong? 

You utter SUNROOF

[wuvvum]

7 hours ago, Ghosty said:

The south's the other way m9, your car's facing Manc!

Yep, but the scenery's better on that side of the road, and the Ypsilon has a good turning circle...

[Split_Pin]

19 minutes ago, Stanky said:

How much is a new cat @Split_Pin? That suggests to me that its either original and knackered, or (more likely) a shit pattern/aftermarket one thats just not working.

It was replaced together with the downpipe a wee while ago and it still looks new. I haven't priced one up but it could be a shout.

[Stanky]

2 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

It was replaced together with the downpipe a wee while ago and it still looks new. I haven't priced one up but it could be a shout.

does it have any form of OBD or does it pre-date that? I assume with a cat its fuel injected rather than carb?

[Split_Pin]

No OBD, its just the paperclip in the diagnostic socket in the engine and you count the flashes. I got number 12 which means no codes stored.

Single point injection  too.

[barefoot]

On 4/18/2021 at 9:26 AM, reb said:

It's 9am on a Sunday and I've already been awake 5 hours. This is not by choice nor is it for a particularly good reason, I just woke up from a couple of hours of fairly shitty sleep and couldn't get back to sleep. I gave up entirely on sleep at 6 and had a coffee in the back garden. Honestly it's been quite a pleasant morning, I'd pay good money to be awake for the sun coming up every day, but there is one problem. What do you do with so much day?

We try to get up in time for the sunrise every day.  It's a bit dismal through the winter, but since the clocks went forward a couple of weeks ago it's been great. We've the alarm set for 05:15 at the mo. Downstairs, cup of coffee then out in the car to the next village where we walk the dog & watch the sun come up over the Amazon...

The downside is that we're in bed by 21:15, but it's not like there's anything on the telly is it?

[BorniteIdentity]

Apparently, "The Bill" might come back to TV which is an opportunity to remind myself that

1) My perfect Ford Escort was in the 1995 onwards opening credits

Sierra Sapphire's still look smart today

I'm still annoyed that they overdubbed brake sounds whilst the white Sierra was clearly still accelerating

Honey Harman was a solid 14/9.

 

[sierraman]

1 hour ago, Split_Pin said:

No OBD, its just the paperclip in the diagnostic socket in the engine and you count the flashes. I got number 12 which means no codes stored.

Single point injection  too.

Those were the days none of this plug it in bollocks that tells you a rough direction as to what might be wrong. 🤣

[wuvvum]

16 minutes ago, BorniteIdentity said:

Apparently, "The Bill" might come back to TV which is an opportunity to remind myself that

1) My perfect Ford Escort was in the 1995 onwards opening credits

Sierra Sapphire's still look smart today

I'm still annoyed that they overdubbed brake sounds whilst the white Sierra was clearly still accelerating

Honey Harman was a solid 14/9.

 

I was always more of a Gina Gold man myself.

[Split_Pin]

10 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Those were the days none of this plug it in bollocks that tells you a rough direction as to what might be wrong. 🤣

Sorts the brains from the brain dead.

The garage promised they'd phone me right back this morning, obviously I haven't heard a thing because they just hope that a problem, which they clearly haven't even got a clue about, will just go away.

Never move to the Falkirk area if you have an old car, it'll not see another MOT pass.

[sierraman]

I’d like to think an MOT will be same wherever you go. 

[Cheezey]

20 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Sorts the brains from the brain dead.

The garage promised they'd phone me right back this morning, obviously I haven't heard a thing because they just hope that a problem, which they clearly haven't even got a clue about, will just go away.

Never move to the Falkirk area if you have an old car, it'll not see another MOT pass.

I find garages/blokes in sheds in this area frustrating. Tried a few and I’m never 100% happy with the experience. Which garage is it with? 

[sierraman]

9 minutes ago, Cheezey said:

I find garages/blokes in sheds in this area frustrating. Tried a few and I’m never 100% happy with the experience. Which garage is it with? 

I think that’s same wherever you go actually, there’s the ones that are cheap enough but they’re playing at it. Then there’s the ones that have all the kit to tackle any job but they’re £££ and don’t want to know about old cars.