Hedgehog Motors - The ̶L̶e̶x̶ Rex Files

[GMcD]

Amaze balls. Nicely done. 

Need to change your username to DanDanDan!

[Spottedlaurel]

Nice one.  Easy to see how the styling of my 3rd gen model developed from that.

[Flat4]

2 hours ago, Jim Bell said:

Would love a flippin shot. 

You and me both! That is NICE!

Are these really Autoshite money already??? Looks so good.

[loserone]

24 minutes ago, Flat4 said:

Autoshite money

No.

[davehedgehog31]

4 hours ago, Gerrymcd said:

Amaze balls. Nicely done. 

Need to change your username to DanDanDan!

Fancy a flav? King of coffees.

[davehedgehog31]

A week on fleet and I'm still enjoying the plushness of the RX's interior. 

Most of them I saw had the cream/beige leather which I'm not a massive fan of, especially after they've hosted 15 years of arses. Much prefer the black.

The interior has a lot of nice practical touches. The centre console is on runners and slides back and forth. Has two big cup holders and a really deep central storage bin. The door pockets even pop out. There's a pair of 12v sockets in the front, one in the back seats and one in the boot. 

The back seats slide back and forward, fold flat and even recline for comfort. The boot floor has pop up dividers with storage bins underneath. Lots of luggage hooks, tie down points etc. Tailgate is also electric. 

I know these are all features you'll find in modern MPVs, but to have them in a 15 year old SUV is a nice surprise. I like the combination of practicality and usability in an interior that still feels luxurious. 

It's absolutely loaded with equipment. Stereo is incredible and was apparently a £2000 option from the factory. Keep discovering features I didn't know it had. 

It's not a car that compels you to press on, which is just as well because 26mpg seems to be about your whack. It's a big lazy, comfortable cruiser. I'm still enamoured with it, but I imagine it's the perfect car when you can't be fucked driving and just want to get where you're going. 

The fact you can buy what was about £45k worth of car in 2005 (£68k adjusted for inflation) with comprehensive service records for about £2-3K now is mental. Not as mental as Saab 9-5 Aeros for £500, but still mental. 

Sadly I have an extensive snagging list;
 

1. Could use new wiper blades

End of snagging list.

[Agila]

You should still be able to play bog standard dvd films on it. Images come up on the screen and has surround sound. Needs to be parked up and handbrake on though. Mine has the advance forward lighting that moves about with the steering. Used to have dimming mirror glass but both mine broke. That's the only thing that has ever failed. 

Amazing things for the money, at least the expenses are known about, ie tax, fuel etc.

I'd have a practice removing the spare wheel. It lowers down from underneath and there is a nut to unscrew from the boot.

[davehedgehog31]

Just now, Agila said:

You should still be able to play bog standard dvd films on it. Images come up on the screen and has surround sound. Needs to be parked up and handbrake on though. Mine has the advance forward lighting that moves about with the steering. Used to have dimming mirror glass but both mine broke. That's the only thing that has ever failed. 

I thought that, guess what I'm away to try! 

The active headlights were one feature I noticed in the fog the other night. 

Oddly mine also used to have dimming mirror glass, but they broke on the last owner! Think it's about the only TADTS they suffer from. 

Ta for spare wheel tip, I was looking at it trying to see how it came out. Will refer to the book and have a practice run. 

[SRi05]

Hedgehog goes posh! Suits you sir 

[Agila]

The glass on mine was replaced by previous owner as if failed and leaked liquid etc on near side.

Off side was my mrs giffer driving. Ebay replacement was still heated glass (but not dimming) for £20.

The original glass by lexus are £350 a side. That's the glass only per side. Headlights are a grand each and so is the windscreen from lexus.

I replaced my spare tyre and it was original, never used and looked mint. I replaced it anyway as it was dated 2006.

I still get in mine and appreciate it's a proper car. 

Don't know if you've put it in sport mode yet. Put it in drive and then knock the stick over to the right. Holds on to the gears for longer.

[Split_Pin]

Cars that just waft along are right where I'm at at the present moment in time, well bought sir.

[Agila]

Spare wheel video.

 

[davehedgehog31]

10 minutes ago, Agila said:

Spare wheel video.

 

Aye, probably best checking that on a nice day rather than at the side of the road in anger. At least it's covered unlike the cradle they sit in on the 405/205 etc. 

[davehedgehog31]

Not updated this in a while. 

Early January saw the Fuckus of doom come in after a rash eBay bid. Four springs, a tyre, an MOT, half an interior, an expansion tank and brakes later it departed the fleet a few weeks ago. Was really in an audition against the 107 but was easily vanquished. 

The Lexus has been doing as the Lexus does, effortless to drive (and touch wood, own) and pleasingly luxurious.

I noticed a bit of added rasp from the 107's exhaust. There was a small hole on the pipe which joins the back box to the mid section. Decided to effect a quality* temporary* repair to allow me time to source an affordable back box online. 

Firstly, bum in the air;

Wares;

Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

Job jobbed.

It's worked hilariously well. 

[dome]

Bonus points for using Disco Forklift Truck. Lovely stuff

[davehedgehog31]

Thursday night saw a new arrival to the fleet. 

I'm a serial C1/107/Aygo botherer, this represents my fourth of them. My third is a petrol 107 I've been running since October last year, has done over 3000 miles since then. There are a few firsts here though. First diesel, first five door and first with A/C. 

A diesel, five door, facelift C1 with Air Con is a rare beast. This one was flagged up by @Jimbob McGregor, he and @loseronewere both very helpful with viewing, buying and moving it north. 

It's a really clean and presentable little car, the NSR door is a slightly different shade from the rest of the car. I wonder if it's maybe come from an Aygo as they came in a very slightly different red colour. It has had a fair wedge spent on it by the P/O with receipts for cambelt etc in the last couple of months. it's fit to be pressed right into service. 

The diesel was discontinued shortly after this one was built, it was never a big seller.  This is probably owing to the fact the cheaper 1.0 petrol models were so good on fuel, £20 to tax and sat in the lowest tax bracket. Indeed, my fuelly logs over the last 3000 miles in the blue 107 average 51.4mpg with a best of 62.1mpg with a fair bit of urban driving. 

https://www.fuelly.com/car/peugeot/107/2006/gavin3110/1039113

I do like driving for economy, so will be really interested to see how the diesel compares on the old dino juice. 70mpg should be easily achievable I'd hope. 

It's a 1.4 HDi lump as fitted to various PSA and Ford cars. It's detuned to 55bhp due to the meagre ratings of the gearbox. However, there are plenty folk running on a stage 1 remap of 90bhp and a fair wedge more torque with no adverse long term results. I'm going to look into it. 

Does mean my 3 door petrol 107 will be up for sale soon. Will pull together pictures and an advert shortly. 

[Dan302]

I didn't realise there was ever a diesel version. Looks smart 👌

[davehedgehog31]

3 minutes ago, Dan302 said:

I didn't realise there was ever a diesel version. Looks smart 👌

It's a bit odd hearing a completely different engine note in a very familiar car!

[Jim Bell]

Upgrade complete. 

Gonna be really interesting to see what the hdi will return on similar driving demands to the petrol version. 

[loserone]

Especially post remapping.

 

Fun little bus to punt around this.

[junkyarddog]

That's a nice little thing.

Interested to see what EmmPeeGees you'll get from it.

[Dan302]

I'd love to read a bit of a comparison to the petrol models once you've covered some miles in it.

[wuvvum]

Be interesting to see how much better on fuel this is than my similarly-engined C2.  I'm averaging 62mpg at the moment.

[davehedgehog31]

Definitely, I'll be keeping Fuelly up to date too. Will be doing the same type of driving as the petrol one so should serve as a direct comparison. 

Will do a write up of diesel v petrol once I've had time to familiarise! 

[davehedgehog31]

So the C1 has been on fleet for about seven weeks now. In that time I've done just over 2000 miles. 

The fuel stats are pretty good so far;

I live in Glasgow so a fair bit of my driving is in traffic, so I'm very happy averaging 66.5mpg. If I lived a bit less urban I could crack 70 no problem. 

[Dan302]

How does it compare to the petrol versions economy/performance/driving wise?

[sdkrc]

Unfortunately that's not enough mpgs to keep me interested. I'll be unsubscribing from this thread until I see 72+

[davehedgehog31]

5 hours ago, sdkrc said:

Unfortunately that's not enough mpgs to keep me interested. I'll be unsubscribing from this thread until I see 72+

Wow, there are some horrible people on the internet.

[loserone]

6 minutes ago, davehedgehog31 said:

Wow, there are some horrible people on the internet.

Have you mapped it yet? 

[davehedgehog31]

7 hours ago, Dan302 said:

How does it compare to the petrol versions economy/performance/driving wise?

I think the most important comparison is economy, most of these cars will be bought with that at the forefront. Over 3000 miles, the petrol 107 averaged 51.4mpg, in identical driving (although maybe slightly warmer) conditions the diesel C1 has averaged 66.5mpg over 2000 miles. 

As mentioned, my driving is pretty mixed. I live in Glasgow and any local driving I do is utterly tedious, but there is also a chunk of it which is spent commuting where it can stretch its legs. A pretty varied and realistic test.

The criticism levelled at the diesel was that it didn't make sense due to the similarity in quoted MPG figures. In reality it's far easier to achieve the headline figures with the diesel car. There's no contest in this regard despite what reviews from when the car was new would have you believe.

I reckon that on a steady motorway run over a few hundred miles the diesel would pull out even more of an MPG gap over the petrol too. 

It's not just as easy a decision as it may seem though. The diesels are very scarce, it wouldn't surprise me if the petrols outnumber them 50:1. The diesel has a cambelt to worry about. The petrol lump is well proven and economies of scale dictate service and spare parts will be cheaper. 

Performance wise the petrol has the edge on paper and is a bit sprightlier, but needs to be revved. The diesel is a bit more of a relaxed drive as you can tickle it along at lower revs. The diesel does have quite a narrow power band, so while it will bumble along at low revs in most situations it does also need worked hard if you're overtaking or joining faster moving traffic. 

In terms of refinement there's not much enjoyment to be had in revving the derv unit, turbo whoosh aside, which I suppose helps you keep an eye on economy. The three cylinder petrol engine starts gruff but doesn't really get any more gruff as you approach 7k. 

I'm not really a good enough critic of driving dynamics to tell if the diesel lump over the front wheels makes much difference. I'd need to drive both back to back. 

Remapping the 1.4HDi lump to 90bhp is an accepted modification, I think that would be quite transformative. 

Ultimately, I probably do the mileage to justify the diesel. I like that it will pull from lower revs, it's a bit more relaxing to drive. The petrols are good fun though, plentiful, pretty unburstable and for a petrol car they are still very economical. 

All in all, I reckon for 90% of folk the petrol is probably the better bet, but if you cover the mileage and enjoy driving a diesel you'll probably not find much more economical in the real world.