Ask a Shiter

[Matt]

106/ Saxo is the best possible base for an eco car as that is what it was designed for.  Small frontal area, low kerb weight, skinny tyres and covered (flat) wheel trims.

Over the past 4 years, I've averaged 59-61mpg on two 106 diesels.  That's every tank recorded, all types of driving.

 

Oh right, I had no idea they were actually as efficient as that in the rear world. Do you drive for economy intentionally or do you just drive kind of normally? *Goes off to look for them for sale*

 

It's probably been asked before (and I could JFGI, but where's the fun in that?), but if I panelled inside a van to camper it: is there any reason why I couldn't/shouldn't fill the gap between plywood and metal with expanding foam?

Sounds like the obvious way to insulate. Sounds too easy though.

 

How much force does expanding foam put on the surfaces around it? I would be concerned about it forcing back against the wood or causing visible damage to the thin metal panels.

 

 

I think the AX leads the field by a margin due to lightness. There are a lot of platstic pieces even compaired to a 106.

Have you seen the ecomodder.com forum, mainly american but lots of folks doing similar areo mods etc.

 

Well aware of it, it's a shame there isn't more EU based members with more efficient cars being more common here than in the US.

[Lacquer Peel]

Fabia SDI is good on fuel, 60MPG+ without trying hard, but it is a miserable car for miserable people.

[Rusty_Rocket]

Oh right, I had no idea they were actually as efficient as that in the rear world. Do you drive for economy intentionally or do you just drive kind of normally? *Goes off to look for them for sale*

 

 

I don't drive intentionally economically at all.  In fact, I believe n/a diesels should be regularly thrashed to keep them 'clean'.

My long-term fuel records are simply to keep a tab on things- every time I fill up, I record the date, mileage, litres and price per L.  The best one was the 106 I sold on here.  It had a Lucas pump, which although is not suitable for veg, is more economical than the Bosch one I have now.  Only by 1-2mpg though.

[saucedoctor]

Anyone know where I can get stuff to er, stuff the seat on my Viano? It's gone a bit flat on one side. No Heydrich jokes, please

 

Thanks.

 

[320touring]

Oh right, I had no idea they were actually as efficient as that in the rear world. Do you drive for economy intentionally or do you just drive kind of normally? *Goes off to look for them for sale*

 

 

How much force does expanding foam put on the surfaces around it? I would be concerned about it forcing back against the wood or causing visible damage to the thin metal panels.

 

 

 

Well aware of it, it's a shame there isn't more EU based members with more efficient cars being more common here than in the US.

They seem to like my jaag ok;)

[Matt]

I don't drive intentionally economically at all.  In fact, I believe n/a diesels should be regularly thrashed to keep them 'clean'.

My long-term fuel records are simply to keep a tab on things- every time I fill up, I record the date, mileage, litres and price per L.  The best one was the 106 I sold on here.  It had a Lucas pump, which although is not suitable for veg, is more economical than the Bosch one I have now.  Only by 1-2mpg though.

 

I do the same but I only started a year ago so it's not a particularly large spreadsheet yet. January 29th 2014 to January 3rd 2015 has seen me average exactly 50 MPG (50.003 to be precise, 0.003 of a mile being equivalent to 4.8 meters!). Suzuki say I should get 53 MPG on a combined cycle but I always drive with my headlights on which apparently decreases MPG by about 6% or -3 MPG in my case.

 

How have you found 106's as day-to-day transport? Reliable, cheap parts, comfort etc?

[Rusty_Rocket]

What car is that, Matt?  I find anything 50mpg+ is a blessing

[Matt]

What car is that, Matt?  I find anything 50mpg+ is a blessing

 

2002 Suzuki Swift 993cc 3 cylinder and I agree, 50 MPG is kind of my benchmark for a daily driver now that I've had the Swift. Mine is in GLS trim so is laden down a bit more than low spec cars; fog lights, painted bumpers, power steering, bucket seats and a roof spoiler.

 

I wouldn't suggest rushing out to buy one though.

[worldofceri]

Can you ask non car related stupid questions here?

 

If so....

 

If you chew something but don't swallow it, do you get any calories?

 

Probably.  You can absorb sugars through the side of your mouth, I believe.

[mat_the_cat]

It's probably been asked before (and I could JFGI, but where's the fun in that?), but if I panelled inside a van to camper it: is there any reason why I couldn't/shouldn't fill the gap between plywood and metal with expanding foam?

Sounds like the obvious way to insulate. Sounds too easy though.

 

I've heard of several people doing it without problems, but the pointers I remember were:

1) use less than you think

2) drill plenty of holes to allow the air to escape, and also so you can see how far the foam has travelled.

3) don't do it if there's any chance of welding being required in the foreseeable future!

[Jon]

My Dad had a 106 diesel (1.5 facelift one) and though he really enjoyed squeezing the best fuel economy out of it (best I think was 71mpg) over 125000 depressing miles as Lacquer Peel says above of a Fabia SDI, it was a depressing car for depressing people. It's all well and good looking for the best fuel economy but would the hopefully extra 10mpg really be beneficial when the driving experience is so crap? My abiding memory of that car was that it gave the worst static shocks ever. Defo hold on to the door as you exit, if you buy one of those.

 

Would an LPG converted car not be a bit cheaper/more cheerful to run? Don't know what diesel prices are like in Britain now but they were always higher than petrol. Or get a veg friendly turbo diesel something and enjoy rapid miserly motoring. 106 diesels hit a brick wall when accelerating* waaay to early in my experience. Or more interestingly, stick with the Suzuki you have and make some eco mods to see how effective they are; you've already got a year's worth of fuel bills for comparison.

[HH-R]

Since the temperature has dropped outside over the winter, my gearbox is a bit crunchy going into 3rd and 2nd sometimes, baulks going into 2nd and needs shoving into first. I try to drive it with mechanical sympathy even though I hate the damn thing so don't like the reluctance. It gets better once it gets up to temp, but it takes almost to the end of my 15 mile commute to loosen up. Would changing the oil help? It's not always like that, think if it drops below about 8 degrees outside it does it.

[dave21478]

Changing the oil for fresh OE spec stuff certainly wont do it any harm. I reckon a bit of google research would be required to see if its happy on other thinner grades of oil.

[HH-R]

Cheers. It's on 64k and probably never been changed. I changed it on my last Panda at about 40k and it improved it no end but I can't remember what about it I was trying to improve in the first place

[messerschmitt owner]

smart fortwo cdi - import a lhd one from Europe - 70mpg regularly and on one trip when I was hypermiling some 110mpg

[sheffcortinacentre]

scrap cars are avg £90 a ton, alloys £1000 a ton, batteries £450 a ton.

 

a focus is about £105.

average alloy wheel £6-8

average battery £5-6

gen cats £40

an half worn tyre is £5 (from used tyre man)

 

 

mate loves it when sellers tell him they know its fetching £150 a ton & their Vectra with snapped cambelt ,kerbed alloys with slicks is worth at least 2n arf allday mate.

[Matt]

It's all well and good looking for the best fuel economy but would the hopefully extra 10mpg really be beneficial when the driving experience is so crap?

 

I'm not really looking to a create an OMG 100 MPG daily driver, it's more of a project idea so refinement and pleasure of driving isn't high on the list of priorities. In that case yes, the extra 10 MPG is a huge advantage. 

[Richard]

Anyone know where I can get stuff to er, stuff the seat on my Viano? It's gone a bit flat on one side. No Heydrich jokes, please

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

I'm not sure what a Viano is but if it's new enough you could try the dealer. I had to buy a new seat base for the Escort, a bit pricey but it was a proper fix.

[320touring]

I'm not really looking to a create an OMG 100 MPG daily driver, it's more of a project idea so refinement and pleasure of driving isn't high on the list of priorities. In that case yes, the extra 10 MPG is a huge advantage.

Driving style is key at first-put time in on that before starting to mod the car(ok, you can air the tyres up a little!)

 

My polo returned 53.84mpg on the return trip to get my brothers daimler off cavcraft.

 

Pegged at 70 all the way-not bad for a 1.9 n/a diesel.

 

I reckonbif i'd sat at 60 i'd have made 57-58

[castros_bro]

I do the same but I only started a year ago so it's not a particularly large spreadsheet yet. January 29th 2014 to January 3rd 2015 has seen me average exactly 50 MPG (50.003 to be precise, 0.003 of a mile being equivalent to 4.8 meters!). Suzuki say I should get 53 MPG on a combined cycle but I always drive with my headlights on which apparently decreases MPG by about 6% or -3 MPG in my case.

 

How have you found 106's as day-to-day transport? Reliable, cheap parts, comfort etc?

 

Here is the EX-Rusty_Rocket 106 diesel and it is a very useable car. 1000miles of France, Spain and Portugal where it was then used as a builders van till I came back.  Now waiting for the trip to be done again in a couple of weeks time. I'm 6 foot 2 and find it has an acceptable level of comfort for 10 hour driving stints, parts easy to get, cheap and reliable. I also own an AX 1.5 diesel, which I used to commute 120 miles a day but someone has now on "loan" and ZX 1.9 diesel which is a mobile garden shed.

[andy18s]

It's probably been asked before (and I could JFGI, but where's the fun in that?), but if I panelled inside a van to camper it: is there any reason why I couldn't/shouldn't fill the gap between plywood and metal with expanding foam?

Sounds like the obvious way to insulate. Sounds too easy though.

Check how hot the foam gets as it goes off

I've heard of some getting hot enough to warp the flimsy and unbraced panels that a van usually has.

Plus in the long term any condensation will find its way to the cold outer skin.loads of foam could make things a bit pongy

[DS20]

The roads were dry yesterday evening, it didn't rain overnight, the roads were SOAKING wet this morning. How does this happen? The pavements were dry. I suspect it has something to do with the gritting, but I don't know enough about the science / chemistry to know why this would happen. It irritates me.

[steve_earwig]

Maybe it's the salt drawing the moisture out of the air, osmosis or similar.

 

The high road here had a river running down it the other day, I thought maybe it had rained heavily in town while we got nothing just a couple of miles away (it does happen). Burst water main perhaps? No, they were draining out the skating rink up by the main square, they've obviously had their quota of little kids with snapped ankles for the year.

[Station]

Looking at this website:

 

http://www.aircrashsites-scotland.co.uk/canberra_c-t-sagairt-mor01.htm

 

Are there really crash sites with wreckage remaining in the UK?

 

My thoughts are why pikeys haven't tried to nick the lot, or for investigation purposes - surely they wouldn't leave the lot there (this page is one of many).

[Craig the Princess]

Does Brasso really remove scratches in car paint? Out neighbour farmer told me this when he heard of the Metro wing damage.

[steve_earwig]

Well yes, Brasso is just a very coarse abrasive. Think of t-cut on drugs, which you'll have to use afterwards to take the scratches the Brasso will make out. If there's any paint left...

Looking at this website:

 

http://www.aircrashsites-scotland.co.uk/canberra_c-t-sagairt-mor01.htm

 

Are there really crash sites with wreckage remaining in the UK?

 

My thoughts are why pikeys haven't tried to nick the lot, or for investigation purposes - surely they wouldn't leave the lot there (this page is one of many).

The dids probably would have the lot if they could get a Transit to it, I think the problem with recovering wreckage is it's all on mountains etc. and hard to get to.

[dave21478]

Before I became a fat, lazy cunt I did a fair bit of hiking and climbing and stuff. I remember visiting the site of a bomber wreck in Scotland.....I completely cant remember even the vaguest details of where it was or what the plane was.

There was a little granite memorial nearby with the details. As for the wreckage, just a few alloy struts poking up out of the ground could be seen....nothing much else.

 

 

Edit - looking at this site - there are loads of them. I cant remember which I saw....might have been the Avro Ansen at Breamar.

http://www.aircrashsites-scotland.co.uk/anson_b-macdui.htm

[Andrew353w]

Before I became a fat, lazy cunt I did a fair bit of hiking and climbing and stuff. I remember visiting the site of a bomber wreck in Scotland.....I completely cant remember even the vaguest details of where it was or what the plane was.

There was a little granite memorial nearby with the details. As for the wreckage, just a few alloy struts poking up out of the ground could be seen....nothing much else.

Wasn't that the memorial to a WW2 flight that crashed with the Duke Of Kent? He had been doing something "a bit secret" and was piloting the plane when it crashed. No doubt I've made a huge mistake but I also think the crash was featured on a "Yesterday" programme a week or so ago.

[dave21478]

I couldnt say for certain TBH - it was knocking on for 20 years ago!

[Craig the Princess]

Well yes, Brasso is just a very coarse abrasive. Think of t-cut on drugs, which you'll have to use afterwards to take the scratches the Brasso will make out. If there's any paint left...

 

 

Bugger, will re-try the T-cut then.