Petrol v Diesel

veronese68

Friend of mine prepares race motorbikes and drives a Rover 75. He reckons it's invisible to police as he blasts up and down motorways. BMW engineering in a car that people assume is rubbish so they are really cheap.
When Rover shut a bloke I know bought a brand new V8 estate out of the place for £11k. I might get one if the Alfa dies.

DonDaddyD

The Skoda Octavia is a wonderful car. So is their Superb.

I won't be owning one however. Yes they've redeemed themeselves as a credible car maker, for my generation it's still too soon.

The Rover 75 could be nuclear powered for all I care. They were dreadful looking with that strip of polished metal running up the side of them screaming "do we remind you of THAT Bentley? We hope we do". Seriously, why would you, why? Anytime you have to justify, defend the existence of the car you own it stops being a flight of passion or a practical decision. It's simply a bad choice.

ETA: BMW engineered/powered. Why don't you just buy a BMW? It's like Porsche Boxster drivers trying to justify not having a 911. Do you see Greg T or Greg 66 poncing around in a Boxster or Cayman? Nope. Real Men [points finger at the computer screen mid rant], the type other men look up to and wives tremble at the thought that they'd make them scream in a way their husband never could. They bank at Citi Bank or, if they have to, HSBC. They eat red meat, wear suits on Saturday and they don't compromise or drive the alternative. Real Men.

When I owned a SEAT Ibiza (my first car bought with money), a frightening bright Spanish red, I didn't lead with "It has a VW engine" Why? Because if I wanted a VW I would have bought a Polo. = Real Man.

rolf_f

DonDaddyD wrote:

Seriously, why would you, why? Anytime you have to justify, defend the existence of the car you own it stops being a flight of passion or a practical decision. It's simply a bad choice.

That is soooo wrong! You'll understand one day. As for the Bentleys - now those are cars I would not touch with a bargepole. Tragic image now - truly tragic. VW truly destroyed Bentley.

SimonAH

Rolf F wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

Seriously, why would you, why? Anytime you have to justify, defend the existence of the car you own it stops being a flight of passion or a practical decision. It's simply a bad choice.

That is soooo wrong! You'll understand one day. As for the Bentleys - now those are cars I would not touch with a bargepole. Tragic image now - truly tragic. VW truly destroyed Bentley.

And actually there is justification here - I like BMW engineering very much, but hate the image that they carry. Actually, by the way, I also really liked the 75s styling. Right now I'd rather like an S type with the big diesel for the same reason......

Also, back to the 75vs BMW issue, for what I paid for my immaculate 75 on an 02 plate with all the toys (this was in 06) and full leather I could have probably bought a complete POS 3 series repmobile with cloth and a tape deck as bought by chavs with their first accident insurance payout.

dodgerdog

Why not get a dirt cheap large engined petrol car - bound to be cheap because of the tax and fuel costs - then sink about £1500 - 2k converting it to LPG. You will almost half your fuel costs, if you get an account with Countrywide Farmers you will pay monthly for all fuel drawn and you get a reduction on your car tax. yes you will see a 10=% reduction in fule economy however if your car is doing circa 25mpg as a petrol, it will be doing circe 22 on LPG but this will equate to more like 45mpg if the cost is normalised.

Did this on my old Seat Leon 20VT, admittedly I was doing about 130miles a day communting, but it paid for the conversion in 7 months and thereafter was dirt cheap to run whilst still being able to cover ground very quickly - if I needed to go in excess of the speed limit it was better to turn the LPG off and run it on the petrol in the main tank, the LPG tank sat i the wheel well as a donut tank.

PIty I ended up parking it on the rear step of a sprinter van otherwise I would still be driving it.

DonDaddyD

So instead of going for a modern looking car with a decent brand image. You went for a 1950s looking car with an image that screamed "British Leyland!"

SimonAH

DonDaddyD wrote:

So instead of going for a modern looking car with a decent brand image. You went for a 1950s looking car with an image that screamed "British Leyland!"

Yes, yes I did. And it was wise young man.

Old age and cunning beat youth and enthusiasm every single damn time :-D

SimonAH

SimonAH wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

So instead of going for a modern looking car with a decent brand image. You went for a 1950s looking car with an image that screamed "British Leyland" unless you knew anything about cars

FTFY by the way :-)

EKE_38BPM

DDD, you worry about image way to much. A real alpha doesn't worry about image.

The more you know the less you have to show. If you know the 75 is a good car, then you don't care what other people think.

Rover were quite clever in a way. They teamed up with Honda and BMW and produced some decent cars, but they always suffered from an image problem. When they did try to do something to improve their image, they cocked up badly.
MGV8 - backward looking.
Their bonkers MG XPower SV 1000bhp - just stupid.

DonDaddyD

SimonAH wrote:

SimonAH wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

So instead of going for a modern looking car with a decent brand image. You went for a 1950s looking car with an image that screamed "British Leyland" unless you knew anything about cars

FTFY by the way :-)

walkingbootweather

For those people that know nothing about cars, and those people that want to see public servants executed in front of their families Top Gear is back on Sunday.

DonDaddyD

I look at the Rover 75 and I think of my Grandad's Cortina and Granada

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... 080125.jpg

His were beige I think he downgraded to a beige Mk 3 Ford Escort, which also reminds of the Rover 75.

rolf_f

EKE_38BPM wrote:

DDD, you worry about image way to much. A real alpha doesn't worry about image.

To be fair, DDD is about the most insecure person on this forum! I can understand his need to value image.

mar_k

There is a guy on another forum I use who owns a Ford Sierra sapphire cosworth,
he has already cracked 201mph and is aiming for 215mph this year,
this is all timed from a standing start and then over 1.5miles.
Thats pretty incredible.

The guys name is Rod Tarry.
Amazing car and abilities when you consider the car is well over 20 years old now

DonDaddyD

EKE_38BPM wrote:

DDD, you worry about image way to much. A real alpha doesn't worry about image.

The more you know the less you have to show. If you know the 75 is a good car, then you don't care what other people think.

Rover were quite clever in a way. They teamed up with Honda and BMW and produced some decent cars, but they always suffered from an image problem. When they did try to do something to improve their image, they cocked up badly.
MGV8 - backward looking.
Their bonkers MG XPower SV 1000bhp - just stupid.

It's a car. Your supposed to like your car. Inside it's supposed to be a nice place to be. Outside it's supposed to look the nuts. Inside the Rover 75 was like stepping into the 1950s/60s. Hell, I think everything becomes black and white and single definition when you sit inside one of those things. The outside of the car reminds me of Minder. And I've sat and been driven around in a Rover 75.

My Dad considered a Rover 75 back when they were new and was talking to a guy in a garage about it. The guy was talking it up so much that he "always wanted to have one of those". It was a sight to see, his passion bought tears. He was old enough to be my Dad's Dad.

Now, I'm talking to people I consider closer to my age group than that of my Dad or Grandad (my Dad is only 20yrs older than me keep in mind) and they're championing the Rover 75!? If it had been said "Cheap car needed a motor. Drove it into the ground" Then my response would be "Fair enough bruv".

Seriously? "BMW engineering" Seriously!? What's next "Well it's like a Golf..." Please, don't start trying to talk up the "BMW engineering". It didn't work for Rover back then (I remember). It won't work for people now.

[ETA: This is all in jest... ]

veronese68

I'm in my 40's and secure enough in myself not to give a flying fig about image. I'd rather be comfortable with my own decision than worry about what others think.
This may not make sense now I started writing some time ago, then a pesky customer rang.

mudcow007

DonDaddyD wrote:

EKE_38BPM wrote:

DDD, you worry about image way to much. A real alpha doesn't worry about image.

The more you know the less you have to show. If you know the 75 is a good car, then you don't care what other people think.

Rover were quite clever in a way. They teamed up with Honda and BMW and produced some decent cars, but they always suffered from an image problem. When they did try to do something to improve their image, they cocked up badly.
MGV8 - backward looking.
Their bonkers MG XPower SV 1000bhp - just stupid.

It's a car. Your supposed to like your car. Inside it's supposed to be a nice place to be. Outside it's supposed to look the nuts. Inside the Rover 75 was like stepping into the 1950s/60s. Hell, I think everything becomes black and white and single definition when you sit inside one of those things. The outside of the car reminds me of Minder. And I've sat and been driven around in a Rover 75.

My Dad considered a Rover 75 back when they were new and was talking to a guy in a garage about it. The guy was talking it up so much that he "always wanted to have one of those". It was a sight to see, his passion bought tears. He was old enough to be my Dad's Dad.

Now, I'm talking to people I consider closer to my age group than that of my Dad or Grandad (my Dad is only 20yrs older than me keep in mind) and they're championing the Rover 75!? If it had been said "Cheap car needed a motor. Drove it into the ground" Then my response would be "Fair enough bruv".

Seriously? "BMW engineering" Seriously!? What's next "Well it's like a Golf..." Please, don't start trying to talk up the "BMW engineering". It didn't work for Rover back then (I remember). It won't work for people now.

[ETA: This is all in jest... ]

we had a fleet of 75's when they first came out, our MD even had the V6 flavoured one. we only had them just over a year as they literally fell apart an couldn't be fixed for a reasonable amount

one car was waiting for a gearbox for about 2 months

my boss actually commentated on it being like driving a turd :shock:

walkingbootweather

mudcow007 wrote:

our MD even had the V6 flavoured one. ......
my boss actually commentated on it being like driving a turd :shock:

What he actually said was it went like Sh1te off a shovel.....

......probably

CiB

DonDaddyD wrote:

I look at the Rover 75 and I think of my Grandad's Cortina and Granada

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... 080125.jpg

His were beige I think he downgraded to a beige Mk 3 Ford Escort, which also reminds of the Rover 75.

Did someone say Cortina? I had two - a Mk1 (first car) and then a 1600E with an A2 cam - that was fun. Stick the word Lotus in front of the word Cortina though, and you're off to another world.



Where were we?

DonDaddyD

It's not even like I drive a flash car.

I drive a Mazda 6 20.l petrol. I wanted an Alpha Romeo GT. I wanted that car more than I wanted to have sex with Hiedi Klum (the Black Man's Kryptonite) . But during the car negotiating Ms DDD (said "No". You see I had to have 4 doors. I don't really enjoy cars with 4 doors and the 159 was too expensive. The Mazda was sporty-ish looking while quite plush inside nice place to be, while, IMO, unassuming. It's also actually a hatchback - a marvel of engineering - this means I can chuck my bike in the back without having to take the wheels off.

It's not an Audi, Mercedes have lowered the spec in their cars (I think) and the ONLY two BMW 3 series I really liked was the E30 and E46 (but it's a bit long in the tooth). So Zoom Zoom.

Rover 75 fans - "Zoom zoom" is modern speak for "Vroom vroom".

W1

DonDaddyD wrote:

It's not even like I drive a flash car.

I drive a Mazda 6 20.l petrol. I wanted an Alpha Romeo GT. I wanted that car more than I wanted to have sex with Hiedi Klum (the Black Man's kryptonite) . But during the car negotiating Ms DDD said "No". You see I had to have 4 doors. I don't really enjoy cars with 4 doors and the 159 was too expensive. The Mazda was sporty-ish looking while quite plush inside nice place to be, while, IMO, unassuming. It's also actually a hatchback - a marvel of engineering - this means I can chuck my bike in the back without having to take the wheels off.

It's not an Audi, Mercedes have lowered the spec in their cars (I think) and the ONLY two BMW 3 series I really liked was the E30 and E46 (but it's a bit long in the tooth). So Zoom Zoom.

Rover 75 fans - "Zoom zoom" is modern speak for "Vroom vroom".

It's an Alfa.

I quite fancy a Brera next.

veronese68

Yes, one of my colleagues just bought a Brera. Beautiful. He got a petrol as it was £1500 cheaper than the equivalent diesel, and it sounds like an Alfa should.
That £1500 saving will get him quite a few miles further.

DonDaddyD

W1 = "Whoosh!"

You know if you do own a Brera I think I may have to give you a knowing nod of respect and admiration.

walkingbootweather

Veronese68 wrote:

That £1500 saving will get him quite a few miles further.

Ah, back on topic. Yes I reckon £1500 will get him about 25000 miles, or about 2 years motoring before savings through extra economy balance additional outlay, after which it will be worth about £1000 less than a comparable diesel, and be costing about £700 a year more to run

I agree the Breva is a thing of beauty from the outside. Not quite so easy to get comfortable inside though, and I'd have to get up half an hour earlier each day to check that it was going to start.

EKE_38BPM

I dont bother thinking about what other people think and I wear/drive/ride what I like. Thats alpha.

AFAIK, DDD and I both have the same saddle, a Selle Italia Flight Gel Flow.
I did some research, looked at the different options and made a choice based on design features, material, cost etc.
DDD bought it because it looks nice. Thats not alpha, thats oestrogen.

rolf_f

DonDaddyD wrote:

It's not even like I drive a flash car.

I drive a Mazda 6 20.l petrol.

Credit for driving something with no image either way! Basically a Mondeo in anonymous dress isn't it. Probably a sensible choice.

Did DDD ever live down the Athena thing? Like I say - insecurity

mudcow007

walkingbootweather wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

That £1500 saving will get him quite a few miles further.

Ah, back on topic. Yes I reckon £1500 will get him about 25000 miles, or about 2 years motoring before savings through extra economy balance additional outlay, after which it will be worth about £1000 less than a comparable diesel, and be costing about £700 a year more to run

I agree the Breva is a thing of beauty from the outside. Not quite so easy to get comfortable inside though, and I'd have to get up half an hour earlier each day to check that it was going to start.

my mates mrs has a v6 - any ever heard an alfa v6 being thrash oooooh baby

i very nearly bought a brera a few years, it was a toss up between an brera and a 159, we ended up with another MX5

walkingbootweather

OK we've done the easy bit (fuel, make and model), now the tricky part.

What colour should a new car be?

davis

walkingbootweather wrote:

What colour should a new car be?

Road grime-coloured. You're not supposed to wash it.

meanredspider

Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!

Fawd
Mersaydees
Soobaroo
Alpha
Owdee
Pawsh(ah)

(what do they all have in common?)(sorry if this has been mentioned before....)

Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili - ALFA!

Say the owner of the URL http://www.alfa.me.uk