Our cars

Our Merc bounces back – and gets a new friend

Mike Duff — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:15:38 GMT

Having disproved the myth of the ‘bombproof’ mid-1990s Merc – read the last installment for details of the various electrical gremlins that afflicted it – my 1993 W124 is finally back on the road.

Mercedes came good with a genuine, brand-new heater fan and Steve, our friendly auto electrician, clamped it in place and rebuilt the wiper assembly, which he had previously had to remove to gain access to the motor.

The total cost, including fitting, came in at a wince-inducing £300, meaning that just getting hot air into the cabin has required the investment of a worryingly large percentage of the car’s £1000-ish value.

Lesson learned, anyway – any future problems are likely to be fixed by a good, old-fashioned bodge.

Perhaps sensing my diminishing patience, the Merc has been running better than ever since it was finished. The engine has lost the slight misfire it emerged from the valeting bay with, and everyone who has driven it has commented on its silky-smooth power delivery.

Fuel economy has settled down at a genuine 25mpg in everyday use, too – better than I was hoping for.

And it also seems that old Mercs are infectious. Because Vicky Parrott, erstwhile web reporter and now the newest member of the Autocar road test desk, has just splashed £620 of her own hard-earned on an equally venerable 190E 2.0.

It’s slightly tidier than the E-class, although it doesn’t have the W124’s leather upholstery or comprehensive service history. But a quick run around the block in it confirms that it drives with the same solidity and sense of permanence as its bigger brother, and has an even sweeter-shifting autobox.

It’s good enough to have attracted plenty of favourable comment from elsewhere in the office. I won’t be surprised if there are a couple more sub-£1000 Mercs in the carpark in six months time.

Technorati Tags: Mercedes W124,Merc,E-class,190E

Land Rover Defender - the defence rests

Jamie Corstorphine — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:08:27 GMT

Have to admit that I'd never got the Defender thing. Sure they are brilliant workhorses, but I could never understand the cult following.

But having spent the weekend tooling round in a 110 XS, I'm a convert.

It helped that I had lots of smallish journeys to make, clearly, if I'd been doing a couple of hundred motorway miles we wouldn't have parted on such good terms.

It's loud, uncomfortable and the steering lock is frankly ridiculous, but what the Defender has that so many modern cars don't, is character.

From the solid click of the indicator stalk to the meaty mechanical gearchange, and the fact you have to clamber up into the driving seat the whole thing is an event. And sometimes that's what you want from a car.

The slight issue of manoeuvrability aside, the Defender is a doddle in London traffic. Why? Because no-one messes. Not buses, no black cabs and certainly not Porsche Cayennes.

Whether that's because they worried for their paintwork, or because our particular Defender is gunmetal grey and looks like something straight out of Spooks, doesn't matter. It's another reason to enjoy the Defender.

Technorati Tags: Land Rover Defender,Porsche Cayenne,London

Our Merc has issues

Mike Duff — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:20:47 GMT

It’s good to see that our 1993 Merc E280 has fired up so much debate in the forums, most of it favourable, but unfortunately the car itself has been faring less well.

So where to start? It was all going so well: the E-class got its oil changed, had four new tyres and went along to Autoglym in Hertfordshire for a full cosmetic makeover. By the time it emerged it looked factory fresh – and worth at least three times the £1000 we paid for it.

Then the gremlins attacked. First the aftermarket alarm system, which had always had issues, threw a proper wobbly and immobilized the car in a busy supermarket carpark.

Then the central locking failed. And then – worst of all – the heater fan decided to pack up.

The last point being something of an issue as the autumn turned into an early winter – without the fan it was impossible to defrost the car and the journey to work might as well be conducted through the Siberian Tundra.

At which point I called in a professional auto electrician to work his magic. Fixing the central locking took a couple of hours to track down a broken connector – but digging the old heater fan out required the disassembly of the entire wiper mechanism.

And then the quest to find a new one began. I never thought that tracking down parts for a once popular car could be such a challenge, but it took several days to track down a brand new blower fan.

Finally, after a week of waiting and with the sparky on standby, it arrived and with Christmas-like anticipation I opened the box – only to discover I’d been sent the wrong part (a single rotor fan rather than our climate control-fitted car’s twin rotor.) My response was succinct, predictable and best not published here.

Anyway, I’m really hoping the E-class will be back on the road next week: I’m starting to miss the old girl. And, apart from the heater fan, it’s in tip-top nick. But in the meantime, consider it’s plight a cautionary tale. And wish me luck.

Technorati Tags: ercedes,W124,E-class,Merc,Hertfordshire,Autoglym

Peugeot 309: the story so far

Steve Cropley — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 09:53:25 GMT

I’m delighted that there’s been an enquiry or two about the fate of the Autocar Peugeot 309 GTI track-day car, mainly because it gives me a chance to describe how the car has been covering itself in glory.

Some of you may remember that the car was bought about four years ago for £250 on eBay. The idea was to build a ‘backyard’ car that would be as quick as a Mini Cooper at the Bedford Autodrome. It nearly worked.

We gutted the car, fitted a half-cage plus semi-race suspension (courtesy of Peugeot UK) and the car duly ran against a Cooper on one of the longer Bedford circuits, getting within a second a lap, which was reasonable if not a triumph.

I’ve always liked the idea of owning a cheap hillclimb/sprint car, so I took it over. First it went back to Peugeot where the apprentices cut out the old glass sunroof and replaced it with standard tin, saving about 20kg.

It was good, but not notably quick.

Then, just as inspiration was running out, the whole effort was saved when I made contact with a rally preparation specialist and Peugeot 205/309 expert, Christian Prynne, based in Builth Wells, who agreed to assess the car and suggest a plan of action. We started again.

Prynne reckoned it would be safer to fit a full cage, and bolt the race seats directly to the floor, so we did that. He sorted our engine (already Longman-headed and rebuilt at Peugeot) by putting it on a local rolling road. Suddenly it would rev cleanly to the 7200rpm limiter.

Then the big stuff. Mike Quaife, the gearbox guru, helped us with a low-ratio crownwheel and pinion, a slippery diff, and a set of hardy gearbox internals. Now the car will only do 107 mph (true) against the rev-limiter, which makes it a noisy motorway cruiser, but it doesn’t half get to 80-90 mph quickly.

In went a heavy-duty clutch. The whole thing was fettled over the winter, and last season we did a track day, Autocar’s Prescott driving school and a low-key season of sprints, culminating in our first dry meeting for the season — at Prescott three weeks ago.

That was the moment the car really started to realise its potential.

Our best time (my son Jon’s, not mine) was 54.08secs, which beat some pretty decent opposition. In fact, this is a better time than we’ve achieved on that hill in any of the other three cars we’ve entered in over 10 years — Caterham 1700, Lotus Elise and MG-engined Lotus 6.

Best thing: this car is exactly at out level. It can be MoT’d with a bit of a push, so we can drive it to local meetings. If you feel like making a bit of a noise, you can give it a run just for fun on local roads.

It seems tough and reliable — and better than many a race car in inclement weather, because there’s a roof to protect you in the paddock. I intend to keep gently developing the car, with a view to shaving a couple more seconds off our Prescott time, though I’ve a feeling gains will be harder to earn from now on.

But it’s huge fun, and it won’t cost us much to keep trying.

Still Smarting

Chas Hallett — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:42:29 GMT

Our Smart's gone and I'm going to miss it. Not all of us have been smitten, mind you.

The Fortwo's much improved but still slightly jerky sequential gear shift irked quite a few of us, so did the occasionally crashy town ride.

But I've enjoyed it. I enjoyed learning how to get the best out of it - that 'box requires some work - and I've enjoyed not taking up any more space on the road than strictly necessary. It's also got those increasingly rare commodities: uniqueness and character.

More than this I've relished having what could well be a glimpse of the future. If you take the view that more of us are going to be using 'mission specific' cars - then the Smart fits the bill.

After all, during the week I rarely need more than a two-seat tiddler to ferry me about. So no it's not perfect, but I can see something like it being a permanent fixture in my house before too long.

Technorati Tags: Smart,ForTwo

Meet our new, old Merc

Mike Duff — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:18:49 GMT

Crunchy credit has been savaging the top end of the car market, and winning headlines as it does. But rising fuel and VED costs are doing much the same at the bottom.

Which, in short, is why I’ve become the custodian of the newest and oldest member of the Autocar fleet – this very fine 1993 Mercedes E280 estate.

I’ve always been a big fan of the ‘W124’ E-class, reckoned by many aficionados to represent the high water mark of Merc build quality, but even its aristocratic breeding hasn’t been able to spare it from the slide in prices that has savaged all big-engined petrol motors. Cars that would have cost upwards of £2000 a year ago are now going for a grand or less.

Which is where the logic of investing my own hard-earned in a representative example came in. First up, I should point out that the myth of the bulletproof W124 was exploded early in the selection process, there are some serious nails out there, many of which disguise their mechanical maladies beneath a good scrub-up.

Fortunately I had Nicholas Froome on side, Britain’s leading W124 expert, and purveyor of some of the finest examples going. With £1000 to spend I was looking at the opposite end of the market to where Nick normally deals, but his help was invaluable, especially the advice to look for mechanical solidity over cosmetic condition.

Anyway, after a couple of weeks of digging, the search turned up L403GYT – or ‘Git’ as it was instantly dubbed. It’s not the tidiest Merc around, with some exterior scuffs and an interior that seems to have been used as an adventure playground.

But the oily bits are all in fine fettle – and with just 107,000 miles on the odometer it’s barely run in by W124 standards (okay, being an estate it’s technically an S124, but that’s not got the same ring to it.)

So how much to seal the deal? £1100, complete with six months road tax, a year’s MOT and a full service history. Now the plan is to find out just how well a 15-year old Merc copes with my 600 mile a week lifestyle. I’ll let you know how we get on.

Technorati Tags: Mercedes-Benz,Mercedes,W124,E-Class,Autocar

Mini JCW – what a hoot!

Tim Dickson — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:42:18 GMT

Just spent a few days with our Mini JCW, and had an absolute hoot. Quicker and more entertaining than I was expecting (high sticker price notwithstanding), and its flamboyantly handsome good looks had me smiling every time I got in and out.

Had to wonder at times though if the exterior, all black lines, bulging headlamps and bonnet grilles, was just a little OTT.

Did over 200 miles in all, most of it solo, some of it loaded up with shopping and child seat in the back, and only the motorways seemed a bit beyond the Mini’s remit.

Too harsh, too noisy and the windows are too keen to mist up when it’s pouring with rain. Just like Minis should be, I suppose.

The JCW’s motor isn’t monstrously powerful, but what go it has is oh-so easy to get at. That combines with the darty, happy-puppy handling to make for one heck of an accessible performance package.

Around town especially, the JCW encourages a cheerful, thumbs-under-braces boisterousness that would seem aggressive and arrogant in other cars but is perfectly acceptable in this one because, hey, it’s a Mini, it looks groovy and nobody really minds… do they? Probably best not to get too carried away, just in case.

Not that impressed with the 300C

Ed Keohane — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:32:59 GMT

A 40-mile motorway trip with a token-gesture five miles of sub-urban sprawl at either end should provide an ideal test route for a car like the Chrysler 300C CRD.

So I snagged photographer Stan Papior's 300C for the run home last night, to see how it would perform.

Briskly, is certainly the first word that springs to mind. It's hard to imagine what this car would be like without the Mercedes diesel engine. At each sliproad I simply pushed the accelerator as far as it would go and watched as the traffic on the motorway pulled out to overtake... and then pulled back in.

The seats were surprisingly comfortable, but I really couldn't get used to the rest of the driving position. For one thing, how long, wide and heavy does a car have to be before there is sufficient space for a left-foot rest? I ended up hoiking my leg up and resting my size 12 on its side, diagonally across the footwell.

Attention from other drivers and pedestrians confirmed that the 300C also has the looks to match. But, for me, that's where the magic ends.

This is not a sports car, and it doesn't handle like one. But for something with this wheelbase and kerbweight, the fidgety ride is beyond defence. Similarly the flimsy rear-view mirror and loose steering wheel stitching did nothing to make me look forward to my return journey.

Amazingly, I saw about ten 300Cs on my trip - a lot of encounters for what is most definitely at the quirky end of the E-class alternatives. But each time I saw one I thought, 'That would be fun,' before remembering that I was driving one... and it wasn't.

First impressions on our TT TDi

Dan Stevens — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:11:09 GMT

So this is where I will be spending the next year (not all of it, obviously just the driving bits) our new long-term diesel TT. It turned up yesterday and I took it home for the first time last night so all I know about this car is based on driving it from Teddington to Shepherds Bush and back again (about 20 miles).

But that's enough time to work out that the TT has a great driving position, and the interior retains the cocoon-like feel of the original car that made it feel so special when it was launched in 1998. It looks great in white and I like the 19-inch retro-style split rims.

Less endearing is the somewhat lifeless steering and the fact it doesn't have an external boot release. Sounds minor but I can see myself still going for a non-existent handle under the boot lid in six month's time.

My 500 finally arrives

Colin Goodwin — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 10:36:11 GMT

Last week I drove a Ferrari worth £3.5m. It looked gorgeous and was brilliant to drive. To cap off an excellent day I flew there in the kite and did a two hour car journey in 40 minutes.

I thought life couldn’t get much better, but it just has. Two hours ago we collected our new Fiat 500 from our local Fiat dealer. This is the first time that I’ve bought a new car (Mrs G actually bought it) and it’s a fantastic experience. Of course we motoring journalists are immensely lucky to drive the world’s greatest cars for free; often for months on end. Editor Hallett has just run a Jaguar XKR for a year and I once had a Lotus Elise for two. But even going to Hethel to collect the Elise that I had specced up myself doesn’t match the feeling of collecting my own motor, bought with a sizeable portion of my hard-earned.

Of course the Fiat is now worth a grand less than it was two and a half hours ago, but so what? The only snag is that I’m going to be more nervous driving it than I was in the Ferrari.

Gloves off!

Ed Keohane — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 11:53:17 GMT

I've just been stuck in a traffic jam for 25 minutes on the way to work in the Freelander. I left my ipod lead in Istanbul and didn't fancy what I could find on the radio, so I was getting pretty bored... And then I noticed a pair of skiing gloves in the door compartment.

Land Rover has always boasted that you can fully operate the most road-biased of its vehicles in work gear, so I decided to put it to the test. Gloved up, I tried every button I could see... and it's the full 10/10.

The only ones that looked even vaguely 'touch and go', if you'll excuse the pun, were the heated screen switches nestled in the air-con dials. But they were a doddle.

Now where can I get hold of an astronaut suit?

Clubman draws a crowd

Richard Bremner — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:36:23 GMT

Not since I was lucky enough to drive a Ferrari 512TR into the market square in Marrakech have I driven a car that provoked so much conversation from passers-by. Or fellow drivers in traffic jams, in fact; a bloke in a classic Mini got out of his car while I was queuing at traffic lights to ask me what I thought of the Clubman, before hopping back into his tiddler when the lights changed.

Last week I took Autocar’s new long-term Mini Clubman out on a photo shoot, and was accosted – in the friendliest way - by three mothers and a couple of guys from the local council, one of them already the owner of a Cooper S. After a thorough inspection, he said he’d be recommending a Clubman to a mate pondering a purchase. That might have been one sale; another came from one of the mothers, who asked if she could see the rear seat to check whether it would accommodate a baby chair. Satisfied that it could, she said she’d be asking her husband to order one. Lucky her. It's good to see that affordable cars can still provoke interest like this.

This reminds me of some words I read in this magazine years ago, about a fellow journalist who was one of the first to venture out in a Morris Minor Traveller (actually an ancient cousin of this Mini) and found that it prompted more interest than the Maserati the magazine had on test that week too. If affordable cars are exciting enough, they can trigger as much desire as (and possibly more than) any shiny new supercar.

Technorati tags: Mini Cooper D Clubman, Richard Bremner, Ferrari 512TR

Mondy fills me with the joy of specs

Mike Duff — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 14:02:07 GMT

A weekend spent in a fully loaded Mondeo has given me a chance to test out the upper reaches of the options list. And I've come away pretty happy with the choices I made in speccing my slightly less plush example.

First up, the automatic gearbox - which adds £1100 to the price of a manual Titanium X and which knocks 10 bhp off the 2.0 TDCI motor's power output. I rarely see the point of diesel-gargling slushers for anyone other than minicab drivers, and the Mondy's dull-witted transmission didn't do anything to convert me. It also knocked the 2.0 TDCI's already disappointing fuel economy back to a very underwhelming 33mpg.

I'm similarly glad that I didn't opt for the sports suspension (£150), which adds too much of an edge to rougher road surfaces. And although I was quite tempted by the good-looking 18in alloys (a £350 upgrade), I doubt they'd have done much for my Mondy's bump-absorption either.

Inside I'd advise against the power operated seats (£250 for the driver's only, £500 for driver and passenger). They're noticeably less comfortable than the non-electric ones, you sit higher and the cushion is harder. Similarly I can't see the point in privacy glass (£150), the solar reflect windscreen (£150) or the dazzlingly useless keyless entry (£175) - which failed to recognise my right to gain access on any of the occasions I attempted to use it. The adaptive cruise control (£1000) did work, but it seems expensive considering how rarely I reckon I'd use it.

The only thing that had me really tempted was the bi-xenon headlamps - not because of the blue bulbs themselves, but because they also come with the headlamp washers that my car so sorely needs to blast off winter salt.

Other than that, I'm feeling glad I kept it simple. Satnav, Bluetooth and parking radar are all the Mondy needs.

Technorati tags: Ford Mondeo, specification, options, Duff

At last - the DIY system diagnostic tool

Richard Bremner — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 12:48:01 GMT

One of the curiosities of buying a classic car is that you suddenly become interested in the most arcane aspects of your beast’s welfare, and find yourself reading – and enjoying - stuff about your car that you wouldn’t dream of looking at if you weren’t an owner, much of it found in club and single-marque magazines.

That's how I came to be reading a ‘how to’ story on overhauling the front suspension of a Jaguar XJ-S, an example of which I bought last year. But the story that caught my eye in ‘Jaguar World’ was about vehicle diagnostic systems.

My XJ-S pre-dates today’s era of On-Board Diagnostic (OBD) sockets, but I know I’m not alone in worrying about the impossibility of carrying out any significant repairs to modern cars because they’re so stuffed with electronics. OBD sockets began appearing in 1996 for models sold in the US, and in all European cars from 2001 if they’re petrol and 2003 if they’re diesel.

Their primary function is to analyse the car’s engine management system for emissions-related faults, but modern systems can interrogate everything from ABS systems to climate control and even your electric seats. With the right equipment, you are potentially able to analyse all kinds of faults in your car, and potentially fix it by replacing the offending item, whose failure will be revealed through so-called fault codes.

The problem is that the right equipment is aimed at busy dealers, who buy a system called Autologic that can cater to almost every make and model – but at a price way beyond the pocket of a DIY-er.

But now there’s a system by an outfit called Auto Enginuity, a PC-based auto diagnostic system for under £200 that does most of what Autologic will do. It can interrogate the built-in memory of these more recent models, including essentials such as the state of the catalyst’s oxygen sensor that governs much of your car’s engine management activity and, if you buy an additional package specific to your car, the sensors and systems covering peripherals such as air conditioning, ABS and ESP. Around £20 may sound a lot, but it will be by far the most powerful tool in your kit, and allow you to understand your post-2001 motor like never before.

You can find out more at www.gendan.co.uk , but it’s good news for those who’ll be wanting to keep 21^st century cars on the road when many consider them past their ‘best before’ date.

Technorati tags: On-board diagnostics, classic car, Bremner

Honda's designers should spend longer on the M1

John McIlroy — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 09:50:37 GMT

If I’ve learned one thing over the last 12 months, it’s that they clearly don’t have salt-encrusted motorways in Japan. How do I know this? Because I’m the custodian of Autocar’s long-term Honda Civic Type R, and if the engineers who signed off its rear windscreen had ever sampled the aforementioned conditions, they’d have had second thoughts.

The Civic’s hatch, you see, is a mixture of glass and plastic, split by an enormous body-coloured spoiler. Which is fine, until you try to see out of it; not only does the spoiler block most traffic from your rear view mirror, but the surface picks up motorway grime like no other – and there’s no rear wash/wipe to keep it clean.

Just goes to so, I suppose, that the Japanese don’t think of everything after all. And that they should send their design bods to spend a week on the M1 every December.

Technorati tags: Honda Civic, rear wiper, McIlroy