Reliability of European Makes and cars in general

[MCompact]

Originally Posted by pandus13
Originally Posted by MCompact
Originally Posted by pandus13
Originally Posted by MCompact
Since I started my new job I've been driving the Clubman. It's nowhere near quick but it gets 35-40 mpg and it keeps me from putting commuting miles on the 2er and 3er. The Clubman should hit 150,000 miles at about the same time my term ends- at which point it will have more than served its purpose.

How are the tires treating you?


The Quatrac 5 tires are working out great. I have put nearly 7,000 miles on them and NVH is low and and overall grip is excellent for a grand touring tire. Last week I was driving the car on the interstate in a moderate rain; I wasn't paying attention to the speedometer(easy to do in an R55 Mini) and when I did glance over at it I found I was cruising at over 85 mph. The car felt solid as a rock- the tires performing as if the road was bone dry.

Thank you for the update!
P.S. If you with your driving experience could not sense the car going quicker, hmmmm..., that makes for a pretty comfortable little car


It's a great daily driver; it's fun to drive but it doesn't beat you to death.

 

[wemay]

Originally Posted by Skippy722


Yeah, but then you're driving a car that looks like it has a predator mouth grafted onto the front of it.


At least it doesn't look like everything else on the road. And, millions actually really like that "Predator" look.

 

[Skippy722]

Originally Posted by wemay
Originally Posted by Skippy722


Yeah, but then you're driving a car that looks like it has a predator mouth grafted onto the front of it.


At least it doesn't look like everything else on the road. And, millions actually really like that "Predator" look.


It's not bad, and certainly better than some of the stuff Toyota had been releasing for a long time. I'd totally rock a newer LS or RC F. GM has, IMO, taken the crown of "most boring, corporate looking" vehicles sold.

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted by ofelas
I have no response to VW, "handling", and "performance" in the same sentence.

1100+ ft-lbs at the wheels out of my old bench-seat heap sings a very pretty song out the tailpipe, especially on a relatively light 5700lb pickup hauling up a grade. Even my mono language cassette player doesn't compare.

I did see a short-arsed little TSI something this afternoon, complete with 4 shiny little pencil bore "tipz" and ultraz-lowz skinz squirting & sliding around the highway. Didn't even have a bed, I suppose a leather satchel takes care of all the load carrying needed.

Ford? Sounds like a four letter word. And no Globalist world carts, EQ or GQ here, just Filson & Badger Ordnance.


That VW unlike American manufacturers did not need bail out, or to declare bankruptcy. I guess they went down because they were making really good products?

 

[wings&wheels]

Originally Posted by ofelas
I have no response to VW, "handling", and "performance" in the same sentence.





Driven a Golf R, GTI or the R32 from a few years ago? They are all rather competent in the performance and handling areas... That said currently VW seems to be focusing less on performance vehicles and more on family haulers, albeit nice ones.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Originally Posted by edyvw
Originally Posted by ofelas
I have no response to VW, "handling", and "performance" in the same sentence.

1100+ ft-lbs at the wheels out of my old bench-seat heap sings a very pretty song out the tailpipe, especially on a relatively light 5700lb pickup hauling up a grade. Even my mono language cassette player doesn't compare.

I did see a short-arsed little TSI something this afternoon, complete with 4 shiny little pencil bore "tipz" and ultraz-lowz skinz squirting & sliding around the highway. Didn't even have a bed, I suppose a leather satchel takes care of all the load carrying needed.

Ford? Sounds like a four letter word. And no Globalist world carts, EQ or GQ here, just Filson & Badger Ordnance.


That VW unlike American manufacturers did not need bail out, or to declare bankruptcy. I guess they went down because they were making really good products?


Well if the State of Michigan had a seat on the board and an 11 percent share of each I suspect the domestics might not have needed a bailout either.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
Originally Posted by edyvw
Originally Posted by ofelas
I have no response to VW, "handling", and "performance" in the same sentence.

1100+ ft-lbs at the wheels out of my old bench-seat heap sings a very pretty song out the tailpipe, especially on a relatively light 5700lb pickup hauling up a grade. Even my mono language cassette player doesn't compare.

I did see a short-arsed little TSI something this afternoon, complete with 4 shiny little pencil bore "tipz" and ultraz-lowz skinz squirting & sliding around the highway. Didn't even have a bed, I suppose a leather satchel takes care of all the load carrying needed.

Ford? Sounds like a four letter word. And no Globalist world carts, EQ or GQ here, just Filson & Badger Ordnance.


That VW unlike American manufacturers did not need bail out, or to declare bankruptcy. I guess they went down because they were making really good products?


Well if the State of Michigan had a seat on the board and an 11 percent share of each I suspect the domestics might not have needed a bailout either.





Yep. To deny that the German government hasn't helped or benefited VW is blind thinking.

 

[edyvw]

Quote
Yep. To deny that the German government hasn't helped or benefited VW is blind thinking.

Of course they did. To deny that Michigan or US government did not help big 3 would be blind thinking too. Do not forget also that german government bailed out GM operation in Europe.
Still, to deny that big 3 for decades was making crappy products would be also blind thinking.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted by littlehulkster
Originally Posted by Wolf359
Originally Posted by StevieC
Honestly of all the German cars we have had come through the door whether the light was on or not and you would scan it, 9 times out of 10 it would be storing codes for some sort of fault.

I think here the only folks that buy these vehicles are the hobbyists that want to drive something different and the snobs that want a status symbol in the driveway because they certainly aren't driving it for longevity and for economic reasons on this continent.


Well they also have options that you can't get on a regular car. Active curve illumination, headlamp washers, massage seats, power trunk closer are some that come to mind. You can't really get them on American cars and not that common even on Japanese cars.


You can get all of that on a Lexus, though.

In fact, you could get most of that on a 1960s vintage Citroen, plus more.


Name the model. They might have bixenons but I'm not sure they had headlamp washers. Plus I was just mentioning all the optional features, standard is stuff like rain sensor, 3 position memory seats for both driver and passenger, heated windshield washer fluid, AWD etc. Also not sure if they have safety systems like brake assist and the car actually applies the brakes a little during wet weather to keep the brakes dry.

I looked at the ES, no headlamp washers, no power trunk closer, no heated steering wheel, rear entertainment package, night view assist, etc.

Oh yeah and as others said, the front grill is ugly. I'd rather have the Mercedes chrome grill with the star on the hood than the front of the Lexus.

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted by littlehulkster
Originally Posted by Wolf359
Originally Posted by StevieC
Honestly of all the German cars we have had come through the door whether the light was on or not and you would scan it, 9 times out of 10 it would be storing codes for some sort of fault.

I think here the only folks that buy these vehicles are the hobbyists that want to drive something different and the snobs that want a status symbol in the driveway because they certainly aren't driving it for longevity and for economic reasons on this continent.


Well they also have options that you can't get on a regular car. Active curve illumination, headlamp washers, massage seats, power trunk closer are some that come to mind. You can't really get them on American cars and not that common even on Japanese cars.


You can get all of that on a Lexus, though.

In fact, you could get most of that on a 1960s vintage Citroen, plus more.


The Citroen is one of my all time favorite cars and I have had quite a few of them, the CX, SM, GS (air cooled boxer), DS. Some of features I have never seen in any other car are the self centering steering wheel, the legendary Citroen suspension (used under license by RR/Bently and Audi for the A8), power steering that reduced pressure at higher speeds and transferred the additional power to the brakes.
They have seats that almost rival RR in comfort, bullet proof drive trains and super solid bodies that can raise themselves up for rough roads or deep snow with the movement of a lever inside the car.

The SM was my favorite with its Maserati V6, that had road following self leveling headlights and the most amazing brakes, fast car in its day too. Parts availability drove me to part with her along with my Austin A135 DS2 but that was a mistake, such pure mechanical goodness will probably never be seen again.

 

[wings&wheels]

"The SM was my favorite..."


Well we now know the BITOG Masochist!


Wonderful cars, family friend's relative had one, but they required a certain amount of dedication. Spares availability plus the loss of the local specialist spelled the end of their ownership experience also, but not before 17yr old me got to drive that nice one a few times. One of the cars that got me hooked on the hobby. To this day I always true to rent a Citroen or Peugeot when I am in Europe.

 

[Trav]

You have some wonderful cars, I can see why you would appreciate the Citroen. On day I got a call from a garage up off the Mass pike with a Yellow Elise with a CEL they couldn't get a grip on, I went and sorted it out after some swearing and wrench throwing (not literally). That wouldn't have been yours would it?

 

[wings&wheels]

Originally Posted by Trav
You have some wonderful cars, I can see why you would appreciate the Citroen. On day I got a call from a garage up off the Mass pike with a Yellow Elise with a CEL they couldn't get a grip on, I went and sorted it out after some swearing and wrench throwing (not literally). That wouldn't have been yours would it?


Thanks. That was not me...yet

 

[Trav]

I think Opel built a car based on the Elise, is that the Isuzu based turbo engine?

 

[wings&wheels]

Originally Posted by Trav
I think Opel built a car based on the Elise, is that the Isuzu based turbo engine?


Was that the Vauxhall V220, think that was built by Opel? Neat car, I got to drive one in the UK. It was like a slightly heavier Elise, not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Trav]

Yes it is AKA as the Opel Speedster. Fun car to drive for sure but too expensive for most that liked it so they built the Opel GT which became the Saturn Sky and the Vauxall clone became the Pontiac Solstice. Opel was working on a couple of new GT concepts before they were taken over by PSA, no idea what happened to it.

 

[wings&wheels]

Originally Posted by Trav
Yes it is AKA as the Opel Speedster. Fun car to drive for sure but too expensive for most that liked it so they built the Opel GT which became the Saturn Sky and the Vauxall clone became the Pontiac Solstice. Opel was working on a couple of new GT concepts before they were taken over by PSA, no idea what happened to it.




Yeah, the Sky/Solstice were seemingly steps backwards from the VX220/Speedster, but probably easier to live with.

That burgundy GT concept is just beautiful. It must have been a late stage exercise and be relatively recent as it appears to have some trace of the forward hump for compliance w/ pedestrian impact rules and the headlights are at a compliant height. I'll look it up. Too bad, that is a pretty coupe.

 

[02SE]

I swapped a hopped up Toyota 22r engine and 5-speed trans into an early 70's Opel GT. It was a fun car with double the power.

 

[wings&wheels]

Originally Posted by 02SE
I swapped a hopped up Toyota 22r engine and 5-speed trans into an early 70's Opel GT. It was a fun car with double the power.

That must have been a fun car. The early GT's were one of the prettiest cars of their era. Little short on performance and handling vs. some of their contemporaries, but still great and capable cars. I always keep my eye out for one, but there aren't too many nice, non "improved" survivors...someday.

 

[02SE]

Originally Posted by wings&wheels
Originally Posted by 02SE
I swapped a hopped up Toyota 22r engine and 5-speed trans into an early 70's Opel GT. It was a fun car with double the power.

That must have been a fun car. The early GT's were one of the prettiest cars of their era. Little short on performance and handling vs. some of their contemporaries, but still great and capable cars. I always keep my eye out for one, but there aren't too many nice, non "improved" survivors...someday.


A friend of mine (we were both mechanics at a Toyota dealer at the time) found two Opel GT's. He kept the one in better condition with it's still operational original drivetrain. Mine was really a rust bucket ( this was 1990), with no drivetrain. So I learned bodywork on that car, and swapped in a mildly hopped up 22R and a W56 5-speed. It looked decent and ran pretty good with about 160 hp and a curb weight right around 2k lbs.