Safe Speed Forums

I’m always surprised that Mazda persevered with the Wankel. My friend owned an RX8. I think the 8 refers to the average mpg and they still haven’t overcome the other drawbacks.

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

petrol ? ... or oil ?

I've driven the following cars...

A purple/bright blue Ka 1.3, 2001. It had about 50k on the clock and was still going fine.
A black Ka, think it was about 2007, left it with about 35k on the clock...
And currently drive a 1.6 SportKa SE, again around the 40k mark...

Do you get the feeling I'm fond of Kas?

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Mike

That was going to be my nomination. I had one as a company car in the late 70s and it was baad. I proffered to borrow my wife's 2CV which, if nothing else, was nice and eccentric. The Ital used to trash front wheel bearings. I am told that the name Ital reflected its Italian styling but that nomenclature would have been more appropriate had it been styled in Germany.

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

I'm fairly certain that the Ital (like the Marina before it) was essentially a rebodied Morris Minor! This lead to all sorts of suspension problems as by then it was simply carrying FAR more weight (and speed) than it was ever designed for - which I suppose is a tribute to the engineering of the "Moggy"!! It annoys me that car manufacturers in general (and Leyland in particular!) seemed to think the customers were stupid and could be duped into thinking that it was a different car because it had square headlights! The truth comes out in the end! It's why there are lots of people who love and restore Moggy Minors and hardly anyone that loves and restores Itals!

My first real car was a Marina 1800. I had two pretend cars before that; a Reliant Regal and Reliant Supervan.

Unfortunately the mile-long prop shaft went on the Marina, (I thought the gear lever was going to jump on my lap), but apart from that it was a good car.

I liked that you had room under the bonnet, unlike today’s cars. I had to change the head gasket once but it was quite easy, (I say bring back push rods). It was a good car.

Oh and the left indicator didn’t work properly so I had to keep my hand on the lever to keep it flashing, but everything else was okay. It served me well.

Just remembered something else, the exhaust fell off as I was going around an island one summer day. Thinking about it now, what a useless heap of crap it was.

Funny how time clouds your memory…

PS. And WTF is the deal with those carbs whch had a pot in the top you're meant to unscrew and fill with oil and the next day the oil's all gone so you end up not bothering again and it makes no difference to the way the car runs anyway? (Phew, said in one breath ).

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

What other drawbacks? I nearly bought one. I knew they were heavy on oil and thirsty on petrol but what other drawbacks?

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

It's still kinda nice that in a world of lookalike mechalike market-segment euroblobs that they're doing it a bit different though. If I were in the market for a car of that segment it'd be high on my list for that reason alone.

Is anyone else confused by the praise being awarded to the new scirocco styling? Lose the VW badge and I'd swear it was another generic japanese/korean supermarket trolly.

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Fear is a weapon of mass distraction

I saw a Scirocco and , until I saw the badge, mistook it for a Honda Accord. And it raised a question which has bothered me for a while - why, with all the strong lightweight materials now available, do designers need to make the C posts so thick that they seriously impede rearward visibility?

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

They are SU carbs and the oil damps the opening/raising of the piston, this gives you a richer mixture when you depress the throttle pedal aiding acceleration. If the oil disappeared in one day then there was something wrong with them. They work a lot like CV bike carbs btw.

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Driving fast is for a particular time and place, I can do it I just only do it occasionally because I am a gentleman.
- James May

Naff-all torque! (I'm told)! Also pretty awful unbruned hydrocarbon emissions due to the inherently lousy combustion chamber shape. It is sort-of wedge-shaped, so it's pretty hard for the flame to travel nicely right into the corners, which leaves pockets of unburned mixture. They do, however, have far fewer bits in them than a conventional reciprocating engine.

Yep the older wankels on the RX4 used to wear out quickly but I think they have improved the blade tips now haven't they?

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

The best part on the marina/Ital were the door handles....Lotus used them on the Elite.....

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

This guy does a good write up on it


Talking of doors, I liked the way you could open the Marina with a hairpin, a lollypop stick, small chicken bone…


Ah, got ya. Can't say I noticed any difference though, so I stopped bothering to fill it.

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

Most 70's cars could be opened with any car key and a bit of fiddleing.

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

But for the most part, it wasnt a big problem!

What changed??

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"The road to a police state is paved with public safety legislation"

Thatcheri$m, greed, me-me-me Do-gooders suporting the bad and straight-jacketing the good...

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

But what was worth stealing from cars then? My first "car" radio was a battery tranny sliding around on the back window. Most car radios were still valve sets with a corded tuner. Posh cars had an 8 track. When did the first car cassettes become popular? Late seventies?

I have to agree with Big Tone though, Thatcherism caused a lot of greedy people and if you wanted it and couldn't afford it , you pinched it.....not me , I hasten to add....

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

current car

previous car

i does likes my

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Richie

SSAFA supporter
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=126025031585

OK my little lot !

Skyline 2.4i
(ah omg forgotten the yr - I got in '85 and it was a few yrs old - have a piccy... bit buried thou!)
BMW 323i - B reg
Manta Opel c. 2.3 (? blank brain tonight sorry)
Chevette 1.3
Ford Sapphire 2L
(for animals - Volvo 245? 2L for a while)

BMW 325i (a few saloon & touring)
& M5 (92) & Merc 208d campervan ....

Bikes:
Honda 125cc
& BMW C1 F1 125cc (:) shame it is top heavy and shame that I am short!) (now have full bike license)

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Safe Speed for Intelligent Road Safety through proper research, experience & guidance.