After the journey

The BX and I survived the 300 mile round trip to see my family over Christmas. It was not, by any stretch of the imagination a pleasant journey but it was an instructive one. The backache that sets in after 15 minutes gets no worse and is soon forgotten at the end of the journey. The engine feels perfectly happy at 70mph and even for occasional stretches at 80; Citroën claimed the BX14 could do 100mph and it feels like it still could. The vibrations through the steering past 80 were enough to put me off trying; at some point I must get the front wheels balanced. Cruising at 70-80 is also an expensive business as I estimate the fuel consumption is no better than 32mpg at those speeds, staying between 60 and 70 is much more economical but does increase journey times. I also checked the speedo accuracy against the emergency telephones (roughly 1 mile apart) and at 60 I would estimate the speedo at about 5% fast. On the homeward leg of the journey I cot caught in a traffic jam and I discovered that my car does not like extended periods of ticking over and crawling along. The idle speed starts to fluctuate and pulling away feels erratic. When I opened the driver’s window I could smell petrol so I wonder if the carburettor needs adjustment.