Arrivals and departures

O.K. Sorry for the lack of updates but things have been pretty busy here. If I'm not at work I'm either writing or at the gym. It is all good but leaves the poor old blog a bit neglected. Since my last update covered part of my search for a new car it seemed logical to resume by saying that I have found one. A 1998 Honda Prelude VTi, a rare manual example. Despite my general enthusiasm for automatic transmissions I think the synchromesh gearbox is the one to have if you're going to buy a Prelude. Given the rumours of problematic auto-boxes the DIY-transmission certainly seems like a safer bet.

So far I am delighted with it. Some minor details feel a little penny pinched compared with my old 1989 Preludes. Things like the lack of seat memory and unlined coin tray suggest that the accountants took their pound of flesh. Somehow fake wood on the centre console is poor compensation for what has been lost. At least the double wishbone suspension and four-wheel steering escaped the axe - a large part of the pleasure of driving the Prelude is down to the way it handles and steers. Unfortunately I can't make a direct comparison with my old Preludes but not only is there an improvement in grip and responsiveness but also the ride is much more comfortable.

Other noticeable improvements over the old Prelude include more performance and surprising smoothness from the V-tec engine. Especially gratifying is the smoother transition between the two cam profiles - the 1992 Prelude I drove, which gave me my first taste of Honda's variable valve timing and lift technology, suffered a noticeable step between the two stages. Despite the improved performance fuel economy seems no worse than my old, automatic Prelude and a 60-litre fuel tank gives more than adequate range - at the expense of a big bill if you have to refill and almost empty tank.



Getting the Prelude meant saying goodbye to my Citroen BX14. Sold to a BX enthusiast I'm happy that it has gone to a good home. I must admit I never bonded with 'Pierre' in the way that I did with the BX I had before, Claude. Funny how both French cars gained nicknames but neither my current Honda nor any of the others received that honour.

BX update

Fourwheelsteer’s faithful if sometimes fallible Citroen BX has received some long overdue care from the good people of Preservation Garage Services (PGS) in Warwick. The same people who did such a good job of looking after my old BX performed a service and changed the cam belt and the car seems better as a result. There may be nothing measurable – it is too early to see if fuel economy has improved and I’ve not tried to measure acceleration or top speed – but the engine sounds sweeter and feels more willing.

A 1,360cc engine in a large-ish hatchback body might not seem like the perfect recipe for driving enjoyment but the BX only weighs 900kg so the 72bhp motor does not have to work too hard. The power unit is abetted in its task by a five-speed gearbox with ratios perfectly judged to make the most of the engine’s efforts. Although the overall gearing feels rather low – there is no rev counter to verify this assumption – there are no noticeable gaps between gears. The result is that there is always a gear that is right for the occasion.

Sadly, the merits of well-spaced gear ratios are being abandoned by manufacturers for the sake of fuel consumption and carbon dioxide figures. Several times this year I have read boasts of making the top three gears in a five-speed gearbox higher whilst leaving first and second alone – what can this do except leave a big gap between second and third gear? It probably fits the strictures of the standard test procedure perfectly but our roads are not standardised and on the road there will be times when the choice is stream or strain, neither of which is ideal.

This isn’t a new problem; the industry has been producing oddly geared cars for as long as it has been producing cars but it can make a big difference between enjoyment and frustration when driving. If you want a car with perfect gearing all the time surely you need some sort of continuously variable transmission.

Thinking of buying something different

I know my trusty Citroën BX will not last forever and the prospect of promotion at work has set my mind to thinking of buying a different car. Watching the historic motor racing at Oulton Park last weekend and a passenger ride in a friend’s MG Midget has left me hankering for a classic.

A Midget probably wouldn’t do, I would like something that is capable of sustaining a decent motorway cruising speed and that I can drive for a couple of hours at a time. Although I don’t need to use a car for commuting I would need something happy to live outside in all weathers that could be used every weekend without demanding too much maintenance. Such maintenance as is required should not be so complex as to be beyond my modest mechanical ability, nor too expensive if I ask others to carry it out. Other practical considerations should, I suppose, include reasonable fuel consumption – ideally no worse than 20mpg. Emotional considerations, for want of a better expression, are that I would like something good to drive. A decent turn of speed would be good but not necessarily essential; what is more important is tactility; steering that is slop-free, accurate and if possible high-geared; similarly I’d like a gear lever that moves with slickness and speed, ideally controlling a well-spaced set of ratios; pedals should be well-spaced for heel-and-toe action and hopefully not needing either excessive pedal travel or undue effort. I’d also like something stylish – foolish, I know.

I imagine a two-litre Bristol would be perfect; sadly, such things are beyond my pocket and possibly require more specialised care and attention than I could give. Only one car in my experience has come close to meeting my requirements; the MGB roadster. I don’t think I’d want a roadster, a GT would be better for my needs, leaving only a few doubts about whether I could cope with just two seats. Other possibilities I have considered, without knowing if they are sensible or not, are the Triumph GT6 and Volvo Amazon.

There are two questions I need to answer. Firstly, is it a mistake to subject a classic to the sort of treatment I’d give it; i.e. using it twice a week whilst keeping it outside when not in use? Secondly, what cars would you suggest, given a notional budget of about £2,000?

Know your car better: drive something different

Variety, so it is said, is the spice of life. I certainly find that true with cars. This week I had a chance to drive something different and the most interesting part of the experience was the new perspective it gave me of my own car. The first thing was an insight into the driving position of my Citroën. I find it comfortable but it is a little like the classical Italian driving position with the steering wheel a bit further away than normal. Strangely, it is only when I drive something else that I realise this because I wonder why every other car puts the steering wheel uncomfortably close to my chest.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that the BX seems quite spacious. Old cars, like mine, generally have modest dashboards and slim door trims. New cars seem to be bulked out with oversized door trims, massive dashboards, consoles and thick window pillars. But the one thing that always astonishes me, very few cars can match an ageing and scruffy Citroën for ride comfort.

Oh no, not again!

I visited my parents, in the South East, this weekend. Travelling down on Friday evening I did the 145 miles in 2hours 45 minutes at an amazing 42mpg. Of course it must have been too good to be true as, on the return leg last night the low hydraulic fluid light came on. I stopped in a lay-by to add some fluid (no Citroëniste is without a supply of LHM at hand), but that didn’t do the job. Carefully I made my way to Hemel Hempstead and found a Tesco petrol station forecourt in the middle of a retail park. This was a much better location to wait for help and I called the AA.

It must have been a busy night because it took a long time for the patrol man to get to me. He did at least know his way around the Citroën BX and understood what the hydraulic system did. Knowing there was nothing he could do he called for a recovery vehicle and I just had to wait. At 11:00 the recovery vehicle arrived and it then took 3 hours to get back to my home.

Now my BX is with the garage, waiting for a length of pipe to replace the faulty piece. I hope it turns up tomorrow as I need the car for the Easter weekend. I also hope that this will be the end of leaking pipes; I don’t have time for a car I can’t rely on.

Large, heavy load

I was asked to help transport an armchair over the weekend. It is the sort of task that Citroëns do well. The BX isn’t a tall car but you can get surprisingly deep loads inside and even when fully loaded the self-levelling suspension keeps everything nicely level. If you need to, the whole car can be lowered to ease loading or unloading. (So much for the virtues of oleo-pneumatic suspension not being worthwhile).

What I hadn’t planned for was the meanness of the specification of a base-model car. My old BX had a back seat that could be folded completely flat. Foolishly I thought my current BX would enjoy the same detail. I discovered that the seat back would fold down but there was no way to move the seat cushion to make a flat floor. As a result the chair wouldn’t quite fit and I had to tie the tailgate closed.

It is hardly the end of the world but it is an object lesson in not taking things for granted.

Hard year’s drive 2007 Part 3

Continuing the account of the cars I drove in 2007. This time it is out with the old and in with the (slightly) new(er).



When I drove the MG Midget I struggled initially to get to grips with a manual transmission. Those skills have lately been refreshed as my old Citroën BX19TRS auto was replaced by a Citroën BX14TE St Tropez. The new car has proved to be full of surprising contradictions. The BX14 doesn't have the central locking, powered windows, electric sun roof or even power-assisted steering of the old car but the seat fabric and dashboard plastics seem much better quality. It looks a lot smarter inside and more modern. With the smaller engine I expected it to be much slower but more economical; subjectively it does not feel slower and my economy checks suggest that the BX14 is only 2mpg more economical than the BX19 - I expected more. Despite an unexpected and nearly catastrophic failure of a hydraulic pipe early in my ownership the new car is proving to be just as endearing as the old one.

To be continued ...

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.

The long road ahead

I’m feeling a little apprehensive, I’m about to do a long journey in my Citroën BX – the first really long journey since I bought the car. I know it’ll happily go at motorway speeds but it sounds a little frantic. I’ve also discovered that, without the height adjustment of my old BX, the driving position is less than comfortable. If I end up with a chronic headache and backache at least I’ll know why.

Meet the new boss…

… same as the old boss.

Having spent the best part of the last two years with a white Citroën BX you would think that I would fancy a change. So I went out and bought another white Citroën BX. I didn’t go out and choose a white BX; rather a friend of a friend had one that was surplus to requirements. It is 3 years newer than the old car and has done just over 50,000 miles rather than just under 150,000. Unlike the old car, which is a generously equipped 19TRS with a big engine, the new one is pretty the BX14TE St Tropez – near the bottom of the range. Instead of enjoying the torque of the big engine loping along in the high top gear of the automatic transmission I have a small-ish 1.4 litre engine and a very low-geared manual transmission. Instead of infra red central locking I have a different key for doors and ignition and have to unlock each one individually. Steering is manual and takes nearly 4 turns to go lock to lock where the old car with power assistance needs just less than 3 turns.

One of the biggest shocks was the reliability of starting with the manual choke. Just pull it out, turn the key and it starts. Compare that with fiddling round, wondering if you should pump the accelerator and the general uncertainty of the worn out old automatic choke and it is far better. The second shock is the effort needed to turn the wheel; no lazy swinging from lock to lock with the car at a standstill and the engine running. How did people ever consider this acceptable? I don’t like the clutch – like so many clutches the pedal travel is too long and the arc does not correspond with the natural movement of the human ankle. The gear lever action is typically older French car, slightly floppy and vague but quick, flickable and easy. I have also satisfied myself that the left foot can easily find the brake pedal (at least they haven’t changed – still the same short-travel pedal) and the clutch pedal is not necessary for changing gear on the move.

As you might expect there are a few things that need attention. The wheels need balancing, or something as there is a perceptible wobble through the wheel. A new steering wheel would be nice as the old one is breaking up possibly because of the grip required to turn the wheel at low speed or full lock. There are a couple of scratches that could do with touching up and the driver’s sun visor doesn’t’ want to stay up. On the whole it does carry its years well, which hopefully means that a few more years won’t be a problem.

I’ll try and post some pictures soon.

Time for a change

The trick to running a banger is to judge the point at which it is about to expire and find a replacement before you are left stranded at the roadside. My own judgement is not quite perfected; I underestimated by between 24 and 48 hours the amount of life left in my old Citroën BX.

For some time the cooling system has been leaking slowly. My solution was to keep topping it up as required and since the rate of topping up was modest I thought it was a fix that would keep me going until January. I would then have taken advantage of the post-Christmas lull in the secondhand car market to find something to keep me going for another couple of years. But some instinct told me that I didn’t have that much time and when it turned out that a friend of a friend had an old car they no longer needed, I was able to do a deal and I pick the car up tomorrow.

In the meantime my car appeared to soldier on without fault or complaint. I was looking forward to maybe even selling the car and recovering some of the cost of the new one. What a great plan it was; until yesterday evening when the low coolant light came on when I wanted to drive home. I was able to top up the radiator from supplies I was carrying and thought that would be the end of the matter. Five minutes later the light came on again and I stopped to top the radiator up, after all it was probably only an air lock in the system caused by filling too quickly the first time. Resuming my journey, barely 5 more minutes passed before the same thing happened again and as I had exhausted my supply of coolant I had no choice but to try and get home. By avoiding traffic and avoiding the need to go very quickly I made it home but it was a stressful business, listening for any sign of impending disaster, not something I want to experience again. If only the fault had appeared today I would have been able to keep all my work commitments, had it manifested itself tomorrow it would have barely registered as an inconvenience.

It was a very sad ending to a day that had been thoroughly pleasant. The morning had been crisp with a low-lying fog over Warwick. My mid day journey took me up the Fosse Way from Wellesbourne to the roundabout where it crosses the A425 Leamington to Southam road. I had the window open to admit cool, fresh air, I had the heater directed to keep my feet warm, I had a respectable turn of speed and I had one of the best drives that old BX has ever given me.

Automatic Choice

Today was in many ways a perfect motoring day. The weather was cool but dry, the sky clear and visibility good. Even better, I was able to travel on single carriageway A and B-roads. While the roads were practically on my doorstep they were unfamiliar. Under those circumstances it is good to have automatic transmission. There are those who say that you can’t be serious about driving if you like automatics but they don’t know what they are talking about.

Automatic transmission encourages left braking without having to worry about any other pedals. A little practice with the right foot and the transmission selector lever means you will never be stuck in the wrong gear. The automatic transmission in the Citroën BX isn’t the best but the control lever allows you to get the best from it. Lots of transmissions allow the lever to be pushed from the drive position into neutral, something that could have disastrous results for the engine if done whilst driving quickly. In the Citroën the lever can’t be pushed into neutral without squeezing a button on the lever.

The same button must be held to lock out third and top gear but it is useful to hold second gear for roundabouts and tight corners. Between drive and 3rd there is nothing to inhibit free movement of the lever, which is great for overtaking or fast bends. Someone within Citroën clearly understood how to get the best out of automatic transmissions.

It was the automatic transmission that did so much to aid my enjoyment of today’s motoring. I also appreciated the Citroën’s suspension as the roads weren’t always as smooth as they could be. If only the steering was sharper, how much more fun I could have had.

More thoughts from my travels

Spending time in my Citroën BX this week left me feeling somewhat uneasy. Using a 20-year old car every day was always going to be a risky business and it isn’t that something has gone wrong rather a sneaking feeling that something isn’t quite right. Maybe the tickover wasn’t as steady, the throttle response less sharp and the vibrations more pronounced.

So I find myself contemplating my position and it isn’t great. Maybe my car just needs a service or maybe this is the beginning of the end. Do I spend money (which I don’t have) on the Citroën or save the money for an eventual replacement?

Contemplation of a new car is the best part of the exercise. I know what I want; something taught, purposeful, well made. Above all I want something with decent steering; the problem with the BX is the soft, rubbery steering. What I want is another Honda Prelude, maybe a Legend coupe or 4WS Accord; maybe a hydractive Citroën XM or Xantia; an Alfa Romeo 164; I even caught myself admiring a Vauxhall Carlton 3000GSI. Of course there is potentially a vast gulf between what I want and what I can afford.

Good news

The Citroën passed its MOT. It needed new brake pads and one of the headlamps needed re-aligning. On the whole it isn’t a bad result for a car that turned 20 this year. It does mean I don’t have the fun of trying to find a new car – maybe next year.

That sinking feeling

It is time to put my Citroën in for its annual MOT test. For international readers the MOT test is an annual safety inspection that all cars over 3 years old have to pass. It checks the condition of lights, tyres, brakes, safety belts, structural bodywork/chassis and exhaust emissions amongst other things. The older a car gets the more likely it is that something will fail – I try to take care of my car and keep on top of any jobs that need doing but there is only so much you can do.

The difficulty comes when your car fails and you have to weigh up the cost of repair against the cost of replacing the car. It becomes even more fraught when money is tight – would any replacement banger that I buy be any better than the 20-year old Citroën BX I’ve got at the moment?