This has been going on for months and months, and I'm saddened by the the whole sickening spectacle of it; I've seen at least 12+ cars go to the wall for the cause of a Fast'n Furious boy racer.
The supply of Xm 2.0i turbos has all but dried up due to this trend. Bet none of them have told their insurance company.
It is such a shame to see such wonderful cars come to such a terrible end.
As a 205 GTi owner you may say I'm two-faced but mine is totally standard and that is how it will stay. I once looked in horror at a post on another forum where after raping a very tidy XM for its engine the people took great "pleasure" in smashing the remains to bits and cutting the shell up with an angle grinder. Their only sensible comment was to say how totally rust-free it was.
IMO, these 205 engine conversions, even the Mi16, are very flawed in most instances and not a few seem to be terrible bodges of questionable integrity.
It is incredibly sad to see Activas go this way though. Wonder if these vandals have ever driven and appreciated one?
Jim
Runner, cyclist, time triallist, duathlete, Citroen AX fan and the CCC Citroenian 'From A to Z' Columnist...
Unfortunately the same is true of even non Citroens.... My Son is a Metro Freak and his 'club' hate Mini owners because they take 'decent' (his word not mine) Metros and take the K series engines for their Minis and scrap the Metro shells. (He has a 1.8VVC in his Metro)
Ian
Account Ref: 6419
Current Cars
Nissan X-Trail SVE
Saab 2.2TiD
Merc E270 Estate
Peter.N. wrote:If you think they are rare, try finding a manual Mk2, 2.1 td XM estate!
i've been on the lookout for a 2.1manual xm estate for ages there is one on ebay at the moment but it sounds rough heater matrix has been bypassed and owner says car is scruffy dent's on most panels, given up now as my old xantia is dying and i can't wait much longer so i've found a 2.1 xantia estate instead
jeremy wrote:Its also true to say that those who have driven them and presumably appreciated them no longer want them.
Is it any wonder when you see petrol at £1.08 a litre in some places? That's why I can't understand how the 'converters' can sustain such extravagances - are they paying road tax and insurance like the rest of us!?
jeremy wrote:Its also true to say that those who have driven them and presumably appreciated them no longer want them.
Is it any wonder when you see petrol at £1.08 a litre in some places? That's why I can't understand how the 'converters' can sustain such extravagances - are they paying road tax and insurance like the rest of us!?
Andrew
Strangely enough, those who run Mi'd 205s claim they're more economical than the 8V engine they replace
I think you'll find a lot of the 'converters' are young, still living with Mum and Dad and have lots of disposable income. If they're content to fork out over a grand for insurance, the cost of the conversion and other "bling", then the cost of petrol is pretty insignificant. It is likely too that they do a very small annual mileage in real terms. Their economic position is at a complete tangent to those like us, running families as well as cars
Jim
Runner, cyclist, time triallist, duathlete, Citroen AX fan and the CCC Citroenian 'From A to Z' Columnist...
sounds like my cousin... he's forever swapping engines from 309 and 205 gti's, recently ripped a 405mi16 4x4 to get the tranny and diff off it, he hasn't put it in the 309 as yet (309 mi16 4x4 he wanted), so he's wasted a rare car there because he had an idea.
recently he got hold of a rare model 309 gti automatic with aircon (destined for japanise market), he's only gone and ripped that engine out and dropped an mi16 into it with manual box
guess what... he lives with his parents and has money to burn too
it's the same in the bmw scene too, the e30 3 series lads are getting the 3.5 M30 engines from the 5 and 7 series and replacing their 2.0 or 2.5 M20. In doing so they need to get e30 m3 diffs and parts off the older 5 series too. some are even putting v8's and v12's in their e30 3 series
there won't be any decent original cars left in the end.
citrojim wrote:It is such a shame to see such wonderful cars come to such a terrible end.
It is incredibly sad to see Activas go this way though. Wonder if these vandals have ever driven and appreciated one?
These 'lads' probably haven't the attention span/concentration levels to comprehend or focus on what the suspension principles are that Citroens use, never mind how the Activa system actually works! Isn't an Activa just a trim level...
So long as their posing pouch has enough 'go' in it to give enough performance to haul the extra bodykit/bling crap baggage about...
You can tell I REALLY don't warm to these guys can't you!
Andrew
Last edited by andmcit on 14 Aug 2006, 16:34, edited 1 time in total.
You can tell, I REALLY don't warm to these guys can't you!
Know exactly where you are coming from there.
Having had one of my ex BX16v's turned into scrap for a 205 conversion its not funny at all.
"Rust Never Sleeps" said Neil Young. Did he own old citroens?
1998 Xantia TD exclusive auto estate +3 x BX's +77' ami 8 break + 73' dyane 6 + '83 2CV6 + 94' XM 2.1 sx auto + 89' XM2.0i
+ '85' GSA + '97 XM 2.0 16v + '81 Visa super E
was recently on the e30 forum and asked about the possibility of hydractive on a bmw, they soooooo didn't get it (one guy said 'boooooooring', i was not impressed by the ignorance... many have no idea what they are missing, c'mon now, if you are clever enough to swap engines from one car to another with some tricky complications then why dismiss air suspension, i would guess the activa would put some bmw's to shame, especially stock ones.
But they need more power. Their cars are so weighed down by the boom-box hifi systems, needless table top spoilers, and silly exhausts that would not look out of place on a Scania, that in order to go as fast as a standard car, they need an extra 50% of oomph.
I can tell you now that we need much tighter rules on this kind of thing. I was talking to a traffic officer at a South London Police traffic division centre about it the other day. It made for an interesting conversation. He reckons that up to 50% of the 17-25 year men modify their cars and don't disclose it to their insurance companies. Some mods are trivial, but some are fundamental changes to the old 'CV' rating. He was talking about how he pulled a guy about three months ago, and including the stereo system, all five adults, and the fuel in the car, it was 200kg over its rear axle load. The car appeared to be about 60mm lower than standard, and when inspected by VOSA, it was found that rather than fitting lowered and uprated springs, the moron had simply cut four coils off and jubilee clipped them onto the spring pans!
Now, question. What would that car handle like? porpoiseing(sp) up and down, and handling really badly. So, what if he also fitted a higher power engine to make the said same deathtrap go faster still? Maybe he won't fit better brakes....they will go on when he's got the money for 'Gforce super 1's' or whatever..
All vehicles should come with a maximum allowable body horsepower. Maybe 10% more than standard as maximum. All cars should be tested at the MOT for sill height, as they are in Germany. Any big difference to standard, and its a fail. And before you modifiers out there get on your soapbox, there would be a second option if you wanted to modify. Go for a 'Super' MOT, that allows all of your mods, and checks to make sure its all been done properly. then we will all be safe.
Before you modders batter me to death, yes I know that it can be done correctly, but there are plonkers out there Rodney, that will just shoe horn stuff in, along with bodgy practices, and big speakers, that are just not safe. Along with ripping perfectly good Activas to bits. Thats not nice.
Previous convictions for ferret and giraffe rustling.
I appreciate the point Anders made to me a week or so ago touching on this very 'Activa's being culled for engine conversions' with everyone being entitled to their own 'thing'...
My problem is I DO have have a real problem with that fact.
An exceptionally rare car in it's own right [such as the Activa or BX 16v or as seen this evening in the ebay Circus, a more mainstream but still desirable VSX Xant 2.0 16v], is being ripped apart with clearly years of life left to give. THIS IS INSANE!
Are we really SO bad in this throwaway society that the only thing for these guys to do is amuse themselves in a kind of 'how far can I out modify the last fella who's car was featured on the front cover of Revs', or whatever other semi softporn teenage comic that fills the car magazine shelves in every petrol station?
I JUST CANNOT permit myself to give these lads the 'benefit of the doubt' that THEY ARE 100% SAFE, LEGAL conversions and the car IS MOT'D, TAXED and most importantly of all, INSURED.
I know for some their car IS the centre of their universe and every waking moment and penny earned is ploughed into their winged charriot. Yes, OK each to their own, one man's meat etc...
My problem is, I fear I'll find the hard nosed truth in the aftermath of some muppet losing his modified 206 or whatever which was designed in a past lifetime by Peugeot to withstand nothing more strenuous than a shopping trip to Tesco's or carrying a family and it's pet dog to the beach etc...
When I get the call that my sister/best mate/father has been involved in an accident where they didn't know what hit them after this idiot bounced from the other side of the road into their path...
You just have to see the night's paper to see it happens all the time, so I cannot be accused of being melodramtic. If they don't just take themselves out, it's some other poor innocent third party.
Now I come to think of it, isn't the airbag the first thing that's thrown away for a small diameter carbon effect steering wheel when these guys get started?
