Gen on Volcane

[MikeT]

Does anyone have anything good or bad to say about a 94 ZX Volcane 1.9TD? Experience most welcome, but hearsay acceptable too

[James.UK]

Nice cars! I would like one, but, the g/f can only drive auto's , and I do NOT want a petrol engine car, so my ZX is the best car for me personaly.

[Sl4yer]

I've had mine for 4 years now, and nothing major has gone wrong with it. I think the bigger engined ZXs have more robust drivetrain parts than the 1.4 I used to have (which was OK but occasionally expensive).

The 1.9TD is nippy, but not actually fast (despite what some on here may say ). Where it DOES perform very well is on the motorway - 70 to 90 is done quicker than most modern family cars. Mine's unmodified, so I guess it could be made to go quicker.

Honest John claims that the economy can be poor, but I've never seen less than 40 MPG whatever the driving conditions. The best I've had is 54, on a trip from Rochdale to Norfolk last year.

The seats are very comfortable, as long as you're not too rotund in which case the side bolsters can dig in (or so I'm told ). The power steering is very light on mine, too light in fact, but this combined with the small size makes it easy to park.

The handling is good enough for me, although the light steering doesn't inspire confidence. I tend to drive it sympathetically anyway, knowing that most of the suspension parts are nearly 13 years old now. The brakes are OK, but nothing special. I really wanted an ABS-equipped car, but they're fairly rare. At least the Volcane has disks all round, and it doesn't tend to pitch forward dangerously under hard braking like the non-sporty (and higher riding) models do.

That's enough waffle for now. Any more questions, just ask.

James

P.S. I really like mine!

[citroenesque]

What he says - mostly.

I've had an Aura TD and now a Volcane TD. It's my wife's car now. We think they are fabulous little cars and can still hold their own against hugely more expensive, newer cars.

Actually well built and not given us any trouble other than:
Small oil drip from back of engine (not uncommon), air leak in fuel supply - needs fixing, but at the moment although when first started in the morning needs priming but then it's fine for the rest of the day.

When the fuel tank's full, it drips a bit from under the filler neck - and this happened on both ZXs - so the answer is not to try to overfill the tank, or indeed fill it up - I try to keep the level below two thirds .

Gearchange is stiff when the box is cold. Works well when warmed up.
Brakes are strong. The 185 profile tyres on the Volcane improve stopping distance. I wouldn't worry about there not being ABS - more to go wrong: and there's the chief attraction - less complex than many cars (like the BX ) yet still well designed.

Our Volcane looks the part, delivers ample power for most things (although runs out of steam after 4,200 rpm. Loads of torque though) and gives us 40-45 mpg around town. We run it with a mix of around 30-50% pure veg oil which hasn't given us any problems... just saves a tenner or so with each fill up.

Not a lot of boot space (but the back seat slides forward if you need more (and you don't have rear passengers with legs)...

Lights not bad. Visibility likewise, fine. Doddle to drive, nippy and comfortable.

GO FOR IT 8)


Here's ours:

[MikeT]

Thank you for the kind reviews folks!