My Backside Speaks...

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addo
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My Backside Speaks...

Post by addo »

Had to do a fair whack of driving in my mate's "ute" today. It's one of those sporty Tickford-modified thingies with rubber band wheels and no compliance in the suspension.

What a relief to get back in a French car - namely the Xantia! Honestly, my posterior and lower back were really punished by the dinosaur; not that our roads are helping in their current rain-destroyed state.

It was a good reminder of how spoilt we are!
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Post by CitroJim »

It always pays to drive something different occasionally as we are all apt to get a bit complacent over our hydraulic Citroens.

They feel much better afterward..

Try driving or even riding in one of Luton's finest, especially their Corset...

Makes one appreciate a Citroen even more...
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Post by robert_e_smart »

VAG Group tat does it for me. Get a ride in a Golf or Octavia. Then any doubt about Citroen suspension soon disappears!
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addo
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Post by addo »

On the Germanic stuff; having to test a couple of M-sport cars after service work, left me feeling very puzzled - rock hard seats and a drive that seemed to offer negligible feedback of any value to the pilot.

This thing seemed to threaten with jiggling sideways at any hint of an opportunity; would be better heavily loaded but still a primitive lump:

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Post by Citroening »

One car that really is terrible is the Mondeo. :evil:

We went with a friend in his Mondeo (2004 plate car) and the journey consisted of going across the fens roads -a truely horrible ride and you could easily tell we weren't in eg the C6.

Horrible!
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Post by trooper30 »

robert_e_smart wrote:VAG Group tat does it for me. Get a ride in a Golf or Octavia. Then any doubt about Citroën suspension soon disappears!
I have a Golf GTI sitting outside I been driving for a few days and although the suspension and ride is great for handling Im sure is made from recycled bits of Messerschmitt and berlin wall as you can feel every grain of gravel on the road, getting in the old Xantia felt like riding on a bloody cloud after that.
So I guess i take the Xantia ride for granted untill I have been in something else for a few days then the difference really shows!
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Post by robert_e_smart »

I had was working on a friend's MG TF this weekend. Boy does it need spheres!
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Post by ashy90 »

robert_e_smart wrote:I had was working on a friend's MG TF this weekend. Boy does it need spheres!
I think the older F did have spheres.

Differance between a standard xantia (not an activa) and a TF is the TF handles very well, superbly infact. The xantia is set up for comfort.
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Post by citronut »

ashy90 wrote:
robert_e_smart wrote:I had was working on a friend's MG TF this weekend. Boy does it need spheres!
I think the older F did have spheres.

Differance between a standard Xantia (not an activa) and a TF is the TF handles very well, superbly infact. The Xantia is set up for comfort.

wont that be BMC's hydra elastic imataion of citroen full blooded hydraulic system,

regards malcolm
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Post by CitroJim »

citronut wrote: wont that be BMC's hydra elastic imataion of Citroën full blooded hydraulic system
'Twas actually Hydragas, the improved version of the hydrolastic system first seen on the Allaggro in 1974'ish.

It was not bad either. Definitely the poor man's Hydropneumatic. It is likely that both Mr. Issigonis and Dr. Moulton (the true designer of the Hydrolastic system) were heavily influenced by the Citroen system.

Word has it that Mr. Issigonis was a great Citroen fan and in fact owned them and used them as inspiration for his BMC designs.

The Rover P6, sometimes dubbed the British DS, was due to have full Citroen suspension at one time but ended up with it's own very innovative suspension.
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Post by robert_e_smart »

Dr Moulton's XM V6 Exclusive was for sale a few months back. He knew which was the superior system in the end!
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Post by CitroJim »

robert_e_smart wrote:Dr Moulton's XM V6 Exclusive was for sale a few months back. He knew which was the superior system in the end!
You sure it was not fitted with Hydragas Robert :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Post by myglaren »

CitroJim wrote:
'Twas actually Hydragas, the improved version of the hydrolastic system first seen on the Allaggro in 1974'ish.
My dad's Morris 1100 had hydrolastic suspension, bought in 1962.

I inherited his Princess in about 1985, also with Hydrolasticagas, wasn't at all bad.

I was told that the GS was supposed to be the Princess but BL rejected it - idiots.
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Post by CitroJim »

myglaren wrote: I was told that the GS was supposed to be the Princess but BL rejected it - idiots.
They never learned; they also had a chance of the BX and rejected it...
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Post by ashy90 »

citronut wrote:
ashy90 wrote:
robert_e_smart wrote:I had was working on a friend's MG TF this weekend. Boy does it need spheres!
I think the older F did have spheres.

Differance between a standard Xantia (not an activa) and a TF is the TF handles very well, superbly infact. The Xantia is set up for comfort.

wont that be BMC's hydra elastic imataion of Citroën full blooded hydraulic system,

regards malcolm
I wouldnt say it was an 'imatation' of the Citroen hydraulic system. They knew that it was differant - they had designed it to be a differant system/setup. If they wanted to copy it, then I guess they would/could have done, and it would have had a lot more simularities to the Cit system.

If you really wanted to then I guess you could call it a 'cheaper version' of the Citroen system, and in all honesty, thats exactly what it is. Simpler, cheaper to buy/replace parts, cheaper to live with, requires much less maintenance etc.

Not knocking the Citroen hydraulic system. But that hydra-what ever its called on MGF's etc. aint bad at all
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