Xantia HDi faster than CX 2.5 GTi

Post by **Thunderbird** » 07 Apr 2005, 06:13

A HDi engine is not expected to last forever (especially tuned! [:D]) or, at least, not as much as those good old diesel engines, with lots of liters and little power.
It's a trade off between efficiency and longevity.
Actually, most things built today aren't suppose to last many years.
Cell phones, TV sets, cars, etc. Most of the times consumers themselves don't want them to last forever, since they want to put their hands on the new model that does 'spectacular' things. They've never considered those things before, but now they are sure they can't live without them. [B)]
I also would like to have a CX, but I fear the rust, the lack of air, electrical complications, difficulty to find spares, and hard (expensive) to solve problems... [;)]

DoubleChevron · Post by **DoubleChevron** » 07 Apr 2005, 06:55

If I lived in the UK, I doubt I would drive a CX either. I wouldn't want to see it rapidly dissappear before my eyes (I guess I'd have to keep it as a 'summer' car).
Ghostrider, I wouldn't attempt to fit the Activa suspension to a CX. They lack the torsional rigidity. All you would probably do is twist sh!t out of it's body. Jack a corner of your CX up with a jack and see how well it's doors open/close. I've heard the Xantia is such a phenonimally strong car as the Activa versions require the torsional strength.
I did hear of a CX GTi Turbo being fitted with the Activa suspension a few years back. Apparantly on hard cornering the windscreen would nearly pop out due to the body flex.
I like CX's a lot and will never be without at least one in my stable, but I'm certainly not blind to there problems (the main one being how bloody hot they are in summer). I can't wait to get my old '79 CX2400 C-matic on the road, however I can't see even that happening in the even distant future. Same with my old DS21 ie, I'd love to finish it, I've kinda decided I will fit a Megasquirt ECU to it, however I can't see it happening anytime soon

seeya,
Shane L.

tomsheppard · Post by **tomsheppard** » 07 Apr 2005, 13:59

Ok, if we're all being silly... Alloy floored CX with carbon fibre panels, extra ventilation built in and a maikonics motor. Activa if you like that sort of thing.
It wouldn't rust, it would go really fast and the classic car lobby wouldn't understand why you did it.

ActivaV6uk · Post by **ActivaV6uk** » 07 Apr 2005, 14:37

you would be better off with a Carbon Fibre flore pan too as the car would not be safe in a bad crash with and aloy pan and carbon wings etc (i work for the company that makes 99% of the worlds carbon fibre at the moment so i have asked all sorts of stupid questions over the last 3.5 years

)
but then again we already know that a tuned CX will kick the HDi's but.

DoubleChevron · Post by **DoubleChevron** » 07 Apr 2005, 15:01

It'll also beat a V6 Activa in a straight line (easily) ....
But seriously guys, who cares what car is faster... If we gave a cr@p about that we'd be driving tedious turbo charged japanense imports.
Drive what you enjoy the most ... That's what I do, I'm as happy driving a 2cv or '63 ID19 as I am driving the CX turbo... There all a blast to drive, just in different ways.
seeya,
Shane L.

tomsheppard · Post by **tomsheppard** » 07 Apr 2005, 15:50

Ok Activa. I've got a shell to take the moulds off....

ActivaV6uk · Post by **ActivaV6uk** » 07 Apr 2005, 16:14

we need access to a big kiln next then, CFC (carbon fibre composit) goes for about £10k per 10km X 1.2m and thats traid i'm guessing 7 layer would be good for the pan and 3 to 5 for the wings etc this hould leave us with about 7km of CFC so i could possibly build the worlds lightest acvitva too.
Do we have any multi millionair sponsers out there (or any one with more money than sennce will do)?
on a seriouse note i was going to build a GT40 as i have contacts in lots of industrys, for that i looked at a CFC florpan and i could have one made for about £1800 which considering what it was was a very good price...
Andy
Andy

tomsheppard · Post by **tomsheppard** » 07 Apr 2005, 16:20

Suggesting three grand a shell for materials. Heck, it is nearly a viable idea. Wonder if I can blag a favour out of Ferrari and borrow their autoclave?

Kowalski · Post by **Kowalski** » 07 Apr 2005, 16:21

Has anybody considered using carbon fibre for fixing rusting floorpans or glass fibre for that matter?

tomsheppard · Post by **tomsheppard** » 07 Apr 2005, 17:02

GRP won't get through an MOT and there are issues with bonding CFC to steel. Carbon being stiff, the flexibility of the steel is a problem. the MOT is again an issue.

ActivaV6uk · Post by **ActivaV6uk** » 07 Apr 2005, 17:04

one of my 205's had CFC all over the place when I realised that the car was getting to the stage that in an accident the carbon was the only bits that survived i decided to scrap the car.
The main problem with carbon is the way its strong, its always only strong in 2 of the 3 access although it will take punishment in the 3rd it will tend to smash if stressed too much. Carbon bonnets seem like a great idea except the strength is in its edges and the carbon is strong enough to got through the windscreen, dash and you like it was a white hot knife through butter.
in a floor pan the strength is the same a side or frontal impact and the floor pan would be untouched its more lightly to take damage from some one heavy getting in the car (like me at 22 stone).
In F1 racing the body panels are reinforced in some sections and weaker in others this is so that the driver is safe and also so that the force of the carbon breaking absorbs some of the energy from the crash. The down side is you still get fragments of the shell every ware and its so sharp it makes a knife blade looks positively dull, I’ve actually used flat CFC as an abrasive to remove rust (impressive) and I’ve also used a piece to cut through the front cross member of a BX!!!
Andy

tomsheppard · Post by **tomsheppard** » 07 Apr 2005, 17:22

Exactly; which is why the murderous practice of making carbon fibre front wings in F1 should be stopped.
Rule 1: never hurt the spectators.
Rule 2: never expose the driver to an avoidable risk.
Single element aluminium wings will fold up safely rather than shatter when hit, littering the track with shards of CFC. It is bad enough to have driven your nuts off and lose the race due to a puncture caused by this and rather worse to be even mildly killed as a result.
Fix it Ecclestone!

FDV · Post by **FDV** » 08 Apr 2005, 00:05

Or get a BX 16v and go faster than all of them (Visa excluded!)

DoubleChevron · Post by **DoubleChevron** » 08 Apr 2005, 06:13

Actually the Series II 16valve is considerably slower the the CX turbos, however the Series I 160hp matches it to 100km/h, however above that I imagine the torque of the turbo would win .... But again .... Who cares??, drive what you like most, if I lived in heavy traffic a peaky 16valver would be a **** of a thing to own, a CX turbo with it's ordinary clutch/gearchange would be a pain ... Infact a V6 slugomatic Xantia or something would probably be the go.
Now if you lived where Alan S does you'd take the CX turbo for winter and the BX 16valve for summer (that air-con bit, it's bloody hot where he lives). If I lived in the UK I think I'd get a full frontal labot .... er...... BX turbo diesel, or something else that's torqey to drive and is good to sit in heavy traffic in.
For me the CX is perfect, I like driving it, it tows the caravan effortlessly (where as something like a BX16valve would be bloody hopeeless due to the revvy nature of it's motor). The way the cost of fuel appears to be dramatically rising I might have to re-think my prioritys. I'm sure they'll change to "ride pushbike to work and keep CX" instead of replacing it.
Nothing drives like an old CX/DS ... Nothing (that doesn't mean you'll like them, it just means nothing else drives like them).
seeya,
Shane L.

Daniel B · Post by **Daniel B** » 08 Apr 2005, 20:07

Hi Shane,
in the UK the Series/Phase II has the same power rating as the earlier model - only very late 16V's were fitted with a cat here.
Re the car being a mare in heavy traffic - I never have any problems when I'm stuck in traffic, pulling away is effortless, and there's no jerkyness/issues whatsoever.
I believe, though have never driven one, that the 8V is meant to be a bit of a pig in traffic.
I take your point re the caravan though

No aircon - but then we don't need it over here

Cheers
Dan