td to petrol, a questionable decision!

8304 · Post by **8304** » 23 Oct 2006, 15:27

my trusty zx which has served me so well for the last three or so years has been replaced with a 325i bmw coupe.

Sharp in take of breath i hear, it is going to be a shock fueling that rather than my trusty TD! Possibly not a wise decision, think i will keep the zx around for a bit just in case the fuel becomes too much to bear!!!!

James.UK · Post by **James.UK** » 23 Oct 2006, 19:36

The BMW will look nicer, maybe.. But I think that's going to prove an expensive move.. uhh ohhh.. lol...

Compare;- My ZX does 35-55 mpg

Honda 20iES auto does 22-30 mpg.

.

Post by **SteveG** » 23 Oct 2006, 20:10

I know it's not the same thing, but I just got rid of a 7 series Bimmer because the fuel bills were crippling. It would just about manage 28 mpg on a motorway run (at 70 ... no speeding now) but around town it was worse than my V8 Discovery - and that's saying something

The TD Xantia is much better on fuel and, with the suspension sorted, a better ride too

The Bimmer will be fun to drive though

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 23 Oct 2006, 21:32

they all look the same when they come out of the crusher,well give or take maybe a slightly diferant size cube
regards malcolm

Post by **SteveG** » 23 Oct 2006, 22:05

citronut wrote:they all look the same when they come out of the crusher,well give or take maybe a slightly diferant size cube
regards malcolm

LOL

Post by **Peter.N.** » 23 Oct 2006, 22:22

I've been running Citroen diesels for over 20 years and no way would I go back to petrol. Apart from the economy issue, a petrol engine is hard work to drive after a diesel, and if pushed, noiser!

8304 · Post by **8304** » 24 Oct 2006, 15:26

i will see how it goes but after having it for 24 hours i must say i am fairly hooked on it!! its absolutly lovely to drive and feels realy solid. No rattles and is so refined the performance just seems effortless.... above 4000rpm the engine sounds awesome (24valve straight six 2.5) and it goes and goes....

Im only 20 so i spose im allowed a silly car for a few years

the zx was a really good car tho, saw me through school and a couple of years after rteally well but time for a change. (and not much change left after fuel me thinks!!)

Post by **Peter.N.** » 24 Oct 2006, 22:46

I would have probably thought the same at 20, then I was running straight six Cresta's and Velox's, but at 67 I go in more for comfort than speed!

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 24 Oct 2006, 23:36

You'd better get that petrol car and use it now and enjoy it while you can
still afford to run it!

With a real risk of being heavy, let's face it realistically, ALL of what we
know and love as the combustion engine in it's current state wont last for
much longer - the fuel will run dry some day SOON!

Seriously, do you believe for one moment enough rape seed oil, gas or
whatever will harvest in big enough quantities to keep us all going after
the black stuff comes out of the ground or is extracted from mineral
deposits in Russia and Canada. The oil doesn't just get used for exploding
in a 4 cylinder petrol engine - it's used through petrochemical refining for
every bleeding thing you're surrounded with on an everyday basis. An
China is the new black hole absorbing every piece of matter in it's
insatiable urge to dominate the world, which it will succeeed in doing
next week sometime!

The world is being well chewed up and will shortly be spat out dry.
What then? Things as we know them are in the Autumn of their years.
Once we've all gone way beyond Mad Max in all the anarchy all we'll fondly
remonice about will be carefree hoofing around in a petrol V6 or
whatever.

I may as well enjoy my Citroen passion be it petrol or diesel driven, and
savour every moment as the real doom mongers predict mere years not
decades before it all goes pear shaped. Unless you're one of the 'special'
people we're all going to be priced out of the running in these coming years...

Believe it or not after reading the previous passage, I'm actually an
optomist! But even on a good day I can't imagine powering my beloved
Cx by solar or battery power somehow; I'm already obsolete! AND BTW,
I'm not a raving tree hugger either...

Andrew

James.UK · Post by **James.UK** » 26 Oct 2006, 18:16

Andrew, Cheer up.. No need to worry.. The extreme weather caused by polution will kill ya long before the oil runs out..

*Wanders off singing. -- "if I can help somebodeee" etc etc -- *

.

FrenchLeave · Post by **FrenchLeave** » 26 Oct 2006, 18:56

Andmcit,

30 years ago they were forecasting that petroleum crude oil would run out within the next decade, and yet here we are still driving around.

New fields are still being discovered and, because we rely on the stored pressure in the oilfields to bring the oil to the surface, we are actually using only a small proportion of the crude that's down there. New techniques are being developed, based on pumping down compressed air, to bring up the currently unobtainable oil.

Of course it's a finite resourse and will eventually run out, but not in my lifetime. (But there again, I am 74).

deian · Post by **deian** » 30 Oct 2006, 15:19

why don't you sell the zx and convert the bmw to LPG, you get the best of both worlds then, of course, the bmw is full of electrics and i would guess it's ever so slightly easier to fix a diesel zx than a 6cylinder bmw, of course, i'd love another bmw, the 6 cylinder engines are so sweet, but then again, the 2.1td engine in my xantia has probably lasted as long as a bmw engine...

keep us posted

8304 · Post by **8304** » 30 Oct 2006, 16:44

so far, as expected ive found the bm to use loads of fuel around town. However, on the motorway it is no worse than the zx at 70mph and miles better up around 90mph. When your doing 90mph the engine just puuuurrrrss and doesnt feel pushed atall, whereas the zx would do 90 but got noisy and felt as though it was being pushed.

Im taking it to france on the weekend to see a friend of mine at lille university, it will come into its own on the open and empty french motorways

the bmw is in a different league from the point of view of looks and refinement compared to my zx but i still think for the money the citroen zx is one of the best hatchbacks you can buy. I am very fond of my old zx it will be a shame to sell it!!! it served me well through the last year of school and then the couple of years since. But now i could never go back to it i dont think.

ill calculate how much fuel it uses on the weekend so we can see what sort of average mpg its doing.

deian · Post by **deian** » 30 Oct 2006, 20:40

or get a xantia 3.0 v6, should be just as fast as the 325i, i think they both have 190bhp, i know the older (e30) 325i 12v 6cyl had 170bhp (and it's hairy in the wet)...

the xantia is overall a fantastic car, as good as the zx (just one step up, as is a 325i over ZX, like going from a Ford Escort to a Ford Mondeo)...

bar the bmw's i had, the xantia is the best car i've ever had, overall it's better than the bmw, where as that failed on fuel economy

i'd LOVE a xantia V6, problem is it only comes in Auto i think, unless you import or something... hydropneumatic suspension works a LOT better than you think, to imagine you have the same power as the bmw gliding on air is a nice feeling, i wonder which one would win a race? (both auto of course)