BX slug-o-matic

goldfinche · Post by **goldfinche** » 06 Jun 2005, 16:42

Hi I guess it depends on what you need. The auto diesel can be very unstressfull?? if you are in traffic but will only just and just use 3rd if you are very gentle at 30mph.1 to 2 at 20mph. 2 to 3 at 30. 3 to 4 at 40mph.Sneeze and it will change down. Thereby lies a problem and that is overtaking, If you get caught in the situation where your overtaking something going at 55ish and you havnt allowed quite enought time to overtake without having to "push" it and its given a lot of throttle then it will change down and its easy to get into the change down, rev like hell but not go a lot faster, ease throttle change up,not go any faster push throttle change down rev like hell etc, which is embarising and can in certain situations be bloody dangerous.
The way round this is to drive it like a manual and use the stick but it still has to be pushed hard ie.reved a lot, to "go". Mine was flat out, down hill, following wind etc at 87 mph.
One realy major snag is if the box busts you will not find a diesel box anywhere. (4HP14.)It will not be cheap to rebuild. £1,500-00/£1,700-00.Petrol ones you can find but the gearing is all wrong.
If you are realy determined and dont mind being called completely bonkers by everyone there is an answer but it will cost you upwards of £3,500-00.If you wish to know more or just chat you are more than welcome to phone or contact me.
Top speed 87mph
round town 28/30 mpg.realy heavy traffic has been down to 24mpg.
On a run (motorway mostly.)40/44mpg not pushing it about 60mph.
Can be exciting sort of[:D] at a price[V][V].
Sorry it's been long but it could have been longer[:p][:p]
Cheers.
Geoff.

Post by **Peter.N.** » 06 Jun 2005, 17:13

I can see the case for auto but as I live in rural Dorset I very rarely drive in traffic. I did test drive an auto XM but didn't like it, I like to drive at around 1500 - 2000 rpm but the auto doesnt which tends to make it noisey and less economical. My manual 2.1 td averages in excess of 40 mpg and on long journeys will comfortably exceed 50 mpg but I dont drive like a lunatic although I must confess I did when I was younger. Also, as mentioned by 'goldfinche' the cost of replacing an auto box usually exceeds the value of the car which is probably why there are lots of auto XMs for sale and very few manual ones.

James.UK · Post by **James.UK** » 06 Jun 2005, 19:45

Hi Geoff. I'm afraid there is something seriously wrong with your ZX auto (if its a 1.9D) and if it wont exceed 87 mph??? I have often had over 100 on the clock on mine when on long boring straight bits of the M5 at night [:D] Top speed is about 108 ish I think, but it will run forever very happily at 90..
As for an automatic gearbox breaking down, in 50 years of driving them I have never had that happen.. not once!! But during that same time period I have had to have a dozen or more clutches replaced on manual cars I have owned!! S/hand auto boxes are rare. But they are around if you look hard enuff. And if all else fails get another ZX auto car for about a £1,000, if you are over 40 years old it will prob see you out. [:D]
My ZX auto will not change into top gear at under 40 mph.. That does rather spoil its MPG at lower speeds so I only ave 30 ish in towns, [V] but on average I get around the 40 mpg mark, (even in Dorset) and on a run from Manchester to London-to-Poole in Dorset I averaged 55 MPG [^] That is by far the best MPG I have ever had from any sort of car with an automatic gear box, nothing else I have driven has even come close!!
Most auto's struggle to do more than 25 MPG ish.. Mazda 323f 16V fi auto ave MPG 22.. Vaux Carlton 2 litre 20 ish, Vauxhall astra 1.4 24 ish, Honda civic 1.4 28 ish

Jag XJ series 1-2-3.. 22 on a run, but as low as 12 in town.. etc etc.
In my Carlton a return trip to Poole 500 miles ish, fuel cost was about £100, my ZX does it in the same time for £40 [^] the ZX handles country roads very well, corners as if its on rails. and in terms of comfort the velour seats are very very comfortable to drive around in.. [^]
In the past I picked up so many speeding fines I probably paid for the cameras that caught me!! [:o)] Worst was 120+ on the M6 in the 1980's that cost me £150!! (a lot of money in those days) but as I was then a profesional executive-sports car driver-buyer I was allowed to keep my licence even though I was well over the normal points limit [:I].
But todays road traffic conditions dont allow that kind of driving without risking your life and the lives of other road users, so in the UK there is little or no point in owning a high performance car. No one will get anywhere much quicker than your BX slug-o-matic without risking lives!!. So relax, chill out, enjoy the drive, stop to smell the roses once in a while. The UK is a very beautifull place if you take the time to look around you [:D] ..
.

DervDonkey · Post by **DervDonkey** » 06 Jun 2005, 21:30

James, you must have been thrashing the nuts off that poor Carlton. We have one of these, a 2.0 CDX Auto, regularly used on return trips to Chelmsford (400 miles). We use £45 worth of fuel, works out about 33mpg. Putting it in context, on that run even the TD Xantia is only slightly better at about 37mpg, that's a manual. We used to have a 2.0 Cavalier auto that would get better than 40mpg on that journey.
So saying that most autos struggle to better 25mpg is a bit misleading. Even our petroholic Carlton manages 28mpg in general purpose, local use.
Don't know about a diesel auto, though. Even something lightweight like a BX is going to be a real slug without a turbo. Performance is woeful enough with a 122bhp petrol engine - a 62bhp diesel doesn't bear thinking about in today's traffic conditions, even if the car does only weigh 2/3 as much.

JudLaw · Post by **JudLaw** » 09 Jun 2005, 08:29

Well said DervDonkey,seems as though James.UK must have some sort of accident while employed as a "profesional executive-sports car driver-buyer"and seriously banged his head. Sorry Jame.UK but your figures,to anyone who as owned both petrol and diesel cars,turbo and non turbo,just dont make sense. Strange too how someone empolyed as quote "profesional executive-sports car driver-buyer" ends up with a ZX 1.9D Auto 1992 'K' 5 dr (modified),unless the modified means go faster strips(bit of wishfull thinking maybe). All as the ring of dreamland to me this talk of performance 1.9D cars so keep dreaming if thats what keeps you happy,but always remember the lines about fooling some of the people some of the time ......HAPPY DREAMING

goldfinche · Post by **goldfinche** » 09 Jun 2005, 22:34

Well James 87 was flat out the difference was that it was a true 87mph.Checked with a calibrated speedo etc. and it was a BX 1-9 n/a diesel.Mind you it only had 70,000 miles on the clock so was probably not run in yet.It was reving to the limiter in top I had to back off because of mechanical noise that was unpleasent and I only held it flat for a few seconds, too old fashioned to flog an engine without a tad of mercy for very long.
The box completely destroyed itself at the point of engaging reverse gear about to put it into the garage.Bang lots of noise and bits of metal.
I dont know why.
Cheers
Geoff.
I have just reread the original post to make sure it was a BX we were talking about.Short term memory and dyslexia fighting back!!

BX-Basis · Post by **BX-Basis** » 10 Jun 2005, 00:10

Only 87 mph in a BX 19 Diesel with manual transmission ??? Mine (64 hp Diesel Estate, TurboD gear box) did a little bit more than 100 mph a few days ago. On the speedo it showed quite exactly 160 km/h for some minutes, the speed calculated with the (well-known) gear ratio and the rev counter (which is definitely exact, I tested it) was about 163 km/h. The difference is obvously, that mine is well run in with 532.600 kms (331.000 miles) on the clock.

Gregg1100 · Post by **Gregg1100** » 10 Jun 2005, 00:17

Hi All,
There was nothing wrong at all with my Bx 16 Auto. Onew of the best autos I have had, and that includes Borg Warner, Fords effort, and the useless slush box they put in Vauxhalls. One can only speak as they find. With my caravan dangling on the rear, it never overheated, and pulled well for a 1.6. A bit thirsty around town, like most petrol Bx`s, but not bad on a run.
Greg

jeremy · Post by **jeremy** » 10 Jun 2005, 02:29

Citroen quote a calculated max for the BX 19 auto of 97 MPH and 103 for a manual (1989 drivers handbook) The power then was I think 71 BHP which is the same as our 94 ZX. I think there were considerable modifications to the BX Diesel engine before 89 as I have memories of being lent a very early one which went well but had a very slow-revving engine and this showed up when moving into traffic streams like roundabouts. I found the best thing to do with that car was to get it into second gear as quickly as possible as it seemed to accelerate better than in first. I think that car must have had a very heavy flywheel.
The later engine does not suffer from this problem.
Jeremy

goldfinche · Post by **goldfinche** » 10 Jun 2005, 05:22

Listen very carefully I will say this only once!!With apologies to 'allo 'allo. 1991 BX 1-9 n/a diesel automatic.70,000 miles. changes gear at the following points. 1 to 2 @ 20mph. 2 to 3 @ 30mph. 3 to 4 @ 40mph.minimum change up speeds in "D". As I said harry flatters down hill following tail wind 87mph TRUE.
24 to 30 mpg round town. 40 to 44 on motorway. @ approx 60mph.(trying to be economical.)
Now fitted with 1-7 turbo diesel and Xantia auto box 45mpg mixture of traffic. 53 mpg motorway. Very high geared, enough torque to be OK. Top speed well over 100mph.( about 5/8 to 3/4 throttle. Will tell better when I can get a bracket for the rev counter sensor.) Not tried it flat out running in auto box.
Now having confused everyone time to go to bed.
Goodnight all.
Geoff.
PS
As a matter of interest removing the silencer (that goes accross the car)resulted in vertually no increase in noise and better mpg in the order of at least 7mpg. Guess who bought the "Devil" exhaust on Ebay.
Thank you Mike.

James.UK · Post by **James.UK** » 10 Jun 2005, 05:47

Hi Dervdonkey, The 2 litre 3speed auto Carlton I had averaged 20 ish mpg.. that's a fact.. I had the car for about a year and got rid because it was too thirsty.. As for thrashing it.. It was 14 years old! Not in bad condition but a lot of miles on the clock! I gave up "thrashing" cars yonks ago , too much traffic and too many camera's took all the fun out of it [:(!]
The figures I gave are corrct for the cars I have had.. Thats why I now have a ZX auto, as I said, its by far the best auto I have ever had in mpg terms. [^]