All Things V6...

[DHallworth]

Well, it's been a bit of a busy week here...

The CX has been dropped off to get the little patch of welding it needed on the O/S Longeron carried out and it's now waiting to be MOT'd.

The 406 Coupe was dug out of hibernation and taken for an MOT last week which it passed with flying colours and on Tuesday the Activa passed it's MOT too.

It failed initially on the rear Activa ram leaking but thankfully it turned out to be the return pipe that had popped out of the bottom of th ram. I popped it back in and secured it with a cable tie to stop it popping back out. It's amazing how much LHM pours out when that pipe pops out. After that, it passed without an advisory too

I'd decided I wanted a project to work on over the summer so I bought myself a very late P38 Range Rover. It's a 2002 4.6 Vogue SE. It was collected from Gloucester on Tuesday and I was told to expect it on Friday, I got a phone call yesterday to say the car was 15 minutes away. I thought he said he was in a 16ft transporter. When I started to give him directions he said "Is this up a country lane?" When I replied yes he said it was a "Sixty, SIX ZERO foot transporter" at which point my heart sank.

We were left with no other option then to unload it on the main road in the village we live in. The Range Rover was on the lorry with a flat battery so we had to block both sides of the road whilst we jump started it with the 407







It's a project but once fettled with it'll be in a nice condition. Just needs the front bumper painting and putting back on as it was removed after being scuffed in a car park, the interior needs a bloody good clean and then it should be ready to roll. It had a brand new engine fitted to it 5k miles ago so it runs nicely.

Here's hoping I've not missed anything major!

David.

[bxzx16v]

Result on the MoT's David , the Range Rover sounds like a nice project too .

Mark

[Mandrake]

Looking forward to seeing the CX on the road!

[DHallworth]

Well, the CX now has an MOT.

It failed the MOT the first time around on tyres. Apparently, when there was weight on the tyres there were cracks that opened up inside edge of the tyre which was a fair fail, I just hadn't noticed. Shame really as the tread on them was like new!

Anyway, the only company that make TRX tyres these days is Michelin and they only make one batch of them a year, with this in mind, they charge a lot for them! £1300 for a set of 4 to be precise. As Cheryl an I have just moved house there was no way I'd get away with spending that on a set of tyres just now, so I sorted something a bit more reasonably priced

They don't look great but they're functional...



16" Alfa Romeo wheels are a straight swap onto the CX hubs so they were a no brainer for now...

There is someone in Holland who has recreated CX GTI T2 wheels in a proper 16" rim so it may end up wearing a set of them instead of the TRX tyres.

Anyway, I picked the car up on Thursday evening and headed straight for the Petrol station to wash the bird s**t off it as it had been sat under a tree at the garage. It was probably about 25 miles home from the garage. I came over the hills from Kirkintilloch into Bearsden and then down to Hardgate. I was being very gentle with it and letting everything warm up nicely. Whenever I started to hear it coming on boost I changed gear.

Once we got to the dual carriageway about 18 miles into the journey home I checked the LCD displays and everything was at normal temperature, the car was driving perfectly, and there wasn't another car about so I decided to give it some beans...

I left the lights heading onto the dual carriageway in 1st, then changed into 2nd and put my foot down, there was a bit of turbo lag where not much happened, then the turbo kicked in, the boost gauge shot up on the dash and the car TOOK off down the dual carriageway. It felt like you'd been punched in the kidneys. The power from the V6's is very linear, as is the TCT engine, however the way the CX comes on boost is savage

Anyway, I was going to tax it but then I realised it was the 26th of the month so I decided rather then wasting a months tax for the sake of a few days I'd be patient and wait. We're going on holiday for a week on Tuesday so I'll tax it when I get home and see if I can get a few miles on her whilst the weather is still decent

David.

[CitroJim]

Excellent David Great to see the CX has finally hit the highways! Sounds like it's going to be great and intoxicating fun!

[Skull]

I don't know what birds are eating nowadays but it's a close alternative to Araldite

Looks great and V6 turbo sounds like fun David

[Mandrake]

Well, the CX now has an MOT.

It failed the MOT the first time around on tyres. Apparently, when there was weight on the tyres there were cracks that opened up inside edge of the tyre which was a fair fail, I just hadn't noticed. Shame really as the tread on them was like new!

Anyway, the only company that make TRX tyres these days is Michelin and they only make one batch of them a year, with this in mind, they charge a lot for them! £1300 for a set of 4 to be precise.

I'm actually surprised that they still make any at all! I remember even back in the day TRX rims were an oddity that never took off.

As Cheryl an I have just moved house there was no way I'd get away with spending that on a set of tyres just now, so I sorted something a bit more reasonably priced

They don't look great but they're functional...



16" Alfa Romeo wheels are a straight swap onto the CX hubs so they were a no brainer for now...

Yeah they don't look original but look respectable and at least the car is on the road and can be enjoyed without breaking the bank! How did you figure out that Alfa Romeo rims would fit ? Were wheel rim specs fairly standardised in those days or did you just have to do a search based on the mounting dimensions ?

Anyway, I picked the car up on Thursday evening and headed straight for the Petrol station to wash the bird s**t off it as it had been sat under a tree at the garage. It was probably about 25 miles home from the garage. I came over the hills from Kirkintilloch into Bearsden and then down to Hardgate. I was being very gentle with it and letting everything warm up nicely. Whenever I started to hear it coming on boost I changed gear.

Once we got to the dual carriageway about 18 miles into the journey home I checked the LCD displays and everything was at normal temperature, the car was driving perfectly, and there wasn't another car about so I decided to give it some beans...

I left the lights heading onto the dual carriageway in 1st, then changed into 2nd and put my foot down, there was a bit of turbo lag where not much happened, then the turbo kicked in, the boost gauge shot up on the dash and the car TOOK off down the dual carriageway. It felt like you'd been punched in the kidneys. The power from the V6's is very linear, as is the TCT engine, however the way the CX comes on boost is savage

That's an old school turbo there, no smooth ECU controlled waste gate torque delivery, just some turbo lag then wham.

If you look at the specs it has less horsepower than the ES9J4 - 166bhp at 5000 rpm versus 194bhp at 5500 rpm, but it has a massive 294Nm at 3250rpm versus the 267Nm at 4000 rpm of the ES9J4. It's also a lighter car at 1370Kg fully equipped compared to 1496Kg for a Xantia V6!

0-60mph is claimed as 7.4 seconds which will beat an automatic Xantia V6 hands down, but is probably on a fairly even footing with a manual Xantia V6... It's right up there as one of the fastest 0-60 standard spec Citroens...

How did you find the rolly-polly cornering after being used to an Activa ? It takes some getting used to, although I've read that the roll bars on the Turbo models are a lot stiffer than the ones on lower spec CX's - I've only driven the lower spec models and they roll like a boat but they do get around the covers surprisingly well and seem to have a lot of grip!

I can't remember if you got all the spheres re-gassed or is there still more work to be done on the suspension yet ? Do you know if the rear suspension arm bearings have been done recently on the car ? They're notorious for wearing out quickly on the CX which results in the rear wheels leaning in, harder ride and it upsets the steering and handling as well as the rear wheels try to steer the car...

Looking forward to a chance to get to see it and get a ride in it later in the year... It's nearly 15 years since I was last in a CX! (The one I had went off the road for good in 2003...)

[Mandrake]

Looks great and V6 turbo sounds like fun David

The CX Turbo is actually a 2.5 litre in-line pushrod overhead valve 4 cylinder!

It does have the torque of a V6 though...

It's basically a direct descendant of the 2347cc DS engine that has been bored out to 2.5 litres in its CX incarnation and turbo charged...

[DHallworth]

I thought it was the GTi Turbo that was rated at 166 whereas the T2 was supposed to be closer to 200bhp, I might be wrong though.

The Activa power delivery is more linear but the CX feels quick as it's power is just raw and in your face

There's a few pictures on the net of the Alfa wheels fitted to them so I started searching for a set. They're off a post 2000 Alfa so fairly modern and there's a few sets around. Thankfully these were in Cumbernauld so fairly local too.

I've regassed all of the spheres apart from the rears as there wasn't enough room to get the valve on the sphere or the charging rig near it. I'll need to change the spheres on the back for new ones sometime. I didn't really try cornering it tbh, I drive most things fairly sedately but just push the Activa hard into the bends for a laugh as I know it can do it.

David.

[RichardW]

I remember a friend saying he had had a go in a GTI Turbo, was marvelling at how smooth it was giving it some beans, and then as he changed up into top looked down and realised it was doing over a ton!

[Skull]

Looks great and V6 turbo sounds like fun David

The CX Turbo is actually a 2.5 litre in-line pushrod overhead valve 4 cylinder!

It does have the torque of a V6 though...

It's basically a direct descendant of the 2347cc DS engine that has been bored out to 2.5 litres in its CX incarnation and turbo charged...

Cheers Mandrake

I think I got confused after a long read of the thread

[Mandrake]

Hopefully all is well in the Hallworth household ?

Haven't heard a peep out of you for some time!

Is the CX still getting some use or has it been shuttered for the winter already ?

[Stickyfinger]

Put in a box with "I hate all old cars" on it I would think

[CitroJim]

Put in a box with "I hate all old cars" on it I would think

You can't hate a CX Alasdair...

[DHallworth]

It certainly has been very quiet around our place of recent times, works been busy, lots of other car related projects on the go, etc.

The Activa has had some proper use this year, a trip down to the National, a track session at Castle Donington and then a run home saw it dust off 1000 miles in a weekend along with 4 tanks of V-Power

The CX has been used a handful of times and I'm sorry to say I'm not gelling with it, with this in mind and combined with the fact that I've got nowhere inside that it can live this year it's very like to have a for sale sign placed on it before the winter hits as the car cannot spend a winter outside, it's not fair on the car.

Both XM's haven't turned a wheel yet, the S2 is in the garage, however, due to other projects taking up space and time I've not even been able to get it out of the garage this summer.

Due to time constraints and life/work/etc. getting in the way giving me very little time, I'm seriously thinking about drastically thinning out the collection. I'd probably keep the Activa but the rest of them are winding me up at the moment. The other problem is, the C5 3.0 HDi does everything I need in a car so it's getting most of the use at the moment but as I only do 4k a year it spends most of it's time doing very little too.

The 407 Coupe that Cheryl's been using for the last 12 months is still in daily service and hasn't missed a beat. It's had a set of tyres, 2 rear drop links and a rear anti roll bar as it sheered when I changed the drop links, other then that, it's needed nothing other then diesel to cover 15k in the last 12 months!

Decisions, decisions!

David.