Elmas Xantia V6 and Musical Stuff

[elma]

Ergonomics in saabs certainly are very good. They are a car I've always fancied but never ended up with. I remember my dad's one fondly. I used to use fuel economy as the excuse for never having one but with a 3.0 v6 as the daily that's now void.

Kelvs is back to his normal self. He's being a noisy, bouncy pain in the butt and I'm overjoyed. Just got to watch he doesn't catch the stitches or overdo it.

Fancy fixing some car stuff today but leaving it well alone as kelv needs vets tomorrow and I'm taking no chances. I will be searching service Citroen for a berlingo heater matrix elbow to see if there's a chance it will fit.

[elma]

Just filled up the V6
I achieved 26mpg this week, 22mpg last week and 30mpg the week before. That's an average of 26mpg so far. Must service the car and lighten the right foot.

[mickeymoon]

Kelvs is back to his normal self. He's being a noisy, bouncy pain in the butt and I'm overjoyed. Just got to watch he doesn't catch the stitches or overdo it.
.

Brilliant news, I hope he continues to improve as much as he can!

[CitroJim]

I must look at fitting cruise to my 207...

[mickeymoon]

Saab as well, though that's one that very few people question anything about once they've spent more than ten seconds behind the wheel...Difference is that Lada got a lot of things right by sheer fluke, whereas Saab did so by very, very careful design and leaving absolutely nothing (even the colour of the dash lighting, which is designed to be the most visible to the dark adapted eye) to chance.

I agree that the Lada (well, my old Y plate 1200 saloon) had an extremely comfortable, if somewhat vinyl and sticky driving position. I hated the heavy steering though! Saab? I had 5 Classic 900s, and to be honest, I never really got on with the driving position because of the weird pedal offset, but I liked everything else about it. The ones I had that had cruise control were brilliant, as I could take my foot off the gas and have it more straight.

Worst car I ever owned for driving position was an Alfa 33 1.7 IE. Lovely engine, and surprisingly chuckable handling, but a bloody awful, awful driving position, really nasty.

[mickeymoon]

I must look at fitting cruise to my 207...

I think Mr. HellRazor is going to pass by mine with his Lexia and I'm going to attempt to swap the stalk over from the Berlingo, just as a tester. If it works, I'll buy another stalk. Shall update you with progress. Should I start a blog of tedium for this instead of keep invading others?

[elma]

Just filled up the V6
I achieved 26mpg this week, 22mpg last week and 30mpg the week before. That's an average of 26mpg so far. Must service the car and lighten the right foot.

Worked it out more exactly now I'm home
29.10 week 1 (Bp)
22.48 week 2 (Esso)
25.09 week3 (Shell)
Bp this week.

25.56 = Average of the three
But actually 25.71mpg over 3 weeks, done as one sum.

Got 4 rubbing brakes plus old oil and spark plugs so should be able to get up to a steady 30 with sensible driving which is what I'm after.
The hill on the way home is national speed limit and very fun with mild flowing bends. I'm not going to hit the sport button or overtake on it this week and see what the effect on economy is. As much fun as I have down that road I think the difference between the 29mpg week and the other two has a lot to do with it. With the coolant leak I'll not be driving as far this week but I'll just not fill up until I've used around 10 Gallons as per normal.

Thanks for the Kelvin support, it's helped during a difficult time.

[mickeymoon]

I'm not going to hit the sport button or overtake on it this week and see what the effect on economy is.

Good luck with that. I tried this "often" when I owned my V6s... including "I'll use the Berlingo for work this week to save fuel in the V6", which became "I'll use the Berlingo when I'm nights then wifey doesn't have to drive the V6 to work".. which became "I'll just use the V6 this week and go slowly"... which became high speed down B-roads at 5am on the way to work..

[elma]

I know what you mean.
I'll manage it though, I'm very head strong when I need to be.
I won't waste a penny until theres £1k in the spare account for any future Kelvin bills.

I wasn't expecting to buy the Vsx either, even when I suggested to Nigel to sell it rather than scrap it so I have an extra couple of hundred to catch up as well by the time I collect it. That won't be a strain but needs to be remembered each time I reach for the loony button, the tool catalogue or start thinking of Steak.

[mickeymoon]

That won't be a strain but needs to be remembered each time I reach for the loony button, the tool catalogue or start thinking of Steak.

Steal tools, be vegetarian, drive fast.

[elma]

We'll get there.

I don't really drive the Xantia fast yet as it's got Chinese H rated tyres on the front and Crap rear tyres, albeit the correct V rating.
Usually just put the cruise on at the speed limit and relax.
I do like seeing how fast I can hit the speed limit on the straights though, mostly for the noise.

I'm considering using the V6 all Summer then the Vsx all Winter and just alternating like that every year now.
6 months off the road each will give me plenty of opportunity to keep them both in top health.
They would still get warmed up and moved about the yard to keep anything seizing up.
Of all the ideas so far I think this is the best one for having 2 cars.
It would save me swapping to Winter tyres as well, just have them on the Vsx and summer tyres on the V6.

I always think it's good to have a spare car with an mot sat in the corner waiting to step in if no1 car has a problem.
Being single and far from home I don't have the option of borrowing anything if the work vans aren't here.

[CitroJim]

I must look at fitting cruise to my 207...

I think Mr. HellRazor is going to pass by mine with his Lexia and I'm going to attempt to swap the stalk over from the Berlingo, just as a tester. If it works, I'll buy another stalk. Shall update you with progress. Should I start a blog of tedium for this instead of keep invading others?

I shall follow his work with great interest

I'm considering using the V6 all Summer then the Vsx all Winter and just alternating like that every year now.
6 months off the road each will give me plenty of opportunity to keep them both in top health.
They would still get warmed up and moved about the yard to keep anything seizing up.
Of all the ideas so far I think this is the best one for having 2 cars.
It would save me swapping to Winter tyres as well, just have them on the Vsx and summer tyres on the V6.

An excellent plan - if you can stick to it... I've never been able to... That was the original plan for Gabriel and Activa but I love to use them all and have them all on the road simultaneously for just this reason:

I always think it's good to have a spare car with an mot sat in the corner waiting to step in if no1 car has a problem.

Hence the 207 as she is the family spare car, not just mine...

[elma]

Poor Kelvin has been up all night vomiting from both ends.
Been to the vets this morning and swapped his drugs as they are sure to be the cause.
He's got blood coming out and is incredibly sore, it's really breaking my heart.
Taking the day off to give him the love he needs, will have to make the hours up at the weekend but today I don't leave the boy for a minute.

Tried my new economical driving style on the way back from the vets up the winding hill.
Accelerated gently and did 50mph.
Got an idiot in a small VW van right up my rear who put their full beam lights on as if it would speed me up so I decided 30 would be safer, much to their frustration.
Plenty of space for a safe overtake on that road, anyone with sense would hang back 100m and build up speed for a safe overtake in a gap of which there were plenty.
I guess I'll have to get used to that sort of thing for now, I've obviously been accelerating more rapidly than I realised as in the Scenic I used to get tailgated even when driving flat out and this is the first time in the Xantia.

I've heard that there may be some more pictures of the Vsx up shortly. I'm quite excited to see some more of it and Nigels described a lot about the car to me in detail. I think it's going to be a really good car with a bit of love. There's even the potential it may be worth swapping the insurance to the Vsx for now to facilitate the work on the V6. We'll know for sure after I drive it home which is just over 100 miles. Potentially in convoy with the V6, I'll know later on. That would be an amazing spot in my opinion, S1 Vsx following an S1 V6. If you're out and about in a Xantia come and make it a trio.

[xantia_v6]

Don't drive the V6 so slowly that you don't enjoy it. You have to accept that they use fuel. You will not get much better than 33 MPG out of it anyway, especially of there are hills involved.

Sorry to hear about Kelvin, very difficult for all concerned.

[elma]

Snail speed is only a temporary thing until this coolant leak is fixed. I've not got hold of a spare elbow yet so I'm not wanting to push at all. Really the cars grounded until it's fixed but I have to use it for food and vets.
I don't mind the fuel bill too much but I want to find the right level of enthusiasm for 30mpg. When the vet bills recovered in a month or so I'll go back to not minding very much.
It puts a smile on my face even sat stationary. So comfortable and a noise that's just addictive