Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

In the sticks no public transport commuter?

Leaving this here

The other is the Abarth 595 which I far prefer due to its size and cos its fun too.

I'm thinking about one of these. Good for long trips too?

Hired one of these in Spain a couple of weeks ago in the 595 Convertible guise. City driving and on to the Motorway, my goodness I thought i'd made a big error, harsh, noisy and uncomfortable. Country roads, glorious.
The carrying capacity was Ok, once seats down at the back, for a couple of suitcases and a MTB

Most of the roads were quiet and well tarmaced. So could use the Sport mode for what it was designed for.

https://youtu.be/roxzC_8gyZY
>

I'm kind of tempted by a 595 - the leases on them seem pretty reasonable. I see them blatting around West and they sound great and look a lot of fun.

Is it a no go for motorways (for example a reasonably regular m25-> M40, 3 hour jaunt)?

I used to drive a 126 on the motorway- 652cc. It’s more fun with 5.5 litres, but anything’s possible.

Is it a no go for motorways (for example a reasonably regular m25-> M40, 3 hour jaunt)?

I would say so, the noise is intrusive, and the one I had had no cruise. You feel cats eyes and and every bump. This is coming from someone who drives and A2 as his daily (renowned for harsh ride)

There is!

Though it would take around 2 hours, and the earliest I would be able to get into work is 9:45.

Who knew the Irish public transport system was so, relaxed?

To prevent ‘vampire’ loads I suppose? Or anti-theft?

Mainly the first but the anti-theft thing is increasingly useful as they're very pinchable these days. You can get keyed ones like this:
https://www.landroverdefendersecurity.com/collections/lrd-battery-switches/products/keyed-battery-isolator

I think people often conclude it's easier to fit an isolator switch than figure out where the juice is going. Yours sounds like a case in point :)

My red defender had an isolator switch fitted because it had some real weird parasitic draw going on. Also if you forgot to isolate it and came back a couple of days later it’d smell of electrical fire 😂 ...

Boring car question - my 04 Citroen Berlingo 1.6 petrol cut out on Saturday while i was driving.
A month ago it did a similar thing (i had stopped the engine then but when i went to restart, it cut out immediately). I coasted to a lovely halt right outside my house, and then the car wouldn't restart a couple of times but then it was fine again. Each time the engine starts up and the revs climb as normal, but then they drop down and the car stalls straight away. There isn't any check engine light or anything.
So in my head, if it starts (and I can keep it going with my foot on the gas) it can't be fuel or spark. So it must be a vacuum leak or a sensor problem? But with no check engine light? I have a fault reader, would it store old faults that might have rectified themselves ( I'm thinking like a loose connection/ground in a sensor)?

I have had a "similar" problem with my E30, suddenly one day the idle dropped down to almost stalling (annoying vibration etc.). Opened the hood and one of the air vacuum hose was disconnected and it is too old to stay in place so ziptied it for now and waiting for a new one from my local garage so might be worth checking vacuum hoses for a leak

rad!

How old is the fuel filter?

dunno, had the car since Xmas, its due a big service soon (its on 72K miles). my first thought was fuel pump (or relay) but then I don't think it would start and stay on with the gas pedal down?

i guess this is the best bet. i'll be happier when i can cause the problem rather than it being so intermittent.

I'm thinking some crap clogs the filter while fuel is flowing, making a restart difficult, but then after a while the particles drop away allowing fuel to flow again until it flows hard enough to suck it all back into the filter again. Doesn't quite fit your "dies if idled" description though.

well it could be, it is due for replacement i think- haynes says every 40000 miles.

Could be fuel pump going. Could also be an idle speed stepper motor... Total guess work though. Just sounds like what a lot of older Peugeot's do that share engines with cits...

yes dude. amazing first car!

sorry late to this , had my 595 for a year now and it is epic .
Motorways are a chore mainly because you know you could be having more fun elsewhere.
I regularly do Oxford to Pembrokeshire cross country and it's a fucking hoot.
Mines a standard 595 with a remap so circa 175bhp and didn't go for the lairy stickers and even asked for the smaller wheels as the big ones "tramline" in my opinion and are a bit crashy.
Its loud and a bit lacking in subtlety but so much fun and much quicker than people think .
Space is not an issue either ( but then my other car is an Alfa GTV !)

Boring car question - my 04 Citroen Berlingo 1.6 petrol cut out on Saturday while i was driving.

A month ago it did a similar thing (i had stopped the engine then but when i went to restart, it cut out immediately). I coasted to a lovely halt right outside my house, and then the car wouldn't restart a couple of times but then it was fine again. Each time the engine starts up and the revs climb as normal, but then they drop down and the car stalls straight away. There isn't any check engine light or anything.
So in my head, if it starts (and I can keep it going with my foot on the gas) it can't be fuel or spark. So it must be a vacuum leak or a sensor problem? But with no check engine light? I have a fault reader, would it store old faults that might have rectified themselves ( I'm thinking like a loose connection/ground in a sensor)?

Crank position sensor I reckon.

maybe i should do a sweepstake

Dirty throttle housing or air mass sensor

You near london?

I have have the cit/pug cables and software.

http://www3.telus.net/bc_triumph_registry/smoke.htm is what was escaping and needing the occasional top up.

Also all Landies have had people add wiring, then wiring to the wiring, then repairs to the wiring. Hence handy to have an isolator. Durite get my seal of approval. https://www.arc-components.com/0-605-05-durite-12v-24v-battery-isolator-switch-with-removable-key-150a.html