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

I put second bottle of injector cleaner in the Subaru and petrol consumption has improved significantly, looking at ~500kms per tank as opposed to ~400-450kms. Sounds bloody lovely too. I have been getting the occasional thunk under the go pedal under acceleration, the internet tells me this is probably a worn bushing or mount which checks out. A few did look to be near the end of their life when the car was originally checked out.

Anyway, it hasn't blown up yet. 🙏

Saw this today in Auckland, NZ- nice house too!

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Yeah nice. Are you heading anywhere else in NZ? There is a great car scene

We’re going to the Bay of Islands and coromandel- seen some lovely cars today, new and old👌

Wow! 👀🍆

Cheers for sharing that.

Pretty accessible and not a hard fix.

I'll check out the parts cost as if it's inexpensive it might be worth changing anyway.

Wow, that is a Celica gtv. Those who don't know it is the Celica GT but lighter/basic interior and better suspension. Jdm only I think.

The only car that had wind down windows in the rear quarters.

The only car that had wind down windows in the rear quarters.

OG Mustang had these

Love that and especially love the full space house speakers on the rear shelf. I proper period mod.

Our Clio 3 is dying, and it's starting not to be economical to be hit by a big bill every year.
I rarely drive it, partner does the most to the outer rim of London.

What's good to replace it with? I still want an R53 Cooper S, but she likely won't. She used to have a '10 plate Polo.

What's equivilent but a bit bigger to move two bikes potentially? Quiet is a must.

Jazz is the standard answer

Spent some time driving around Winchester today trying to find a charger- this felt extremely dumb, burning up power whilst searching for a free charger that didn’t have someone parked in front of it.

Give you €100 for the Clio ;)

Cooper S I'd say go for it. But definitely won't fit a bike in.

How about a clubman? But check out prince engine issues.

Honda FRV?
Nissan Cube?
Honda Stepwagon from the forum.

Golf or a Cooper S - give her a chance to shoot you down first.

Depending on what year you get I still have a boot bike rack for an R56 that I haven't got around to getting rid of. You could have it for a donation to Uncef. I won't get round to getting rid of it for a while.

Alternatively the OEM roof bars are Thule. So lots of options there.

Only car I have ever owned that had that feature.

Keep looking at Prince engined mini and 1 series BMW....

She utterly hates it. Me, I think it'd make a great camping shitbox!

@hugo7 The 56 leaves me a bit cold compared to a 53 with a uprated pulleys, however, the lay of the land is it needs to be newer and quieter, so the 56 it might be. I hear they like eating timing chains?
I'm assuming by your very very generous offer is you've had one? I know very little about them. What's life like with one?

@lynx clubman 55 would be pretty good tbh

I spent quite a lot of time researching the R56 engines as we nearly bought a Countryman Cooper S.

BMW prince engine also in Peugeots. Long story short is buy as new as one as possible as they improved the tensioners etc as time went on. Listen out for the rattle on start up. Or buy one with the chains replaced already. Also check coolant levels as they can leak. Clutch is an engine out job too.

Tbh in the end I couldn’t find a decent enough one. There is a reason a lot of them are very cheap.

Also the standard 3 door mini hatch has a woeful sized boot

Hmm. Food for thought indeed. The one aspect I really need is reliability. Partner has a tendency to ignore noises or warning lights till it escalates.

What did you go for in the end?

R53 fan, she’ll forgive you, they’re really great fun. I’m not sure many would take a 56 over a 53 in terms of reliability if that’s paramount?

We ended up for a 1.2 TSI Yeti which I suppose is the closest VAG offering to the Countryman. It’s practical and handles well but it’s no Cooper S.

Skoda Fabia could be a good alternative or a Golf with the right engine.

They can also suffer from timing chain issues too but some less likely.

That is the thing, how bad is the prince engine. I know a number of traders won't buy a Citroen/pug with the prince engine. Even tho PSA engines were built in France and the BMW engines were built in England.

Looking at minis, the timing chain replacement is doable DIY, and can be 60,000 miles. Greatest issue is that the cars went 10k between services and no one checked the oil level between services.

Then there is the carbon build up on the inlet...but that can be cleaned in situ.
But at a certain point all the fucked ones are gone now.
I mentioned I keep looking in the hope the @NurseHolliday would recommend a forum I could annoy with questions.

What's life like with one?

I really liked it. Just a One though. Perfect for a couple, solid for long drives, nice size wise. Sure the boot is small, but it fits a carry-on and weekend bag anything extra can go on the back seats.

Swapped it with my folks Golf when we were expecting our first. No issues in my time other than the windscreen washer bottle filling with debris, so either you had to be diligent with using bought premix fluid or have it cleaned every few years. My folks had the clutch replaced which made it feel great. Unfortunately a delivery van crashed into it and wrote it off shortly after.

Also the standard sterio is insainely expensive to upgrade as its basically been designed so you can't, which means replacing all of it. So you're best getting one with the Harman Kardon option or whatever the fancy one was called. I believe the R53 can just have the front speaker sets upgraded (plus amp and/or sub if you want) without complications.

That said the issues with the prince engine would put me off one.

You'd definitely need to be ontop of warning lights. Also the dipstick is appalling, so worth getting an aftermarket one - not expensive.