2000 BMW 523I SE for £650.

[Droverunner]

>>>every time I drove one, I couldn't help feeling id just driven a bog standard Toyota carina

When we started our car search that ended up with the CLK purchase we did look at other makes and Lexus were on the leftfield side of the shortlist. But whatever their trim level every one we looked at and sat in gave exactly that same feel as turbopete mentions.

 

[A.J.]

>>>every time I drove one, I couldn't help feeling id just driven a bog standard Toyota carina

When we started our car search that ended up with the CLK purchase we did look at other makes and Lexus were on the leftfield side of the shortlist. But whatever their trim level every one we looked at and sat in gave exactly that same feel as turbopete mentions.

As I said, it is horses for courses and for me it was one of the better cars that fitted into my budget at the time. I did enjoy the car whilst I had it and followed it up with an Audi A4 Avant, another one not particularly well liked on this forum LOL

 

[Craiglxviii]

I had forgotten the concrete dash !! You are right, it did lack torque, you did have to rev it to make any real progress

On Japanese powertrains there is a closely guarded secret. People think they press the accelerator pedal, a signal is passed to the engine, power increases and the car goes faster. Sadly that is far from the truth.

What actually happens is, a signal is passed to the Engine Room Annunciator. Tring-tring! The Bridge has asked for more speed! Very small stokers hurriedly twiddle valve wheels open to increase power. However they're clever- at the same time, they sound a noisemaker that is exactly like an engine revving! "This will make the Captain believe we are doing something" they think- and they're right. So, power is delivered smoothly, that nasty inefficient torque that needs high BMEP and heavy flywheels and so on is minimized, and the car's speed picks up.

Unsung heroes of the automotive efficiency revolution, those guys.

 

[bembo449]

I gave that for one just like it about 6 years ago so not exactly cheap imo

 

[LostKiwi]

On Japanese powertrains there is a closely guarded secret. People think they press the accelerator pedal, a signal is passed to the engine, power increases and the car goes faster. Sadly that is far from the truth.

What actually happens is, a signal is passed to the Engine Room Annunciator. Tring-tring! The Bridge has asked for more speed! Very small stokers hurriedly twiddle valve wheels open to increase power. However they're clever- at the same time, they sound a noisemaker that is exactly like an engine revving! "This will make the Captain believe we are doing something" they think- and they're right. So, power is delivered smoothly, that nasty inefficient torque that needs high BMEP and heavy flywheels and so on is minimized, and the car's speed picks up.

Unsung heroes of the automotive efficiency revolution, those guys.

Have to admit almost all of my Japanese cars have felt that way....
Mazda Xedos V6- Lovely engine - smooth, quiet but no torques hiding there...
Mazda 323F GT - Same engine as the 1.8 MX% - lovely smooth reliable and totally lacking in nasty torques.
Datsun Cherry (as referenced above) - No nasty torques here either!
Nissan Sunny 1.5 - None here either!
Landcruiser Colorado 3.4 V6 - You'd think you'd found where they were hiding but no... for the capacity of it and low BHP/litre not many hiding there either.
Mitsubishi Colt Turbo II - You'd think a turbo would have some torque yes? No. They weren't hiding there either!

The exceptions....
Daihatsu Charade Turbo - only 1 litre but the torque was actually quite good!

 

[Yugguy]

Japanese engines are notorious for lack of low-down torque.

They usually make up for it by being free-revving with lots of top-end power.

 

[Craiglxviii]

Japanese engines are notorious for lack of low-down torque.

They usually make up for it by being free-revving with lots of top-end power.

That's the stokers.

 

[Yugguy]

I like my hot hatches to be old skool though, screaming to a super-high rev limiter. Sure, today's turboed jobs might be ultimately faster but they're all just a bit meh.

 

[SL63 Mark]

[QUOTE="LostKiwi, post: 1560394
Mazda Xedos V6- Lovely engine - smooth, quiet but no torques hiding there...
QUOTE]

My neighbour's RX8 is like that, you have to rev the nuts off it to get any forward movement. Mind you it revs to 9,000 rpm and goes off like a scalded cat when you get over 8,500. Mercs V8K is exactly the opposite, mountains of torque from 1,000 RPM.

 

[A.J.]

[QUOTE="LostKiwi, post: 1560394
Mazda Xedos V6- Lovely engine - smooth, quiet but no torques hiding there...
QUOTE]

My neighbour's RX8 is like that, you have to rev the nuts off it to get any forward movement. Mind you it revs to 9,000 rpm and goes off like a scalded cat when you get over 8,500. Mercs V8K is exactly the opposite, mountains of torque from 1,000 RPM.

I think one of the issues with them though is that the fuel gauge is nearly as active as the rev counter !!

 

[John Laidlaw]

I had a Honda Prelude V-Tech 2.2 Motegi (4ws) once which was just loony tunes- valves opened up at 7000 and it turned into a 4 wheel motorcycle !

 

[SL63 Mark]

I think one of the issues with them though is that the fuel gauge is nearly as active as the rev counter !!

He absolutely loves it for some reason, I think it's the handling ? He's ex-RAF, and the engine noise is a bit turbine-like, so probably reminds him of a turbofan. He has had it at least 10 years. Repairs are costly, but he has found a local garage who will take care of it, though how they cope with that rotary engine I am not sure !. yes, MPG is pretty diabolical for such a small car, I have heard.

 

[A.J.]

yes, MPG is pretty diabolical for such a small car, I have heard.

Them and Scooby's

 

[turbopete]

Them and Scooby's

scoobys are just diabolical full stop. not helped by the pr!cks that drive them and fit dustbin sized tailpipes.

I'm not saying there was anything really wrong with the Lexus cars, its just that they didn't FEEL any more special than the humdrum Toyotas. nicer sounding engines (when you could hear them!) yes, but they still felt very .... disconnected (steering too light and felt like it wasn't connected to the wheels, and Toyotas were, at the time, exactly the same)

compared to, say, the mk3 Mondeo and the Jag X type (when Ford owned Jag) which was, largely, the same car underneath (even sharing engines and transmissions in many cases) but felt TOTALLY different

 

[LostKiwi]

though how they cope with that rotary engine I am not sure

Rotary engines are great. Very simple and with a very 'graceful' failure mode. Usually when they fail (typically tip seals) they will continue to run quite happily but refuse to restart once turned off. For that reason they're popular for small aircraft and the like (as well as the smoothness, compact size and very high power per kg). They also tend to have less combustion contaminants so the oil remains clean for far longer.
Very easy to strip and rebuild too.

 

[A.J.]

scoobys are just diabolical full stop. not helped by the pr!cks that drive them and fit dustbin sized tailpipes.

And they always have to drive with their windows wound down !!

 

[LostKiwi]

I reckon those Subarus would be really quick if they reconnected that spark plug lead that's fallen off....

 

[Craiglxviii]

I reckon those Subarus would be really quick if they reconnected that spark plug lead that's fallen off....

And fixed the blowing exhaust...

 

[Lord_Lucan]

You can lease Infinitis really cheaply at the moment. Probably because they're trying to break in to the market.

They're taking their sweet time....I was working at Nissan Technical Centre in 2009 when we had the first infiniti in the workshop to ogle.....here we are in 2017 and most people haven't even heard of the brand.

 

[keefysher]

Was Infinity not the last work of W Edwards Deming at the time of his death? Or am I thinking of another product brand