320touring's 2001 Vectra SRi 150 daily beater

[320touring]

poing said:

That was actually really good, you're pretty natural talking to the camera. Can you give lessons to the PH team and that bloke with his Polo in the GG video section? Although it'll be fun to see if any of our southern members struggle with the accent

Love the honesty about it's downsides too, far too many people only promote the good bits, it was interesting how much of a letdown the Alfa was considering it's the one brand you must own at some point to be a car fan apparently. The last Alfa I dove was nice enough but couldn't been any European car to be honest, I just haven't been brave enough to say it for fear of finding a horses head in my bed from the rather protective Alfa fans.

Great road that, I won't give away the secret.

Thanks- really appreciate the feedback

I reckon if I spent a bit more and got a 2.5v6 with no bangs or clunks from the suspension, I'd be a happy pup - the 156 is a revelation in handling for a family saloon!

Yeah its a cracking wee road- I even put the road vids in a different order to mix it up a bit.. Its an ideal de-stress routine after a boring day at the office.

I assume you're fairly local yersel?

[320touring]

poing said:

That explains a few things on the road but it seemed to change with the camera so figured it was just slightly bad editing skills, very sneaky!

These days it's a 4 hour drive south to get there but used to live in Edinburgh and was introduced to the road by a friend who knew I liked to drive, his father lived on it and he wanted a lift home before we went to a concert somewhere not far away. I didn't know the road existed until that point. Haven't been on it for a few years but you've just given me an idea for some spare time on June

Happy to meet for a hoon then

[320touring]

Tried to swap over the discs on the front of this today.

I was late to start, so when the first disc retaining screw decided to strip(despite penetrating oil and a decent tap with a hammer) I decided to sack it off.

luckily the discs seem to have cleaned up ok with the new pads, and very little lip showing, so they'll keep for when I can be arsed to drill out screws..



why can't every car be as simple as a CX to work on?!

[320touring]

Had this up at Crail today..

Its about as exciting to drive as watching the Great British Sewing Bee..

Best run of the day was a 17.5, about 82 mph terminal

Have a vid of the first run

https://youtu.be/JIFrdUjGd9c

Edited by 320touring on Sunday 29th May 23:42

[320touring]

This has temporarily shifted to be the burd's daily, as her Clio 172 needs knocking into shape for an MOT.

so, out with the e30 316 auto for my commute.

first day in, on the way home:



which neccesitated the adoption of a #swampcooler exhaust..



and proves why you should only buy touring e30s

that said it sounded great!
https://youtu.be/NkAKaNTHVgU

[320touring]

Buff Mchugelarge said:

sounds great!

aye, cannae beat carb fed for induction sounds

however, the short exhaust killed the power, so nae passing dawdlers on the backroads when nursing it hame

[320touring]

The Bland Barge has passed into the hands of the Burd, and sees a 36 mile commute most days at the moment. She's not light with the ole throttle, but it seems to manage a respectable 36mpg in rush hour traffic. It has wormed its way into her affections by being unerringly reliable, and suitably punchy for dealing with backroad dawdlers.

Despite not being a patch on the Clio 172 in either go or handling stakes, it is proving itself most adequate at fulfilling whatever is asked of it. Such loyalty and good service should not go unrewarded, so she's had an oil and filter change, plus the glory of 2 part worn tyres on the front.



Luckily the wear looks even across both fronts, so I'm happy that the tracking is ok. Pretty much bang on the 1.6mm wear markers on the old tyres



Shifting from Autogrips to part worn Continentals has really improved the front end grip and feel - turn in is much more positive.

As a reward, she's currently on a blast to Nottingham with us - taking me to one of my favourite haunts, and a favourite tipple, all at 41mpg!

[320touring]

On the Pug 205 collection mission, this 2.2 did 428 miles on 45.86 litres of unleaded..



travelling at 70mph, 42.43 mpg is most acceptable from a heavily loaded medium hatchback!

[320touring]

This is still in daily service - having passed 7k miles in our ownership. All it has had are some pads and 2 tyres at the front. I have front discs to fit, but not had the time yet, and rear pads will need doing soon


Currently stands me at 18p a mile including servicing/parts and purchase (but excluding tax and insurance) once you factor in my expenses when I was using it for work, it drops to 13p per mile. pretty damn good. Should tip over 100k miles this week


It's still the burd's beater, and seems to take it in its stride. Seems to have a bit of a fondness for oil - but that seems to be an "they all do that, sir" problem with this 2.2 lump.


All in all, a bargain, reliable way to motor in relative comfort - so much so, it got its 2nd wash tonight, and even had wax applied!

[320touring]

The Vectra got to meet Grandad tonight..

always a surprise what you encounter when oot n aboot

[320touring]

Mr Scruff said:

One of those funny things, Readers Cars. I think I enjoy reading more about the bangernomics side of things than I do about the supercars! I think it's because I'm bloody terrible at it, I like watching others doing it successfully.

The easiest way to learn is jump right in and try. £2-500 on a snotter, oneday a month doing little jobs to build your confidence and next thing you know you'll be on an engine swap

benjijames28 said:

Love these banger threads, it really makes me want to get in on the action. Im pretty sure if my car ever died I would sell it for parts and just start fresh with an old banger.

When you look at it logically i really don't do enough miles to justify so much of my income on a car.

get a cheap snotter as an aside just now- 500 on the car and 500 on new pads/discs/cambelt and waterpump/service items plus some basic tools.

For less than 5 months payment on a new car you'll have an old one that
you're confident in because you've done the work..

[320touring]

benjijames28 said:

Currently the plan is to pay off what I owe on my Audi, then I'm going to buy a family friendly another, clean it up and give it the girlfriend as her first car when she passes her test.

What's more likely to happen is I end up in the snotter and she takes the Audi.

Bonnes Chances squire

[320touring]

Barchettaman said:

+1. Banger and shed threads are the best. They usually have the funniest writing, too - maybe a warped sense of humour goes with the territory!

lol!warped will likely cover it..

Jimmy Recard said:

1990s Vauxhalls definitely were oil users. A salesman would say that it was a feature to keep oil changes easy, at a guess

The thought had occurred- just pop a new filter in every 6 k..total loss oiling ftw

[320touring]

This is off to pastures new as of this evening..

All in all,a pleasant ownership experience,if not a particularly stimulating drive.

I'd have another if it were cheap enough.Great on petrol, plenty of room and comfortable enough. Could have done with another 50bhp and something approaching handling.

[320touring]

Alan_I_W said:

Why're you selling it? And how much for if you don't mind me asking?

Sorry its already sold and collected!

SHutchinson said:

Get yourself a nice V6 GSi estate to run around in. The parts are dirt cheap, the engine is pretty strong (200bhp on the facelift plus the better F23 gearbox as opposed to the pre-facelift with circa 160bhp and the leggy F25) and the load area is big enough to sleep in.

A pal of mine has just picked one up for £400 and after a bit of fettling it's making me a bit envious.

I would, except the chassis is ropey enough with 150bhp, 200 would be a bit lairy;)

For a couple of hundred more, an Alfa 156 with the 2.5 busso v6 would likely be the winner in my books!

[320touring]

Alan_I_W said:

I wasn't looking to buy I was just curious

No problemski

Sold it as have a new job and need a diesel. I already have the replacemnt.

I covered my costs on it to be fair, and put almost 10k on it

[320touring]

Alan_I_W said:

Not bad at all, what's the replacement?

Aye have had worse results..may pap up a thread for the new brief soon

[320touring]

rxe said:

Only just seen this thread. My mother drives a 2.0 Vectra in the same colour - I think it is 130 HP, the damn thing would be terrifying with 150. As you say, a reliable, but utterly uninspiring drive. I can't help but think your Alfa was utterly shagged in the suspension department if it was in any way comparable to a Vectra.

Never said my Alfa was comparable?Alfa has a much better setup and better handling-my 200 quid 156 was much better.

All I was saying was that I'd rather have a v6 156 over a vectra gsi!

[320touring]

benjijames28 said:

You must be doing some right mileage now to warrant getting yourself a diesel.

Please don't tell me it's a BMW 320d.

Indeed it is not it is a thing of exquisite beauty and extraordinary taste..

I totally blew the budget on it too

[320touring]

SHutchinson said:

The chassis is fine for 200bhp. They used to race them in the Vectra challenge series which was a warm-up race for the super saloon era of BTCC. These days though, most are abused and on Chinese tyres so I'm not surprised they might feel a bit spongy.

Yeah that was the white ones that they did as a limited edition?