Griff to Cerb

[jam1et]

Ok, we've a baby on the way (well its a couple of days late actually), seriously thinking of changing to cerb late this year. My bro-in-law did the same thing last year. He swapped to a '96 4.2 with FTVRSH its done 38k and Peninsula just discovered an unrepairable crack in the block. The bill? A cool 6 grand!

I look in the classifieds and see clutches going at 14k, gearboxes at 17k and engine re-builds at 24k .

I understand that cerbs are very high performance cars and that servicing/maintenance costs will be higher than my Griff. (I'm also sure there's loads of people out there who have never had to have all of these jobs done). But am I seriously looking at having a new clutch every 18 months (I'll do about 8-10k a year)? And the cost?

Whilst I'm here does anyone have the cars dimensions (including mirrors)? as I need to check it would fit in my garage before I get too excited.

[yiw1393]

Think it's about 30 cm longer than my Chim (4350mm??)

Jamie, it's going to cost a shedload you just know it will. Your Griff and my Chim will look very,very reasonable to run in comparison. Sure reading the Cerb forum and it's all breakdowns and repair bills, but bear in mind there's a lot of happy owners who don't post and have no problems.

You've got at least nine months before Junior will fit in the forward facing seat in the Cerb anyway, and believe me, when Junior arrives, the running costs will make a Cerb look reasonable

Good Luck by the way, Louise was 7 days late and 18 hours in labour, take a good book!

[GarryM]

yiw1393 said:

Good Luck by the way, Louise was 7 days late and 18 hours in labour, take a good book!

Nice one Rich! If I'd taken a book to read whilst my better half was going through all of that, I think the midwife would have been delivering it from me after junior was born

[SGirl]

We did precisely this - swapped a Griff for the Cerb.

Never looked back - except to check for flashing blue lights, of course. Neither car has required any major work so far (says she, grabbing a tree!!), except the Cerb needed a clutch just before we bought it. Which was nice as the dealership had to replace it. You just need to follow all the advice in these hallowed forums and shop wisely.

Performance-wise, the Griff is quick. The Cerb is quicker and also nicer to drive IMHO. And it means we can take SBaby out in the car with us, instead of locking him in the boot when we fancy a blast.

Would we do the same again? Definitely! If you want any more info you can always mail me through my profile.

Edited to add: Tell Mrs Jam1et to eat a hot curry - apparently that can speed things up. There are other things to try too, but I don't want this post to be binned so I'm not going to tell you what they are! Good luck!

>> Edited by SGirl on Wednesday 18th February 12:02

[davidd]

Yep we did this, very early Cerb whihc is fantastic..

D.

[Plotloss]

Just get as late as you possibly can, 2000 or later if possible.

[yiw1393]

GarryM said:

yiw1393 said: Good Luck by the way, Louise was 7 days late and 18 hours in labour, take a good book! Nice one Rich! If I'd taken a book to read whilst my better half was going through all of that, I think the midwife would have been delivering it from me after junior was born

Louise had an epidural and fell asleep halfway through! Left me frantically watching the monitor trace!

[jam1et]

Plotloss said:

Just get as late as you possibly can, 2000 or later if possible.

Any particular reason? Are you refering to the change in the speed 6 engine design (can someone elaborate on this please)? Sorry I spend most of my time on the griff forum and I've only just started researching cerbs. I havent yet got any opinions on engine type although after having driven my bro-in-laws I did quite like the 4.2 (although a bit dissapointed at the sound as compared to my 4.0 grif but I suppose a sports pipe could alter this). I'll have to drive a few more though before any decisons are made (lifes such a chore isnt it?)

[arcbeer]

Even with sports pipes it will not sound as good as your Griff. It still sounds good though, just in a different sort of way to the Rover V8's.

Length overall 4280 mm
Width (inc. mirrors) 1865 mm
Height overall 1220 mm
Ground clearance 130 mm
Front track 1464 mm
Rear track 1470 mm
Wheelbase 2566 mm
Fuel capacity 65 litres
Weight 1100 kg (Speed Six 1130 kg, porky)

[FourWheelDrift]

arcbeer said:

Weight 1100 kg (Speed Six 1130 kg,porky)

[Plotloss]

jam1et said:

Plotloss said: Just get as late as you possibly can, 2000 or later if possible. Any particular reason? Are you refering to the change in the speed 6 engine design (can someone elaborate on this please)? Sorry I spend most of my time on the griff forum and I've only just started researching cerbs. I havent yet got any opinions on engine type although after having driven my bro-in-laws I did quite like the 4.2 (although a bit dissapointed at the sound as compared to my 4.0 grif but I suppose a sports pipe could alter this). I'll have to drive a few more though before any decisons are made (lifes such a chore isnt it?)

Nah, I mean the proper Cerb

Seems there were numerous improvements around 2000 that made it a more complete package if you see what I mean.

There is a good post on Jools' site about buying Cerbs...

[davidd]

A cerb can be made to sound good, but as has been said, it will never sound like a rover V8 car.

My 4.2 decat (with limited effect from the back box) sounds pretty pants in teh car at idle, but ok outside, however when 'i'm on it' abit it does sound awesome.

D.

[jam1et]

Yeah, I appreciate it'll never sound like the griff but I can live with that.

Thanks for the dimensions.

I see no one has mentioned clutches, I'm not sure if thats a good or bad thing . If I seach for 'clutch' problems on the forum I get more results than you can shake a stick at. However, I guess any advice will be to just shop around, drive lots of them and buy the best/latest one I can find and maybe find one thats already had a recent clutch or engine work carried out. Out of interest, would a standard dealer warranty (if there is such a thing) cover the clutch?

>> Edited by jam1et on Wednesday 18th February 16:58

[yiw1393]

Depends how good the warranty is. Most should, or at least a part of the £1600 cost to replace.