4.3 v 4.7 - real-world differences

[Nigel_O]

Having lived with my 4.3 V8V for six months now, I'm still truly smitten with it and can't really see me having anything else - or so I thought....

As with most cars bought at entry-level prices, there are a couple of things I'd like to do to it to make it REALLY good. After three days of paint correction, the paintwork is now 8/10, but it needs a respray to be perfect again. The suspension is still the original from 2007 and while it's not clunking, bouncing or leaking, I suspect it's not as good as it once was. TBH, for someone without my mild OCD and desire to be spot-on, it's perfectly tolerable, but idle browsing in the PH classifieds is a dangerous way to spend a Saturday morning....

Here's the man-maths...

I figure a decent respray and a set of springs and shocks is going to be somewhere between £7k - £10k, depending on where it is done. With the work I've done on it since buying it, I reckon my car is worth £30 - £34k, depending on where / when I try to sell it. I reckon a £7k - £10k spend is going to add maybe £2k - £4k to the value of the car. So - if I'm looking to spend up to £10k, why don't I just sell it as it stands and get into an early 4.7? I can see that they are now available from about £40k (although I've just seen one at £30k!!)

I've done enough reading to know the spec differences between the 4.3 and the 4.7, so I don't really need to know about that, but I'd be really interested to hear any first-hand experiences from anyone that's done the upgrade - how differently do they drive? Any difference in handling? Is the extra 40bhp really worth it? etc etc

[Nigel_O]

OGR4M said:

I am here as a purely impartial advisor, with absolutely no bias and definitely don’t know the OP or share his surname.

Based on my independent research you should simply man up and buy one.

Thank you for your time.

Despite my youngest son trying deperately to get me to spend his inheritance, I think I'm going to stick with the 4.3 for a while longer. This has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the 4.7 I had my eye on has been sold.....

Whilst the extra mid-range grunt of the 4.7 would have been welcome, it's not like the 4.3 is terribly deficient. Also the Yorkshireman in me can't see that £10k for 400cc and 40bhp is worth it.

One of my main reasons for buying a V8V was to slow down a bit - my previous car (beserk Fiat Coupe) was just too fast to enjoy properly on the public highway. Despite being FWD, it was faster over a quarter mile than a 4.7 and once rolling, it would be way faster. It had to be doing north of 150 before it felt like it was working hard, so it was a custodial sentence waiting to happen.

By comparison, the V8V is entertaining at much less loopy speeds and in fact I often find myself cruising at under the speed limit, just becuase I can.

Thanks for all the input on this thread - it's much appreciated.

Still keeping an eye on the classifieds though....

[Nigel_O]

According to Autodata, the 4.7 is 60kg heavier than the 4.3, which is about the same as a tank of fuel