prometheus

Personally, I think that unless you live less than 500m from a beach (salt in the seaspray etc) , getting rustguard is probably a waste of money.

The original poster could buy a Falcon instead and then get hammered even more in depreciation and regularly have to go back to the dealer on a regular basis to fix all manner of electrical and mechanical problems.

I got the collapsed roof lining of my 1996 Camry done at a Motor Trimmer at 511 Melbourne Rd , Newport (VIC) earlier in the year for $200 and they seemed to do a fair job.

I have tried Shell E10 and basically calculated that with the loss of mileage on this fuel , it would have to be about 10cents or more cheaper than Regular 91 RON Unleaded to be worthwhile using.

Being that currently E10 is only around 5 cents cheaper than 91 RON , using it is false economy.

One thing I find interesting is how few Ford FPV's you see on the road.

FPV models

Wow - for around 1/3 the cost of that engine alone, I can get my Honda Civic to lap around Eastern Creek quicker than that Ford ever will...

Looking for a sponsor who wants to help with building an IPRA U2L car? anyone? anyone?

Hmmmm .... how so ? Care to elaborate ?

Get an XR6T and then get it fully sick modified/tuned to produce over 1000 hp.

1000hp + XR6T

I haven't driven a Mazda 6 , but in every review I've read about them , the journo or reviewer seems to say that despite the Mazda 6 being a good , fun car to drive that they are sub-par when it comes to NVH (Noise , Vibration , Handling (Handling seems to be a Mazda 6 strongpoint actually)

It all comes down to personal preference and what you think after taking the cars on a test drive.

I think the best options would be one of.

1) Mazda 6 Classic hatch (newer model but may get a demo vehicle for cheap prices instead) , the sedan isnt as nice looking but supposed to be a bit quieter. A good car , noisier than an Aurion.

2) Ford Mondeo diesel Zetec wagon (pricing is unknown if I can get demo vehicle plus roomy interior) , some people in the Whirlpool forum rave about them. Possibly higher servicing costs due to being a diesel.

3) Toyota Aurion Touring sedan (might get ATX but not that keen on it) , a good balance of power , economy , reliability and service costs.

im sure if you search up teflon engine protectants, you'd find a whole threads with millions of post about people debating whether or not they work.

its a grey area so dont expect a straight foward answer, more like - use at your own risk.

Fair enough.

Realistically , if you have regular service intervals and use decent oil anyway , the need for extra products is just an extra cost with probably minimal benefit , particularly if you are just using your car as a daily driver.

I had a wander through Supercheap today and noticed a few products of the " Liqui Moly " brand.

In particular the Liqui Moly - Engine Protect , from memory it was selling at around the $35 mark.

I got hold of a brochure , apparently this brand is made in Germany.

Has anyone heard much about the brand and the Engine Protect product in particular ?

Anyone tried it ?

Any comments , thoughts ?

cheers.

You are right about cars loving the cold weather.

My 96 4cyl Camry seems to have been driving better the last few weeks with the colder weather too.

I read this in the Australian Ford Forum , thought it was interesting and worth sharing.

Air Intakes

CAI: Cold air intake, great for reducing intake temperatures, great for power.

HAI: Hot air intake (ok i made the term up), but here is how it works:

Hotter air going into your engine makes for more efficient motoring, by increasing flame propagation in the cylinders and taking heat away from your cylinder walls.

The ecu in an engine has whats known as an IAT sensor, abbreviated from Intake Air Temperature, the varying air temperature has an effect on how much fuel is pumped in.

The hotter the air, the less fuel is squirted in with each injector cycle

The colder the air, the more fuel is squirted in.. See where this is going?

So by having hotter air flowing into your engine, you will lose a little power but gain on your economy and your throttle response somewhat.

To do this effectively you can cut holes in the side of your air box before the filter, redirect your intake to suck air from around your exhaust extractors, or an area in your engine bay where there is a lot of hot air.

From My link

Thoughts ??

Im pretty sure that there is a nut on the back of the cigarette lighter assembly that you can tighten.

I've used the Nulon Total Fuel System cleaner and Valvoline fuel injector cleaner in the past.

I saw the Fuel Doctor product at Supercheap but didn't buy it because I thought the packaging looked cheap.

Will have to give it a try next time.

Can you show us a pic of the boot open , Id like to see how much space the batteries take up.

There is a little leprechaun that Toyota instauls in all Presaras who's job it is to adjust your mirrors and seat.

With all the other Aurion models the leprechaun is an optional extra.

This reminds me of a segment on the Australian version of Top Gear where they raced a Commodore V8 of some description (forget which specific model) around the track on low profile tyres and a set of higher profile tyres.

With the higher profile tyres, the car handled better and got a faster time around the track.

I was at a servo filling up with petrol today and the dude behind me that was filling up as well had a nice red Sportivo ZR6.

After I paid, he was still filling up so I went over and asked him what his fuel economy was like.

He mentioned that he had recently bought the car (second hand) and it had an engine knock when he test drove it , and had stipulated to the dealership he would buy the car provided they fixed the knock problem.

Apparently they had just replaced the whole engine.

Not sure whether it was after he bought it and it kept knocking or before he bought it.

My heart says , Aurion ... more power,better acceleration, smoother and I think , more features in the base model (at least) and still decent fuel economy.

My head says Camry , (slightly ?) cheaper to run , but it would probably have to be a Sportivo , I don't think I could settle for a Altise after driving a 1996 CSi for a long long time.

My car is still ok to drive but sooner or later (2- 3 years max) I'm gonna have to bite the bullet.... by then the next model will probably be out.

Maybe not so much that it is unreliable , but that there are inherent design faults.

The design of the car has been such that rattles are more likely to happen.

Could be worse , you could have bought a Ford/Holden.

Interesting , so in reality , if driven sensibly an Aurion's fuel economy would not be all that different.

If I was not satisfied with the treatment from a dealer , I would get a large piece of light yellow cardboard or paper from Officeworks and write on it something like.

"This dealer sold me a car with dash rattles and now will not cover the fault under warranty" and then place this on the indside of the car , both front and back after parking it in front of the dealership.

Then I'd sit back with a coffee and wait.

I reckon the dealer would change their mind pretty quick.