MJBs V6 Review

[Captain Jack]

Hopefully Captain Jack will have that bumper off me and I won't have too many car bits cluttering the garage! Just bike bits instead!

Yes, yes, I'll be making my way over to London at some point in March so I'll pop in on the way back

[Welly]

Girl from accounts: "OMG that new IT guy is trapped under that car, he needs help"

Girl from reception: "oh it's OK he's just replacing his back box"

Girl from accounts: "Oooh he's a big boy, shall we offer to pull on his pipe"

[steve_earwig]

You naughty, naughty boy

[mjb]

Girl from accounts: "OMG that new IT guy is trapped under that car, he needs help"

Girl from reception: "oh it's OK he's just replacing his back box"

Girl from accounts: "Oooh he's a big boy, shall we offer to pull on his pipe"

haha if only. mind you, i think they'd be right put off if they heard the language coming from under the car...


Popped into National this evening and asked about getting my botchwork fixed. Guy said about £20! Guess where I'll be spending my lunch break...

[mjb]

Took the car to Kwik-fit yesterday because I was convinced it was toe-out at the front. Printout says

Before:
NS -0.09 deg, OS -0.05 deg
After:
NS -0.02 deg, OS -0.02 deg

Kwik-fit only charged me £20 of the usual £60 alignment fee because he said there's no difference really, there must be something else wrong causing the wandering under power... Got it out and took it for a short but hard drive - AMAZING! It's a completely different car to drive now unless I floor it (mmm torque steer)! It feels so much more stable now, especially while coming out of a corner under hard acceleration.

Guess it just goes to show how sensitive to 406s I've become after spending so much time in them over the past couple of years I reckon the variable power steering in the V6 probably plays a large part in the sensitivity too though

[teamster1975]

It feels so much more stable now, especially while coming out of a corner under hard acceleration.

Now you're not trying your own version of the Ronin car chase are you Matt

[mjb]

Now you're not trying your own version of the Ronin car chase are you Matt

You've not seen my drive to work... ;)

[teamster1975]

So you've had the V6 a couple of weeks mjb, how do you rate it in comparison to the tubby?

[mjb]

It sucks in the wet. It's far too easy to wheelspin in 1st to 3rd, and with all the weight up front it's difficult to avoid hitting the ABS on greasy roads. Think it could definitely do with traction control Although I admit I do need to learn to be a LOT more progressive with the accelerator as it's the tyres that give way when coming off the clutch at almost any revs, not the engine!

In the dry though it's great. Bit too easy to go way beyond the speed limit too because it accelerates so effortlessly even at low revs. 4th/5th at 30mph is no problem at all for it - the extra 2 cylinders drop the labouring speed right down.

The worst part of it is the sound. Get it over 4000rpm and it starts to sing and it's utterly intoxicating! I'm addicted to the music and it's hurting my wallet and it's probably going to hurt my license too if I'm not careful!

It cruises well though. I'm going to try my hardest to give it a gentle run down the motorway at the weekend to see what the economy's like, but like I said, it's hard to go slow in it

Handling's a LOT better now I've had the wheels aligned, but the up-front weight still causes issues round the corners. Stiffer suspension would help a lot I think (remember this is a 10 year old car) as it's still just a bit unpredictable as to when it's going to let go when you've got it on the very edge. At least it's a lot easier then the tubby to get some lift-off oversteer going on thanks to the high-revving nature of the engine and massive natural torque.

Inside I'm quite used to the black leather now, but can't help it doesn't feel as *special* as the cream/ivory/whatever stuff did. I've almost got my seat setup just right now too. Steering's far too light thanks to the variable power steering, but I'm planning on a modification to fix that. Hopefully it'll calm down the torque steering too.

In some ways I miss the tubby. The mixture of ample power you never actually notice and complete lack of throttle response was brilliant, but then again the rip-your-head-off kick of the V6 is nice too.

One thing I really miss though is luggage space. I WANT MY ESTATE BACK!!!!! (but with the ES9J4 up front of course )

[teamster1975]

Sound as though you've fallen in love with the V6!

The mixture of ample power you never actually notice and complete lack of throttle response was brilliant

Can't say I've noticed lack of throttle reponse on mine Matt
Mind you, you did have the estate.
V6 in the estate, what a combination! With LPG too!

[steve_earwig]

D8 V6 estate with lpg, yes please (didn't I say this once before?)

[teamster1975]

D8 V6 estate with lpg, yes please (didn't I say this once before?)

I remember now you mention it, you told me to join the queue

[Welly]

A V6 lpg today, yes, but in 20000 miles, burnt valves and a cracked head later, no.

[steve_earwig]

Seriously? How often would you need to run it on liquid gold to avoid this outcome?

[Welly]

LPG makes the head of an engine run a lot hotter than petrol so the engine life is drastically reduced, and what with the V6 having the Iron block/ali head I don't think it would last long (especially the rear bank).