Topics

1

General Banter / The great diesel con...

« on: November 18, 2011, 07:47:25 pm »

Jeep UK are only offering model year 2012 Wranglers with diesel engines and auto boxes.  I figured this made good sense, despite the 2.8 being long in tooth and the new Pentastar v6 petrol being a really nice unit.  I mean, Jeeps use a lot of fuel, you get so much more mpg out of diesel, you'd be mad to buy a petrol Jeep right?  



Wrangler Sahara 4 dr Auto 3.6 V6

Combined 24.1 mpg
Extra Urban 30.7 mpg
Urban 17 mpg
0-62 8.9 sec
top speed 112mph


Wrangler Sahara 4 dr Auto 2.8 CRD

Combined 34.0 mpg
Extra Urban 38.7 mpg
Urban 28.2 mpg
0-62 10.7 sec
top speed 107mph



Time for some maths!  


So on the Sahara, ie like for like, the diesel gets 26% better mpg on the long extra urban run, a whopping 66% better fuel economy around town but overall 41% improvement in mpg in general.  

Diesel is clearly the way forward, surely!?  


The cheapest petrol near me is 128.9.
Assuming 1,000 miles per month on the combined cycle the Pentastar would cost:
1 month - £243.14
1 year - £2,917.68
3 years - £8,753.04
5 years - £14,588.40

The cheapest diesel near me is 136.9
Assuming 1,000 miles per month on the combined cycle the diesel would cost:
1 month - £183.04
1 year - £2,196.48
3 years - £6,589.44.
5 years - £10,982.40


So over 5 years and 60,000 miles I would save £3,606 by running the diesel.
I don't know what the difference in tax would do to that figure, I assuming the diesel is cheaper on tax but still in a high bracket but probably a good couple of hundred quid a year to save there.

I'm not sure what the price difference between the 2 engines is as I guess officially we only get the diesel over here which makes a fair comparison difficult...

But typically diesels cost a good £1,000 or even £1,500 more than petrol equivalents right?  If so it looks like running a diesel saves you less than £3,000 over 5 years even allowing for the £300 per year tax saving...


Now, just for kicks imagine we LPG the Pentastar and lose 15% fuel economy in doing so...

The cheapest LPG near me is 70.9

1 month - £157.23
1 year - £1,886.76
3 years - £5,660.28
5 years - £9,433,80

This means that over 5 years the Pentastar on LPG becomes £1,500 cheaper to run than the diesel, or even £2,500 - £3,000 cheaper than the diesel if we assume the Pentastar is that much cheaper to buy as we have said.

But then we need to take £2,000 off that saving for the cost of the LPG conversion in the first place.  So a Pentastar on LPG would be between £500 and £1,000 cheaper than a diesel over 5 years...
 

I may have to rethink my opinion on diesel being the only real engine option.

Even if you use the Jeep daily and do decent mileage over 5 years the savings don't really add up to that much (I know £2,500 is still £2,500) really?


And if LPGing the Pentastar is viable then it would be the cheapest total cost of ownership, and be faster and frankly much nicer to drive and less of a health hazard!

Did you ever think we were being conned into diesels?!?!

2

General Banter / Jeep on the up. big time.

« on: November 09, 2011, 08:26:23 pm »

Nice to read success stories for yank vehicles for a change:  

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20111107%2FRETAIL01%2F311079958%2F1252&fb_source=message

"For Jeep dealer Stephen Kaiser, 2011 has been a banner sales year, up 86 percent. What surprises Kaiser most is that the once-scorned Jeep Compass compact SUV has tripled sales over the past year"

"Through the first 10 months of 2011, Jeep is the fastest-growing domestic brand, with sales up 44 percent. At its current rate, Jeep will sell 413,000 units this year, the most since Chrysler's 2009 bankruptcy. But that's still well shy of 1999, when Jeep set its sales record of 554,466"

"Jeep was also the fastest-growing brand through the first three quarters in import-dominated California, according to the trade association that represents the state's car dealers."

"Jeep was the top-ranked domestic brand in the Consumer Reports 2011 reliability survey. That's a long way from 2008, when three of the magazine's 11 worst-rated cars were Jeeps."

""The Wrangler is just doing phenomenally well at auction," says Eric Ibara, analyst for Kelley Blue Book. Typical 5-year-old Wranglers are still fetching 60 percent of their sticker price"

"The Grand Cherokee's move upscale has been even more dramatic. When the fourth-generation model was introduced in June of 2010 as a 2011 model, planners made a critical miscalculation. They underestimated the demand for top-of-the-line trim packages.

Don Lee, a Jeep dealer in Portland, Maine, says he is now seeing import trade-ins for Grand Cherokees that he wasn't getting before.

"We now have a vehicle that will compete with those lines," he says."

"For the first time this summer, Jeep entered the Grand Cherokee Overland Summit in the October Texas Auto Writers' Texas Truck Rodeo, a two-day comparison test. The Grand Cherokee beat the Range Rover Evoque and Mercedes-Benz ML 350 in the full-sized luxury SUV category."

"Jeep bosses also have taken to the road to spend time with the purists who keep the brand flame -- members of Jeep owners clubs.

Pearse Umlauf, vice president of Jeep Jamboree, an independent company that stages 30 Jeep adventure drives for Jeep around the country, says Manley "was with us on the Rubicon this year. Chris Ellis has been on the Rubicon a number of times. They understand it so much better than previous management."

All the work has paid off in 18 straight months of year-over-year sales increases in the United States."


Just a shame Jeep UK blow chunks almost as much as the Merc dealers that have no interest in selling the product and don't want it on their lot.  And on this side of the pond Fiat doubled the cost of spare parts overnight...  

3

General Banter / Consumer Reports - Most Reliable Vehicles 2011

« on: October 25, 2011, 08:28:38 pm »

Overall still dominated by the Japanese...

"Jeep has moved up seven spots to become the most reliable domestic brand""

"European models continue to be a blend of reliable and not so reliable vehicles. Overall, European vehicles' reliability is slightly below that of domestic models"

http://autos.yahoo.com/news/consumer-reports-names-most-reliable-cars-of-2011.html

4

General Banter / Shipping 5 wheels - USA to UK - Suggestions?

« on: May 25, 2011, 10:33:15 pm »

I've found a set of 5 used rims I'd like to get for the Jeep.
The problem is that UPS want $850 to ship them (5 packages totalling 75kg at 55x55x30cm each).  There must be a cheaper way.  I'm prepared to pay around $400.
I've already got a big bumper on the way which weighs 70lb and that is only costing $250 to ship, granted I have to fetch it from Heathrow but I'm ok with that.  I fail to see why 5 wheels weighing less than double that should cost almost 3.5 times as much...

Suggestions?

5

General Banter / OK, now I want a pickup truck...

« on: January 12, 2011, 10:05:43 pm »

Meet the Jeep Gladiator:





Based on the current Wrangler Unlimited but with proper truck leaf suspension at the back to handle weight, this is a 4x4 pickup truck that will leave all others in its wake.  I think it looks like a truck should as well, and kind of old fashioned, yet modern.

It's actually a concept, shown by Jeep last year, but it was a real hit and people have been badgering Jeep to make it.  Unfortunatley Dodge was somewhat less than pleased so the chance of it making production is 50:50.  One minute I hear it's going ahead, the next I hear Dodge have scuppered it.



"Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne stated in a round table discussion this morning that Jeep will soon be getting a new "mulitpurpose" vehicle, which will have a pickup truck-like bed.

Marchionne recalled the 2005 Gladiator concept, "I like that vehicle. I liked it the first day I saw it. There's a better than 50 percent chance that you'll get one. Regardless of what Ram says. They're totally peeved off at the fact that we're going to have anything that looks like a pickup truck with a Jeep badge on it. I actually think that there's space for it."

According to Marchionne the only thing is that the Jeep "pickup" will not be referred to as a pickup. There's no word when we will actually see this new Jeep."

6

General Banter / The Big Three Are Back...

« on: January 11, 2011, 09:20:17 pm »

The reception to the new models from the Big Three at the Detroit Auto Show have been excellent and the sales figures are on the up and up...  

Ford have overtaken Toyota to grab the number 2 spot in the sales figures, quite the turnaround for the Japanese who were set to pass GM (never happened, GM retained the no1 spot even though they went into bankruptcy).

The Chevy Volt has taken car of the year honours for 2011.
GM have upped their development budget back to $7 billion after making huge cuts of $5 billion in 2008, worried that they're a year behind they're accelerating the development of their new trucks (don't f**k it up GM by going a half a**ed job!).


http://detnews.com/article/20110111/OPINION01/101110313/1007/rss07

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jan/10/big-three-carmakers-triumphant-detroit

http://www.driving.ca/vancouversun/Three+pole+Detroit+show/4075847/story.html

7

General Banter / Hands up who wants to rebuild this...

« on: January 11, 2011, 09:00:48 pm »

Coming soon to a Chrysler near you...


http://www.autoblog.com/2011/01/11/zf-developed-nine-speed-transmission-is-coming/

8

General Banter / Autoweek - Best of the Best 2011

« on: January 06, 2011, 05:43:35 pm »

Best Car and Best Truck/SUV.

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20110105/CARNEWS/110109975

Not best American car or American truck, best car and best truck.  Period.

9

General Banter / Are US car companies completely clueless when it comes to the UK?

« on: December 23, 2010, 11:46:46 am »

I'm mainly talking about the lack of advertising.

I mean, Cadillac do no advertising (aside from the odd poster at a couple of motorway services) and wonder why they can't shift their cars (cancelled diesel engine being another bone head decision), Jeep do no advertising at all as far as I can see, apart form in a car magazine has anyone seen ads for say the Chrysler 300C or even their people carrier?

The European car firms, Ford UK, Vauxhall, Peugeot, Renault, BMW, Mercedes etc all advertise, only the *most* exclusive do not.

Take the latest Jeep Grand Cherokee ad that is playing in the US at the moment, given our winter weather the last 3 years why do they not play this in Dec/Jan/Feb in the UK?





In the US I couldn't get away from Grand Cherokee ads, they were all over the tv, they were on the screens at petrol pumps in gas stations, they were on billboards etc.  And they're really good ads, far better than the stupid ones we get over here with puppets and god knows what else that don't even show the damn vehicle:

10

General Banter / Chryslers 5 year plan...

« on: December 20, 2010, 06:46:42 pm »

http://www.allpar.com/corporate/chrysler-group/five-year-plan.html

I was surprised how much growth there has been in sales of Dodge vehicles (Jeep are fairly consistent in numbers, perhaps growing slightly, and representing on average 45% of Chrysler group sales):


Concerning items for me
:

In 2013 Patriot, Compass, and Liberty will be replaced by vehicles “developed from Fiat platforms” which we are promised will still have the Jeep DNA — small SUV, C-size SUV, Liberty replacement. [Allpar analysts are not optimistic about these vehicles living up to past Jeep off-road standards.
<snip>The shift from truck to car based SUVs is growing. All Jeeps must have certain aspects (grille, short overhang, trapezoid wheel-arches, functional interior, open-air concepts, visibility, durable materails, handling in bad weather, advanced four wheel drive, and towing capacity.) Jeep Wrangler must also have excellent off-road characteristics but it appears that off-roadworthiness will not be demanded of all Jeeps.

Frankly the Wrangler and the new Grand Cherokee are the ones I would have bought anyway, the Liberty (known as the Cherokee here, but they didn't dare call that rounded and softened thing a Cherokee in the US) and the smaller Patriot (not my cup of tea but 15k for a new one is a bargain vehicle) and without modifications the larger Commander are all pretty average (at best) off road.  Replacing these with car based platforms probably makes sense for 90% of buyers, but I do feel that poor off-road performance hurts the Jeep brand, whereas the softest Land/Range Rovers are ok off road so the image isn't too badly affected.

Wrangler will “retain its rightful spot as the icon for this legendary brand.”

Hopefully they'll leave it the f*** alone then with any changes being done by Jeep engineers as they see fit, not by Fiats accountants and "focus groups".

11

General Banter / Where can I buy a...

« on: September 28, 2010, 07:42:23 pm »

... twin throttle return spring like fitted on carbs or throttle bodies?

They're pretty universal fit and about 4" long from what I understand.

Like this:



I've only seen them on Summit and Jegs websites so far, nowhere over here?

12

General Banter / Came across this "old" Top Gear clip

« on: September 23, 2010, 09:06:54 pm »

Quite a contrast to their current attitude towards American cars...
(skip the first 50 seconds or so of waffle)

13

General Banter / Cool new Jeep Grand Cherokee commercial

« on: June 12, 2010, 09:22:34 pm »

I like it, reminds me of the Cadillac craftmanship one.

14

General Banter / Farewell my dear IROC, you will be greatly missed...

« on: March 01, 2010, 09:59:49 pm »

As per the title, the IROC has a new owner as of this evening!

A friend of a guy I work with, it won't be going far as he lives just 4 or 5 miles away...

In fact it may not be moving at all as he will likely be taking over my rented garage.

Hopefully he will be a good custodian of it, he's a car enthusiast who works on his own Capri etc but he's always wanted an American car and he loves the 80's so the IROC was perfect for him.
He's been reading up on them so knows what to look for (plus I pointed out the usual problems, headliner, struts, pulldown motor etc and how mine has none of them) and he's well pleased with it.

As sorry as I am to see it go it was nice to see the look on his face when he sat in it for the first time having handed over the keys.  He was completely speechless and just sat there in disbelief that he finally had one of his dream cars.  Reminds me of when I first bought it.  

I lost a little money over what I paid for it, only due to the fact it needs 4 new tyres and an MOT and tax, so I subtracted the cost of those off and let him have it.  Allowing for those bits I haven't lost any money on it so I'm happy.

Although as he said "I feel I'm stealing it from you at this price!".

15

General Banter / CTS-V Coupe finally revealed

« on: January 05, 2010, 08:40:20 am »

After showing the CTS Coupe concept some time ago us enthusiasts naturally hoped for a coupe version of the all conquering CTS-V saloon.  GM delivers:  

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2010/01/detroit-preview-2011-cadillac-cts-v-coupe-unveiled.html



3.9 seconds to 60, the rear has an inch wider track than the saloon which may help it shave a little more time off the Nurburgring record held by its 4 door relative (fastest production saloon).

16

General Banter / The Last Big Block GM V8...

« on: December 19, 2009, 07:42:20 pm »

Was made on Friday:

http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/899075.html

17

General Banter / Need 3 kids petrol buggies delivered to Cheshire, anyone help?

« on: December 14, 2009, 11:48:22 am »

I need to have 3 kids off road buggies delivered from NE London (base of the M11) to Knutsford in Cheshire.

Dimensions (per buggy):

1.7m long
1.0m wide
1.3m high


They are fully built on wheels so they can roll in and out of a van.

It needs to be done this week really.

Can anyone help?

18

Projects / HardRock's Jeep Wrangler

« on: December 12, 2009, 09:47:35 pm »

I've had Ford, I've had GM, now I've got a Chrysler...

Picked it up this morning:



2000 Jeep Wrangler Sahara hardtop with 4.0L straight six and 5 speed manual transmission.  
Been garaged all its life and has covered just 33,000 miles from new.  condition wise it's as close to "as new" as you're likely to get with just a few water marks on the backs of the seats from when they got wet with the roof off, no biggie...  

Previous owner spent £1,300 on a set of 5 16 inch Eagle polished alloys with BF Goodrich all terrain tyres, over £400 on a stainless Borla catback exhaust, £800 on an aftermarket soft top, and another chunk of change on stainless side steps, chrome mirrors, a cold air intake kit and a Blauplunkt radio and 4 Infinity speakers.  All in all nearly £3,500.

Now, the side steps will be coming off (probably tomorrow) and the original black mirrors (as pictured) will be put back on as soon as I've rubbed them down and had them re-powder coated.  Going to pull the end cvaps off the bumpers and get some clear indicators too.  

Once the bank balance has recovered I'm going to get a top quality 2" suspension lift.  


First impressions are that it's quicker than I expected with the engine roaring and howling when you give it a large portion...  

It's very noisy, wind noise is significant above 60mph, the suspension bangs and crashes over every bump and it's quite the fuel guzzler...  
But it has a lot of character and feels unstoppable, very mechanical and tank like...  

I'm well pleased as I think it looks ace!  

19

General Banter / So long my dear Cadillac, you will be missed...

« on: December 03, 2009, 10:31:06 pm »

I sold my STS tonight, or to be more accurate, I palmed it off to webuyanycar.com

Why?  

A couple of weeks ago it developed a problem with the transmission in top gear, either it's slipping or the overdrive locks and unlocks itself almost continuously as the load (ie speed/incline) rises.  Whether it's slipping or a TC solonoid problem it means dropping the transmission to work on it which means a rebuild (as the majority of the money is in the labour so you'd be mad not to have it freshened up while it was on the bench) and that means £2,500 of bill.  

I was planning on selling the car anyway, but this problem meant I couldn't sell the car privately for what it should be worth as I couldn't do that to someone in any good conscience and besides, it would be obvious to any buyer.  But webuyanycar (also known as CarCraft) are another matter as they rip people off every day so...  

They offered £1,900 for it (with the scratches and scrapes etc) subject to inspection, but on the day decided to play their game to drive the price down (as I knew they would).  They didn't test drive it though so they thought they were getting it at a steal (they offered half what they originally said) so I pretended to begrudgingly accept their offer and walked away with a grand which is more than the car is worth as parts (given the limited market here).


A grand was the lowest amount I was prepared to take as I needed that grand to add to the money I have saved to get the vehicle I have had my eye on for abut 2 months now.  The Caddy throwing a hissy fit simply accelerated my plans to sell it from February to now.


So the Caddy is gone, and I will miss it greatly.    It's the best car I've ever had the privilige to drive and any shortcomings are just nitpicking.  It's a wonderful vehicle.  I got very unlucky with my transmission, it's one of GM's strongest and this particular problem has only been noted by 2 people on the US Caddy forum.  So I still highly rate the car.

I won't be getting another Caddy yet as there is a gap in model years (and thus prices) when Cadillac left the UK and before they returned.  So I will drive something else for 3-5 years and maybe return to Cadillac when the 09 CTS has dipped below 10k...

So for a week or so I will be carless as I find the right example of the next car I want, which will be American btw.

20

Classifieds & Useful eBay Links / REAL OFFICIAL Gold Disc - Iron Maiden - Killers

« on: November 25, 2009, 03:29:13 pm »

We've got some music memorabilia at work that we're selling off and thought it might interest someone on here, first up is a genuine, official Gold Disc.  This is not one of those fakes you see on ebay for £150, this is the real thing off the walls of the music studio, chances are there are only one of these in the world...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330378783905&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

21

Classifieds & Useful eBay Links / FOR SALE: 120GB 2.5" Portable USB drive - bus powered

« on: November 18, 2009, 10:10:14 pm »

I have ONE final portable hard drive for sale.

It's 120GB capacity and is a USB 2.0 drive that takes its power from the computer so no bulky power adapter to carry around.

Price is £25 inc postage.

22

Computers and Games / Oh Microsoft, you really must stop copying Apple (and you can't even do that well)

« on: November 18, 2009, 09:26:39 pm »

Microsoft decided that copying everything Apple does in their software a couple of years after the fact was not enough, they also felt the need to copy their store designed as well, right down to the furniture and the staff with the coloured jumpers etc.
As the Apple staff are prone to the clapping and cheering at product launches etc M$ decided to have their lot break into "random" ( ) dances every now and then, but it just comes across as rather, well, tragic...



That's the saddest thing I've seen since the how to have a Windows 7 launch party vids...

23

Classifieds & Useful eBay Links / B & W (Bowers & Wilkins) High Quality Hi-Fi / Home Cinema Speakers

« on: November 16, 2009, 09:25:28 pm »

Due to lack of use and space I am selling part of my B&W Home Cinema System.  Basically I am keeping the rear speakers (unless anyone wants to buy the whole lot as a complete matching home cinema system) and selling the rest.

While I used them for Home Cinema this stuff is obviously just as good for pure Hi-Fi.  If you're even considering this stuff you doubtless know B&W stuff and what it costs...


The prices are fixed, I know what they're worth.  There will only be a discount if you want to take the whole lot as a complete system...  


All this stuff is collection only as it weighs an absolute ton!


Up first:



603 S2 Floor Standing Speakers - £295
Finished in black ash these 2.5 way speakers cost me £550 and won award after award in the magazines.  Compared to most speakers you get an additional bass driver in each unit to reduce the workload on the midrange driver to increase clarity.  these things are amazing and are really designed for large rooms.  I read in a magazine review that two of these at each corner of a cinema system would be enough to power a 200 seat cinema...  They have the highly regarded tapered tube tweeters that B&W are famous for from their £30,000 Nautilus Speakers...

I have the original manuals and the various rear "bungs" designed to block the rear bass port so you can tune the sound to your room (eg if they are in a corner).


B&W Info -
"NautilusTM Tweeter: B&W's Nautilus Tweeter technology ensures that the sound remains focused and time-sensitive and that the stereo-image is presented with unparalleled three dimensional accuracy.

Kevlar®: B&W developed and patented the method of using Kevlar® for loudspeaker cones to reduce unwanted standing waves. DuPont originally created Kevlar® for use in bulletproof vests."

Description - 2 1/2- way vented-box system
Drive Units - 1 x 25mm metal dome high-frequency, 1 x 180mm woven Kevlar® cone bass/midrange, 1 x 180mm paper/Kevlar® cone bass
Frequency Response - 48Hz – 20kHz ± 3dB on reference axis
Sensitivity - 90dB spl (2.83V, 1m)
Nominal Impedence - 8Ω (min 4.3 Ω)
Power Handling - 25W - 150W into 8 ohm on unclipped programme
Height: 850mm
Width: 236mm
Depth: 306mm
Cabinet: Black Ash Vinyl
Grilles: Black cloth

24

Classifieds & Useful eBay Links / FOR SALE: 320GB Western Digital USB Passport Drives

« on: November 15, 2009, 11:12:01 am »

I have FOUR ONE used external hard drives for sale due to buying a new big drive.

Portable Western Digital My Passport USB ones that are self powered (ie take their power from the USB port) so no annoying power adapter to drag around with you.

Each one is 320GB and includes the USB cable.


I have 2x gloss white ones (as per the picture) and 2x 1x gloss black ones.

 


Each drive is £39

Postage is £5 total no matter how many drives you buy...

25

General Banter / Where was the Yeeeeeeehhaaaaaawwwwwww !?!?!

« on: October 27, 2009, 10:08:38 pm »