On or around Tue, 03 May 2005 16:50:17 GMT,
[email protected]
enlightened us thusly:
>On Tue, 03 May 2005 11:30:07 +0100, Mother <"@ {m} @"@101fc.net> made
>me spill my meths when he wrote:
>
>>Fantastic turnout - proves we have the most enthusiastic membership
>>base going IMO, shame the effort you chaps put in wasn't reflected by
>>the idiot organisers, though.
>
>So who won then Martyn? And did the 101 display get a Mention in
>Dispatches?
apparently not. buggrem, I say - your display looks every bit as good as
any of the rest; and better than some, by far.
Heyho. I guess I should get a 101 to go with the big trailer - it's a bit
of a sod to tow behind the discos - the 110 managed it a bit better;
possibly the longer wheelbase makes a difference or it might be the softer
suspension on the disco; either way, with my disco[1] on the back and towing
it with the TDi, it didn't feel safe above 40.
There are a couple of things that bother me about the 101, though; and I've
not yet found out if they're fixable things:
a) nonstandard parts. I know the club does very well at supplying these,
but the nature of my operation means that the ability to get parts same day
or next day is quite important. How much of the stuff that goes wrong
(wheel bearings, propshaft joints, that sort of thing) is standard, and how
much unique to the 101? Is it practical to run a 101 as an everyday working
vehicle doing about 80 miles per day, and moreover, on the kind of work
where more than a few failures per year is a major problem?
b) comfort. what with the mileage, etc., I'd want something decent in the
way of seats. How practical is it to rip out the existing seats and
substitute something like disco seats or sierra seats on custom bases, or on
the existing base(s)? I assume the 101 has a seatbox style arrangement
something analogous to the series? Anyone put different seats in, and with
what results?
c) cost. Purchase cost, running costs. I suspect the best-looking option
would be a 3.9+auto combination, but what sort of fuel bills would that land
me with? Anyone tried a transplant from a 3.9 disco or RR into a 101?
easy/hard/impossible?
Having towed the laden big trailer with the 300 TDi, I reckon it'd be
underpowered as standard for the 101; it don't go as nicely as my 3.5i/LPG
one in this respect; although the 300 TDi disco is overgeared for heavy
towing work, it has to be said - struggles to move off on moderate uphills
in 1H, without using excessive revs and clutch slip, and almost never used
5th, towing a bit over 3 tons.
and of course, the final point, availability... I'd be looking at something
with 9 seats, finally; I guess the ideal body would be the radio van, but I
don't see any of them going cheap. In fact, I don't generally see any 101s
going cheap. A GS would do, in fact, as I could build it a body, no doubt,
and no doubt too I could source suitable windows and things... I could of
course (and would have to in any case) sell my disco to fund it, but not
'til afterwards; also, it's not realistically worth all that much. If it
were up to me, I'd sell the 300 TDi, which would fetch more, but sadly that
ain't mine to sell
The alternative is the transit-LR-110 hybrid idea, of course. But that
project is on hold until I can find someone to sell the first one to, to
make a bit of dosh.
[1] barstard thing had a dead wheelbearing on the way back from oop north
(Kendal, roughly), luckily only about 45 miles from home. Fixed now, at
least I got to play with me new hub nut spanner.
--
Austin Shackles.
www.ddol-las.fsnet.co.uk my opinions are just that
"Brevis esse laboro, Obscurus fio" (it is when I struggle to be
brief that I become obscure) Horace (65 - 8 BC) Ars Poetica, 25
