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I’ve noticed a lot of hate on here lately, that’s not what carnity is about. There are people here from all over the world. Some of them like different cars than you may like. If you see a thread title such as “the hatchback appreciation society”, it’s for people who appreciate hatchbacks and they can go in and share cars they like. If you don’t like hatchbacks, don’t go into a hatchback thread and tell them all their cars are crap. Similar if someone posts a 4x4 thread, don’t go in and say you have no interest. This is a community forum. We all have different interests. Some people like diesels, some people like small cars, some like huge V8 trucks. Live and let live. Let people talk about what they want to talk about. If you aren’t interested, there is another thread for you.

Used to have bikes (+/- 300cc) in Belgium, which i used for both leisure drives in the weekend as daily commute. I never went on highways and stayed on secondary roads because it felt safer. I loved every part of it and still miss it every day. * Proper helmet and Safety gear WILL help you save your life or reduce the damage, that is a FACT. * Replace the helmet every 4-5 year. The shell weakens and will be less stronger every year. When you have an accident and there is visual damage on the helmet, replace it immediately. The amount of reckless drivers i face every day currently keeps me from buying a bike. It feels like people lose all sense of logic and decent manners when they go on the road in the Middle East. They can't keep in lane, they can't keep distance, they swerve without indicators. If i have to recall the many close calls i had already with my car, then i am sure i would have been driven off the road already on my bike.

Here’s one for you @sertac The 205 1.9 GTi came out in 1986. Here’s the 205 1.9 GTi-S which came out in 1984 How, you ask. In 1984 a man named Skip Brown (now a famous Peugeot tuner, I was lucky enough to have had one of his engines) started buying brand new 1.6 GTi’s and building his own 1.9 GTi model and selling them back to the dealerships. Skip was doing for the 205 what John Cooper did for the Mini years ago. The 1.9 GTi-s was special. Each engine had a gas flowed polished head, stainless steel valves, high lift cam, blueprinted bottom end and a large external oil cooler. This all prompted Peugeot to build the 1.9 GTi we all know and love today. Heres another rare 205, the Roland Garros edition Came out in 1989 and was a 205 XS underneath with special bits added. Finally the holy grail of 205s, the 1FM Only 25 were ever made to celebrate the 25th anniversary of BBC Radio 1 in 1992 and given away as prizes to lucky competition winners. The highest spec 205 below the T16 which has very little 205 DNA left anyway. There are only a handful left, my friend is a lucky guy who is restoring one now.

Many thanks everybody. if there is a Sri already in the group then I can be “srini” short for srinivas. other than snacks and fluids, what equipment should I be bringing for the drive. i have not yet bought any safety equipment like ropes etc. finally, can I bring a friend along in my FJC? regards srini

Really.........! then go for V12 biturbo, why settling for Xterra. Xterra on and offroad is a very good balance and also you can consider FJC within 30-40k budget, but FJC visibility is an issue due to smaller windows, but in performance, it's a tad better than Xterra.

Hi , i am sri and I am looking forward to join all of you on my very first off reading. regards sri

Yes Rahimdad, you’re right : it’s not the most confortable car on road, but not so bad too. Regarding the gas, my average consumption on road is about 15L/100 km, but I must say that my driving style is little bit agressive.

1 year ago I bought a used 2013 X trim, which is the basic trim. It comes cheaper but has no differencial (personally I have never felt that it was essential), so I would recommend to go for this one rather than off-road pricy trim, and, if you really need, you can upgrade it with lifting, adding off-road suspensions, etc. Pro : it’s just perfect for dunes and sand, very powerful. Also good on road. I truly am very happy with it. Cons : maybe the original suspensions and the audio system (no auxiliary or mp3 before year 2014) I went for a complete check of the car before I brought it, since I don’t know anything about mechanic. I only had to change the shock absorbers, an upper arm and a tire sensor. Have a look at the rear and front recovery points to know if the car has gone off-road or not. It’s not a 100% reliable test, but it can give you an idea. Hope this helps you a little bit.

The Lancia Delta Integrale was/is indeed a monster. I had a regular '99 Delta HPE with lovely Recaro seats for a while and loved the revving engine and nimble precision steering.

Lancia Delta Integrale. Godfather of the Delta S4. Most of them have rusted away now. The owner of chipcentric has one in his garage. Very cool piece of machinery. This particular one belonged to Jay Kay from Jamiroquai. And the monster it spawned, the Delta S4. Spaceframed animal. 890kg kerb weight. Supercharged, turbocharged and intercooled longtitudinaly mounted engine. 500 bhp, capable of 1,000 bhp just by increasing the boost. This is the car that was responsible for the death of group B after the death of Henri Toivonen and his codriver Sergio Cresto in 1986 on the Tour de Corse. Toivonen went off the course, down a ravine and the car exploded burning them both to death. The fuel tank was mounted under the seat with little protection for the driver. Back then it was all about achieving 50/50 weight distribution, safety was an afterthought.

Just spotted a Metro GTA for sale in UK. £10,000 😳

All I know is a buddy who later became a neighbour who both Gaurav and RD know, bought a new Xterra used it as a daily driver and then off road during the weekend. Last I saw it was around 250-270 ish kms on the clock and it drove and looked just fine and I dont recall anything going wrong on it. Only isssue is the rear suspension which is still old school leaf springs and once you go offroad they start to squeek as sand gets in between them. You can take them out clean them but next time you go off road they will start again. So all Xterra owmers I knew just lived with the rear suspension squeek.

Just be careful if you come across an American model. Some were made 2WD only

@emvarlet will be able to help you best, but normally Nissan Xterra is not known for problems.

Thanks for the info @EmVarlet. So what do you think might be an average consumption for not so aggressive and traffic less driving? Btw what is the full tank capacity for your vehicle? Thanks @Rahimdad Bhai, consumption is not a major issue as its paid by the company . My major worry is the maintenance and cost/availability of spare parts. That's the reason trying to find out about known issue model wise and how expensive/cheap is the solution to that problem.

Totally agree with Barry for being nice and considerate to everyone's taste and preferences when it comes to Cars and raises your tolerance and only participate in the thread of your interest. Respect for @desertdude for admitting that he banters the most, and please keep it healthy as sometimes even light-hearted bantering can hurt someone's feeling when you love and respect something so much. @Ren13 I don't remember seeing you being inconsiderate ever tbh, but good to have everyone know their limit and participate with happy and healthy comments. Nice work on your ride, looking fwd to see it soon buddy.

Oops. My first post and have a typo- meant off roading! Thanks . Call me sri.

Sorry @Barry, @Rahimdad guess I was too involved in a love / hate discussion the last time. I do agree with what you said. Hope not to get into a discussion in the future. @desertdude I would like to continue it one on one the next time we meet buddy.😙 Till then you can checkout my project ride getting an upgrade.✌

Very good question @Jeh. Exterra is a very goid choice when it comes to off-road and on road drive combined, I feel maybe just a little uncomfortable for on road use only. It comes with only the 4.0 litre V6 option, with the petrol prices rising and for on road only I would prefer something like a Toyota Prado 2.7 litre 4 cylinder engine. More comfort and a bit of an advantage with fuel saving. If buying a second hand Exterra I would go for a 2010 model or newer with less than 150k on the clock preferable off road version if I want to take it off road. Simple car with not many problems and tons of fun to be had. First thing I would do on purchase is do a major service changing all fluids, oils, filters, plugs, belts, etc. Better safe than sorry. Just my 2 cents.

It’s hard to believe that it’s 60 years since Mike Costin and Keith Duckworth got together and built their first modified cylinder head for a Ford. What is even harder to believe that ford sent their cars to cosworth, brought them back and sold them as official For cars. I still remember the time in 1995 when my cousin showed up to my house in his brand new mallard green ford escort cosworth, complete with whaletail spoiler. He was the coolest person in the world at that time to me and I still aspire to own a cossie. Here are a few in honour of their 60th birthday. Also notice that they built the Mercedes 190 2.3. They also built the 2.6 and evo and evo2 but I haven’t posted it. All you real petrolheads already know this. So let’s show some love for cosworth on their 60th birthday!

If you like those check out the Yamaha Virago too, similar style and available in 250cc. I’ve ridden a lot of bikes and Japanese is the only way to go. I borrowed a Ducati super sport for a weekend once and had to call for recovery twice.

I do have the same passion, and if ever I get a license and bike I will opt for riding on an empty road during weekend early morning long drives (out of the city). There are many bikers we see when we plan our offroad trips at the meeting point on Petrol stations.

Gartrac G3. Any good petrolhead knows that the Mk2 Ford Escort is one of the most iconic rally cars of all time. When production stopped in 1981, Ford brought out the Mk3 Escort. The Mk3 was front wheel drive rather than the rwd Mk2. This didn’t appeal to the rally drivers at all. A UK company called Gartrac started buying up Mk3 shells and fitting them out with Mk2 parts, with the added bonus of an 80’stastic wide arch kit. It started life with a Pinto engine bored out to 2,200ccs with a twin cam head developed by Cosworth, but these days many have been modified and you can find them with anything from a 2.0 YB Cosworth to a 2.9 V6 Cologne. When this car came out, Ford we’re developing the RS1700T. The Gartrac lapped the Ford Boreham test track 3 seconds faster than the Ford developed car which caused Ford enough embarrassment to drop the RS1700T project. Fords answer to the Gartrac G3 was to take the engine from the RS1700T and develop the RS200 I posted above. Some change! I often wonder why Ford didn’t just go all out and build the RS200 originally instead of letting a small car modification company embarrass them. Anyway, here is the Gartrac G3. You will recognise the Mk3 shape but it has phat arches and a RWD conversion. Also has the super sexy Mk3 Capri wheels.

Aw come on Barr, why so serious, its just light hearted banter, you irish are famous for it. Beside this is just a diversion from real life and nithing else.Cant take it too seriously. Come om now lets go poke some more fun at those fugly pugs!