Hirstのブログ一覧

The Primera P11 has been making some progress! My friend arranged to take it to MOT Inspection. It only needed a few parts to pass. Usually the P11 has some corrosion issues, but this one is perfect.

So I've had some chance to drive it properly now. It's an unusual specification - GX grade with 4AT and A/C, but no sunroof. GX is quite a low grade, so it's really strange for it to have A/C. In the UK, cars of this age didn't usually have A/C at all unless it was the highest grade. It's also very late to be this style of front (Autumn 1999), just before the latest facelift. These hatchbacks were exported from the UK factory to Japan, so I wonder if it was originally to be exported. Perhaps it was a cancelled order.

It's been a while since I've driven an automatic car. For some reason, automatics aren't that popular in the UK (although they have become more popular recently). Even basic economy cars usually have manual transmission. On this P11, the automatic box is just a conventional 4AT with overdrive. The later type have a CVT 6-Speed, but I've never driven one of those. I quite enjoy the kickdown to drop gear, but overall I prefer the 5MT in my P10 eGT. But it's quite relaxing!

Today I've spent most of the day cleaning it, but I'm only about 30% complete. I've polished it and waxed it on that side only. The interior is still being cleaned. The carpets are quite dirty, but it's looking a lot better. I wish I had a "Wet & Dry" vacuum for cleaning carpets. I should have asked for one for Christmas.

It still needs a few things. The interior light was broken, so I ordered another. I also need a radio, but my Kaitai-ya friend has lots of those. Finally, I need a set of hubcaps. I know a yard where there's a broken P11 Primera, so I'll try there first.



It's the later sort, but as long as they're 15-inch I'm happy. Looks like quite a heavy impact to the front, but the cabin is perfect. I'm sure the driver was OK. Impressive safety design!

I took the Prelude for the first long drive today. I drove about 100 miles (160km). The engine is great! Even though it's just a 2.0L without VTEC, it's surprisingly punchy and responsive at highway speeds. I like Honda engines, they always seem to be very smooth. I have driven a European-type Accord (similar to the Ascot Innova) with the same engine. This feels more powerful though. Maybe they tuned it differently.

It's my first experience of driving a low car properly. The last guy changed the springs. I've driven some lowered cars, but never on a long trip. The ride is pretty good, but I scraped the exhaust on a few roads. It was nice on the highway, though.

I think the only thing it really needs is a new set of wipers and for me to install the radio properly. It came with no radio, but I got a JVC-Victor CD Player with the P11 Primera. It was already taken out and I had the correct ISO connectors, so I fitted it to the Prelude instead (I have a Nissan radio I can put into the P11). I need to install it properly though with the fitting "cage" so I'll probably do that at the weekend. I was in a hurry.

The 156 is in the garage for MOT Inspection. It needs a few parts, but there's a delay! Luckily, I can just use my BF Familia-323 for a few days.

Anyway, I was in a discount shop today to get a few things, but I saw they had gold tissue boxes. This is quite a nostalgic item! I'll explain...

My area is very popular with South Asian immigrants, mostly from Pakistan and some from India. It's somewhat famous for the food - if you live here, you probably eat more curry than most people! I recommend it. Anyway, back in the 1980-90s, this type of gold tissue box was very popular with South Asian drivers. It was fashionable, I guess. They would always put it on the back shelf.

Though it looks fancy, it's just plastic and gold leaf paper. When I was younger, I would see these in the back window of cars all the time, especially taxis. I haven't seen them for sale in a shop for years, so I was surprised. I think it's probably an old item (this shop does sell a lot of old things).

Nowadays I think most people won't understand why I have a gold box in the window, but I think a few people should recognise it.

I got a new Primera! It's only temporary, though. I'm keeping my P10 2.0 eGT. This is a bad picture, but it's a preview. You'll see it later.

It's a 2.0 GX Hatchback with 4AT, assembled in the UK. It has A/C which is unusual for a fairly low-specification car here. It's the same SR20DE engine as my P10 but with less power (about 130ps).

Without the wheel covers it looks untidy, but I have a set to install later. The condition is actually very good! I'm hoping it should be all ready for Christmas, then I'll probably sell it. But I'll be glad to experience it for a while, especially since I got it cheap!

It reminds me of the first Gran Turismo game. Back then, the P11 was still a new car.



If a car was available in the "new car" showroom in that first GT game, I still think of it as a new car now. I remember I used to buy the P10 Primera in that game a lot too, but that was in the "used cars" list. Nowadays, I get to buy them for real..

The wife of my friend's brother has been offered a choice of three cars to be provided by her company through a lease scheme. This is popular in the UK now, many people just lease a car for a few years instead of buying it, or getting a loan. I prefer to buy cars outright, though. (I'm old-fashioned).

The choices were Audi A1, Peugeot 2008 and Citroën C4 "Cactus". Me, my friend and his brother are all interested in cars. His wife isn't so interested, she just wants a good family car (currently she has a Fiat 500 TwinAir). We know the A1 and 2008 and were familiar with the normal Citroën C4, but had never heard of the Cactus model. So we looked at some photos, then went to a dealer to look at one.



We were all quite surprised! The car is covered with rubber panels called "Airbump" to absorb impacts. And with the unusual design, it looks like some kind of future concept car.



Although it looks quite big, it's only intermediate size like the normal C4 and it's not 4WD, just FF. Very lightweight for a modern car too, only about 970kg.

Dimensions-
Length: 4157mm
Width: 1946mm
Height: 1480mm
Wheelbase: 2595mm



The interior has a squared-off steering wheel and a display monitor in the middle. It seems most new cars have a monitor like this now, but since we all drive '90s cars, to us it seemed modern.



The glovebox on the left is quite strange! The front seat is also a bench-type on some models, which is quite unusual for a European car. The engines were just a few types of small petrol and diesel engines. The fastest was the 1.2L Turbo 110ps, but it's not a fast car, really. We didn't concentrate on the engines, because we're not sure what type will be offered by the lease company.

Overall we were quite impressed. Although it's only a small engine and quite basic family car, we all thought it was quite cool. He will try to get his wife to pick that one.