OT Auto Diesel Cages!

SO had the unfortunate luck of having her car written off last week.
Some idjit in a Porca decided to do 360 down the M11 in front her and a
lorry at 07:00 and fucked up the whole traffic flow for an hour or so.
Luckily no one was seriously hurt.
This Porca had just overtaken her when he lost control in the fast lane,
sweeping across all 3 lanes, hard shoulder and came to grief the wrong way
round under a lorry that was next to SO. She managed to stop without hitting
anything, then got punted up the arse by someone in the fast lane swerving
into to middle lane where she had come to a full stop. Thus being shot
forward into the scattering debris field that was once a 30 grand + Porca.
Not one wheel or panel left on the beast when it came to it's final rest.
So now we cannot get a small (hers was a Corsa 1.3CDTI Easytronic) new
diesel car. Nobody makes a small economical diesel Auto.
Why not??
Vauxhall did, that's why she bought this one 2.5 years ago. Now she's being
forced into a manual of which she hasn't driven for many years.
What is the matter with the car manufacturers today??
There must be a reason why they don't make one, but nobody can tell me.
Anybody know?
TIA.
--
Greybeard

FLHTCUI UK-07 96 cu-in (Written off after 3 days & 182 miles!) Courtesy of a
myopic female driver.
FLHTCUI UK-07 Mk II (Arrived! but not registered yet!)
Trumpet Trophy 1200 -96, (The Barge) for rainy days.

ukrm@foxtails[dot]co[dot]uk

 

Greybeard wrote:
Nobody makes a small economical diesel Auto.

AIUI (and I am not an engineer) the torque profile of a Diesel engine is
a real problem for an automatic gearbox. Was the Corsa a
normally-aspirated Diesel or did it need to be turbo-charged? Could the
sheer cost and difficulty have put manufacturers off?

 

Simple lack of demand. Small engines and autos are generally perceived
as being a bad combo. Not necessarily true nowadays, of course, but you
can't shift an ingrained 'truism' like that one.

 

You didn't specify a minimum performance criterion.
You want a small economical diesel automatic ? Je présente l'Axiam !


http://www.aixam-cars.co.uk/moreinfo.htm

--

+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest Yamaha WR250Z |
| Gilera GFR Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Makes it cheap and easy to plug in an iPod or similar.....

 

Wasn't the Corsa a variomatic anyway? probably well suited to a small
diesel.

 

Uh well maybe you are whooshing me but you do get a thing like a
cassette which takes the iPod lead and plays it through the mag pickup

 

I just got an 'Enzo' wireless FM MP3 sender jobby from a BP service
station for 7 quid.

 

I have similar. It's shite. As was the iTrip transmitter before it.

There are too many FM stations these days for them to work properly.
Even in mid-Wales.

 

TBF I haven't actually tried it in a car yet. Seems to work OK in the
house right next to a 'boom box' that has no line input.

 

Indeed. Most small autos with variomatic-type transmissions have been ok
in general driving, but there's still a serious lack of demand for them,
especially spread over several makers.

 

The one SO had was a turbo. Vauxhall made them for about 18 months.
The Tech guys at the dealership reckon it's something to do with EURO 4
regs?
--
Greybeard

FLHTCUI UK-07 96 cu-in (Written off after 3 days & 182 miles!) Courtesy of a
myopic female driver.
FLHTCUI UK-07 Mk II (Arrived! but not registered yet!)
Trumpet Trophy 1200 -96, (The Barge) for rainy days.

ukrm@foxtails[dot]co[dot]uk

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Greybeard

Toyota do the Yaris (which is a great little car) with a diseasel and an
auto box (well, semi-auto with an auto mode).

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Podium Placed Ducati Race Engineer as featured in
Performance Bikes and Fast Bikes

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
SBS#39 OMF#6 Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"
Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single" Yamaha Vmax Honda ST1100 wiv trailer

 

Interesting.
But I doubt it would suffer 20K miles a year of motorway thrashing!
SO was looking at more conventional stuff, with a perceived long life ;o/
The previous beast at 70PS and 75m/gal was the absolute ideal.

--
Greybeard

FLHTCUI UK-07 96 cu-in (Written off after 3 days & 182 miles!) Courtesy of a
myopic female driver.
FLHTCUI UK-07 Mk II (Arrived! but not registered yet!)
Trumpet Trophy 1200 -96, (The Barge) for rainy days.

ukrm@foxtails[dot]co[dot]uk

 

Now that's strange.
Cos when I spoke to a Toyota dealer, the said they didn't have an auto?
I'll have another look. The easytronic in SO's Corsa was really a Sami auto,
as you could manually change gears using tiptronic, or just leave it in auto
mode. If they do similar it would be what she wants.
Taa.

--
Greybeard

FLHTCUI UK-07 96 cu-in (Written off after 3 days & 182 miles!) Courtesy of a
myopic female driver.
FLHTCUI UK-07 Mk II (Arrived! but not registered yet!)
Trumpet Trophy 1200 -96, (The Barge) for rainy days.

ukrm@foxtails[dot]co[dot]uk

 

I *think* they discontinued the auto diesel Yaris, which is a damn shame.
Stupid thing is, if you go to Europe, you can get diesel autos.

Ali

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Alison Hopkins

Fortunately, due to the power of a new invention called the Internet, I
was able to have a quick gander at Toyota's top secret public website.
It says:

"The new Yaris engine line-up is designed to appeal to a wide customer
base offering class-leading levels of performance and environmental
friendliness with a choice of 1.4 D-4D 90hp, 1.3L VVT-i 87hp and 1.0L
VVT-i 69hp engines.

All engines will be available with the Toyota MultiMode transmission,
with automatic clutch control and a choice of manual or automatic modes
to suit every driver's needs."

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Podium Placed Ducati Race Engineer as featured in
Performance Bikes and Fast Bikes

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
SBS#39 OMF#6 Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"
Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single" Yamaha Vmax Honda ST1100 wiv trailer

 

Furthermore, their whizzy used car search shows a number of actual cars
of that spec for sale to the general public. Imagine that!

 

I suppose the Golf 1.9TDi with the DSG auto is above the price you
want to pay
What about a Smart Car then? http://tinyurl.com/235f7g

"softip - forget the clutch"
You change up or down the gears by gently tapping the gear lever
forward or backwards.
And you don't even need a clutch.

 

Piss off, she said cheerfully. Thobbut, I could have sworn they stopped
doing same for a while - they've relaunched the Yaris, I think. I'm rather
pleased to be proved wrong, it's a super little car. The Toyota auto gear
box is excellent, ime.

Ali