Tough Economic Times....but there are still silver linings

[328]

Hi Guys,

I had to make the decision around xmas time to sell my BMW 735...the gas guzzling 3.6 V8 wasnt justifiable due to the increasing petrol prices....spending approximately £90 petrol travlling only about 160 miles a week!......to which considered...are completely extortionate.

I have now just recently replaced this with another Honda though....

The Honda SMX.....in a nutshell it is a quirky 2.0l auto car which to be honest....i havent had that much fun in a long time.....and it was cheap to buy!! A nice car to drive whilst the NSX is kept nice and dry indoors.


I have attached some pictures :)


Andy

P.S. Thanks Kaz for some initial advice!! :)

871687178718

[nobby]

NICE ONE! :)

certainly dont see those everyday ... so it and the NSX will go hand in hand re that

looks nice mate, health to drive ... should be easier on the pocket compared to the beamer!

[328]

Hi Nobby,

Definitely less petrol required... :)


I think I am almost becoming a convert and slowly changing my cars to Hondas..lol

[markc]

Well it's certainly different :)

Apparently there's a CRV chassis/floorpan under there somewhere. With that front spoiler the 4wd version would make a good snowplough ;)

Cheers

Mark

[TheSebringOne]

Very Honda ish! Whats the combined mpg and I like it its quirkiness.

Didn't Sudesh import one of these or similar last year?

[328]

Cheers 'TheSebringOne'

err....mpg...i am unsure...lol....i know it the 2.0l is less than the previous 3.6l.......

there is a site

http://www.hondasmxclub.com/vehicle_info/overview.htm

it says 32mpg...but that has got to be with a very light foot!!

Quirky it is :).......i like the fact there is only one door on the drivers side and two on the passenger side...suppose to be child friendly so that children exit onto the pavement...unless of course you park the wrong way...and children will have to exit onto a road!

Snow plough sounds good Mark.....I dont think there are many 4x4 smx around though....

Cheers,

Andy

[Nick Graves]

That is so left-field! I hadn't realised there were so many Hondamentalists round here.

I really can see the appeal.

[328]

lol.....hondamentalists are everywhere!! :)

i think it has pushed me further to the Honda side from having quite a few problems with cars not being Honda....

[Dave J]

Well it's certainly different :)

Apparently there's a CRV chassis/floorpan under there somewhere. With that front spoiler the 4wd version would make a good snowplough ;)

Cheers

Mark

I'm pretty certain this also has the CRV engine as well, all the service parts are the same anyway! I've imported lots of these but they never acheived the cult status i thought they may have as they are great little cars. The maddest one i owned have a +£30,000 music install, this is now up for sale with KnightRacer......have a look, it's a wild one!!

[Sudesh]

Very Honda ish! Whats the combined mpg and I like it its quirkiness.

Didn't Sudesh import one of these or similar last year?

Only seeing this now. Yeah I did have one last year, very quirky little car.

[Justin]

I'm beginning to feel the need to get out of 735 ownership myself...

I was driving home one night last week and heard the warning chime from the dash. Looked down to find that it was only warning me fuel reserve had reached 30miles. Very briefly I thought "I'm glad that wasn't a warning for something pricey" before I realised that, now it's £140 a tank (good for 200 miles of commuting) the fuel light is actually about the priciest, scariest thing that can light up on that dash! :eek: :eek: :eek:

Good luck with the smx, I likes :)

[markc]

Very briefly I thought "I'm glad that wasn't a warning for something pricey" before I realised that, now it's £140 a tank (good for 200 miles of commuting) the fuel light is actually about the priciest, scariest thing that can light up on that dash! :eek: :eek: :eek:

Wow, assuming it has a 100 liter tank that's barely 9mpg AVERAGE, is it really that bad??? Either you're sitting in stationery traffic for a large percentage of the commute, the car is running very badly, you have a sizable fuel leak somewhere OR said commute is flat out on a race track :)

My old 540i (V8 petrol) used to average low 20's (25+ on a long run) and my current E430 (V8 petrol) is averaging 21 on my 9 mile daily commute and 23.5mpg overall.

Cheers

Mark

[Justin]

Wow, assuming it has a 100 liter tank that's barely 9mpg AVERAGE, is it really that bad??? Either you're sitting in stationery traffic for a large percentage of the commute, the car is running very badly, you have a sizable fuel leak somewhere OR said commute is flat out on a race track :)

My old 540i (V8 petrol) used to average low 20's (25+ on a long run) and my current E430 (V8 petrol) is averaging 21 on my 9 mile daily commute and 23.5mpg overall.

Cheers

Mark

Prolly a little exaggerated Mark, but not much - it's the traffic that does for it, coupled to a fairly inefficient AT that spins around the twin axes of inefficiently comfortable (normal auto programme) and inefficiently brutal (sport programme). Over the last 18 months my aggregate average mpg (according to onboard compy) including all non-commuting runs is 16mpg :(

I'm thinking Fiat 500 time ?

[328]

I'm beginning to feel the need to get out of 735 ownership myself...

I was driving home one night last week and heard the warning chime from the dash. Looked down to find that it was only warning me fuel reserve had reached 30miles. Very briefly I thought "I'm glad that wasn't a warning for something pricey" before I realised that, now it's £140 a tank (good for 200 miles of commuting) the fuel light is actually about the priciest, scariest thing that can light up on that dash! :eek: :eek:

Good luck with the smx, I likes :)

Hi Justin,

Petrol is getting bad now...I mean when selling the 7 series...I was like thinking I was gonna miss all the gadgets etc.....but to be honest I am more happy now going to a petrol station and paying for less fuel....a compromise I am happy to deal with :)


Hi Dave,

Yeah based on a CRV mark 1....so hoping most parts are readily available...well thats the theory..but it is the mark 1 and they dont make it anymore...so maybe salvage parts instead if required.


Hi Sudesh,

It is definitely different, now that i have been driving it for a couple of weeks....it is like a big toy car....it would be nicer though to have a more responsive gear change as it is auto....and my foot is quite heavy on the accelerator pedal....which kind of pushes the rev over the gear change...but still its fun!!

[goldnsx]

I've bought an Insight Gen. 1, year 2000, and sold everything that consumed more than 30 mpg except the NSX. I'm now driving at unbelieveable 75 mpg (no typo) and the hybrid-electro-turbo is pure fun to drive. ;) Well, that was only the average consumption over the last 10k miles. The best I ever had was last weekend: 107 mpg (again, no typo) over 30 miles from home to home with one cold engine start. :D
One of the better choices in my life. :) The oil-multies hate me, my wallet and the environment loves me. :cool:
BTW, I'm driving more than 750 miles with one tank of gasoline (40 litres) and pay around £40 each month for that distance. Cool, no? The new Honda Jazz Hybrid would be me second-best choice if I didn't run into the Insight.

[328]

I've bought an Insight Gen. 1, year 2000, and sold everything that consumed more than 30 mpg except the NSX. I'm now driving at unbelieveable 75 mpg (no typo) and the hybrid-electro-turbo is pure fun to drive. ;) Well, that was only the average consumption over the last 10k miles. The best I ever had was last weekend: 107 mpg (again, no typo) over 30 miles from home to home with one cold engine start. :D
One of the better choices in my life. :) The oil-multies hate me, my wallet and the environment loves me. :cool:
BTW, I'm driving more than 750 miles with one tank of gasoline (40 litres) and pay around £40 each month for that distance. Cool, no? The new Honda Jazz Hybrid would be me second-best choice if I didn't run into the Insight.


Hi Goldnsx,

Mate those are definitely good mpgs! ...maybe something i may consider in a couple of years when they are a little cheaper to buy

Andy