General Save me from myself! Going to buy a 2.4

[DoIDon'tI]

2.4 5pot diesel. :slayer:
If they can change the belts on the Marea 2.4 in situ, then there is much more space in the Croma!

Uh...looks about the same to me . The trouble with the Croma is the height of the chassis leg (bigger, heavier car = bigger, heavier structure + crumple zone), plus the great big pig-iron mounting plate they bolted on the side to hang the engine from which restricts the width further, plus the absolutely mahoosive automatic gearbox which gives you precisely 5.7mm movement in all directions when you're trying to lever the power unit around to get clearance. You Marea owners are blessed, you just don't realise it

 

[keithglos]

I thought the steering lock was pretty good.

That is after the Alfa GT.

 

[keithglos]

Meant to add: I am considering whether it's worth changing the belts, or just let them run on. I'm on 34000 miles and 4.5 years old. It's a criminal thought, but should I just keep it going with routine oil changes until it gives up?
Generally they don't mash the valves, but snap the rockers.

 

[DoIDon'tI]

Alfa GT 11.5 metres vs 11.2 for the Croma 5-pot vs 10.9 for the Croma 4-pot.

My wife's S*z*k* S*l*s* - 9.4 metres. As her car appears to be able to turn inside its own wheelbase I'm guessing every 0.1 of a metre makes a difference...at least that's what I'm told

 

[DoIDon'tI]

Meant to add: I am considering whether it's worth changing the belts, or just let them run on. I'm on 34000 miles and 4.5 years old. It's a criminal thought, but should I just keep it going with routine oil changes until it gives up?
Generally they don't mash the valves, but snap the rockers.

I'm guessing that the point when that happens will be in the next two to three years, at which point the residual value of the car would probably mean it's an uneconomical repair if you get a garage to do it

Depends on how much you mind getting stranded and paying out for repairs that were preventable I suppose...that said, if you're only keeping the car for a couple more years and are prepared to let it go for a low price at that point then it could potentially save you money - kind of. Personally I'd worry too much - you've seen how grey my hair is

 

[Hellcat]

Alfa GT 11.5 metres vs 11.2 for the Croma 5-pot vs 10.9 for the Croma 4-pot.

My wife's S*z*k* S*l*s* - 9.4 metres. As her car appears to be able to turn inside its own wheelbase I'm guessing every 0.1 of a metre makes a difference...at least that's what I'm told

Last Marea comment - 11.5m

 

[Doofer]

Hehe. My turning circle's bigger than yours.

Five cylinders makes a lot of sense to my simple brain. Four stroke engines only produce power 1/4 of the time (the "bang" part), so this is how it works in my mind anyway:

3 cylinder: bang--bang--bang--bang

4 cylinder: bangbangbangbangbang

5 cylinder: bang bang bang bang
-------------bang bang bang

i.e. there are more cylinders than strokes so the bangs overlap, making it much smoother. Hope the in-depth science wasn't too baffling .

However, the Fiat idea of five cylinders hammered into the gap between the wheelarches is pants. The old VW V5 petrol was perfect, but they stopped making it.