340 running costs

[foggyjames]

Originally Posted by Joe Harding

Don't argue with dis man. He's register keeper, he throw you off if you disrespect him.

Haha...now where's my ban hammer...?!

Regardless of what the numbers were, a 5-speed 1.4 is surprisingly good on fuel if kept below 70. It's bloody awful at 80+! Maybe my B200K was magic, but it was nearly as good as the 1.4 on the motorway. Nothing like as good in town!

I'd almost certainly still run either a B200K or B14 powered 300 as my main car if I didn't need to use the car for work. Having said that, it is quite nice to be able to choose whether to go retro or modern on a particular day. There are occasions when (even though you have a good answer), you don't want to have to explain "why"...

cheers

James

[Joe Harding]

Let's face it, the 340, even at its most sophisticated level of trim is basic. But beautiful.
It has relegated the ancient curse of contact breaker points and reached the sophistication of Renix to make the HT system reliable, and for me, the carburettor is usually trouble free.

But there are NO ERROR CODES. No DIM to alram you with its hieroglyphics. No immobilisers to immobilise you at 11pm on Friday night. No air mass monitoring to play you up. The list goes on.

Ours has had a silly season, but at the moment seems back on the straight and narrow.
Long may it continue not to break something that I can't get spares for.

[lyron]

Originally Posted by Joe Harding

Let's face it, the 340, even at its most sophisticated level of trim is basic. But beautiful.
It has relegated the ancient curse of contact breaker points and reached the sophistication of Renix to make the HT system reliable, and for me, the carburettor is usually trouble free.

But there are NO ERROR CODES. No DIM to alram you with its hieroglyphics. No immobilisers to immobilise you at 11pm on Friday night. No air mass monitoring to play you up. The list goes on.

Ours has had a silly season, but at the moment seems back on the straight and narrow.
Long may it continue not to break something that I can't get spares for.

hear hear to that joe.

[Chris_C]

Originally Posted by Joe Harding

Long may it continue not to break something that I can't get spares for.

Best way of doing that is to not put more power through it or do anything vaguely motorsport shaped.

Oh... hang on

[SteveP]

I really don't get your love for the tall diff in the B200K Foggy... the 3.64 in the GLT is tall enough for the cars merely adequate performance nowdays, and just further exaggerates the poor 2-3rd gear ratio of the M47 box. Motorway economy is almost irrelevant as neither would be used as cruising motorway cars in the current climate

[foggyjames]

There's next to no performance benefit in the shorter diff, and the taller version is quieter at speed, for another thing. I'm just used to cars with decent sized engines spinning around 2700rpm at 70mph, and like the idea of being able to cruise at 100mph (on the continent, of course...!) without feeling like I'm getting perilously close to the redline.

I'd totally understand it if the B200E was more rev-happy, but the engines are very similar, really. I think they should both have had the taller diff. I totally understand the idea of putting a shorter diff in a 16v-converted car...and, of course, my 343 with the B200'RS' (most of the power being above 4000rpm) has a 3.82 diff, so I'm not against short diffs...I just think the 3.64 was out of place in the GLT.

cheers

James

[Wilbo8711]

you're saying there's an easy way to get a better motorway cruising revs without too much work? i only really use mine for motorway travels from near Taunton to the far west of the M4, Carmarthen every other weekend and just travelling around town. i'm not afraid to use it as my daily! it's economy as it is is not all that far off modern junk. nothing modern takes my fancy!
I agree though, the 300's are only happy up to around 60mph. If i'm not in a rush i go at just over 60. I don't think my 340 is even capable of more than 90!!!
Mine's an F-reg with now only just 80,000!

[Clan]

the B14 will do a geniune 92 mph .. the 1700 just over 100 ..

[foggyjames]

According to the speedo (which I know won't be that accurate), I've seen 110mph in both a 1.4 5-speed an early 1.4 4-speed with the shorter diff (it's like a 5-speed without 5th, whereas the later 4-speed has much taller gears). The latter must have been screaming its head off...!

In terms of dropping the cruise RPM, it's a case of swapping the diff. It's not a 2 minute job, but it's perfectly do-able, given the right parts. The 1.5 5-speed has the shortest of the 5 speed diffs, which means higher RPM for a given speed...more torque multiplication, but potentially at the cost of some MPG. Exactly what effect it has depends on what torque the engine makes at what engine speed...going "too" tall (i.e. lowering the RPM too much at 70mph) will worsen your MPG, as the engine is operating out of its efficiency band.

To be honest, I always got very impressive numbers out of my 1.4 5 speed (45-50mpg on the motorway, typically), so I'd be tempted to leave well alone. There's a danger you might not add much, and might compromise acceleration to an undesirable extent.

cheers

James

[Joe Harding]

Once, and once only I floored our first 340 1.4 4 speed on the motorway. 115mph with a following wind.
Never again.