I’m from the wet and windy UK and I’m asking many questions and seeking much advice before purchasing a motor car.
My existing fleet consists of a '72 VW 1303, a '79 VW T2, an '87 944S, an '02 Rover 75 and an '87 VW T53b.
I’ve just sold my '99 XJ-8 and an '03, 270,000 mile Renault Vel Satis.
I fancy a Sirion to replace the Scirocco, but there’s not as much information, certainly not clear info readily available on the web.
I’ve read that there are; ‘1950s industrial Japanese design cues all around the car’. Sorry to be thick, but what am I looking at here?
I’m after a 1300 with air conditioning and a Bader box. I much prefer the look of the very early Sirion, the one with the oval grille, but am I correct in thinking that the early versions had only the 80 odd bhp motor and the 101bhp version only came along with the facelift?
Similarly, the dash. Did the white faced instruments and the gear selector indicator thing on the right as opposed to black & on the bottom, come along with the later cars?
How noisy is the car?
Is it OK just to potter about in, or does it always like/need to be driven hard?
What is the ride quality like?
And where do I look for rust first?
I’ll post up some pictures just as soon as I buy something.
I am not sure about the UK but in Australia the earlier M101 GTVi badged sirions that have the 1.3 in them have more power (75kw) vs the later models (63kw).
They are an awesome little car, handle decent from the factory, you can make it a bit firmer pretty cheap.
Whilst the engine is not quite as nippy as the 1 ltr from a stand still you do not really need to drive it above 3000rpm around town but when you do want to have a little fun the power is readily available
The 1300 gtvi is a brilliant car and incredible value. My only dislike is the high driving position and that is able to be corrected with some fabrication.
Welcome to the forum can only go by what australia got, the 1.3 got the white dials, the 1.0 3 cyl got the black. as to the rust, look all around the inner wheel arches, sills and boot area for starters
It would appear that in the UK, the early M101 had the 80 odd bhp engine and the more powerful 101 bhp version didn’t arrive until the facelift with the awful, gopping, grinning grille.
Am I correct in assuming that the more powerful version is redlined at 7,500 rpm and the lesser version at a lower engine speed?
Bearing in mind the fact that I can’t remember the last time I pulled more than 3,000 rpm, I suspect that the earlier, cuter looking version is the one for me.
It appears that every one I’ve looked at so far has needed welding to the rear of the sills/seat belt mountings and the suspension ‘component mounting prescribed area’ .
Before about 3500-4000 RPM there isn’t going to be much difference between any of the 1.3lt engines, except for the rally 2 or 4 engines. The camshaft in the Rallies seemed to increase torque from around 2500-3000 RPM. If you aren’t going to rev it too much there isn’t really any need in having the higher hp engine.
Most of us here in Australia don’t know too much about the rust issues as it hasn’t been much of a problem for us.
It is with some sadness that I feel obliged to leave this forum.
When I started looking for a little Sirion I didn’t realise quite how much fun could be had with them. I also didn’t realise how badly they rot here in the UK. I must have checked out the online MOT test histories of thirty or forty vehicles as they come up for sale and every single one, irrespective of milage, has had welding work done to the rear of the sills/the rear suspension mounting area. They all seem to have needed work at about ten or twelve years old. So the work is itself now about ten years old itself. I obviously have noway of telling how well or how badly the work has been done & I suspect that I’d have no time to enjoy engine/suspension fun & would spend all my time chasing the tin worm!
Have fun you lot, I’m off to find another car & another forum.
