Vortex exhausts

[silvercruiser]

Hello i have just received the latest total offroad mag through the letterbox. and the new project car is an X reg landcruiser colorado 3.0td with the 1kzte engine so the same as my colorado apart from its a manual.

they have had a vortex exhaust system fitted and the before and after results are quite impressive( if not exaggerated) for the MPG gains.

i might enquire to see how much the system costs. the only problem being, they don't do an off the shelf kit and you have to take it in and wait.
I do prefer to fit thing myself. but il see how much this comes in.

 

[silvercruiser]

I have just checked the website and the main HQ is just up the road from me in Grays so might take a drive up there if i get time Saturday.

 

[Roger Fairclough]

It was an interesting read but the fuel saving of 20% has me shaking my head.

If there are savings to be had, even if 5-10%, then why don't the car makers fit them as standard?

Roger

 

[silvercruiser]

Yes i know the project is sponsored by vortex so the figures are most likely stretched. but it will be interesting t see how much this sort of system would cost. I have just emailed them so i will post on here once i get a reply.

 

[Shayne]

Hope to see your results soon coz my plan is to break my zorst at Lincomb so i have an excuse to get a 3" stainless Pro-speed fitted .

 

[wobbly]

Unless they increase the size of the stock dump pipe I dont see how they can get an increase of 20% - do they do this?

Pete

 

[Roger Fairclough]

I assumed the figure given by the magazine was correct.

It isn't.

It's not 20%.

It's a 47% reduction in fuel consumption. 24.4 mpg down to 35.9 mpg.

Now, how do you spell rubbish.

Roger

 

[silvercruiser]

I assumed the figure given by the magazine was correct.

It isn't.

It's not 20%.

It's a 47% reduction in fuel consumption. 24.4 mpg down to 35.9 mpg.

Now, how do you spell rubbish.

Roger

Yes im with you on this, its a shame as they are close to me and it could be an option but inflating the figures this much just kills it for me. I emailed them last night giving all the details of my colorado and asked for a rough estimate to supply and fit. today i got an email asking for my phone number so they can discuss it further. It might just be me but i don't like giving my number out until im ready to commit and i only asked for a rough price. but if they wont do this, its their loss.

I also googled them last night and there is quite a bit of discussion about bold claims of power/mpg gains but nothing to back it up.

 

[Roger Fairclough]

I worked for the Rover company on engine testing. We measured everything to the nth degree. This is one of the reasons I can be fussy and pedantic. Making claims based on two dissimilar journeys done on different days with different levels of everything is pointless. Even if the testing was over months instead of hours, because humans were driving the car, errors will occur.

You send an email giving basic facts and asking for info. If they need more info they should email you with a list of their questions. You supply the answers to their questions, again via email, and they give you a quote.

That's how the system works.

The only claims I would entertain are those produced in a laboratory using prescribed methods of testing.

Roger

 

[Shayne]

Roger could you please explain why Rover started using chocolate head gaskets and a temperature gauge that never worked ?

 

[wobbly]

I can.

Because Rover, like many post-war British companies, had a wealth of excellent engineering and technical ability, but an almost imbecilic manner of taking good ideas and turning them into ill-thought out products, short cuts based on lack of funds and ability ignored.

The evidence - despite rumours to the contrary, the UK produces hundreds of thousand of vehicles every year, using the very technical ability I mentioned. The difference is, these vehicles are produced by/for foreign owned companies who actually know a thing or two about succesful car manufacturing.

On the other hand, I cant explain why a company as good as Toyota can produce an engine as weak as the 2.4 Lte, but put it inside a chassis/body as good as the 70 series.

Regards

Pete

 

[Roger Fairclough]

A few months ago I was walking through a car park on route to my car. A woman ( no sexual discrimination meant ) driver was backing her car out of a space.

The engine was racing at about 6,000 rpm. There was the acrid smell of burning clutch drifting on the breeze. Life expectancy of her clutch would be measured in a few weeks.

A previous girlfriend used to ride the clutch pedal. Her clutch lasted 10,000 miles.

Two instances where a car manufacturer could be criticised for, apparently, building a car with a weak clutch.

The 2.4 litre engine will probably exceed most peoples needs over periods of many years but incorrect use that the manufacturer did not foresee will inevitably create problems and damn the engine for years to come.

Roger

 

[Shayne]

Helen had a mint Rover 414 and was her pride and joy , Platinum silver it was a nice car . She cleaned it constantly and kept all the reservoirs topped up as she had been told to do . Unfortunately before she met me she had never heard of servicing . Long story short . At the first sign of trouble she went straight to a garage , cost her 1200 for a recon engine . A week later Rover went bust , a week after that someone ran into the back of her , insurance said write off and offered 300 quid , she still owed £1500 on finance . Thankfully she came to me and i got the 1500 from insurance after lots of argument but that left Helen with no car and no money to buy one . 6 months after that Helen got a bunch of parking tickets from somewhere in London so obviously the car was sold on .

What other car dies instantly as a result of a missed service ?

 

[Roger Fairclough]

Modern day car engines are getting closer to the theoretical destruction point simply because of the need to satisfy the requirements of the designer. The nose of the car gets lower to aid in the reduction of drag. This creates problems for the engine designer re: cooling. The rad is also smaller to help the designer but this reduces the water content. This reduces weight but gets you closer to meltdown. On a recent expedition into the deserts of Arabia, the drivers of the Hummers were advised not to use the air-con as the power necessary to drive the compressor would overload the cooling system and---you guest it, meltdown.

Engine designers are asked to make engines that will go 20,000 miles between services. Vivs Shogun has a service interval of 9,000 miles. I service it every 4,500 miles.

We have been looking to replace the Shogun but can't find anything that comes close to our spec. This spec is the Shogun but brought up to date!!!

I think we will buy a narrow boat and investigate this mythical concept known as "relaxing".

Roger

 

[Shayne]

Surely Roger the 95 series is an upgrade on a Shogun with a minor service in every 9k miles and a major one every 27k , better fuel consumption and in all other respects pretty much the same vehicle . From what i've read many seem to get away with 5 years without serving with no ill effects (in the manual version anyway) . Should be a low maintenance vehicle to a man with your skills .

 

[Roger Fairclough]

The moment you say "3 doors, top spec and sun-roof" they shake their heads. Add to that the desire to improve the CD rating by sloping the windscreen to the point that my head is far closer to the top of the screen than I like and I just walk away.

The Shogun has been 100% reliable. The interior is Tardis style. It does everything we want and returns 32 mpg. I have £30,000, give or take, to spend on a new car. Spec is:-

3 door. Top spec. Diesel. 0-60mph in 10 seconds. Sunroof. Manual. Full time 4 wd. Roomy interior. Reliable. "A" and "B" pillars unobtrusive.

Any suggestions?

Roger

 

[Shayne]

Keep saving for an FJ Cruiser i guess . Personally if i was gonna throw 30 plus grand at a vehicle i would choose an older model simply for its looks then have it professionally rebuilt to tick all my boxes . You would end up with a unique vehicle that will never go out of fashion .

 

[Shayne]

If was forced to choose a new truck i think it would probably be a Nissan Pathfinder because its the only new truck available that doesn't have elegant feminine curves and swoops an etiquette . Its just a truck and doesn't try to be anything else . Worth a test drive maybe Roger ?

 

[Chris Green90]

I should be seeing Alan Kidd from TOR at the weekend. I wonder if he will let anything slip about the numbers. I would have thought Joe that it should have been very easy for them to give you a price seeing as though they did one for exactly the same vehicle as yours less than a month ago.

If it was me at Vortex I would have had the price on the tip of my tongue knowing that article was coming out this week.

 

[silvercruiser]

I should be seeing Alan Kidd from TOR at the weekend. I wonder if he will let anything slip about the numbers. I would have thought Joe that it should have been very easy for them to give you a price seeing as though they did one for exactly the same vehicle as yours less than a month ago.

If it was me at Vortex I would have had the price on the tip of my tongue knowing that article was coming out this week.

Exactly my thoughts but they obviously wanted to feed me a load of salesman