Citroen XM Forum

What I was thinking. Excellent result though. They certainly needed doing.

Hi Will,
The looped pipe illustrated is included to help equalize the front and rear cylinder pipework lengths, given the transverse engine mount, that apparently helps to optimize performance!
With regards,
Matthew T.
PS. I now attach an illustration of the complete system.

That's what You call dedicated!

That's what You call dedicated!

Or crazy I guess Ray, depending on your point of view!! Regards, Matthew T.

MTXM wrote:Hi Will,
The looped pipe illustrated is included to help equalize the front and rear cylinder pipework lengths, given the transverse engine mount, that apparently helps to optimize performance!
With regards,
Matthew T.

Yes it does. Thanks for the reminder.

I am pleased to report that after a rest period of about nine months the Poland XM will be back on the road in early May! The car was taken for an MOT this afternoon and amazingly passed with no advisories, so I was quite chuffed about that. I wanted to put on a few more miles before the epic 3,000 mile Classic Challenge in just over one month's time, so hopefully she is up to the task! Since registration in July 2016 we have managed about 5,000 trouble free miles. Regards, Matthew T.

Great news. Well done.

What ever you do, DO NOT TOUCH THE STEERING RACK!
I'm sure it will run brilliantly. A very good idea to have a month of driving it about first.

Many thanks Russ and please be assured that I will not touch the steering rack without good reason and especially given the relatively unknown territory of Diravi! The rack on the gold car did need urgent attention due to a weep on the ram and the bolt did take about three years and an additional 1,500 miles of hard driving through France to loosen!! As it happens there is a slight issue with the Poland car steering, which is currently stuck in the light setting, hopefully due to a detached or broken cable between the gearbox and controlling gyro mechanism, that did give problems before. I have not completely decided which car to take to France as my heart says the higher mileage and comparatively untested Poland car (left hand drive and French market model etc.) and my head says the well known and hopefully now sorted Essex car (comfortable auto box and slightly less precious). If I am honest, although the Poland car does appear solid and strong it also has the feel of a well worn suit, with a few shakes and rattles and a sense that it should be handled more gently! With regards, Matthew T.

I'd take the left hooker as it's a manual gearbox and also, if it does give any trouble, parts and repairs will be easier to source.

A left hooker when driving on the right will just be much more natural and safer. It would be odd to use a LHD when driving int eh UK and a RHD when driving in mainland Europe.

Dieselman wrote:A left hooker when driving on the right will just be much more natural and safer. It would be odd to use a LHD when driving in the UK and a RHD when driving in mainland Europe.

I get plenty of experience of both - it's amazing what you can get used to!
Biggest pain with wrong-handing is toll booths and car parks, especially in a wide XM.