MPG on 2.5

Off topic chat about anything you like. Doesn't have to be about XMs (though they will inevitibly come up!). You can even discuss non-Citroens :o in here!
Richard
Knows how to use the parking brake
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Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 11:56 am

Re: MPG on 2.5

Post by Richard » Mon Jun 08, 2009 10:02 pm

Ciaran, yes I agree we're well off topic, but here's a couple of members getting to know each other... that's not all bad, is it?

Peter. You seem a lot like me, we like peace and quiet and solitude.

Fresh from college I had a high flying career in London which almost drove me mad. I made an awful lot of money for those days, but I gave up five years of my young life to do it. Left in my middle twenties and became a farm worker. I think now I found my level then, and, in various incarnations since, have been a contemplative rather than a doer. Enjoyed being a part time freelance writer, and many church/chapel activities. Lived in remote places most of my life since London, Upper Swaledale, the North York Moors near Muker, and several places in Eire.

Now, the nearest shop to us now is six miles away, the nearest pub which I've been into once, is three miles away, and the nearest major town is twenty nine miles away. Halleluyah! Even then, it's a little too close for me. I deeply enjoy my three Border Collies, my vegetable garden, my wife and step families.

This last weekend I took my wife's two young grandchildren back to the village I was born into, in West Norfolk. They had a whale of a time, but me, at fifty eight years old, realised I have been trying all my life to return to the life and values I grew up with. I've nearly succeeded.

I guess I'm just the same with cars. Sophistication just doesn't appeal to me. That's why I liked the GS, GSA and BX so much. The XM is a complicated motor, without a doubt, but it is repairable, which can't be said for so many computer controlled cars on the road now. My wife's XM is a step up for me, an acknowledgement that I must make concessions to the twenty first century, albeit reluctantly.

I give in with as much grace as I can muster - I'l get an XM to replace my ailing BX

Peter.N.
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Re: MPG on 2.5

Post by Peter.N. » Mon Jun 08, 2009 10:47 pm

Hi Richard

I think that the XM is the 'optimum' car, because although as you say its complicated compared to older cars, that complication gives probably the best ride available combined with superb handling, if you like that sort of thing, and in the case of the 2.1 probably the most efficient IDI diesel ever made. In short, it has all the advantages of a modern car without most of the disadvantages. I would like a classic rear wheel drive car from the maintenance point of view but I am prepared to tolerate the complication for the extra comfort. On the plus side, its repairable on a DIY basis and far more durable and cheaper to repair than most cars made since the '90s.

Yes, I also love living in the country, the more remote the better. I was born in Kent, only 12 miles from London but I always wanted to get away and when we were married in '63 we bought a farm cottage between Sevenoaks and Maidstone where we lived for seven years until we moved her in 1970 and have been in the same house ever since. If you click on our website at the bottom of the page you can see what it looks like round here.

I started work as a TV engineer in 1954 with no qualifications whatsoever, in fact the only one I have gained in my life is my amateur radio license. In those days there was such a shortage of TV engineers that if you could repair them you could get a job practically anywhere, and I could. I have been self employed most of the time, working from a workshop up the garden from the house for the last 35 years or so.

I shall l stick with XMs for as long as I am able to repair them - and I have a couple of spare ones. :D

Peter
'96 'N' 2.1 td VSX manual estate White RP6695. Sadly gone
2008 C5 2.0. Hdi Estate, Red
2008 C5 2.0. Hdi Estate Silver


Located in Charmouth, Dorset

Ciaran
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Orga / RP numbers: 1234
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Re: MPG on 2.5

Post by Ciaran » Tue Jun 09, 2009 3:29 pm

Richard wrote:Ciaran, yes I agree we're well off topic, but here's a couple of members getting to know each other... that's not all bad, is it?
Hey, don't let me stop you, I encourage this kind of off topic bantering, in fact I'm one of the biggest culprits for doing it too :lol:

Don't ever feel you have to apologise or justify the content of your posts to me, I provide this forum as a service to the Citroen community, I'm not here to police it or stipulate what can and can't be posted (especially not in the 'general chat' section). If something in a technical discussion goes really far off topic we'll normally just split the chatty bits away from the technical content, so they can be continued in a new thread, but I'm certainly not out to berate people for going OT. The forum content and the users who post it are the most important thing, without that there's nothing, this is just a website at the end of the day. So please, feel free to carry on!

Ciarán

Richard
Knows how to use the parking brake
Posts: 61
Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 11:56 am

Re: MPG on 2.5

Post by Richard » Tue Jun 09, 2009 3:32 pm

Ciaran, you're a star!

Peter.N.
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Re: MPG on 2.5

Post by Peter.N. » Tue Jun 09, 2009 3:51 pm

Thanks Ciaran, that's how I like it. One vintage radio forum I'm on will delete your post if you go off subject! :o

Peter
'96 'N' 2.1 td VSX manual estate White RP6695. Sadly gone
2008 C5 2.0. Hdi Estate, Red
2008 C5 2.0. Hdi Estate Silver


Located in Charmouth, Dorset

Richard
Knows how to use the parking brake
Posts: 61
Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 11:56 am

Re: MPG on 2.5

Post by Richard » Tue Jun 09, 2009 3:58 pm

You're right Peter. Whether by choice or accident we all lead increasingly isolated lives and the internet provides space to get to know other people.

I would be the first to proclaim, it's about the cars! But it's about people too, we own them and drive them. So, it's always going to be something of a social site.

Another car forum I belonged to a while back had done all the technical stuff, and had degenerated into a very basic social site. Needn't say any more I think!

Long may XM Forum last!

Ciaran
Site Admin
Posts: 1824
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:59 pm
Orga / RP numbers: 1234
5678
91011
Location: Ireland

Re: MPG on 2.5

Post by Ciaran » Tue Jun 09, 2009 11:12 pm

Peter.N. wrote:Thanks Ciaran, that's how I like it. One vintage radio forum I'm on will delete your post if you go off subject! :o

Peter
My, that must be an exciting, fun filled forum :o :lol:

I know what you mean though, a few other car sites I'm on started doing the same, and one of them, once quite massive, has suffered as a result. If you start stifling the community and friendly banter then whats the point? You do that and you may as well just have an encyclopedia of technical content on static pages....

Ciarán

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