Awesome Re-Mapped Zillion BHP Weistec Thingy.....

[Scott_F]

Well my one year tour of duty with the Ka came to an end on Thursday when it sold within 24 hours to a very pleasant Eastern European couple.

I covered just under 31k miles in it and apart from £50 for the MOT the biggest single expense was the £20 I paid for some overpriced oil on the day I bought it (but at 3.50pm on a Sunday afternoon you don't have much choice and you have to be quick). In all, I probably spent just over £100 on servicing and it proved to be 100% reliable.

I lost £200 or so in depreciation on the selling price which isn't bad in view of the monster mileage I notched up and the sterling service that it gave.

And that's Bangernomics.........

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Great little cars.

 

[moonloops]

You need to get back down to the scrap yard and see if you can salvage an old SI badge off some French tin box.

Put it on the back next to the name badge. Presto, you now have a Ford Ka Si. Perfect description methinks.

.

Why spend double when you can just add another k to the end of the Ka badge

 

[Ted]

Gives you a warm feeling doesn't it?
Love stories like this.

 

[Scott_F]

Gives you a warm feeling doesn't it?
Love stories like this.

I'm not sure I'd go that far as you have to adopt an "I don't care what anyone else thinks" attitude every time you go out in a car like this !

 

[gaz_l]

As I said earlier in the thread, I like the Ka. But as a town car, 31K miles in a year?!! I doff my hat to you, sir. No way I'd be up for that..

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[Scott_F]

As I said earlier in the thread, I like the Ka. But as a town car, 31K miles in a year?!! I doff my hat to you, sir. No way I'd be up for that..

Cheers,

Gaz

It was a rushed purchase and not my wisest but once I'd taxed and insured it I was committed. However, I was fortunate that it turned out well.

 

[John]

You need to get back down to the scrap yard and see if you can salvage an old SI badge off some French tin box.

Put it on the back next to the name badge. Presto, you now have a Ford Ka Si. Perfect description methinks.

.

No need for a French car - they did Ford Fiesta/Escort etc. Si models...

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Fantastic thread Scott. Thanks.

 

[Tim203]

Had loads of fun in one of these in Germany . No one mentioned how brilliantly they handle. The old cross flow motor 'feels' quite nippy and is certainly a willing horse.

 

[flat6buster]

Had loads of fun in one of these in Germany . No one mentioned how brilliantly they handle. The old cross flow motor 'feels' quite nippy and is certainly a willing horse.

I had one as a courtesy car in the nineties. It was snowing. I did not go to work. I just drove around the lanes all day with my hand on the handbrake. Seriously some of the best fun I have had driving. Absolute hoot.

 

[E55BOF]

To go back to the thread title, I think I met one of these Weistec-tuned things recently on the A43 near Silverstone; white current-model Golf. The E55K wasn't totally disgraced, but I had my foot to the floor and there is no doubt he was still coming past me as I chickened out and backed off approaching stupid mph. I've no idea what gearing he was running, of course, and I might have pulled away once the speed was up to German unrestricted autobahn levels, but I was very impressed nevertheless.

 

[Scott_F]

Here's the Ka's replacement and my latest venture into Bangernomics:

It's early days but after nearly 1000 miles I can say that it's obviously a lot more comfortable than it's predecessor but actually about 10% more thirsty which surprised me.

 

[Aspotofbother]

Just read this. Great description of the Ka! Gave me a good giggle on a Sunday morning..
Certainly not the worst car I ever drove, that particular award goes to the Suzuki Jimny....

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[TheFoX]

We almost died an a KA. A 1.6 litre SportKa. While driving down the road, the car in front pulled in to a side road, did a U Turn, then pulled out right in front of us as we we about to pass that junction, doing just 50mph in a 60mph zone. The collision was horrendous, but what was more horrendous was that there was no passenger airbag, and the driver's airbag was only marginally bigger than a pin cushion.

A typical Ford built to a budget. Ironically, there is a place for the passenger airbag, but they obviously decided to keep the cost to a minimum. While this might have been acceptable for a 1.3 litre Ka, you'd expect the SportKa to be somewhat higher specified, yet it isn't.

Since that accident, the first thing I check when considering a new purchase is how safe the vehicle is, and what protection it offers us.

Since that accident, every time I see a Ka on the road I think, 'You are driving a death trap'.

 

[markjay]

[YOUTUBE]FwC-lQDZ2D0[/YOUTUBE]

 

[John]

We almost died an a KA. A 1.6 litre SportKa. While driving down the road, the car in front pulled in to a side road, did a U Turn, then pulled out right in front of us as we we about to pass that junction, doing just 50mph in a 60mph zone. The collision was horrendous, but what was more horrendous was that there was no passenger airbag, and the driver's airbag was only marginally bigger than a pin cushion.

A typical Ford built to a budget. Ironically, there is a place for the passenger airbag, but they obviously decided to keep the cost to a minimum. While this might have been acceptable for a 1.3 litre Ka, you'd expect the SportKa to be somewhat higher specified, yet it isn't.

Since that accident, the first thing I check when considering a new purchase is how safe the vehicle is, and what protection it offers us.

Since that accident, every time I see a Ka on the road I think, 'You are driving a death trap'.

That's the biggest problem / risk with bangernomics.

It's what puts me off older cars as well.

 

[Scott_F]

We almost died an a KA. A 1.6 litre SportKa. While driving down the road, the car in front pulled in to a side road, did a U Turn, then pulled out right in front of us as we we about to pass that junction, doing just 50mph in a 60mph zone. The collision was horrendous, but what was more horrendous was that there was no passenger airbag, and the driver's airbag was only marginally bigger than a pin cushion.

A typical Ford built to a budget. Ironically, there is a place for the passenger airbag, but they obviously decided to keep the cost to a minimum. While this might have been acceptable for a 1.3 litre Ka, you'd expect the SportKa to be somewhat higher specified, yet it isn't.

Since that accident, the first thing I check when considering a new purchase is how safe the vehicle is, and what protection it offers us.

Since that accident, every time I see a Ka on the road I think, 'You are driving a death trap'.

I saw an old (somewhere in the early 2000s) Ka recently that was obviously very high spec. Not only was there a passenger airbag, there were also (according to the badges stitched onto the rather smart leather seats) side airbags too.

However, as you say, these cars were built down to a low price and although a host of extras were available, very few buyers would have forked out the extra cash for them. Otherwise, they may as well have bought something more luxurious instead.

 

[TheFoX]

I saw an old (somewhere in the early 2000s) Ka recently that was obviously very high spec. Not only was there a passenger airbag, there were also (according to the badges stitched onto the rather smart leather seats) side airbags too.

However, as you say, these cars were built down to a low price and although a host of extras were available, very few buyers would have forked out the extra cash for them. Otherwise, they may as well have bought something more luxurious instead.

Ironically, after the crash, I went to the NCap testing site to see how the Ka did. Unsurprisingly, the Ka barely scraped through to three stars, and it is listed as only having one airbag.

Have you ascertained the existence of a passenger airbag, or is it just a cover with the airbag symbol. Our car had the airbag pop cover, but internally it was bare, and the engineer that did the reports has said that this version of the Ka was only ever fitted with one airbag.

Of course, you don't expect someone to pull out in front of you, but then again, some people just don't bother to look. Ask any biker about their near misses and they'll recount numerous stories of stupid drivers.

Our SportKa, by the way, was a 2008 model, just prior to the new model being introduced.

 

[Scott_F]

Why spend double when you can just add another k to the end of the Ka badge

I snapped this yesterday and reckon it would have been much more appropriate: