W124 vs Granadas and Senators

[kid-jensen]

Bloodmoon wrote:

...........................those 2.8 Granadas go for peanuts, and are probably a lot better than a good number of dross out there. The same can be said for the old 3ltr Senators I suppose. Having never driven either, I really can't comment on how they measure up.


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Well, my last car was a Senator and the one before that was a Granada, so I'm in a pisition to comment.

There's no doubt that I've finally settled on the best car

The Senator had a lot of charm, it handled well, went OK (unless you had the 24v which was OK +), and wasn't too thirsty. It served me well for 8 years but it did go wrong all the time. If I couldn't have fixed it myself, I would have binned it sooner.

In the end the rust depressed me into selling it.

The Granada was OK too, performance for a 2-liter was pretty good, economy reasonable, handling bizarrely like a FWD (NOT a good thing), but it was cheap-n-nasty inside.

Again, it was the rust and it's lack of intrinsic value which forced me to get shot of it.

All in all, I'm pleased to have finally arrived at the gas-guzzler that I'm really satisfied with. The long-term benifits of the quality of constructuion and rust protection are well worth the extra cost up-front.

Added to that, the performance is far better than anything I've ever owned before (Jensen excepted, and then not by much!).

Handling, the jury's still out on. There's a bit too much understeer for my liking, but I do have crappy narrow tyres, so It should be easy to sort that.

Still in the honeymoon period...............

 

[bloodmoon]

Thanks for the clarification of those 2 cars - about a year ago I had a serious look at the Granny and the Senator, but settled on no car at all in the end...

Anyway, being a 124 coupe owner myself, I can relate to what you have said. Is the 3.2 really a gas guzzler? I haven't had my 300CE-24 long enough yet to come to a decision, but everybody who has seen it has always passed comment such as:

"<sharp intake of breath> ouch! I bet that drinks petrol doesn't it?"

I am really happy with it personally, and although it is lazy off the line, the impressive mid range performance more than makes up for this. I was, however, schooled in a big way by a Sprinter van last week. Absolutely screamed past me in a 40 zone. I was doing 45-ish, and he was on my tail for ages with no intention of overtaking. After a few minutes of tailgating me, he floored the white van and shot past me and disappeared into the distance. Can't win them all, eh?

The reason I settled on a 124 was the impressive reputation based on rock-solid build quality. It strikes me as being one of those cars that is totally (and probably un-necassarily) grossly over-engineered. Why use 3 screws when 43 will work even better...

It was Shude who introduced me to the 124 after I was showing interest in a 190E. As tempted as I was with the 2.6 version, I just thought the 300E overshadowed its little brother in a big way. And when I saw the coupe - I fell in love with it. I actually prefer it to the cabrio, but that is just a question of personal preference I guess.

--
Antony

 

[kid-jensen]

Anthony,

Good to hear you're pleased with your CE.

I hear that the 3 -litre 24V engine is designed to produce it's power at high revs so there's no point in slogging it around in high gear.

You say it's slow off the mark...are you sure you're getting first gear? mine pulls away in second, which is fine unless you expect to light-up the tyres!

My fuel figure is about 20mpg in town, but the traffic is generally stationary around here, so this is probably the best I can expect.

On a run it should get into the high twenties, but as there's no torque converter lock-up, I'm not expecting Reliant Robin figures..........

Those sprinter vans eh? I did hear of one with a 5 litre V8 in it..........that must have been it.

 

[bloodmoon]

Mine too pulls away in second, and there is a second or so delay in actually depressing the accelerator and the car setting off. It also seems to hold onto second gear for too long, but I am assured this is normal.

I am looking to replace the air filter with a Green cotton filter, but I am having trouble finding the right one on their site. I think the engine is being choked by the crap paper one, and am hoping this minor upgrade will show an improvement. My engine uses the huge circular filter - is the 320 the same?

That was the second time in as many days I was schooled in a big way, altough the time prior to the van was a Ferrari on the motorway. I was moving at about 95 and the Ferrari was virtually in my boot. I pulled in and he disappeared at frightening speed.

--
Antony

 

[kid-jensen]

Bloodmoon,

I been reading a lot about aftermarket filters lately.........

The vast majority of opinion seems to be......stick with the paper one.

There was no VERIFIABLE report of a K&N, Green or Pipercross filter giving more power, usually the reverse is true.

You can make a case for the K&N in the long-term though, because cleaning and re-oiling eventually makes it cheaper than a bunch of replacement paper ones. It's all a bit marginal though.

Don't expect to catch that Ferrari just because you've changed to a K&N

You could always try Nitrous