by "505 - morphine not found" (morphine500)
Published 02/06/2017 at 11:20
by "505 - morphine not found" (morphine500)
Published 02/06/2017 at 11:20
Tags: Peugeot 505
STARS: 3
...does that make the hassle of just keeping it on the road with endless repairs worthwhile?
We had a very good evening of snow-drift last Tuesday, which happened to be only the third time this winter when we could do that - thus are the effects of global warming in Central Europe. However, my mate told me that the day after he’d be taking his 911 C4S (996) out to a frozen lake using monte-carlo rally tires. Those are only partially studded, but would still help a lot with traction, he figured. I thought I take a camera and photograph him do it (or drown trying), but in the end I didn’t. Instead I too went out on the lake with the Peugeot.
Now you might think driving on a frozen lake is no biggie - lots of people do it in the properly cold areas of the world, like Scandinavia. I too did it once in central Sweden. However, this particular lake is in Hungary, a cool 2000 km south from that lake near Kall, and as I might have mentioned, we just don’t really get cold winters around here nowadays. This year though, there was a couple of weeks proper frost at least if not much snow, so the lake froze in. Let’s drill, baby, drill!
We found the ice to be 11 inches thick, and after mounting the rally tires (you don’t drive with those on the street), the Carrera 4S ventured out. Now I won’t post pics of the car, because the owner likes his privacy, let’s just say, that even though he was afraid of breaking through, he still did the deed. Also, told me to go too, because there was lots of rain, and thus the ice surface was a wee bit porous. The was strong with this one. I figured, if the porker didn’t break in, the 505, which is a bit lighter, probably won’t either, so strapped on my man-pants, and sailed out of port.
And yes, there was some traction. Not enough to win a race, but perfectly good to pull nice, wide-arching drifts. It felt glorious.
So after one of the best nights of proper, lovely snowdrift came a (probably) once in a lifetime event of icy lake driving in my own car, breaking (most likely) a few laws in the process, feeling young and vibrant doing it, and most of all: vindicated in my decisions leading up to all this.
Would I still buy this particular Peugeot 505 if I started again? Probably not. But it’s worth having.
"CalzoneGolem" (calzonegolem)
02/06/2017 at 11:33, STARS: 0
Reliability is high on my list of things that make a car worth driving.
"Mercedes Streeter" (smart)
02/06/2017 at 11:49, STARS: 0
Yes. Tucker became a total basket case after it had catastrophically failed. I desperately need to repair the oil pan and stabilize whatever is causing the misfires. I’ve been telling myself “cut your losses” but every time I drive him I fall in love all over again.
"505 - morphine not found" (morphine500)
02/06/2017 at 12:38, STARS: 2
I always want to tell people that the 505 is reliable. And in a way it is too, because the tech isn’t fragile,this one really is Afrika-rated. If it’s sorted with good parts, you can take it around the world. It’s just that it’s worth so little, mine never gets properly sorted... And would break in a small, but new way again after.
"TheTurbochargedSquirrel" (thatsquirrel)
02/06/2017 at 13:30, STARS: 1
I am preparing to take the Mini out to an Ice Time trial in a few weeks. Should be entertaining trying to find grip with an open diff and studless tires.