I’ve driven about 800 miles in the new BX now. Today, I drove it back-to-back with the Sirion, which was a very interesting comparison! Is my return to BXing a good thing though?
Arise and we shall go for a drive!
But in this post, I’ll focus on the BX. After the frenetic fun of the Sirion, climbing into the BX is like donning your favourite slippers. The thing is, it’s like discovering that actually, your slippers are ideal footwear for a cross-country run. The BX may be comfortable – I just adore the ride – but you can cover ground pretty swiftly. It’s just that you still feel like you’re in front of the fire with a warm mug of tea, even when pushing on a bit.
The engine is the major reason for the clash. You can’t really accelerate in the traditional term, but you can maintain good speed, without having to raise the revs beyond 2500rpm. Most of the time, I find I’m switching between fourth and fifth where in other cars, I’d be using third, and maybe even second in a desperate attempt to find some grunt. You never feel like you’re taxing the engine, yet you can corner vigorously enough to cause some impressive body roll. This car is far softer than my previous two BXs, which is hardly surprising as the turbo diesels used firmer ‘springing.’ The spheres in those are set to higher pressures like on the performance petrol BXs. They feel almost conventional. What’s the point of that?
After many a month with the Sirion, I find myself looking at the road ahead and cringing in anticipation of discomfort. There are bumps mid-bend around here that cause some anxiety. The BX just saunters over them without being flustered. It’s uncanny.
Not that it’s all good. The single wiper (especially the unswept area) still bugs me, I still need to replace an engine mount and it has a few more fluid leaks than I’m happy with. The dashboard rattles are like Chinese water torture too. Ugh!
But, in case you hadn’t guessed, I’m loving my return to BXing overall. I can’t really believe it’s already been two weeks and 800 miles. I guess time really does fly when you’re having fun. Have you had a break from a model of car only to rediscover your love later on? Or did the second chance prove that we sometimes have a rose-tinted version of our memories?
HubNut - celebrating the average! 
My brother put me off that with two Mk2 Polos. First one was a basic model. Brilliant, cheap to run, sturdy etc. Second one, a Coupe S, was a bit of a dog. In fairness it was mainly owner neglect/abuse sadly. Didn’t keep it long and disappeared from the radar shortly after we sold it on.
I have been there and done all that. I’ve had for around 15 years rover r8 models, mainly 216, but every now and then I have decided to move away from the model and try something completely different, from Daewoo leganza’s BMW’s to Peugeot’s.
But I always seem to end up going back to the rovers even buying one back after a certain Keith Adams brought my old car back from Romania a few years back, that has now gone to be a fridge probably but, I now have a 214 and I have decided to go for a change again in the form of a ford probe, wish me luck.
I can understand that. I’ve never owned an R8, but it’s surely only a matter of time. I quite like Probes too, though the name still doesn’t appeal!
The name probe does make me smile as I think it should have stayed as the name of the sierra concept.
Up until about 2 years ago there was a late model bx estate parked up and left to dissolve near my fathers house and I think the same owner had a couple of other early and late models cars, sadly all long gone now.
Had a 1.9 non turbo hatch which was plenty fast enough. Same colour & seats as yours. Sadly it was written off by a lunatic overtaking at a crossroads. I replaced it with a maroon 1.7D which was never as good and the seat covering fell to bits. Great cars though with a magic ride. Loved the early sci fi dashboard once we had put relays in for the headlights. Mk2s just seem dull with normal dash.
See, I didn’t enjoy my Mk1 dashboard that much. The CX one has much nicer switchgear. Mk2 is less exciting to look at, granted.