New "Family" Car (not 300 Related.)

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Cloud
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New "Family" Car (not 300 Related.)

Post by Cloud » 01 Apr 2008 12:11 pm

Image

lol, missus bought this to replace our Fiesta...I told her we needed a FAMILY car. But who am i to complain! 8)

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filthyjohn
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Post by filthyjohn » 01 Apr 2008 12:33 pm

Ooh, last time someone on here had a probe it was a can of worms! Went to a retro ford meet at scotch corner on sunday, and there were 3 or 4 probe owners tucked away in a corner, looking a bit shunned, as if the beardy escort owners were ashamed of the mazda connection. :lol:
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Cloud
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Post by Cloud » 01 Apr 2008 01:05 pm

haha

sven360
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Post by sven360 » 01 Apr 2008 11:50 pm

I reckon they're goin' to become collectable in the very near future.

Expect a hike in prices for minters.
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Cloud
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Post by Cloud » 02 Apr 2008 12:28 am

Collected it this evening...I'm gob smacked at a Ford, it's truly...well...Epic. been in M3's and other sports car that don't handle any where near as good as this beast. 8)

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Jason B
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Post by Jason B » 02 Apr 2008 12:36 am

I really hope you didn't just draw a comparison between a ford probe and an m3 :shock:
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SteveP
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Post by SteveP » 02 Apr 2008 01:12 am

Afraid a sports car it aint, more a sleek tourer...
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petefarrell360
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Post by petefarrell360 » 02 Apr 2008 05:35 am

Ah...... I'd missed this thread! Well, I will admit to the rest of the forum who have not picked up on it yet, I am a Ford Probe owner. :shock:

In many ways, like being a Volvo 300 owner, it goes against the grain and is different. A lot of people slate the Probes, however until you drive one and own one you can't really comment, that's partly what spurred me on and made me buy one. That way I could decide on whether the comments were true or not, and with todays prices, if I didn't like it I could sell it on and not lose out.

Well as it turns out, I liked it. It never could and never will replace my fleet of 300's! It was more of a daily driver to use over the winter, which was then replaced by the 850 T5! This was due to an unfortunate incident involving the radiator spring a hoooge leak about 100 miles from home. Somehow I managed to bodge that with three bottles of the hateful Radweld, but it did indeed get me home without losing another drop, despite the leak having been quite severe!

It took me sometime to track down a new radiator, cheaper than getting the old one recored. Since then I've found a broken front coil spring, but I now have a set of lowering springs for all round. I've not been put off, infact it's a bit like a 300, you get more involved and it means more to you!

What variant have you got Cloud, the 16v 2.0 or the 24v 2.5? Neither are super quick, as Steve says, more a sleek tourer than a sports car, a sports tourer really. They do handle well, and once up to speed it is very effortless and able. The 24v is very responsive and pretty impressive. The leather seats are really supportive, I suffer from backache a lot, but these fit me and support my back really well.

The biggest problem is that they are FWD. If the Probe had been made RWD in my opinion it would have been a very impressive and hard to beat car. What year is yours Cloud? The early ones suffer from....... sticking rear calipers, rust everywhere, especially the sunroof panel (sound familiar?). You may find your boot struts don't hold the boot up, and if you hear clicking on acceleration on cornering, you'll probably find your CV joints are dodgy.

Anyway, I've said enough now, after all this is a Volvo forum, but we are allowed to stray a bit! :lol: The guys at UKPOC are very friendly, very much like here really, welcoming and helpful. http://www.ukpoc.co.uk/ I can also highly recommend the Probestore run by Roc 24v for any parts you might need.

I think Sven is right, prices are at rock bottom currently, loads are being scrapped, they were never massively popular, and parts are getting harder to find, it hasn't reached classic status and may never get there either! Does this remind you of anything else...... a 300 at all!?

Enjoy it mate, the Missus didn't do a bad jpb really!

Pete
G reg 360 GLT, G reg 340 GL Variomatic, plus many more..........

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Post by redline » 02 Apr 2008 07:48 am

the probe and the later cougar never really took on here which is a shame ,
I have driven both and like the vauxhall calibra are both very capable cars if not actually road burners ,
Petes covered all the usual suspects on probe killage .
enjoy it ,they either keep going as long as you keep up with general maintainence or become money pits
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Chris_C
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Post by Chris_C » 02 Apr 2008 01:19 pm

redline wrote:the probe and the later cougar never really took on here which is a shame ,
Cougar I adored when it came out, but you see even less of them now as you did 5 years ago :( Never driven one though, just looks wise, almost a manly puma ;)
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filthyjohn
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Post by filthyjohn » 02 Apr 2008 01:23 pm

I reckon the time is right for ford to relaunch the capri. Their US division has been smart enough to copy BMW's 'mini' tactics with the GT and the mustang, how many capris would they sell? They could build it on the old Jag S-type platform (a good chassis by all accounts), and do the retro parody styling thing that's so common nowadays.
'87 Nissan Sunny
'95 945 LPT
'90 340 3dr
'87 360 GLT
'87 765 TIC
'75 Manta A
'70 Rover P5 V8
'67 MGB GT
'62 amazon 2dr

redline
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Post by redline » 02 Apr 2008 02:32 pm

yeah and opel relaunch the mantas, that would be great

I wish it was still the 70's /80's cars had so much more charecter then.

thats why I love life on mars and ashes to ashes, they were great days

I want to go back to a time of no political correctness and no catalytic convertors , good rear wheel drive cars and cheap beer :lol:
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Cloud
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Post by Cloud » 02 Apr 2008 06:13 pm

@ Petefarrel360

It's the 2.5 v6, full sports exhaust and CAI. It handles like a dream because of the Apexi springs and Toki adjustable damps :D

Image

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Your completly right about the Sunroof, it's going badly but id rather that than a back arch or summit. NS CV joint has had it i think, guy thought it could just be the tracking but with that much left pull theres noway its just tracking.

Thanks ill deffo check those sites out

@ Jason B

Yup, better than an M3, mate that owns the E36 M3 drove it lastnight and even he said it was way better on corners...obvisously...his is MUCH quicker though. :)

@ SteveP

Yeah your right, sleek tourer...but after driving around in a Fiesta...it feels like a sports car!

@ Filthyjohn

Hell yeah! a new Capri would be sweet.

-------

If anyone gets the chance of one of these for silly pennys, I highly recommend getting, even if for just a short time as its blistering fun and such a head turner, once finished with just sell it for the same, job done.

One totaly bad thing about getting this however, is the fact that when the 360 is on the road...it WILL have to have a turbo on it or its gonna feel stupid slow. :(

Which reminds me, I have an engine in a sexy 360 to go degrease and clean. ^_^

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Post by retrocool73 » 02 Apr 2008 09:02 pm

filthyjohn wrote:Ooh, last time someone on here had a probe it was a can of worms! Went to a retro ford meet at scotch corner on sunday, and there were 3 or 4 probe owners tucked away in a corner, looking a bit shunned, as if the beardy escort owners were ashamed of the mazda connection. :lol:
You didn't see any Oyster Gold mk2 Escort Ghia's at this meet by any chance?
B mk2 1.4GL 3-door57K xSTOLEN PRESUMED CRUSHEDx
E 360GLT Injection 4-Door Red 45K MINT
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F 1.7GLE Ltd Edition 4-door Met.Grey 56K
F 360GLT Injection 5-Door Black 106K
G 1990 1.4 5-Door Dark Grey 108K RESTORED

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petefarrell360
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Post by petefarrell360 » 02 Apr 2008 11:46 pm

It is indeed a lot of car for the money and performance for pennies.

As for the sunroof, look for one from a late as possible car, should be ok. Get some Dinitrol around the thing or Waxoyl to be safe!

You're right, I need to speed up the progess of the 360 project, it is going to seem very underpowered, and probably quite high and floaty barge like compared to the low Probe and the T5. I drove the 340 last night, and the seats are very comfortable, but you sit on them, not in them like the Probe! Also, the driving position seems so high, it's not a bad thing, just so different to what I've been used to lately! It makes all round vision much better!

Pete
G reg 360 GLT, G reg 340 GL Variomatic, plus many more..........

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