The Details Matter

Australian politics and international affairs have recently become something resembling a failing soap opera.

So, gentle reader, I'll post something less disagreeable.

My project to convert a Japanese domestic market Toyota Hiace into a camper is just about complete, so I'll outline the journey, and where I've ended up. 

The vehicle is a 2014 Hiace Commuter which was used as a dry cleaner's vehicle in Japan. Clothes aren't heavy, so I assumed that it hadn't had a hard life. It was showing about 140000 kms when I bought it from a Brisbane importer who furnished all the necessary documentation, including the auction report from its sale prior to import.

As I bought it with dry cleaner's clothes racks.

A mechanical inspection confirmed that the vehicle was in good condition, and had a number of useful features including an aftermarket audio installation with Apple Carplay. More about that later.

It also had a slightly upgraded trim and features list which included push button start, climate control AC which has an extra unit cooling the rear of the cabin. It is also 180mm wider than the local market vehicles. Again, that's a mixed blessing. More about that later.

Fitout side unit installed across the cabin. Note modem and fire alarm.

Tyres have plenty of tread, albeit a little older than ideal, and the van features chrome trim not seen on the local market. There was also a three person bench seat installed which I removed. I reckon the business was family owned, and that seat was used to drop family members/employees off each day before the vehicle went on daily delivery runs.

First step was to install a plywood floor, which was fairly straightforward. Then I used pre-glued vinyl planking to dress it. This also was cheap, as we had sufficient planking left over when we refloored our home a few years ago.

Initially, to construct a bed, I bought a door from Bunnings, attached legs to it, and attached it to the floor using metal brackets. I located an unused single bed mattress on Facebook and installed it on the bed. This provided accommodation for about a year, until I spent $1990 on a slide out bed from Boxed Fitouts. I'd also used a second hand baby change table (found at Vinnies) as a frame for storage until I replaced it with another Side box from Boxed Fitout ($990). 

Can be converted to a double.

To provide off-grid power, I bought a Bluetti AC70P, ($745) and had a inverter/charger installed so that it automatically charged as the vehicle is driven. For connection to mains power I spent $500 on an external plug.

Despite appearances, it's securely anchored.

What I've finished up with is a van that remains fairly light, is easy to drive, and comfortable both for road trips and extended stays off grid. The Bluetti is good for about three days to keep the Kings 75 lit fridge running, but requires only about 50 kms of driving to be fully charged. I've also bought a small folding Rovin solar kit ($250) for extended stays. I haven't had an opportunity to personally trial it off grid yet, although my daughter has at a four day outdoor festival. It works OK to maintain charge for light use (fridge and charging devices).

Senior's handle & camping sink. The sink is not a total success - unwieldy.

As mentioned above, the van came with a CarKit_blink Japanese audio kit, which is fine, except it's designed for use in metropolitan Japan, and is next to useless in the Australian bush, where streaming through Apple Carplay works providing you're within coverage.

The van's extra width is handy in providing living space, but can be a challenge when parking in narrow bays at shopping centres. It is not too wide to be unwieldy, but a great deal of care is needed if you want to avoid inconveniencing fellow parkers. Having said that, it takes up a lot less space than a Dodge Ram, or a Chevrolet Silverado, and people park them in supermarket car parks. The van is 2280mm tall, so that precludes using most underground parks which average between 2100mm and 2200mm.

Slide out storage. Porta-Potti for contingencies. Not used so far.

In summary, the vehicle cost $24000, and I've added about $5000 worth of kit to make it habitable across twelve months of ownership. 

At that outlay, it's a totally competent camper, and the chassis is sound and looks like being reliable and cheap to maintain. It's not exactly fun to drive, especially in comparison with my previously owned Mazda MX5s. It's a bit like driving a block of flats. 

It is, however, quiet and comfortable when cruising, and the elevated seating position means you have a great view of traffic and surroundings.

Another Household Appliance

 

My bride took this photo on her way to sewing.

I'm in the habit of posting reviews of anything different I drive, and as we've been using a hired Toyota Corolla whilst the Kia's been at the panel beaters, I've decided to continue the practice.

The car in question is the base (hire car version) of the ubiquitous Corolla, available now only as a hybrid. This hybrid-only policy of Toyota as it relates to their sedans and SUVs is an interesting trend. They call such vehicles "PHEV", but I'm not entirely sure what the "P" in the acronym stands for. "HEV" is clearly "Hybrid Electric Vehicle". Usually the "P" denotes the capacity to plug the vehicle in for recharging, but this is not the case with tis particular Corolla.

Boot's a bit small because batteries.

It's a very basic, but entirely user-friendly vehicle, which seems to embody the time worn characteristics of Toyotas as very well put together and conservatively engineered.

Having said that, I had previously hired a Corolla a few years ago on a northern trip, and although it was essentially the same car, there have been some improvements.

Firstly, the driver assisting technologies seem to have been positively fine tuned. No longer does the lane keeping feature aggressively grab at the steering if it thinks you are wandering out of your lane. In this car, it was more of a nudge than a grab.

The wiggly jiggly bits. There's two motors. Count them.

I was not able to test the adaptive cruise control (ACC) as I didn't take it out on the open road, so aren't too sure how this works on the later model. As I recall the ACC worked well in the trips we took around Cairns in the other Corolla.

The hybrid drive train is seamless and very efficient. I put 8 lit into it prior to return, after travelling 56 kms around the suburbs. Unless my maths is dodgy, that's about 4lit/100km - not shabby.

A bit sombre.

According to AI driven searches, the Australian market Corollas are manufactured in Aichi, Japan, so the quality engineering and assembly should be maintained. This particular example seemed as tight as a drum.

So the household appliance is a very sound and rational means of transport, pleasant, if not fun to drive. You do pay a premium, even for the base version, compared (say) with a Mazda three (about $3000), but you'd probably recoup most of it in retained value.

Strangely perhaps, the controls around the proximity key and the HVAC are almost identical with those in my van.

A Duo of Rondos

Thule racks fitted.

The rondo form as a musical genre emerged in the baroque period and became increasingly popular during the classical period.

I'm not sure if there is any connection between music and motoring, but the Kia Rondo, as a vehicle, was never really given a chance to become popular in the Australian market, as Kia stopped selling them here early in 2019.

This has never made sense to me. They sell well in Europe and Canada, although under the name "Carens", which derives from the word "car" and "renaissance". That nomenclature makes about as much sense as calling a car after a musical genre, but there you go....

The reason to stop selling them in Australia, according to Kia, was slow market take up, claiming to have sold only 150 buyers in 2018, and 226 in 2017. Our household has two of them.

Come to think of it, I can't recall any promotion of the model, either online or in the print media. They didn't sell, because buyers weren't aware of them. They're not SUVs, so by definition, were not trendy. This state of affairs defies logic, as the Rondo had more interior space and a smaller road footprint than the Sportage, and cost about $5000 less.

Perhaps posing as a four wheel drive vehicle was the rationale for the extra dollars. Bigger wheels and more expensive tyres was really all you scored for your extra.

So now, our household owns two of them.

There are a number of good reasons for this. First, they came with a seven year warranty, which is always a good sign. If a manufacturer has enough confidence in the product to provide this, you can be pretty sure the thing has been well engineered and well put together.

Kia has made massive strides in quality in a very short time. Early Kias were sound, but boring. Current models have cutting edge styling, and are very well equipped. The styling of our two are a result of the head-hunting that Kia employed in 2006 when it stole Peter Schreyer as chief design officer from BMW.

Apart from the appearance of the vehicle, which disguises its people mover attributes, the body styling ensures good aerodynamics, which becomes apparent on long open road journeys, when subseven litres per one hundred kilometres are par for the course.

The other one.

The volumetric capacity of the interior, with seats folded, is 1650 litres, and it can seat seven. I have carried large items of furniture (dressers) without too much trouble. The Rondo was second only to a ute in practicality when we moved house a few years ago.

They handle well, and the high seating position makes placing them on the road very straightforward, and entry and egress is kind to my aging (and damaged) spine.

The fitting of a state of the art stereo compatible with Apple Carplay has made the white one much more user friendly, although I'm not keen on touch screens. The magic wheel, as fitted to my CX-3 was a better proposition.

Before

After

There is sufficient room in the Rondo to create a sleeping space, and that is the next project. I have designs on converting the white one into a minimalist camping wagon.

The plan is to avoid any permanent installations, and I have a way of doing that.

The Thule pack racks are the first step.Watch this space.  

Near Miss

I'm posting this dashcam grab, gentle reader, in the hope that it might be instructive.

At about 1:10 in you'll notice a dark grey Toyota Corolla approaching on a downhill sweeping curve, and getting into a lurid oversteer situation.

I was a bit lucky, as the slide hadn't developed sufficiently to get into my lane until she (was a female driver) had passed me. She did end up in my lane, behind me, facing the way she had come.

Fortunately there was no other traffic at that instant, the road was wide, and there was nothing to hit.

I stopped, and walked towards the car to see if she was OK, but she took off. Embarrassed, perhaps? Anyway, the instructive bit refers to damp roads, downhill bends, and driving to the conditions.

My car was the Rondo I have just purchased.

 

Mazda the Fifth

 

These things (Mazdas) are becoming an addiction.

This CX-3 is the fifth example of the marque that I've owned. It replaces the Mazda 3 that I hocked to pay for renovations in our new home. 

I've never been good at sharing cars. My bride would tell you that if you asked her.

The list of machines in our family emanating from the Togyo Kogyo plant at Hiroshima in the land of the rising sun include three MX-5s (all NBs, and one of them an SE) and my daughters 323, and my recently sold Mazda 3.  

To be completely truthful (and regular readers will know that I always am) this latest member of the Zoom Zoom family wasn't actually made in Japan. Mazda is now outsourcing manufacturing to an Auto Alliance factory in Thailand (Rayong province) and that is where the CX-3 was built.

Following my practice of avoiding new cars, as they depreciate as soon as you drive out of the showroom, I sourced this local 2019 example with 30000 kms on the clock locally. It's the cliche; with one local lady owner. It's a manual, and I was lucky to find it. Manuals are like hens teeth these days, as fewer and fewer millennials (and whatever the generation after them is called) can drive them.

It really does remind me of my MX-5s, but it has the actual advantage of being accessible. My 75 year-old back is these days incompatible with sports cars. The higher hip point of the SUV body style is a real boon. There is very little adult room in the back seat, but generally I sit in the front to drive it, so am not bothered by that.

The drive train has some strong similarities to the MX-5, and both road feel and steering feedback are similar. The higher driving position gets you away from reading the sidewalls of B-double tyres whilst waiting beside them at the lights.

There is lots of whiz-bang tech which I'm getting my head around, including a feature called i-stop which cuts the engine when you're waiting at the lights. I can disable it, but it sparks up again every time you start the car. 

Is this my last Mazda? Most likely - so I'll do my best to enjoy it.

Goodbye and Hello

 

It's gone.

I sold it to a bloke in Melbourne for $7000 more than I paid for it three years ago, and it arrived via truck yesterday and was collected by the new owner this morning.

He phoned me and told me he was wrapt in the car. I'm glad. He bought it sight unseen, based on my description, and I would have felt bad if he had been disappointed.

I sold it because it had ceased to be an object of enjoyment (although it remained a lovely little thing to drive) and had become an artifact to be preserved. This meant that every time I wanted to drive it, I was considering how many kilometres I would put on it, and how that would affect its value. 

The fact that my degenerating spine (a consequence of humping a military load in and out of choppers and for ten weeks at a time fifty-one years go) was making it increasingly painful to access its cockpit was also a factor.

Whilst all low-kilo NBs are holding their value well, this one, because of its Jasper Conran interior, is a collector's item. It probably should be on display in a museum, and a car like that is no good to me. Cars are for driving, not looking at.

I researched its replacement carefully and looked online for the most sensible and practical low mileage Japanese sedan with a manual six-speed gearbox. I found a 2013 Mazda 3 with 40000kms and (as the cliche goes, one lady owner). I bought it from a dealer, taking advantage of my TPI GST free concession. 

The plan was to deliver the MX5 to its new owner in Melbourne and to collect the Mazda 3 from the dealer and bring it back to Queensland.

Then the lockdowns happened.

In the end, the buyer had the MX5 trucked south, and I had the 3 sent north. Shortly before my car arrived in Pinkenba (the Brisbane depot of the logistics company) SE Queensland was locked down, and I couldn't pick it up without being quarantined at home for two weeks, so I had to shell out for the Brisbane-Toowoomba leg.

So the savings I'd made buying GST free were cancelled out by the trucking costs. The car should arrive home today or tomorrow.

The blog will remain, despite the lack of an MX5 to write about. It will continue to cover matters motoring.

Watch this space.

They Don't Build Them Like They Used To - Fortunately

This crash test involving a 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air vs. a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu reveals how much progress has been made in vehicle safety during that fifty years.

Further progress has been made since 2009, and the statistics confirm it.

The cliche holds - they don't build them like they used to.

Thank the Good Lord for that.

Motoring Nostalgia

This popped up in my Youtube feed.

It was posted by kiapenna1 who was selling it. 

In that he/she was successful.

I'm posting it because it is almost identical to the first car I owned. Back in 1966 I bought a 1956 Volkswagen 1200 from a used car dealer in Caloundra. I had saved my earnings from holiday jobs such as tobacco picking and delivering mail.

From memory, it set me back two hundred pounds. I have no idea whether that was good value or not, but it was unmarked, rust free, and it was just what I was looking for as a student teacher needing basic transport.

Looking back on it, I had no strong preference for make or model at age 19. I had learned to drive on a Morris 850 which belonged to my cousin, and passed my (rudimentary) licence test in my father's EJ Holden.

On the whole, it was a reliable car, although it chewed up a differential bearing not long after I acquired it, which drained my meagre savings.

I used it initially to drive daily to teachers' college, and weekly to drive the 70kms home to Landsborough most weekends. Post graduation, it took me home to Texas (Queensland - not USA) and to teaching appointments, first at Inglewood, and then Goondiwindi.

It came to grief halfway through my first year at Goondiwindi when it put a valve through a piston, as a consequence of the cooling fins on one of the cylinder heads being clogged with dried mud after an adventure in a flooded creek.

The only surviving photo. Note the indicators on the door pillars.

I put a long motor (out of a Kombi) in it, and drove it until I traded it on another Volkswagen, a 62 model, after a month or two.

The second beetle was OK, but it somehow lacked the mystique of the first one. They are a remarkable piece of engineering.

This US model differs in the positioning of the steering wheel, the presence of bumper overriders, and the parking lights and indicator setup. My car had pop-out trafficators, which I replaced with indicators mounted in the door pillars. where the trafficators had been.

They worked OK.

Beetles continue to have a special place in my heart.

All the Dozens

This set of digits has an intriguing pattern, although that's not why I posted it.

The clicking over of 120000 kms is significant.

It marks a couple of milestones, one being that I've put 10000 kms on the odometer since purchase of the SE in September 2018.

Hardtop and wing resprayed

The other is that I've actually spent some dollars on cosmetic restoration - $1500, in fact. This paid for a respray of the front bumper and the hardtop. The bumper was showing all kinds of gravel rash, typical for an MX5 of this vintage, and I had the hardtop sprayed maroon, a darker shade than the original cherry red.

Choice of colour is always a matter of taste, I suppose, but I chose this over respraying the top the same colour as the rest of the vehicle. which was my original intention.

I also had the rear wing resprayed, as it had deteriorated from (I think) sun damage. The finished job is excellent, and together with a windscreen replacement (which cost me nothing via insurance) has lifted the appearance. It's not concours, but is pleasing.

Gravel rash is gone.

The car is now pristine, paint wise, and exhibits a striking interior which matches the hardtop. The upholstery wear (call it patina) doesn't bother me, and I feed the leather regularly.

I've also taken to using the hardtop only when parking in unsecured areas, which given my pattern of use, is not often. I've never been entirely happy with its fit, and it is noisy. At low speed, it creaks and groans no matter how it is adjusted, and at high speed, the wind noise is a problem.

Interior looks OK.

Driving with the top down is the way to go, especially early in the morning, but my dermatologist, after observing my comprehensive skin damage from a misspent youth, demands that I put it up when in bright sunshine.

Top down is the way to go.

The only other improvement I'm considering at this stage is cruise control. The US Miata came with it equipped, but when I made enquiries about importing a kit, I discovered that they are incompatible with RHD, because of complications with the brake pedal fitted to the Oz version.

This means I'll be looking for an after market version, something discrete that doesn't compromise the originality of the vehicle.

Not an SUV

The background is very dry

The Cerato is sold, and now this is the "family" car.

It's a Kia Rondo (called "Carens" in most other markets, and they're no longer sold in Oz.
That cessation of sales should not be an issue, as the vehicle, like all Kias these days,  comes with a seven year warranty.

These things have the same running gear (motor, transmission, steering, brakes etc. as the Cerato, but have a different body.

Dimensionally, they're the same length and width as the Cerato, but much taller. In that respect, the Rondo resembles an SUV, with an elevated seat height and much easier passenger access.

That's why we bought it. We're both at the age where entry and egress is an issue, and in this car it's a doddle, compared with most small hatches. There are other advantages, such as increased luggage capacity, and a better driver's view because of the elevated seating position.

This particular specification (The "S" - although it's sporty in name only) has a third row of seats, although they're really only suitable for children. We have folded them down, and put a dog-liner in the rear. We can harness the dogs to the rear most seat belts, and they can travel in comfort and safety back there.

The car was a demonstrator with 10000 kms on the clock, and finding it was a hassle. There was nothing local, so we had to use a Kia dealer in Brisbane.

It drives very much like the Cerato, but is quieter, roomier, and has slightly later tech.

Kias are always well-equipped, and they are also well put together. I guess if you're going to warranty your product for seven years, that's a given.

But the best thing is that it's not an SUV.

Why pay to cart around a lot of extra metal?

Fords - My Chequered History

Cranky Car

We've disposed of our last Ford.

Over the years, we've owned (in sequence) two Falcon SRs, and two Focuses (Foci???).

All except for the Focus Trend illustrated have been reliable and good cars to drive. Not so this one, and this is the reason for unloading it. We've also signed up for the class action.

It has been off the road four times as a consequence of the completely unsatisfactory dual clutch auto. Ford calls it "Powershift". Others have coined a different moniker.

The last episode was a broken half shaft, no doubt as a consequence of the juddering that was a characteristic of the transmission during most of our ownership. This last episode, occurring as it did simultaneously with my bride's discharge from hospital after breast surgery was the last straw.

The local Ford dealer (no doubt as tired of these recurring episodes as the owners) was brilliant. They loaned us a Ford Escape for the duration of the repair, which took over a week. The repair didn't cost us, as I'd taken out an extended (5 year) warranty when we purchased the car in 2014. That turned out to be a very good decision.

We traded two vehicles (our Commodore ute and the cranky Focus) on a 2016 Kia Cerato hatch. It has the benefit of a seven year warranty, and because it's a hatch is both dog and bike friendly. If I need to shift stuff, I'll revert to ute hire.

The replacement

Kia has come a long way in a short time on the Australian market, and they make very good cars as demonstrated by their rapidly improving market share.

Ford, on the other hand, are going backwards. It's a shame, as the small Fords were always fun cars to drive.

 

Hello and Goodbye

Before purchase (note NSW plates)

As indicated in my last post, I have swapped my 2000 MX5 for this 2004 SE.

I've coveted one of these for a long time, and this one came up on the interwebs and looked OK. I drove the ute to Newcastle to check it out, and wasn't disappointed.

This particular car is unique, with a special interior fitout which I thought might coordinate with the red hardtop. You can look at the pics and decide whether this is in fact the case.

With hardtop in place.

Whilst this one and the previous car are both MX5s, the driving experience is completely different.

The previous car felt soft and slow in comparison. This one, by virtue of a stiffer set of spring rates, tighter steering ratio, and thicker anti-roll bars is further along a continuum which starts at grand tourer and progresses towards sports car.

It also features 17" mags, and lower (40 profile) tyres.

There were actually two different versions of turbocharged MX5s sold in Australia. Read all about it
here
It's actually not as pleasant to drive around the burbs, but once on smooth blacktop out of town, it is a revelation.

This is what makes it so much fun.

What I find particularly attractive is its overtaking ability. The previous car could leave you stranded in the passing lane unless you made careful judgements and kept the revs up by downshifting - usually twice.

This one simply goes once the turbo kicks in, which seems to be about 3000 rpm.

It also has travelled less than half the kilometres of the old one, and should therefore cost less to maintain. The turbo setup is Mazda engineered and conservative. A heavy duty clutch and radiator should help with maintainability.

Jasper Conran interior

It's not perfect. There's extensive road rash on the front bumper, the paint on rear wing (an SE feature) is faded, and the windscreen is pitted. This windscreen issue seems common to MX5s, possibly because they sit low, where there are more stones and detritus flying around.

Replacing the screen and curing the paint blemishes are both improvements I'll attend to ASAP.

Road rash here.

The gearlever knob is also worn, but my friendly local bootmaker can fix that, just as he did for the previous car.

This car does not have the excellent Alpine stereo (with Bluetooth and USB access) that was a feature of the previous car. I thought long and hard about doing a swap, but decided to keep this one original.

Wing is faded (hard to see in this pic)

This means leaving the six stacker CD player (a feature of the SE) in place, and using a Bluetooth adapter to take calls on the go.

The hardtop creaks a lot more in the SE, possibly as a consequence of the firmer suspension settings, but I can live with that. Generally, most of this can be eliminated with careful adjustment of the catches.

I'll keep you posted with the improvements.

The old car sold within a week, for the same price I bought it a year ago. A generous dad bought it for his son and daughter. His wife also has an MX5, as does his eldest daughter, which means there are now three in the family.

That's enthusiasm!

A Blow In

For years I’ve been intrigued with the various iterations of the Mazda MX5.

 Owning a couple of them has not resolved this fascination.

Back in the early part of this century, two turbocharged versions of the NB were produced.

The first (called SP) was a Mazda Australia project carried out under the supervision of Allan Horsley, but it was built by Prodrive in Melbourne, the company that builds FPV performance Fords in partnership with Ford.

The SP has a decal.

The second (called SE) was an official Mazda factory version, called Mazdaspeed Miata in the US, and Roadster in Japan and other markets.

A couple of weeks ago I came across a 2004 SE advertised in Newcastle. Coincidentally, I was planning a visit to an old army mate in Newcastle, so combined that with an inspection of the SE.

The car was good, sporting a unique interior fitout. It pretty much sold itself.

The SE has a badge.

I flew to Newcastle from Brisbane, and was met at the airport by the obliging owner. Incidentally, the last time I flew Brisbane-Newcastle was on my way to Nasho at Singleton in January 1969.

This trip had a much more enjoyable outcome.

I drove the SE to Tamworth the same day, and drove Tamworth-Toowoomba the day after. Whilst the boost is mild, it comes into its own overtaking on two lane roads.

The Tamworth-Toowoomba stretch has plenty of stretches of great give and take roads.

So now I have two MX5s. Given that I haven’t mastered the art of driving them both at once, the original is on the market.

Update - The original (left) is sold. It took a whole week!

Leyburn 2018

Regular readers will remember previous posts on this subject.

Leyburn Sprints have to be one of the most engaging motor themed events in the country. I've been to many, and the Bay to Birdwood in South Australia is probably the best, but Leyburn is up there with the David Hack meet, another local spectacle.

Toowoomba is well located if you're into veteran and vintage motoring.

What makes Leyburn interesting, apart from its history, is the variety and scope of the competing vehicles. The ability of spectators to mingle with the competitors and get up close to their cars is also unusual.

Because of the laid-back nature of the event, this intimacy is possible because neither competitors or spectators take themselves too seriously.

"Silver Fox" - 1936 Chev Maple Leaf 

 Some of the vehicles on display were unique. Above is an example. In my opinion, a strange idea beautifully executed. It certainly attracted attention.

MX5s were in the action. This NA competed as did a silver NB.

The MX5 is well suited to the sprint layout. There's always a few entered.

Vanguard ute.

My dad owned a Vanguard Spacemaster for a few years. It was built like a brick dunny, but needed lots of maintainance, which was a problem as we lived a long way from the dealer.

This Swallow was beautifully restored.

The Swallow above is the only one in the country. Swallow went on to build Jaguars and the rest is history.

Tidy little MGF.

There were two MGfs shown. This one was automatic.

Pony car.

Many mustangs were displayed. This was probably the most original.

Volvo C70 AWD

The C70 is extermely rare in Oz.

There's always P76s.

This Leyland P76 went round. It was noisy and spectacular, but probably too big.

Wolsley Special

Another unique machine with an interesting history.

I displayed the MX5.

The day was spoiled somewhat by the lazy* westerlies, but it was enjoyable.



*Too lazy to blow around you - they blow straight through.