Ford Bantam

i also find my 1.3i strains a bit over 120kph but I have a feeling its me, I'm not to keen on high revs with petrol being so expensive. But they are light on fuel and I haven't had any big hassles with mine, the paint work is not the greatest I will admit and if you owned one for an extended period your would probably need to do a re-spray.

But the aircon on with the 1.3 really does affect power!

Slyfly, with the leaking problem, is it on the passenger side? I had the same problem but it's actually caused by the water run off area below the windscreen getting clogged with leaves etc. just jam a vacumn cleaner in there and get it all out and you should have no problems
 
SlyFly said:
What?

Does your 1.3i have trouble over 120kph? Mine cruises easily at 140... Ofcourse I dont drive that fast with it but I know it can... I also know the top speed is 185kph (Test on a track :) )

And this is when I have the aircon off... With it on I can cruise at around 130... The engines are really amazing... ROCAM engines really loves the high revs ;)
Click to expand...

hoegh said:
i also find my 1.3i strains a bit over 120kph but I have a feeling its me, I'm not to keen on high revs with petrol being so expensive. But they are light on fuel and I haven't had any big hassles with mine, the paint work is not the greatest I will admit and if you owned one for an extended period your would probably need to do a re-spray.

But the aircon on with the 1.3 really does affect power!

Slyfly, with the leaking problem, is it on the passenger side? I had the same problem but it's actually caused by the water run off area below the windscreen getting clogged with leaves etc. just jam a vacumn cleaner in there and get it all out and you should have no problems
Click to expand...

Yeah. I dont like going over 4000rpm, car still feels new so don't want to punish it. I know that rocams can rev high hence no red line:D
 
Mmmm... Yea it is the passenger side... Thanks had it to the dealers a few times and no one can find the problem and everyone says it is aircon related... Ill have a look, strange thing is my old Bantam, the new shape just not the facelift, didnt have the problem at all, but this one basically had it from day 1...

Yip limits at just over the 6000rpm :D Great for overtaking in 4th
 
My opinion (and it's biased :D )

I drive an '04 1.6 XLE (With an armadillo cover) (only 84000km's on the clock)

Good: Comfy, A/C works like a charm, Dual Airbags, light of juice, nippy (too nippy as metro sent me a few portraits of my bantam and I).

Bad: Generic radio ain't great, single cup holder just behind the gear lever, cheap parcel shelf divider thingy (the board in my bantam has warped)

I looked at Opel, Fiat, Proton and whilst the Opel was nice, it was also pricey in comparison to the Bantam and the Fiat and Proton just looked too much like a toy.

The NP200 is +-R12k cheaper than the Bantam 1.6i though
 
I've heard that the new or replacement for the bantam is in the works.
Still too early for pics though.
 
FiestaST said:
Average necro...time wise

Bantam motors are properly solid motors.
Click to expand...

Really? I beg to differ.
dad had one, broke its alternator off its mounting and jumped a timing gear, so engine was ruined, and the car only had around 60K on it....
ford SA told 20 different stories, including aliens and the loch ness monster before they would fix it...
at least we got a rental in the meanwhile, a nissan tiida,
 
FiestaST said:
I beg to differ personally. Those Rocam motors are properly solid low-stressed units.

As always there will be some lemons in life
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sure we had a major lemon in that car, main reason one can never judge a book by its cover....

some cars are SH*t from day one and some that are built SH*t last forever....
when you buy a car, its kind of like playing the lotto...
 
FiestaST said:
Average necro...time wise

Bantam motors are properly solid motors.
Click to expand...

I have 2 on roughly 280 000km now

The 3rd I had to rebuild the engine, conrod 1 decided it no longer was comfortable in its space. Had to get new sub + reworked the head. That one is back on 80 000km now with no worries.

Rust is not an issue for us (East London) so I don't know how you guys get rust where you are as EL is a rust pot.

It is possibly the most uncomfortable car I have ever driven though and I do hope it is never resurrected in that shape or form.
 
VW must bring in their South American half tonner...it will sell like the proverbial hot cakes here.

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eg2505 said:
why dont VWSA make a Polo Vivo bakkie, I mean its almost the same thing as that saviero...
I saw a panel van version, how much different would this be....
Click to expand...

Cost would be very prohibitive for a Vivo-based bakkie. It's still a proper redesign need. Tooling; R&D; testing etc.

It would be more feasible to bring in the SA (South American) half tonner but with an R-Line pack that incl DTM wheels.

Motor must be N/A. Low compression but "tuneable" as well as "Cross" version with higher ride height.

*yo VWSA where's my job now*
 
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