The Ford Capri Laser Page

Soo... The Alfa packed up (big end bearing). So I had to get something else. I decided I'd get something with 4 doors again, but a smaller engine, and less expensive to get repaired than the Alfa. In the end I went with a small Mazda with a frugal 1.3 engine. Obligatory "tour of local car parks" for photos:

I've always thought these look kinda cool - did look at one for a while but someone told me that they have engine problems after 60-80k miles?

Is it still good fun??

Very nice, but I don't think these are as frugal as most 1.3's!

D366Y wrote: ↑Tue Nov 26, 2019 3:02 pm I've always thought these look kinda cool - did look at one for a while but someone told me that they have engine problems after 60-80k miles?

Is it still good fun??

The early ones certainly did but IIRC they sorted it. I think the "corners" of the arcane rotory thing wore away on the... what.. cylinder? Block? Combustion chamber? Cauldron? It wore away on that.

-JC- wrote: ↑Tue Nov 26, 2019 3:01 pm Soo... The Alfa packed up (big end bearing). So I had to get something else. I decided I'd get something with 4 doors again, but a smaller engine, and less expensive to get repaired than the Alfa. In the end I went with a small Mazda with a frugal 1.3 engine. Obligatory "tour of local car parks" for photos:

Undeniably a nice looker!

Very nice!
Isn't the cost of roadtax a bit of a killer though?

Andrew.

https://youtu.be/qoRzbPX_KjE

This guy does put out some good vids.

Hi,
it's probably the best choice of four door at the market. Well done.

Tom

Looks good I always like the look of these . Never thought it had a 1.3 engine

Thanks for the nice comments guys! Who'd have guessed you'd all have liked a sporty 4 seater coupe!

Yep, the "1.3" isn't at all frugal - I'm sure it drinks more than the 3.2 V6 in my Alfa did! 231 bhp and 8.5k RPM will do that I guess! Yes, tax is high ish, but it's an '04 model, so it could have been worse! yes, the engines wear out after 70-100k miles apparently. And yeah, it's the apex seals on the rotor wearing away at the edges of the.... i don't know what you call it either. Cauldron works well though I guess! This one had an engine rebuild about 6k miles ago though, so should be good for a bit. And yep, it's good fun. Seems to handle nicely, seemed a bit skittish in the wet with the tyres it came on, but the new ones are much better - the back doesn't slide in the wet unless you want it to!

Fairplay having a car you enjoy on a daily basis. Most of us have something practical but all very boring.

I always look forward to driving the Capri, and some other cars I've owned too like the Focus ST and Impreza.

andyd wrote: ↑Wed Nov 27, 2019 11:18 am Fairplay having a car you enjoy on a daily basis. Most of us have something practical but all very boring.

I'm lucky I just have capris then!

D366Y wrote: ↑Wed Nov 27, 2019 1:27 pm

andyd wrote: ↑Wed Nov 27, 2019 11:18 am Fairplay having a car you enjoy on a daily basis. Most of us have something practical but all very boring.

I'm lucky I just have capris then!

And we are led to believe the younger generation have it tough

My daughter in law had one for a while and loved it. They go like stink and handle superbly.
Change the oil and spark plugs regularly. Try not to restart when the engine is still warm and you should be fine.

I’ve always thought these are interesting cars, never owned one myself but I know a couple of people who have. As already suggested, change the oil (very) regularly, dirty oil really does kill them. I believe they benefit from a bit of enthusiastic driving every so often as well which is good. One of my mates who had one used it for a daily commute through city traffic and started having issues pretty quickly; it was new at the time but he got rid of it. Any self respecting petrol head would have gone for a blast through the countryside every Sunday but hey ho....

Yeah, will definitely stay on top of oil changes. Done one already. Sump capacity is about 5l, but there's almost 10l in the system, so when you change the oil, you're only really changing half of it, so it still isn't clean oil, which sucks. Luckily it's pretty easy, you can just about get to the filter by hand without removing anything. In the Alfa I couldn't even see the filter. Handling does seem great, and it pulls really nicely above 3-4k. It does kinda suck in stop-start traffic, and in frosty conditions though! I try to take the "scenic" route (aka quieter country backroads) once or twice a week on the way home. Not heard of warm starts being a problem? I know some can have hot start issues if the compression is a problem, but hopefully that won't be a worry for a good few thousand miles due to the rebuilt engine.

The worst part is that you'll have to change your signature banner now!

D366Y wrote: ↑Thu Dec 05, 2019 4:09 pm The worst part is that you'll have to change your signature banner now!

I was just thinking that!

Hahah, yeah lol! Will have to wait until I can get a pic of the two together. Or I could just go back to a Capri one!

-JC- wrote: ↑Fri Dec 06, 2019 8:51 am Hahah, yeah lol! Will have to wait until I can get a pic of the two together. Or I could just go back to a Capri one!

You almost got one of the two here!