Trading In My Sc430

[john leeds]

I'm thinking of part ex ing my beloved sc430 for a Bentley Continental gt ,I want to know what all your thoughts are ,I do love my sc but I've always wanted a gt as well ,I just can't decide .

[normski2]

If it's really what you've always wanted....then go for it when you can......and enjoy it.

[alphacat]

That's exactly what I was thinking... I haven't made a move on it yet as I am enjoying the summer.

Also we want to go down to only one car as we hardly use either of the cars we have ... and I am not sure my wife will be happy with the Bentley..

I wouldn't consider it normally but I do have a great auto engineer who does all my repairs and servicing and it makes running a Bentley reasonably affordable.

[john leeds]

Hi alphacat.

I have done some research and the gt does around 15mpg average and the sc 18mpg so nothing to different there .insurance for my sc is 720 with 6 points in Leeds and the gt is only 750 so again nothing to worry about .tax is basically the same ,that just leaves the services but at one a year I can live with that.

[alphacat]

My SC430 does over 25 MPG and I drive the ***** out of it. Last run to Portsmouth (285 miles) I averaged 28.2 to the gallon. But I do so few miles really the fuel costs are not important to me.. My insurance for my SC430 is £245 full n claims no points etc. £720 insurance is more than I have ever paid on three cars. My Jag only costs us £185. Maybe I should stick to two cars?? :msn-oh:Its possible repair and serving costs of a Bentley that would concern me.

[john leeds]

You will never get 25mpg in Leeds ,and the insurance is high as Leeds is full of scumy people stealing and robbing ,plus the average speed in Leeds is 16 mph according to my screen readout so always in urban mode .but your in malton with low crime and big nice roads .although you do have nice pig farms.

[alphacat]

Well to be fair most of the pig farms are about 8 miles away from Malton.. But I often drive to Scarborough just 20 miles away and never get less than 25 mpg even overtaking traffic...One very wet morning I hit a river on the road and ended up with the pigs in the field.

I don't know what I would have to do to get it down below 20 drive at less than 15 mph probably and keep it in drive not sport. I get up into 6th using sport mode at every opportunity and its very economical much better than my 3 ltr Jag... As for insurance costs I am nearly 70 so that helps and of course your right Leeds isn't the place to own anything if you don't want in damaged stolen or vandalised. The best thing about the SC430 in my view is its large fuel tank getting over 400 mile a tank full is relatively easy.

[john leeds]

So do you believe that sport mode is more economic ,because I'm going to give it a try. Common sense says it shouldnt but it will be interesting to find out.

Also my comment on the pig farm was because yoummentioned before about your visit.

[alphacat]

Sports mode is definitely much more economical.. You can leave it in 6th (or 5th if its a MK1) and the car has more than enough torque to still feel responsive down to quite low speeds. But if you leave it in drive it will drop gears according to the speed of the car and you really don't need that.

Eventually even in 6th Sport it will drop too but it hangs on.. leaving you in a high gear less revs means less fuel. The great thing about the 430SC is the ability to do 80mph at around 2000 rpm.

I am so impressed with the economy of this car. Try using sports mode whenever you can and if your concerned with how fast its moving just nock it into drive with the back of your hand. Also use engine braking when slowing down in sports mode by dropping rapidly to 3rd. Often in traffic you don't even need to touch the brakes at all just move up and down the gearbox in sports mode. Its a lot more economical.

Yes I take your point about my trip...... early morning no moon heavy rain nothing on the road yet I went off !!!

One both my VSC lights were on because of a faulty O2 sensor but not sure if would have made a difference.

I know the SC was designed with a boat in mind but it was like a submarine that day.. I was liberally submerged!! all the run of from the fields had blocked the drains and the A64 and I wasnt the only one to leave the road that morning. I had no warning at all.

[john leeds]

Hi I've done what you hav suggested and I'm on 19mpg but mine's a mark1. ,but on my display it says 2 3 4 for the gears so does that mean that my 4 is actually my 5 th gear.

[alphacat]

No I don't think so, gears are numbered up to 6 on mine. ie 2 3 4 5 6

I imagine you have lost 5th which would explain why your only on 19mpg..

Mk 1 should be down about 1.5 mpg on a Mk 2. I would have difficulty getting mine down less than 18 mpg. I have measured it by the on board computer and by filling the tank..

[john leeds]

No on my selector on the display and on my gear stick there is no number five ,just L234,so I'm now confused .

[ColinBarber]

The 5 speed models don't have a sports mode or a fully manual mode on the transmission. You have the manual gear selector as with any auto but that is just for holding a certain gear ratio - if you want 5th you have to put it in D.

The 6 speed transmission which came in at the end of 2005 has a manual mode with sequential shifting.

[john leeds]

That might explain it then ,but then what is the power and snow button for ,is it there but dosnt actually do anything .ps thanks for this

[ColinBarber]

They mainly alter the throttle response. Snow mode makes the throttle less sensitive and shifts to higher gears more quickly to reduce chances of wheel spin.

Sport mode increases throttle response slightly and makes the transmission hold on to lower gears for longer. TBH it doesn't really make that much difference compared to normal but it will use more fuel because it revs the engine higher.

[alphacat]

I find the 6 speed box terrific to use and the Snow and Sport control is very useful.

I didn't realise the Mk 1 car didn't have the ability to manually select or sequentially shift.

I was always a manual fan and wouldn't consider an auto box but this one has changed my mind.

I expect the L on the Mk1 box is just for 'Locking' it in lower gear to hold an overtaking move..

I found the snow button very effective in stopping wheel spin on slipy conditions and the 'Sport' control really speeds up throttle response when you want to floor it and overtake... Its well tuned to the cars performance.

Of course you have to be someone who overtakes to appreciate it. These days most people don't seem to bother its like watching paint dry.