406oc.co.uk

I have a 2003 2.0 Petrol GLX Automatic , which although a lovely car to drive does seem a bit gutless ( maybe something to do with its 171K on the clock ! ) In my searches to find out what the Performance Chart should look like I came across a site called Rototest Research Institute http://www.rri.se That has a wealth of standard Performance Charts ( including several for 406's ) which I thought may be useful to others.
I've just had a clean (£65 ) Diagnostics test at a dealer.So, armed with a printout from that site, i'm off to CFM in Berkshire for a £35 Dyno run to see what BHP its actually pushing out. Has any one got any of their own test results that they could post here for a 'real life' comaprison ?

The reason for the test is because we want to buy a Carvan and I'm not sure it'd pull one up any sort of incline. Anyone have any experience of towing with a 2.0 petrol Auto , or should I ask that in one of the other Forum Pages ?

The answer for towing a caravan is a Diesel to be honest

In my opinion you will put strain on the auto box through towing (in fact I'm amazed the you've not had any trouble with the box at 170K miles ) the 2.0 petrol engine on its own is very tough, we've had them on here with 200K miles but as you say they're not fire-breathing racers.

The engine should put out about 130bhp but it is the Torque that counts for towing.

Running a dyno test might be interesting on an auto like yours because they have to run the car to maximum revs and then come off the throttle to let is 'run down' using free-wheeling - this is how they convert the mechanical drag to give flywheel figures. Thing is they'd have to knock the auto into neutral at high revs, not sure I'd like that

Might be worth speaking to them about the procedure and explaining the mileage etc - this could all go 'Pete Tong' fairly quickly

auto box should be fine for towing, infact its the preferred option for most, the petrol engine on the other hand is not the best, but have a look on
http://www.whattowcar.com/

and you'll get a good idea how you outfit will be

Welly you're right

c0r0 wrote:...CFM in Berkshire for a £35 Dyno run...

£35? I want a go! (Will I have a car left at the end of it?)

Thanks for the replys and advice.
CFM were very friendy, actual price turned out to be £42 ( £35 + Vat ) but still reasonable I thought for one of these and he let me off the £2.
Can you believe it, over 2 runs it did
136.2Hp @ 5410rpm / 152.2ft-lbs@4285rpm
and
137.0Hp @5604rpm / 150.7ft-lbs@4358rpm
Which is slightly higher than standard. I was expecting it to be under 100hp because it feels more like a 1300 than a 2litre !
I saw the figures come up on the big display screen and I have the printout. I've only had the car since 159K and it has a full Dealer Servicebook so its been well looked after.
I didn't see him knock it into neutral during the run but the Graph drops off suddenly just over 6000 rpm. He did gun it and I did see the needle go around to the redline. He configured in 3000 rpm at some point in the setup and that looks like its where the printout starts.
My only thoughts are that the peak HP is well up the rev range and I'm not very often at 5500 rpm so that may be why it seems gutless trying to overtake anything at much lower RPM. In 'normal' mode the auto box does change up early but does rev for longer if its put into 'Sport' mode
If I can work out how to do it I will scan the Report and attach it sometime.

Now I at least know its not on it's last legs, I think I'll risk getting a towbar and see how it goes.

c0r0 wrote:My only thoughts are that the peak HP is well up the rev range and I'm not very often at 5500 rpm so that may be why it seems gutless trying to overtake anything at much lower RPM.

This was precisely the problem I had with my 1.8 petrol saloon. It was a good car for overtaking on a dual carriageway, as long as you give it a bit of a run-up first - but since most of my long journeys were on twisty, hilly, single-carriageway A-roads (Aberdeen to Thurso) the thing was sodding useless.

The 2.2 petrol produces 160 HP and is a much gutsier engine. More torque through more of the rev range - so you get better acceleration from say 40 MPH to 60 MPH than you might do in a 1.8.

Diesels are great for torque, which is what you need for pulling a heavy load - you can be at 1,500 RPM in a 110 HP turbodiesel and still producing more torque than a 136 HP petrol car would at 5,500 RPM.

Of course, wanting to buy a caravan makes you evil / insane so ...

highlander wrote:
Of course, wanting to buy a caravan makes you evil / insane so ...

Thats me off the hook then i bought mine 4 years ago.
I've never towed with a petrol or for that matter an auto box but i know a lot of people prefer the auto for towing, give it a go just dont buy a heavy caravan.