Defending your car against Mr RUST...

[Mattel]

Am in Italy right now and you do not see one car on the road older than 1995 apart from the odd rare FIAT bambino. I think FIAT have finally got there act together though. they now make this!

has a diesel turbo 1.3 litre engine, 6 speed manual with EL first and gets a crazy 54mpg combined. It is based on a small econo car called the FIAT Panda (much like how the Terc 4wd came about) and has 4wd with electronic diff locks. tiny boot though. But apparently a lot of fun offroad. James May from Top Gear has a 2wd one. I want to buy one to drive back to Australia in... did someone say departure angles?.

[ARCHINSTL]

Hmmm...
Wonder if this is in the works when FIAT takes over Chrysler here?
Hey, if the Element and Scion xB can sell...
How's it going?
Tom M.

[Mattel]

Going good, Love europe - just not a big fan of the euro € price against the Aus $ approx €1 to $2.

To ward of rust we used to spray fish oil on the insides of the car panels and it seemed to work really well (although you wouldn't want to even go near the car for a couple of days after.

[terceldude]

Am in Italy right now and you do not see one car on the road older than 1995 apart from the odd rare FIAT bambino. I think FIAT have finally got there act together though. they now make this!

That's an SUV! I hate SUVs and SUV drivers because they are destroying the planet! At least drive it off-the-road all times...

Who know's what that has for MR. RUST!!!!

[terkill]

That car is the complete opposite of an SUV, id say BARELY a crossover. 54MPG is good, but that's normal for a diesel i believe.

---Today I test drove a Suzuki SX4 Crossover, gets 30mpg on a 2.0 DOHC and has 2WD/4WDviscous coupleing when slipping/ and a 4WD LOCK button. They have ALOT of pep, and are faster than corollas and are very VERY fun to drive. I am probably going to work over the summer for one, 15,000 base with power windows/AC/HEAT everything. You guys should check it out.

[Mattel]

The Panda and Fiat Sedici/Suzuki SX4 are probably the closest things on the market now to the Tercel 4wd they are both based on economy cars with some offroad pretension.
Now that everyone including Subaru only make SUV's these days it's refreshing to see concepts based on small off road car

hey Tdude, the panda is tiny! (see photo) and smaller than the "new" mini and even has a snorkel built into its roof
I don't know why I'm arguing though. but enjoyed your humor in the SUV's are killing the world and should only be used offroad comment.



so has anyone used the fishoil trick? or is this australia only?

[terkill]

haha, fish oil sounds like- it smells terrible....i've heard of people using it though. what i did with my el camino is i grinded it down to the metal and rustoleum primered it the color of the car, mine was a black and grey. heres a pic, if u can notice on the door-line and rocker panels and fenders

[takza]

ATF is about the most neutral oil you can use? I only use maybe a pint (used) each fall. Even here in salt country using it has stopped the rust for the most part....but I do go over and under the car each year. ATF plus lithium spray grease...plus extra goop in the wheel wells.

[4doorVIP]

I ended up using some POR 15. Sanded then cleaned the rust and hit it with some POR 15 using a brush. The stuff applies on very smooth and a little bit of it goes a long way