I’d like to get myself a Range Rover Classic, but would like to swap engines, which is most suitable?

Regards,
Ken Murithi

Hello Ken,

The Range Rover Classic is an interesting breed of automotive iconoclast. It created a whole new and previously unheard of segment of vehicle: an off-road car that can tackle the clag with nary a lamentation but still offer more comfort and luxury than your own living room.

It is achingly handsome with a nostalgic silhouette but shockingly terrible to drive with a roly-poly suspension and body roll that can scare the ordure out of the most accomplished helmsman. The V8 rumble has been the definitive go-to engine noise for aural titillation, but the fuel consumption is slightly worse than a burning oil rig. It is a vehicle of contrasts.

Now, here is the thing: yes, you are right, fueling that 3.5 litre V8 will require Middle Eastern financial resources, and the engine swaps you mention are fairly common but just hold on for a minute before you start shopping for a wrecked 14-seater to pilfer its engine block. There are caveats here.

You say you came across a spotless example of the Classic. That's good for you, and whatever you do, don't let it slip out of your hands. The vehicle is now a collector's item and its general cleanliness (automotively speaking) will determine how much it will appreciate in the coming years. There are websites for rich men that I visit where I see the 3.5s changing hands for as much as $45,000 (roughly Sh5million), so you can see the kind of pool you plan to swim in.

But for your car to command that kind of outlay, the first piece of advice is don't be putting Nissan engines in it. That's like putting ketchup on a slab of Kobe beef. It renders worthless what is essentially a work of art.

The engines you mention can fit well into the Classic, along with others. I have heard mention of 3L and 5L Toyota engines being used. I know of several BMW swaps (the straight sixes and V8s) and an aftermarket modifier called Overfinch created the best Range Rover Classic ever by tweaking its suspension and throwing in a 5.7 liter LS V8 from General Motors into the engine bay to create the best car Jeremy Clarkson had ever driven... in 1994.

The vehicle in the picture looks good and adventure ready. What it does not look like is a humble tractor with a 4-cylinder diesel posho mill clattering away somewhere slightly above the front axle. That would be embarrassing. If you feel you must replace that thirsty 3.5, may I suggest you look at a BMW engine, preferably a V8. With electronic engine management systems and tugging away at that lightweight Classic body, that engine will not only provide much better economy but it will also cure another of the 3.5's major weaknesses: it was as slow as treacle. 

I’m eyeing the Audi A3, Subaru Impreza and the VW Golf MK7, which deserves my Sh1.4 million?

Dear Baraza,

I’m an avid reader of your column and your extensive knowledge about cars is admirable. I’m about to buy my first car and I’m torn between the Audi A3 (1.4L TFSI) Subaru Impreza and the VW Golf MK7, all 2013 models. My budget is Sh1.4 million. I’m particularly interested in the Audi because I fell in love with the machine the first time I laid my eyes on it. I know little about the VW though I’ve heard the occasional gearbox/transmission rants. I would like your input on what car would give me the best value for my money. My main concern is performance, overall reliability and driving experience. I don’t mind the cost of maintenance and fuel consumption. Also, would you rate the Audi higher than the Golf?

Much appreciated.

Phil

Hi Phil,
The Audi and the Golf are essentially the same car, mostly, but this blanket condemnation is not strictly true. There are a few differences between the two vehicles that go beyond the looks. I know why you are interested in the Audi. There is a certain solidity that their design language exudes, a touch of reserved handsomeness that is both inoffensive and appealing, and the Audi is less common. You want the A3? Go for the A3.

The VW is not half bad either, and has always been the yardstick against which all hatchbacks (including the A3) are measured, and it has never really been convincingly beaten by rivals in comparison tests. It always comes out on top one way or the other. If a trophy cabinet is what it takes to sway your opinion, then the Golf is your car. There were transmission issues with the Golf, but this was limited to the DSG gearbox that came in the Mk. 5, and it wasn’t VW’s fault anyway, it was the supplier of certain attachment gubbins who used low quality materials that failed and rendered the transmissions useless. This has since been dealt with so the Mk. 7 is safe.

The Impreza is a bit out of its element here. The A3 and the Golf ooze premium quality, the Subaru offers cheap all-wheel drive, and you can tell just by sitting in the three cars. Please note: the key word is “cheap” because the other two cars can be had with all-wheel drive as well (in “quattro” and “4Motion” parlance respectively) but to access this feature you need to look further up the spec level where the prices start eliminating potential buyers in low-paying careers. The Impreza has its system (S-AWD) universally applied across the board irrespective of spec.

If you want value for money then the Impreza is it, unfortunately. With it, that price point’s biggest differentiator is the AWD system, the A3 and the Golf will both be FWD while the Impreza will be AWD. All those other gubbins and electronic knick-knacks will depend on how lucky you are when shopping for a used car.

Performance will favour the Germans because at Sh1.4 million, you won’t be able to get a turbocharged Impreza, not the STI, not even the WRX, and a turboless Impreza is not exactly a paragon of haste. If you are looking for passable performance from any of these cars, perhaps you need to adjust the YOM (year of manufacture) downwards and look for something older, at which point a Golf GTI or Impreza WRX may be more of your bag.

Overall reliability: we go back to the Subaru for reasons I have outlined here ad infinitum. Robust build, rally roots, Japanese fastidiousness on standards of honour and whatnot, while the Germans have succumbed to capitalism and embraced planned obsolescence.

Driving experience? It has to be the Golf. The FWD platform has been nicely tuned, finding its apogee in the GTI-spec (ignore the R because it is AWD). The Audi is more understeer-prone, even when kitted with the quattro AWD - sometimes it’s hard to tell whether it’s because of the quattro system or it is despite the quattro system. The Impreza is also a bit understeery with its S-AWD but is handling is more neutral.

The Golf and the A3 feel nice to sit in, the Impreza not so much in comparison. The Audi shines here because since time immemorial Audi has made the best automotive interiors this side of a Bentley, some say even second only to Bentley, which is high praise. Of course the A3 is nowhere near a Bentley in terms of feel and ambience but you can see where the accolades are coming from: Audi tends to dominate whichever segment they are in as far as interiors are concerned.

Would I rate the A3 higher than the Golf? This is a tough call. Realistically, the A3 is superior across the ranks of this hatchback segment, from the lowly entry level models all the way to the fire-breathing RS3 and Golf R AWD monsters. But the Golf has always been the yardstick and there is little it does wrong, very little. The pricing is also a good indicator of why “Volkswagen” translates to “People’s Car” while “Audi” may as well stand for “An Unaffordable Driving Instrument” (it doesn’t actually mean that, and Audis are affordable for the most part, this is just comparative).

So the Golf is tempting from a rational standpoint, which is exactly why I’d go for the Audi. I’ve never been rational in my personal car-buying decisions and the RS3 is superior to the Golf R so Audi it is.

(Personal decisions and professional advice are two different things. A doctor will advise you not to smoke or take alcohol but he will still go home to serve himself a whiskey and smoke cigars in his gentlemen’s club. My car-buying decisions are more opportunistic than analytical, but if you want analytical, Car Clinic has been serving that soup for 11 years and counting.)