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Two Hundred Thousand - Not A Limit For Forman

2024

Video: Two Hundred Thousand - Not A Limit For Forman

Video: Two Hundred Thousand - Not A Limit For Forman
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Two Hundred Thousand - Not A Limit For Forman
Two Hundred Thousand - Not A Limit For Forman
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SECOND HANDS

TWO THOUSAND - FOR FORMAN IS NOT THE LIMIT

HISTORY OF THE MODEL

1987 - the appearance of the first front-wheel Skoda model of the Favorit model with a five-door Bertone body.

1990 - debut at the Birmingham Skoda-Forman Auto Show - a station wagon based on the Favorite. Equipped with a 1.3 liter model 135 engine with or without catalytic converter.

1994 - in September, a new model was released - “Felicia”, developed in conjunction with specialists from the Volkswagen concern. The station wagon was called "Felicia Combi."

Over the years of production, “Forman” has not undergone modernization, apart from the little things: improvements to the brake master cylinder and voltage regulator (1992).

Sergey OSOKIN. Photo by Sergey Ivanov

Modern "Felicia" with cars of the previous generation are related by a motor, transmission, brakes, suspension, steering. That is why we decided to get to know Forman closer in 1993, the mileage of which exceeded 200, 000 km. As they say, with an eye on the "Felicia", believing that this acquaintance will be curious to the owners of newer Skoda cars. We admit, and it was interesting to us, because the editorial "Felicia", which is being tested, has only run 25, 000 km.

The one-year-old “Forman” with a mileage of about 12, 000 km in 1994 cost the owner $ 6, 000. In the Czech Republic, it was equipped with a hatch, a roof rack and a wing on the tailgate. However, external accessories are not the main thing. Much more important is the condition of the most expensive part of the car - the body, especially after driving on Moscow and country roads all year round. By the way, the plant gave a six-year guarantee against rust-through (this also applies to Felicia). But even on a six-year-old car, no traces of rust were found. Factory anticorrosive on the bottom and in the niches of the wheels intact - not scratched, not peeled off, and this, mind you, without fenders and any additional processing! Factory coating - PVC, over which a protective layer is applied. Chassis elements, box parts and sills are protected by injecting liquid mastic. Native details of the exhaust system have also not yet been changed.

Under the hood is cleanliness. Behind the engine between the cups of the struts of the suspension is installed (again in the Czech Republic for an additional fee) a transverse strut pipe. A very useful thing, so as not to “lay down wings” on rough roads.

Interior design, angular front panel today look old-fashioned. But the quality of performance at altitude. Nothing creaks on the go, no rattles. The back of the rear seats folds in parts. And removing one part of the seat, the other can be folded to the side. Then the dimensions of the freed cargo platform behind the backs of the front seats are very impressive. On the go, the suspension of the “Forman” seems a little tougher than on our “Samaras”. The steering wheel is lightweight, the brakes are effective, the gears engage easily and clearly. It’s nice to drive a car, the view is excellent, you’re getting used to driving, having traveled just a couple of kilometers.

Engine power - 58 l. with. - At first glance, not enough. But it is very pulling on the “bottoms”, so at the start from the traffic lights and in the city stream, “Forman” is confident.

Although the inscription “Catalyst” flaunts on the rear door of the car, under the hood there is a more acceptable engine for our conditions without a catalytic converter - a four-cylinder, carburetor engine with an aluminum block and a cylinder head. You can forgive him the archaic gas distribution system with a camshaft in the block, pushers, rods and rockers, because the motor has an important advantage - the simplicity of the design. Adjusting valves, changing oil and filters is a force for a novice motorist.

However, with a mileage of 120, 000 km, I had to turn to the service station to replace the worn camshaft drive chain - a characteristic noise appeared. There is neither a tension mechanism nor a damper, therefore the chain (including the Felicia) often manages to wear out over 50-60 thousand km. Another cause of accelerated wear can be poor-quality oil, especially a fake (lubricated chain by spraying from the nozzle). After switching to the Castrol GTX-3 Protek variety, a friend of ours knew that a new chain departed from a company store for more than 80 thousand km and did not show “audible” signs of wear. Both domestic oil filters from Zhiguli and imported ones, Fiamm and MAN, were used. Oil change - according to the factory recommendation for difficult urban conditions: the first two times - with mileage of 7500 and 15 000 km, then every 10 000 km.

"Forman" annoyed the owner a little. True, when the odometer numbers exceeded 60 thousand, the “Tosol” began to decrease - due to the fact that the valve in the cap of the expansion tank burst.

The simplicity of the design of the car allowed the owner to easily carry out maintenance. At the service station "Forman" appeared only twice: to replace the already mentioned timing chain and the left rear wheel buzzing bearing (60, 000 km). On this occasion, during the last visit, we diagnosed the front suspension. According to its results, we changed two silent blocks and the left ball joint. Perhaps the latter would have served longer if the driver hadn’t got the left wheel into a huge hole once, after which the wheel rim had to be corrected with a sledgehammer.

The machine used brake pads of different brands. Czech Tektar ($ 45) proved to be the best. They served about 40 thousand km (in urban conditions!), And the brake discs wore out evenly and slightly. “Ferrodo”, bought in the capital’s stores ($ 35), traveled no more than 25 thousand km and left noticeable signs of wear on the disks. Judging by the price, these pads are made under license. The English "Krosland" did not justify themselves - they ran only 15 thousand km (observations and conclusions belong to the owner of the car - approx. Ed.).

The Matador-Ekonom tires installed at the plant (165 / 70SR13) covered as many as 60, 000 km. By the way, the owners of “Skoda” should wear their tires with a higher profile, at least 175/70, after they have worn out their tires, in order to mitigate the shocks and bumps from bumps and make life easier for shock absorbers. One of the advantages of the “Forman” (this also applies to “Felicia”) is the impressive size of the wheel arches that can accommodate even 14-inch tires 185/65 and 195/60. Of course, with an increase in the rolling radius of the wheel, the dynamics of the car slightly deteriorate, but the ground clearance increases. Even more important is the very possibility of choosing summer and winter tires, practically - for every taste!

In general, "Forman" pleased with higher comfort, reliability, quality of painting and assembly than Russian classmates. Naturally, this experience influenced the choice of owner: a year ago, he without hesitation acquired the brand new “Felicia”, leaving the unpretentious station wagon the second car in the family. In fairness, we note: after the rise in prices for imported spare parts, the Czech car was not as practical a purchase as before.

TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS of the car "SKODA-FORMAN" (1993)

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