NBot as spot on as te Legacy.
Denitely track was 1.45-1.46 and thesame at frnt and rear benear as dammit.
wheelbase is 2.56-2.6. Escort is too short.
I think its an old soobie legacy 4x4 estate with the cheapest tyres you can fit on the rims on it.
Possibly. The word from the police last time I spoke was that they had a shortlist of suspects.
If it is a Legacy, they are not that common.
What that means is next time something goes missing - and these boys are operating round here on a regular basis - they may well know where to look for stolen goods.
Last tme it looked like two vehicles - the michelin shod one ad something bigger.
Or two trips maybe.
I suspect this one is the scout, and the pickup comes along if there is something bigger to remove.
That is certanl;y a pont., although I suspect it was a question of 'lets take a look in passing'
The Natural Philosopher ( snipped-for-privacy@b.c) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
Your original post said 2450 +/- 50.
Michelins? Subarus use 15", and 185 or 195/70 15" would be much cheaper than 165s, anyway - very common size, where 165/15 is scarce - Beetle and that's about your lot. Hmmm. Beetle. Transporter? Track's a bit narrow, and the w/b is a bit short, though.
Its a flat four, but water cooled. A distinctive sound (more bass note), but not really like a VW. Most of the older/smaller engine versions would be on 185/80 R15. Michelin would have been factory fitted at the time (late 80s). Not the most inconspicuous vehicle though... certainly at that age there would be very few on the road.
Is it possible that some were equipped with 14" wheels?
Don't think so... its quite a big car remeber (mondeo sized). My first was a '92 2.0L model and that was IIRC 185/80 or possibly 185/70 R15, my current one is 205/60 R15.
No. The section width is measured at the widest part, and is a bit nominal anyway - different makes have slightly different actual widths for the same nominal width. It's also affected by the size of wheel used to some extent.
The tread width is easier to define on some tread patterns than others: some have rounded shoulders which may leave a wider impression on soft ground than hard, but there is a wide variation between tread patterns for the same nominal section width. I've just measured two nominally
175 wide tyres: on one, the tread width is about 140mm, and on the other it's nearer 160mm.Some remoulds and "budget" brands use a very similar tread pattern to Michelins.
My Cavalier (1984) had 13" wheels, so cars of this size often had 13" wheels, let alone 14".
Christian.
Ah. My 'sidwall' measurements on te deep ruts were 200mm or so.
Yes.
>
Oh yes. 14" wheels wer really qite daring in the 80's. As were low profile (/70) tyres.
It doesn't advance things a lot, but it can, most likely, rule out some suspects. I'd be wary of identifying the vehicle from this info, it might even have been stolen anyway, but if somebody had been caught elsewhere, in a vehicle that didn't match, the Police would know there was still somebody else.
Mine (L-series, model before the Legacy) died a few years ago, and I can't remember what size wheels it had. But there are still a few around - including the pickup version, which would probably be ideal for shifting lawnmowers and suchlike. I'm not sure that's exactly the same wheelbase though, or how it compares with the Legacy (can't be very different).
Firstly, this is not a one off, its a bit of a crime wave round here. Secondly, we do have a neigborhood watch, and it does actually two an extent, work. Thirdly, I am more and more convinced that this is the same vehicle as was used last time, so its not a casually stolen vehicle; Its a vehicle that is used precisely for this sort of excercise.
Lat time it was a eat of te summer/harvets just in - and anything cold have drie over that field.
This week, there has been snow and the ground is waterlogged. I would not expect anything other than an older car with narrow tyres to be able to negotiate that field, The same track that has been very cut up by other cars parking (they used a common dog walkers track to start their exploit) is not cut up at all by these guys. The only signs of wheelspin are where four identical gouges have been made just outside my garden, where they presimaly stopped and started. These have provided the basic assumptions on the cars wheelbase, and the fact it was 4WD.
The one issue I thouh was resolved, is the tyre width. But it seems a '165' trye may be narrower at the tread than 65mm. so I am off to measure the wifes tyres to see what tread width correspnds to what tre size, as she has similar sort of tyres on board.
The actual purpose of this, apart from an interesting exrecise in researh and analysis, is to provide police and neighborhood watch, and the local community with something to watch out for.
The patterns of these thefts is about an 8 mile radius circle centerd somewhere fairly near here. I, personally, can think of about 4-6 people who I 'would not be surprised' if they happened to be the culprits. But OTOH they may be entirely innocent, and bad mouthing the local lads is not something I want to do without a bit more than a hunch to go on.
And the next time I see e.g. a Subaru Legacy parked up the side of a field with an innocent dog walker enjoying a stroll, I will know to take its number.
It's very rare to see or hear a single car go up our road after about
11pm on a weekday. We both, and the dog, did wake up that night and hear something go past, that was 'different' in engine tone. You just know that somethng is out of the run of the normal stuff you hear. The direction it went in is itself slightly suggestive..to get to that field from that direction implies a soemwhat unusual route, and one that would not lead to or from the more likely places to expect the lads to be living in.
The Natural Philosopher ( snipped-for-privacy@b.c) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
Hmmm. It all certainly sounds Subaru, then. Could well be an older Subaru pickup.
Mm. any URL's for that?
Wheelbase a shade too short.
Same as the Legacy IIRC (or at least the one I has was)...
I didn't think they ever made a L series version of the pickup... but they continued the previous GLF chassis for the pickup, MV, and Brat and sold those alongside the L series.
They are a generation appart in several ways... also the Legacy is a little longer and wider.
not a scooby legacy then 185 tyres and 2581mm wheelbase
1461 fr track 1450 rear and I wouldnt bet on the gouges in the grass proving it was a 4wd coming to a halt on wet grass from 5mph will leave gouges when the wheels lock Derek
It was more the identical gouges on a PLOUGHED FIELD where it stopped, and then _took off_ again. There were signs of wheelspin on all four wheels.
The tyre issue is resolved. The actual tread widths on michelins I messured were 20-40mm narrower than teh tyres rated 'width' to that means it was likley 185-205 actual tyre. I re-ran the data search, and the legacy still is really teh only vehicle - 4WD or not - that fits.
Astra and Sierra were close though.
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