Is there a trick to get the front seats to wind back horizontal? - or are they all like that sir.

 

I'm trying to work out the best arrangement for sleeping in the car :wonder:

I've never managed it, Jerry.

On WRGB I ended up curled up on the back seat.

(Sometimes it's useful being a short Welshman!)

No trick, some models just don't do it.  SE Plus might.

 

tom

The stupidly don't do it...  If they could you could just leave a back seat at home and wind ANY front passenger seat all the way down to have a level loading floor from the tip of the boot to the edge of the dashboard.  My Audi A2 could do just that.  But then that would have been too easy and they could not have charged you for the tipping front passenger seat option. Cynic me?  Never.

 

It is sad that an engineer spent months designing the tipping front passenger seat (with additional levers, hinges and what not) when he could just have added a few more degrees of backrest angle to the existing seat, to get the exact same job done.  

 

This concept was invited in the 50s in the American Nash:

 

 

Also see my post here:

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/191260-changing-the-yeti-into-a-one-seater/

Who remembers the Austin Maxi, that was advertised as providing a flat sleeping platform?

Who remembers the Austin Maxi, that was advertised as providing a flat sleeping platform?

A very underrated vehicle,spoilt by a rubber band gear linkage.

The BMW MINI seems to be gradually reinventing the Maxi in it's larger offerings.

The stupidly don't do it...  If they could you could just leave a back seat at home and wind ANY front passenger seat all the way down to have a level loading floor from the tip of the boot to the edge of the dashboard.  My Audi A2 could do just that.  But then that would have been too easy and they could not have charged you for the tipping front passenger seat option. Cynic me?  Never.

 

It is sad that an engineer spent months designing the tipping front passenger seat (with additional levers, hinges and what not) when he could just have added a few more degrees of backrest angle to the existing seat, to get the exact same job done.  

 

This concept was invited in the 50s in the American Nash:

 

 

Also see my post here:

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/191260-changing-the-yeti-into-a-one-seater/

I would have made that little brat take his shoes off!

Who remembers the Austin Maxi, that was advertised as providing a flat sleeping platform?

 

 

As did the Renault 16 (though the rearmost seat backrest did not fold):

 

 

 

http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/facts-and-figures/tested/tested-austin-maxi-vs-renault-16/

Who remembers the Austin Maxi, that was advertised as providing a flat sleeping platform?

Rather too well. Learnt to drive in my mothers one. It was unique. It only had 4 forward gears (1, 2, 3 & 5) along with a slipping clutch. :lol: way ahead of its time, just badly made and poor transmission. We had the 1750, but not the the HL version

Dad wasn't very good at looking after his vehicles back then. Maybe finances were a bit stretched. There were 4 of us sprogs. :lol:

As did the Renault 16 (though the rearmost seat backrest did not fold):

http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/facts-and-figures/tested/tested-austin-maxi-vs-renault-16/

And we had one of those Renaults before the Maxi :lol: on a D plate.

Rather too well. Learnt to drive in my mothers one. It was unique. It only had 4 forward gears (1, 2, 3 & 5) along with a slipping clutch. :lol: way ahead of its time, just badly made and poor transmission. We had the 1750, but not the the HL version

Dad wasn't very good at looking after his vehicles back then. Maybe finances were a bit stretched. There were 4 of us sprogs. :lol:

We had a series of at least 3-4 consecutive Maxis in the family during the 70's and into early 80's if recall is correct on the timeframe. Great as a "farmer's car". You could get 4 bales of hay in the back easy. Or with an alternative seat combination bring into use as an emergency ambulance to swiftly transport an ailing sheep to the vets!  Sort of poor man's Land Rover. I also recall there was no secret the design was inspired by the earlier success of the Renault 16. Rusted a bit more slowly than the 16 though.

 

And Graham - yes I can also testify the "sleeping platform" arrangement worked well. Used them like that myself on several long distance trips (not at the same time as the hay or sheep I hasten to add!). 

 

Always had 1750s as that was a long stroke motor with a torque curve that suited my dad's driving style of "select any gear and let it lug". He learned to drive during 1930's on trucks! Never took a test during his life - wasn't required to. The early rubber band gear change mechanism was swiftly replaced by a rod system, but even that was always rather vague. The 1750's were plagued by clutch slip issues until very late in production. The 'rear' crankshaft oil seal used to wear a groove into the poorly hardened crank surface. Then allowing oil onto the flywheel and clutch face. Sometimes as early as 30,000 miles. A new seal only effected a very temporary cure, long enough to sell the car! I think it was Quinton Hazell who even did a special "after market" seal with a double lip, that was much more effective than BL's.  Although the old Audi Quattro rally mechanic clutch slip "cure" of a 2L bottle of Coke emptied into the bell housing was also quite effective. Only when the foundry process was tightened up to ensure all cranks were properly surface hardened did it eventually go away.

 

A heavy car with very modest performance by modern standards - and the Alex Moulton Hydro-elastic suspension that would have been great on modern UK pothole strewn roads, but even on the Maxi's longer wheelbase still gave a distinct "nose up" attitude when the rear was loaded and fluid transferred to the front suspension units.  You soon learned how to deal with understeer in that guise!  

 

BL attempted to fix the weight issue with the later Allaggro model, that shared some of the Maxi's engine and transmission options. But came up with a shell so flexible you didn't really need suspension, you could pop the windscreen out just by jacking up a rear corner to change a puncture. I had a 1750 version of one of those too - very briefly!

 

This is the Austin Maxi forum isn't it?  What are these "Yeti" things anyway?........

Edited 26 July, 201312 yr by FlintstoneR1

STOP IT! You're getting me all nostalgic

 

Next thing I'll be trawling Autotrader for a 1750SS with the famous Quadratic steering wheel!

I had five elderly Renault 16s - I liked them and wasn't the world's best driver!! My first was on a C plate (from memory; it was certainly one of the first into the UK)  in what was best described as battleship grey and not only did it have "leather" reclining seats but also inertia real seat belts and a really slick column change because the gearbox was mounted in front of the engine. My then boss had a Maxi and stirred the gearbox until he found a gear then stuck with it as long as possible. The unconventional suspension meant the wheelbase was different one side from the other. Why is this relative to a Yeti forum. Because for me the Renault 16 was both quirky and practical and it was that same mixture that decided me I wanted a Yeti. Nostalgia over.

Who remembers the Austin Maxi, that was advertised as providing a flat sleeping platform?

 

...and I have used it as such.

 

Lovely car, despite being by British Leyland.  I threw mine away at about 100,000 miles.

 

tom

My Maxi was a 1750 HL with twin SU carbs and it went VERY well (in a straight line).

Happily used to pull our Musketeer caravan and the accoutrements of three children around, especially to Prescott Hill Climb where I was a Timekeeper.

Once got a rollocking from their Clerk of the Course for driving up the hill too quickly after someone had knocked over the top timing beam! My excuse was we didn't want to delay the meeting too long.

STOP IT! You're getting me all nostalgic

 

Next thing I'll be trawling Autotrader for a 1750SS with the famous Quadratic steering wheel!

What memories, I also had he 1750SS Allegro, awful car but it couldn't half shift. But you don't have to go back that far for the silly steering wheel, my Toyota Prius had one as well but not quite so square

STOP IT! You're getting me all nostalgic

 

Next thing I'll be trawling Autotrader for a 1750SS with the famous Quadratic steering wheel!

Yes!   That was the exact model Allaggro I had too.  In white. Although during my six-month tenure with it, I quickly swapped the awful steering wheel for the nice round leather one from my earlier Wolseley Hornet / Mini Cooper.  Then swapped it back to sell the Allaggro during one of the too brief spells when it was actually running properly. "Hyrogas" suspension as I recall, but without the engine fore-aft damping mechanism and heavy front sub-frame from the Maxi, lurch, lurch.   Very comfortable in a straight line at constant speed though. Bought it with about 30k on the clock on the grounds they couldn't be as bad as folk made out.  Then discovered the "Aggro" bit. Sold it when a Mk1 Escort RS2000 came up for sale just down the road.  Now THAT was a proper car!  :love:  Had three of those in succession too, through a period of over 12 years.   

 

I blame Graham for mentioning the Maxi!  It wasn't just sleeping you could use those fold into a bed seats for either!     

.....The unconventional suspension meant the wheelbase was different one side from the other.

Quite a few cars with transverse torsion bar rear suspension had that feature Paul. Biggest percentage difference from recall being on another, smaller Renault - was it dubbed the 14? Didn't the Peugeot 205 also have a small difference? Certainly had the torsion bar springs.

I blame Graham for mentioning the Maxi!  It wasn't just sleeping you could use those fold into a bed seats for either!     

 

Norty!!

 

 

 

We were married by the time we had a Maxi!!

I would have made that little brat take his shoes off!

And where are the doors? Must be a bit draughty!

My dad's Maxi was a lot more comfortable than the Mini Cooper though - and having to explain to my mum why there were two footprints came from on the inside of my mini's windscreen, that appeared when it was misted up next morning.  Now I wonder where that GF got to.......?   

 

Nostalgia eh?  It ain't what it used to be.......?

I went through an old hard drive and found the photos of how my A2's front passenger seat could be wound down to create a flat level "floor" with the raised boot floor.

 

 

 

 

So much easier to do it this way (especially in a car where you CAN remove the rear seats like the A2 and Yeti) than the optional complicated double folding mechanism the Yeti has.

What's with  these recent posts  asking about sleeping in cars, are you being thrown out  

What's with  these recent posts  asking about sleeping in cars, are you being thrown out  

 

 

Haha...  no I did not start the thread about sleeping in a car.  And I clearly stated there why one won't ever sleep well in a car.  (And I have a caravan to sleep in anyway!)

 

Nah this is just about Simply Clever things, which in the Yeti's case is FAR from Simply Clever.