# Autocruise Stargazer, which engine?



## joeirish

Hello

We are thinking about buying a 2005 Starfire. We like the layout from the pictures we have seen but would like to know how the single beds are made up (if indeed the beds can be used in this way). We live in Ireland so would like a van with minimum amount of setting up of beds.

If there are other models that you think we should also look at please feel free to suggest. We have just sold our Autosleeper Executive which we had for the past 3 years.

Thanks


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## bognormike

I presume the bed arrangement is the same as in my old 1999 version (sold in 2005) - two bench seats which open out with the back cushions to make a big double crossways. If you have them out partially you can make 2 singles, but they would be very short. We used the bench seats as daytime loungers - nice to sit up & read or just watch the tuggers on site :roll: :lol: :lol:


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## joeirish

Thanks bongomike.

Their website http://www.autocruise.co.uk/star-range shows a single bed arrangement but I can't see how the benches are turned into beds.

Joe


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## JohnH

The Starfire utilises the two front seats swivelled round to make up the single beds. Only become comfortable with mattress toppers or make up squabs to fit on the seats to bring them up to the required height.
I think Autotrail used to supply such pieces of foam to shape to bring their front seats to the required height.


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## chrisda

Hi,we have the stargazer 2005,it has two long single beds, a doddle to make up on a night just pull them out slightly and walla two most comfortable beds also great for lounging throu the day,we highly recommend the layout,chrissy


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## joeirish

*Stargazer*

Thanks for the replies.

The Stargazer sounds just the ticket. I've found some for sale so I am making inquiries. I see that they do it in the 1.9 and 2.2. engine sizes. Any preferences?

Thanks


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## chrisda

2.2 is allways best,by the way we were autosleeper executive owners till we saw our freinds stargazer,same layout two side bench seats but oh the room inside compared to the executive !!!!! ,you will see what we mean,also the swing wall shower makes it like a wet room and plenty of room for elbows if you know what i mean lol,chrissy


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## joeirish

*Stagazer, Fiat or Peugeot*

Still honing the choices and now I discover that there are 2 of the 2.2 engines, one a Peugeot and the other Fiat Ducato. Any recommendations?

Thanks again for the help.


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## Zebedee

*Re: Stagazer, Fiat or Peugeot*



joeirish said:


> Still honing the choices and now I discover that there are 2 of the 2.2 engines, one a Peugeot and the other Fiat Ducato. Any recommendations?
> 
> Thanks again for the help.


No contest!

The Peugeot.

Dave


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## chrisda

Hi,yes the peugeot everytime ,chrissy


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## b2tus

Our 2.2L HDi Peugeot is excellent. Just completed 1500 miles in France and the oil has hardly moved off the dipstick max mark.

Recommened.


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## Stanner

*Re: Stagazer, Fiat or Peugeot*



Zebedee said:


> joeirish said:
> 
> 
> 
> Still honing the choices and now I discover that there are 2 of the 2.2 engines, one a Peugeot and the other Fiat Ducato. Any recommendations?
> 
> Thanks again for the help.
> 
> 
> 
> No contest!
> 
> The Peugeot.
> 
> Dave
Click to expand...

They are the same "Sevel" vans with the same engines.

A Ducato is a Boxer is a Relay/Jumper.

All made on the same line, in the same factory, just different badges.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sevel_Sud

The 2.0/2.2 is a PSA engine & the 2.3/2.8/3.0 is an Iveco engine.

There are now apparently 2 different 2.2 engines first a PSA/Ford joint venture based on a PSA engine and then a PSA/Ford joint venture based on a Ford engine.


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## joeirish

Stanner

i'm a bit confused now, does your post mean that it doesn't matter which engine I choose? The wikipedia link seems to say that.

Thanks


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## Stanner

joeirish said:


> Stanner
> 
> i'm a bit confused now, does your post mean that it doesn't matter which engine I choose? The wikipedia link seems to say that.
> 
> Thanks


No it doesn't matter what "badge" you buy, as it is simply the engine size that determines whether you get a Peugeot/Ford (or Ford/Peugeot) or Fiat Commercial (Iveco) JTD engine.

If you buy any Ducato/Boxer/Relay with a 2.0 or 2.2 litre engine it will be a Peugeot/Citroen Hdi - Ford Duratorq engine of some sort.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Duratorq_engine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PSA_HDi_engine

If you buy one of any variety with a 2.3/2.8/3.0 litre engine it will be an Fiat (Iveco) JTD engine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JTD_engine#2.3

So far as I know the 2.4 Ford engine is only offered in a Transit body.

As the saying used to go - "Confused? - You will be"


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## tandc

hi i think you will find that autocruise only used peugeot on the stargazer we have had a 2004 2.2 stargazer from new fantastic motorhome in my opinion. tandc.


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## joeirish

*Stargazer engine confusion*

Thanks again for the replies. I have found two Stargazers for sale, one from 2005 and one from March 2007. The first has a Peugeot 2.2 HDi and the second has a Fiat Ducato 2.2. Both engines could be from the 1993 - 2006 period, i.e. 2nd generation but it depends on when the chageover occurred or the newer van could have a 3rd generation engine. How can I find out (unfortunately the wikepedia link does not list any 2.2 HDi engines or indeed any 2.2 second generation engines. 2.2 multijet (bot not HDI) appears to only have been in 3rd generation engines introduced after 2006) ?

If it is a choice between two 2nd generation engines is there any reason to choose one instead of the other?

if it is a choice between a Peugeot 2nd generation and a Fiat Ducato 3rd generation, which would be better.

Thanks


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## Stanner

*Re: Stargazer engine confusion*



joeirish said:


> Thanks again for the replies. I have found two Stargazers for sale, one from 2005 and one from March 2007. The first has a Peugeot 2.2 HDi and the second has a Fiat Ducato 2.2. Both engines could be from the 1993 - 2006 period, i.e. 2nd generation but it depends on when the chageover occurred or the newer van could have a 3rd generation engine. How can I find out (unfortunately the wikepedia link does not list any 2.2 HDi engines or indeed any 2.2 second generation engines. 2.2 multijet (bot not HDI) appears to only have been in 3rd generation engines introduced after 2006) ?
> 
> If it is a choice between two 2nd generation engines is there any reason to choose one instead of the other?
> 
> if it is a choice between a Peugeot 2nd generation and a Fiat Ducato 3rd generation, which would be better.
> 
> Thanks


There is no difference between a Boxer and a Ducato WITH THE SAME ENGINE SIZE. 
A 2.2 will be either a PSA based PSA built Hdi OR a Ford based PSA built Hdi BUT in a Fiat chassis it will miraculously be renamed (and only renamed) as a JTD because that is what Fiat called the engines in their chassis regardless of it's source.

As to which of the 2 different 2.2s is which and when one superceded the other (if indeed it has/ever did) better folk than me have given up trying to work out.

As to which is better - you first have to work out which is which.


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## joeirish

*Re: Stargazer engine confusion*



Stanner said:


> joeirish said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks again for the replies. I have found two Stargazers for sale, one from 2005 and one from March 2007. The first has a Peugeot 2.2 HDi and the second has a Fiat Ducato 2.2. Both engines could be from the 1993 - 2006 period, i.e. 2nd generation but it depends on when the chageover occurred or the newer van could have a 3rd generation engine. How can I find out (unfortunately the wikepedia link does not list any 2.2 HDi engines or indeed any 2.2 second generation engines. 2.2 multijet (bot not HDI) appears to only have been in 3rd generation engines introduced after 2006) ?
> 
> If it is a choice between two 2nd generation engines is there any reason to choose one instead of the other?
> 
> if it is a choice between a Peugeot 2nd generation and a Fiat Ducato 3rd generation, which would be better.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> 
> 
> There is no difference between a Boxer and a Ducato WITH THE SAME ENGINE SIZE.
> A 2.2 will be either a PSA based PSA built Hdi OR a Ford based PSA built Hdi BUT in a Fiat chassis it will miraculously be renamed (and only renamed) as a JTD because that is what Fiat called the engines in their chassis regardless of it's source.
> 
> As to which of the 2 different 2.2s is which and when one superceded the other (if indeed it has/ever did) better folk than me have given up trying to work out.
> 
> As to which is better - you first have to work out which is which.
Click to expand...

Stanner

Thanks once again for the reply. I'm still unsure as to which one to choose, especially as some people seem to feel quite strongly about this and recommend the Peugeot. I guess what is most confusing is that the wikipedia entry shows no 2.2 before 2006 yet the 2005 van has a 2.2 engine? Any ideas?

Thanks


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## Zebedee

Our 2.2 litre 130bhp "Peugeot" engine is excellent, and yes Stanner - I know there shouldn't be a 130bhp 2.2 litre engine, but it seems there is! :roll:

PEUGEOT AUTOSLEEPER NUEVO II EK - 2.2 130BHP 6 SPEED

Details >> here <<

If I use the cruise control and stay with the lorries I can easily get 36mpg indicated on the trip meter - which may not be 100% accurate but was within 1mpg when I did a couple of "fill to the brim" tests.

On our recent trip to the Loire where the roads were so empty we could dawdle at 40mph without being a nuisance, I got 38.8mpg overall for the France part of the journey.

It will also go like faeces off a fork (_Mods have to be polite_! :roll: :lol: ) when needed, and pulls uphill with no problem at all.

A major reason for recommending the "Peugeot" engine however is the after sales support if anything goes wrong - like the infamous judder. 8O

Fiat are better now, but were appalling when the X250 variant first came out. Peugeot just said, "_Take it to your garage and if it needs fixing they will do it_."

And that's exactly what happened - it took ten days for a new gearbox and clutch to arrive from France and the whole job was completed in less than a fortnight from the time I phoned Peugeot UK.

Just my experience, if it helps. 

Dave


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## Stanner

*Re: Stargazer engine confusion*



joeirish said:


> Stanner
> 
> Thanks once again for the reply. I'm still unsure as to which one to choose, especially as some people seem to feel quite strongly about this and recommend the Peugeot. I guess what is most confusing is that the wikipedia entry shows no 2.2 before 2006 yet the 2005 van has a 2.2 engine? Any ideas?
> 
> Thanks


The only difference between the vans is the dealer you will deal with if it is under warranty - no warranty issues = no difference, as they are all made in the same factory in Italy.

When it comes to buying spares it will pay to use the right dealer for the make as the VIN will be specific to that maker's database.

I.E. a Fiat will have a Fiat VIN a Peugeot will have a Peugeot VIN and a Citroen will have a Citroen VIN - the parts will be the same but you can bet your life the price will vary.

Example - I needed an ignition lock for a Ducato, I checked at both Fiat dealer and a Citroen dealer (using a Citroen VIN for the same age of van).
Fiat would sell just the lock for £94 - Citroen would only supply the whole lock assembly, including new barrels and new keys and at over twice the price.


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## Stanner

Zebedee said:


> Our 2.2 litre 130bhp "Peugeot" engine is excellent, and yes Stanner - I know there shouldn't be a 130bhp 2.2 litre engine, but it seems there is! :roll:
> 
> PEUGEOT AUTOSLEEPER NUEVO II EK - 2.2 130BHP 6 SPEED
> 
> Details >> here <<


Or someone at Coswold can't type/doesn't know what they are talking about/just cut and pasted from another advert/it's been chipped/whatever.

Peugeot don't offer it................


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## Zebedee

Most likely chipped. It looks exactly the same as my previous 2.2 litre 120bhp lump.

On the A/S website (_they should know_!! :roll: ) they specify the Broadway engine as . . .

*Specification*
Engine Options
2.2 HDi, Output 130PS engine

See >> here <<

The "Fiat" engine looks entirely different as you know, so no mistake there.

Dave


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## Stanner

It's known as FFS, no not that FFS - but Fat Finger Syndrome.

Too many people typing up stuff they haven't got the foggiest idea about and can't be bothered to get it checked for accuracy.

It can't be the 130/2.3 as Peugeot don't offer that option - they only Iveco engine they offer is the 3.0litre.

Isn't it refreshing that a supplier can supply an engine the maker doesn't offer. It would be interesting to ask them how they manage it.

Citroen only offer the 2.2 (100 & 120bhp) and the 3.0 (160bhp) on the Relay/Jumper

Strangely, Fiat currently offer a 2.2 100bhp a 2.3 120bhp and a 3.0 160bhp - no mention any longer of a 2.3 130bhp? 
So where does the 130 come from?


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## drcotts

My old van was the 2500 TD. and i now have the 2.2 130bhp puegeot and theres no comparison the 2.2 is much nicer to drine and faster. it frightens me sometimes when the overspeed beeper goes off telling me i have exceeded 75mph as i dont know i,m doing it

Van is a Startail by the way.

No issues at all with the Engine or peugeot part or the conversion.

Phill


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## joeirish

tandc said:


> hi i think you will find that autocruise only used peugeot on the stargazer we have had a 2004 2.2 stargazer from new fantastic motorhome in my opinion. tandc.


Hi tandc

I discovered that the advert for a Fiat Ducato Stargazer was wrong, it is a Peugeot after all. Anyway we are now hoping to get an 04 Stargazer and hope to try one next week. Anything we should look out for in your opinion?

Thanks


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