February 2002
A simple question, does anyone have a simple answer?
Assuming that usage of oil remains constant (although in reality it is of course increasing year on year) - how long are the earth's natural oil reserves expected to last?
Vegetable oil diesels anyone?.....
Alex. Read more
i am a mother of 2 young children and i have a small budget to purchase a car i have seen a few cars i like and read loads of magasins but i need your honest opionion on which is a good car i like the toyoto yaris, the polos the mercedes
a class and the daewoo matiz whats your opinion on these cars and wheres the best place to purchase them cheep. Read more
The trouble is, I suspect he, increasingly, keeps cropping up in so many other guises that people will either (a) get annoyed at a genuine newcomer who just happens to write in a similar style, or (b) people will just think it's him using another name and ignore it. It's a pity to spoil a place like this with dross like that, even if it does make you wonder what's coming next. So I regrettably find myself in the " He's a nuisance" camp. I am afraid this is one more point that Tomo and I must disagree on.
PS I still don't know what GUBSIDCWOTAMP stands for. I'd like to know given that, according to Tomo, it was entirely responsible for the demise of the driver in the American sports car.
Regards,
KB.
From a previous post I understand there may be those wanting more details of the Citroen Car Club. I hope Martyn will allow me a thread to give this information which expands on that given by HJ in the Car Clubs section of this site.
The Citroen Car Club has been going for over 50 years and, perhaps unusually, it supports every model of Citroen ever made right up to brand new cars. As well as the more obvious older classic Citroens there is a thriving support for the more modern cars such as the BX and Xantia.
Each month a quality magazine is produced with articles covering most of the models as well as less specific writing. Many specialists advertise in the magazine and there is a section for free adverts from members.
For my part I write the monthly column on the BX called BXchange. This consists of input from members on technical and other BX related matters introduced and linked by my own experiences.
Like other car clubs there are many regional and model sections who hold meetings throughout the year.
Contact details:
Citroen Car Club Membership
C/O Derek Pearson
PO BOX 348
Bromley
Kent
BR2 8QT
E.mail.... members@citroencarclub.net
Website.. www.citroencarclub.org.uk Read more
"anything & everything in a small version of one of those black, cast iron pots traditionally used for cooking missionarys."
After making sure he is not a friar, of course..........
Sorry its such a boring car with standard 145x13 tyres.
I am notlooking for something exotic just decent grip in the wet which I am not getting with the cheapies I have at the moment, although they actualy last longer than the well known brands Ive had before.
Also is it possible on the existing rims to go up to 155x13 which many 309's have, and is it sensible.
Thanks Alan. Read more
Peugeot 309 is bigger and heavier than a Visa so I am surprised that standard tyres are 145 x 13. However, I put a couple of Pirelli 1000s on the front of daughter's Visa 10e about 5000 miles ago and they have been excellent so far and wearing well. From memory, about £35 each from Central tyres last summer, although one of their competitors told me they were obsolete and tried to sell me Continentals which were awful on a previous Peugeot 106 so I said no thanks.
David
I have one of these fitted radios in my car and the interference on MW is normally bad but when the headlights are turned on it gets even worse. What is this due to and can I get soemthing like this sorted out under warranty? the FM reception is great and I can pick up stations I've never heard of from about 70 miles away. Read more
I caught that on R5 - but did not really pay attention but think that it was something to do with the Germans not having any MW radio stations. The car is a BMW
Had both my H7 Vision Plus bulbs fail within a week after 16 months use. Refitted the original bulbs, can't see much difference!Has anyone else experienced such a relatively short life with these bulbs? Read more
Also replaced the original combined dipped/main bulbs in my Focus at Xmas with H4 Vision Plus bulbs, noticeably brighter!
Sorry again can't help with longevity query...
Hi,
I have been lurking this forum for months, and it is excellent. Not only a vast breadth of experience and expertise, but the 'ladas are slow' dialogues have had me in stitches. Chris Watson, please keep them coming - I would rather read your posts than the sour whingers who complain about you (but any personal insults, and I know where you live....).
Anyway, after some joyless years of company car custody, I have started running and maintaining my own car, an '88 Golf GTI. The throttle is very stiff, particularly in the first few inches of travel. Any suggestion as to cause/how to rectify gratefully received.
Regards,
LAS FC Read more
Final test (if it works!) full link to both photos
chip photos
Putting together various stories and reports I've read around the place (Parkers, message boards etc), and adding in personal experience - are Golfs just not *that* good anymore? I'm not saying they're rubbish, just not as good as the reputation they still seem to enjoy and the premium VW charge for them.
I know two people who have Mk4 Golfs, a 1.8 GTi and a 1.9TDi (the 110bhp) and they've both had problems for stupid quality issues that really shouldn't crop up on a 17 grand plus car.
Electric windows falling out of their mountings, air con leaks, problems with hi-fi equipment, electrical gremlins and so on, nothing serious, but I got so used to seeing a courtesy car outside one friends house I wondered if she shouldn't have just bought a 1.0 Polo to start with..... She's had a Mk2, Mk3 and now a Mk4 Golf, it's the Mk4 that's put her off the car and the brand.
(Problems aside she doesn't like the ride or handling, and thinks her Mk3 GTi was a better all round car).
Parkers owners reviews carry a lot of negative comments (far more than other modern brands and makes seem to), and elsewhere there just seems to be a "they're not as good as they used to be" sort of feeling.
Is it worth paying the extra for a VW badge and a Golf these days?
Alex.
P.S. I was actually going to buy a 1.9TDi myself, but after seeing the problems my friend and father-in-law had, plus the negative comments elsewhere, I went for a Honda Accord SE Exec instead, a lot more car for the same money, and just as quick.... Read more
Golfs started to lose the plot a bit with the mark 2,the mark three was utterly execrable and the mark four only marginally less so.
Most of their problems stem from this simple fact:it is possible to buy a mark four which weighs twice as much as a mark one.
I dont care if its bigger,because a)why did it need to be?you bought a passat if you needed bigger,and b)with the ever developing materials market bigger for the same weight is only to be expected.
There is nothing tangible in the things that need account for any extra weight,anyway.
Its just sloppy design control.
Having reduced the weight to an entirely reasonable800kgs most of your problems evaporate,as the ghost of Chunkie Chapman could tell us.
Sadly,peugeots and toyotas are going the same way.
You wait till the CAFE regulations hit the fan,whole hundredweights are going to disappear like twenties in my wifes purse.
All in all it couldnt happen to more deserving people.
I have just purchased as a second car a 1998 Saxo 1.1 SX. The previous owner only had one key and the car is fitted with an immobiliser. I have the key number, so i am able to purchase another key from Citroen. However, I am told it then has to be reprogrammed which can only be done by Citroen, cost for a spare key in total £100+VAT. I know i will have to buy the key from Citroen but does anyone know if the it is only the dealer who can programme the key, or can i do it myself, or is there an independent who can do it for me. Read more
Tony
Is it the immobiliser type that is activated by the remote (i.e. not the keypad type)?
If so I am assuming that Citroen use the same system on the Saxo as they do for tha Xantia - in which case, you can't programme it yourself. You need to take the existing key/remote to a Citroen dealer and they do the job in about an hour. Cost seems about right. It cost me £65 for a replacement remote (using existing key).
Sorry I can't be of more help - the message to us all is that key replacement is now very expensive!
Ian
once my bust gearbox estate is back on the road i will need to tax it fairly soon. following the hj links to a site that tells you the new road tax rates i discover that if i have 15" tyres i pay £140 per annum, but £155 per annum on 16" tyres. can i fit either size tyre to the same wheel? should i go for 15"? or does this badly affect fuel consumption? thanks for any help Read more
Absolutely no help whatsoever
Browse
Alex
It's not so much a question of what level of reserves exist, but what oil reserves are technically and economically available for extraction. Oil is free - it's extraction that costs money.
The first oil reserves exploited were those which naturally seeped from the ground, then shallow drilling in Pennsylvania found reserves which flowed naturally due to gas pressure from a hundred or so feet down. As these easily extractable reserves were depleted then deeper drilling became necessary, and more inhospitable areas were explored. The classic example is the North Sea which only became viable as oil prices rose. Any of these oil fields were only depleted to the limits of the available technology, and none have been emptied. Recently, it was announced that a small oil company, using very sophisticated directional drilling techniques, is to start work on the 'depleted' Argyll field in the North Sea.
So, it is perhaps no surprise that oil reserves have remained at 30 or 40 years. If any company had a 30 or 40 year horizon of resources, I suspect it would see no economic benefit in seeking to extend that horizon, and, as has been shown, it may be possible to return to the partially depleted field already abandoned.
The chances are, therefore, that increasing oil costs will enable the technology to extract oil from less accessible deposits, and to enable a greater proportion of the deposits to be extracted. Yes, it will eventually run out, but it would be a brave man who would put a date on that.
Regards
John