September 2002
I have been a Golf fan for many years and currently own a 95 VR6. I am in the process of changing my motor for a newer model before things start going downhill on my 7 year old bundle of joy. I have heard many varied reports about the new V6, and indeed the Gti Turbo saying that it is no longer a fun car to drive.Is there anyone out there who is an owner and can shed some light on the standard of the new Golf? While comfort is an issue, I am a driver and need a drivers car!
BB Read more
You can tell Summer has gone, because 5th Gear (pseudo Top Gear but better!)pops its head up with a good program about the best car last night. The Maclaren may not be my cup of tea or carbon fibre come to that, but at least it wasn't a fleeting visit to each car and the views were reasonably subjective. My fav is the VW Golf GTI Mk1. (I said it was subjective!!) Roll on the new series. Read more
Well-said Steve S.
Clarkson is an enigma.
His non-motoring column in the Sunday Times is brilliant.
His motoring column in the same paper is usually original and questions concepts - "Its good for that type of vehicle - but who on earth would buy it?"
His chat show on TV was excruciating.
His contributions on Top Gear were a mixture of all the above.
Marcus
I left my Passat (1998 model) parked outside a hotel for 14 days whilst on holiday. When I came back to collect it, all 4 of the windows were fully open. I had definitely left the car with all the windows shut. The key and remote control were with me on holiday. In order to open the windows the key needs to be in the ignition.
My question is: could this be an electrical fault which caused the windows to open by themselves and that I should therefore be worried about OR have the ToeRags found a way to open windows from the outside.
My portable CD player, which was in the glove box, was missing so someone had certainly been having a look inside but the alarm was not going and the car started first time (ie not run down by a ringing alarm). Should I be worried that someone could have written down the VIN and registration number? If so, what should I do?
Any input gratefully received. Read more
Simple firmware update should be all that is required, however last time I checked there was not one available. If there was it may be some way to admitting there was a problem.... therefor becomming liable for losses to date?? who knows.
I never understood this feature, yes being able to put the windows up / close the sunroof on the key is great, but drop the windows on the key ??? I was told this is for a hot day so that you could let the blast of hot air out before opening the door... surely if you have the presence of mind to do that, you are able to stand back while opening the door.. yes / no??
Might be an idea to look into what a good aftermarket alarm can do for you, clifford or the likes, they may have a fix for this. If you find one please post it as I know many who would be interested!
I think there is another issue with the windows dropping by themselves, but havent found the bloke who told me about it to find out more.
On a Volvo fitted with overdrive when you downchange the gearbox with the overdrive engaged, the O/D also disengages. When changing up again you have to press the spring loaded g/knob switch again to re engage the O/D.
I have an O/D unit on my MGB that always stays active once it's switched on (except when you're in 2nd or 1st). The problem is if you forget to disengage the O/D and you're in 2nd wanting to change into 3rd, it directly selects O/D 3rd.
I would like to incorporate the Volvo relay system onto the MG but cannot fathom out the Haynes book on the Volvo wiring diagram. Conversely the MG wiring diagram is very simple.
What relays etc do I need from a Volvo to make this idea work, and can anyone supply a fairly straight forward wiring diagram/sketch for me to make a small loom please? Read more
Hi,
I'm back at the workshop this evening so will send it then.
Regards
Peter
My wife drives a Ford Fiesta 1.25 Zetec, V reg, 15,000 miles and in good condition. Does anyone know how much I should try and sell it for? It is not the face lift model.
Read more
Most guides I have looked at on the net recently seem
to be ridiculously low. I recently sold an Escort for
nearly double the Parkers price
Meldrew
Can anyone help? I have just bought a Mercedes A-Class, and in the firdt week have managed to take thumbnail-sized chunks out of both front alloy wheels... no idea how. Anyway, does anyone have a top tip for filling/painting/repairing them? I had a look round Halfords but couldn't find any suitable products.
Ta very much. Read more
cheers... when you're as much a maintenance novice as I am (despite owning 8 cars & 5 motorbikes over 14 years) NOTHING is patronising
: )
Could someone please help me havign just pick up on Saturday my diesal clio I have noticed that the speedo seems o over read as at 2000 rpm the car should do according to the book 50mph as the gearbox is designed for 25mph/1000rpm however the speedo registerers about 56mph the same applies at 3000 rpm the car registers 77mph. Could someone out there please tell me if the speedo should be so far out or if I should take it back for re-calibration? Also I have exceeded the 3000rpm recommended runing in period twice will this have any negative impact on my engine? Also one last question (soory I?m not very knowlegable about cars as if you cannot tell) how do I know if a car has an intercooler is there an extra radiator or what? May thanks to anyone to replies. PS the car in excellent and I would have to recomend aanyone to look at it. Read more
Brian,
I read the story with interest and I hope the inventor is successful. Interesting that his emulsion came about by trying an additive that he just happened to have in his garage whereas several large players have spent millions and still not perfected a stable emulsion.
In the old backroom archive I posted about a friend of mine who was having driveability problems with the above car. After issuing an ultimatum my friend persuaded Vauxhall to take back the car in exchange for a new 1.6 (my friend having no confidence in the 1.8 by now).
There is a sequel to this story. Out of the blue my friend received a phone call from a gentleman in another part of the country. He had bought the same car used from another Vauxhall dealer. He asked my friend if she had any problems with the car. My friend asked "what sort of problems", and he said "it doesn't drive very well!" My friend then told the gentleman the full story. He is getting back to the dealer absolutely furious. It would appear the dealer picked up the car in all good faith from the Vauxhall dealer computer. I often wondered what happened to rejected cars! Read more
What shocks me about this story is that Vauxhall themselves have allowed a reject car back into their own dealer network. I used to buy Vauxhall cars until recently because I have had excellent service from a smallish rural dealer 5 minutes drive from where I
live. Unfortunaley a large multi-garage chain bought them out in order to close them down. They opened a large glitzy expensive site 35 minutes drive away. I hate this kind of operation where the customer is just a number, so I moved on to Honda which has a smaller dealer 15 minutes away.
Im not certain if Im correct but do local authorities have responsibility for resurfacing local B roads?
There is a stretch of road some half a mile long and no more than that which is being re surfaced near me. It is a typical B class road with 2 lanes so isnt more than about 3 cars wide. Yet incredibly, the work on it has been going on for 8 weeks and is scheduled to complete in another 3. I think that is a conservative estimate judgingby what they have done so far!
I've seen contractors resurface a 5 mile stretch on the M6 quicker than these guys are doing. Its an absolute joke not to mention the disruption because they've also made it a one way road while the work is ongoing.
Bah! Read more
It took a week or so to rebuild the collapsed elevated freeways in Los Angeles after the 1994 earthquake. It took two years in San Francisco. So it's not just Wales.
Chris
My HT leads are connected to the spark plug connecter via a screw in the plug cal and a nut in the HT lead. I cannot find a supplier in the UK. Can you help? Read more
Ta. Have found supplier.
.jpg)
I test drove the pd130 Bora and found the torque too much for the chassis and the noisy tickover unacceptable. The V6 is a class act.