August 2003
I recently passed the big four-oh, and Wifey very nicely bought me a morning on the skid pan at Castle Coombe. I think it was about 70 quid (it's 100 odd if you buy one of those 'Red Letter Day' packages you see around - she booked direct).
Well, what a revelation. Twenty years of driving experience and I learned more in a morning than in any one of those years. And, I laughed so much I thought my head might fall off.
For years I have been reacting to front wheel skids in a front wheel drive car by very carefully and deliberately doing exactly the wrong thing. Apparently, what I was doing is what everyone does, and is the reason why skids in front wheel drive cars are called "killer skids" by those in the training world.
Format of the morning? Swan around in a rear-wheel drive car (BWM 3 series) and a front-wheel drive (Rover 216), four to a car. Spin a lot, laugh a lot. Then a talk about what the correct reactions should be, followed by another swan round and a faster (30mph?) braking test. This involves trying not to hit a cone when braking hard in a straight line. Then finally a timed test in both FWD and RWD car.
Highlight of the day? Up against a group of twenty year old know-it-all kids, I managed the best time in the final timed test. Why? Because I just did what the instructors had told us to do, rather than what felt faster.
So, if you're looking for a good day out that's great fun and that could save your life one day, I can heartily recommend it - any skid pan should be OK, I'm not specifically recommending Castle Coombe, though their instructors were excellent.
V
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This is about my VW (again).
Should you see air bubbles in the fuel return pipe at idle? I've got lumpy idle with lots of bubbles!!!! Read more
Well I say that as I have observed small air bubbles in the clear fuel lines of many VAG/GM Diesels over the years - Yes, I'd admit any air to be bad news but these engines were (and still) run without incident.
Can anyone tell me the symptoms of worn shock absorbers.
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Unless the rears have already been replaced separately, then replace all four. New shocks on the front with worn ones at the rear could unbalance the car quite badly in some circumstances.
Hi technical subject for the trade watchers. Can anyone tell me where I can find out the exact weight/volume of refrigerent for my Honda prelude climate (air con) control system
4th generation 1993?
Thanks
PS is is an old R12 sytem now filled with R24 Read more
The R12 weight is 750g. I don't mess with 'drop-in' blends, so you really need to speak to the manufacturer of R24 to see what they say about charge weight. There may also be specific charging instructions as well, as blends can seperate when charging.
Hi all
A friend who is emigrating has a private plate on retention, he doesn't want to keep it, and has tried selling it but to no avail. He wants to give it back to DVLA.
Does anyone know if he can get the £80 transfer fee that he paid when he put it on retention reimbursed?
Thanks
Jonathan Read more
He ought to see if he can sell it for a couple of hundred to a boating enthusiast.
H
Has anyone found a good way to remove tree sap? I gave the car a serious going over at the weekend but never seem to be able to get the stuff off clean. AutoGlym 'intensive tar remover' is great for tar but doesn't seem to have any effect on the sap drops.
thanks,
Robert. Read more
Try a Quik Clay Detailing kit from Meguiars. www.meguiars.co.uk I used one on my last car and it removed *everything* including paint overspray and tree sap spots which even AutoGlym Super Resin couldn't shift. Once I'd finished the paint was perfectly clean, then I polished and Extra Glossed the car and it stayed looking fantastic. Blue
I agree with this. I use a very fine Sonus clay but it still removes everything without removing previous sealant. Especially good on tar spots. Brilliant product. If you use one make sure you have a trigger spray bottle filled a lubricant. I just use water with a dab of car shampoo. You must keep the panel wet to stop the clay sticking.
My 1998 1600cc Ford Escort Zetec regularly revs at between 1800-2000 on cold start. Driving before the revs drop to idling (3-4 minutes) is unwise, as revs become very erratic. After a diagnostic check (£96), the main dealer advised that the remedy was a new PCU at £453, but that no engine harm would result if not done. Does this sound correct? Am worried about engine wear, both on the initial high revs and the delay before driving off. Would value any advice. Also is here an alternative to the main dealer fitting a PCU.
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Thanks Adam. I will give it a try and let you know how I get on
Donny
Hi everyone. Has anyone any advice about wheel balancing? My situation is this: I've a 2000 BMW 323i. I had a new set of tyres fitted at the weekend (due to vandalism) and now I find the wheels aren't balanced properly, despite paying to have this done when the new tyres were fitted.
This came as no surprise to me, as I've had loads of problems with wheel balancing in the past. I've no confidence that the fast-fit joint that fitted the tyres will be able to rectify the problem if I took it back as Fast-fit tyre places just don't seem to be able to do it effectively (or care). In fact, the last time I had this trouble, it took several visits to my BMW dealer (and several hundred £££) before they managed to balance the wheels totally. It's got to the stage where I hate anyone touching my wheels at all - each time weights are prised off and new ones fitted just seems to damage the wheels' rims, the problem doesn't go away and I'm left out of pocket.
I've started wondering whether my kind of car is particularly sensitive to wheel balancing and maybe I'm being unrealistic to expect that my wheels can run without any vibration at all at all speeds. The question is this: does anyone know of a specialist who I can be confident can do this work for me a) the first time and b) without carelessly damaging my wheels. I'm in Surrey. Any ideas? Cheers! Read more
If you want to go for off-car balancing, ATS always seem to do a good job for me. The one at Leatherhead will also use stick-on weights so you don't get any rim damage.
What worries me more though is the apprentice who uses the air gun to put the damn things back on - then checks with a torque wrench. Of course, if the air gun over-torques it, the wrench bit is merely window dressing!
Terry
I'm certain most of us are here because we like this place, have made good friends here and gained invaluable advice too. From time to time criticisms pop up and often these are ill considered, unfair and unhelpful.
There's a wealth of talent lurking here which could be harnessed constructively to develop this site - not only to keep HJ in his future retirement :-) and recompense Mark & DD for all their hard work, but to improve this place for all its users.
So, everyone, can we have sensible ideas and suggestions for helping HJ & Co to improve and develop this site. No grand, complex and costly schemes that are going to cause more headaches than they're worth - the simpler and easier the better.
Sometimes great opportunities are staring you in the face yet remain unseen. Likewise good ideas - the simple concepts that occur to us totally out of the blue yet change the way we do things. The sort of ideas that make you think "I wish I'd thought of that!"
Please don't anyone abuse or sidetrack this thread by simply criticising - that will help nobody and just create unnecessary bad feeling. If you have a constructive and hopefully workable idea please post it here.
Note to HJ - my intentions are totally genuine here and I hope something positive will result but if you feel such input is unlikely to be productive please just delete this thread and accept my apologies. Read more
A good idea, but by e-mail please. Not in here.
E-mail to me in the first instance and I will pass on as appropriate.
Thank you for the thought.
Mark.
I'm buying a new car.... finally decided I'm sick of the Rover 25 (got my use out the warranty tho.... not that I'm saying it was unreliable....)
Reading What Car etc, I notice Toyota come out top in a reliability study recently... cool... I was thinking about a Leguna(sp?) but thought I'd go and have a look in the Toyota showroom just up the road...
Now I'm looking for a *reliable* 5 door, with all the trimmings inc SatNav (hey I am a woman!) in about the £18,000 price bracket and I was rather taken by both the Avensis and the Rav4. Although I've never really fancied a SUV the Rav looked rather... ravishing!
SO.... I'm asking for some non-showroom-unbiased opinions on both these vehicles... for example is the RAV just a jumped up jeep? Or is it more than that, is it really a family car?
My main wants? Room for long legs (44inches from hip to toe) in both the front and back, comfortable drive (with power steering obviously) and something relatively stylish....
...all opinions welcome (including better cars in my price range!) Read more
Don't get me wrong about the boot, its a minor problem not a major one and the rest of the car makes up for it.
Its well built, well specced, comfortable and with 150 horses under the petrol bonnet, it's no slouch!
A hairdressers car? - well that's the view of some folk perhaps, but so what! Hey, what's so special about what they are driving! Me - I'm just off to finish that trim and blow dry..........
As I said earlier, get an extended test drive on both of them before discarding either out of hand. You'll be pleasantly urprised by the good drive the RAV4 offers
Browse
Thanks for the link Vin - their prices are reasonable (my £25 was about 8 years ago now), but i'm at the wrong end of the country.
The ones i've attended in the past were IAM ones, run at the Gtr Manchester Bus depot, which is now shut. Very interesting it was too. Space was limited, with a 'track' in the shape of an arc, so you spent the first half of the session driving a right hand bend, and when you'd got the hang of it, the second half of the session driving a left hand bend with nothing more than a rather solid set of railway arches to bounce off if you lost it. What it was like to drive in a bus, lord only knows !!
Matt - the secret is to drive straight from the skid pan to the nearest car wash - don't ever let the stuff dry (p.s. - it is actually a special skid pan oil ! - anybody using used engine oil would have the council, environment agency, water companies on there back in no time at all, which would be fair enough)
I have to grow old - but I don't have to grow up