September 2003
I have a FWD car and I love my car. It is great fun to drive. But I know it would be even more fun to drive if it were rear wheel drive. Now that many cars are going AWD and most of the cars that are RWD offer traction control, is FWD a dinosaur? Why would you need FWD when you could have the same thing in RWD with TC. Plus if you live in an area with a lot of snow shouldn?t you be choosing an AWD car anyway? Not a FWD.
Any thoughts? Read more
Although my Omega does its utmost to stay off the road by developing a new fault every week (sometimes it seems like every day), it occasionally goes out and now due to a rear puncture I need a new tyre. Seeing as the other rear is getting near the limit, I will get 2 new ones. Typical of the car though, the puncture was not due to a nail or similar; the sidewall burst, leaving a 5 inch gash. Even a puncture on this model cant be straightforward.
My local tyre man can get the following to suit my 2.5 petrol CD:
(205/60's V rated or should they be 65's?)
Goodyear Nct 5 @ £60,
Continental eco contact @ £60
Firestone F700 @ £55
Mich MXV3 @ £67
Bridgestone ER30 @ £60
Vat is extra, but fitting, balancing etc included.
I could say I am not too bothered about handling as it never works well enough to be driven properly, but seeing as I drive a lot on winding country lanes, thoughts on cornering abilities would be welcome.
Any thoughts on which is the quietest tyre?
Tyre life could be a factor, but I might not keep it much longer if I fail to fix the various oil leaks, misfires and faults.
All comments/experiences appreciated, especially before Sun eve.
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Thanks joosisiqu, have just checked the handbook and it too says 65's. Looks I need 4 tyres now!
Spotted by my wife as we drove up the M1 today, signwritten on the back of a truck:-
"***** Transport Co , London, Paris, New York and Matlock - but mainly Matlock" Read more
A Janitorial supplies firm in the Midlands runs a delivery van with Reg No H15 HYT.
Shift the 5 along and it spells.....
Has anyone seen this before please?
Panda, 999cc, FIRE type engine, 127.000 miles. Starts as normal, after a few miles of normal running, oil warning light comes up. Pull over, switch off and wiat for a minute or so. Re-start, everything as normal, drive on a few miles, light comes up again.
Engine well flushed, new 15w40 oil, new filter, new sender unit fitted, off for test drive. Goes further before oil light comes up but the problem is still there.
Has anyone had this happen before and was the cause anything other than a failing oil pump?
thank you, Pete.
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Thanks MM. Now were cooking.
Rgds, Pete.
Hi all
Can anyone tell me if it is possible to change the display to read in Km pH and temprature in Farenhieht it only reads MPG and Celcius surely it should be possible to change it round
Thanks in anticipation
Bob Read more
Looking for a new company car and see that Ford at about to bring out a Euro iv compliant Mondeo TDCI 130 bhp. However rather than better emissions and economy its worse - 159g/km against 154g/km and combined mpg of 39.2 against 48.7. Have Ford rushed this to market - I\'m not aware of any other manufacturers who have produced euro iv complaint engines with worse figures.
I see they have yet to announce any other plans to market models with compliant engines - not even the C-Max which has a brand new 2.0 engine in it. Any explanations?
I am now thinking of a Mazda 6 which is about to be made complaint but can\'t obtain any data on it. Anyone who has any information on the if the economy is affected would be appreciated.
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As you can import wines and spirits etc from the EU
for personal use, would it not be possible to do the
same with petrol or diesel?
teabelly
I think that the personal import limit for petrol/diesel is what you can carry in your tank.
30 years ago we all, well most of us drove around in cars of 1000cc or less, ie Morris 1000, a family car. It did 40mpg lasted for 130K miles, servicing and parts were peanuts and it didn't give off any CO2 ie very low emmissions.
Now we look for a family car, most are over 1600cc do 30mpg they last for 150k miles, sevicing and parts cost a fortune, and it can only be seviced by an expert with a computer, non of the parts can be cleaned, or repaired, they are just thrown away.
Best still we still got to work on time and went for a picnic every sunday.
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It does suggest that there is a sector of the market unaddressed by the major car makers, i.e. something basic, simple and easy to fix. I seem to remember that GM had such a design in hand for China (with 2CV-like mechanicals and a rather chic body) but no idea what came of it. IIRC it had about 6000 components, which is about one third of the usual count.
My Father in law is due to get a new company car any time between now and Jan 04. He currently drives a Lexus IS200 which he is really pleased with, however he is due to start making long commutes between Shropshire and Bournemouth and needs a diesel for economy purposes.
The new cars he has shortlisted are:-
Audi A4 1.9 TDI
Honda Accord Executive (when the diesel is launched)
Saab 93
Jaguar X type
He doesnt like the Saab very much, and at the moment, the Jag is in the lead, however apparently there are problems with the Jag X type diesel.
Has anyone got any advice? Read more
Have to say I go with the suggestion of the S60 D5. 'sluvverly.
Hi! Can any one offer any help? My Daughter's 1.2 Punto's 55 Engine Management warning light has come on and the engine is running really rough, I have took it for a short spin only to come back home and to the smell of hot metal. I looked under the car and the Catalytic Convertor was glowing bright orange - obviously very hot!
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Thanks for your help - the engine coils needed replacing and all is well again
I bought a £150 Jetta banger hoping it would be reliable short term motoring for SWMBO. I have some experience with the 1600cc engine in this as I used to have a Golf with it.
Well unsurprisingly it has shedloads of problems, the most serious being a blocked idle jet on the dreaded pierburg 2E2 carb (I think). It won't idle at all, needs plenty of throttle to keep it running. I have replaced the fuel and air filter but I went for an inspection of the carb and it was nasty dirty in there. What is the best way to go about troubleshooting/solving this problem?
Please don't call Weber on me yet - not ready to pony up £160+VAT on one! Read more
And the thermal choke unit and the heater frog relies on this earth strap. Regards Peter
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Speaking from 40 years experience driving a wide range of vehicles FWD is clearly safer then RWD.
Re aquaplaning - I've aquaplaned both. I would much prefer to be driving a FWD car if I'm ever going to aquaplane again, though I try hard not to be so stupid now.
As mentioned above, FWD is also cheaper to produce, takes up less space and is lighter.
Having said that, if I had the cash I would go out today and buy a RWD car, the MG ZT 260!