December 2003
There is probably no real point to this subject but I guess I just need to get it off my chest....
I drive from North Wales to work in Oldham everyday and about 55 miles of my 62 mile journey is Motorway and is congested at the best of times. But always (really, always) on my journey in, I stumble accross Cranes doing about 25mph in the inside lane and causing terrific congest.
I encountered three this morning. One on the Runcorn Flyover M56, one on the M56/M60NE intersection and the final one near the Stockport Junction of the M60!!
My apologies in advance to any crane/jcb drivers on this forum but isn't it about time that these kind of vehicles were band from travelling at peak hours, or something along those lines....
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I saw an article on Watchdog the other day about some Smart cars having their glass roof shatter all over the place. As I had considered getting one at one point I found this quite disturbing - Can you imagine having glass shattering all over the cabin if you had a baby on the passenger seat? Read more
I would imagine the reason would be to save weight, toughened glass weigh's less that laminated, but on a piece of glass that size the weight difference would not really be noticable against the weight of the complete car.
The way I see it is that if they save half a Kilo here and half a Kilo there then over the complete car they may save a pretty large amount. A car that weigh's in at only a few hundred Kg, 20 or 30 kilo's makes a real difference. On the same line the BMW Mini has a very thin inner laminate on their windscreens.
10 days ago a senior colleague took delivery of a brand new Audi A6 (paid for with his own money). On the day of collection it broke down with an electrical fault and had to be recovered to the dealer. So far it has spent 6 days in the workshops (he did have it back for 3 days, but it broke down again).
Its an electronic control fault but the technicians have not yet managed to narrow it down to one component. Oh dear! Read more
This mirrors my problems with an Audi A2. The first one
the dealer eventually replaced only for the replacement to go wrong
with different issues.
Guess Audi are not as good as they once were-but then
do you get the feeling BMW, Merc, Toyota-all known in the
past for quality, have slipped?
I bought a new A3 a couple of years back and there were a catalogue of faults from new. There were also some major issues with the dealership as well!
I bought a new Toyota in March this year. Its been the only new car that I've never had back at the dealership for even minor corrections.
Hi
I have a 2000MY vectra, which only has one key.
I would like to buy a second one. As the key has the alarm and immobiliser built in do I have to get it from a dealer and pay the earth or can you recommend an other supplier?
Thanks for any info
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Not sure of prices, but these guys have been mentioned before:-
www.alarmremotes.co.uk
The subject of smoking whilst driving came up in another topic and I though it was worth of one all of its own (awww bless!). How many people here smoke whilst driving and do you think it increases the danger? Has anyone been pulled over by plod for smoking?
My thoughts on the subject are this "If smoking whilst driving is not dangerous (but using a mobile is) then why do insurance companys ask if you smoke and increse your premimum if you do (but don't ask about mobiles)?" Read more
Growler,
I'll keep it short cos its not motoring but if you haven't visited there for a couple of years you probably wouldn't recognise Doha now.
New airport terminal and sports facilities par excellence , new hotels , roads ,shopping malls etc , fast catching up with Dubai.
If you ever flew in a helicopter from Iran or Qatar to the rigs it was most likely one owned by my company.
In this week's Auto Express there is a review of five diesels: Honda Accord; Alfa Romeo 156 JTD Veloce; MB C200 CDI Classic; Ford Mondeo TDCI 130; and BMW 320d ES.
Final ranking:
1) Honda
2) BMW
3) Ford Mondeo
4) Alfa
5) Mercedes
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Amen to that. 156JTD is a corking combination of handling and grunt.
Now when I get that remap done I must see if we can meet at a track so I can pit my humble diesel against your GTA......
Hi Guys
I have a W reg (2000) Vauxhall Astra 1.7 DTi with the Isuzu 16v engine. My engine management light came on whilst driving home from work last night and was wondering if there was any DIY test to read the fault codes rather than being stung for a price of a diagnostic by the dealer. I am still driving it as I don't have a choice with no alternative transport until the weekend, but there is no apparent loss of power.
I recall the paper clip method that I applied to my 1995 Cavalier once, but unsure whether its a valid test on the diesels or Astras.
Cheers in advance...... Read more
Anyone any experience with this ?
I was looking at replacing our New Beetle 1.6 with the Tdi, but VW only does the 100Bhp, which is a bit slow.
www.upsolute.com have a 133bhp upgrade - are these things reliable - that's a 33% power hike ! Read more
I can highly reccomend upsolute, having had a VW caravelle TDi
and Merc V-Class chipped.
The upgrade will cost you around £330. The job can be done at your home while you watch.
I chose to have a socket fitted so that the original chip can be put back.
The main benefit iof the upgrade is that with the extra torque
you need to make less gearchanges. Fuel economy has also improved by 1-2 mpg.
icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/content...l
"TWO Masai warriors from the depths of Africa are learning how to drive on the country roads of Wales. Kaseti Lesengei, 31, and Matthew Laigwanani, 24, have never driven - so locals are giving them a crash course in driving in true "white van man" style."
Imagine if someone cuts them up !
"Stop throwing b***** spears at me!" Michael Caine, Zulu, 1964 Read more
Down here in the southern hemisphere, everybody takes most of December off, and all the inlanders head lemminglike for the coast, resulting in an average of 2000 (yes, two thousand!) road deaths during december...
Having built up a huge amount of days off/leave owed, i have decided to take from now until january 4 off, spend some time with the family, relax, drink lots of beer, and sit beside the pool.
So, I won't be popping in much, if at all, so a very early "Happy Christmas to all our readers" to you all. Read more
Groovy Chick, from one retailer to another, Happy Easter!! When are your eggs due in.....
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On Tuesday the M4 got slowed right down during morning rush hour by a military convoy (Why do those soft top lorries always drive at 50mph?). I closer inspection I realised that they all had the french flag on their numberplates..... Gah!! The French are invading!! (I guess it didn't make the news as they were heading towards Swindon:)