March 2004
Curiosity has got the better of me.
Was overtaken on M8 today by an Octavia Estate which had 4, or maybe even 6, small stubby aerials on its roof in a rectangle shape.
It also had a phone aerial on front windscreen and the radio aerial at rear of car.
Any ideas what these would have been for and what the car was used for? The aerials were similar to what you sometimes see on traffic cars except they weren't as tall.
If it was some sort of GPS type thingy then why does it require 4 aerials instead of the 1 that most new cars have?
As I said, just being nosey! Anyone cure my curiosity? Read more
A new job starts soon and I need to sell my beloved MX5 and get something with a bit of boot space. Bearing in mind I'm a victim of driving pleasure addiction I don't want a diesel.
The 3 cars I've shortlisted right now in the £2000-£2500 bracket are:
Mondeo 1.8/2.0. I can pick up a 4 year old Mondeo at auction for this. Nothing else comes close for ease of availability and age. I've never actually wanted one though.
Primera. Don't know so much about these. There's a 4 year old Primera 3 on Autotrader for £2300. Is this a typical price? Are they all Rear Wheel Drive? Anyone owned one? I'd prefer this to a Mondeo, strangely, because I think they're dog ugly.
Mazda Xedos 6. I love Mazdas big and small. Gonna be thirsty, and older than the above. Am I going to end up hating it?
Any help or other suggestions (except for diesels or French cars) greatfully received. I'll be doing about 350-400 miles each week. The car must be reliable. Read more
Maz. - If your heart has fallen for the Xedos then go for it. Lets face it they are superbly styled and the shape still looks modern today.
If you don`t mind revving the motor through the gears (because of the lack of low end torque) then you will have to sacrifice some fuel economy, - the extent of mpg will depend on your locality and the number of steep hills.
When I mentioned the steering on the Xedos was over assisted with little feed back, I was comparing it back to back with a 3 Series BMW which handled superbly.
It seems the main thing to ensure is that cam belts are changed on time and more particularly cam belt tensioners, and hopefully you should enjoy many years of trouble free motoring.
My VW Passet 1.8T has had synthetic oil for nearly 100,000 miles. The dealer replaced it with semi synthetic at the last service. I queried this change and was told that semi synthetic is the correct oil. I have heard that changing from semi synthetic to synthetic can take away carbon deposits and increase oil consumption. Can I go back to synthetic without flushing?
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Go according to man/specs.your question I assume is can you change from fully syn to semi.yes as you can change from semi to fully I havent had any problems in doing this but others may dissagree?
..Can I go back to synthetic without flushing>yes
Heading down the M1 Sunday, there was some traffic on the road but not particularly heavy.
Middle lane pretty solid lane of cars doing about 60.
Outside lane pretty full with cars doing 80+ packing behind the occasional 75'er holding them up.
Inside lane mostly empty except for occasional vehicle doing 50-ish.
Large number of vehicles using all three lanes to under/overtake as necessary to make progress.
Needless to say there are no police patrols now so the road has become in effect self-policing (or non-policed) and multi-lane highways ala America seem to have become an accepted fact... Read more
"I have been spending a great deal of time in lane 1 and I have to say that I don't find it difficult to nip back into lane 2 to overtake slower lane 1 vehicles. It's all about observation and planning and adjusting your speed accordingly and it can be done."
Exactly. You don't have a "right" to be let out, the car overtaking has right of way. When I find myself stuck in lane 1 (or 2) I curse myself for not having anticipated the situation - surely that's what good driving is all about. However, good observation also extends to noticing that the vehicle you are approaching is also gaining on the one in front of him and so common courtesy should dictate that you allow room for his manoeuvre too, if it is safe to do so.
Unfortunately, you cannot assume that anyone around you is observant enough to drive to the same standards.
Could anyone tell me for how long a provisional licence is valid?
Thanks,
P. Read more
No a mere youngster, SWMBO has had a provisional licence for over 20 years and as far as she can recall has never driven a car on the road ...
someone please tell me what the new fiat sports car has under its hood? is it tubocharged and how many litres, i am badly in need of some imformation on this car.....as i couldnt catch him to ask!!!! Read more
And with all that, I'd still have one like a shot if I could afford. And will in fact, in the next year or two.
Although you can take the little details and pick fun, overall it's an absolutely georgeous car, and very capable too.
Just have to make sure I get one that's had a very recent cambelt change...
does anyone know where the immobiliser is on a renault kangoo diesel 1999 model? Read more
The immobiliser is not one single component.It is a complex network of coded electronics in the key ,diesel electronic control unit,dieselpump & body control unit (part of fuse box).All these components "talk" to each other & if the coding is correct the car will start.
Interesting incident today.
A little Pug comes hurtling round the corner that our office is on and smashes into the side of two cars that are legally parked.
Scroat looks out of side window, smiles and drives off!
Police arrive. Quickly lose interest when car reg turns out to be based in the midlands so likely stolen car.
OK, maybe in reality not much can be done, but wait.
He then issues the two young girls whose cars have been hit with a 7 day producer each because they don't happen to have their licences with them.
For some reason these people think that their a bad day just got worse on account of the "help" they've received.
Surely this is not typical?
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DVD (where are you !) or another serving Officer will confirm that the Police complete an Accident Booklet in respect of accidents that are likely to end up in court (i.e. injury, Fail to stop, really bad driving..). This booklet contains a checklist of items required from each driver/vehicle which include driving documents. I hoestly can't see what the big deal is. It is desirable to record insurance details and the such like because the Police are quite often in negotiation with Insurance comapnies at various stages of an accident invetigation. I honestly think reasonable to the point of common sense that this information is required by the Police - it'll be acadeic before long Insurance details are alredy on PNC, MoTs soon will be and Driver Licence details go on before long. PACE 1984 provides a power of searching vehicles and occupants as does consent. In my line of work I come accross people that have consented to searches which have resulted in them being nicked.
Hi, i've got an '87 VW Polo coupe and recently had an engine tune up, apparently my vacuum advance/ retard unit on the distributor is not working but the mechanic said not to worry about it too much. Should i be worried? is it a straight forward job of just replacing the unit or do i need to get the timing done again once the new unit is fitted?
Thanks in advance Read more
Thanks, all advice very much appreciated.
www.channel4.com/4car/news/news-story.jsp?news_id=...3
It looks like the government is going ahead with its hairbrained scheme of using the hard shoulder as an extra lane! Read more
Dont worry, if its the same scheme as the one on the M42 , the hard shoulder will only be opened as a running lane, during peak/congestion times and after accidents etc. So its easy....... just dont break down on those occasions and you will be fine!!!, or if you do make sure it is close to one of the every half mile emergency refuge lay by!
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I have seen the Audis in this part of the world as well - I am pretty sure they belong to Area "Specialist Engineers" or some sort of description, working for Audi themselves.