December 2004
Have just spent a Sat a.m. at the local BMW showroom, ostensibly to view the bikes and take a test ride (uninteresting and elephantine, never liked 'em, and very dubious handling on today's wet concrete roads -- c of g too high IMO and riding position designed for a double jointed Draconian dwarf with no thought given to accommodating the beer belly) but had another look at the X5. These are increasingly blighting our shores and being irritatingly double-parked outside my favourite bars by the family drivers of teenage sons of congressmen, along with its wretched sibling the X3.
Not the first time I concluded what an overpriced tribute to the God of Bland.
Appearance: think RAV4 before the Atkins Diet.
Price: 3 X that of a full-size SUV.
Presence: none, except to say I've got more money than you have (or a longer credit line).
'Nuff said.
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Having cleared out my home office for decorating, I spent some happy time last night reading two back issues of Motor Sport that I had rediscovered. (yes, the page numbers are correct, as they continue sequentially from issue to issue throughout a given year)
August 1986
Page 811 - Scimitar SS1. No, it doesn't look any more attractive now! What a truly gawky contraption.
Page 823 - Sierra 4x4 2.8i Estate. "...Those 150 horses must be all skin and bone." Chuckled.
Page 823 (again, but different article) - MG Maestro 2.0 EFi "...probably the best hot hatchback on the market." How times and perceptions change.
Page 825 - Rover 800 launch. "Of all the models launched during Austin Rover's long and painful haul back from the blink of oblivion..." Sorry, was that date really 1986?
Page 866 - British GP 13th July. 1st Mansell (maiden win), 2nd Piquet (+5.5 sec), 3rd Prost (+ 1 lap), 4th Arnoux (+2 laps), 5th Brundle (+3 laps), 6th Streiff (+3 laps), 7th to 9th (+3 laps), 10th Boutsen (+13 laps, unclassified), 11th to 26th DNF. Brought back memories (I was there, at the entrance to Druids).
Page 879 - Alfa Spider 2.0. Looks more attractive now than it did then, and certainly much nicer than the current offerings from this company. May be I'll like them too in eighteen years time?!
Page 881 - Skoda win Turkish rally. "A surprise win." (even more so cos it was in a rear engined 130LR (Estelle to you and me).
February 1989
Page 109 - Mansell tests new Ferrari for the first time. Photo backs up the print I have on the wall of Mansell passing Senna at the Hungaroring* that this was one of the cleanest and prettiest F1 cars ever designed. Shame it also wasn't one of the most reliable! *THE opportunist F1 overtaking manoeuvre of all time.
Page 143 - XJ-S V12 Convertible road test. After describing the model facelift changes: "Indeed, a recent court case revealed some XJ-S faking, early cars being refitted with recent bumpers and trim and resold as much newer vehicles." Naughty, naughty!
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I have got every issue of Autosport, 1984 to date, it's a wekly so a lot of mags, boxes and boxes full. Some intersting roadtests inthe 80's issues such as Delta S4, RS500, RS200 etc.
Can anyone suggest a good, reliable used car that will mainly be used for motorway driving. Things I'm looking or include, comfort, reliabilty, reasonable economy and some decent space in the back for the kids stuff. Budget is around 2K Read more
I would say a 98 2.0 Ghia X for under £2k. You can get lower spec ones but whats the point? They are not that much cheaper the Ghia X has everything you'll ever need and more - I don't know how people manage without cruise control and I'm not a frequent Motorway user!
I tried to like the 1.8TD, but moving from a Xantia TD really showed me how terrible it was so I got the 2.0 16v instead.
Now here's an interesting scheme :
tinyurl.com/6by57
Pay for parking tickets with toys. I quite like the idea of it, good to know that children will benefit for once.
--
Lee
Having a Fabialous time. Read more
It would never work here. The cost of everything and the value of nothing springs to mind.
Had intermittent problem in spring, starter motor not working, just a click from the relay under the dash. Had the motor replaced, fine for six months then the same problem. Took it to a different garage who replaced the wire which had almost burned away. Fine for another two months until today, same problem. I'm hoping it's the wire thats burned out again as the motor isn't cheap and it's rather inaccessible.
Is this a common fault or have I been unlucky? Is there something that might have caused the wire to burn out? I don't even know where to look under the car, all I know is a driveshaft had to come off. Is the motor accessible without ramps? Read more
Has anyone part-exd their car to a dealer only to find it up for sale at an inflated price on the dealer's forecourt a few days later? Read more
in a true free market, the tendency is towards a communist
type monopoly owned market. the reason all kinds of monopoly and
competition commissions exist is to stop real competetion ending up in
winner takes all.
Totally agree. I was trying counter the characters who chant 'Free Market' whenever anyone complains about being ripped off in the UK. They don't know what a true free market is. On a scale of 1-10 (10 = true Free Market) the US only scores about a '5' and we are probably lower than that.
New car prices have come down a lot in recent years and are now more or less on a par with the rest of Europe. It wasn't the free market that did it for us, it wasn't our politicians (of any party), it wasn't even our motoring journals. IIRC it was the Consumers' Association and the much-derided EU who harassed and shamed the manufacturers into giving us a better deal and amde it easier for us to import from Europe.
I run a 1999 (facelift) Vectra 2.0 petrol with 120k miles on the clock.
Does anyone know what might be causing an annoying click or creak when the steering wheel is turned ??.
The click happens when the steering wheel is in a particular position and the click is heard then the wheel goes through this point and also when it returns.
I can easily find this point in the wheel turn and by gripping the steering wheel firmly and "jiggling" the wheel about this point, can faithfully re-create this click or creak !!
I'm certain the click is coming from the Steering wheel end and the only thing I can think of is a worn or dry bearing at the top of the steering column.
Anyone have a similar experience or suggest anything ?
Kind regards,
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Had a '96 SRi Vectra, did this from new, also had a '98 V6, this had a modified column though the problem still occured on occasions, it was fixed by the dealer who greased and adjusted the sliding joint in the column, this is safety feature allowing the column to collapse in a severe accident, fitting an Astra coupling might jepourdise this feature.
I have a '98 Primera se, 86,000 miles. Recently I have noticed that the blowers are a little noisy and not getting as much air into the cabin. Any ideas why and how can I fix it. Also the central fresh air vent is not heating up the air??? bit of a pain. I have had the car for four years and have not had the air-con serviced. Should I ?? Read more
I ordered one from a company called puravent (£18 including postage ). It was actually quite simple to fit and the fresh air is coming into the car now. Much better..
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4075085.stm
buy a bus and use the lanes, if we all get one ? Read more
I love Routemasters but they are getting a bit of an anachronism now. I think most of these last survivors that have just been pensioned off were modified several years ago with Daf engines.
Thankfully there are plenty of Routemasters left on the preservation scene with their original AEC (or in a few cases Leyland) engines.
Cheers, Sofa Spud
I'm pro speed cameras and police speed traps, but today I saw a rather stange choice of location.
There is a village on a main A-road on my way to and from work which has a 30 limit. Loads of drivers ignore this and go through at 40, 50 or even 60 mph. You often get tailgated if you try to keep to 30. I've never seen a speed trap there, despite it being a dangerous place where several accidents have happened.
But about half a mile on from the village and well beyond the 30 zone, the road changes from a slow winding stretch to a straight bit. The police were there with a radar gun. Yet that's a 60 mph stretch of road and my guess is that few drivers would be doing 60 let alone speeding at that point, especially as the police cars were highly visible.
Cheers, Sofa Spud Read more
I can't be bothered reading any reports etc , but can someone please explain to me how anyone can think that it is safer for cyclists NOT to wear a helmet than wearing one?
I speak from experience - the surgeons said if my brother hadn't been wearing his, he would be dead.
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Agree wholeheartedly. BMW should stick to doing what they do best, fast comfortable sports saloons. If I want a 4wd I will buy a Solihull product.