January 2005
Would someone explain why it's more dangerous to eat an apple whilst driving than to smoke cigarettes? (News report today of woman fined £160 for eating apple - (filmed from police helicopter, evidently - now there's a sensible use of taxpayer's money...)
P.
(Admits to eating a Snickers bar whilst driving) Read more
I was lucky enough to be going on a date last night; on the way there I made a diversion to a Chinese Take-Away for later collection on the way back.
Driving down the road to the Take-Away, in the back of my mind, I was considering the best time to ask for the Chinese meal to be ready for. This banality was rudely interrupted by the sight of a car driving fast towards me: on MY side of the road.
This was a profoundly disturbing moment.
I was doing about 30 mph, no idea what other car was doing except that it was a normal driving speed. Road was fairly wet. It was dark, and there were no other vehicles in the vicinity. When I first saw it, I would say that the distance between me and the on-coming car was about the same distance that I would start to brake if it were stationary, or less than that: it was round a blind bend.
Looking back, not from a hospital bed (thankfully), this driving situation poses significant dilemmas. What is the best balance between steering and braking? What if the on-coming driver takes the same steering evasive action as you and you end up crashing into each other on the other side of the road? Actually, there wasn't the time to consider these issues.
What actually happened was that I braked heavily in my non-ABS 1992 Toyota Estima Enima, screeching of tyres, I steered towards the other side of the road, there was a bang, I carried on driving, I realised I was still in control of the vehicle on the wrong side of the road, I drove to the correct side of the road, I stopped and parked up.
The other driver, in a H-reg Cavalier-type vehicle, had stopped and had got out of the car. I am pretty certain that he was unhurt. "This is a one-way street!" he explained to me.
It was not a one-way street.
The guy was reasonably friendly, and gave me a name and employer (with business card) whom he said were insuring him. He did not ask me for any details. I inspected my car at the time; and the next morning (with my 'date', so it wasn't a completely bad night), and the only damage that I could see was some paint chips on the left-hand tip of the bumper.
The next day (today) I rang the number on the business card and explained the situation. The supervisor who I spoke to said that he had no knowledge of any employee of that name and that no employees were insured to drive in the situation that I described.
I telephoned the local police, they confirmed that the number plate and name were consistent. To discuss further issues, I have booked an appointment for Wednesday at 3pm. Read more
Hate to be a spoilsport and return this to the original motoring issue!
However, sometimes worth remembering in this day and age, if you don't have a disposable camera in your glovebox, many of us have cameras on our mobile phones!
Don't be scared to (discreetly) take a picture of the other driver and the car, roadmarkings etc. Might prove to be worthwhile!
Car:
Megane Mk1 2.0 8v with s\s exhaust system & Inductions kit.
Hi
Any ideas on this would be gratefully recivied, as it's a very inconsistent problem.
My megane has twice recently (once when hot once when cold) started dropping power after it's been taken above 4k RPM, to the point where the more throttle I give it the less I get back in return. It feels almost as if someone is pulling the car back.
I had the spark plugs & HT leads (all top quality) done about 3 months ago and also the coil packs were changed.
On top of this I've noticed it stall twice recenly just completelty randomly.Once was after delibrately revving it to recreate the problem, second time was stopped at traffic lights.
I do a mixture of v.short journeys or very long journeys in it, but I do get it serviced every 5k (religiously).
Any ideas??? Thanks
Read more
Thanks for the idea's. Thinking about it it does feel similar to when the rev limiter kicks in.
I'm 99 % certain all electrics are ok due to extensive testing on a previous fault, similar but at lower revs, new coil packs fitted not so long ago.
I've driven it a lot today and just taken it out tried several different styles of driving and nothing, except the hand brake light has flashed on a few times, I've not got a handbook for it so I'm not sure what this means (I;ve checked handbrake and it's not loose).
I'm beggining to wonder if my orgional problem could be the cat???
{moved from Technical Matters}
Just wanted a bit of advice regarding short car journeys in the light of many peoples comments regarding car engines never warming up, always on choke etc.
I've recently changed jobs and now work about mile and a half from home so need to drive this sort of distance 6 days a week.
My wife just uses her car to go the shops, the school and friends (about a mile if that)
Apart from this we don't use the cars much. Just for holidays and the odd trip.
How much damage is really done when using vehicles for the above sort of distances on a regular basis???? Read more
A lot of short journeys and cold starts are tough on the oil.
You need to consider a lower viscosity for better cold start protection as the majority of the engine wear occurs on cold start. A lighter "W" rated oil such as 0w or 5w gives more instant flow when you turn the key and protects better.
The best option is something like a 5w-40 fully synthetic, a bit more expensive but worth paying for.
Cheers
Simon
Colleague of mine has a Nissan Almera Tino (54 plate). If you remove key from ignition and exit the vehicle, leaving the vehicle unlocked, after 2 minutes (ish) the central locking activates and automatically locks all the doors. Nice safety feature - to a point. There is the danger of locking things in the car e.g. keys or kids.
Does anyone know of any way of disabling this facility i.e. so that the vehicle will only lock with the remote or turning the key in the lock? (The manual doesn't appear to offer any info.) Read more
Agree with Dave. It should be able to be unlocked from inside or the key.
However...
>>To disable this feature, it sounds like Nissan would have to plug their magic box into the car's electrics. Vauxhall (or anyone with a Tech2 reader) are the only ones able to alter the unlocking charateristics of their cars, as do I beleive VW.<<
Not necessarily. I mean - you could be right Dave but on the Focus at least, the user can (de)activate the autolock facility themselves using a combination of ignition turns and key presses. Whether Nissans do this or not I don't know.
2 useless posts by me in as many days! Sorry.
--
Adam
I have a Vauxhall Astra 1.6 2001. The current problem is with the temperature gauge. It flucates between the 90 mark and 80. This is more noticeable when driving around town. On the motorway the change is not as great. I have checked the coolant and I am not getting any oil in it and it does not seem to be losing any. It also never overheats. Any ideas.
Thanks
Crol Read more
I have never experienced this problem with any of my other cars (well not that I noticed) and thought I'd ask the question. Thank you all for your help
Hi Folks,
Car: 99/T (facelift) 406 exe 2.0i 16V, 65k
Drives fine, but discovered (by chance) an "oddity" with the gearbox, as follows:
Gears 1 to 4: Depress clutch, put into gear, decide against it, return stick to neutral position & gear is deselected fine, able to go into any other.
Gear 5: Depress clutch, put into gear, decide against it, return stick to neutral position, but 5th isn't deselected. Waiting a few (5ish) seconds and you feel a little "pop" as the gear is deselcted and you can go to any other gear. Alternatively, letting out the clutch, then depressing it again allows you to change straight out.
As I say, doesn't have an impact on driving day-to-day, just something I noticed when "playing" with the gearbox in traffic.
Anything to worry about? anything to check? Car is still within 3 month warranty from dealer if so.
Cheers,
Gavin. Read more
As mentioned, I have no problems selecting first when moving, though I used to on my old Citroen Dyane, no synchromesh on 1st or reverse I seem to recall... Ahh, those were the days!
Does anyone know if a door mirror off a mk1 Corsa (1993-2000) will fit a mk 1 Tigra (1994-2000)? Having trouble finding one for my Mum's car, visualy they look the same shape when on the car. Your help is much appreciated. Read more
Might I suggest you phone a Vauxhall dealer and ask if the part numbers are the same?
Or if anyone on here has a Vauxhall TIS cd, could they perhaps look up the part numbers for Richy?
When will the Leon II be available, and has anyone driven the new Toledo? Read more
Thanks for the link to www.seatcupra.net My google search on Leons didn't bring it up.
Hello all,
Ever since we bought the Polo some time ago (99/00?) it has had a strange quirk, which no one knows for certain what it is.
The problem is, whenever you turn the wheel onto full lock, particularly when going backwards, there is a pronounced 'BONG' coming from up front. It is a single bong, which can be felt throughout the car. It occasionally happens when going forwards too, but nowhere near as bad. From the outside, the noise a bit different, and from what I can remember is more of a 'clunk'
I had asked the mechanic to have a look the last time it was in for a service, but as I had added a lot of extra tasks onto his list, he never got round to it. Like I say, the problem has been around for a while and doesn't get any worse with time. It has been suggested by my father, that it is a seized strut top bearing; does this sound like the symptoms of a shot bearing?
Incidentally, it never does it again when returning the wheel to its 'dead-ahead' position and the car also has a tendency to stray to the left. Tyre wear is even on both sides.
Any ideas are much appreciated
Roberson Read more
Thanks for those replies so far.
At the second before last MOT, it failed on a broken spring, where a good half of one 'turn' had sheared off. Actually it was picked up AFTER the MOT by the guys servicing it!
I'll have another look at this spring (it was not the one that had failed last time) and see if it is broken. Incidentally, when the car is up on ramps (wheels suspended) and the wheels are turned, the noise doesn't occur?
Thanks again.
Browse
.jpg)
If anything, it serves to highlight the law to millions of readers. Let's have some high profile cases of people being fined for driving with foglights on in the clear, or having a headlight bulb out. Unfortunately until there are more police back on the roads, we'll have to make do with the occasional headline rather than continued gentle policing of the masses.
Conditioning has made most drivers completely unaware of the risks associated with driving. Every apple eater, mobile phone user and tailgater should be made to attend an RTA. In fact they aren't even called "accidents" anymore are they?