March 2005
Rover 75, from new, covered 30,000 motorway miles on original Dunlop tyres.
Replaced with Pirelli, as the cheapest name - brand available at the time.
Absolutely destroyed the ride and handling, but worst yet, gave horrendous road / tyre noise.
Sounds numb, I know, but I never realised how much difference tyres can make!
Question is, is there any brand of tyre which is generally accepted as giving smoothest, quietest ride, with steady /stable handling?
Is there any inevitable price to pay, for instance in terms of tyre lifetime, road holding, etc?
Thanks for all comments.
BR
DrS Read more
Am I alone in noticing that most 4 wheel drive vehicles are driven by females? They seem to be the biggest of the off roaders too.
Clive. Read more
Can you point us in the direction of any credible data
that are not derived from US statistics relating to American "trucks"
which do not have to meet car safety requirements?
The US studies are very relevant, because the same dangerous design features are found on lots of the 4X4s sold in Europe, including:
* high, bluff fronts with a lot of ground clearance, so that pedestrians are run over rather than thrown clear
* high and unyieleding points of impact, so that a 4X4 hitting an ordinary car will cause much more damage
* very poor low-level rear visibility -- in the USA, one parent a week kills their own child by reversing over them, see www.kidsandcars.org
Some of the new hybrid soft-roader type of vehicles reduce those dangers, but even the likes of the Honda CRV still has the most of trhe attributes which make it more likely to run over a child. Unfortunately Euro-NCAP doesn't test for that problem, which is why it is at best very misleading to cite NCAP pedestrian safety results for 4X4s.
If you want to dismiss the exentensive research in the US, why not show which of the dangerous design features are inapplicable here?
There are some intersting snippets on a website I only just found: www.stopurban4x4s.org.uk/safety.htm -- including an interesting quote from Adrian Hobbs, who is Secretary-General of NCAP and is (or was) chief research scientist at the Transport Research Laboratory in Berkshire.
**** Poll now closed. Results here:- **** www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=30226&...e
Read moreIt's a rounding error by the poll software. Can't knock it as it's free.
Hi all
Just been driving down the M57 and my Corsa suddenly cut out.
I managed to get it off the motorway and towed home. I can start it and it will run for about 5-10 seconds and then I hear a click from behind the passenger side dash and immediately the engine management light will come on and it will cut out again. If I try to start it straight away it will not start but if I leave it for say 20-30 seconds it will start again, but again, onlt run for a short space of time.
I have had no previous problems with it at all. It has been regularly serviced and a new exhaust last year.
Thanks in advance for your help
GazKaz Read more
Problem resolved!
It turned out to be the Crank Sensor.
Thanks to everyone for your help
GazKaz
Here's a dilemma that's probably common, but I'd be interested to get suggestions or opinions on it.
I've just bought a 9 month old Ford Focus. It has 19,000 miles on the clock. I've bought it from a large online / phone based supplier in the uk.
Having being promised a Service history, and being told the car has 2 years and 3 months warranty remaining, I now find myself being told by this company, that there 'appears' to be no Service History. (It may have been serviced - just there's no paperwork). They say it's fine, and that they'll service it free of charge, and that will put everything back in order. It won't affect the warranty.
I then called Ford who say that there is a 1000 mile leeway (or 1 month) on the service intervals. Any more invalidates it, and it's only goodwill from them that i can rely on.
As i bought he car via internet / phone, it's covered by distance selling laws. The company happily admits that I have until Tues evening to return it for a full refund. That said, I like the car, and it's gonna be a big inconvenience... my px car has gone - i'll be carless until i sort a new one.
Thoughts?
T Read more
If that's what Ford customer service say then I guess it's right - must admit it differs to the information I received from the Ford warranty dept after I recently bought an 04 Fiesta. Problem is what do they class as serviceable items ??
Imagine (god forbid) the engine ceases due to oil blockage etc - my guess is that Ford wouldn't honour the warranty because the service schedule wasn't followed - guess it's a small risk though.
Personally I'd still look elsewhere, but each to their own & all that
Apparently there's a link between what we drik and what car we'd like to own.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4358859.stm
Unfortunately they didn't include Guinness, and I refuse to be put in the ssame catagory as lager louts or woolly jumper wearing, bearded real ale drinkers.
Does it match for you?
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I read often, only post occasionally Read more
www.theregister.co.uk/2005/03/18/renault_laguna_te.../
Fly by wire technology? I think I'll stick with mechanical leavers thanks!
teabelly Read more
The article said the french bloke did try the clutch but
it did nothing:
A shaken Gamada continued: "I was asked to do one of
three things: disengage the clutch, which didn't work; press the start
button five times - again, nothing; override the speed control box
- still nothing."
teabelly
Ctrl, Alt + Delete does it every time.;-)
What is the most embarassing thing (if anything) you have left in a car?
For dealers, I bet it is the purchase invoice!
For me...and I can't believe I am telling you this....it was the Preparation H (I am OK now) I left in the glovebox. I lent the car to a friend and he took great delight in handing the PH back to me with a gloved hand, at the local in front of everyone that I knew.....I still haven't lived it down.
Read more
A friend who used to be a mechanic at a main dealer once showed me photo copies of polaroid pictures he found in a car that was brought in for a service. It was of a woman and a large dog and they weren't playing fetch. When she came to pick up the car no-one could keep a straight face when one of the mechanics started howling and panting while his head was buried under a bonnet. Either the woman had perfected her straight poker face or had no clue why they were carrying on.
After recent discussions about accidents and contributary road design and layout, the following caught my eye on another motoring site:
"It's recommended that roads should be resurfaced every ten to twenty years, depending on road type.
In London the average is 23 years. In the rest of England it's 51 years, and in Wales it's 61 years - which would mean that the average Welsh road still has the same surface that it did towards the end of World War II.
After that, it doesn't take much imagination to accept a survey's report that damaged roads have led to £106 million in compensation claims following vehicle damage or road accidents in England, and £17 million worth of similar claims in Wales. Over the last ten years the English figure has risen by 60%, the Welsh by 187%."
Read more
Thre tendency is for patching rather than resurfacing.
And as a motorcyclist I've noticed a spate of damaged surfaces following the bit of frost and snow a couple of weeks back.
Just wondering what people thought of the below? Good deal or steer clear?
1997 AUDI A3 1.8(not turbo) 20v,
P reg. 1 owner, full Audi s/history, 1 years MOT, 52k miles, black, PAS, c/l, e/w, alloys, superb condition and drive. £4,195.
Read more
Go and look at it.
The price is probably about right if its as described.
--
I read often, only post occasionally
Browse
Having owned a Rover myself, with half a dozen trips on the back of a break down truck in a year, I found the engine noise from the Merc Diesel in the truck even more pronounced than the Rover's Tyre noise.
Paul {Forest of Bowland}