June 2005

kimberley42

I am beginning to regret buying my new Citroen C5! Apart from the still unresolved headlamp problem (detailed elsewhere on this forum), and the woefull lack of headlamp protectors being available, I am not at all impressed with the fuel consumption of the new car.

My previous C5 2.2 HDi Auto Estate (which my wife still drives) regularly returned 46/47 mpg on a motorway run from Wiltshire to west London and back, about 39 mpg aroung town and about 43 mpg on a high-speed trip down to Cornwall.

The new car (same spec except the Exclusive trim) is, on average, returning at least 10% worse fuel consumption. The M4 motorway run is about 40/41 mpg, about 34 mpg around town and an appalling 37 mpg on a recent trip to Cornwall! Both cars are used mainly for long-distance driving, both run on fully synthetic oil. The new car has travelled nearly 6000 miles now so it must be fully run-in.

I've had the car on the diagnostic tester at my local Citroen dealer 3 times but it checks out OK. They can't explain the poor fuel consumption, the erratic tickover nor the fact that the pollution system warning light came on for no apparent reason during a long normal driving trip at speeds well above that at which these pesky devices become unstable.

Anyone else got a problem? Read more

Timaru

Link to C5 site.

autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/C5-L/

AK76

There seems to be mutterings that Michael Schumacher is not enjoying racing anymore and is thinking of quitting. To me this makes him a bit of a sore loser.

For years we've been told he's amazing, and maybe the best ever, but my thinking was that he cant truly be great until he's won regularly in a poor car. This season his car is poor and he cant win for toffee. Now he's not winning he wants out. Toys out of a pram springs to mind.....

It kind of proves the theory that it was his car doing the winning and not him.


Read more

machika

Some of these incidents can be seen or judged to be racing accidents. Where it is a deliberate or reckless act, then penalties should be applied.

PBB

Morning all,

Someone has just mentioned that my 1998/S Peugeot 406 Estate was probably built in the UK.

Easy answer I thought - just look at the VIN plate. But no clues there - anyone know if the 406 range was UK built at the time. Are any Peugeots still built in the UK now?

Cheers

Paul Read more

PBB

Thanks for your reply and the info

Regards

Paul

THe Growler

This will be a totally uninteresting post to anyone who exults in the possession of one of those Renault thingies but marks an event I felt shouldn't go unrecorded in the long history of American cars I've owned.I refer to the '69 Mustang 351 which Growlette calls(ed) "Dat Smelly One".

It has now been sold to an American retiree and I expect to see it at drag races on Sundays at Clark Air Base.

There was a definite twinge of whimsy when the new owner turned the key and that familiar churning gave way to the usual roar and cloud of black smoke before the engine settled down to the wonderful uneven thudding throaty rumble of an exhaust note that only 8 cylinders and 4 barrels can deliver. Definitely not the emasculated puffing of modern cars but rather excellent Sunday-morning-annoy-the-neighbours stuff.

I don't want to wipe that grin off Miss Philippines' face just yet, so in the interests of domestic peace and quiet and to avoid having empty rum bottles hurled at me (these native chappies can be a trifle excitable y'know) I'll keep quiet for a bit about the '71 Dodge Charger I saw the other day.......................
Read more

Tiffx19

I just sold my 72 Dodge Challenger last weekend,and miss it soooo much,not really for the drive,which was pretty scary with drums all round,but for the acceleration,tyre smoke,and the respect it got on the road!I now have a Pontiac Fiero,which is a decent drive,but its got 4 cilinders missing....Still prefer my X1/9 (s)

tomandjerry56

i have just bought a vauxhall zafira on a x plate but was wondering if any one out there could tell me whether it has got a engine immobilser Read more

Dynamic Dave

In short - yes.

All Vauxhalls made after 1994 (I think) will have an imobiliser as standard. In fact I *think* the same applies to all cars.

You will have a transponder chip in your keyfob which in turn talks to a receiver on your steering column, which in turn will talk to the ecu and if they all match one another, the ecu will let the engine start.

If the ecu doesn't recognise the key, then the ecu light will flash on and off.

allan doc

how do you take out the tumblers on an ignition barrel. Read more

martint123

When I've done it on doors (not ignition) to match a new lock with the old key you just remove some form of clip at the far end and then the barrel comes out of its cylinder and the gubbins flies all over.
Hint - large table and old white sheet to catch the bits.

BobbyG

I have seen a cheap (£250) plate on DVLA website which I would like to purchase for my wife's 40 th birthday in 2 years time. Their FAQ section states that you don't need to put it on straight away but as long as you do it before the expiry date.
Does anyone know how long you normally get as an expiry date? The website doesn't seem to tell you, or I have just missed it.
Read more

L'escargot

Pretty much like a gemstone then, no material value or purpose
other than showy display.


No, you can cut hard materials with a gemstone so they can be very useful.
--
L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
c11cha

Hello every one. This is my first topic on this forum so i'm hoping for a plesant response.
Can anyone tell me any info at all on water getting into my ford mondeo Zetec? Every time it rains for a lenth of time, there is a gathering of water a the rear passenger door on the drivers side. I cannot for the life of me work out where it is getting in. The only clue i have, is that there is a trickle trace just on the lower part of the door just where the hing is. I contacted ford and they say water ingress is only covered in the first year of the cars life.
On my service book it says the door has been treated for ingress before but there is no stamp from the dealer who carried out the repair.
Thanks if you can help. Read more

c11cha

dave cheers. I am going away on holiday soon so i will try and get it done by the time i go away. Sounds not too difficult to fix (if this is where it is getting in) so i will get it done and hopefully this will sort it.
Thanks to everyone again.

DSLRed

This morning a couple of druggies ploughed into the front of a car park at our local high school at very high speed, scattering kids all over and hitting (so I'm told) about 9 of them. Miraculously none were seriously injured.

Both were stoned out of their heads. One attempted a runner and was caught quickly by a couple of teachers on the scene. The other was too stoned to get out of the car - they did not know where they were.

No doubt they'll get a community service order, 12 month ban (which they'll ignore anyway) and, in our crim friendly society they'll be able to sue because they could have been injured when the school put bollards in their way (which they knocked flying).

Read more

turbo11

I think amputation of the hands would work well.At least it would stop them driving.

Mapmaker

There's a new Government database that allows you to check if you've been caught speeding. I don't think I've seen it on this site before: www.e-database.co.uk/check.asp Read more

mjm

What, go like the blazes?