October 2005
Hi
I've noticed that the mpg figure for vehicles and their grammes of CO2 per km are not linear. Ie one car that does 30 mpg may say produce 150 g/km whereas another that does 30 mpg may produce 175 g/km. Why? Surely if you burn the same amount of fuel per distance you produce the same amount of CO2 per the same distance - the chemistry of burning the fuel doesn't change. So how can the g/km figures vary so much between cars that use the same fuel type and have the same mpg?
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Hi I have a V Reg (Year 2000)Saxo 1.1i Forte (39,000 miles). Has suddenly starting to rev erratically between 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 whilst stationary. As soon as you slightly depress the gas peddle it revs almost to 4. Whilst driving problem persists with extremely jerky movements almost as if about to suddenly stop but decides to keep moving. Accelerates when foot is taken off the peddle. Would like to avoid taking it to a garage as limited income (student / single mum). Recently had new drive shaft, TDC sensor, new clutch and service! Welcome any ideas as desperate - no public transport available. Technical jargon is fine as brother will understand anything I don't. Thank you in advance.
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Hi madf
Problem fixed. Just wanted to say thanks for your response. Was a faulty idle control valve (stepper motor).
Jude
Today, I had to go to our Bedfont Lakes office to collect a new laptop. The M3 was at a virtual standstill from junction 3 onwards so I diverted via the A30. Unfortunately the outside lane of the A30 had been coned off all the way from the Crooked Billet onwards so it was just as bad as the M3.
At the next set of lights (Town Lane?) I am about fourth or fifth in the queue waiting for a green. The lights eventually change and we all set off. As we are crossing the junction a black Passat overtakes the line of traffic and swerves infront of me to avoid the temporary keep-left sign. He'd driven down the coned-off lane and run out of road. I'm very lucky to avoid both him and the kerb and give him a blast of the horn.
His immediate reaction is to brake sharply whilst simultaneously waving his arms around and talking in sign language. At the Clockhouse roundabout he stops, gets out of his car and lets loose with a stream of Anglo Saxon.
"Hang on!" says I, "You've just driven down a coned-off lane, nearly pushed me off the road and then go mental because I object?"
When he replied with:
"Why should _I_ have to queue"? followed by more Anglo Saxon, arm waiving and an offer to fight me in the central reservation, I decide that patience and commonsense are not his strong suit. I cross my arms, look at him with my best 'I'm getting bored' expression and wait for him to walk back to his car.
Kevin...
PS. Mods. Feel free to change the subject header if you see connections from .gov.uk
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Back in the nineties I used to work with a thoroughly unpleasant character who was always wasted and regularly drove while on cannabis. I often wondered if he was smuggling or dealing the stuff because he used to sprinkle tons of pepper all around the cabin of his 306 which I can only guess was to fool sniffer dogs or something. I once drove him home when he was in a particularly bad way and all that pepper obviously made me sneeze, forcing me to take evasive action about twenty times between Hammersmith and Chiswick.
I?m no goodie two shoes but I don?t think it?s a good idea to advocate chemical assistance while driving in a thread. Save it till you get home.
OK so I've got the easy bit done, I've chosen my new car, now I've got the hard bit to do, getting rid of the old one. I don't actually need the money to buy my new car at all on the other hand I'm not going give the thing away for less than it's worth.
Now I know a Rover 45 isn't the most desireable car in the world ATM but I reckon I should be able to shift the thing if I sell it well and find the right avenue.
I'll give you the specs on the car, no picutres right now as I'm going to finish making it look beautiful before I shoot them and I don't want this to seem like an advert. Ok specs:
1.8i XLS 16V, 52 plate (registered January 6th), 5 Door Hatchback, 29K miles, Copperleaf Red, Service History, Air Conditioning, Alloy Wheels, Electric Windows (Front), Power Steering, ABS, Average Condition, 12 month MOT and 6 months Tax.
I see my options as:
1) Part-Ex it, I've had £3750 offered by one dealer, and can get £3500 from most.
Pros: Quick, clean, nothing to worry about and it's not my problem any more.
Cons: Least amount of money for the vehicle and it only works if I end up buying my new car from a dealer.
2) Sell it at auction, I think I would see the least money from this as I think the Rover 45 is unlikely to be a successful car at auciton.
3) Selling it privately (Autotrader or similar), The Glasses valuation comes in at around £5100 but looking at Autotrader they are selling for around £4000-£4750 depending on spec and condition as mine is one of the higher spec ones I think I should be closer to the £4700 end than the £4000.
This would give me the most money but is also the most hassel and I'm not sure how much I would acutally get and then there is the cost of running ads and subscribing to sites.
4) Local, Friends, Collegues, I'm not very keen on this idea but it could happen. I have managed to sell a car before to a co-worker and it worked out very well but the potential to go wrong is large and I don't fancy this at all.
5) Something else I haven't thought of yet, please suggest.
What's the best way to go about getting rid of this car for the most money?
Darkheart Read more
If you've been offered £3750 by a dealer I would do it !
I think even £4000 for a private sale for this car is unlikely.
People can put what they like in Autotrader but it doesn't a jot unless a punter actually wants to pay it !
Boy number 1 (9 years old) was looking for some posters to put up in his room this afternoon. He picked out an advertising newspaper I was given for free and asked if he could use the front cover as a poster. I was just about to say OK when I noticed it was a picture of the new Fiat Croma!
I dont know, you try to educate a child then he throws this in your face... Read more
I have a photo of the abandoned remains of an old sit-on lawnmower on my computer.
So I'd guess a pic of a Fiat Croma is within the bounds of normality.
Cheers, SS
Think I have had the ride of a lifetime this weekend...
Dad took me for a ride in his Chimeara round some lovely country lanes around Lincolnshire...noise and acceleration was out of this world..
No good for an intravert though, everyone just stands and looks at you driving past. To my turn behind the wheel - never been so scared and that was on half throttle!
Question is..what would keep up with it in that price range - scoobys, evos etc?? quite interested as we were at a set of lights and an Evo IV pulled up, didnt bother giving it a run for its money (nothing to do with Dad puttin his foot down with me!!) but assume I would have beat even the fastest of them - would I be right?? Read more
Well, I never had a 2CV, but pretty much the same technique was developed to get along in an Austin 8, and was applicable to a lot of old small side-valvers. Exhaust valves lasted about 4,000 miles.
A friend advised today her three month old Honda locked up whilst driving, she cruised whilst fighting with the steering wheel with lights flashing all over the dashboard. Eventually it freed up and she took it straight to the Honda garage where from 11.30 to 4.00 it was studied by the mechanics who said it had happened a couple of times before and started muttering about replacing the steering rack.
Anyone else heard of this? As soon as I remember details of actual vehicle I will let you know. Read more
More information - this vehicle was an 02 reg (not new
- sorry) 1.4 Honda Civic. Apparently the steering failed.
Hi Star
I should get in touch with the dealer and show them the info I sent in the earlier VOSA link. 02 plate is from March on and the recalled vehicles start in June, It looks more amnd more likely it it to do with the ignition and not the actual power steering.
Cheers
Im looing to buy this MK3 golf its 1995 and has a manual hood, has anyone any idea if i could get a power hood fitted and were from? Thanks Read more
Why not buy one to the spec that you want? Cheaper in the long term and much less hassle.
Hi All
I have the pleasure of doing a track day next month in my mates Scooby, so I need a crash helmet.
After talking to biker mates for their opinions I found a good priced Bieffe end of line one, it has all the gold stickers, anti mist visor, removeable pads etc.
Now I got hold of this new for the pricely sum of £50. But whilst I was looking it occured to me that there is a huge price difference between helmets aimed at bikes and those aimed at cars. I can get a good quality branded bike crash helmet for £50, but a car helmet starts at £250, bearing in mind I would have thought that a bike hemet has more chanch of coming into contact with something hard i.e. the road, what are the differences that make the car helmets that much more expensive?
Is it just that there is a higher demand for bike helmets pushing the price down, or is there more to it?
Cheers Read more
"will be just as safe as required by the testing standards"
How's that then? 8-)
That's fair enough. I wonder if there is any independant tester, similar to NCAP, who do helmets? You would imagien the tests would be much simpler and easier to quantify than those for a car, and you'd get definitive results: helmet x results in an intact head with a blow of y force.
Right-I've started a thread because I feel the topic deserves it.
I've run a few quotes through for this Lexus for me and not one insurer has been able to provide an online quote.
I'm going to ring a few tomorrow and see but is this because they won't quote me at all or because it's going to be pricey?
I can put a 2.0 T S60 in and it quotes me £1200 but the 2.4T along with the Lexus asks me to ring.
Are they going to tell me to sod off or do the digits on the site not extend that far?
As a mini poll, I'll take guesses as to how much I get quoted for it tomorrow.
I'd be happy with £1500-1800. Any advances?
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Thanks Dipstick. In retropect, I probably shoudl have put this in the other thread. It was aimed more at insurance in general.
I'll give Adrian Flux a try,
Thanks again,
Adam
Browse
Clarification: I mean keep the speed equal for both MPG and CO2/km readings, not keep speed the same for each vehicle.
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Mike Farrow