April 2006
Anybody help me i've got one of these cheapy ones mentioned in previous threads
Just been through the list of countries in the memory and no Spain... Yes this years summer hols are to Spain!
So question is , what do i have to do to get Spain? do i have to have new memory chip thingy in the side or can i get something off the internet & down load it in to unit?
Anybody know? MM Read more
Have narrowed my choice for next car down to 3, these being
Ford Mondeo Diesel 2000 model onwards
Skoda Octavia TDI
Mitubushi Carisma either GDI or TD-DI model
If any one owns one of the above or has done I would be grateful to hear your expereince.
Thanks Read more
The Carisma is ironic.
Drive one and you'll find out why.
With regards to Mondeos from 2000 onwards, what is the best engine, I understand that the earlier ones were not all that good, when did the better ones come into production ? Read more
Thanks Quinny, an excellent review - just what I was looking for. My 2.2 petrol has roughly the same BHP but far less torque. Given your comments about it limiting torque in 1st and 2nd gears I would expect it to be about the same performance off the line, however once on the move the diesel to have the advantage being c100 lbs/ft more.
I will test drive to do a back to back comparison, however I think I am unlikely to be disappointed - I hope .......!
Steve
I have had a new Fiesta 1.6 Zetec S diesel for just over a month and am very pleased with it. However I have not been able to come close to the fuel consumption figures quoted by Ford. The company state 54mpg urban; 72mpg extra urban and 64mpg combined but I can manage only 53.7mpg combined. I drive 10m to work, largely uninterrupted, on rural roads and rarely need to use the brakes. My last car was an Alfa 147 with which I obtained 33 mpg over 3 yrs (Alfa state 31mpg overall). The Fiesta engine seems to run well. Is it normal for a company's consumption figures to be so far from reality or might there be a problem with this car?
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Thanks very much for your replies, everyone.
Thinking about the new Octavia Estate.
We really should have some sort of automatic,
so bearing in mind that the 2.0TDI is a bit on the expensive side, would the best bet be the 1.6FSI Tiptronic or the 1.9TDI DSG? We've done the sums and it appears that it'll take quite a few years to recoup the difference as regards fuel consumption goes (15,000 miles p.a)
Anyone have any experience of either of these engines, or the car?
Many thanks. Read more
Really damage the engine? I have read on the Audi website that they run quite happily on 95RON petrol at a good level of efficiency. I've heard that the 1.9TDI isnt so good with the DSG, and thats why i'd be aprehensive about it. The 2.0 is probably a little pricey.
I've heard that people have been stopped by the police in France to check on their sat.nav. systems because they may contain data on speed camera locations. I know that the use of radar detectors is highly illegal in France but I wouldn't have thought that sat.navs. would pose a problem. Any comments please? Read more
>>Each weekday, I have had to find my way to an address I have never been to before
That short term memory loss can be a real bother.
Today my wife told me her car was making a noise as if a brick had dropped on the bonnet. On further examination I found that the offside front spring had snapped!
Her car is 3.25 years old Focus TDCI with 17900 miles on the clock. I am amazed that a fairly new car, carefully driven, could have a fault such as this.
I was wondering whether Ford's would repair this FOC as it is only 4 months out of warranty, or whether to take it to my local garage. Does anyone have any advice please, and are Focus front springs a weak area? Read more
Thanks for all the replies. I will try sending the bill to Ford customer services, I will let you know the result.
You know what they say, statistics can prove anything. I don't know how good or bad VW dealers are, the Passat has never gone wrong yet. I keep saying this, and I know one day it will let me down bigtime. In fact I am going up the M1 tonight, so if anyone sees a silver Y reg Passat with a fuming driver on the hardshoulder, you will know it's me!
A want to carry 3 adult passengers in my van, a private/light goods vehicle. The front seat allows two seatbelted passengers plus me the driver. The rear has a fixed bench seat (actually part of a bed base where a passenger can sit facing sideways behind the driver's seat.
I have checked the construction and use regulations and they state that no seat belts are required for rear passengers in a goods vehicle.
I do not want to fall foul of the law and need documentary evidence that it is legal in the UK to carry a passenger in the rear of the van in this manner? And what about France please?
Please can the team advise?
Many thanks in advance. Read more
Whether it's legally required or not surely isn't the issue. It's dangerous for both them and the front passengers who will get clobbered as they get flung forward.
My handbrake is not working on my synergie. it pulls up and puts the brakes on but wont stay in position and does'nt make the clicking noise.
Is the handbrake replacement a big job?
Would it be best to let a garage to do it?
Any comments on this car would be good as i am thinking of getting rid of it this year for something else, needs to be an MPV as we have 3 kids.
Thanks
Martin Read more
Just got back in from a week in Val d'Isere where snow chains, thankfully, were not required in spite of the fact that it snowed for three days out of six.
My wife and I hired a Fiat Punto from Europcar at Lyon Airport. First time I'd had much exposure to a turbo diesel engine and this one initially disappointed. It had a heavy duty, truck-like, six speed gearbox containing several ratios which didn't seem to have much discernible effect on progress. 5th and 6th both felt considerably overdriven and 4th not much better either. 3rd seemed to be the only gear in which any form of "defensive acceleration" might be available. Coupled with an inordinately long throttle pedal travel the Punto wasn't the most responsive little car I've ever driven. Probably the fact that I'm more used to a big, multi-valve, petrol lump had a lot to do with it. By the return journey I'd learned to use much bigger throttle openings in each gear and it bowled along merrily from Val to Lyon St Exupery in three hours without feeling hammered.
Incidentally, this was one unlucky little motor car, leaving aside the horrible "enamel mustard" paint job. In the space of a week it pickled up a parking ticket, got towed away and got shunted in a car park by some Christian soul's 4x4 (tell tale bumper height), the driver of which naturally did not delay him or herself to leave details. (Second time a 4x4 has done that to me actually. The first a good Samaritan witness left the details on my windscreen and I was eventually able to involve the police and recover my costs.) The parking ticket, recovery fee and storage amounted to a sobering 137 Euros. The minor shunt damage is theoretically insured although time will tell whether the collision damage waiver and excess waiver is worth anything. Comically, I wasn't able to pay the parking fine in France ! The Tabac didn't sell des timbres and the Poste wasn't open any time I was available. Giving up skiing time to pay a parking fine is not in my order of priorities. I'll have to send them a cheque in Euros to settle it.
However, with low French fuel duty rates we completed the round trip of over 400Km on half a tank of gas for 28 Euros. A quite incredible feat of economy. After adjusting my driving style and expectations it became quite a well liked, roomy, practical and well equipped tourer.
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At a guess, you'll need something like this if it's a c310 taking SD cards, that is the Spain & Portugal module:
www.globalpositioningsystems.co.uk/garmin-maps-of-...l