September 2006
Why is it the give way sign is an inverted triange (giving an order), apart from making it different to other non-inverted triangle signs which are warning signs.Why not a circle?I have been given various explanations but non seem plausable, does anybody know?
One reason I came across was because the word give as in "give way" would not fit properly in the non-inverted triangle. Another was that snow would not settle easily on a sign with the bottom narrower than the top.
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rustbucket (the original) Read more
On Sunday I was driving to Gatwick Airport at about 11am. Using the M25 and M23. There were lots of motorbikes on the road, probably no exaggeration to say hundreds.
The result was close to chaos. There were motorbikes undertaking, overtaking, riding illegally. Many bikes were stopped on the hard shoulder - in some cases for the rider to relieve himself in the bushes; some riders and passengers were doing stretching exercises; some bikes seem to be broken down, which required another 10 or 20 bikes to stop as well.
Doesn't this all tend to indicate that a motor-cycle is an impractical vehicle for a journey of any length?
Where the slip road on to the M23 narrows to a single lane, the traffic was stopped, because of the antics of the mororcyclists.
I write as a former motorcyclist, both in my youth and born-again more recently.
A motorbike is not the solution to traffic congestion. Read more
But that would spoil the effect, wouldn't it? Rather like the
bloke in the pub who feels he has to say 'just
joking' at the end of his contributions.
Bloke in pub isn't using a purely text based forum.
I've had a new, improved Honda Accord diesel tourer for the last week while mine is being sorted by Honda. Post facelift, the car now has a six speed gearbox not five, and has various other minor improvements such as a speed sensitive radio.
I have to say I'm not at all convinced that the car has been improved. Despite a slight thirst, a major strength of this diesel is its enormous flexibility. The five-speed box is a delight, and is extremely long geared. This means that on twisting back roads you're unlikely to shift much other than between third and fourth, and on a motorway unlikely to need to change out of fifth unless dropping to fourth for extra acceleration. At 70, 5th gear pulls about 2100 RPM.
From my experience so far, the main effect of the new gearbox appears to be that gear changes are now needed far more frequently, especially in traffic. On the other hand, fifth now appears to be a top gear for a road cruising, and six only of use for the motorways, so there are positive aspects. Overall though, the gearchange itself is much nicer on the five-speed box, and it would remain my preference.
I hadn't driven an Accord on the 16? wheels since I had my original test drive. My recollection that the ride was very smooth and there wasn't any tramlining was entirely borne out. However, the car and definitely feels (very slightly) less surefooted than it does on the larger wheels, and as mentioned in another post, I've entirely cured the tramlining by changing to Pirelli's on my car. It also looks terrible on the small wheels IMHO.
Other than that, I don't personally find the volume adjustment on the radio to be useful, I still find myself adjusting it. The automatic lights are quite nice, but I overrode them several times. I'm very glad I didn't spend the extra money on the satellite navigation system. It is shiny, but it's not really terribly superior to my TomTom system, and was insistent on diverting around supposed traffic jams even when asked not to. My girlfriend and I are both unanimous that the new front grill is not an improvement.
So, I'm pleased to say that my conclusion is I'd rather keep my car. I may only have a five-speed gearbox, and I don't have the shiny satnav, but overall I don't feel the changes have improved the car.
Gord Read more
If you return to the car with both arms loaded with shopping how do you manage to press the keyfob button anyway? Just a thought.
Also, I guess the auto lights function could become a pain over time because the likelihood is that it won't stop working.
I suppose I shouldn't carp about the side view of the Tourer, where just a couple of inches more depth to the back windows would have transformed the appearance - just look what they've done with the new CRV!
Sometimes I just wish I could buy another late '80s Aerodeck but with 21st century systems (although the originals were pretty good) and have the ideal Honda.
As previously promised, now that my Accord has hit 20,000 miles I'm going to post an update on how it's all been going. This follows on from a 14k update at: tinyurl.com/jpm6v .
Generally, apart from one fairly minor technical hiccup that escalated because of poor customer service unrelated to Honda UK, I'm still an extremely pleased customer. If you want to know more about the problem, there's already a long thread at tinyurl.com/jx4mq . As the electrical failure was minor (and these things can and do happen), and the main problem was caused by inept handling by agents other than Honda UK, for the purposes of this note I'm ignoring the problem.
My most major niggle about the car last time I wrote about it was the fuel consumption. If I'm honest, it has improved a bit, but not as much as I hoped. I'm probably averaging about 44 mpg now as opposed to the 40 previously. I suspect this may be down to my using the climate control permanently, and to relatively fast cruising on the motorways; it's not a disaster, but it's certainly not as good as I'd hoped. Having said that it does still seem to be improving. The engine has probably used about a litre of oil in the last 8000 miles; I'm not too unhappy about this.
Other than a mild thirst, the engine remains a delight. There's plenty of power to overtake, and even fully loaded with a 350 L roof box and four people, it pulled hard on the mountain roads in France. Cruising at 90 with a box on top it still did 38 miles per gallon over 500 miles, so I guess the thirst cuts both ways. It was a shame the voltage regulator failed on that trip, but therse things happen (to me). The car has remained squeak and rattle free, although the leather on the driver seat has begun to creak a little. I'm going to have a go at it with some leather conditioner to try and get rid of this.
I had to change the front tires at 18,000 miles; they weren't completely worn out, but as I was going on holiday, I couldn't leave it any further. Anyway, I don't really like them getting below 3 mm. I've replaced them with Pirelli P6000 Powergy?s, and the new tires have completely cured the mild tramlining that I was experiencing with the 17 inch alloys. I never found it annoying, but now it's simply not there. It's also marginally reduced the road noise, which is nice. The handling remains positive and sure, and I still think the gearing is absolutely perfect for the car and the gearshift is a delight. Given the handling, the ride is near miraculous - very comfortable.
So what isn't positive?
Well, my girlfriend continues to have problems with the seats. Essentially, she finds the seats a little bit too large, and the bolsters too deep. Because she is only about 5 foot six, she sits down in the seat and the bolsters force her shoulders to be a rounded. This gives her chronic backache, and she now uses a thin pillow behind her whenever she is in the car to get rid of the problem. Not exactly ideal! She also continues to dislike the climate control, although I found it absolutely fantastic especially in the extremely hot weather, it is extremely powerful. One other minor problem is that both front door speakers have developed a rattle. I believe this is a known problem, and I'm going to get Honda to sort it out.
So, overall, I still love the car. It's big, fast, very comfortable, and lovely to drive. The British dealers have been good, and if you read the thread referenced above, Honda UK appear to take any problems seriously. The fuel consumption appears to be slowly improving, and the change of tires has removed the only minor niggle with handling. So overall, 9/10. Of course, if my minor problems are not resolved, I will seriously review that figure.
As an aside, I've had the new 6 speed model as a courtesy car for the last week. I'll do a brief review on my thoughts on the differences on a new thread. I'm not sure it's an improvement. Read more
I thought all Accord diesels were the i-CDTi thingies?
Correct. Perhaps this one was faulty? I can't imagine the car being called underpowered.
Cyclists who wear helmets are more likely to be hit by vehicles than those without, says new research.
It found that drivers leave less room when overtaking cyclists in helmets because they perceive them to be more experienced.
Full article at:
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006...l
What do you think?
Do you driver closer to a bike with a rider with a helmet?
Are cyclists with helmets worse riders than without?
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Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
Read more
a public protest against those on here (including a certain moderator)
Ex moderator, I think you'll find ;o)
Do new cars need to be run in these days? Read more
who red lines the engine
Hello < hands up > Me. I go even further, and some times bounce it off the rev limiter,
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Hi, My steering wheel and car wobbles under braking, could it be warped discs ? I had this problem on my Mitsi EVO VIII, skimming fixed it. Any more ideas ?
Read more
Usually warped brake discs give a pulsating feeling at the steering wheel and brake pedal in sympathy with road speed.
Suspension play usually gives a steering wheel shimmy when braking passes through a certain speed range.
Hi there!
Most of you reading the following will no doubt think that I'm barking mad - and you could be right! However, i am one of minority of people who 'cannot' drive modern vehicles. The reasons for this are complex, but they essentially relate to a problem with the overly-engineered electrical circuitry of cars. When driving I'm quickly affected by nausea and blinding headaches. I managed to persuade a VW garage to give me my ££££ back on this basis after having bought a new car. I am not alone - indeed, there are some high-profile folk out there in a similar situation. However, I CAN drive old, basic diesels - MK1 mondeos are a firm favourite. However, as these are now hard to come by I'm wondering what the least complicated new-ish car might be - no ECU ETC. To be like this is very debilitating .... so, I thought it was worth a stab to pose the question on here. The condition for this is generally termed as ELECTROSENSITIVITY - loads about this online. Anyway, MAD request, I know. I'm probably barking!
Thanks for reading this!
Andrew Read more
Science is surely an emerging discipline. The way in which we interact with the world around us is not fully understood. That?s not to argue that we should give credence to any crackpot theory and throw scientific certainties out of the window. As stated, the evidence for this is largely anecdotal. However, there are hundreds of thousands of people who report similar reactions to the use of electricity. Alas, this is not an April Fool. You all seem to be an educated lot so I respect your views. As I?m a stranger on here, this is what I do for a living www.wackyverse.com ? not that it will necessarily enlighten anyone to my overall sanity.
Thanks for the post.
On purchasing the missus' 1995 306 SR Sedan four years ago, I noticed that the headlamp aim was a tad high, so wound the beam down. A couple of years later, I wound it down again. Now, I need to do it again.
The car drives beautifully, handling with pin sharp alacrity and riding as you'd more likely expect of one of Jaguar's best efforts, but the static rear ride height "looks" a little reduced (aesthetically comparing wheel arch with wheel) even when parked on level ground with hand brake off and half a tank of fuel. The ride height, front and back, is identical to within a couple of millimetres (ie experimental error) on both sides of the car.
I can't see any evidence of broken springs or mounts and there is no corrosion, so wonder if the relatively soft and compliant nature of the springs fitted to this model of 306 are more disposed to sag over time? Can other 306 owners or BRers familiar with them comment, please?
If so, given 11 years and about 42k miles, I'll change the rear dampers and springs whilst I'm at it. Read more
Thanks, Autumnboy. :-)
Having moved house and mislaid it in the process, I have this evening found my Haynes manual for the 306 and torsion bar it is. No knocking over bumps, but it has just started to give a resonnant grrrrrrrrrr at critical RPM and road speed from the back of the car so I'll get the mounts looked at; with kids on the way any day and other priorities as a consequence, I'll get my trusted Pug Indy to do it when they replace a rear wheel bearing that was an "advisory" at MOT time (it's no worse now, but it does have a small amount of play beyond what I would expect)
Does anyone have experience of changing the Audi multitronic (CVT) auto gearbox fluid, if so what's involved ?and is there an associated fllter change? does the engine management computer need any kind of input?
Regards
Brian davies Read more
I concur with the snow explanation - that was the reason quoted by the instructor when I did my HGV course in 1976.