May 2007
Around Gloucester, a large number of roads have been reduced from national speed limit to 50mph. These include a dual carriageway stretch of the A40 in a rural area with only two or three right turnings, all with dedicated filter lanes. At busy times this limit makes no difference anyway, whilst at quiet times it has made the road more dangerous in my opinion as everyone trundles along in clusters of cars dreading the sight of a speed camera. (The nature of the approach roads mean that traffic tends to arrive in bunches, ie all being held at traffic lights). Many other A roads have been similarly blighted, without any particular history of speed related casualties that I know of.
Who decides the speed limit on trunk roads - the Highways Agency or county authorities? Either way, the NSL is an endangered species in this part of the world, the motorway will seemingly soon be the only place where > 50mph is deemed safe.
Just today I was about 10th in a line behind a 40mph dawdler on the 50mph A38 between Tewkesbury and Gloucester - the couple of cars that did overtake presumably had to break the speed limit to complete what should have been a piece-of-cake safe manouevre, or they had to spend greater time on the opposite side of the road, increasing danger and reducing the overtaking opportunities for the cars behind (hence increased frustration). Read more
Wondered if anyone could help and offer a suggestion as I'm really at my wits end and drawing blanks!
My 95 306 xsi 8v dies two weeks after I got it....and no-one can fix it!
Peugeot charged me £110 to say they didn't know, two other garages don't know...my mate works for the RAC and has replaced the lambda sensor and cat and still not happening!
It's running badly and just will not go past 3000rpm...where the engine tone dips then struggles....
It's got a rattle somewhere and after I put oil in it, it turned the water like chocolate milkshake..although it hasn't lost compression or over heats at all????
HELP!!! It's cost me £250 to get nowhere and I'm serioulsy considering blowing it up!!!
Cheers,
Steve Read more
Before we go any further..
How many miles has it done?
madf
Evening everyone. Unfortunately SWMBO's car was keyed last week. Deep scratch about 40cm long across the rear nearside door. I've had Chips Away round to look at it but it's too deep for a "smart" repair so a full door respray is necessary. I've had a reasonable quote from a local firm so will be looking to get them to do the work. Problem is, I only bought the car a month ago and paid quite a bit for it so am nervous about getting an A1 job done.
What should I be looking for when picking a bodyshop and also when I pick the car up afterwards.
Opinions please.
Thanks. Read more
West Berks - Thatcham/Newbury area
Well after a couple of months of it being sititng in a box, I finally got round to sorting out a Garmin 2610 I'd bought from another chatroom second hand. The kit was always intended for the bike and nothing else, it came with a load of bits and looked very new, it was loaded with V8 of their software and the unlock codes to access V9. Part of the kit was a very sturdy RAM mounting kit. A missing bolt stopped me fitting it initially and then I had to wait for the bike to go for a Service for those very nice men at BMW to hardwire it into the bike's loom. Anyway job done yesterday and after fruitless hunt in two local hardware shops for a bolt (an AF thread would you credit it !) I found the original on the floor of the garage as I was about to unleash a hacksaw on the metric replacement that cost me all of 45p for three.....
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Garmin are a very big name in portable sat-nav and I think that's where there downfall is.....
Anyway the 2610 is considered the cat's whiskers of Sat Nav for bikes, it is compact, waterproof(ish) and easy to use with gloves and they are very sought after by bikers. TomTom was designed from a basic idea rather than evolved from previous incarnations as I suspect the Garmin is, consequently the Garmin isn't as user friendly as the TT in many respects including the on-screen menu, it has no internal power source so has to be used either in situ or plugged into the mains at least a TT can be used as a handheld if you need to. To me the 2610's menus are too complicated for use whilst on the move but route planning seems pretty simple and I like the feature of pre-programmed way points (to find fuel especially). The display on the TT is also far superior but the Garmin does work. I tried it out in the car last night and the sound seems more tinny than the TT's mellow warble. One big advantage of the Garmin is that you can set it in dashboard mode, i.e., you get MPH (or KMH which is useful in itself) in a nice big fat display along with compass, mileage and speed data now that is truly useful and miles (sorry) better than the TT's feeble MPH display and finally for my bike gives a true Head up capability to enabling me to watch speed as well as other road users. I've had a banging bit of kit for under 200 pounds, and they keep their value as well despite being discontinued they still have a ready market amongst bikers. Read more
Got the photo...........thanks. That is exactly where you need it isn't it, so you don't take your eye too much off the road.
Hi could anybody please tell me wear the bleed points are on a 1991 2.0 16v Celica GT Read more
The Daimler pictured just to the right here being sold at June 7th's Brooklands Tradition sale will be a terrific bargain for someone if it only sells for the £12,000 estimate (assuming this is not a mistake). It's quite an elegant thing in that florid Hooper style. The reason it's cheap of course (if it is) is that if I am not mistaken it is based on a 2.5 litre chassis, not the straight-eight such bodies were usually made for.
Still if in sound condition it would be a charming vehicle to drive, not fast but refined, with that wonderful pre-selector gearbox. Will also have very nice fixtures and fittings.
Preferred Mulliner and Park Ward myself, but still, a well tasty practical classic for someone, virtually if not actually unique. Read more
Well, the Daimler in proper tune, if I am right and its a 2.5 litre six, ought to do about 22 - 25 mpg on the road at its natural 55-60 cruise. .
Hi does anybody know of any web sites where i can get antifreeze for my Toyota (Believe its pink)
Also i have a knocking noise from the rear when going over bumps and it feels a bit,could it be the rear stabiliser links though it did have an advisory for the rear shock on last MOT
Many thanks Read more
One of the other threads has reminded me of something, that although nearer 18 years ago, left me wondering what to do at the time and still has me thinking i might have been out of order.. so i'll ask the opinions of those on here.
had sold my car and was relying on girlfriends...when hers got stolen (mk1 Escort 1300E), which wasn't difficult as the doors could be opned with a ten pence piece and she refused my offer of putting Yale locks on it.......but that's another yarn
went to an auction and bought the cheapest, best value car there.....which was a Volvo 244DL.......well clean and tidy, 66,000 miles on clock, 7 years old, no history and only a recent MOT. I wrote to the previous owner, enclising a SAE and asked about the history and a very nice man wrote back saying the car was a 'good un', but as it was approaching 120,000 miles he thought it was time to send it on its' way.....
Which then meant i knew the car was clocked. I'd only ever intended on keeping it as a temp measure as a man in his 20's didn't really want a Volvo 240.....but how to get rid? I didn't want to lie to anyone or do anything dodgy, but neither did i want to lose too much on the car either. So in the end i let a relative sell it for me privately, made no comment about the mileage, instructed them to state that their relative was selling it and they did not know much about the history (which was true) and leave it at that.
'Out of order' or 'necessary evil'.........i await your comments with bated breath Read more
You'd have gone to Australia for it in 1807 all right)
When I was doing some searching of family history, cam across:- (not the relative in question)
John HUTCHINSON alias John SOWLEY aged 50 years
Brought before the Court 8th July 1826
"Charged upon the oath of Charles HORNBY of Osmertherly (sic) in the North Riding Innkeeper with having on the 12th day of May last, feloniously stolen, taken and carried away from and out of the dwelling house of him the said Charles HORNBY aforesaid sundry articles to wit ten yards of blue cloth and two brass candlesticks of the value of ten shillings the property of the said Charles HORNBY"
verdict: Guilty. Judgement of death entered on record.
Now if Brundstom got his way.........
I'm a lurker on here, and have decided to post again to ask your advice. Last year your guidance helped me to get a focus at a great price for a good spec.
So I'm back again. I'm jelping my dad this time, and wondered if you could give your opinion.
We've been looking for a 1.6 LX or higher at about a year or two old (post 05 shape only).
But I've found a dealer with a brand new 1.8 sport s, in black, for £10k.
That sounds like a good deal to me, or is it??
If you arent aware, the spec is alloys, elec windows/mirrors,Front/back fogs, air con (not climate pack), cd colour coded spoiler, 16v, 125bhp. I'm sure all that means more toyou than me!!
The salesman placed the sport between the LX and the ghia. Like the LX but with alloys.
I seem to recall that when I was looking last year, the general opinion was that 1.6 was a better buy than 1.8. Would that be because of running costs (petrol, insurance, tax) or is there another reason too?
Thanks in advance!!
Ruth Read more
Thanks:)
I've seen increasing numbers of them towing small cars. I thought the whole point of a motor caravan was that it's a caravan that you don't have to tow, so why tow a car with it? Surely if you don't mind towing you'd just tow a caravan with your car.
Or have I missed the point...? Read more
What about the camper that featured on Top Gear not so long ago, that had a "locker" which allowed an SLK to be carried within the vehicle!
EU Directive. All member states have to analyse every 'death or serious injury' and do something (or be seen to be doing something) about it.
I read about it recently on some council's website while looking for something else.