June 2007
I think some of the car makers could have come up with some interesting names for their vehicles if they were brave enough, e.g.
Austin Tashus
Morris Dancer
Nissan Hut
Mini Skirt
Lada Cupboard
Audi Doodee
AC Deecee
Bristol Stupendous
Cadillac Coldtea
I did think up one for Bentley, but presumed it'd get snipped, so edited myself. There must be a load more!
I accept some responsibility in this becoming silly - so its moved here ! -PU Read more
The Observer has a report showing the top 10 lethal roads (ie number of fatalities per mile) most of which are twisty roads and mostly in the North. No1 is the stretch from the M65 towards the Dales/SE Lakes. The Cat & Fiddle is also up there.
Can't recall who they authors are but they say are stumped by why most of the top 10 are in the North.
Er.....because there are more big cities in the North with weekend bikers who like to go for a blast on the twisties and more young drivers from urban centres out for a run? This lot meeting each other and other slower moving road users like lorries and caravans is a more frequent occurence than in the South. It's not difficult is it? Read more
re "you should be able to stop in the limit point (distance) that you can see to be safe" simplistically yes, but if someone cuts into your lane or whatever it becomes a whole lot more complex
the proof is in the pudding, and look around at other nations and you can see many doing much better at casulty reduction on their roads, and while still keeping the roads wide enough for an ambulance to get past etc, and without criminalising the masses with points for ever so minor speeding
re "highest number of mental health related issues" yea well we have got the worst health industry in any developed country so its hardly surprising, how the shambles provided by the nhs is allowed to continue escapes me
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_Ram
A Dodge 1500 truck option was added for stock wheels (370 lb-ft) needs. This engine, part of the trucks 1/2 ton, is the fastest V8 engine ever produced for a passenger vehicle. These 1500 engines have been known to go over 600,000 miles before their first change. They were also the first gas pickup at the time to come stock with a steering wheel. Every Dodge 1500 was equipped with a steering wheel.
I think there has been some editing for comedy effect! Read more
Probably a very bored corporate copy writer.
OK, I'm sure I could find this somewhere - but should I urgently replace the cambelt on an '02, 20,000 mile Rover 45?
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not urgent , but i would get it done. 90k or 5 yrs.
20+ years ago, on the daily journey to Haslemere, I endured all the roadworks whilst much of the A3 was transformed in to a dual carriageway,
Now after about 30 years+ of considering by-passes around Hindhead and Devils Punchbowl- it is finally happening - but it is not scheduled to be finsihed till 2011 - will this be the longest time for a road of less than 10 miles to be constructed ?? Why so long
What I fail to understand is why they seem it requires coned off areas for about 4 miles both sides of the Hindhead lights, why can't they just start at one end to allow easy access to the construction site, then when that has happened open up to the normal dual carriage way, then do the same at the other end- if I didn't know the area well and avoided the jams I would have sat stationary for hours Read more
If you'd done a quick google, you'd have found the answer to the 'why so long'
"The new road will be 6.5km (4miles) long and includes 1.8km (1.1miles) twin bored tunnels under the Devil?s Punch Bowl Site of Special Scientific Interest."
Normal to start tunnels from both ends. SSI + tunnels = cost and time.
Just drove past a house in the countryside with a P reg Boxster outside for sale. Spoke to the chap who took me for a drive in it, and garnered the folling info:
* Full Porsche SH (I verified) with approx 10k spent on the car in 10 years (!)
* Price was 10250 but he said he'd take 9800
* Tyres are all down to about 2-3mm
* No air-con
* Seats seemed to be part-leather
* Condition in & out seemed to be very good, a few very minor scuffs on alloys only
Two things concerned me though -
1 - I put the roof up and down a few times with no probs but 1 time I stopped half way & when I resumed, a bit of trim popped out (which he clipped back in, explaining that if you stopped the roof mechanism halfway through, it would pop out)
2 - 1 dash light didn't go out - for the rear spoiler, although web research shows that it may be possible to switch off using a switch by driver's left knee that activates the spoiler
Obviously I'm masively tempted with this, as I can sell my golf gti, and just add about 2-3k so the question is, with that many miles on, if it has been properly serviced it's whole life, is there a reasonable chance of it being good for another 30k miles in the next 2 years & stil be worth something at the end? Residuals on the older models like the 968 were good for many years. It's a real head / heart thing, as I do have some doubts but am also finding myself longing for the roar of that v6 & the sight of that beautiful body outside my house!
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"it is churlish to take him to task for being in two or several minds"
Indeed. If everyone was sure about everything, this forum wouldn't exist!
Ok, so after having my Omega written off I need a replacement motor. SWMBO says get something more economical. I don't want to part with more £10K and I would happier if it was more like £7K/£8K.
Being sensible (for once), I'm thinking Mondeo after the major depreciation hit has already been taken by someone else. I like my creature comforts and I'd like to console myself with some leather, so I'm thinking maybe a Ghia X but I'm flexible about that. I'm thinking 2 litre but can't decide between petrol or diesel - I do about 15K per annum. I'm driving a Mondeo 130 diesel hire car at the moment - it's ok but no where as smooth as I'm used to. I've read comments about the long term reliability of the TDCi system.
What else would others suggest? I was distracted by a 2.0T Vectra SRi yesterday - I'm confused! Help me! I even looked at a 3.0 S-Type with 110K on it for £5K and was tempted (divorce looms) - I really need help.
Thanks all. Read more
Hi
Well, I drove quite a few cars today. I must admit I tested a 520i I liked. It was a 2.2. Is this one of those you consider underpowered? I must admit it seemed better powered than a 525d I drove.
It was a 2001 on a 51 plate, very tidy in silver with BMW service history in SE trim and full leather with 50K on the clock at <£7K.
What do you reckon?
Les
I read a post on here a while ago, which got me thinking. The interesting bit is this,
"1.4 GSI Getz is only returning 37mpg (several full tanks) which is the urban cycle consumption - despite a number of long outings"
Now, that seems pretty poor to me. My car gets more than this in stop-start traffic dispite my combined cycle being 1mpg less than this. It almost always gets over 40mpg, and on the motorway it can approach 60mpg (depending on conditions). If I got this car I would be very dissapointed because I wouldn't expect it to drink more fuel. I suspect the Getz would probably pay lower tax too, but in reality it is probably worse.
This week I saw an interesting thing in my local IAM newsletter. Apparently some Auto Express tests have show that the best-selling models do not live up to their claimed fuel consumption figures, with some using a third more. They said that the official figures should be taken with a pinch of salt. This could make the difference between a car being very green and a car being very environmentally unfriendly. If this is true, then how do we work out the fuel consumption of vehicles? Should we test drive all models for a few hundred miles to get consumption figures? Is modern trickery (stop-start nonsense, and hybrid) badly distorting these figures? Do these tests need updating? Maybe test the emissions at idle, emmissions when cruising at different speeds and then when accelerating?
I also wonder how the performance figures compare. I've driven the Aygo and Panda, which had similar performance figures, but they felt slow, even compared to my car which takes almost 5s long to hit 60mph. I then drove a 1.2 Corsa which was the complete opposite, it felt really fast, dispite less than a 2s difference in 0-60 times.
When we're looking for cars to test drive how do we get a short list, should we just ignore performance/economy figures and test drive everything? Read more
In that case pretty much any car can be made to hit your 160bhp/ton criteria
then
That's total nonsense and you know it. There are any number of examples that disprove it as you are well aware.
In any case I think 200bhp per/ton is more like it the 160bhp figure is that I'd consider adequate for a car to do the supermarket run in..............
For Waino who wanted this info.........................
www.mirez.co.uk/Keys.htm
www.mirez.co.uk/KeyProg.htm
Let me know how you get on,
Cheers
Stuart Read more
When the programming failed for me on a previous Mondeo, I needed to change the lock ECU - bought a good second-hand one.
There is a test mode you can put it into as a first step in diagnosis.
This is the "bargain basement" Subaru, recently introduced. Has anyone had any experience of this car? Consumption? Reliability? Subaru claim an overall figure of 35mpg but that doesn't sound too impressive in 2007. Is it a bargain, longterm? Read more
Well you can get a 2.5 WRX for 14k at Motorpoint.
Yes, but you have to run it once you've bought it. The turbos cost about twice as much to insure as the non-turbos and do low 20's rather than high 20's to the gallon. They are also Band G road tax (£400 from next year - ouch!). Not to mention that they are one of the most stolen cars. They're great if you do a low mileage and treat ownership as a hobby. But for day to day driving the non-turbos are very nearly as much fun (same body, trim and suspension etc) but with much lower running costs. Pay your money and take your choice!
Browse
Think Camera angles to start with to follow that pixel guy someone else would have to be doing the same thing with the camera roller blades/skateboard thing.