August 2007
As an aside form the Secrret Life of the Motorway thread I was thinking where new motorways should be built for the economic benefit of the Country.
Two for starters.
A link from somewhere around Leeds/Bradford north west to the M6 to allow better access to north Lancs, Cumbria and Scotland. HGV drivers must spend hours queuing on the M62 around the Manchester conurbation to access the M61 then M6. You actually travel south from Leeds to Manchester before going north again. IIRC it was planned for during the 1960s but never happened.
A second would be a cross Pennine route from Sheffield to Manchester - conversion of the old Woodhead railway line has been mooted, but will this ever happen?
Anymore? Read more
I have a Ford Mondeo TDCi on a 54 plate. After an extended motorway run I stopped for 10 mins. On rejoining the motorway I noticed a noise like rushing air when accelerating. The torque is down and grey smoke is appearing from the exhaust. MPG is also down (according to the computer). It is running a bit lumpy when accelerating. There are no strange noises at tick over and there are no warning lights flashing. I got home OK but am not happy. Turbo problems?
Any suggestions?
Read more
An "extremely competent local mechanic" sounds like the perfect choice.
So with very little delay, as there was one with parking sensors in the VW system, a VW Golf estate 2.0 TDI replaced the B-class last Wednesday, with not a wet eye in the house.
So far so good - very good.
Best things -
Even from brand new, there's plenty of response to the accelerator. VAG diesels take up to 10,000 miles to loosen up fully, so there's an even better time coming. I'll follow HJ's recommendations for running in - as always, many thanks HJ. There's an element of the sudden rush of shove, but this is a 140 rather than a 170 and it's easy to keep it under control.
Gearchange is a delight - I went for a manual partly to save money partly as I can control the revs and minimise turbo lag. DSG is good, but I still think for a diesel automatic you need 2.5 litres or more.
Ride / handling compromise excellent - much better than any of its predecessors, especially the lovely direct steering response. For normal driving I don't think it's inferior to the benchmark Focus or even a BMW.
Comfort and accommodation are fine - the seat has proper wheeled adjustment for backrest and lumbar support and the steering wheel moves both ways as it should.
Not-so-good -
Only niggle so far is that you have to take the rear headrests off to lower the seat. But we don't often have people in the back so I'll leave them off most of the time.
If you wonder why I didn't wait till September to get a 57 registration, the Mercedes, so they said, would have been worth less in Septemer than August. Which being trasnslated means that the VW dealer had their August quota to make up. But I don't think it maks much difference nowadays. Being the first of a new model, the Golf estate should hold its value well anyway.
I'm going to enjoy driving again now without having to resort to the Mini. Wish me luck. Read more
Golf Estate looks OK.
BUT you can still buy a Passat Estate for the same money and it is well equipped. That is why I bought a Passat rather than a Golf- seemed much better value.
Hello everyone,
My mid-life crisis is obviously not yet over. Hooray! I have had a wonderful year with my pretty Suzuki Swift (thanks to all who recommended - you've got great taste). But... having driven something small and very, very nippy for a while, I now feel an overwhelming urge to drive something gigantic, huge, mega, big, gigantic and anti-social. However, my road-domination must be achieved on a very tight budget. Can you make any suggestions?
I could probably afford a new cheap SUV or a second-hand posh one. I tend to prefer new because I am always afraid of people dumping lemons in forecourts. I am a bit scaredy cat. So far I've considered:
KIA Sportage
KIA Sorrento (what is this car? What is the diff between that and the Sportage? Why does Honest John like it so much? It looks nice to me? Is it ok?)
Suzuki Gran Vitara
or older
RAV4s (do these look boring? Or haven't I learned how to appreciate SUVs yet? I am a novice.)
the CR-thingie - that new Honda one
Landrover Freelander (my husband wants this but the one I saw looks like a housebrick)
Calling all SUV owners and drivers. What should I do? What can I afford? What do you drive? How do you like it?
I have about £15k but could probably stretch a bit for something very nice. The biggest problem will be finding a garage to sell a car to me. The KIA garage said it had no cars - it could get one but from 100 miles away. The Suzuki garage had nothing to test drive because the boss had gone on holiday in it. Have they no cars or do they just not want to sell them?
All opinions very gratefully received.
Alijazz
PS I like the look of the Sorrento. Would be particularly interested to hear about these, especially diesels. Read more
"How well you all know me."
Alijazz,
You don't need advice on which car to buy - you need a psychiatrist!!!! ;-)
(note smiley)
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Phil
Anyone know what's the difference between the Peugeot 2.0 HDi 110 hp and 136 hp engines.
Is one a 8v and the other 16v or are they the same, if so how do they get 136 hp from a 8v.
thanks Read more
OK sorted.
110hp is a 8v single overhead cam
136hp is a 16v twin overhead cam
thxs
Happened to come across an accident today and as well as fire, police and ambulance in attandance, there was a Megane CC which had flashing "strobe effect" amber lights on its passenger sun visor.
Now I assume any of the emergency services personnel would have had blue lights (have seen many fire personnel with these in ordinary cars) but who would have had flashing amber and why?
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2007 Seat Altea XL 2.0 TDI (140) Stylance
2005 Skoda Fabia vrS Read more
im looking to change the injestor pump on a 1999 mondeo 1.8 td is the pump coded if so how do i bypass it or recode it as i dont have the master key Read more
swap the solenoid and wiring to the new pump before refitting,its worthwhile confirming the solenoid still works while off as they seem to go off when stood,in fact i would be tempted to buy a new one for piece of mondeo er mind
Hi and thanks in anticipation,
Rover 820 petrol p reg manual
car abruptly cuts out , it can be on a motorway, or any other road, doesnt seem to be speed
related or engine rev related.
I have changed the crank sensor for a new one, and the coil for a second hand one
from a scrapyard . the scrapyard one seemed to fix the problem but its occuring
again now 3 / 4 weeks later.
car broke down and actually failed to restart in lake district this weekend ,
and i tried the old coil on it in its no-go state but it made no difference,
eventually after a 10 min wait it did restart
any ideas anyone please
thanks Martin N
Moved over from Discussion - PU
Read more
thanks to everyone for their help on this problem
just to give some feedback
It turned out to be the engine management ecu unit , I got a replacement one , of the same code
[1 digit different]
had it coded to the imobiliser ECU and its been fine since
cheers Martin
Like millions of other people, I have a company mobile phone/PDA/Blackberry device. Last year my employer offered to install a hands-free kit in my (privately-owned) car. I accepted, but when I changed cars 9 months later didn't bother installing a new one in the new car. (Range of reasons).
Now, the tax office are giving the impression to my employer that they see these devices as taxable and will want some tax money from me?!
How can a safety device be taxed as a benefit? What is the UK Government up to?! Or am I just out of touch and you are all being taxed for similar devices?! Read more
But for personal calls we have to mark them and pay back via payroll.
The admin cost of doing that doesn't bear thinking about! Do the office based people have to pay for their personal calls too?
Having said that, there's always people who take the mickey - we allowed 'reasonable' personal use of mobiles but some people have no idea what 'reasonable' means and were sending 1000texts per month and others were calling abroad for hours at a time.
I've just read number_cruncher's, comprehensive, reply to the crankshaft damper question over on technical, and wondered:
How many more of us miserable ole scroats aren't prepared to take the wife and kids out on a sunny bank holiday and sit in a traffic jam?
You were probably as stunned as I was with NC's reply that you posted this in Tech so I moved it accross.. PU Read more
>> it had left a puddle of something
Off topic but in case it helps - does his car have air con?
Negative BB, but thanks for the thought. I am aware of air-con condensation :-)
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
Browse
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I live/work/drive nowhere near there, so it wouldn't have affected me one way or the other - but fascinating all the same!