October 2007
Speed, Greed and the M25
James May uncovers the secret history of the M25 Road Race.
Go to the Radio 4 Webpage and click on this to Listen Again. Nice bit of proper James May. Read more
Had to have the tyres on my 2006/56 Avensis replaced at 20k miles recently. Curious to know if this is typical wear or not (both the servicing dealer and tyre dealer thought 20k was well on the good side of normal).
The reason I question this is that I got almost 30k out of a set of Michelins on my previous Mondeo - but that was a gutless 1.8 petrol, whereas the Avensis is the 2.2 D4D 150, so clearly its OE Bridgestones had substantially more power to handle.
My second reason for concern is that the car has been in two front-end accidents - side swiped from both wings on separate occasions at low speed.
The fronts were down to around 1.6/3/1.6 and 1.5/3/0 (yikes), but they have never been run under-inflated by more than 1-2 psi, so hopefully this wear pattern is normal, although the excessive wear on the outer right side of the drivers side tyre is a worry - there was not much tread on the outer 1cm or so of the tread pattern.
The way it is driven is clearly important info - daily commute of 30 miles each way, 22 of which are motorway. No tyre squealing antics (it isn't that sort of car!), but the odd strong prod of the right pedal thru 2nd/3rd/4th when everything is pointing in the same direction.
So, what's the consensus on 20k tyre life for this sort of car in this sort of motorway-biased use - good/bad/indifferent? Read more
I guess some of the answer to the rain question is that they have winter
tyres too.
Actually, IIRC the tyres I saw were generally All Season tyres - which I presume are somewhere between the Summer tyres that we use and Winter tyres. I found this flyer and the All Seasons go up to 60K miles and others higher than I saw, up to 80K.
i.walmart.com/i/if/hmp/fusion/06_Q3_TireFlyer.pdf
Interesting to see on that flyer that they'll do what amounts to a service on a modern car, with fully synth oil for $40!!
Hi - I've suffered two cracked ( original from factory ) alloys on my W211 estate within the last 6 months. Both times this has been on the inside rim and I haven't recalled hitting any substantial holes in the road.
On th first occasion I simply bought a new wheel from the dealer and accepted that I must have hit something, but now I'm beginning to wonder if the original wheels were defective somehow.
The car is just about 4 years old.
Has anyone had a similar experience with MBZ alloys ?
Thanks. Read more
I've seen a few German cars with damaged alloys were ultra-low profile tyres have been fitted. There is not enough rubber between the road and the alloy wheel to protect it. Usually they fail at the inner side (away from the spokes) where the wheel is weakest.
Hello.
I have a 2006 Ford Mondeo which has only done 20000 miles. The car has been giving trouble and has spent several weeks at the dealer having repairs done to it (under guarantee). This fixed the car for a few weeks, but then problems returned.
Yesterday I went to collect the car from the dealer and was informed that I had been using poor quality diesel which is contaminated and that this has caused excess wear to the engine and damaged parts of the fuel electronic controls. Further repairs will not be covered by guarantee and I am facing a bill of potentially £1800 or more (estimated) to replace these parts.
I have used all brands of fuel (from brand name stations and from supermarkets). Surely a 2006 car from a major manufacturer should be able to run on any diesel fuel sold in the UK?
{tweak to Subject Line } Read more
So, you got a good one. The hallmark of a product worth buying is uniformity of quality.
The acid test of an organisation is the backup it provides when there's a problem.
If either (or both) criteria are not met, pay the money elsewhere.
659.
Hi guys,
Just wanted to gauge public opinion on which of these routes would be best.
The TF is now well and truly laid up for the winter, fully polished and under only the finest cotton bedsheets in a dry and secure garage. Would it be better for the engine if I just leave it unmoved as much as possible for the next 5 months (it might still need moving now and then to get at things in the garage) or should I be starting it every fortnight and letting it warm up etc?
To look after the battery I will be attaching an Optimate battery conditioner that has kept my dad's old VFR battery going for many years so not turning the car over won't result in a dead battery.
Blue Read more
>>Cars stand for months at a time before being sold (new and used!).
I never thought of that lol.
To remove the clock (time device as opposed to speedo!) Mr Haynes advises a screwdriver behind the bezel and gently levering. He even shows a picture to prove it can be done. I have levered away until I am either blue in the face or my nerve fails me. Usually the latter as I don't want to damage anything.
If anyone has done this and can advise me I would be grateful. The car is a P reg. Read more
It helps a lot, gives me a bit more confidence. Thank you for replying. Cheers.
I'm sure that most of us had a copy or two of these great little books when we were young, even now it's the only place I've seen a Talbot Tagora!
Every parent wants to do the best for their children, so what's the modern equivalent of these fine books? My son isn't going to get very far with my 1981 edition unless we visit the Renault 12 owners club rally!
I'm sure someone out there will know what I need to look for?
Gareth Read more
I would guess they might be bringing out a 2008 edition just in time for Christmas - it would make a perfect stocking filler!
My 2005 Golf estate has just been written off in an accident. I am looking to replace it with a similar sized diesel estate, but probably something a bit cheaper, around £5-7,000.
I'm looking for something hard-wearing with reasonable performance but I'm not bothered about image.
I'd thought of Octavia, Astra and Focus estates. Any views on these or other options?
Would a Freelander TD4 be a completely insane idea?
thanks for any advice. Read more
Freelanders aren't particularly spacious, even by medium estate standards.
The Octavia would be the obvious choice BUT being based on the Golf platform it's relatively short wheelbase which gives a relatively long rear overhang - a design weakness if you're carrying heavy loads in the "boot".
The Astra-H (mk5) estate has a longer wheelbase than it's hatch counterpart which is already marginally bigger inside than Focus or Octavia and gives a very stable load platform.
My dad is thinking of getting a Skoda Roomster 3 semi automatic - anyone got any experiences of the Roomster?
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2007 Seat Altea XL 2.0 TDI (140) Stylance
2005 Skoda Fabia vrS Read more
I've had one as a courtesy car a couple of times while my Octavia was in for service although I only used it for a couple of brief dual carriageway runs.
I am 6' 3" & 20+stone so I found it a bit cramped. However, it seems to drive quite well (I had the 1.9 diesel) but I did find it leaned over a bit going round roundabouts - presumably from the ride height. Don't know if that helps.
I have a 56 Mondeo Tdci which smokes badly on initial acceleration such as when leaving a 30mph limit. It seems to be better when it is accelerating harder but there is still some smoke. Is this an EGR fault or something else. All other aspects of its power delivery and economy are fine
Thanks Richard M Read more
Ford dont change the air filter untill the 37,500 service on my Focus 2.0 tdci. When I checked and changed it at about 20,000 miles it was filthy and the housing had several leaves and assorted small bits of debris in it. At least it was doing its job!
Browse
M25 trivia - it was the first motorway to ring a city but only because of political manoeuvring - the final piece of M42, ringing Birmingham with M5 and M6 was constructed first but delayed in it's opening to allow construction and opening of M25 sections.