October 2007
I need some new tyres for my Civic (bog standard, not Type anything).
Originals were Bridgestone Potenzas - have two of these on the front. I also have a couple of Dunlop Sports. I am probably quite hard on tyres, but one thing I am conscious of is the amount of road noise on the car - is there anything that would be a bit quieter without compromising performance?
Don't want real cheapies but not interested in paying over the top just for a name!
Have tried ringing blackcircles but had to leave a message with their switchboard - they said they would ring back but have heard nothing yet (2.5 hours ago). Read more
Is it possible to add the parts to the floor to put the second row of seats in a Vito van? I would then source a set of seats, bench or split to complete the job. Or is this a non starter? Thanks in advance. Read more
Morning All!
Small discussion in the local last night, we started talking about cars!, and one factor mentioned was the ?Stag? ? Rover v8 upgrade, so to try and continue here:
Certain Makers have good cars, that are let down by their choices of engines, so,
You have a car, minus engine, you can put any engine you want in it (for discussion they ALL fit!). Trying to keep as near as possible to the original, (no 3ltr turbocharged monsters in what was a basic 1.4!) a few cc?s here and there are ok though, what would you choose to fit? from where? And into what?
Billy
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I'd love to have driven some of the Orbital 2-stroke prototypes that were around in the early 90s, Jag had a big V6 one which would have sounded lovely, and LJK Setright was extremely complimentary about a Fiesta (!) he drove with the 1 litre 3-pot Orbital.
The other fantasy idea would be to mate a gas turbine (like the old Rover prototype) with a modern metallic-powder CVT. IIRC the big problem with turbines was the transmission step-down from 50K+ rpm to the road wheels ... CVT could sort that out I would have thought.
Hot exhaust gases? Pah :-)
I am confused as to when to change my cambelt? Model is PDI 130 sport.
Plus I have had alternator warnings flash up and the power steering shrieks on full lock , which sounds like the auxillary drive belt to me , how often should these be changed and is it worth changing all the drive belts if having cam belt done?
{model details added to header} Read more
And famed for their ability to design cambelt drives which are well engineered and last well beyond their stipulated maintenance intervals. It's a pity VAG never managed this - owner misery thereby maximised.
659.
Sent my registration form off a week ago as I have moved address. Since moving address I thought "what the heck, fancy a new car too" So, chopped in the current model on Saturday only to realise reg' is at DVLA and there is a postal strike. Called DVLA this morning, they answered the phone within 1 ring, spoke to a human who told me it had been done, was in the post. Now that is what I call good service. I was expecting at least 20mins of key pressing and robots telling me I was 2010th in the queue. Read more
I've never had anything other than good service.
I have always had stuff, V5's etc, sent promptly in the post, never had anything lost (unlike the Passport office), when I emailed about an enquiry, always had a prompt reply that explained more than the basic, and in the local office here even got a smile from the person other side of the counter (unlike the post office).
The only time I thought they had a problem it turned out the numpty I bought the car from didn't post the V5.
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Aim low, expect nothing & dont be disappointed
It is said that for every new carsold there are 4/5 2nd hand cars sold.
I realsie that HJs site has a car-by-car breakdown for cars stretching back 15 years but it is not the same as Manf Car Sites.
Look up most manufacturer sites and you will see the 2007 models have been updated with the 2008 specs/models. Would it not be useful if they had a archive of older models.
e.g. Subaru in the US have lists of the specs of models going back quite a few years - it allows access to information that could be lost - there certainly would not be car brochures availabale for models that were out of production.
The cost?
Minimal as all that is required is to archive information that exists. Read more
Could always use something like www.archive.org to get old copies of manufacturer websites.
Not always ideal but the data might be there.
Just to underline what many of us know (especially Ford owners).
Ensure you have a spare (a third in Ford cases) key.
It is a cheap insurance option.
Check out what the situation is with your vehicle both before you buy it / take delivery.
DT today.
Lost car keys 'cost motorists £98 million'
Motorists are being forced to spend as much as £326 on replacement car keys because of increasingly sophisticated alarm systems, according to a new survey.
A poll of 2,000 drivers found 16 per cent had lost their keys at least once while as many as one in ten did not own a spare set.
The report by Britannia Rescue estimated the total replacement bill for those who do not keep a spare set of keys would be £98m.
It usually costs about £200 to design, make and programme a new key but those used in some new cars cost significantly more, the survey found, as it is no longer a case of cutting a piece of metal to shape.
Advanced alarm and immobiliser systems mean Ford Focus owners face paying up to £266 for replacement keys, while Nissan Micra owners would have to spend as much as £326 to get back behind the wheel.
Martin Milliner, of Britannia Rescue, said: "Accessing vehicles built since 1998 is generally more time-consuming and expensive for drivers due to the introduction of increasingly sophisticated alarms, immobilisers, and shielded locks.
"The cost of getting back behind the wheel could really rocket if work is needed on the ignition or security system as well, but one clear way of avoiding this issue is to look after your spare key and keep it in a sensible place."
Read more
I don't know whether it's me not understanding the issue, but I got a spare key two years ago for my 03/03 Focus (not the remote key, but one which has a blue "chip") from a Ford dealer for about £10. Admittedly it wasn't a genuine spare, but I've used it regularly without any problem.
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L\'escargot.
Picked this up on Friday afternoon in Las Vegas when it had 93 miles on the clock. Now, at 790 miles, done on all sorts of different roads I'd like to offer my opinions on this vehicle.
In short, much better than I had expected. The interior is very nicely finished and seems to be made of 'nice to the touch' fabrics and plastics. One point of note is I found the boot to be quite small and the windscreen seems very close to the occupants.
It does about 350 miles to 14 US gallons of petrol, this costs about US $43. Its the 3.7 litre engine with an automatic gearbox. No idea what spec it is.
Make your own minds up about the look.
As a footnote, saw a few of the cars taking part in the 'Fireball Run' from Florida to California. Got a few snaps of the vehicles including a Bentley, an Aston Martin and a Bat Mobile. There was a GT40 and a Ferrari but they had roared off by the time my camera had turned itself on.
Will post a link once I have them loaded up.
Patrick
{header tweek - DD} Read more
Yes, it is a Jeep Liberty.
I'm coming up to changing my car -I get a car through the Motability scheme and have previously had a Ford Focus, and now have a C-Max.
I'm looking at the price list and have narrowed my choice down to two cars, the new Mondeo 2.0 Zetec Diesel, which is my sensible choice.
But I'm being lured to the dark side by the Megane CC - 130 1.9 Diesel. In the top spec it seems like a really good car and I really fancy something a bit different. I had a test drive last week and enjoyed it - the sun was shining and the roof was down - spent a couple of hours on different roads
99% of my driving is solo, don't carry much stuff with me, but I do tow a caravan 6-8 times a year. I do a lot of miles, hence the diesel.
A test drive of the mondeo was really too short to get a feel for the car. I had 10 minutes and was told by the dealer that if I wanted a longer drive I need to hire one!
So, should I go for the sensible choice (Mondeo) or the less practical option? Read more
If it helps, we've had a '54 plate Megane CC for almost 3 years now as a second car. The roof is used very frequently, often multiple times a day, and has caused no problems at all....
The car itself has not been completely fault free though; it has suffered a failed coil pack (ours is petrol) and 2 punctures. Although the punctures were not the cars fault obviously, I mention them because, as standard, the car comes without a spare wheel.
Some of the interior trim now looks its age; ours is also a Privilege and the light interior is pretty unforgiving.
Despite this it has been in the garage far less frequently for unscheduled work than our main car, a BMW, which is a year younger... We've been looking around recently at what to repace it with, and have come to the conclusion not to bother yet - if we did we'd end up with the same again, which seems a bit of a waste of money ;-)
Peter
Browse
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I'm a cheapskate and bought the cheapest branded tyre I could - Firestone Firehawk from etyres. Not too bad, a bit quieter than the tyres the car came with new (which I think were Dunlops) but handling, cornering nowhere near as good.
Wish I'd paid a little more and gone for something better.