June 2008
***** This thread is now closed, please CLICK HERE to go to Volume 22 *****
As the title suggests, this thread is for all things Formula One and other general motorsport related stuff.
This is Volume 21.
Usual rules apply. When we get to around 100 posts, the thread will be locked and the next volume will start.
PLEASE NOTE
As with the IHAQ & the Computer threads, When posting a NEW topic, please "Reply to" the first message in this thread, i.e. this one. This keeps each topic in it's own separate segment and stops each new topic from getting mixed up in amongst existing topics. Also please remember to change the subject header.
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Hi all, just taken the wife's Sharan in for MoT, but it's failed on the abs warning light. This light only comes on intermittently and there doesn't seem to be any pattern to it. I wonder if anybody else has had this problem. Is there a way of checking the system without going to a main dealer. Thanks in advance. Sparky 100.
SLT Read more
Not saying it is this at fault but we are starting to see a demand for ABS Sensors on these vehicles, including Ford Galaxys & Seat Alhambra's. You will need the number off the old one to identify it correctly though.
At the weekend I managed to reversed into a low concrete wall in my Octavia.
The bumper sustained abrasion damage on the corner to the extent of making a a hole about half inch across. Do they repair these things and if so how or am I looking at a replacement bumper?
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I had a 'good samaritan' punch a hole in my bumper in the supermarket car park and leave a nice crack in it as well. Don't fancy the open wallet surgery of the local bodyshop - any 'Blue Peter' style repair tips anyone?
Car is 2.0tdi altea xl.
My car was in for clutch flywheel to be replaced on fri. This was at my request for them to check the clutch and also engine hesitancy. They diagnosed flywheel as being the problem, apparently a common problem. Havent really driven it much over weekend.
Coming home from work tonight, notice that, under acceleration, quite a bit of black smoke coming out the back, especially about 3-3500 revs in third gear. Thinking this is good, clearing out all the soot, I floor it a few times and hold at 3500 and the back is filled with black smoke whilst doing this, a good old "Italian tune-up" me thinks!.
Go into house momentarily and go back out, switch on ignition, and hear rattling from engine compartment. On checking, the fans are going round, but the "u" shaped plastic air pipe that connects the air intake immediately behind the radiator to the rest of the system, is lying down on top of the fans and has been pierced, presumably by the fan.
I have fitted this back on now, and am going straight to dealer in morning.
Will this have caused any major issues, will it have made matters worse that I was flooring the revs? Am I safe to lay the blame of this loose pipe at dealer's door as I have never been under the bonnet other than to top up washers and check oil? And certainly havent been under it since Friday.
I want to go in prepared for them!
And I am off to France in car at end of week!
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Cheers DP, but I took it in this morning first thing and told them what had happened. They have taped the gash in the pipe and ordered me a new one.
Re possible damage to engine, they said there won't be any (they would, wouldn't they!). The smoke was due to the mixture not being right due to sensors sending duff info but if it had caused any problems the engine management light would have came on.
Seems to be running OK now with no smoke.
A friend had his car damaged at both ends this weekend. He stopped in a queue of traffic as did the car behind him. The following car did not stop. Four cars sustained damage.
As details were being swopped our friend leant on the bonnet of the offending car while writing on his notepad and was told, in no uncertain terms, "Do NOT lean on my car, you will damage it!"
Not sure she had noticed that SHE had just damaged four cars, including her own. We asked what our friend had said in response - he said by the time he had lifted his jaw off the floor the moment had passed!
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A friend had his car damaged at both ends this weekend. He stopped in a
queue of traffic as did the car behind him. The following car did not stop.
Four cars sustained damage.
Be interesting to know how that gets settled - normally even if you're pushed into the car in front it's still down to you.
Around J15 approx of the M25 at 1.30 this morning, heading back to J11 I was passed by a Peugeot.
My speedometer showed 80mph, and I would guess the Peugeot was doing in the region of 120mph. It went past as if I was stationary.
I thought to myself "Rather you than me" as he went under a gantry (And this is where I would like to know if I was imagining things) and I saw some flashes and the faint outline of a speed camera sign displayed on the dot matrix displays.
Is this a genuine feature of the gantries - warning when someone has been caught? A test mode of some sort left activated? Just the flash 'leaking' through to the oncoming traffic display side of the gantry? Or just my tired mind playing tricks?!
This is not a speeding thread BTW. Read more
My experience is that the "get of my way" brigade have to weave from lane to lane to get past those obeying the set speed.
I agree that some numpty is operating the signals at times and that the speed should drop by 10mph from the first gantry thus getting everyone slowing down together over a longer distance. I've seen it drop from 70 to 50 to 40 within a few hundred yards. Then back up to 50.Which is crazy. So we need a concerted effort to get the signs correct for the traffic flow and conditions and get everyone to stick to them to make it work.
Just because drivers know certain gantries do not have cameras should not make a difference in driving attitude. As I said, getting impatient and zooming off does not help any situation. It makes it worse. Especially when so many do it.
There could be a good reason why they are operated so early in the morning. Maybe there is debris in the road or a broken down vehicle. Something that maybe unforseen if you're tempted to floor it above these limits. The controllers will always have a reason why they have actuated the signs.
I do agree they could be managed better. But it has to be a joint effort from them and the road user for it to work as designed.
If anybody has had dealings with National Car Spares read this item from the Liverpool Echo.
tinyurl.com/6qthl9
{slight tweak to subject line}
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I think the lesson here is only ever pay for anything worth more than £100 on a credit card. At least then you can get your money back from the CC company and let them worry about it from there.
Read in a science mag recently that scientists have the ability to make buildings with floors sandwiched with some electricity generating technodooberry stuff that creates a charge with movement. It was claimed the footfalls of thousands of employees walking through the foyer of a building could generate enough elastictrickery to power the lights etc. The same could be done for shopping malls etc.
What if the same stuff was applied to a motorcar. i.e the slightist movement of panels, or floorpan generated sufficient charge to top up batteries. maybe a generator could be combined with the wheels spinning or the suspension working, so that each time a bump was hit, a charge is created and stored. You'd never run out of juice in London with all those speed humps!
Anyone else got any ideas on saving planet Erf whilst still being able to enjoy the freedom of a car? Read more
>>. i.e the slightist movement of
panels or floorpan generated sufficient charge to top up batteries.
It does, they do. Especially where different metals are contiguous in the presence of moisture and road salt. Makes a little battery whose only effect is to accelerate and worsen corrosion. Ask any one with an old aluminium-panelled car.
Hi folks,
Just wondering what people's thoughts are on the Proton Savvy compared to similar sized / priced cars...
Don't see many of them about on the streets, but Autotrader (along with Daewoo Matiz and Ford Ka's) has hundreds of them...
For example 2007 (07) Proton Savvy 1.2 Street (rear parking sensors, air con etc) 1,168 miles on the clock = £4999
Sounds a great price for a car with less than 1200 miles on the clock.... Read more
The reason they are cheap is because few people know what they are and as such, need to be cheap to catch the imagination. Price is good for sure, so if thats all you care about its a great value option.
Interesting styling is about all I can say about it. Its not very frugal for a small car, is unexceptional in almost every respect and dealers are thin on the ground. Emissions are not as good as they can be, but its old-tech as Protons always are.
It really depends if you want a small car or a great small car for a little bit more cash really.
Might be hard to sell on with almost zero market awareness.
I have been considering various supermini size cars and the Fiat Grande Punto had been fairly high on my list for a while. However, it does seem that any model above the smallest engined variant has a Sport spec with the accompanying sports suspension. This is not what I want which is a bit more power but a comfortable ride. The roads in my area are pretty bad and I don?t need regular visits to the dentist to replace fillings.
Then I saw the new Mazda 2 and fell for the looks of this as I did for the Punto. However, it seems that the most ?powerful? variant is a Sport version again (1.5 Sport). Does anyone know if this has sports suspension as well? I find that Sports suspension on a medium size car is not too bad but on a small car can be pretty tiresome.
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Try a Suzuki Swift 1.5 GLX or a Yaris 1.3 TR as well. The Yaris seems more expensive but better deals are on offer (assuming you're buying new). The ride on both seems fine; neither is the sports model (Swift Sport / Yaris SR - by the way the Swift Sport is faster, whereas the Yaris SR is a cosmetic job).
Elder daughter has just got her third 1.3 Yaris. We looked at a Mazda 2 but it didn't do anything that the Yaris doesn't, and the local Mazda dealer was a disgrace, in contrast to the excellent Toyota garage (Octagon Bracknell).
Browse
Cheers for that - just checked the schedule and there are races from 9.10 onwards until 6pm!
Going to be a long day!!