August 2008
50 MPH max everywhere!
Is this what all roads will be like soon? Herself and I went out yesterday, from Leek in Staffordshire, into Derbyshire, Asbourne, Belper and then north on the A6 to Matlock. All of the open sections of this drive (ie, not 40 or 30 limits in towns and villages) are now limited to 50mph.
This route has gradually been taken over by 50 limit areas and some of the 40 areas seem to have expanded, now the transformation is complete.
This seems to be a trend here in Staffordshire on major A roads, but leaving lesser A and B roads to the 60 mph national limit.....so far.
Is this just happening here or are other areas doing the same?
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on switching the ignition after a few seconds there is a sound from the fuel injection distributor as if a pin moves or drops ive never heard this before. also the car wont start after replacing all ignition items checked fuel pumps changed fuel filter all ok there Read more
tried to start on a squirt of easystart cranked it over for about a minute before hand pulled 2 plugs out both were dry fuel pumps were are working ok
A friend has asked me to do an oil change on her Fiesta. Ive never done Ford oil changes before. Is the sump plug a hexagon head type or allen screw type where i need an hexagon key to undo it. Thanks in anticipation. Read more
Thanks.
Idly browsing the Autotrader and saw a 57 reg BMW 520d M Sport at £19995. This is a good £10'000 saving on new. (From a non BMW main dealer). Its the older engine with the lower horse power and higher C02.
Then did a check of BMW dealer cars and similar cars with the newer engine are £4-5000 more expensive.
Is the new engine that much better. (Taking into account the BMW dealer 'premium').
(I absolutely cannot afford to buy it and will not be making any enquiry- repeat 100 times) Read more
In the case of rear wheel steering, I don't see that there's that much technical risk. Electric PAS has now gone through the difficult development type phase, and is now quite reliable. The only additions are;
1) to drive the motor via computer control rather than switching by sensing steering column torque. (When you consider the complexity of the technology that's required to sense steering column torque, putting the motor under the control of a computer is not a difficult step.)
2) to add a feedback sensor which tells th computer how far the rear steering rack has actually moved.
3) to add an ECU. As we know, ECUs are hugely reliable, and any faults are more likely to be found in the wiring, the earths, and the connectors.
>>A lot of this stuff sold to the general public is flimflam, not progress.
Quite a lot of what goes into a modern car, I agree, is flim flam, but, I think rear wheel steering is an obvious step which overcomes some of the limitations in our current rather agricultural steering systems, and is a vital step towards the technical demonstration and public acceptance of computer controlled steering of all 4 wheels independently. Like all other aspects of vehicle control, from ignition advance to anti-lock braking, I'm sure that a computer will do a much better job of it than 99% of us do for 99% of the time.
I was looking in a magazine recently about 'green' cars. It said that the production and disposal of vehicles only accounts for 15% of the total emissions. They were saying that a new car is better for the environment. I always thought that it was nearer 40%, does anybody know what the real figures are? How many miles do they expect a car to last when they calculate these figures. If everybody got a new car every 5 years then I think it would be more than 15%.
I've just had a look at some figures, and it doesn't look like fuel consumption has improved much. I've looked at a couple of common cars, and the improvement is much less than 15%. I've done a comparison between a current, and 15 year old models.
1.0 Corsa - improvement of upto 9% (depending the model)
1.6 Mondeo - improvement of just over 8%
2.5 Mondeo - improvement of between 0% and 11% depending on the model
Looking at these figures I can't see how it will be good for the environment. There are a few cars out there such as the Aygo/C1/107, which may have a positive impact, but unless your getting one of those I think it will be bad for the environment. Read more
I accept that we have global warming but as far as I can see the
jury is out regarding whether it's due to the profligate actions of mankind or is
a natural phenomenon.
We will definately run out of oil though, and it'll be within my lifetime if we don't do something about it.
I am thinking about buying an early 90's MX5 as a weekend toy (though might use it for commmuting to work sometimes).
It will be garaged, be a 2nd car and only cover about 3000 miles a year, so will it quallify for classic car insurance ?
Also, any advice on what to look out for on an early MX5, would be gratefully received.
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Correction: mine is A plan insurance NOT A1. Sorry.
recently ran in to a problem with my horn in the 2000 ford mondeo.. and it will not turn off.. just about anything seem to turn it on even if the vehicle is switched off.. i have taken it to the garage and they changed the relay it was ok for a day but then the the next day it just started again.. and i had to take out the fuse to turn it off..
since i dont have much idea about cars i am just confused.. and this is a annoying problem.. i would really appreciate if somebody could say anything to enlighten me about it. =/
slt Read more
I've just woken from a terrible dream (really, this is not a metaphor).
My daughter has a 2 year old 1.1 Active Panda that has given flawless service. However, in my dream it was overheating, the dealer had taken the steering wheel off and replaced it, rotated by 90 degrees, the gear change linkage was seized (and for some odd reason, rod-operated and in the boot!). In addition, the car was riddled with rust.
Pleae help me, what does this all mean. I was sober last night but had been eating very strong blue cheese!
Any other motoring dreams, we could start up a dream analysis thread. Read more
I thought I had dreamed this, but no.....my new car really has spoilers on both front wiper blades. This is quite an unusual configuration, is it not ?
Down at the local VW dealer on Friday having the Scenic serviced (as you do - friends in handy places), as they were unloading a metallic blue mkIII Scirocco from a transporter.
With the exception of the Alfa 159, I can't remember the last recently launched mainstream car I saw that tugged at the heart strings quite as much. It's stunning in the flesh - much more so than in the photos. Looks muscular and aggressive from some angles (rear / three quarter, but also pretty at the same time (front and side)
It even had a surprisingly fruity burble from the exhaust - this was a four pot of some description.
Has anyone seen one yet? What do you think?
Cheers
DP
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It's ok, looks a little bland IMO. It doesn't look as distinctive as the original did.
I think the real surprise may be the the new Hyundai coupe. RWD too.
interesting and salutory experience of a driver in one of the weekend papers' Money sections...
She had breakdown cover (Green Flag's roadside assistance) "free" as part of paying for a "premium" bank acct. On way home from Wiltshire to home in Wales car died, stranding her on on M4 hard shoulder. She phoned Green Flag, told 'em she was 23 miles from the Severn Bridge on English side. Recovery vehicle arrived (in 30 mins, not the 60 they predicted), but there was bad news. Under the bank's policy she was only covered for a 10 mile radius of home. Later complained she had been misled, but bank pointed out she had been sent all info re Green Flag cover - she thought it was "junk mail".
Lesson: always check the small print - and remember, banks never give anything away! Read more
When I read my RAC booklet, it said 5 call outs per year for basic policy.
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BBD - try the A65 on a Sunday, it is just like Poland - plenty of fools doing mad overtakes into blind bends. Another biker was killed on there just this weekend.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/756748...m
I saw the aftermath - not pretty.