September 2008
When DSG gearboxes were first available, they were claimed to be a great advance on old torque-converter automatics. Apart from faster and smoother gearchanges, the elimination of the torque converter was supposed to make them much more efficient, so that there would be no increase in fuel consumption or emissions.
That promise doesn't seem to have been fulfilled. HJ's test data on the new Skoda Superb shows that with the 2.0 TDI CR 170 engine, the DSG box adds 6g/km to the CO2 output and cuts the combined mpg from 47.1 to 42.2. (see www.honestjohn.co.uk/road_tests/index.htm?id=348&s...e)
There's a similar pattern on other cars, e.g.
Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDI 105PS: manual 57.6mpg 130g/km, DSG 47.9mpg 156g/km (see www.skoda.co.uk/ourcars.aspx)
Volkswagen Touran 2.0 TDI 140PS: manual 47.1mpg 159g/km, DSG 43.5mpg 172g/km (see www.volkswagen.co.uk/#/new/touran/which-model/engi.../ )
So it seems that while the DSG is more efficient than a torque-converter automatic, it still lags some way behind the efficiency of a manual. I don't understand why this should be the case, because surely the DSG as an automated manual has no more inefficiencies than a manual box, apart from a small weight increase which shouldn't account for the more than a tiny proportion of the efficiency reduction.
The only reason I can see for the consistent increase of ~10% in fuel consumption is that the DSG may be changing gear at different points to a manual gearbox on an economy drive. Is this the best explanation, or am I missing something? Read more
I read something about DSG the other day, I think in Sat's DT, I think the point was that while it is potentially as efficient as manual it is a lot heavier which could effect MPG and CO2 figures.
hello i need suggestions and a possible remedy for the cause of a lot of water collecting in the drivers footwell of my 2003 307 s SW (tdi 90). the water does not seem to be coming from the door as the carpet near the sill is dry however the sunken part of the footwell near the retaining clips for the mats is collecting quite a bit of water (i'm having to sponge it out) we have had plenty of rain lately and the windscreen has been replaced about a month ago
any ideas or pointers greatly appreciated Read more
had the very same thing with mine . There is a drain point in the sill somewhere. Took it into my local dealer and they fixed it within an hour and charged me 50 euro.
Hi guys,
I've had nothing but problems with my Fiesta 1.25 Zetec since I bought it approx 3 months ago. It's my first car so I can't afford to drop it off at the garage every time something goes wrong (since all my spare money is paying for my extortionate insurance).
After 2 months my clutch fully failed, this has since been rectified but around two weeks after that the engine seems to have lost power and is misfiring.
I've fitted a new fuel filter and set of spark plugs, which has increased the engine power, however it still doesn't feel as good as it was.
My main concern is the engine is now misfiring, both when running and when idling. My revs seem to be going quite high when in low gears as well. It also seems to be spluttering a bit when starting up (thought it still starts first time almost always) and the exhaust is 'chuffing' quite loudly.
I've been advised by a friend of mine that it is likely a fault on the fuel line and could be the HT leads, coilpack or injectors.
I'm getting no engine warning lights on at any point, and the car runs alright(ish) at the minute, but I am sure it is just a matter of time before it gives up on me again.
If anyone has any experience or advice regarding any of the faults I've mentioned I would really appreciate your advice and suggestions.
Cheers,
Kyle.
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Working a treat now, thanks for all the advice everyone.
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>The best time to seed a lawn is now
Mix the seed in with dry sand and scatter it or scatter it and then throw a thin layer of sand over the seed - or it just ends up as food for the birds!
Rake away any ofteh old dead stuff too because this still has the weedkiller in it and DON'T put it in your compost bin for obvious reasons!
Really as the title suggests, im after an oil extractor that will fit throught the dipstick tube to remove the engine oil. The reason for this is although the car has been regularly serviced by the same garage for six years (with annual oil changes) they used the extraction method, and the sump plug has not been moved in that time and it shows, i cant move it and its to risky to take to a garage.
Anything less than £30 will do as long as it removes most the oil
many thanks
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>>I am, the next time I go in to Vauxhall going to ask them what they use as an engine flush.
The Vauxhall garage where I worked will happily sell you a Forte flush - it's a good earner for them. It's added to the old oil, prior to the oil change, and the engine is warmed up for 10 minutes or so with it in the system.
Flushing oils are a waste of time and money IMO.
If you perform simple oil changes and filter changes at the manufacturer's recommended interval, using oil that meets or exceeds the manufacturer's spec, you'll be OK.
Since the mid 1980's oils have been *much* cleaner running - it isn't the use of aluminium, or "modern" engines, it's just the oil is much better than it was.
>>ensuring that the oil change is as clean as they can get it.
A serious waste of effort, and really damaging for the engine - not only for the time you run without oil, but then for the extra time to re-prime the pump when you start it up again. If you really want to be deviant about oil changing, just do it more often, without the "trimmings"!
We need to change our current primera hatchback for an estate car which will be able to fit 8' x 4' plasterboard in the back and other large items. Unfortunately the budget for this is peanuts ie under a grand + whatever we can get for the primera (probably £50!). Any recommendations as to what estates this kind of thing will fit in? Not bothered about front or real wheel drive. Would prefer petrol rather than diesel. Must be cheap to repair and never go wrong :-) Also would prefer 30 mpg in normal use if possible. I know, moon on a stick but it is always worth asking if anyone knows of anything suitable!
I am assuming old slab sided volvo estates are big enough. Is the primera estate big enough as that would be our first choice?
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Ordinary estates won't do. What you need is one of these:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:2005-05-07_Citromobile...G
Hi all,
Just got a year old Corsa with 14500 on the clock. Problem we're having is that when we first use the car for the first time that day, it seems to have no power to get properly moving. We live in sheffield, which is quite hilly, and as soon as we turn left at the end of our street up a small and not very steep hill, the car just hardly moves and takes about 3 seconds until the revs finally start moving and you rely on the turbo to kick in. Once you've used it for about 5 or 10 mins though, it seems to be alright. I've been beeped by so many cars already where I've pulled out in front of them with loads of time to spare, but the car just dies on its pink fluffy dice - who HASN'T read the no swearing forum policy then!!
Surely I shouldn't have to 'warm up' the car before it gets any decent pulling power? Anyone else having this problem? Do I need to return it for repair? Read more
Good stuff.......I've just read the thread and you have been led astray a little bit. i have the same engine in a Meriva that's done 43000 miles. It pulls strongly from 1500rpm in all gears, sets off without revs just by releasing the clutch, and flies on A roads and mWays, whilst doing 52 to the gallon. Now, a Meriva is a heavy car (1500+kg), so obviously you knew that your Corsa should do better than 35mpg !
From now on, you should log your MPG with receipts, so that you can "benchmark" the proper economy that it now achieves.
If it occurs again, log all the details of the run and get them involved asap. If they have little or no experince of the 1.7cdti engine in a corsa, ask them to compare your car to the same engined astra or meriva. they should have plenty of those.
I had trouble from the start with the car intermittently cutting out after decelerating, and numerous software upgrades failed to address the fault. Eventually, after a very strongly worded letter was sent to the dealer principal at the supplying garage, about the car being dangerous (it was great pulling out from junctions and roundabouts), they took it in and replaced the whole injection system and ECU. It has been faultess since - and I wish you the same trouble free ending !!
Hello i have just bought my first car a 1.3 ford fiesta finesse 2000.
Its done aprox 47,000 miles.
Everything seems fine with the car (except one thing) and on the test drive everything was ok. However on the way home from picking it up i've noticed there is a fault with the speedo. Sometimes it sits at zero and othertimes it jumps into action.
Because im a new driver who lives right down a road with about 11 speed camera(traps) i need to sort it pretty quick so i dont get any points!!!
Anyone know what could be wrong, if its a big job and how much i'm gunna be looking at spending?
Thanks for anyone that helps me out.
Louise Read more
its stopped counting the miles which it used to before this core plug was replaced?
Because the intermittant speedo fault has turned into a pernament one! I'd be sure it wasn't counting all the miles before!
The gearbox-mounted speed sensor is a common failure point, especially on Focuses.
Any ideasi've heard the speedo was linked to the gearbox from 2000 models?
Take 100 years off that and you might be nearer the mark.
The alternator on my 1995 K11 Micra has packed up. And possibly the battery, too.
What's the cheapest way to get working replacements?
* Ring round some scrap yards. But a friend at work advised me that there is no guarantee that their alternators would not be duff also. He advised I look for a reconditioned alternator. Where is the best place to get these and what is the likely cost?
* Maybe a daft question. Is it possible to buy second hand batteries?
Thanks
Mike Read more
If you can find a good local auto-electrical place they will have the facilities to test the alternator for you if you take the component into them. Should they find something wrong then they should also be able to repair it for you, e.g. change the diode pack or regulator, which should work out cheaper than a reconditioned alternator.
If you're changing the battery anyway, and the alternator isn't putting out over about 15 volts (they can, undercertain fault conditions, output a very high voltage which will "cook" your new battery!) then just see how you go in the next week or so. With luck it might just have been the battery.
One final thing. Make sure that you haven't got a permanent load drawing current from the battery, even when the ignition is switched off and the car is locked-up for the night. I once needlessly changed a perfectly good battery for a brand new one, only for the new one to be totally flat the next time I came to use the car!
The reason?
On carrying out some investigative work I discovered there was a fault in one of the two horns fitted to this particular car. The horns were permanently live, even with the ignition switched off, and this particular fault was causing a current of about 3 amps to be permanently drawn from the battery even when the car wasn't being used. The horn didn't sound, it was just drawing this current continuously.
You can check for something similar by removing one of the battery connections and placing a digital multimeter set to measure current (amps) between the battery terminal and the removed lead(s). There is bound to be some current drawn in this condition with the ignition switched off due to alarm systems, etc, but anything over about 100mA needs further investigation.
I wonder if the mystery driver is a motoring journalist. I have no evidence that this is the case, but I would guess that a significant proportion of Veyron road-miles are put in by people connected with the motor industry, motor sport, motor trade or motoring press.
My father worked in the motor industry years ago and someone offered him a drive in a 7-litre AC Cobra in central London. I think he said he drove it a couple of blocks and decided it was time to call it a day - despite being perfectly au-fait with high-performace cars and driving!