I seem to recall that a few members of the BR experimented with adding ethanol to petrol to improve mpg. It now seems that Ford have been researching this and designed a "direct-injection ethanol engine". The engine runs on petrol but injects ethanol when maximum power is needed. The use of ethanol allows a higher compression ratio to be used.

See this weeks new scientist for the article. Read more

I currently have a 2001 VW Golf with 70k on the clock. I want to replace it with an economical car with a bigger boot and better access for my golf clubs and trolley. Read more

hi, my sisters rang last week to say she lost the ability to change gear on the motorway. the car has since been recovered i looked at it and found the clutch release arm to be seized i understand this is fairly common and this week have had the gearbox off and replaced it, i left the clutch as it appeared ok and has only covered 50k. now ive reassembled it all she still can't select gear with the engine running. the new release arm moves freely. ive had the slave cylinder apart and there are no signs of leaking there, although it only has 1 seal and the mg parts catalogue appears to show 2.

i have bleed the clutch system using a pressurised easy bleed system i get a good flow of fluid from the top union on the master cylinder aswell as from the slave cylinder, the pedal feels good too but still i can't select any gear when the engine is running. there does seem to be alot of flex in the slave cylinder mounting bracket but im not sure if this would cause an issue. im at a bit of a loss as to where to go next? do i replace the slave or master cylinders or do i look towards the release bearing or clutch components. the car showed no sign of clutch failure before this, i can be sure of this as i took it for a hard drive shortly before it broke down.

the only other point of note i can see is if you hold the clutch pedal down then open the slave cylinder bleed nipple to bleed it the pedal fails to return when the nipple is closed, if you pull the pedal back up manually then it operates fine after that until you open the nipple with it depressed again.

cheers
chris Read more

I remember watching coverage of a big international motorshow a short while back where the designer of some concept car was being interviewed. He was stating that the car in question was aimed at the youth market and how difficult it was to satisify their demands as the latest generation 'are no longer in love with the motor-car'.

Is this statement indicitive of the general attitude todays youth have towards motoring? Was it true that in days gone by, more people had a genuine interest in motoring? I suppose with eco-mentalism being drilled into school kids from day 1, any notions of enthusiasm for cars and motoring will be quashed early on.

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Hi, my parking sensors are constantly buzzing when in reverse but nothing is obscuring the sensors, I wish to locate the control box to unplug each sensor in turn to located the faulty sensor. I have removed all the carpeting and the arch trims in the boot, but can only locate the buzzer. Does anybody know for sure if it is located behind the bumper? and would I have to remove the bumper for access? There are no details in a well known car repair manual, any advice would be appreciated. Thank you. Read more