October 2013
I've currently got 205/50/17s on my Ford Focus 55 2.0 Titanium which is a pain during the winter at any sign of slush or snow. Only on our estate, the main roads are fine.
I did give some consideration to buying a smaller set of steel wheels and swapping them for Winter and it was recommended to go for 205/55/16s which seem to be one of the options my car could have had.
Needing new tyres anyway I looked and for anything decent at 17" it's starting £120+ whereas for the 205/55/16s they seem almost half the price.
Then I had a thought. If I bought a set of alloys at 205/55/16 and new tyres it'd probably only cost me the price of the 17" tyres and I'd make cost savings over the years on tyres. I could even sell my 17" ones on eBay.
1. Would I notice any difference having 205/55/16s in slush/snow rather than the 205/50/17s?
2. Would I need to tell my insurance company since 205/55/16 is an option on the sticker in the door?
3. Would the smaller wheels be ok for my brake discs on the 2.0?
Thanks for your help! Read more
Please dont judge me for wanting a failry big 4x4 but here goes
I want a 4x4 for under £1000. I have some experience with them but dont green lane etc, it will used for lss than 5k miles a year... Read more
Hyundai iX35 and Santa Fe, Kia Sportage and Sorento can all be bought with fwd only, as well as 4wd.
Hi all
I was curious as to when a Diesel engine is considered to be run in. The reason I ask is that my current Seat, a Exeo 2.0 TDI has just covered 110,000 miles. It is four years old next March and has a full main dealer service history.
Not until it clocked 80,000 Did the engine feel as though it had really loosened up. Now it's running better than ever and seems to become more refined, quiet, smoother and more responsive with each mile I drive. It lives mainly on the motorway.
This car has been totally reliable and has only had service consumables replaced. Read more
German DB taxis normally do 1 million kilometers before they are pensioned off most end up in Africa to start a new life.
I've recently bought this car. It's a 04 model. It's been fine and was owned by a friend and mechanic. My other half decides to disconnect the battery. Now you have to excuse me here. But I am totally blonde in this respect! Anyway since he's done that all sorts of faults seemed to of arisen. Nothing actually wrong with the car. But the esp light came on. Went off and hasn't come on since and an engine fault has no come on. Bit again. No actual fault with car. When he connect the battery he said it sparked. I'm wondering if there's been some sort of power surge. Can anyone help?
Thank you in advance Read more
It's quite normal for the 2nd battery lead to spark as it's connected. Has the car been serviced as per requirements? Check the oil & coolant level are correct & give it an Italian tuneup when next on a good clear road.
If you continue to get odd alarms you will need a diagnostic code read.
My 20 year old daughter recently joined a gym. Two weeks afer her first visit she received notification from her insurance company that she was being accused of damaging a vehicle in the gym's carpart. The accuser said they have photos. of both cars and that they had tried to find the owner of my daughters micra in the gym but had not been successful.
My daughter was bemused and said that she had not had any such accident. Yesterday she received from her Insurance company a few photos. these showed her car parked in the bay next but one (a clear car parking space between the cars) to a polo with damage to its rear right wheel arch. They also showed close up damage on the polo which went clearly up and over the wheel arch with maybe a hint of some blue in the scuffing. they also showed a picture of her front right bumper by her lower wheel with a graze on it passing straight across onto the wheel trim. On examining her car there was indeed this small mark which she had not noticed. The scuff on her lower wheel surround which continues on her ttrim edge show her car had to be stationery when received as the chances of the wheel coming to rest exactly in the same lscuff line would be hihgly unlikely. The much higher marks on the complainents could only have been made by her car in the main iif she had been levitating. ... Read more
Well done Eli, congrats to both of you.
The name of the insurer has come up on various forums and not for praise, another name added to the list of companies to avoid, i shall also avoid the parent company mentioned....
My daughters car has done 56k plus miles and is having problems selecting gears.
The vauxhall garage tells her a pin and cap need replacing in the gearbox. However they say they cannot get the parts and she needs a new gearbox.!! s this true and is there another way to sort this out please. She has not got £500 plus pounds.... Read more
Just curious...since these cars are missing a wheel, does that make them harder to drive? Do they tend to tip over? When driving them do they feel like a normal car? I've never had the privilege of driving one. Read more
the issue with the Reliant 3 wheel layout [done to increase load space]....isn't about the vehicle......but more about the driver.
In the same way a motorcycle combination takes a different sort of driver /rider skill to a solo motorcycle, or a car.....
MANY THANKS Read more
Thank you works great
cheers
Hello new here.
... Read more
Hello, I am a new member to the forum and live in the US, Florida to be exact. I am not new to British car ownership and have owned a 1964 Jaguar, 1961 Rover P4 100 and a 1959 Peerless. Two out of three were right hand drive.
I recently fell in love with an exteemely clean 1980 Rolls Royce Silver Spirit and have read as much as I can find about the Spirit and the Spur; of course I did this after I purchased the car. She is a beautifully maintained RHD with 78,000 miles and drives like a dream.... Read more
Ow! That's painful. Fortunately this car has spent it's live in Texas and Florida where rust is not usually an issue so the body and undercarriage are rust free. Thanks for your response.
Browse
Both tyre choices have the same width of 205, and so they both have the same road contact area which gives the same braking efficiency. You will have a more comfortable ride with a deeper profile tyre.
There are a couple of wheel and tyre suppliers on the Internet who offer a full set of German-made steel wheels complete with Winter or all-weather tyres such as Kleber Quadraxers (which are very good in snow - I've used them).