December 2021
Hi how hot do the surface of car tyres get, the tread that is in contact with road? Read more
Just a quick note from us Moderators on behalf of HJ to say "Merry Christmas" to all our members and readers. This place would not be what it is without you. Many thanks to all who give their time and advice so freely to assist others.
Have a great time over Christmas and best wishes for the New Year.
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And just a line to add my thanks to the moderate moderators, and echo my commiserations re the too early departure of the esteemed Avant, whom I wish I had met and to whom I shall raise a glass.......very shortly.
Hear hear....
SMMT figures up to the end of November are good for some, not so for others. The big winners (ranked in percentage increase/decrease) are:
Cupra (SEAT’s performance/luxury brand) up from 50 in 2020 to 7020 YTD.
Polestar up from 68 to 3663
Subaru up from 823 to 1931
MG up from 16994 to 29474
Hyundai up from 44141 to 64940
KIA up from 66948 to 87914
And the losers are:
Mitsubishi down from 8545 to 5125
Renault down from 40941 to 27817
Ford down from 141298 to 111332
Jaguar down from 22127 to 17135
Some will be a range that isn’t as attractive as previously (Jaguar), some will be particularly hard hit by the semiconductor shortage and a lack of competitive EV offering (Renault), whilst some of the big winners were newcomer brands.
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Largely pointless, the figures are comparing with 2020 during lockdown. More relevant to compare with 2019 which saw Hyundai sell 83284 cars in the UK for example.
1. Really?
2. Owner expectations?
3. Lack of tech kit to go wrong in the first place?
Must admit I’m very surprised. Read more
Checking the VIN plates on several Jazz it looks like they are built in Japan. Wasn’t this the plan when all the models went hybrid ?
Bring production back to the main plant rather than regional differences and local production ?...
Since when was a starting price of £14,000 for a car from the smallest / built-to-a-budget car class been considered cheap?! And we're not talking of a manufacturer known for build quality and reliability here either.
I usually get responses to common sense statements like that from people involved in the car trade saying "It's cheap compared too.." then they quote another recently introduced model that gained a huge price hike over its very similar, sometimes almost identical, previous model.
This is why people aren't buying cars in the same numbers they used to (even before Covid and chip shortages etc.) it's because car prices have gone past being too expensive and have now become obscenely ridiculous in recent times.
Although it's probably part of the car makers wider plan to convince people, then get them more comfortable with, accepting the idea of having two never ending, interest boosted 'mortgages' - one for your overpriced home and one for your overpriced car, neither of which you'll ever actually own.
If that's their plan, along with the great EV pricing scam, I'll be keeping my current car, and keep fixing it until I don't need a car any more. Read more
New car prices have risen considerably. They used to be about 60% of the cost of 1972 cars when inflation is taken into account, until about 4 years ago. Now we have the situation where even very ordinary cars like the Kia Rio are £19000 if you want satnav, aircon, reversing camera etc.
Manufacturers are making hay whilst the sun shines....
You must have been the result of a prank Don't take it too seriously . Read more
Thanks for the info.
unless you can always charge at home don't buy an EV charging at public charging is expensive and unreliable. There are many Youtube videos showing this one is by PetrolPete. Read more
Trouble is, these new nice looking electric cars are sooo expensive that the average driver can not afford them. It’s ok that the government want us to go “electric” but at what cost!!!! and I realise we have to help with climate change, things need to be done but again at what cost. It all comes down to governments make the decisions, but we end up paying for these one way or the other.
Hopefully the price will come down as production ramps up, but in my many years life experience with various models this dose not happen (prices seem to always go up and never down) as the big players seem not to want to do this.
Ah well we can only dream of what’s it’s going to be like in the future, (flying cars next stop) ?? Read more
It looks like what the next Lexus UX should be…
I agree looks very lexusy well on the outside anyway
BBC reports over 6000 miles not 7000 miles. Don't embelish the facts. No report about whether tyres were actually legal (1.6mm+) or not. Many MOT testers advise tyres at near legal limit to drum up business. Mine failed MOT on brakes, with an advisory that tyres were near the legal limit, but on the retest they had magically grown to 4mm of tread.
Why would a Mercedes fishtail? Aren't they front wheel drive?
This sad story should concentrate on the real reason, a drunk unskilled driver, aggressively driving a powerful car, probably at excessive speed in a dangerous manner for the road conditions and the limits of the car/tyres.
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i think that, despite the headlines, the tyres are a red herring.
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Hi,
Just looking for some information that I was thinking when driving around today.
There is a Grey Box Red Light Camera situated on Park Place Road by the New Theatre Cardiff and a set of lights there consequently. If you go straight ahead, there is another set of light with no Red Light camera; I was wondering would the previous Grey Box camera trigger for the second set of lights which is approximately 121 metres away or would it only trigger for the set of lights that it is closest too?
Thanks! (No need for berating nasty comments, i’m just wondering and would like to further understand the rules of the road) Read more
Red light cameras focus on the stop line. If you cross it after the light is red (there's a small margin for error) then you're photographed and ticketed.
The Leicester junction shown has what look like repeaters to help visibility. They're after the stop line so provided the line wasn't crossed on red you're OK. ...
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Further to above, I’ve just been talking to a friend who’s a test driver and tyre tester for a living.
From a tyre that has been on a drive at an ambient of 5 degrees, a 10 minute trundle to the shops will produce an instantaneous surface temperature of 35 degrees, but they shed that heat quickly, so by the time you’ve got out and put your hand on it, the tyre will have cooled.
Three laps of a handling circuit will produce a figure of about 65 degrees, but, again, the temperature drops as soon as the loadings come off the tyre.