Now I've seen posts about floor mats slowing a car by restricting the travel of the accelerator pedal but this may be a new one.....
At lunchtime I had to make a quick journey from the office into Bournemouth, about 2 miles. At a roundabout on the dual carriageway I put my foot down to nip into a suitable gap in the traffic. I then lifted my foot, only to find the accelerator caught under the front of the floor mat, with me hurtling towards the chap in the Beemer in front of me.
Cue frantic de-clutch, sounds of 5 cylinders on the rev-limiter, heavy braking and desperate attempts to tug the mat from the pedal with my left foot.
The mat in question is the proper Alfa 156 mat, complete with lugs to hold it in place. It seems that over time the front edge has started to curl up and in doing so has reached the point where it will hold the accelerator at 3/4 throttle.
Needless to say the mat is now in the boot, along with my pants.
May I suggest you all check that your mats won't do the same?
No Dosh - but then who has?
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This always used to happen on our Land Rover. All you really need to do is get a knife out and cut out a strip where the snagging is occuring. Preumably it is at the top of the mat and should not be too difficult to rectify (not that you should need to in the 1st place)
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No dosh
If the mat is an approved one by Alfa and came with the vehicle may I suggest a letter to them of your lucky escape. They may make an amendment as to how these are secured and save someones skin.
DVD
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The other thing to watch out for at this time of the year is that can of deicer that you threw in after defrosting the windscreen, which has a habit of rolling under the brake pedal at innoportune times.
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De-Icer? Have you seen what that stuff does to your car?
Obviously not as much damage as a car mat can do to your underwear....
DVD - good point. I'm going to take the matter up with the supplying dealer as they fitted the mats. I took the opportunity to check the car over after your post and it looks like the lugs weren't placed correctly.
No Dosh - but then who has?
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I had quite a fright in my Tipo when the fuse box (situated above the pedals) dropped open, jamming behind the brake pedal just as I was about to start going down a steep bank. (Yet another reason not to put major speed bumps on a hill! - it was the jolt that caused it to come loose and this was at <5mph over the hump...) Luckily I was only going slowly so was able to stop on the handbrake and clip it back in place...
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It's a good point. I always check my mats and have to readjust them every time I get in the car. The mats in my previous car used to ride up and made driving uncomfortable at the very least (I often had to give them a quick tug back into position while I was driving too.) They were the proper Xsara ones with a decent backing on, not cheap slippy ones; I did get a set of bolts to secure them properly when I bought the car but I just never fancied having holes drilled in the floor pan. I've recently changed cars and the mats in this one do the same - and this time I haven't got any bolts even if I wanted to use them. But I assume you can get them for most makes.
I suppose you either get the Black and Decker out or remember to adjust the mats every time you get in the car or at frequent intervals whilst driving. So securing them properly is a much safer option.
And mats play havoc with my stilletos anyway.
Carole
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The Saxo mats come with a screw fixing that only screws into the carpet, not the metalwork.
My Xsara uses cheap, but good, mats from Costco. They have spikes all over the backing, but slip where the plastic floor is by the pedals.
Instant fix = 2 big blobs of blu-tak, and stamp on the mat to press it in place. Hey presto, secure mats at a quarter of the price of Citoren ones, and they last much longer in my experiences.
If you insist on buying Citroen mats, make sure they are the luxury ones, they are worth a lot more than the cost premium. I have used both sets, the luxury ones were given after Citroen agreed extraordinarily quick wear by my size 14's
Ben
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Similar experience (many years ago) a puppy (yes a puppy) I was carriyng, did a Steve McQueen with the Dog Guard and got loose and ran to the front of the car and was small enough to fit behind the pedal - arrrrrrgh !
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Similar tale, years ago late for work, shoes untied, trailing lace gets trapped in door and stops foot short of brake pedal, fortunately 1 mph and still on own drive....DOH!
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I presume that it was a Pug puppy? ;-))
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Reminds me a bit of when I first had my old Renault. Completely unknown to me, the problem first came to light when the mat must have slipped bit, revealing the hole in the carpet where the clutch just got stuck. A little worrying till I knew what it was, and thereafter was vey careful that mat was in the right place all the time.
HF
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Taling of car mats, I was somewhat bemused about 6 months ago when my car was broken into and they nicked my son's bike from the boot and the two front car mats - missed the £20 loose change in the ash tray... The mats were both in a rotten state. Is there a secret about these about which I don't know?
Splodgeface
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Strange, they also nicked the two cheap front mats in my mate's car when they nicked it(they left the back mats). Although it had been left abandoned and open in a back lane for a day, so naturally there wasn't much left. Even the old parcel shelf with speaker holes in it that he was about to throw away! :)
Blue
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This happened to a driver in our village, pulling up to the front petrol pump in the Texaco, at about 10 mph-ish ... making its way forward nice and steady, the car promptly drove into the floor-to-ceiling window pane, straight through the twix's and marsbars, past the muffins and kissed the cold pasties!
Needless to say, was quite a story around town.
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Mats can pick up all kinds of forensic evidence and are difficult to wipe clean. Most car thieves will, given half a chance, wipe down the pedals and steering wheel before disposing of the mats when they dump your pride & joy.
No Dosh - but then who has?
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