The new news 24 thread

[captain_70s]

You can get classic insurance on Triumph Acclaims, so I could smoke about in an old Honda and look like a pensioner and pay less insurance and tax than I currently pay to smoke around in an old Honda and look like a pensioner...

 

Interesting.

[Guest Hooli]

But you'd have to dress as a pensioner...

 

 

...ahh, carry on

[RobT]

The Cavalier gained a fresh ticket today. It needed welding to the sill ends and NS rear wheel arch, new exhaust middle and rear, and a few other bits. The rear box is a poor fit and knocks on the underside (my fault for buying cheap shit) so I'll have to muck about with that this weekend. Fingers crossed that's another year of relatively trouble-free motoring sorted, as I can't see it needing much else in the medium term. Ultimately it'll need new sills and arches, but when that day comes it'll be goodnight vienna as I can't justify the expense.

 

The Mazda keeps growing on me. It's a hoot to drive, and being chilly this evening I found out the heater is a furnace, so it's great WBoD material. With regards to the knackered door, ruffgeezer kindly gave me a lead on a breaker in his local yard. Unfortunately it's a hatchback and I only found out after asking that saloon and hatch doors aren't interchangeable - the saloon has a slightly higher roofline. I think the estate and saloon share the same doors, but both seem equally unobtainium. Never mind, I'm going to put some clear acrylic sheet in place of the ropey tarp this weekend and just carry on using it.

[Guest Hooli]

After chasing up the council yesterday who assured me I'd have my black bin yesterday it turned up today. Only taken two weeks & a lot of chasing, along with paying for a bin I won't own...
Oh & being assured several times they DO NOT DELIVER bins at the weekend...

 

Shower of useless tossmuppets, none of them have the slightest idea what they are doing.

[xtriple]

I have put away the Mazda and the Bentley. The Mazda for the winter but the Bentley is sort of 'temporary' as it will get used over winter if only to keep the hydraulics in good order. I now just have one car outside the gaff which should please the neighbours no end!   My friend Betty gave me a lift home complete with the dogs in her 'S' reg Fiesta Ghia which she's had since new. I got to drive it and it was a really pleasant old thing - 49K on the clock and not a spec of rust anywhere, always garaged and serviced and MOT'd by the same garage every year.

 

Of course, the outside is a tad messy - scrapes, dents and bumpers held on with self tappers and lots of touching up to stop it from rusting but still a really pleasant thing to drive.

[DVee8]

Gavin Green from Car magazine talking new cars

 

Got an old car and thinking of something new-fangled and shiny? If so, here’s a handy guide to some of the biggest new-car trends, gizmos and gadgets of the past 10 years. 

Crossovers These are SUVs that can’t go off-road. They are bigger, heavier, pricier (ie more profitable), more cumbersome, slower and thirstier than the hatchbacks on which they’re typically based. And usually no more capable or versatile.

Satellite navigation Once upon a time, every car had a dog-eared A-Z in its glovebox. Now it has a fingerprint-stained sat-nav in its facia. Sat-nav is amazing, the cleverest new gizmo of the past decade or so. But here’s the rub: you don’t need car sat-nav. Just use Google Maps on your smartphone or better still the free navigation app Waze. Buy a bracket and attach your iPhone to your windscreen, like the Uber and AdLee boys do. It’s cheaper than car sat-nav and can be updated wirelessly. 

Touchscreens Old cars have switches, knobs and buttons, all with a distinct feel. Once you’re familiar with your car’s controls you can use them without taking your eyes off the road. New cars, on the other hand, have giant screens in the middle of their facias that increasingly replace conventional switchgear. You always have to look at the touchscreen to use it and frequently have to scroll through time-consuming and eye-distracting menus. Despite the name, you can’t navigate through the different functions by feel. Touchscreens are addictive. Just as they turn pedestrians into zombies, so they obsess and distract drivers. 

Voice activation The car’s infotainment system does what you tell it. But it rarely works.

Infotainment Formerly known as a radio. If you’re used to a couple of knobs and a few buttons, you’ll find infotainment a dreadful ergonomic step backwards. Most infotainment systems are infuriatingly unintuitive and usually the worst designed part of any car. 

Bluetooth Wirelessly connects your smartphone to your car, so you can make hands-free calls and play music from your iPhone. Even if your call is totally hands-free, your concentration is on the call, not the road. The Department for Transport rightly tells you to turn off your smartphone when driving and put the damn thing away. In which case, for drivers, Bluetooth is useless.

 

Auto wipers They sense rain and turn on automatically. Sometimes. Designed for drivers who haven’t noticed it’s raining – perhaps they’re looking at their touchscreens? – or who find it too challenging to turn a stalk.

Smart keys or Keyless Go You don’t need to put your key in the ignition to start the engine. You simply push a starter button. OK, but you still need a ‘key’ of some sort. That will normally rattle around in the centre console or door map-pocket, taking up space. Or get lost. 

Electric handbrakes Okay for automatics but awful for manuals, they replace the feelsome and ergonomically perfect handbrake lever with an electric switch. Try edging uphill into a parking space with an on-off switch to stop or slow you. You’ll miss the delicate control of a good old-fashioned handbrake. 

CarPlay Apple’s attempt to turn your car into a smartphone on wheels. It even reads your text messages. A great way to distract drivers. Mind you, you can keep your eyes on the road by asking Siri. In which case you may end up in Kennington when you want to go to Kensington, and call John Legend when you want to listen to John Lennon.  

Adaptive cruise control Your car automatically tracks the car in front and keeps a constant distance from it, braking and accelerating automatically. You can relax. Except you don’t. 

Sports suspension Ruins the ride quality. But you’ll gain a few tenths around the ’Ring.

Space-saver spare (or no spare at all) The industry saves money by not providing a proper spare wheel. Yet there is normally still a spare-wheel well, so no space is actually saved. 

Tyre pressure warning If cars don’t get flat tyres – the car industry’s excuse for not giving you a spare (see above) – why do you need these? They flash and squawk and beep and annoy. Relax. Your tyres are invariably fine.

AdBlue The car industry’s latest desperate attempt to make diesels cleaner. It’s urea (or urine) stored in a tank, injected into the car’s exhaust to reduce NOx. Diesel cars really do now take the piss.

[dollywobbler]

Is he on here? Sounds like he should be!

[Guest Hooli]

Haha that's all totally true as well.

[Supernaut]

Crossovers These are SUVs that can’t go off-road. They are bigger, heavier, pricier (ie more profitable), more cumbersome, slower and thirstier than the hatchbacks on which they’re typically based. And usually no more capable or versatile.

Can we get this printed on billboards across the country please?

 

The plague of crossovers makes me irrationally annoyed.

[SiC]

Looking at the starting price of a Qashqai and a Focus, they appear very similar. So I'm not sure that it's fair to say they're pricer. Plus they hold their value better. (I'd still rather have 3 Rolls Royce Silver Spirits).

[clayts450]

Surprised stop-start wasn't mentioned in that tirade about modernz. I reckon, combined, cars with this 'feature' must add about 3 minutes to my journey every day cos I get stuck at traffic lights behind them.

[Parky]

Get a Fiat stop start. It will stop working after a week and the dealership will never work out why

[dollywobbler]

Surprised stop-start wasn't mentioned in that tirade about modernz. I reckon, combined, cars with this 'feature' must add about 3 minutes to my journey every day cos I get stuck at traffic lights behind them.

 

Really? I've driven several cars with stop-start, and the engine is always running before I've got the clutch fully depressed. In other words, they don't delay me in the slightest.

[cort16]

It all went down hill when they took aspestos out the brake pads .

[clayts450]

Come to think about it, I may* have extrapolated my experience of being stuck behind one single car with stop-start - and yes, I think it was a Fiat.

[DodgeRover]

Wierdly I've been stuck a couple of times this week when modern vehicles have failed to go when the lights have changed, could well have been stop/ start that didn't.

 

Oh and I had to shift someone's new transit which had some system on it to make it virtually* impossible to stall. Reversed it out into the road then stalled it trying to get it to go forwards....

[Guest Hooli]

It's not stop/start that means they don't pull away at the lights, it's their stop/stop brains not paying attention.

[seth]

Anyone going to Stoneleigh tomorrow? Or have I missed a thread somewhere.

[RobT]

As it says in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a towel is a massively useful thing.

 

 

My 'new' ramps kept skidding on the tarmac, but two towels sorted that. They're proper heavy old things and only cost a tenner, and fortunately the width is just about enough for the 195s on the Cavalier. Needless to say the wheels were on the level part before I got underneath! Made buggering about with the exhaust so much easier.

 

626 door saga continues. Clear acrylic sheet cut to size and installed. Quite pleased with how it's turned out.

 

Before

 

 

After

 

 

Much better and less road noise, so I reckon it's good enough now to take on a French road trip/booze cruise in a couple of weeks. I've randomly chosen to stay in Amiens which looks a pleasant enough city to mooch around in for a few days.

[SiC]

I've taken to jacking up the car and dumping it on ramps now, as a lot easier, quicker and safer. I much prefer being under a car with ramps, feels much more secure and stable than stands.

[SiC]

Interesting:

https://mattersoftesting.blog.gov.uk/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-roadworthiness-directive/

 

I wonder if one of the big things of decreasing the allowed emissions on diesels will lead to more failing and being scrapped. Also if these lower limits will actually catch those cars that's are supposed to have DPFs but had them removed.

[RobT]

I wish I'd bought some ages ago, as it also saves wrecking the jacking points if they're a bit on the crumbly side.

[Jams]

Bini has been sold and the Mrs has nicked the pineappled golf but.. it’s about to shit itself any moment!

 

So I need a replacement! I’ve won a car on eBay a modern I must admit but the vendor isn’t replying to my messages!

 

Think he wants more for it tbh! What a throbber!

Looking at cars local there is another pineappled golf albeit a mk5 and a mondeo st tdci!

 

Hmm

[scaryoldcortina]

Interesting:

https://mattersoftesting.blog.gov.uk/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-roadworthiness-directive/

 

I wonder if one of the big things of decreasing the allowed emissions on diesels will lead to more failing and being scrapped. Also if these lower limits will actually catch those cars that's are supposed to have DPFs but had them removed.

 

The main issue with the current diesel MoT emission test is that it's no longer fit for purpose - all it does is measure smoke opacity during no load acceleration. This might have been a good way of spotting a worn injector on a mech pumped DI transit but moderns just don't fail and some of them emit so little visible smoke that the machine doesn't pick it up. Word is that they are likely to move to sampled gas analysis for diesels as soon as they can figure out how to make the input filter last longer than a day.

 

Removing your DPF should catch you out anyway, it's a fail and easily spotted on visual examination.

[beko1987]

The main issue with the current diesel MoT emission test is that it's no longer fit for purpose - all it does is measure smoke opacity during no load acceleration. This might have been a good way of spotting a worn injector on a mech pumped DI transit but moderns just don't fail and some of them emit so little visible smoke that the machine doesn't pick it up. Word is that they are likely to move to sampled gas analysis for diesels as soon as they can figure out how to make the input filter last longer than a day.

 

Removing your DPF should catch you out anyway, it's a fail and easily spotted on visual examination.

I agree here. My gooner is as smoke free as it can ever be being revved from stationary... 60mph on the motorway, small kick down to get out of l1 and boomph, black cloud!

 

Should still pass the mot...

[twosmoke300]

Boost leak somewhere I would say Beko

[twosmoke300]

Smoke that seems to get worse in traffic and builds when on idle tends to be worn / leaky injectors . Old diesels will always puff a small amount of smoke at full boost but clogged manifolds etc will make it worse . Oh and don't give it the beans at night with someone following ! The cloud will look horrific on even a clean diesel .

[scaryoldcortina]

I'm a bit worried about the 850. It's always managed a "fast pass" on my watch but you do sometimes see a bit of smoke in the mirrors, and if you reverse with the windows open you can tell the exhaust isn't as pleasant as it might be.

 

Is the gas analysis much the same idea as the petrol emissions test?

It is, yes. Ideally, a modern diesel should be tested for CO and HC the same way a petrol is but there are some serious issues with implementing it due to the particulate content of diesel fumes.

[beko1987]

Boost leak somewhere I would say Beko

I thought that, I was going to go through all the pipes I could see and remove yesterday, but it started raining heavily so sacked it off. I'll have to do the opposite of moar boost for a while until I can have another look, and Google where the 2.2dci usually leaks it from so I don't waste too much time

[twosmoke300]

Don't rely on google ! Loads of bollocks online