The new news 24 thread

[Split_Pin]

1 hour ago, Snake Charmer said:

Do you use the air conditioning constantly? Has the EGR been deleted?

No as the AC doesn't work and as far as I am aware the EGR is still present.

[grogee]

13 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Ooh, I hope there's more about that somewhere ( busy day, still on P3 of notifications)

I'm starting a 12m contract as a "Vehicle Evaluation & Customer Experience Engineer" whatever that is. 

AFAICT it's someone who looks at competitor vehicles and qualitatively/quantitavely assesses ease of use for certain features. 

When I was interviewed there were two positions open: one was assessing ADAS things and one was for HMI usability. I don't yet know which one I'll be doing, there's a possibility it'll be split between the two. 

On the downside it's an hour's commute each way three days a week. But it sounds interesting enough to be worth it. 

[320touring]

On Tuesday, I took the LEAF for petrol

I did actually get a can as preparation for collection of this mighty steed

Plan is to get it to the unit tonight and see what it will need for it's next MOT.

Thanks to @Split_Pin for his help in organising.

[Supernaut]

1 hour ago, 320touring said:

On Tuesday, I took the LEAF for petrol

I did actually get a can as preparation for collection of this mighty steed

Plan is to get it to the unit tonight and see what it will need for it's next MOT.

Thanks to @Split_Pin for his help in organising.

That's a seamless respray on the back end.

[Markeh]

2 hours ago, grogee said:

I'm starting a 12m contract as a "Vehicle Evaluation & Customer Experience Engineer" whatever that is. 

AFAICT it's someone who looks at competitor vehicles and qualitatively/quantitavely assesses ease of use for certain features. 

When I was interviewed there were two positions open: one was assessing ADAS things and one was for HMI usability. I don't yet know which one I'll be doing, there's a possibility it'll be split between the two. 

On the downside it's an hour's commute each way three days a week. But it sounds interesting enough to be worth it. 

Can you make the electric boots work properly/compare competitor ones that bloody work?

[320touring]

28 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

That's a seamless respray on the back end.

Aye. Think an old owner (not the gent I got it off) was a fan  of painting things.

It's exactly as advertised and drives really well. Pleased with it so far

[Supernaut]

In other news; I got one of those microwaveable dehumidifier thingies yesterday and chucked it in the Megane.

Yep, it definitely makes a difference in this weather.

[IronStar]

8 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

In other news; I got one of those microwaveable dehumidifier thingies yesterday and chucked it in the Megane.

Yep, it definitely makes a difference in this weather.

Dehumidifiers are so underrated. They make life and storing things so much more pleasant. 

[Markeh]

18 years ago I wasn't here and I was probably being a little shit online elsewhere (I definitely appeared on BarryBoys at some point in the late 2000s being a strange child/complete tool for a while until someone realised I signed up with my old NTL firstname.lastname email address, and managed to find me online... never went back!) - We would've just got rid of our Motability Daewoo Tacuma (which my mother still misses) for a doom blue Zafira B (which was universally hated). I'm not sure where dad would've been at this point - he was either at an Alfa service place attached to a large Renault dealer, in his last few months at Nissan, or was at a Fiat/Kia dealer that was just setting up (but I think they started him off at Mazda til this was open). He would've either been in an X-Trail, a Pathfinder, possibly a 159 for a bit, or between a Mazda 6 and a Mazda 5.

I lurked from at least 2012, possibly earlier, but only bothered signing up during lockdown - I didn't think I had anything worthwhile to add before then (and some would argue I still don't!)

[95 quid Peugeot]

6 hours ago, chaseracer said:

Does the old 'Renault 5 thermostat' trick/bodge/semi-permanent fix still work?  Probably not...

is that the inline thermostat...if needed i've one you can have FOC

[grogee]

23 minutes ago, Markeh said:

Can you make the electric boots work properly/compare competitor ones that bloody work?

Heads will roll as soon as I set foot in the Technical Centre. 

[Split_Pin]

42 minutes ago, 320touring said:

Aye. Think an old owner (not the gent I got it off) was a fan  of painting things.

It's exactly as advertised and drives really well. Pleased with it so far

Good news. Had it not been for a chance conversation with my neighbour last week then this would have been scrapped. It seemed a waste as neither the current or 2 previous owners had any bother with it and I'm glad I asked on here.

Good luck on the MOT!

 

 

[Zelandeth]

18 minutes ago, grogee said:

Heads will roll as soon as I set foot in the Technical Centre. 

Sod electric boots...get the buggers to stop deleting physical buttons in favour of increasingly overcomplicated touch screens would be priority one in my view.

No VW, using little touch sensitive things vaguely shaped like buttons doesn't count.  That's just as stupid.

Touch screen is fine for satnav, entertainment (so long as most common controls like volume and skip have a physical alternative on/near the wheel), and vehicle options you're only ever likely to need to change while stationary.  

Anything else, especially anything you're likely to need to change on the move - HVAC controls for example - absolutely should not require poking at a bloody screen.

[Split_Pin]

7 hours ago, chaseracer said:

Does the old 'Renault 5 thermostat' trick/bodge/semi-permanent fix still work?  Probably not...

The top hose is too small for that. Only works in the 75 diesel as the equivalent hose has a large diameter.

[grogee]

37 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Sod electric boots...get the buggers to stop deleting physical buttons in favour of increasingly overcomplicated touch screens would be priority one in my view.

No VW, using little touch sensitive things vaguely shaped like buttons doesn't count.  That's just as stupid.

Touch screen is fine for satnav, entertainment (so long as most common controls like volume and skip have a physical alternative on/near the wheel), and vehicle options you're only ever likely to need to change while stationary.  

Anything else, especially anything you're likely to need to change on the move - HVAC controls for example - absolutely should not require poking at a bloody screen.

I think I'll find the backlash has already begun over the loss of buttons. It was discussed during my interview. Same noises coming from JLR customers who have lost physical HVAC controls. 

Tesla has a lot to answer for. 

[Jazoli]

12 minutes ago, grogee said:

I think I'll find the backlash has already begun over the loss of buttons. It was discussed during my interview. Same noises coming from JLR customers who have lost physical HVAC controls. 

Tesla has a lot to answer for. 

Tesla’s system is by far the best though and intuitive, Hyundai have committed to keep buttons for safety reasons which is refreshing, the modern car swayed my decision to buy something recent but not brand new and blighted by everything being on a screen, it has one but has proper knobs and buttons also and is ergonomically excellent.

All the important controls can also be managed while wearing gloves, which is a huge plus at this time of year.

[Zelandeth]

15 minutes ago, Jazoli said:

Tesla’s system is by far the best though and intuitive, Hyundai have committed to keep buttons for safety reasons which is refreshing, the modern car swayed my decision to buy something recent but not brand new and blighted by everything being on a screen, it has one but has proper knobs and buttons also and is ergonomically excellent.

All the important controls can also be managed while wearing gloves, which is a huge plus at this time of year.

I think the most laughable one I've seen from VW was switching to "touch zones" rather than buttons on the steering wheel on the Arteon.  Hilarious how many times they got randomly activated while parking, turning corners, moving hands on the wheel etc...What an utterly daft idea.  They'd done the same for the (near microscopic) "physical buttons" for the couple of dozen buttons below the touch screen, which were utterly pointless as anything you brushed against on the way to the one you were aiming for (which given that it rode precisely as well as you'd expect for something with R-line badges on was most of the dash as you were trying not to bounce off the roof half the time) were also activated.  It's a good thing that car wasn't mine or I'd probably have ended up setting fire to the damned thing out of frustration.  No, none of those worked with gloves either unless they were those touchscreen compatible ones - Yes I tried because I was curious myself.

VAG really do seem to have just lost the plot in the last five years or so with regards to human interface.  They've always been fans of unnecessary touchscreen complication, but the last three or four company cars that we've had through here have just been getting ridiculous.  The satnav on the Multivan at the moment is *shockingly* sluggish and fiddly to use.  It's also flat out refused to give audio guidance for about the last three months for reasons that none of us (nor the dealership) can figure out.  I'm sure the other major companies are just as bad, I just SEE (and get to laugh at) what VAG are up to as that's where the company car someone else in the household has comes from.

Agreed with finding myself surprisingly not annoyed by the screen in the one Tesla I drove (we're going back to about 2017 I think) - Though granted the HVAC system seemed smart enough that aside from picking the temperature I wanted when I got in and hitting "auto" I just left it to itself.  Have to admit that's a car that I went into really quite prepared to dislike, but aside from the ride being unnecessarily jiggly for such a big barge of a car I have to admit to having really liked it.

[EspenO]

5 hours ago, grogee said:

were two positions open: one was assessing ADAS things and one was for HMI usability

You will either be raising awareness that All Diesels Are Shit or pointing out it’s no wonder that thing won’t play videos, the cable’s got no Definition. Gotcha. 

[IronStar]

1 hour ago, Zelandeth said:

I think the most laughable one I've seen from VW was switching to "touch zones" rather than buttons on the steering wheel on the Arteon.  Hilarious how many times they got randomly activated while parking, turning corners, moving hands on the wheel etc...What an utterly daft idea.  They'd done the same for the (near microscopic) "physical buttons" for the couple of dozen buttons below the touch screen, which were utterly pointless as anything you brushed against on the way to the one you were aiming for (which given that it rode precisely as well as you'd expect for something with R-line badges on was most of the dash as you were trying not to bounce off the roof half the time) were also activated.  It's a good thing that car wasn't mine or I'd probably have ended up setting fire to the damned thing out of frustration.  No, none of those worked with gloves either unless they were those touchscreen compatible ones - Yes I tried because I was curious myself.

VAG really do seem to have just lost the plot in the last five years or so with regards to human interface.  They've always been fans of unnecessary touchscreen complication, but the last three or four company cars that we've had through here have just been getting ridiculous.  The satnav on the Multivan at the moment is *shockingly* sluggish and fiddly to use.  It's also flat out refused to give audio guidance for about the last three months for reasons that none of us (nor the dealership) can figure out.  I'm sure the other major companies are just as bad, I just SEE (and get to laugh at) what VAG are up to as that's where the company car someone else in the household has comes from.

Agreed with finding myself surprisingly not annoyed by the screen in the one Tesla I drove (we're going back to about 2017 I think) - Though granted the HVAC system seemed smart enough that aside from picking the temperature I wanted when I got in and hitting "auto" I just left it to itself.  Have to admit that's a car that I went into really quite prepared to dislike, but aside from the ride being unnecessarily jiggly for such a big barge of a car I have to admit to having really liked it.

A very good friend of mine bought a Cupra Formentor some 2 years ago, and I drove it and was driven in it many times. 
I have never seen something so unnecessarily complicated, non-intuitive, difficult to use and generally shit, but needed for every single thing as that car’s infotainment. Like last 50 years of UI/UX never happened, and someonee crammed a touchscreen on top. Cherry on top of insanity is the touch zone ABOVE the icons under the infotainment. After two years, I still go for the icons not the unmarked zone. Why? Just why VW? 
Car drives great for what it is, but infotainment is so bad I’d never even consider buying it over it.

[hairnet]

5 hours ago, 320touring said:

On Tuesday, I took the LEAF for petrol

I did actually buy all the snacks in the picture

 

 

 

[High Jetter]

6 hours ago, grogee said:

On the downside it's an hour's commute each way three days a week. But it sounds interesting enough to be worth it. 

I hope the commute home will be in a different vehicle each week. For evaluation porpoises, obs.

[stuboy]

10 hours ago, Westbay said:

Yes you will need VCDS or similar ...

Providing you are replacing 'like for like' i.e same Ah etc(if you upgrade then you need to change the Ah etc also) then all that's needed is to change the last digit on the 'stored' battery details in the car's memory to indicate to the car 'new battery' and it will charge it as a new battery rather than how it was trying to charge the 'old' battery... this is more important if your car's system has an active Battery Monitoring  facility...

bit the bullet and ordered this, be usefull for mrs stuboys seat and my ford galaxy in drag ( vw sharan really ) i did try using free vcds but i just got too confused.

[MrBiscuits]

2006 was a good year. I was still young and I had this - not a real Alpina but it had the proper wheels & body kit as dealer fit extras I believe. Otherwise it was an early 325i Auto, with the pre-vanos iron block engine. Never much more than 25mpg but I've not owned anything that's sounded that good since.

 

[Split_Pin]

1 hour ago, stuboy said:

bit the bullet and ordered this, be usefull for mrs stuboys seat and my ford galaxy in drag ( vw sharan really ) i did try using free vcds but i just got too confused.

I bought that for my 2005 A8 and it was really good but it will not connect to most things on my A4s for some reason.

[Zelandeth]

Do I *need* random readouts on the power supply here above my desk via proper industrial style panel meters?  Of course not.  Was I going to let boring logic like that get in the way?  Hell no!  My workstation is all about silly nonsense like this.

Bought these years ago and have been meaning to make up a panel for them to live in ever since.  These has been a good deal of rage tidying going on here over the last week or so as I ran out of patience with causing random avalanches every time I so much as walked across the room too quickly.

The logic here was if they're screwed to the wall they're not taking up space in a precarious pile on the shelf above the desk.

There is a 10A current meter as well which will be added to an enclosure with all three at some point, but that wouldn't fit in this enclosure that was laying around (also in the way) and wiring that in will involve cutting in to the supply to my whole workstation...and I can't even remember where the heck that's plugged in to.  I suspect behind the printer that weighs as much as a small moon.  So that's a job for another day.

[Datsuncog]

In 2006, I was driving this:

A 1985 Toyota Corona Avante - shabby enough, but rust-free and pretty reliable.

The same year, I joined Facebook when it was a new, hip and happening thing for groovy cats, and some time after that - while trying to find groups dedicated to the appreciation of Jalopy magazine - happened across the Autoshite FB group. In time, that led me to the forum proper.

I lurked for about four or five years before actually creating an account, which meant I never managed any contemporaneous posts about these assorted old nails:

Ah, for the days when you could buy a Laguna with a fortnight's MOT left for £50... all gone, like tears in the rain...

[catsinthewelder]

17 hours ago, grogee said:

one was assessing ADAS things 

 

All Dacias are shit?

Well done on the new job, sounds interesting.

In 2006 I was running the worlds least reliable mk1 Megane and failing to restore a Wolseley 16/60.

[Split_Pin]

In 2006 I was back living with my parents after selling my flat in Glasgow the previous year, moving to Inverness to live with my long term girlfriend and then her deciding about a month later that I wasn't for her. Not before she'd stripped me of a grand to go towards her new car. 

'06 was kind of a recovery year for me. I was driving a 3 year old 1.8 Astra Coupe which I actually kept until 2018, well after I'd started buying proper shite. I was part of a few Astra Forums, all now long dead and no Facebook or Bebo for at least a couple of years either.

I was however buying plenty of Shite in Miniature.

I discovered the front desk and some archives on here that same year but I didnt know about the 'Messageboard' as it was called then until I had a week off work in April 2008. I worked my way through the entire You Tube moments thread, watching all the old Italian car chases from the 1970s.

[Leyland Worldmaster]

In 2006 whilst driving a Scania Omnitown (with Esteem front and rear panels) around Catford and Lewisham, I spotted a BMW 735 from the year 1988.

I fucking had to buy it. It was absolutely knackered but it was my first rear wheel drive car.

Extremely economical* too! The display showed 12.8mpg on the drive back to base! No pics sadly, but it looked a lot like the second one I bought years later:

 

[brownnova]

On 25/11/2024 at 11:31, wuvvum said:

Speaking of anniversaries...

 

18 years ago was my second/third year of Uni, so I was driving a VW Polo 6n1 1.0… with a stick on Sport badge on it. Must have been late 06 or early 07 I swapped it for a Peugeot 306 diesel for starting teacher training. 

I missed my own anniversary last week, I’ve officially been here 10 years. I like others came via retro rides and the practical classics forum where I was for a couple of years and then started lurking here for a couple of years reading before starting to contribute in 2014.