The new news 24 thread

[320touring]

As mentioned on crail thread one of the coolant hoses popped on Saab.

Tried a few different methods to fix but none quite worked. Managed to get it down to a drip but for 300 mile journey home I needed it to be as water tight as possible. In the end bought a new reel of hose wrap and wrapped the whole hose. Also replaced the hose spring clips with jubilee clips as got fed up of manhandling them on and off.

IMG_20151025_170227129.jpgIMG_20151025_170232292.jpg

New hose ordered from Germany. UK suppliers only had a set for £90 which is 1/5th of cars price.

Glad ya got it repaired enough to head home.

 

thanks very much for coming-top effort!

[Arthur Foxhake]

Lol nah, its ok. Put so much right on my zx it would be silly to change!

 

Ill still pop over one day and ogle your shite if you like?

Sounds like a good time.

[wuvvum]

Gave the lawn its last mow of the year today, then as it was such a nice afternoon I rewarded myself by taking the Hyosung for a blat.  Battery was dead so I had to jump it off the Spacy, but then it fired up straight away.  Vast numbers of tractors on the roads today so had to be careful of mud on the road etc, but still a good last ride out before the bikes go away for the winter ("away" this year will probably be in the back of the van, at least for the Hyosung, as there isn't room for it in the garage).

 

This evening I got into a traffic light GP with a Nissan Leaf, and was surprised how hard I had to push it to stay ahead of him.  He obviously didn't want to be beaten by a battered old Rover any more than I wanted to be overtaken by a glorified milkfloat.  Off the line he actually had the edge.  I was quite impressed - whenever I've seen Leaves on the road before they've been pottering along trying to conserve charge, so I'd never seen one being driven to full potential before.

[richardmorris]

Gave the lawn its last mow of the year today, then as it was such a nice afternoon I rewarded myself by taking the Hyosung for a blat.  Battery was dead so I had to jump it off the Spacy, but then it fired up straight away.  Vast numbers of tractors on the roads today so had to be careful of mud on the road etc, but still a good last ride out before the bikes go away for the winter ("away" this year will probably be in the back of the van, at least for the Hyosung, as there isn't room for it in the garage).

 

This evening I got into a traffic light GP with a Nissan Leaf, and was surprised how hard I had to push it to stay ahead of him.  He obviously didn't want to be beaten by a battered old Rover any more than I wanted to be overtaken by a glorified milkfloat.  Off the line he actually had the edge.  I was quite impressed - whenever I've seen Leaves on the road before they've been pottering along trying to conserve charge, so I'd never seen one being driven to full potential before.

I've found that drivers of new cars rarely like being passed by older vehicles.

[Ghosty]

Established that the A4 needs a wheel bearing, another ABS ring and an axle bearing.

 

Tuesday, my day off, is apparently headlights day.

[jonathan_dyane]

That's actually where the electric motor excels in terms of its ability to generate instant torque.

 

I floored the XM in third coming up a sliproad to get past some small new car which went from dithering to putting their foot down to stop me getting past and as I hadn't taken the old thing past about 2500rpm in weeks did my usual trick of obliterating everything in soot as I came past...

[Tayne]

 

This evening I got into a traffic light GP with a Nissan Leaf, and was surprised how hard I had to push it to stay ahead of him.  He obviously didn't want to be beaten by a battered old Rover any more than I wanted to be overtaken by a glorified milkfloat.  Off the line he actually had the edge.  I was quite impressed - whenever I've seen Leaves on the road before they've been pottering along trying to conserve charge, so I'd never seen one being driven to full potential before.

When you turn off the Eco mode and start killing polar Bears a leaf can shift.

All the torque is available from 1rpm to 7000rpm.

[HH-R]

They feel a bit like an electric train when floored, quite impressive.

[Pillock]

I really want an electric car.

 

Unfortunately I want a cheap one that has a range of 500+ miles.

[spike60]

My lady has a Yaris hybrid, it cost £17,500 and is capable of going for almost 1/4 of a mile on battery power before the engine kicks in. Probably not what you're after.

[dollywobbler]

I'm so keen to own an electric car that I've actually been looking at finance deals. Can't afford one monthly payment at the moment though, so the bankers won't be getting rich off me, and dino juice is the future. Sigh.

[Craig the Princess]

I looked at the Renault Zoe, the car cost, then the batteries rental on top, then a tiny mileage allowance made it not viable.

 

If I had any engineering talent (I don't) I'd love to do a Project Forkenswift/Ben Nelson GeoMetro home build.

[Pillock]

I suppose a hybrid is workable but I've not seen much evidence that they'll better 50-60mpg in real life use, which is what I get from my diesel. And yes, I'll lose all the new diesel problems like DMF and DPFs and stuff, but I'm gaining battery problems.

 

I do like the torque curve though, and just the "latest tech" aspect.

[Bear]

Zoes are awesome fun. They really do go like stink off the mark.

[RobT]

Is it mandatory to adopt a smug bastard persona when going electric? A few people at work have hybrids and get a bit worthy when talking about them, I pretend to show interest just to be polite. Told one the other day I struggle to get 20mpg out of the Daimler, but couldn't care less.

[Bear]

Is it mandatory to adopt a smug bastard persona when going electric? A few people at work have hybrids and get a bit worthy when talking about them, I pretend to show interest just to be polite. Told one the other day I struggle to get 20mpg out of the Daimler, but couldn't care less.

 

"Check"

[Tayne]

I test drove a Zoe and had a Leaf for a few days.

 

Zoe: Renault, French, Electrics, dealers miles away.

 

Leaf: Salesman lied about a few things, build quality was very poor.

 

Both were working out too much money against keeping the 3 litre BMW I already own.

[Ghosty]

It's autumn, does that mean everyone's electric Nissans are going to turn yellow, then brown, then fall apart?

[DVee8]

MOT in a hour,is it wrong that I am nervous

[Bear]

It's autumn, does that mean everyone's electric Nissans are going to turn yellow, then brown, then fall apart?

 

Forever Autumn was actually a lament about the British Car Industry at the time.

[dollywobbler]

I test drove a Zoe and had a Leaf for a few days.

 

Zoe: Renault, French, Electrics, dealers miles away.

 

Leaf: Salesman lied about a few things, build quality was very poor.

 

Both were working out too much money against keeping the 3 litre BMW I already own.

 

I'm staggered by your LEAF experiences. The 13-plate one I tested was every bit as good as the e-Golf in terms of quality. In fact, I was very impressed. The ride was far better than the e-Golf too.

[The Moog]

Merc sold on eBay. Guy already phoned and arranged collection tomorrow evening.

 

He is going to get it ship shape and run it for as long as possible which is nice.

 

Having decent run of good ebayers. All ebayers aren't shitz.

[beko1987]

My paternity leave starts at 12.15!!!!

[Tayne]

I'm staggered by your LEAF experiences. The 13-plate one I tested was every bit as good as the e-Golf in terms of quality. In fact, I was very impressed. The ride was far better than the e-Golf too.

The bumpers were a different shade to the rest of the car, the boot didn't want to shut and there was far too much wind noise from the doors at motorway speeds.

It felt like a badly repaired write-off rather than a £30k demo with less than 2000miles on the clock.

[danthecapriman]

I have a day off today, so since it's an alright day weather wise I took the Granada out for a drive, just for the hell of it!

It's not been used since it's mot back in August but it fired straight up once the battery was reconnected. I went for a nice drive up the A3 off down the A272 then back via Fareham, M27/A27, A3 and back home. The old barge drove perfectly.

I had some nob in an Audi tailgating me on the A3, he soon backed off when I increased speed and the extra wind over the car dislodged a load of scabby old peeling lacquer! It all blew off my roof and went all over his windscreen! It looked like it was snowing.

 

It'll probably be it's last outing this year, road salt and shit weather can't be far away now so it'll have sit under cover until spring. The Capri and Transit are both already hibernating for winter and the Mercury will follow as soon as I get it back from it's engine rebuild, I'm in no rush for that back though as it's currently sitting in a heated workshop!

I hate winter, but it was nice on the A272, nice bit of countryside with all the trees turning various shades of brown, yellow and reds. I think a lot of the 'classic car' lot have put their cars away now, you can normally get a few spots of old stuff on the back roads round here but aside from one rubber bumper MGB and my Granada there was sod all about.

[Angrydicky]

Nothing that exciting to report. The Maestro is back on the road, but the ever-increasing oil consumption means it'll need a top-end rebuild (read exchange head) in the spring. I went out on the Essex boot sale circuit yesterday, started off at Leigh station, then went onto Sadlers Farm where I bumped into Pandamonium of this parish and his family who had a stall, and managed to park next to a tidy F reg Sierra estate, and had a good chat with the lovely older couple who owned it.

I then went on to the big A127 one at Dunton, which had a good turnout despite it being late in the season and about 11 when I got there. I bought a few bits and pieces, some old tools, a couple of car mags and a pair of MK1 Golf sills which I reckon I can cut down to fit the Somerset. About three quarters of the way round most stalls had packed up and I was passing one when the guy on the stall said "right, everything free". So I went back to the car park, got the Maestro, went back to the stall and ended up taking home a cracking brown 1980s Sharp microwave and a clean Dyson, which had by then been dragged over to one of the bins in the middle of the field. And you know what, both work perfectly and are in good condition. Amazing what people throw away.

 

I also passed the sad sight of a Sunbeam-Talbot 90 broken down at the side of the A130, jacked up with an AA patrolman underneath. Hope he got home ok!

[dollywobbler]

I've got even less exciting news. I used a Vauxhall Insignia to jump start a Hyundai i10, then drove it a bit and wrote about it. 

 

http://wp.me/p1jtbd-DS

[anonymous user]

I have been stupid/sensible (take your pick) I had the day off as the plumber was supposed to be coming to sort out the bathroom; unfortunately due to the cold snap over the weekend he had to cry off to fix central heating boilers for OAPs. So due to being at a loose end I have bought another car, it's yellow.

 

I have justified the purchase on the basis that when the starter went on the Land Rover the other day I had no spare car and the RAC messed up on providing a hire car, therefore I need a spare car.

 

If you saw my justification for buying a Land Rover (simple mechanics, infinitely rebuildable, good dog carrier, good spares availibility) then this is nothing like that; in fact it is almost exactly what I don't need. I've not owned one before, but have driven a few and enjoyed them. The insurance is sorted and subject to time constraints I should pick it up at the weekend.

[Richard]

So due to being at a loose end I have bought another car, it's yellow.

 

[dollywobbler]

 I did have a drive in a darned proper car. 

 

That may be its last outing before winter sets in. I really need to sort out the stinky heater and over-zealous fresh air vents before taking it out when it's cold.