The new news 24 thread

[Rust Collector]

I’m interested to see if my fence stays up now that it’s 90% concrete spurs. When I was out stowing the bins in a safe place earlier it didn’t appear to be moving at all.

The roof of my utility room is making weird noises though. It’s like there’s a weather strip missing and it sounds like a demented harmonica.

If my house falls down then I guess at least I’ll have an excuse not to do the clutch on my Lada.

[SiC]

My sister, her son and my brother-in-law has hit a tree down in the road around a corner, along the A4 near Silbury Hill. Airbags didn't go off but the front is crumpled and the windscreen smashed. A '22 plate 5 door Bini so very modern. All okay but a bit shaken.

While I do love older classic cars, I fully appreciate that modern metal is so much safer and you can often just walk away with no damage to the people on board. No doubt the car probably did emergency braking before they even realised or had time to slam on the brakes. Making it just a low speed prang rather than something much more serious. 

[RoverFolkUs]

I have to say I'm starting to get a bit narked with the running costs of the Focus.. last tank to tank average was... 29.9mpg! For a 1.6 petrol manual.. it's not even quick.

[SiC]

12 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

I have to say I'm starting to get a bit narked with the running costs of the Focus.. last tank to tank average was... 29.9mpg! For a 1.6 petrol manual.. it's not even quick.

I don't think any Fords petrols of that era were very good on fuel?

That said, I think I got low to mid 30s in my Focus Mk2 1.6 3dr. While not bad, its similar to the 1.8t (which has a lot more power) in my TT on similar journeys (i.e. short distances to the train station). 

If its any consolation, my E320 did 20mpg on a 15 mile round trip journey 🤣

[RoverFolkUs]

14 minutes ago, SiC said:

I don't think any Fords petrols of that era were very good on fuel?

That said, I think I got low to mid 30s in my Focus Mk2 1.6 3dr. While not bad, its similar to the 1.8t (which has a lot more power) in my TT on similar journeys (i.e. short distances to the train station). 

If its any consolation, my E320 did 20mpg on a 15 mile round trip journey 🤣

Yeah you're right, they weren't. It never used to be brilliant but this is the first time I can recall it averaging less than 30. I suppose in fairness to it, with the recent weather it's spent another 10 minutes or so warming up/defrosting on a few occasions. And now come to think of it, it had its MOT on this tank so spent at least 45 minutes idling for that. 

That was my thinking, 30-35 is easily achievable from something like a 1.8T TT which obviously is a bit quicker and deserves to use the extra fuel. 

I'm ok with anything above 30mpg but it's still disappointing for a car that isn't powerful and has few redeeming features other than being a reliable mode of transport. I wouldn't mind 20 if it was a nice enough car, despite how painful it is! 

Part of me wants to trial a tank of E5, but then I have to remind myself I'm probably just being a bit anal about it all! 

I'm beginning to think it doesn't make a lot of sense to keep it, the Xsara Picasso is more practical, but arguably less comfortable, it's still a 1.6 petrol and is roughly neck on neck in terms of running costs. Man maths says that I should get a comfortable diesel like a Rover 75 for longer journeys and running around (ULEZ/CAZ is not a problem here, yet..) and keep the Picasso as a (well looked after) workhorse. I'm sure a diesel 75 manual will easily be capable of averaging 40mpg, probably even more on a run

I really hate these sort of predicaments 😂 I love the car (for what it is) and I've invested a lot into it recently, but I'm starting to struggle justify running it as I'm not sure what purpose its serving 🤔

I like the MK2 Focus platform but I'm not going to jump down the rabbit hole of the diesels. I've driven loads and never liked them, they're more suited to a petrol 

[SiC]

8 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Yeah you're right, they weren't. It never used to be brilliant but this is the first time I can recall it averaging less than 30. I suppose in fairness to it, with the recent weather it's spent another 10 minutes or so warming up/defrosting on a few occasions. And now come to think of it, it had its MOT on this tank so spent at least 45 minutes idling for that. 

That was my thinking, 30-35 is easily achievable from something like a 1.8T TT which obviously is a bit quicker and deserves to use the extra fuel. 

I'm ok with anything above 30mpg but it's still disappointing for a car that isn't powerful and has few redeeming features other than being a reliable mode of transport. I wouldn't mind 20 if it was a nice enough car, despite how painful it is! 

Part of me wants to trial a tank of E5, but then I have to remind myself I'm probably just being a bit anal about it all! 

I'm beginning to think it doesn't make a lot of sense to keep it, the Xsara Picasso is more practical, but arguably less comfortable, it's still a 1.6 petrol and is roughly neck on neck in terms of running costs. Man maths says that I should get a comfortable diesel like a Rover 75 for longer journeys and running around (ULEZ/CAZ is not a problem here, yet..) and keep the Picasso as a (well looked after) workhorse. I'm sure a diesel 75 manual will easily be capable of averaging 40mpg, probably even more on a run

I really hate these sort of predicaments 😂 I love the car (for what it is) and I've invested a lot into it recently, but I'm starting to struggle justify running it as I'm not sure what purpose its serving 🤔

I like the MK2 Focus platform but I'm not going to jump down the rabbit hole of the diesels. I've driven loads and never liked them, they're more suited to a petrol 

A tired/slow reacting Lambda sensor that is pulling the MPG down?

Its been very cold recently though and that will hit economy. Does it have a heated windscreen? I found mine really honked the electrical power and you could hear the alternator straining. That will knock the economy as that energy has to be generated somewhere!

As my local garage always tells me though, you may have to pay to squirt a bit more petrol in than a diesel, but the mechanical reliability/ease and simplicity of fixing/cheapness of parts is so much better with petrols. Probably negliable difference if you're not doing a lot of miles.

I know the 2004 Golf Mk5 1.6 FSI we had only did 30-35mpg and to add insult to injury, that age only liked super unleaded. The TT Mk2 2.0TFSi I had a couple of years later had far more power and did similar economy!

But then turbo cars have the advantage of offering the power when putting your foot down but if you keep off boost (or at lower boost pressures) and lower revs, then the economy of n/a. Why turbocharging has become so popular with manufacturers.

[GMcD]

35 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

My house is moving (I'm in Central Scotland). Even the gable end is making strange noises.  I've lived here 12 years and there's never been wind strong enough to do that. I've just double checked my house insurance as I think I'm going to need it by morning.

I just did the same!

I'm on the corner with an apartment/flats car park across the road so it's a bit open to the wind wooshing across it. The wind is howling, so we've decanted into a spare room at the back to get some peace. 

I went out after dinner and moved the residents bins (who have left them out all week in the car park because they are lazy fecks) into their bin store before they inevitably blow into someones car (probably mine).

[GMcD]

37 minutes ago, SiC said:

My sister, her son and my brother-in-law has hit a tree down in the road around a corner, along the A4 near Silbury Hill. Airbags didn't go off but the front is crumpled and the windscreen smashed. A '22 plate 5 door Bini so very modern. All okay but a bit shaken.

While I do love older classic cars, I fully appreciate that modern metal is so much safer and you can often just walk away with no damage to the people on board. No doubt the car probably did emergency braking before they even realised or had time to slam on the brakes. Making it just a low speed prang rather than something much more serious. 

Glad they are alright. That's proper scary! 

[RoverFolkUs]

7 minutes ago, SiC said:

A tired/slow reacting Lambda sensor that is pulling the MPG down?

Its been very cold recently though and that will hit economy. Does it have a heated windscreen? I found mine really honked the electrical power and you could hear the alternator straining. That will knock the economy as that energy has to be generated somewhere!

As my local garage always tells me though, you may have to pay to squirt a bit more petrol in than a diesel, but the mechanical reliability/ease and simplicity of fixing/cheapness of parts is so much better with petrols. Probably negliable difference if you're not doing a lot of miles.

I know the 2004 Golf Mk5 1.6 FSI we had only did 30-35mpg and to add insult to injury, that age only liked super unleaded. The TT Mk2 2.0TFSi I had a couple of years later had far more power and did similar economy!

But then turbo cars have the advantage of offering the power when putting your foot down but if you keep off boost (or at lower boost pressures) and lower revs, then the economy of n/a. Why turbocharging has become so popular with manufacturers.

Good shout, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to observe live data to see what everything is doing

Yes, good point on the heated front screen. It does have it, I do use it and the alternator definitely screams to remind me I'm using it!

All very good points well made, thank you 

[Rust Collector]

16 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Good shout, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to observe live data to see what everything is doing

Yes, good point on the heated front screen. It does have it, I do use it and the alternator definitely screams to remind me I'm using it!

All very good points well made, thank you 

The cure for poor MPG’s is to run something with even worse fuel economy for a bit.

Then when you go back to the original car it seems really cheap to run.

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, lesapandre said:

Brewing up a massive storm here in London - some railway lines already out with falling trees - just got home on the last through train.

Looks mega in other parts of UK. If you don't need to go out don't.

Keep safe folks.

Opted for local roads rather than the exposed bypass with a bridge tonight. Smol van was still deflected at 40mph.

[Split_Pin]

I worked out what one of the buttons in the door bin of the A4 cab does, looks like a picture of a car on a hill. It turns out it's the tilt sensor that you can turn off if the car is one a ferry. I found this out when trying to Google how to deactivate the alarm as the wind was shaking the car so much it kept going off.

It seems to have died down here quite a bit but that was definitely the worst wind storm I have ever experienced in the UK.

[wuvvum]

Went to start the Z4 earlier and it just clicked when I turned the key.  That's happened before when I've left it standing for a while, but I had the battery on an overnight charge on Friday night - OK I started it several times yesterday to move it around on the drive but it shouldn't have been enough to drain the battery.  So it's either a knackered battery (which it shouldn't be as it's a fairly new Varta) or a drain somewhere.  Got out the multimeter and

Hmm, that seems a bit excessive.  That was after waiting for several minutes for everything to shut down.  So I now have a parasitic drain to trace, which is always fun*.  I've disconnected the battery for now so at least I can start it next time I need to move it.

On a related note, I continue to be underwhelmed by the performance of my Noco GB40 jump starter.  It can't start the BMW even with the battery only partly discharged, so its claim to be able to start up to a 6-litre engine seems a tad optimistic.  It's well built and chunky but it's actually no better at starting cars than my £40 eBay special, and I have to use them both in tandem to start the Z4.

[Tayne]

Take your Noco back.

Mine started the 520d with a very dead battery with no issues.

There’s some internet chat that Nocos aren’t that good as the failure rate seems high. Usually followed by stories of one guy starting 3 big block Chevys, a medium container ship and one of Saturn’s outer moons with his Noco.

Id be interested to hear what comes of your possible replacement Noco.

[RobT]

52 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

On a related note, I continue to be underwhelmed by the performance of my Noco GB40 jump starter.  It can't start the BMW even with the battery only partly discharged, so its claim to be able to start up to a 6-litre engine seems a tad optimistic.

I've got one of those and it's proved invaluable on several occasions.  Just wondering if you've got a duff one.  Mine even survived the Vel Satis fire as it was in a plastic box in the boot.  Stank of smoke for bloody ages mind.

[wuvvum]

18 minutes ago, RobT said:

I've got one of those and it's proved invaluable on several occasions.  Just wondering if you've got a duff one.  Mine even survived the Vel Satis fire as it was in a plastic box in the boot.  Stank of smoke for bloody ages mind.

It'll start "lesser" cars no problem - it started the Toyota this afternoon, so it's not completely useless.  The two jump packs in tandem have always managed to start whatever I needed them to (even the Maxus) so it's not the end of the world.

 

The power went off three times while I was typing this post.  

[Metal Guru]

Got in this evening at 8.30, not a moment too soon. Roads covered in debris from trees but nothing too big at that point.

Neighbour’s fence on the verge of collapse / take off. He’s trying to shore it up. I thought about offering to help but God knows what is flying around , so I’m not risking a trip to hospital for the sake of a fence. If it was someone’s kid or even their cat or dog in trouble , I’d help, but the fence can wait until the morning or when the storm has passed.

Resigned to a month of smog while people burn wet wood ( it’s free, I’m green not using gas , FRO) on their primitive heating appliances.

[HillmanImp]

 

 

[Cheezey]

8 hours ago, GMcD said:

I just did the same!

I'm on the corner with an apartment/flats car park across the road so it's a bit open to the wind wooshing across it. The wind is howling, so we've decanted into a spare room at the back to get some peace. 

I went out after dinner and moved the residents bins (who have left them out all week in the car park because they are lazy fecks) into their bin store before they inevitably blow into someones car (probably mine).

I think we are all in the same area @GMcD @Split_Pin. My house was creaking as well and my wife said she felt it move. My daughter’s playhouse lost some felt. I was sent a picture of a billboard blown down in Bainsford. 
It is still too dark to check the roof of the house. 

[Dyslexic Viking]

It's chaos here, the weather has changed quickly from cold winter weather to warm temperatures and heavy rain. There are floods everywhere, about 20km south of me there are several cars trapped in a snow avalanche, and the stream running thru the property here are flooding over too but are fortunately not serious yet. Roofs that have not had the snow removed are now starting to collapse and a school in Arendal this has now happened. And several roads are closed.

This winter just keeps getting worse and worse.

[Dyslexic Viking]

11 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

My house is moving (I'm in Central Scotland). Even the gable end is making strange noises.  I've lived here 12 years and there's never been wind strong enough to do that. I've just double checked my house insurance as I think I'm going to need it by morning.

I hope your house and others on here are undamaged.

[sdkrc]

Back in 2013 I was driving up the M6 to Glasgow, late at night, with a mate in my Audi S8. I was/am an ignorant arsehole so I was pushing well past 130mph on an empty, unlit section. 

There was a large, fallen tree in lane 1. The top had sort of exploded so there was debris in lane. I had to swerve and emergency brake. I discussed it with my mate and we agreed that it made sense to report it to the emergency services. The operator said in fewer words 'that's not an emergency, don't call this number unless it's a real emergency'. 

Last night I was doing 60mph on the M6 in the exact same spot in the driving rain and wind, lo and behold there's a big fucking tree in lane 1 in nearly the exact same, unlit stretch. I had to swerve, as did a few other cars. Who are you supposed to call about this sort of thing? Is a tree in the motorway not an immediate hazard?

[lesapandre]

31 minutes ago, sdkrc said:

Back in 2013 I was driving up the M6 to Glasgow, late at night, with a mate in my Audi S8. I was/am an ignorant arsehole so I was pushing well past 130mph on an empty, unlit section. 

There was a large, fallen tree in lane 1. The top had sort of exploded so there was debris in lane. I had to swerve and emergency brake. I discussed it with my mate and we agreed that it made sense to report it to the emergency services. The operator said in fewer words 'that's not an emergency, don't call this number unless it's a real emergency'. 

Last night I was doing 60mph on the M6 in the exact same spot in the driving rain and wind, lo and behold there's a big fucking tree in lane 1 in nearly the exact same, unlit stretch. I had to swerve, as did a few other cars. Who are you supposed to call about this sort of thing? Is a tree in the motorway not an immediate hazard?

Probably National Highways (the renamed Highways Agency)*

Call: 0300 123 5000

*as an aside - I bet this is being warmed up for privatisation.

'that's not an emergency, don't call this number unless it's a real emergency' - is the kind of statement that gets read out at an inquest and then makes the national press if someone had subsequently hit the tree resulting in a fatality. 

I'm sure they were super-busy but could have directed you to the correct number.

Too much buck passing these days country going to the dogs bla bla.

[Stinkwheel]

8 hours ago, Tayne said:

Take your Noco back.

Mine started the 520d with a very dead battery with no issues.

There’s some internet chat that Nocos aren’t that good as the failure rate seems high. Usually followed by stories of one guy starting 3 big block Chevys, a medium container ship and one of Saturn’s outer moons with his Noco.

Id be interested to hear what comes of your possible replacement Noco.

As a employee of a company that used to distribute Noco on a very large numbers basis, i can tell you the failure rate is quite high. But the warranty, on the whole is very good.

I would now recommend a similar pack branded as 'LokiThor' - Slightly cheaper than Noco and we have much much less warranty comeback with them

If thats any use to anyone.

They are also about to launch a rather clever unit that self heats before jump starting - much more effective starting power with lithium batteries when they are up to temp

[Rust Collector]

19 minutes ago, sdkrc said:

The operator said in fewer words 'that's not an emergency, don't call this number unless it's a real emergency'. 

It's shit, isn't it. It definitely is an emergency, as there is a threat to life if someone doesn't see it/swerves into another car to avoid it.

Years ago I was driving along and discovered that something had shed a load of timber all over a single carriageway just after a blind bend - for anyone who knows it, it was on the Beddingham Road just before you get to Southease from Newhaven. I braked and missed it luckily but did phone the police about it - they at least said they'd take a look, which left me with a clear-ish conscience. 

[Rust Collector]

9 hours ago, wuvvum said:

On a related note, I continue to be underwhelmed by the performance of my Noco GB40 jump starter.  It can't start the BMW even with the battery only partly discharged, so its claim to be able to start up to a 6-litre engine seems a tad optimistic.  It's well built and chunky but it's actually no better at starting cars than my £40 eBay special, and I have to use them both in tandem to start the Z4.

I have a Noco here too - I think it's utterly shite. Crank the diesel XM over a couple of times and it goes from full charge to dead instantly. It struggles to start the Pontiac with a dead battery. It couldn't even stand up to cranking the Lada for long enough to get some fuel into the carb. It also discharged itself in the boot of the Land Rover (oo-er!) over the course of a few days. For some reason Noco decided it has to charge using a Micro USB cable and a phone charger and so it takes 50 million years to charge up - ideal when you find out that your car has a flat battery and the jump pack is on one bar.

Maybe it's faulty as suggested, however, I had two cheapo ones before and they were faultless until they died of old age and neglect so that's even more piss poor in my opinion considering how much the Noco's are sold for. The last one I had was about £40 and I got it at the Dragon Mall in Dubai. I used to use it jump start things like my 3.1 diesel Isuzu and it did it without complaint or any memorable issues. I seem to recall it had a better charger as well, and I used to leave it in the boot of the car and it was normally good to go as required.

I should buy another cheap one and keep the Noco as handy doorstop.

[Metal Guru]

53 minutes ago, lesapandre said:

Probably National Highways (the renamed Highways Agency)*

Call: 0300 123 5000

*as an aside - I bet this is being warmed up for privatisation.

'that's not an emergency, don't call this number unless it's a real emergency' - is the kind of statement that gets read out at an inquest and then makes the national press if someone had subsequently hit the tree resulting in a fatality. 

I'm sure they were super-busy but could have directed you to the correct number.

Too much buck passing these days country going to the dogs bla bla.

Highways agency will close the motorway and wait for a tree surgeon to come from 100 miles away ( and probably already got half a dozen jobs waiting), instead of hooking up a rope and dragging it off the road with their expensive 4x4s.

[wesacosa]

Despite not being that car friendly, the canal areas of Amsterdam still seem to be harbouring some shiters

Some highlights include a Lancia Lybra which I don't remember ever seeing before, alongside a Delta(?) mk1 Twingo, Dyane and XM

[Tayne]

1 hour ago, sdkrc said:

Back in 2013 I was driving up the M6 to Glasgow, late at night, with a mate in my Audi S8. I was/am an ignorant arsehole so I was pushing well past 130mph on an empty, unlit section. 

There was a large, fallen tree in lane 1. The top had sort of exploded so there was debris in lane. I had to swerve and emergency brake. I discussed it with my mate and we agreed that it made sense to report it to the emergency services. The operator said in fewer words 'that's not an emergency, don't call this number unless it's a real emergency'. 

Last night I was doing 60mph on the M6 in the exact same spot in the driving rain and wind, lo and behold there's a big fucking tree in lane 1 in nearly the exact same, unlit stretch. I had to swerve, as did a few other cars. Who are you supposed to call about this sort of thing? Is a tree in the motorway not an immediate hazard?

 

In a similar vein, I called the police after a road accident (back 2007) and was told "unless its actually blocking the road, we don't want to know".

[wuvvum]

9 hours ago, wuvvum said:

The power went off three times while I was typing this post.  

On that subject - I had a call on my landline from the National Power Grid bot informing me of an unscheduled power cut in my area (which had just happened).  At 1:10am.  Is that normal?  I was up anyway but had I been a normal person with a normal sleep pattern the phone would have woken me up and I'd have been proper pissed off.