Ask a Shiter

[Des]

OK, here's a random and quite possibly incredibly stupid question, but one that's been bugging me recently.

 

Why are old cars so much slower than an equivalent car from the '80s onwards?  Take a late Morris Minor - 1098cc, 48bhp and around 800kg.  It takes around 22 seconds to hit 60, and runs out of puff at 77mph.  An 1100cc Fiesta, with very similar power output and kerb weight, would leave it for dead.  I can understand the Fester having a higher top speed due to better aerodynamics and taller gearing, but why is the acceleration so much quicker too?  Moving up the BMC range a bit, the Riley 1.5 has more power and torque and slightly less weight than a Mk3 Escort 1300, but again would be left choking in the Ford's knackered-valve-stem-seal-induced exhaust smoke.

 

What gives?

Bigger valves, shorter piston stroke with wider bores, better shaped combustion chambers, all that kind of jazz.

[Lacquer Peel]

Do the modern cars rev higher?

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Remember 60's cars power was SAE not DIN ,can't remember exact differences but from memory the Rover V8 was 180bhp sae and 155bhp din. I can't do maths,you work it out.

Also shorter stroke and higher revs etc would make a difference, I remember driving a 1500 pre X-flow Cortina when I had a 1600 and it felt much slower and generally old fashioned- both mk2 s.

[cobblers]

Yeah, the SAE was measured without the alternator, fan, waterpump or anything connected and they probably just added a bit for good luck.

[wuvvum]

Ah right.  The SAE thing probably explains it.  For some reason I thought only the Yanks used the SAE method.

 

Don't think it's necessarily to do with revs - I know from experience that a 1098cc A-series will rev to 6,000.  Sounds like it's about to put a conrod through the block mind, but it will do it.  A 1117cc Valencia won't manage much more, and most moderns (Japs aside) seem to be limited to around 6K anyway.

[Des]

Also bear in mind the Minor 0 to 60 time would have been measured with a Smiths mantle clock, the acceleration G force upsetting and slowing the pendulum, whereas the Fiesta would have been timed with a digital watch.

[The Moog]

Why do cars still come with drum brakes? Surely it is cheaper to fit discs rather than two types of brakes. Plus they are supposedly superior to stop with.

[M'coli]

Drum brakes on the rear, I presume? Cheapness - handbraked drums will be cheaper to make than discs, I'd imagine. On a FWD car the only time you need to change shoes on a the rear drum brakes is when the wheel cylinders start spewing fluid, rather than changing the pads ever so often on a disc set-up.  Wheel cylinders cost pence to produce, whereas a disc calipers with a handbrake mech are a bit more involved - and everything's exposed so more chance of siezing up, too.

 

Discs are superior to stop with, but the back end of a FWD car needs just enough brakes to stop it from overtaking the front, which does the majority of the braking effort - most if not all cars will have some sort of brake limiter valve in-line to the rear to stop them locking up under really heavy braking.

[KruJoe]

Correct.

Also, 'two types of brakes' is not an issue, even if there are disks front and back, they are generally very different set-ups, front brakes are beefier, and back brakes usually have a handbrake system incorporated.

 

Under-used rear disk brakes are a right PITA, they stop working and seize up for fun.

[saucedoctor]

Aye. I had an ex-RUC 2.9i Granada mkIII and when I got it the rear brakes didn't work. At all. The callipers on the rear were so badly seized, I had to get new ones, as nothing could be done with the originals. Front brakes weren't standard either, as the car had been armoured. I think the stoppers were Transit items.

[The Moog]

Cheers, been bugging me for ages.

[Pillock]

Golf GTIs with rear discs are a pain, forever needing a fettle. Rear drums never give any hassle. I've seen more than one GTI running rear drums for an easy life.

[cort16]

The handbrake setup on cars with rear discs can be shit too. The BMW ones are bloody awful and dismantle themselves once the back plate goes rusty.

[Lacquer Peel]

The handbrake setup on cars with rear discs is always shit. The BMW ones are bloody awful and dismantle themselves once the back plate goes rusty.

 

EFA.

 

Actually, the Volvo set up with drums and discs seems reliable.

[TimothyClaypole]

Need to track this ship:

 

COSCO GLORY 015W

 

Left Qingdao on the 22nd I think (I'm no sailor).

[morris_ital_lover]

Aye. I had an ex-RUC 2.9i Granada mkIII and when I got it the rear brakes didn't work. At all. The callipers on the rear were so badly seized, I had to get new ones, as nothing could be done with the originals. Front brakes weren't standard either, as the car had been armoured. I think the stoppers were Transit items.

 

Is it an old wives tale that all the ex-armoured cars can be easily spotted because they sit really high on their suspension? I haven't noticed any cars out here in NI like that so presumed it was a load of cobblers.

[dugong]

EFA.

 

Actually, the Volvo set up with drums and discs seems reliable.

We must have very different Volvos. 

[inconsistant]

EFA.

 

Actually, the Volvo set up with drums and discs seems reliable, between repairs.

EFA

[M'coli]

We must have very different Volvos. 

You do  - I believe the big rear-wheel drive ones LP talks of have rear discs within which contains the drum brake that is a handbrake alone.

[mercrocker]

Need to track this ship:

 

COSCO GLORY 015W

 

Left Qingdao on the 22nd I think (I'm no sailor).

Go to http://csp.cscl.com.cn/cargo_track/ and quote the container number  or bill  of lading number if you have  either. 

 

You will also save yourself a lot of grief by being as much as a pain in the ass as you can if you are expecting cargo to arrive in the UK - get hold of the shipping agent this end and dont give  them any chance  to bumrape you with expensive delays...

[Lacquer Peel]

We must have very different Volvos. 

 

Aye, yours is a Renault 19 with Volvo badges.*

[oman5]

My 240 is disc all round. Its fine

[TimothyClaypole]

 

Go to http://csp.cscl.com.cn/cargo_track/ and quote the container number  or bill  of lading number if you have  either. 

 

You will also save yourself a lot of grief by being as much as a pain in the ass as you can if you are expecting cargo to arrive in the UK - get hold of the shipping agent this end and dont give  them any chance  to bumrape you with expensive delays...

 

I tried that site but it doesn't recognise the number I have. H BL: TAOFXT3273424V

 

I've a price from the agent in the UK already so should be ok with that, just the tax to pay etc.

[mercrocker]

You have a house  bill of lading there my friend and a ticket to a world of  pain.....Basically the space your  cargo occupies on that ship has been sold on and is no longer under the direct  control of the shipping line who manage the freighter.   Find out who the UK correspondent is for the house bill of lading operator and get hold of him.  There are a hundred ways this can cost you big bucks although it need not....What  all these bods love are delays cos then they can stuff you up with all kinds  of storage charges.  

[Cavcraft]

Need to track this ship:

 

COSTCO GLORY 015W

 

Left Qingdao on the 22nd I think (I'm no sailor).

 

Oh aye, it docked in Chester on the weekend with 2,000 tonnes of veg oil.

[wuvvum]

Need to track this ship:

 

COSCO GLORY 015W

 

Left Qingdao on the 22nd I think (I'm no sailor).

 

Try www.marinetraffic.com.  Looks like the "Cosco Glory" doesn't have her AIS switched on at the moment, but earlier today she was in the East China Sea off Ningbo, on her way to Singapore.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

sounds like total gearbox meltdown to me

[barefoot]

Woman next door has just killed her 54 plate Mundano.

No gears on the A50 apparently.

I helped the bloke get it off the recovery truck, but the symptoms baffled me.

 

Clutch pedal on floor

Stuck in a gear - no idea which one

Lever moved front to back as if unconnected

But wouldnt move side to side

Big puddle of gearbox oil beneath car according to recovery chap.

 

What's that then?

Womans husband thinks its a quick sixty quid fix!

[cort16]

Why are Americans obsessed by shitey chrome wheels? I was just watching a program that had a Monte Carlo on mega cool steel when and they did work on it and swapped them out for really shit looking chrome wheels. Result : looks like dog shit

[CortinaDave]

Has anyone else noticed on quite a few new cars it seems when you turn a corner one front fog light comes on? It then seems to go off again once you straighten up.

 

What's the point of that?