The grumpy thread

[Yoss]

  On 10/01/2023 at 20:17, Remspoor said:

When will that be? 20 or 30 years after the last ICE was sold?

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I'll certainly do my best to make sure that is the case. 

  On 10/01/2023 at 20:21, Remspoor said:

When they implement this  later on we can all say sexual movements to the Labour party too.

Certainly a Tory idea. "Labour leader of the opposition, Cllr Satvir Kaur, criticised the lack of plan for enforcement."

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/southamptons-20mph-speed-limits-force-050000669.html

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Satvir is now the leader of the council since the last local elections (which I assume were in May, three months after the date of that article) so she could now do something about the lack of enforcement but I doubt there is the budget for it. £X will have been allocated and I doubt there is any more money. I expect any money left will be spent on little round 20 signs. Someone will do well out of that. So that article does basically admit they won't try and enforce it and it will be down to the goodwill of the public. So it won't make any difference. 

I like Satvir. I've met her a few times on the doorstep canvassing before elections and she has been to visit us on our picket line. She seems a genuinely decent person. She told me she will be replacing Alan Whitehead as labour candidate for Southampton Test MP at the next election. Alan has been our MP for 25 years and will be retiring and he is why we have a tiny red dot in a sea of blue. She will definitely get my vote. But I digress... 

 

  On 10/01/2023 at 21:20, red5 said:

If you want to do a comparative test get live data from ECU (EGT, EGR duty cycle, Inj duration, MAP etc). Drive at 20mph in 2nd @ X rpm . Repeat at same indicated road speed in 3rd @ Y rpm. Note readings. Get calculator. Get busy. 😁. 

Bear in mind formation of NoX is directly related to cylinder combustion temperature. Cool cylinder (water, EGR, low compression ratio) = massive reductions. 

You may find that higher engine rpm (then just off idle for example) uses relatively less fuel as it's more likely to be in the peak torque range which roughly equates to most go for fuel supplied. EGT readings are your friend here. And so on...

Then do all that again but display injector duration and rail pressure then drive in the gear/throttle position that displays the 'shortest'  and run into the back of the vehicle in front whilst watching your 'Emission-o-meter', but in an economic, low emission manner 😎

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Hmm... So how do I get the data out of this? I'm not quite sure where to connect the wires. 

But seriously I get your point and you may well be right. 

[wuvvum]

  On 10/01/2023 at 21:20, red5 said:

You may find that higher engine rpm (then just off idle for example) uses relatively less fuel as it's more likely to be in the peak torque range which roughly equates to most go for fuel supplied. EGT readings are your friend here. And so on...

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My old Cadillac STS was more fuel efficient at a steady 50 than at a steady 40.  At 40 the engine was barely above idle and wasn't running in its most efficient range.  I imagine a lot of cars will have similar traits at certain speeds.

[red5]

  On 10/01/2023 at 22:06, Yoss said:

I'll certainly do my best to make sure that is the case. 

Satvir is now the leader of the council since the last local elections (which I assume were in May, three months after the date of that article) so she could now do something about the lack of enforcement but I doubt there is the budget for it. £X will have been allocated and I doubt there is any more money. I expect any money left will be spent on little round 20 signs. Someone will do well out of that. So that article does basically admit they won't try and enforce it and it will be down to the goodwill of the public. So it won't make any difference. 

I like Satvir. I've met her a few times on the doorstep canvassing before elections and she has been to visit us on our picket line. She seems a genuinely decent person. She told me she will be replacing Alan Whitehead as labour candidate for Southampton Test MP at the next election. Alan has been our MP for 25 years and will be retiring and he is why we have a tiny red dot in a sea of blue. She will definitely get my vote. But I digress... 

 

Hmm... So how do I get the data out of this? I'm not quite sure where to connect the wires. 

But seriously I get your point and you may well be right. 

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Two flow sensors. One inlet, one return.

Somewhat cruder/more fabrication required  but do-able. 😁

[Yoss]

  On 10/01/2023 at 22:29, red5 said:

Two flow sensors. One inlet, one return.

Somewhat cruder/more fabrication required  but do-able. 😁

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Thanks, I'll take your word for it!

[jakebullet]

Just realised Ma's been doing her special skill of "The sideation" again while I was away at the weekend. That's her word for throwing things away that don't belong to her / she thinks are worthless / old / doesn't know purpose of, to make space for super valuable* things to be stored in the original items place.

So there's a box of old crap* relating to my (rather dead) father gone. In it's place there's a fine collection of 99% empty aerosol cans, and some VHS tapes of "Catherine Cookson's really miserable Tyneside tales". Be handy if we ever want to waterproof 1/10th of a shoe while reminding ourselves that Sean Bean should not attempt accents. 

[sheffcortinacentre]

Try living in a 20mph zone you get tailgated everywhere or cut up by the ones that can't be bothered to tailgate you.

Any obstruction is over come by the might is right philosophy ,speed bump are used as timed acceleration markers with the more bangs from your revlimiter the better.

Most of this from the yummy mummy school runners.

[Zelandeth]

Had just about finally got to sleep.  Then from roughly a foot to my right and about two feet down I hear *clunk...dugdugdugdugdugdug....* Took several seconds for my half asleep brain to figure out what he was hearing.

Yep, some idiot forgot to turn the compressor off last time he used the air line didn't he?

Thankfully it's only my bedroom that's directly above the garage so hopefully won't have bothered anyone else.  I really do need to add a really obvious power indicator that I can't miss from the garage door as this isn't the first time I've forgotten about it.

[LightBulbFun]

  On 11/01/2023 at 01:35, Zelandeth said:

Thankfully it's only my bedroom that's directly above the garage so hopefully won't have bothered anyone else.  I really do need to add a really obvious power indicator that I can't miss from the garage door as this isn't the first time I've forgotten about it.

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one of these mounted to the top? can also be used as a localised warming station, cup your hands around it during these cold winter days  

[Neil clark]

  On 10/01/2023 at 15:20, cobblers said:

I'm lucky enough to only ever have had to drive in one 20mph limit and that's the one going into Matlock. If you actually slow down to 20mph there, someone will crash into you. Anyway, that's my anecdote, please subscribe for more useless motoring observations.

 

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Drive into matlock a fair bit and I've never noticed a 20 zone lol, I feel a speed awareness course coming......

[cort1977]

  On 11/01/2023 at 01:12, sheffcortinacentre said:

Try living in a 20mph zone you get tailgated everywhere or cut up by the ones that can't be bothered to tailgate you.

Any obstruction is over come by the might is right philosophy ,speed bump are used as timed acceleration markers with the more bangs from your revlimiter the better.

Most of this from the yummy mummy school runners.

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Currently in London and driving my mother's Ka about. People get really shirty if you drive at 20 in a 20 zone and make the slightest hesitation because they have changed the roundabout since 1997. 

[3VOM]

And my broadband is out. Probably 100 gallons of rainwater in a cabinet nearby

 

[Yoss]

  On 11/01/2023 at 09:31, cort1977 said:

Currently in London and driving my mother's Ka about. People get really shirty if you drive at 20 in a 20 zone and make the slightest hesitation because they have changed the roundabout since 1997. 

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I used to drive around West London a lot and now don't but had to go to Hendon a couple of months ago. I was refamiliarising myself with old shortcuts and trying to stick to 20 whilst also making sure I didn't accidentally stray in to the ULEZ. Great fun.

As you say nobody was really paying attention to the limit but I did see one camera, I think on Ealing Road between the M4 and Brentford McDonald’s. I've no idea if it was enforcing the 20, it may have been there already when it was a 30 limit but I did have to brake suddenly just in case. Doesn't make driving pleasant, you spend half the time looking at your speedo and half looking for cameras and don't really pay attention to what's around you. 

[dave j]

There is a 20 mph zone in Plymouth that has average speed cameras on it. It's awful to drive that road! There are 2 mini roundabouts and hills to tackle as well so I try to avoid going that way

[andyberg]

The village next to mine has a blanket 20mph limit. Every approach road entry to it has the signs up.  If you dare to do the speed limit you get tailgated and over taken. Sure enough the centre of the village has narrow roads and a tight mini roundabout, but on those roads it's impossible to get any where near 20 but to cover the entire village is just a piss take.

[Markeh]

There's a 20 stretch of road near me that's quite wide, goes to 30 towards the end. Never seen a soul doing 20 on it - including the local police. Drivers undertaking on that stretch to do even faster is not unheard of either.

[Metal Guru]

  On 11/01/2023 at 14:15, Markeh said:

There's a 20 stretch of road near me that's quite wide, goes to 30 towards the end. Never seen a soul doing 20 on it - including the local police. Drivers undertaking on that stretch to do even faster is not unheard of either.

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Some councils wanted to go to 15mph but were advised that prosecutions were difficult as speedometers on most cars aren’t accurate at that speed.

[PhilA]

  On 11/01/2023 at 15:09, Metal Guru said:

Some councils wanted to go to 15mph but were advised that prosecutions were difficult as speedometers on most cars aren’t accurate at that speed.

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Funny, 15 is common here. You'll get stopped also for 20+ in a 15 if the cops are running a trap down a complaint street.

[sheffcortinacentre]

  On 11/01/2023 at 11:49, Yoss said:

I used to drive around West London a lot and now don't but had to go to Hendon a couple of months ago. I was refamiliarising myself with old shortcuts and trying to stick to 20 whilst also making sure I didn't accidentally stray in to the ULEZ. Great fun.

As you say nobody was really paying attention to the limit but I did see one camera, I think on Ealing Road between the M4 and Brentford McDonald’s. I've no idea if it was enforcing the 20, it may have been there already when it was a 30 limit but I did have to brake suddenly just in case. Doesn't make driving pleasant, you spend half the time looking at your speedo and half looking for cameras and don't really pay attention to what's around you. 

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Yes but think how safer the roads are & the bonus of someone to blame  without having to even leave the police station.

[New POD]

  On 11/01/2023 at 06:58, Neil clark said:

Drive into matlock a fair bit and I've never noticed a 20 zone lol, I feel a speed awareness course coming......

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I'm doing my second one* of those tomorrow. In Wolverhampton. Gone to never 62 mph in a 50.  Dual carriage way, that links the Runcorn Bridge to the M56.  

So you are on the Widnes side of the bridge and it's NSL, where there's one fixed camera and everu fucker breaks to 50. As you enter the toll part it drops to 60. After you leave the bridge it's still 60 for a while, before dropping to 50. And on that particular dry warm Saturday in November with zero traffic, I was on my way to visit my Dad in Ynys Mon. Slipped my mind that it's 50. I actually went.past the van thinking "well you can fuck off, because I'm.doing the speed limit.....Oh fuck" 

Anyway no excuses.  At least they didn't get me at 130.  

I have to remember to play the game and not argue the toss tomorrow. 

*my first one was a few years ago in a mk4 Astra, and "unfair" too. 

[Pieman]

I think I'd refuse the course and just take the points, but that's because of my nature and my refusal to sit and be talked to like a disobedient 5-year old.

[New POD]

  On 12/01/2023 at 00:38, Pieman said:

I think I'd refuse the course and just take the points, but that's because of my nature and my refusal to sit and be talked to like a disobedient 5-year old.

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But then I'd have 6 ☹

[horriblemercedes]

Yeah, I'd take the course and not the points. It's just pragmatic

[chadders]

That's what I did, twice, and I'll do again if necessary. It's no big deal.

[Metal Guru]

  On 12/01/2023 at 06:00, New POD said:

But then I'd have 6 ☹

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I take it you just have to nod and agree that speed is bad rather than have an adult discussion about it.

[Kevin-TIB]

How long are the courses? All day? Couple of hours?

The answer to that would determine the direction I'd go. 

[Talbot]

  On 12/01/2023 at 11:15, Metal Guru said:

I take it you just have to nod and agree that speed is bad rather than have an adult discussion about it.

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The entire premise of a speed awareness course is exactly that, making people aware of what speed they should be doing.  The basic assumption is of incompetence rather than malicious intent, so they are looking to educate.  There's nothing in there that isn't in the highway code, or indeed that you should/needed to know for passing your test, it's better described as a "bringing you back up to standard" course.

The lady running the one I went on was rather put out (indeed accused me of cheating, somehow) because I knew the answer to everything she was asking.  I ended up not answering questions in the end as it got rather embarrassing that no-one else knew the answers to really fucking basic road questions.  She also didn't like the fact that I told her that I was completely aware of the speed I was doing, what the limit was, and that there was a very high chance of an awareness course at the speed I was traveling, that I was taking a calculated risk rather than not knowing what the hell I was doing.  I probably should not have said that, as another course provider might have kicked me off for that sort of admission.

If you actually know what you're doing on the road, the course is somewhat simple, but £85 and a few hours is far better than £100 and 3 points.  I am absolutely sure that some people learned a lot on the course I was on.  That in itself is bloody scary.

[omegod]

  On 12/01/2023 at 15:07, Kevin-TIB said:

How long are the courses? All day? Couple of hours?

The answer to that would determine the direction I'd go. 

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4 hours if I recall , to be honest I did learn a bit from it and it's changed my driving as a result 

[Markeh]

A former colleague of mine actually drove faster as a result of his speed awareness course - he didn't realise NSL on a dual carriageway meant 70 not 60!

[Rust Collector]

  On 12/01/2023 at 16:29, Markeh said:

he didn't realise NSL on a dual carriageway meant 70 not 60!

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Did a slower limit on dual carriageways use to be a thing? I remember arguing with my parents about it a little while back, they were adamant NSL was 60 on a dual carriageway and the only 70 limit was on a motorway and that I must be confused as I hadn't been driving for as long as them so couldn't possibly be right 😅

[Kevin-TIB]

  On 12/01/2023 at 15:21, omegod said:

4 hours if I recall , to be honest I did learn a bit from it and it's changed my driving as a result 

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Probably worth saving 3 points if the presenter has a little cop-on.