wilko Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 When I lived in Liverpool, everybody used to drive live a loony on the main 2 & 3 lane roads road the outside of the city centre - I even saw a clio on it's roof opposite the Liver building in the middle of the morning rush once! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
504GL Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 When I was first driving the average motorway speed of a Mk1 Cavalier / Mk5 Cortina 2.0 was around 100 mph everywhere. NSL meant "No sodding limit" and doing 80 on the ring road around Liverpool (40 limit) wasn't considered unusual. My mum used to do 65 on it, ffs.Nowadays I very rarely see anyone doing 15 mph over the limit anywhere. Unfortunately, although cars handle a lot better than they did, they seem to be driven with a lot less skill.Lowering the speed limits and making the cars safer has undoubtedly lowered driving standards in my view. The only thing people seem to be better at is avoiding speed cameras.The big problem IMHO is that people have been conned into the whole "SPEED KILLS" campaign. I've only been driving since 2001 so I can't claim to have the years of experience you all have but there seems to be this attitude that if you're under the speed limit you're driving safely which is absolute rubbish. All too often on my drive home I'll come along some clot doing 30 in an NSL bit and you've either got to stay behind them or overtake on one of the few bits where you can see up the road far enough, some people don't even wait till they can see though..... don't even get me started on people who see speed limits as a goal for cornering speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akron Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 The perception of driving has changed though as well, now you can go out get a brand new car on rent including servicing etc and just drive it no issues or responsibility on the driver.Driving seems to be a 'right' these days it is not seen as a luxury anymore so people apply less care and consideration to their vehicles and their driving.IMHO I believe you have far more twats on the road because fewer people have to scrimp and save to own and run their cars, it is seen as a disposable item 3 years and you get a new one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
504GL Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 The perception of driving has changed though as well, now you can go out get a brand new car on rent including servicing etc and just drive it no issues or responsibility on the driver.Driving seems to be a 'right' these days it is not seen as a luxury anymore so people apply less care and consideration to their vehicles and their driving.IMHO I believe you have far more twats on the road because fewer people have to scrimp and save to own and run their cars, it is seen as a disposable item 3 years and you get a new one.Probably yet another factor. IMHO cars are also pretty cheap here compared to back in Australia so people view them as dispoable moreso than people back in Australia who tend to keep em longer.A plonker friend of mine gets himself a new Fester every few years on PCP. Most stupid way of owning a car IMHO. We bought a new 500 last year on scrappage but at least we're going to keep the car till it's a rusting shed. At least I'll know it's not been ragged and then never serviced like the 406 we scrapped for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akron Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 What engine in the 500, my parents are on their second now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
504GL Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 What engine in the 500, my parents are on their second now.In mine? A 1.2 and as Fiat have been making them since forever so other than a random failure I reckon it should go on for a while Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akron Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 1.2 is a good engine i agree, my folks bought the 1.3 dizzler. Big mistake managed to get it swapped for a 1.4 picking it up next month on a 10 plate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
504GL Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 1.2 is a good engine i agree, my folks bought the 1.3 dizzler. Big mistake managed to get it swapped for a 1.4 picking it up next month on a 10 plate What problems did they have?Were they related to DPF regeneration? Rising oil level? Or just something else?I think diesels in small cars are horrible, I didn't drive the 1.3 diseasel but the 1.2 was my preffered choice over the 1.4 because it's got a bit more torque lower down than the 1.4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akron Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 Rattly gearbox and clutch, sounded like an old tractor, Fiat won't accept that there is a problem and are unable to fix it. Enterprising dealers fix it with a hydraulic damper on the clutch servo from a punto/panda however the dealer my folks go to couldn't be arsed so swapped it for a new 'un .My dad likes the 1.4 because he like revvy engines, he has been a biker for the last 40+ years . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
504GL Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 Rattly gearbox and clutch, sounded like an old tractor, Fiat won't accept that there is a problem and are unable to fix it. Enterprising dealers fix it with a hydraulic damper on the clutch servo from a punto/panda however the dealer my folks go to couldn't be arsed so swapped it for a new 'un .My dad likes the 1.4 because he like revvy engines, he has been a biker for the last 40+ years .Ah I know exactly what you mean. I've seen a few complaints about it and the hydraulic damper was meant to be a fix but some dealers either don't know or can't be bothered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lankytim Posted February 26, 2010 Author Share Posted February 26, 2010 The fiat 500 is a really great little car. I would love to own one, I dont care how gay it makes me look.Actually, id prefer a panda as it has 5 doors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
504GL Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 The fiat 500 is a really great little car. I would love to own one, I dont care how gay it makes me look.Actually, id prefer a panda as it has 5 doors.Well I wanted a Panda because it's a crapload cheaper but the wife was making faces because she didn't like the interior.Here are some pictures of mine plus some pics of when I took the useless tyres off and put winter tyres on.http://members.iinet.net.au/~fenix1983/Files/500/I really like it but I'd chop it in for a 504 saloon any day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lankytim Posted February 26, 2010 Author Share Posted February 26, 2010 Lovely!!!I do like the Panda though, the dash looks like something from the 1980's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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