Unpopular Motoring Opinion Thread

[Matty]

4 minutes ago, loserone said:

That's quite a popular view to be fair

Indeed. I'd sooner try to break the world record for pushing Cadburys mini eggs up my arse than drive a Picasso, and I cant imagine being alone in this (apart from the mini eggs bit obvs)

[EyesWeldedShut]

6 hours ago, Spiny Norman said:

In all things to do with driving dynamics the Metro pissed all over it.

I was driving Plod stuff back in the 1980s - the old A Series Metros were a scream - dated and slow but inherently safe for that reason.
K series came out(1990?) and we got the Rover 111 which were OK. We also got some 1.4 diesels (XUD?) that were bloody awful - big step between 3rd and 4th in the gearbox left it hanging when you changed up - some of the guys actually kept reporting that as a defect.
Still safe (ish)

(1993/94 we got Astra 1.4i, waah waah and fancy lights - much more fun but the prang rates went right up)

[Bren]

I liked metros. The 1.0 was surprisingly peppy and the interiors seemed to retain their "new" smell for yonks.

On the downside the gearboxes always reminded me of the circular saws in a joiners shop. My mate had a C reg turbo - the row of lights to indicate boost was a nice touch. But not the transmission which took me back to going to the butchers with mother and listening to the bacon slicer.

And rust.

[eddyramrod]

4 hours ago, Cavcraft said:

Who said it was fun?

I take it you will happily pay the estimated £48, 409 per year it'll cost to keep them there, though?

What's the annual bill for new police vehicles?  If they sell off or just use half the vehicles they seize from the drunks, that should cover it. 

No system is perfect, I know that, but the one we have is so broken and unfit for purpose that almost anything would be an improvement.

Or are you suggesting that a 12 month ban and a £200 fine is punishment enough?

 

 

Incidentally I'd be lowering the limit too.  35 microgrammes?  Far too high.

[Cavcraft]

I'd imagine that the money raised from selling a 2004 Focus with no MOT, 3 bald tyres and a few empty Stella cans in the back isn't going to make much of a dent in their costs. Many things need fixing in this country, spending £48,000 a year on each and every pissed up driver surely wouldn't feature high on many peoples lists.

For the record, a first time offender blowing 90-119 milligrams can expect 23-28 months ban, have to face a DVLA medical and the average fine is £300.  On top of that there's a chance the person would lose their job so have no income, and by your rules would then either cost the tax payer the above amount in prison costs, or be propped up by the social at the tax payers expense, too.  Obviously no income increases the risk of some sort of offending/re-offending going on too, so there's no happy ending. Except for the average Daily Mail reader, I expect.

 

Drink drivers are almost certainly 99.9% lazy, selfish bastards and should be punished. Sending all of them down for a year and banning them for life is ridiculous though.

[Cavcraft]

Oh, (back tracking) I meant the Rover 100 'Metros' weren't a patch on the Corsa before.  The early Metros were ace, just not as good as a Corsa, imho. 

[grogee]

2 hours ago, Matty said:

I'd sooner try to break the world record for pushing Cadburys mini eggs up my arse

Amateur

[egg]

Around half of British drivers want the motorway speed limit to be raised to 80 mph.

I'm in the leave it at 70 camp.

(Not that it actually would ever actually increase)

 

[eddyramrod]

12 minutes ago, Cavcraft said:

Sending all of them down for a year and banning them for life is ridiculous though.

That's blatantly not what I said.  Ban them for life?  Yes it's appropriate, and should be the baseline, if that's how little they think of their licence.  I'm constantly appalled by the "standards" I see around me every day, applied to an activity I went to a great deal of expense and time to learn properly; something which at any moment could suddenly and permanently affect any number of lives.  MY actions could do that, the actions of a sober (former) professional, never mind some drunk who thinks he's on Grand Theft Auto.  So yes, ban the bastard for life, before he kills someone.  Which I have seen with my own warm brown chocolatey eyes.  It was nearly 35 years ago and I can still replay it in my head like a DVD.

At no point did I suggest sending them all down.  Take the licence, take the car.  If the car is fit to use, and many of them will be, fine, use it.  Obviously the worn out old heaps can and should be bridged, but why let the DD pocket the money?  

[eddyramrod]

3 minutes ago, egg said:

Around half of British drivers want the motorway speed limit to be raised to 80 mph.

I'm in the leave it at 70 camp.

(Not that it actually would ever actually increase)

 

When the 70 limit was set, most of the cars on the road would struggle to reach it.  But that was the thick end of 60 years ago.  Car design has moved on and almost anything built in the last 40 years is capable of far higher speeds.

Unfortunately the drivers are not.

[Gompo]

I found the seats in the only Saab 9000 I've driven quite uncomfortable. I do have a slight back issue but still.  Probably drove about 500 miles in total, usually in roughly 1 hour spells. Just couldn't get them adjusted correctly.  The particular example had covered around 100k.

 

Secondly and perhaps not as controversial,  I think both the 7th generation Celica and the 3rd generation MR2 look rubbish. They may well drive excellently, but I'd never look back.

[Metal Guru]

4 hours ago, Timewaster said:

You ever tried to set light to diesel?

No but I was thinking of petrol which lights up if you get within 4 ft with a flame. Kerosene lights up pretty easily ( seen a plane crash?)too and that’s half way to diesel.

[Metal Guru]

6 hours ago, NorfolkNWeigh said:

That’s because most mainstream “leather” in modern cars is plastic, just like your Dad’s Renault 12. Unless you raid the option list on Mercs, BMWs and Audis you’re getting synthetic stuff on anything under anA8/S Class or 7. Presume ‘ lesser’ brands are the same. 

I remember the term “Old English Vinyl” being quite common in the 70s.

[grogee]

8 hours ago, egg said:

Around half of British drivers want the motorway speed limit to be raised to 80 mph.

I'm in the leave it at 70 camp.

(Not that it actually would ever actually increase)

 

I genuinely think we'll see a fuel shock that will 'temporarily' change motorway speed limits to 50. And when govt realises less people get squashed it'll turn permanent. 

I'd be in favour of a 60 limit. 

[sierraman]

10 hours ago, Cavcraft said:

I'd imagine that the money raised from selling a 2004 Focus with no MOT, 3 bald tyres and a few empty Stella cans in the back isn't going to make much of a dent in their costs. Many things need fixing in this country, spending £48,000 a year on each and every pissed up driver surely wouldn't feature high on many peoples lists.

For the record, a first time offender blowing 90-119 milligrams can expect 23-28 months ban, have to face a DVLA medical and the average fine is £300.  On top of that there's a chance the person would lose their job so have no income, and by your rules would then either cost the tax payer the above amount in prison costs, or be propped up by the social at the tax payers expense, too.  Obviously no income increases the risk of some sort of offending/re-offending going on too, so there's no happy ending. Except for the average Daily Mail reader, I expect.

 

For the record, drink drivers are almost certainly 99.9% lazy, selfish bastards and should be punished. Sending all of them down for a year and banning them for life is ridiculous though.

I’d chemically castrate people that put their bins out early. 

[sierraman]

1 hour ago, grogee said:

I genuinely think we'll see a fuel shock that will 'temporarily' change motorway speed limits to 50. And when govt realises less people get squashed it'll turn permanent. 

I'd be in favour of a 60 limit. 

It’s absolute hell driving at 50mph, you spend more time concentrating on doing 50mph than you do watching where you are going. 

[eddyramrod]

1 hour ago, sierraman said:

It’s absolute hell driving at 50mph, you spend more time concentrating on doing 50mph than you do watching where you are going. 

Also, speaking as a lorry driver who has spent long chunks of my working life governed to 56 on motorways: the in-cab harmonics at that speed WILL send a driver to sleep.  It's almost as if that's what they were designed to do.

[Dyslexic Viking]

Iveco makes better vans than Ford and VW.

[philibusmo]

I actually like the Xsara Picasso.

I Bought one for £100, pulled the back seats out and moved house with it. It took sofas, double beds, a chest freezer and everything else with ease. 

It handled better than you'd think, was softly sprung which is actually pretty ideal given the state of the roads and it didn't complain at me for driving everywhere with my foot flat down on the accelerator.

The best thing though is the little fold out shopping trolley. I still have that and use it as a laundry basket.

 

[philibusmo]

Adaptive cruise control is crap is part of the reason for congestion on motorways.

It stops people anticipating what's ahead. 

Rather than notice a problem coming up and slowing down a little to keep smooth flow of traffic, the adaptive cruise will carry right on and then slam on the anchors, with every car behind doing the same until the traffic stops.

[DavieW]

The first time I encountered adaptive cruise control was in a  courtesy VW Passat. I thought the thing had run out of fuel until I realised it wasn't normal cruise control. 

[Rocket88]

11 hours ago, philibusmo said:

Adaptive cruise control is crap is part of the reason for congestion on motorways.

It stops people anticipating what's ahead. 

Rather than notice a problem coming up and slowing down a little to keep smooth flow of traffic, the adaptive cruise will carry right on and then slam on the anchors, with every car behind doing the same until the traffic stops.

Most modern driving aids seem specifically designed to make people drive badly 

[PicantoJon]

22 minutes ago, Rocket88 said:

Most modern cars seem specifically designed to make people drive badly 

FTFY

[Dyslexic Viking]

Mechanical diesel engines are the best engines and should be in everything and should still be a thing in cars.

[grogee]

On 23/03/2024 at 08:34, sierraman said:

I’d chemically castrate people that put their bins out early. 

Define 'early' 

[Supernaut]

7 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

Mechanical diesel engines are the best engines and should be in everything and should still be a thing in cars.

No need for these noise emitters that EVs have, when instead you're driving an XUD with the noisiest injectors this side of the galaxy.

[eddyramrod]

14 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

Mechanical diesel engines are the best engines and should be in everything and should still be a thing in cars.

Cannot agree in any way.

[Dyslexic Viking]

1 minute ago, eddyramrod said:

Cannot agree in any way.

I expected you would.

[juular]

35 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

Mechanical diesel engines are the best engines and should be in everything and should still be a thing in cars.

Diesel engines of any arrangement sound better than any petrol I6 or V6.

Bonus opinion.

An I5 sounds way better than any V8.

[Dyslexic Viking]

1 minute ago, juular said:

Diesel engines of any arrangement sound better than any petrol I6 or V6.

This is controversial, I like it. And agree.