Modern Cars... unnecessary gubbins....

bianchimoon

I did a couple of laps in an atom as a passenger that didn't even have decent tyres such as yoko 32 r's had to get out after two laps before I puked. Vtech if your stig was Ben Edwards was at a track day with him a couple of years back nice guy but a not overly fast compared to vicki butler Henderson she was seriously quick

VTech

bianchimoon wrote:

I did a couple of laps in an atom as a passenger that didn't even have decent tyres such as yoko 32 r's had to get out after two laps before I puked. Vtech if your stig was Ben Edwards was at a track day with him a couple of years back nice guy but a not overly fast compared to vicki butler Henderson she was seriously quick

Ive been out with Ben but it wasn't that stig, the one I'm referring too was also driving the type of cars he is famous for driving, as you probably know, there are stigs for all occasions

DesB3rd

Completely agree regarding carbs, the Dellorto on the good Dr's kit car is better than a Weber and would give better performance.

Really? Every aggressive tune SOHC I've ever seen has run DCOE 40 or 45s, the latter being a bit of willy-waving, 40s gave best low-end delivery and gave away nigh-on nothing in ultimate performance. Up-specced FF2000 engines, common in a low-end single-seat formulas, got almost 200hp with little work to the real guts of the engine (hot cams, big carbs but not much else!) - and still very tractable.

Aficionados don't like them mind; apparently if it ain't ear splitting, with a <1000rpm power band then it belongs in a tractor...

tangled_metal

Serious car nuts taken over a humorous post about modern cars having airbags and other gubbins.
A few guys from my old company got taken around the Lotus test track by one of their test drivers. One by one they got out of the Lotus pleased to be out of the car. Until the last guy. A big car nut who owned a tuned Subaru, a guy who loves fast cars, bikes and track days. Confidently into the car but came out throwing up and kissing the floor grateful to survive. Seems the test driver didn't like the cocky sod and decided to knock him down to a peg or two. These guys are amazing drivers who know these cars inside out and can really work them. Respect.
I'm no car nut but more like the op except I love gadgets. Just turned down cars perfect for us just because no gadgets. Parking sensors I'm not bothered but cruise control is a must.

RideOnTime

I thought Stig was Jimmy Saville.

Monkeypump

RideOnTime wrote:

I thought Stig was Jimmy Saville.

For some reason, I read that as 'Jimmy Somerville' :?

RideOnTime

Monkeypump wrote:

RideOnTime wrote:

I thought Stig was Jimmy Saville.

For some reason, I read that as 'Jimmy Somerville' :?

Well possibly still as relevant in the context...

jedster

Bonkers isn't it? People pay £30k for a family saloon that is no more than transport to them yet you can get something far better for a tenth of the price that's hardly run in but just isn't new. Used cars are shamefully undervalued really but people are still more bothered about the numbers on the number plate than the actual content.

I both agree and disagree with this!

We have two cars
535D Touring - 9 years old 90k miles
SLK - 14 years old 50k miles

BMW we bought 3 years old with 30k on it. paid £18.5k vs new price of ..... £46k!!!
So I agree, that was excellent value vs the new price.

Today, we buy any car is telling me its worth £8k but frankly I doubt it - honestly its not very tidy. In the last couple of years we have had one expensive electrical fault after another (central locking, parking sensors, air bags, battery drain). It's all irritating hassle. The car still drives as well as it ever has (i.e. brilliantly) but its becoming a bit of a pain to live with. And coming back to the OP - overcomplicated electrics is a big part of the problem - the mechanicals are faultless.

The SLK was given to us a couple of years ago by my MiL who had had it from new (lucky I know). We've had to replace the engine management system in that at four figure cost. It took ages and several false dawns to locate the problem.

Overall, I think car companies are tending to load cars with too much unreliable electronic gubbins and this makes running, say, 10 year old cars a bit of a pain. But obviously I'm biased by not statistically significant experience!

drlodge

jedster wrote:

The SLK was given to us a couple of years ago by my MiL who had had it from new (lucky I know). We've had to replace the engine management system in that at four figure cost. It took ages and several false dawns to locate the problem.

I can relate to this. Lexus Guldford had my car for 3 months (yes that's right - 3 months) trying to track down a problem - the engine would run up to about 2k rpm then lose all power and run like a bag of spanners. They tried changing loads of things including the EMS with another car to no avail. It was only when they compared the diagnostic output from my car with an identical car they had in for service did they see a tiny difference - eventually tracked it down to the crankshaft sensor which had water ingress and so the electronics were dodgy and giving an errorneous signal to the EMS.

They only charged me for the part and labour to fit it, but I was without a car for 3 MONTHS! And I'm told Guildford has the smartest Lexus technician in the Country plus they got support from Lexus Europe too. :roll:

metronome

Lexi, plural.

team47b

metronome wrote:

Lexi, plural.

Lexus is a made up brand name it is not Latin in origin and the plural is Lexus.

The plural of Ferrari is Ferrari, because it is someone's name the plural is on the word car ie two Ferrari cars

Two Lexus cars.

They are still overpriced toyota (someone's name) cars though

diplodicus

team47b wrote:

metronome wrote:

Lexi, plural.

Lexus is a made up brand name it is not Latin in origin and the plural is Lexus.

The plural of Ferrari is Ferrari, because it is someone's name the plural is on the word car ie two Ferrari cars

Two Lexus cars.

They are still overpriced toyota (someone's name) cars though

You are probably correct, but if you saw two big red Fiats and a Porsche, surely most people would say they saw "2 Ferraris and a Porche"?

team47b

I would too.

florerider

diplodicus wrote:

You are probably correct, but if you saw two big red Fiats and a Porsche, surely most people would say they saw "2 Ferraris and a Porche"?

is that the right number of "esses" - but not necessarily in the right order?

Giraffoto

diplodicus wrote:

You are probably correct, but if you saw two big red Fiats and a flattened VW beetle, surely most people would say they saw "2 Ferraris and a Porsche"?

FTFY

The difference that I'd pedantically notice is if they pronounced "Porsche" properly. It annoys me so much that I think about rolling my eyes, but can't be bothered.

debeli

metronome wrote:

Lexi, plural.

One Lexu. One Ferrarus. One Maseratus. One Lotu.

Two Lexus. Two Ferrari. Two Maserati. Two Lotus.

Sometimes I think you people are being deliberately stupid. Bro, do you even language?

nathancom

Personally I find whale penis leather to be somewhat excessive:

http://jalopnik.com/5380680/15m-russian-suv-features-diamonds-whale-penis-leather

florerider

Lexus is not a latin word - it is in fact the name of the sort of car Alan Partridge drives.

Originally it was a play on "large executive ugly sucker", but could never be sure if that referred to the car or the yank inside.

Lotus is of course "lots of trouble usually serious" and is by definition plural to start with, there is never only one fault.

Two Ferrari - just waiting for you know who..... :roll:

drlodge

florerider wrote:

Lexus is not a latin word - it is in fact the name of the sort of car Alan Partridge drives.

Originally it was a play on "large executive ugly sucker", but could never be sure if that referred to the car or the yank inside.

I take offence at that. I am neither large nor an executive. :roll:

morstar

Another + for car electrics being frustrating. Traded in a mechanically brilliant car a few years back due to an endless succession of minor electrical faults that were becoming uneconomical to maintain. The tipping point was windscreen wipers stopping on the motorway during one of those biblical storms.

bigjim

I bought a brand new car forty years. Probably the worst financial decision I ever made. Over the years I decided they were just a tool to get from A to B. No traffic driving I enjoy, but it rarely exists anymore. I never spend more than £1000 on a car and I have had great reliable cars for less than £600. Having to rely on garages to fix and maintain my cars fills me with horror. I like the idea of being able ,theoretically, to to leave a car at the side of the road and walk away if a big beakdown, repair bill looms. I always flog them to the scrapper though. I've only ever had one total breakdown.
I drive my cars until they become financially unrepairable. The last one was still driving beautifully with all gizmos working at 170k miles but the welding bill would have been too much. I now drive a £1000 52 reg, ugly as me, Yaris Verso in perfect condition. I can wheel the bike straight in. Nice to drive, great MPG, totally reliable, simple to service. Love it.

drlodge

bigjim wrote:

I now drive a £1000 52 reg, ugly as me, Yaris Verso in perfect condition. I can wheel the bike straight in. Nice to drive, great MPG, totally reliable, simple to service. Love it.

Yeh that's reliable Japanese technology for you. I too drive a Toyota, well a posh one :P It only does about 25mpg but the cost of fuel is pretty irrelevant when only doing 5,000 miles per year.

bigjim

when only doing 5,000 miles per year

I probably do less than that, thats why I went to a smaller car. Funnily enough I enjoy driving it locally more than the 2.0 litre I had before. It seems more responsive and you are more involved working the gearbox. reminds me a bit of the old bangers I had in my youth in that respect. Or my current DT shifters.
Talking of gadgets I must admit I do love the Aircon at the moment and I see the wisdom in twin airbags.

tangled_metal

Well I like unnecessary gubbins in cars. Having had cars like a 1 litre fiesta, bog standard escorts and astras I can say with great pleasure I know own a car with, wait for it, cruise control, digital climate control (2 zone I might add), ESP, ABS, Stability control, auxillary connection (for MP3), at least 2 12v sockets, steering wheel controls, parking sensors, speed limiter (part of cruise control I know), CD radio (all my old cars had tape deck or just plain radios), fully adjustable front seats (yes, the passenger one too), sliding rear split seats (they can slide forward and back for more boot or leg room based on 60:40 split, i.e. each side csan be moved independently) and a hidden boot space (false floor).

There are many other things like a direct aspirated turbo (I think that was what the reviews said). Also many other things too.

This is my first car I have owned that is not the lowest or next lowest spec and I love it. So I rarely use cruise control. I can parallel park without the beeping sensors. I always had windows if it is hot and heaters if it is cold so why climate control? I don't care. More to go wrong? I don't care. While it works I enjoy them. When they go wrong I will join you in hating them. Get a good car and they shouldn't. Get a French one and they will go wrong. Check out the recent watchdog piece on Citreon grand picasso. We nearly went for one of them but the gas bag suspension leaks and that is not a design fault???!! Get REal.