Next car?

I'm quite happy with this at the moment...

Jo Sharp.


Did your car came with the blinkers installed?
We have lot of Audis and audiots here, and very few cars have blinkers.

You mean I might want to show other people where I am going? Strange idea..they are meant to keep out of my way....



Actually, it is BMWs and Mercs that do not have indicators...they have to be fitted as a special order from the factory

...but when the A3 goes, an S3 or S5 would be the choices to replace it.

Once again people are not understanding me! My point was that I understand why TVR don't like ABS, but as a consequence TVRs really are only suitable for very skilled drivers. Yes on a road car, on the road where the driver might not know the conditions round the next bend, and indeed where the driver may be any idiot who can jump through the hoops that are a driving test, ABS is a valuable safety device that saves lives. However, a driver should be able to stop a car quickly without engaging the ABS, it is called an emergency stop, and every driver should know how to do one as it forms part of the driving test, if you brake to hard and cause the ABS to engage, or the wheels of a car without ABS to lock you fail your test. Anyone who cannot bring a car to a stop safely and under control in normal conditions without ABS should not be on the road, simple as. ABS is there to allow you to steer under heavy breaking, it doesn't make the car stop any faster in a straight line.

As for the over-modified bullet comment, it shows a distinct ignorance of the difference between idiots fitting kits to cars without doing anything else to allow them to control that power, and a serious, well established company carrying out extensive modifications that have all been thought out and tested as well if not better than the original car. I suppose the AMG SLK is "an over-modified bullet operating beyond its safety envelope"? The Turbo Technics adaption contains quite a lot of safety devices the original didn't and as a consequence it is probably safer to crash in one than a standard 205, it also shares almost nothing except the body panels, sun roof, and engine block with the standard car. Even the chassis is modified; brakes, clutch, steering... I could go on forever were all designed specifically for the adaption to make that extra power safe and controllable.

What's so great about new and standard vehicles anyway, they all have their faults. The turbo on my father's current car collapsed when it was a mere 8 months old. Everything goes, power steering, servo assisted brakes, you effectively loose all control over the vehicle. He was lucky he was doing about 10mph on a country lane at the time, and that he is heavy and strong enough to be able to have some influence over a vehicle of that weight without all the powered gismos, I doubt my mother would even have been able to bring the car to a stop and had it happened on the outside lane of a motorway it would have been a multiple car pile-up. By contrast if the turbo fails on the 205TT it is still perfectly possible to steer and brake, as although unlike the standard GTI it does have power steering and servo assisted brakes, they revert to standard passive operation, and the car still weighs next to nothing.

So F1 drivers aren't skilled? I'm sure most or all of them are smoking a front tyre every race weekend, especially in qualifying. ABS was banned, thankfully, in F1. And not because the drivers demanded its ban.

And rally drivers are nutters!

Tony

@djftw - your post contains much "should". Certainly, drivers 'should' be able to drive with control and a great deal of skill. Unfortunately in the real world where the rest of us live, that simply is not the case.

If you are sure your over-modified bullet is as safe to crash as the cars whose drivers you are providing the horrified expressions to (they might also be considering other or oncoming road users) the only logical answer to your position is "by all means, after you, sir". Do provide instructions so that someone will send us the photos, afterwards.

regards

quote:

So F1 drivers aren't skilled?

Fernando certainly managed to demonstrate today that drivers following should keep their distance or suffer the consequences. Hamilton barely got away with a similar stunt during safety car last year, I wonder if Alonso will be punished or, if the FIA will adapt the usual attitude that "well, it didn't harm Ferrari so we'll let it go..."

Peter

@Rico,

I like the assumption that I am a reckless driver, for all you know my reference to the faces of Porche drivers was referring to something that happened on a track or an unrestricted section of the German Autobahn.

I would be more careful about what you say if I were you. You have no idea of who I am, or how qualified or otherwise I am to drive at speed.

I seriously resent your assertion that I would endanger other motorists when driving on a public road. Sufficed to say that had your comments directed at me been made in a manner in which they could be connected to me personally I would pursue you for libeling me. However, I do not believe that anyone on this forum knows who I am.

Leaving aside the personal stuff for a second....

..I think the issue of driver aids and safety is interesting. Modern cars tend to insulate drivers to speed and perhaps to danger. Quiet, smooth cars with fuss-free braking and competent handling may serve to cocoon drivers. Stand by the side of a dual carriageway to be reminded of the kinetic energy you carry at 60mph! When I drive my Caterham the extra noise, connection with the road and the lack of safety features makes me far more aware of my surroundings and the risks driving involves.

The question is wether that insight makes me a safer driver. Perhaps it does for me but (said with some arrogance) I'm not sure it does for everybody. The truth is most cars are designed for average drivers. If it all goes pear-shaped then slamming two feet out and trusting the ABS is actually going to be better than expecting joe-public to cadence brake-and get it wrong.

I can understand why TVR choose to do without driver aids such as traction control and ABS but for mainstream metal I suspect these things have saved a lot of accidents.

Bruce

Re ; the ABS conversation,
IF someone can truly cadence-brake as effectively, or even more effectively than ABS can do it for you, then ABS is superfluous.

"ABS is for wimps. I don't need it 'cos I'm a great driver" sort of attitude is all a bit macho.
There are drivers out there who are that good, but not as many as those who think they are that good.
I know I'm not that good, & am happy to have ABS on my cars.
Knowing my limitations makes me a better driver, not a worse one, I think.
Matt.

To me, driving a car with no aids and a manual gearbox gives me greater pleasure when I get everything right. Like using a camera in manual. But I've never been injured by a bad photo....

Tony

Dear Tony,

This is the aspect of the 240 that I enjoy the most. Though it has synchro of course, it is a lovely thing to double declutch and make a completely smooth down change, etc, etc.

I would love a veteran car with a crash box!

George.

PS: I have my garage on the case to find a suitable non-powered rack for the steering, which is rather too light for comfort on the M-way.

Also knowing what ABS can and CANNOT do is also required. I'll relay again a story a mate told me when after the first heavy frost after most of the "top" mangers got their fully kitted AUDI Quatro's. That morning 6 out of 8 managers had crashed their cars all moaning that the ABS didn't work.My mate had to explain how ABS works and the fact is that you need at LEAST one wheel with grip before ABS can do any thing. With max brake pedal and zero grip F all will happen, apart from a loud bang.

quote:

Originally posted by BigH47:
Also knowing what ABS can and CANNOT do is also required. I'll relay again a story a mate told me when after the first heavy frost after most of the "top" mangers got their fully kitted AUDI Quatro's. That morning 6 out of 8 managers had crashed their cars all moaning that the ABS didn't work.My mate had to explain how ABS works and the fact is that you need at LEAST one wheel with grip before ABS can do any thing. With max brake pedal and zero grip F all will happen, apart from a loud bang.

If you have zero grip then braking is not going to work if you have ABS or not. You need an anchor!

Bruce

quote:

If you have zero grip then braking is not going to work if you have ABS or not. You need an anchor!

The point I failed to make was the "managers" in this instance had all been told of the ABS "miracle" and assumed wrongly it was a "fix all" when I get it wrong system. It says more about them than ABS I reckon

quote:

Originally posted by BigH47:
Also knowing what ABS can and CANNOT do is required. I'll relay again a story a mate told me when after the first heavy frost after most of the "top" mangers got their fully kitted AUDI Quatro's. That morning 6 out of 8 managers had crashed their cars all moaning that the ABS didn't work.My mate had to explain how ABS works and the fact is that you need at LEAST one wheel with grip before ABS can do any thing. With max brake pedal and zero grip F all will happen, apart from a loud bang.

Thank you! Not everyone seems to understand that ABS is a useful tool in some circumstances, but is far from being the be all and end all that some people seem to think it is.

quote:

Originally posted by Tony Lockhart:
I'm not aware of anyone that can distribute differential brake pressures to each brake.

Erm, no, that would be Electronic Break Force Distribution! Which again is useful but far from infallible, as is traction control.

quote:

Originally posted by Bruce Woodhouse:
..I think the issue of driver aids and safety is interesting. Modern cars tend to insulate drivers to speed and perhaps to danger. Quiet, smooth cars with fuss-free braking and competent handling may serve to cocoon drivers. Stand by the side of a dual carriageway to be reminded of the kinetic energy you carry at 60mph! When I drive my Caterham the extra noise, connection with the road and the lack of safety features makes me far more aware of my surroundings and the risks driving involves.

My father always said that the cheapest approach to vehicle safety would be to fit no safety devices whatsoever and a huge spike in the middle of the steering wheel! Don't think the manufacturers would be likely to buy into that though!!!

djftw, are you in any way related to Jeremy Clarkson?
I seem to remember him making a very similar comment on vehicle safety and fitting a spike.

Maybe the focus should be biased more toward driver training and awareness, rather than just fitting every conceivable driver aid to a car.

Back on the subject of next car though.
After two years off the road I'll be quite happy to have the Caterham roadworthy again.
If I were to get rid of it though, I'd try and chip it in against a 1930's blower Bentley.

WO Bentley himself intensely disliked his own creation, the Blown Bentley.

He was forced into it because the company was in financial difficulties and his backers wanted to blow his engine, as was becoming fashionable at the time. He agreed as it allowed the company some couple of years more trading in spite of cash-flow difficulties, with a fairly signifcant injection of financial liquidity [with was still a liability at the point when Royce bought the company out and ceased production all WO Bentleys designs, thus eliminating the only serious competion Royce had from any UK manufacturer]. In light of this sad end to Bentley's in 1931, I am very pleased to see that the two companies are now entirely separate from each other, and have two German master makers competeing properly again between the two great marques ...

Bentley's reason for producing the four and a half litre naturally aspirated four cylinder engine in the late twenties was that he felt his original [1919 designed] three litre four [approx 140 horsepower] was getting short of breath, but it was still incredibly strong and reliable. The four and a half was even stronger...

But the supercharger ruined the engine, which for the first time showed allsorts of failures not associated with the naturally aspirated version.

Bentley had already seen the requirement for a more powerful engine than the four and a half litre four cylinder and set about producing the six and a quarter litre six [nominally, the "six litre"], and finally the eight litre six which was only produced very small numbers [about fifty only] as it was not fully developed at the end, sadly. In each case the engine was naturally aspirated and more robust and reliable than any other engine made up to that time.

WO Bentley himself commented that if you want more power [and speed] than the four and half litre engine then buy the six!

In the end WO Bentley conceded that producing the "blower" actually finished the company as to compete in races fifty road cars had to be made, and these were duly made, and sold very badly as they were more expensive to make than the six, less powerful, less reliable and severely unrefined as road cars compared to the naturally aspirated version, and the six brought a degree of refinement [at less cost than the blower] with even more power and better power to weight ratio...

He never again attempted to fix a supercharger to any engine he had to do with including the Lagonda V12.

Sad story. Get the "Speed Six" which is possibly the greatest English car ever made, [while the two naturally aspirated four cylinder models were not so far behind, even by the standards of other makers by the end in 1930/1]. The Spped Six had the six and a quarter litre six, with a foreshortened chassis, and would run on top gear from 4 mph to 100 mph without complaint in road trim.

George

I blame my love for the Blower Bentleys on my Grandfather.
When I was a younger, more impressionable youth he allowed me to read his copy of Full Throttle.
Sir Henry Birkin's tales made a lasting impression on me and since then I've had a bit of a hankering for the Blower Bentley.
Not that I'd turn down the opportunity to own any Bentley of that era, you'd have to be crazy to do that.

quote:

Originally posted by NealW's 7:
djftw, are you in any way related to Jeremy Clarkson?
I seem to remember him making a very similar comment on vehicle safety and fitting a spike.

Not the first time I've been asked that! Not as far as I know. I'm not overly sure of the origin of the spike comment. My father seems to think he read it in a book somewhere, but isn't too certain. I don't think it likely that he would read something by Clarkson.