What's made you not grumpy but not smile either today?

[SB1500]

Peugeot didn't design the wetbelt system.

Around 2010 there was a industry supplier called Dayco wandering round selling wetbelts as a solution to lower emissions and better performance. Both Ford and PSA bought the system, however their implementation and responses to the issues caused were significantly different. To be fair the Ecoboost came to wetbelt issues late as few early ecoboosts lived long enough to suffer belt failure with all the other issues they had.

...I'll put the tinfoil hat on and come up with a mad conspiracy theory here...

Peugeot are buying up all the brands... and fitting the last generation of ICE cars with terrible, wet-belt short-lasting engines that won't last half the life as most of the buyers previous 207 or C3 ... but now, or Corsa or Panda or etc. So that when they've had lots of trouble with engines, suddenly the BEV models appear to be a way out of ever having oil...belt...turbo issues ever again!

And Ford, well, Ford looked at it differently. They saw the Tesla fires and thought, 'if we make our new petrol engine extremely likely to go on fire, buyers won't dismiss our BEVs as fire hazards since they will know the ICE choice is as bad!'

...removes tinfoil hat

 

[StevenRB45]

...I'll put the tinfoil hat on and come up with a mad conspiracy theory here...

Peugeot are buying up all the brands... and fitting the last generation of ICE cars with terrible, wet-belt short-lasting engines that won't last half the life as most of the buyers previous 207 or C3 ... but now, or Corsa or Panda or etc. So that when they've had lots of trouble with engines, suddenly the BEV models appear to be a way out of ever having oil...belt...turbo issues ever again!

And Ford, well, Ford looked at it differently. They saw the Tesla fires and thought, 'if we make our new petrol engine extremely likely to go on fire, buyers won't dismiss our BEVs as fire hazards since they will know the ICE choice is as bad!'

...removes tinfoil hat

Or perhaps their normal timing belt supplier turned up and said "we can do this it works, these are the benefits and it'll work for at least 10 years.." and they believed it.

 

[bugsymike]

Tonight's crop of idiots waiting to see if their cars will rust and it is still another hour to high tide.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

VW have announced their new £17,000 Electric car which will rival the likes of the Panda, the C3 and the Dacia.

This is the "VW iD Every1"

Here's a picture.

Oh wait sorry my mistake that's the Fiat Centoventi concept from a few years back. How on earth did I mix that picture up here.

Here is the VW

There see, totally different car, looks nothing like the fiat........



If this new VW is a big success then someone in fiat is going to kick themselves they did not go with the Centoventi concept for the new Panda.

 

[StevenRB45]

I quite like the arches...

Although interior is literally a rip of the E-C3 interior down to the heads up a display that isn't a heads up display.

I think I preferred the last VW small electric car concept that looked like a Polo GTI.

The glass house on this kinda reminds me of the Suzuki Swift I had...which itself was a bit of a homage to the R52 mini proportionally.

It doesn't particularly look like a VW though... however compared to most of the cars they currently make its looking better and it does at least have controls for the heater on the dash.

 

[portland_bill]

The spring clock faff. 13 clocks, including the three cars and the garage, not including the four radio controlled ones that sorted themselves. It does not change the hours of daylight, just the label we put on each hour.

 

[varesecrazy]

The spring clock faff. 13 clocks, including the three cars and the garage, not including the four radio controlled ones that sorted themselves. It does not change the hours of daylight, just the label we put on each hour.

It's the
"Springbok Fall-out"
that gets me..

 

[portland_bill]

Just a serious thought about moving the clocks.
Anyone travelling at peak times needs to be watchful of animals, for the next fortnight.
The animals get used to our movements, knowing when the risk of crossing roads is highest. Now we're going to arrive an hour earlier than they expect, so the next fortnight will be the usual killing spree.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Just a serious thought about moving the clocks.
Anyone travelling at peak times needs to be watchful of animals, for the next fortnight.
The animals get used to our movements, knowing when the risk of crossing roads is highest. Now we're going to arrive an hour earlier than they expect, so the next fortnight will be the usual killing spree.

Its in general a period of high work accidents. There is usually a peak at this time of year and its thought clocks moving has a bearing. Of course its us, not being aware of things that dont change their clocks just going about their business when we are all half asleep. LOL
I can doze on in my retirement. Its been a torrid week Mrs PN has been very poorly. Ive never seen her as ill for as long in 50 years. My daughters couldnt take her out for cream tea! Youngest and I afflicted with a stinking cold at the same time so quite hard work. Thank heavens its improving and she is on her feet again (last half hour only).

 

[StevenRB45]

Made the mistake of polishing a panel on the Toyota..

I've not touched a polish cloth since before my son was born.

I now have one very lovely panel...on an otherwise mildly shagged looking black paint job.

How annoyed will my wife be if I use some of my paternity leave polishing a car?

Although my polish is very definitely "off" being about 13 years old and a bit watery (bought for Suzuki)...new polish and cloths needed?

 

[bugsymike]

Made the mistake of polishing a panel on the Toyota..

I've not touched a polish cloth since before my son was born.

I now have one very lovely panel...on an otherwise mildly shagged looking black paint job.

How annoyed will my wife be if I use some of my paternity leave polishing a car?

Although my polish is very definitely "off" being about 13 years old and a bit watery (bought for Suzuki)...new polish and cloths needed?

Generally the nearest I get to polish is if I use the shampoo/wax polish drum on my steam cleaner, trouble is I forget and blast the windows as well which means the windscreen stays smeary until I find something to cut the wax.
The commercial steam cleaner has not been in use recently as there is a dead Doblo in the way.
I was mildly concerned about a dust build up on the Skoda Scout, but luckily it rained a little the other day

 

[irc]

You must be getting cleaner rain than we've been getting here... my black Panda looks like it's been through the desert, and it hasn't moved an inch since I last steam cleaned it.

 

[StevenRB45]

You must be getting cleaner rain than we've been getting here... my black Panda looks like it's been through the desert, and it hasn't moved an inch since I last steam cleaned it.

Like the black Toyota...having owned 2 white cars it's higher maintenance than white.

Of course the main driver of this was someone was shredding fresh trees behind it and covered it in sap and dust.

When the car is sticky to the touch I need to do something.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Passed a new Lotus Emeya today.

So not a car I had seen on the roads before despite living a stones throw from the lotus factory. So I looked it up.
About £90k - £130k a sub 3 second 0-60 time with over 900bhp in a car you’d probably not normally pay any attention to. Honestly just looked like every other electric 4 door on the road.

Anyone else remember when lotus used to make cars that turned heads?

 

[StevenRB45]

Local farmers son has the Eletre in bright yellow.

It looks entirely like a Lamborghini Urus, brings a little bit of Essex to the village.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Local farmers son has the Eletre in bright yellow.

It looks entirely like a Lamborghini Urus, brings a little bit of Essex to the village.

Are yes the car of the middle aged business owner.

The car that is so expensive you need to have a lot of disposable money to buy one, you need to be old enough to remember lotus and like the brand enough to even look at it in the first place but as a result of your age and wealth you have a need for a larger car, maybe to occasionally tow a horse box

 

[The Panda Nut]

Local farmers son has the Eletre in bright yellow.

It looks entirely like a Lamborghini Urus, brings a little bit of Essex to the village.

NORFOLK is NOT kinessex. We keep our knickers on! Bit of Essex indeed. THat buoy is a pokka bit of high quality high skil NORFOLK engineering.

mumble mumble

Essex indeed.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Are yes the car of the middle aged business owner.

The car that is so expensive you need to have a lot of disposable money to buy one, you need to be old enough to remember lotus and like the brand enough to even look at it in the first place but as a result of your age and wealth you have a need for a larger car, maybe to occasionally tow a horse box

To do the 1/4 mile school run....

 

[irc]

I think Colin Chapman may be spinning in his grave like a perpetual motion machine...

He was all about making cars lighter and nimble.

 

[StevenRB45]

Are yes the car of the middle aged business owner.

The car that is so expensive you need to have a lot of disposable money to buy one, you need to be old enough to remember lotus and like the brand enough to even look at it in the first place but as a result of your age and wealth you have a need for a larger car, maybe to occasionally tow a horse box

Git...

My thought process on reading this went "but he's not middle aged I went to school with him" then I remembered I'm 40 this year and he owns a business.

So thanks for that not only am I regularly assaulted by this eyesore it shall now remind me I'm getting older.