I think you could be right Andy. Not collision avoidance but could have been the automatic distance selector function.
You preset the distance you want between you and the vehicle in front then the Jaguar matches the vehicles pace to maintain the gap. If they were to change lane giving the impression of a sudden reduction of the gap the Jaguar would brake automatically until the preset distance is restored.

Automated tailgater function?

The Jaguar cut into a gap between the van and the vehicle it was following and braked suddenly. Not the van drivers fault at all. If it wasn't the automated tailgater (mal)function it could well have been a crash for cash attempt.

portland_bill said:

More likely in the case above could be his Adaptive Cruise Control.

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That's it! Not "Automated Tailgater" although that would be a more fitting name for it.

Also "When he used his indicators" I don't recall seeing any indicator use at all. It was the A1 after all.

New Year's Eve.

Grumpy me says, it's just another day.

Neighbours started their party around 7:30, could hear them getting more drunk as the evening wore on. All gone quiet now, so guessing they're too drunk to stay awake for midnight. Oops!

Down the street somewhere, someone let off a few fireworks around 9:30pm.
Now someone else is letting some off, at 11:15pm.
All gone quiet at 11:20.

There I was thinking that the new year started a moment after midnight. Perhaps other parts of the street are in a different time zone.

Happy New Year..!!

On our 2hr commute yesterday..
We were reminded of the bad driving comments in this thread..

Being a DrinkDriving hotspot.. in time at least.. we saw 12 marked police vehicles.. we normally see 1.
1 drifted out of a slip road.. in the wrong lane it transpired..
Only to then change lanes and hold up a few.. whilst failing to keep a decent line.
It turned out to be an empty 'dog van'..
But wasnt exactly driven to the standard we were anticipating..

Got home in excellent time to discover that if we had set off a little earlier we could have been caught in more 'drone chaos'
M4 severn bridge closed due to some bloke thinking it was a great place to fly a drone.

We did see a Cessna circle over the Membury Service area.. and look like he was putting down in the carpark though.

Don't know what all the fuss was about. I was in bed by 10pm and watching a film so that Max did not get upset by the impending fireworks. We had some at 1200, 1210 and 1230 , their watch must have been slow !

We all, well nearly all - there's two families in the street with young children - have lived and raised our families here. It's a nice place to live and we all (well maybe with one exception) get on well together. We are mostly getting on a bit and whilst we've had some pretty good "first footing" parties in the past. Now-a-days it's more likely that we wave to each other, from the front window, shortly after midnight, on our way upstairs to bed! Anyway, none of us has a piece of coal handy anymore - plenty of whisky though, especially as my stomach forces me to be teetotal these days!

This Christmas/New Year has been a quiet affair with all three of our children and their families celebrating with their partner's parents. (they have popped in and out from time to time just to keep us on our toes) Next year they'll all be with us for the duration and daughter and her "tribe" will actually be staying for the two weeks. The boys and theirs will pop in and out. We certainly won't be "on our toes" then - more likely our knees!

Last night was very quiet with only Mrs Jock, myself and Mrs Jock's (opinionated!) sister (who arrives every year well before Christmas and stays till well after new year! - just learned she's going back to Devon next Sunday - No Jock, just bite your lip son!) Particularly enjoyed Gregor Fisher's "Last Call" IM Jolly resurrection. The original, by Ricky Fulton was always a much anticipated treat in years gone by. We also had a good laugh at "Still Game" which is uniquely "Scottish" in appeal and would probably need an on screen interpreter if broadcast in England (It wasn't broadcast in England, was it?).

So there we are, 2019 already. I can't believe I've outlived the years when Dan Dare was supposed to have taken place (late 1990's) and we've got space stations etc, as predicted! No Mekon yet thank goodness! I've made a good start by washing both cars this morning. Must say Becky, in white, looks so good when clean! Now we are awaiting No2 son, wife and my cute grandaughter to arrive to partake of the traditional New Year's Day Steak Pie. Is this (New Years Steak Pie) just an Edinburgh tradition or is it more generally observed Scotland wide?

A very happy new year to all and good health.
regards
Jock

Commode emptying duty. Always something to look forward to.

My two sons cooking dinner for our wedding anniversary. Not happy with the mess they left in the kitchen though.

Perturbed and amazed today.

Servicing my 2008 127,695 mile Alfa Mito 155 and finding the parts I took off (belts, tensioners and water pump) were all marked "8" or "08".

So the car with mismatched tyres, bodged exhaust and scratched rear screen where the wiper was bladeless probably hasn't had a service; ever! :bang:

So that's why I was perturbed. I'm amazed because the car is completely faultless. She runs perfectly, no metal flake in or other issues with the oil and even though the belts were old they looked to have plenty of life left in them. The cam'belt tensioner rattled like a maraca and the water pump had about 1.5mm play in the shaft. So I caught it all in time.

As if I need to remind everyone here just how good the FIRE and SuperFIRE engines are. My Mito is awesome. :devil:

Update from yesterday.

I have been through the limited paperwork that came with my Mito and there is no evidence of a "full service" but the oil and filters have been changed twice. Once in 2010 and including a flush in 2012.

:bang:


Did a hundred miles today with no issues whatsoever. :slayer:

I bought myself a Punto Mk2 HGT with dodgy clutch and no cam belt history and then (like a total plonker) used the car. Not the FIRE but a slightly less fussy version of the Alfa TS engines so parts were on the side of "HOW MUCH!!!"


Sure enough, the cam belt did what old cam belts do and I got to develop a close relationship with the engine's internals. It needed a full set of exhaust valves and at least one inlet valve. I replaced the lot - along with timing belt, water pump, tensioner, etc. It was still going fine 10,000 miles later so at least I'd not cracked a crankshaft bearing shell.

Something to laugh and cry about.

Should've posted this yesterday: walking into town, and spotting a very early mk2 Renault Laguna. It hit me that they've been around for 18 years now!! It also served as a sad reminder of just how much car design has deteriorated in a relatively short space of time.

puntofan01 said:

Should've posted this yesterday: walking into town, and spotting a very early mk2 Renault Laguna. It hit me that they've been around for 18 years now!! It also served as a sad reminder of just how much car design has deteriorated in a relatively short space of time.

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Had 2 estate versions of those. Brilliant car, saved me from myself a few times with great handling. However the 2 Renault dealers who I had the misfortune to work on them are best described as crooks.
To qualify that's compared to Toyota (seemed reluctant to take any money at all), Fiat (honest enough) Skoda (search but can't find common faults never before seen and charge you anyway) to Renault (never been in one where there was not a queue at service and at least one person questioning the bill) to Halfords, servicing a Daewoo under warranty, saying sure we can replace that rusty exhaust mount for free...

Liquid Knight II said:

Perturbed and amazed today.

Servicing my 2008 127,695 mile Alfa Mito 155 and finding the parts I took off (belts, tensioners and water pump) were all marked "8" or "08".

So the car with mismatched tyres, bodged exhaust and scratched rear screen where the wiper was bladeless probably hasn't had a service; ever! :bang:

So that's why I was perturbed. I'm amazed because the car is completely faultless. She runs perfectly, no metal flake in or other issues with the oil and even though the belts were old they looked to have plenty of life left in them. The cam'belt tensioner rattled like a maraca and the water pump had about 1.5mm play in the shaft. So I caught it all in time.

As if I need to remind everyone here just how good the FIRE and SuperFIRE engines are. My Mito is awesome. :devil:

Click to expand...

A decade..or more ago.. I went to look at a Bravo.. 1.2.
Trade sale
Service history..needs work


Correct on both fronts.

The rear looked like they had reversed into a post at @20mph..

Service history.. present .. both bits of paper.

Renault garage 40k

Halfords 80k

Now at 120k
The nearest it got to me driving it away was the screech from a bone.dry engine when I turned the key.

puntofan01 said:

Should've posted this yesterday: walking into town, and spotting a very early mk2 Renault Laguna. It hit me that they've been around for 18 years now!! It also served as a sad reminder of just how much car design has deteriorated in a relatively short space of time.

Click to expand...

I remember having a lot of fun in a company 3.0 V6 back in the early 2000s

They where nice to look at well equipped and very comfortable, but I still would never buy one in a millions years, dunno why, there is just something about the feel of big French cars, that and they give me terrible sciatica

I think what shocked me most was just how modern it still looked, surely 2 decades after the styling was signed off. I see a lot of very old cars that don't look old at all: the mk2 Volvo V70 has also aged incredibly well, likewise the E39 5-series.

puntofan01 said:

I think what shocked me most was just how modern it still looked, surely 2 decades after the styling was signed off. I see a lot of very old cars that don't look old at all: the mk2 Volvo V70 has also aged incredibly well, likewise the E39 5-series.

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I have to disagree totally, the Laguna now is over 18 years old and really doesn’t look “modern” by any stretch of the imagination.

The mk2 Volvo v70 looks barely any different from a mk1 and again that’s not much of change from an 850, a slight change from the 740 and ultimately has its dna significantly influenced by a 240, there is nothing new about even the latest v70, the difference is no one buys a Volvo v70 for looks, you buy one because you can get a three piece suite and a family of 4 in it, two dogs and tow a caravan.

The E39 has not aged well at all, and given that it launched in the mid 90s it’s no surprise, They are old ugly and where never very pretty to begin with, you find all e39s still on U.K. roads driven by eu migrants who think they are a good car as they would be back home, where as U.K. buyers wouldn’t bother due to the ridiculous running costs and expense to keep them running. Modern looking by the standards of what it replaced but definately not now.

The Volvo V70 was replaced 3 years ago - there isn't a V70 anymore, but a V60 and V90. Neither look like the older Volvos but the V60 does look like an 80% scale model of the V90.

AndyRKett said:

I have to disagree totally, the Laguna now is over 18 years old and really doesn’t look “modern” by any stretch of the imagination.

The mk2 Volvo v70 looks barely any different from a mk1 and again that’s not much of change from an 850, a slight change from the 740 and ultimately has its dna significantly influenced by a 240, there is nothing new about even the latest v70, the difference is no one buys a Volvo v70 for looks, you buy one because you can get a three piece suite and a family of 4 in it, two dogs and tow a caravan.

The E39 has not aged well at all, and given that it launched in the mid 90s it’s no surprise, They are old ugly and where never very pretty to begin with, you find all e39s still on U.K. roads driven by eu migrants who think they are a good car as they would be back home, where as U.K. buyers wouldn’t bother due to the ridiculous running costs and expense to keep them running. Modern looking by the standards of what it replaced but definately not now.

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I'm afraid I have to completely disagree. I think these days, a lot of cars hide their age pretty well, and they're far more aesthetically pleasing than their current counterparts.

puntofan01 said:

I'm afraid I have to completely disagree. I think these days, a lot of cars hide their age pretty well, and they're far more aesthetically pleasing than their current counterparts.

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Aesthetics has nothing to do with ageing when it comes to cars. What you're actually saying is you like the look of those cars, it doesn't mean they haven't aged.

I love the look of the Bugatti Type 57 Doesn't mean anyone would make a car like that today.

A car can still have aged and be a nice looking car.

However the only thing that would turn my head with an old Laguna is the fact its still on the road and hasn't been scrapped, you literally don't see them anymore and the main reason for that is terrible reliability and electrics.

The BMW, wouldn't turn my head at all, its an old BMW, nothing wrong with a BMW but they have never been the best looking cars in the world (in my view) something like a Z1 or an E24 M6 might catch my attention but not an old exec saloon.

And the Volvo, literally nothing at all interesting or exciting about the design, totally function over form, would never say I would not buy one but at the same time would not buy it because it was a great looking car, I would buy it to transport large items of furniture or to move house.

I get you don't like modern cars or modern car design but "modern" car design is the key phrase here and non of these cars look "modern" now.