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

[DaveMcT]

Theres a stretch of National Limit road near me that's polluted with 1990s sweeping bends so overtaking is extremely dangerous. Not that it stops some idiots. The issue is that most drivers trundle along at 40 - and crawl up to that speed in a most frustrating way. Who knows if it's deliberate but they effectively invite the boy-racers to overtake.

Overtaking was fine on the bike as it had the acceleration to do it safely. It the car its dangerous to even consider the idea. Not enough space and the sweeping curves make sure you cant see very far ahead.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Our 1.2 Panda is great for annoying boy racer hot hatch drivers. They try to barge by on the straights but slow excessively on bends. I keep my speed up and easily lose them on the bends. They absolutely hate that a "rubbish" Panda can so easily beat them.

You’re not the first person to post that on here, honestly I don’t get it, there should be no problems keeping up with a 1.2 panda round some bends in anything and definitely shouldn’t be a problem in any hot hatch so I’m guessing it’s all down to driver experience than it is the car.

 

[portland_bill]

Our 1.2 Panda is great for annoying boy racer hot hatch drivers. They try to barge by on the straights but slow excessively on bends. I keep my speed up and easily lose them on the bends. They absolutely hate that a "rubbish" Panda can so easily beat them.

It's probably old age and an almost total lack of testosterone these days, but I just don't engage with this sort of thing and haven't for quite some years. I'm not a "slow" driver, I don't obstruct others who want to press on and I like to make speedy progress when safe to do so without exceeding specified limits. I try to make smooth driving an aim with moderate acceleration and using momentum where possible (judging traffic lights etc) I find it makes for a relaxing and pleasant driving experience and, especially on longer trips, I find you arrive much less tired at the other end. I think the big "secret" is not to allow yourself to become annoyed or upset by the "offending idiot". Just hang back slightly and let him/her crucify him/her self.

With a 60hp Panda, it should not be able to outpace anyone, but it frequently does. I don't race anyone, but do like to pop along briskly when possible, which can annoy some when the little car pulls away from them.

Fancied Fish & chips tonight. Our local chip shop serves up very greasy stuff, so you mostly taste the grease. There's a great chip shop in the next small town, 6.6 miles away, along a very rural road, but nicely all national limit except a short bit in a village.
Leaving this town on the way out, just as I passed the speed change signs, a car was overhauling me quite fast, obviously quite 'competent' in lit 30 limits. Panda accelerated (is that valid for a Panda?) out and around the first long, but bumpy bend, then a short straight to a tight right hander, rippled so the back skips a little. Then away up the hill. He was citching on approach to the second bend, then must have braked, a lot, for the right hander. He never caught up, even through the 30 limit. No crashed car or debris on the return journey.
Returning with the dinner, exiting the town, another overhauling me very quickly. The headlamps looked like Ibiza. (Sad, aren't I) Gently down the hill to the national limit, to a long stretch with only mild corners. At 50mph I was gaining, once I hit 60, I was pulling away noticeably. By the secong long sweeping bend, he was falling back a lot. Didn't catch up either.
They're all very good in lit 30 limits. Not so clever on dark country roads. Must hurt as the orange box leaves them. I think the little orange car hits them emotionally, and they 'must' get by.

 

[SB1500]

With a 60hp Panda, it should not be able to outpace anyone, but it frequently does. I don't race anyone, but do like to pop along briskly when possible, which can annoy some when the little car pulls away from them.

Fancied Fish & chips tonight. Our local chip shop serves up very greasy stuff, so you mostly taste the grease. There's a great chip shop in the next small town, 6.6 miles away, along a very rural road, but nicely all national limit except a short bit in a village.
Leaving this town on the way out, just as I passed the speed change signs, a car was overhauling me quite fast, obviously quite 'competent' in lit 30 limits. Panda accelerated (is that valid for a Panda?) out and around the first long, but bumpy bend, then a short straight to a tight right hander, rippled so the back skips a little. Then away up the hill. He was citching on approach to the second bend, then must have braked, a lot, for the right hander. He never caught up, even through the 30 limit. No crashed car or debris on the return journey.
Returning with the dinner, exiting the town, another overhauling me very quickly. The headlamps looked like Ibiza. (Sad, aren't I) Gently down the hill to the national limit, to a long stretch with only mild corners. At 50mph I was gaining, once I hit 60, I was pulling away noticeably. By the secong long sweeping bend, he was falling back a lot. Didn't catch up either.
They're all very good in lit 30 limits. Not so clever on dark country roads. Must hurt as the orange box leaves them. I think the little orange car hits them emotionally, and they 'must' get by.

I always thought that in my head any time I passed someone in the silver Panda 169! And looking back, I’m surprised that I passed as many people as I did. It’s truly hard to try and explain to someone without them thinking you’re making it up lol

In the Panda, it was “you’re driving so poorly that you’re being passed by a Panda”, and in the case of the Passat CC the other day I thought “you’re driving so poorly you’re being passed by a girls car” ?

Cheers to the guy who reminded me of the risks of uploading the video!!! On second thought it’s a silly thing to do.

Something I’ve noticed about the boy racers is, once they know you’re going to make an arse of them they switch from being ‘too up your ass and overly keen to overtake by moving into the other lane” into ‘driving a mile behind you holding up the traffic doing 30 in a 60 zone’. As long as they’re annoying someone I suppose, right?!

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

The one that's always annoyed me the most, because I fully observe posted speed limits, is the driver who, perhaps half a mile before a town, you've come up on and passed. Then, because they are not observing the speed limit, they overtake you in the town but fail to pick up a decent pace once out in the country again. On longer journeys this "cat and mouse" game can go on for town after town and become very tedious.

The other one which comes to mind, and thankfully it's seldom encountered, concerns behaviour in traffic jams, or very slow moving traffic, on motorways. When traffic is moving very slowly indeed I like to leave a short distance in front of me to the next vehicle so that I can use this gap as a "buffer zone" so I'm not continually riding my clutch but can let the car dribble along in first at idling revs allowing this buffer to concertina in and out. I've noticed others doing this and to me it makes a lot of sense. However, just occasionally, you come upon a driver who will sit unmoving until a gap of maybe 10 or more car lengths has built up ahead of them and then suddenly speedily close the gap before sitting there for some time as the gap extends again. The problem is that others will take the opportunity to dive into the space exposed and so you steadily loose ground on everyone else. Yes you can try to swap out to the next lane and go round this "moving road block" but often this causes disruption in it's own right due to shrt tempers of others who are also being delayed. Last time it happened on the M6 - where else? - the "offender" was about half a dozen vehicles in front of us so to amuse myself I decided to just stay where I was and observe whether doing so actually knocked us back by much. The traffic jam took a good half hour of first gear crawling to negotiate and I estimate we probably fell back by about 20 to 25 car lengths compared to the traffic streams alongside us which, in terms of additional time lost on the journey was minimal - but the perception was that "everyone else" was making better progress than us stuck behind this chap in the inside lane! I'm going to try to remember that next time I'm stuck behind one of these people.

 

[jimboy]

Funnily enough coming home from town this morning, as I’ve said before an ordinary road with some bends and straits, 8 miles to my village. I’m doing 50/55 MPH and catching up quickly with a Skoda SUV in an unwanted brown colour, but that’s me being picky He’s doing at a guess 35 or there about. Cars are coming the other way, so my first opportunity to pass is a no go. The driver checks me in his mirror and he’s off, I saw him clearly, elderly geezer, bald and I even saw him moving his head in such a way he was saying something to himself.

Now this in in itself is not a big deal, but every small bend he was braking and slowing right down. I was in my 3 cylinder daily so I wasn’t going to push it.

 

[portland_bill]

The one that's always annoyed me the most, because I fully observe posted speed limits, is the driver who, perhaps half a mile before a town, you've come up on and passed. Then, because they are not observing the speed limit, they overtake you in the town but fail to pick up a decent pace once out in the country again. On longer journeys this "cat and mouse" game can go on for town after town and become very tedious.

These are always annoying. Worse when they pull away in town which means you don't catch up until all good overtake opportunities are gone.

Another hate, is those that keep a steady speed exactly 5mph below any speed limit, as if that makes it safe. 5mph margin needs a very long overtake space, so mostly impossible. I don't wish anyone to go faster than their ability, but 55 in a 60 should enable them to do 50 in a 50, not 45.

The other one which comes to mind, and thankfully it's seldom encountered, concerns behaviour in traffic jams, or very slow moving traffic, on motorways. ... just occasionally, you come upon a driver who will sit unmoving until a gap of maybe 10 or more car lengths has built up ahead of them and then suddenly speedily close the gap before sitting there for some time as the gap extends again.

I think these are also the people who cannot manoeuvre in car parks, jumping half a car length at a time, bouncing in and out of a space trying to position the car. Lack of clutch control, it is either up, or down, so need the space as a buffer to prevent hitting the car in front.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Another hate, is those that keep a steady speed exactly 5mph below any speed limit, as if that makes it safe. 5mph margin needs a very long overtake space, so mostly impossible. I don't wish anyone to go faster than their ability, but 55 in a 60 should enable them to do 50 in a 50, not 45.

I usually find those people are the ones who while doing 55mph in a 60, will then slow to 50mph when they enter a 30mph zone, almost as if there car has only one forward setting and they just stick to that no matter what, they’re also usually the sort of people who will flash there head lights and beep if you over take them, like you’re doing something illegal.

Living in a fairly rural area you get a lot of people who will stick to one speed as they blunder through the country side and then into little towns and villages without foot paths

 

[StevenRB45]

I usually find those people are the ones who while doing 55mph in a 60, will then slow to 50mph when they enter a 30mph zone, almost as if there car has only one forward setting and they just stick to that no matter what, they’re also usually the sort of people who will flash there head lights and beep if you over take them, like you’re doing something illegal.

Living in a fairly rural area you get a lot of people who will stick to one speed as they blunder through the country side and then into little towns and villages without foot paths

Also the ones who come up behind you like a freight train while you sit on the limit in a village..then when you get to a nice open bit of national where you'd expect them to attempt an over take have dropped back 20 odd car lengths as you accelerate to the prevailing limit.

Of course at the next village there they are again...sitting in your boot looking annoyed at your failure to travel at 15 over the limit.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I think these are also the people who cannot manoeuvre in car parks, jumping half a car length at a time, bouncing in and out of a space trying to position the car. Lack of clutch control, it is either up, or down, so need the space as a buffer to prevent hitting the car in front.

Ah yes, fine control! Saw a really quite amusing example this morning on my walk down to the harbour and back. Going down one of the small back streets, where cars are parked on either side of the road so effectively reducing it to one way only, a council refuse vehicle - Transit crewcab with large mesh enclosed pickup bed - was collecting some household items (mattress and bed irons from what I could see) and so completely blocking the street. Plainly visible what was going on from the end of the street but large new supersized KIA SUV drives slowly down the street until it's front bumper to front bumper with the refuse van. Right away I'm thinking this is silly. The pickup had maybe a foot on either side of it to the parked cars so reversing would be very difficult and the driver asked the KIA owner to reverse.

The KIA driver was not at all happy with this but I think realized that the van was going to find it difficult to reverse maybe fifty or sixty yards with so little clearance. So, with very rude expression of face, engaged reverse gear. There followed an amusing demonstration of how not to reverse. Holding the revs between around 3 to 4 thousand revs the clutch was dipped in and out so the car reversed in a series of violent jerks. Twice the van driver "tooted" to warn contact with parked cars was imminent and all went quite well, with a bit of backwards and forwards, until a large kerbside waste bin (the type where a special lorry with lifting gear lifts the whole bin up and dumps the contents into the lorry) was encountered sticking out a little proud of the width of the parked cars. The KIA stopped and the driver got out and inspected the obstruction, got back into the car, increased the revs to stellar proportions and shot back ramming the bin. It all got unpleasantly heated at that point so, as I was already quite a way down the street from them I left them to it and continued walking towards the park.

I could make a lot of comments but I'll bit my lip and just wonder how people can be considered competent to drive when they can't reverse. We often see this when down in Devon at Mrs J's sister. She lives "down the lanes" and, especially in summer, you often encounter "visitors" who can't reverse whereas the locals are all expert! You can tell local cars too because they are the ones with scratches all along the nearside panels due to "squeezing by" in the lanes.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Thinking some more on car control. A lot of the streets around us are yellow lined but we are not. Consequently it's not unusual to find a stranger or two parked in our street. We are on the inside of a gentle curve in the road outside our house and directly opposite is a layby, supposedly to serve the flats, which can just take 4 cars - but more often 3 due to poor parking, reverse parking is nearly always necessary. The kerb of the layby is curved to follow the curve of the road and it's amazing how many people don't take this into account and end up with a rear wheel on the pavement. The only way out of this predicament is to drive back into the road and reverse park again without taking such a big "bite" at it but it's amazing the number of people who will go back and forwards, back and forwards ad infinitum, turning the steering wheel randomly left and right whilst achieving no good outcome. I would guess at least two or three cars every week are simply abandoned with a rear wheel still up on the pavement!

Talking about abandoned cars. We've now had a big Merc parked to the right of our drive's dropped kerb for over a month now. I'ts not even parked nicely, being at least a foot or more out from the kerb. I checked it on the government website and it is taxed and MOT'd but none of us know who it belongs to and none of us have seen anyone anywhere near it. The car doesn't look "loved" 2014 plate, not been washed for a while, alloys corroded quite badly and not due to kerb rash either, inside is "messy". No sign of forced entry etc. I'm a bit reluctant to be a "jobsworth" and report it but it does seem a bit strange?

 

[portland_bill]

Ah yes, fine control!

The KIA driver was not at all happy with this but I think realized that the van was going to find it difficult to reverse

I could make a lot of comments but I'll bit my lip and just wonder how people can be considered competent to drive when they can't reverse.

Being a council van, with one or two 'heavy lifters' being hourly paid, it was unlikely to reverse whatever the circumstances.

Driving tests include reversing. If the car is not under control, it will be a fail, so all these people were able to do it.

Talking about abandoned cars. We've now had a big Merc parked to the right of our drive's dropped kerb for over a month now.

Make a note of the wheel positions, traffic wardens photograph all four wheels, as valve position will be different if it has moved. Or mark wheels with a bit of chalk, if brave enough. If it does not move, report it on your council's website as a potentially abandoned vehicle. It might have been stolen and dumped there by the thief, and with little police presence unnoticed. Or might belong to a neighbour along the road, and it got this far and broke down. No money to mend it.

Or. Put it on eBAY, see what you can get for it.

 

[SB1500]

My friend with the i30N got his mum a new car, a 2018 Fiesta Titanium. Sunroof, heated steering wheel / seats, nice modern speedometer screen, decent tablet for the radio etc., and 125hp EcoBoost 3 cylinder. Nice car for £7,000 with only 4,500 miles on it. Somewhat of a steal actually!

Curious how this competes with my 1.6 diesel, same sized car, 6 speeds assumably but lighter being a petrol. I'd say faster off the mark but would be a bit out of breath on the motorway cruising compared to the diesel?

Seeing their nice new engines is giving me the inclination too buy some AutoGlym engine bay cleaner and spend a bit shining up my engine for the sheer personal satisfaction of knowing it 'looks nice'. Not so sure about pointing a hose at it like some of the YouTube channels are doing .. yikes!

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Seeing their nice new engines is giving me the inclination too buy some AutoGlym engine bay cleaner and spend a bit shining up my engine for the sheer personal satisfaction of knowing it 'looks nice'. Not so sure about pointing a hose at it like some of the YouTube channels are doing .. yikes!

Pressure washing an engine bay is fine as long as you know what you’re doing, that said Citroen are one of the worst for not protecting electronics so I’d always be extra cautious on a Citroen.


The reason an engine bay gets so dirty is because of the flow of muck usually carried in water being splashed about all over the engine bay when you drive in bad weather.

The engine bay on my punto looks great despite an oil leak somewhere I still haven’t found

 

[portland_bill]

My friend with the i30N got his mum a new car, a 2018 Fiesta Titanium. Sunroof, heated steering wheel / seats, nice modern speedometer screen, decent tablet for the radio etc., and 125hp EcoBoost 3 cylinder. Nice car for £7,000 with only 4,500 miles on it. Somewhat of a steal actually!

Curious how this competes with my 1.6 diesel, same sized car, 6 speeds assumably but lighter being a petrol. I'd say faster off the mark but would be a bit out of breath on the motorway cruising compared to the diesel?

The 125hp is a rocket ship. Move out to overtake one car, do three. 20-70 in second gear flies like a racer, then straight to 6th to cruise. If driven enthusiastically, will put a grin on your face, but most of the time, can be hard work. On the motorway at 70, plenty left in reserve. Probably not the way to drive it for longevity.

The 125hp can be difficult to drive gently. It is nervous. Slight movement of the accelerator and it is urging to go, making gentle driving a chore. Absolute pain with the learners, bouncing on and off the accelerator, I was glad when we changed to the 100hp. The 100hp is much easier to drive but surprisingly does run out of puff noticeably, so at 70, not much left, although significantly more than the Panda.

They all have a water cooled turbo, but circulation stops when the engine stops. Should always allow it to idle for a few seconds before turning it off, especially after a fast run. Had one learner on a country road, nice straight uphill stretch. Good run at 60 for nearly two miles, uphill, then into the drive and turn off. Moments later, the coolant was boiling in the turbo, and bubbling/gurgling into the reservoir. Can't be good for turbo life.

When handing the car back after a year of learner abuse, it matters less. 4th owner will be the one to suffer.

 

[StevenRB45]

They all have a water cooled turbo, but circulation stops when the engine stops. Should always allow it to idle for a few seconds before turning it off, especially after a fast run. Had one learner on a country road, nice straight uphill stretch. Good run at 60 for nearly two miles, uphill, then into the drive and turn off. Moments later, the coolant was boiling in the turbo, and bubbling/gurgling into the reservoir. Can't be good for turbo life.

When handing the car back after a year of learner abuse, it matters less. 4th owner will be the one to suffer.

I still find this absolutely bizarre, you've mentioned it previously. But when even PSA have decided that for longevity on the small turbos having oil and water systems that are independent of whether or not the engine is running Ford have really dropped a testicle. Even Vauxhall had electric waterpumps 10 years ago.

Stop start must be great for that car

 

[portland_bill]

I still find this absolutely bizarre, you've mentioned it previously. But when even PSA have decided that for longevity on the small turbos having oil and water systems that are independent of whether or not the engine is running Ford have really dropped a testicle. Even Vauxhall had electric waterpumps 10 years ago.

Stop start must be great for that car

I had 10 or 11 Fiestas with the AA Driving School, most were the 1.0 triple. No more economical than the previous 1.4. For a while we were supplied without spare wheels (genius on a school car), but that made no difference to economy.

I often smiled at the stop/start, happy to kill the engine immediately on a stop from a fast run. It seemed that the turbo engineers and the stop/start engineers never talked to each other.

There were other examples of disconnected design too. The large display that SB1500 liked is way too bright, even on its dimmest setting, so is very 'in-your-face' and distracting. I used to run it on permanent night setting, and live with it being too dim at night. There's a 'useful' button to blank the display, but unlike the VAG stuff that leaves some detail along the top, this blanks the whole screen, so you lose the clock. Not good for timed lessons. We've been adding clocks to cars since cars were invented, now Ford decide we can hide it.
You can set the unlock to just unlock the driver's door, with a second press for the rest. Useful for some, but I find annoying. But with just the driver's door unlocked, the fuel flap is locked. Only way to refuel is to have whole car unlocked. Misses the point, as this option was created from America where thefts from cars while refuelliing was common. Vauxhall did it the same way with the Corsa. Nuts. No idea what my Fabia does, as it's set to unlock all.

 

[StevenRB45]

I had 10 or 11 Fiestas with the AA Driving School, most were the 1.0 triple. No more economical than the previous 1.4. For a while we were supplied without spare wheels (genius on a school car), but that made no difference to economy.

I often smiled at the stop/start, happy to kill the engine immediately on a stop from a fast run. It seemed that the turbo engineers and the stop/start engineers never talked to each other.

There's some very odd choices with the ecoboost. Most manufacturers went alloy block, those wanting extra strength to wind boost in/to help the engine heat faster for emissions then went with cast iron liners.

Ford went full cast iron block meaning the 1.0 weighs more than the old 1.6 with ancillaries.

The Turbo cooling I imagine the thought went along these lines. How much will it cost us to develop a system that allows it to cool itself during stop start operation? That much? That's more than it's going to cost in warranty claims we'll just stick the same old thing we've used for years on and they'll be out of warranty by the time that lands.

Probably the same logic that left them with plastic coolant hoses that fail and lunch the engine at 4 or 5 years old. I suppose at least that means the timing belt is the least of your concerns.

Fiestas are an expensive car these days as well given a mid level one with a few options is well over 20 grand so not really much excuse for the pound shop engineering.

 

[mowermender70]

as said before .i have never owned a ford i worked for a ford dist in west sussex . doing garden machinery ,on the first day md took me round the site ,got to ford spares dept , and he said THIS IS THE ONLY PART OF THE COMPANY THAT MAKES A PROFIT. it done cars vans and commercil vehicles. i wonder if its stil the same?

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Fiestas are an expensive car these days as well given a mid level one with a few options is well over 20 grand so not really much excuse for the pound shop engineering.

Yep, that’s why they introduced the KA+, so swallow up the entry model Fiesta clientele.