What's made you smile today?

[jimboy]

Hasn’t made me smile, but I’m smiling at myself for my tittle tattle.

Tiger Woods in another car crash, only him involved. Speed being the problem. Not being judgemental, just an observation. Car was totalled, looks like he’s lucky to get off with a Broken ankle.

Mmm, looks like he has multiple injuries.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Tiger Woods in another car crash, only him involved. Speed being the problem. Not being judgemental, just an observation. Car was totalled, looks like he’s lucky to get off with a Broken ankle.

Aye Jim. Listening sleepily to the news at around 6.00 am this morning I think I heard them say it's a well known accident prone bit of road with a 45 mph speed limit. Although half asleep,I heard them say that he was doing around 80 mph. Someone mentioned this speed anyway. Also it was reported that there were no signs that any attempt at braking had been made - no tyre, or should I say tire? - marks visible. Apparently he crossed the centre median and lane/lanes on the other side of the road before running up the banking hitting a tree on the way! Probably lucky not to have taken anyone else with him?

 

[GeorgeDamper]

He is not short of Drivers

 

[SB1500]

The government announcement: if certain people can just bring themselves to behave, then there is finally light at the end of the tunnel. [emoji846]

I can't wait... usually our government in NI will copy what England does with a week or twos delay, so hoping if the roadmap goes well we'll also get rid of restrictions sooner.

 

[werdna]

And people wonder why I'd rather keep my feet on the ground!!

Flying is as safe as safe can be...it's hitting the ground that does the damage !

 

[Cheest]

I'm one of those people known as an "Essential Employee" on this side of the pond, which means that I have not had a reduction in flight time. If anything, my time in the air has increased. Flying is almost enjoyable again due not being packed like sardines, and save for Charlotte Douglas International, airports are not making me nuts.

Luckily, I only have eight more month of this BS and I can hang up my tool bag. I will use my frequent flier miles (a lot) for one nice trip for my wife and I, then never set foot in another airport again.

 

[SB1500]

Got the new Michelin PS4 tyres fitted today... Not a big noticeable difference on the drive home, but nice to know that's them sorted for hopefully a few years now.


I was dreading saying to the fitters something along the lines of 'look, please don't damage my alloys', in fear of seeming rude / ignorant. I mentioned it to them and they seemed to just get it, the guy ghapsed and said "SACRILIDGE!" - glad he saw the funny side of it.

That alone makes me 10x more likely to come back next time.

 

[StevenRB45]

Got the new Michelin PS4 tyres fitted today... Not a big noticeable difference on the drive home, but nice to know that's them sorted for hopefully a few years now.


I was dreading saying to the fitters something along the lines of 'look, please don't damage my alloys', in fear of seeming rude / ignorant. I mentioned it to them and they seemed to just get it, the guy ghapsed and said "SACRILIDGE!" - glad he saw the funny side of it.

That alone makes me 10x more likely to come back next time.

Seem to recall our ds3 arrived on Pilot exaltos (back when Michelin had a different name for the different levels of sport tyre but roughly equivalent to a PS4).

As my wife used to commute through the field of nails and down the boulevard of broken glass (I assume) we'd lost 3 of them to irreparable punctures by 9000 miles. So it was mainly on the less sporty primacy 3 by then (oem fit on the C3 oddly enough). It made no discernable difference. On a track day it might..but in reality you're probably more likely to feel an immediate change only if you're changing profile/size. Or in the case of the Mazda you're throwing away some godawful Toyos that picked up understeer at 30 mph in the wet.

 

[SB1500]

Seem to recall our ds3 arrived on Pilot exaltos (back when Michelin had a different name for the different levels of sport tyre but roughly equivalent to a PS4).

As my wife used to commute through the field of nails and down the boulevard of broken glass (I assume) we'd lost 3 of them to irreparable punctures by 9000 miles. So it was mainly on the less sporty primacy 3 by then (oem fit on the C3 oddly enough). It made no discernable difference. On a track day it might..but in reality you're probably more likely to feel an immediate change only if you're changing profile/size. Or in the case of the Mazda you're throwing away some godawful Toyos that picked up understeer at 30 mph in the wet.

Though the PS3s were close to the wear indicators, they didn't degrade in performance or handling as far as I can tell, whereas on past Corsa's and Panda's you'd notice a big difference going from the wore down ones to new tyres. Or maybe the petrol / lighter bodied car makes it feel more apparent

My friend with the new i30N can get the OEM Pirelli P-Zeros for £86 a wheel... raging that his fancy ass car is less than my Citroen in a frock.. :bang:

 

[StevenRB45]

My friend with the new i30N can get the OEM Pirelli P-Zeros for £86 a wheel... raging that his fancy ass car is less than my Citroen in a frock.. :bang:

Unfortunately the 17s are a rare size so the choice is not wide and they tend to be expensive, it's why when we switched to the C3 we went 16s not 17s. 16 is 205/55 which is the most common tyre size globally so the most expensive tyre you can get is about 90 quid and the choice is massive.

Well that and the one on 16s is half a second faster to 60, more economical and rides better.

 

[SB1500]

Unfortunately the 17s are a rare size so the choice is not wide and they tend to be expensive, it's why when we switched to the C3 we went 16s not 17s. 16 is 205/55 which is the most common tyre size globally so the most expensive tyre you can get is about 90 quid and the choice is massive.

Well that and the one on 16s is half a second faster to 60, more economical and rides better.

I was contemplating finding a set of genuine DS3 16" alloys and either buying a used set for winter / summer tyres but having asked last year on a popular Facebook group (full of ricers) they said it would 'handle like a boat' so it put me off. But I would trust your experience more being a seasoned Fiat Forum'er


Perhaps I'll find someone who would swap, wanting the bigger wheels. My plan is, when they get absolutely battered by corrosion (still only the centre for now) to have them stripped down and refinished just all black eventually.


The guy at the tyre fitting place confirmed to me that he hasn't seen a Citroen yet with those wheels without corrosion...

 

[StevenRB45]

I was contemplating finding a set of genuine DS3 16" alloys and either buying a used set for winter / summer tyres but having asked last year on a popular Facebook group (full of ricers) they said it would 'handle like a boat' so it put me off. But I would trust your experience more being a seasoned Fiat Forum'er


Perhaps I'll find someone who would swap, wanting the bigger wheels. My plan is, when they get absolutely battered by corrosion (still only the centre for now) to have them stripped down and refinished just all black eventually.


The guy at the tyre fitting place confirmed to me that he hasn't seen a Citroen yet with those wheels without corrosion...

Given they actually supplied DS3s on 195/55 R16 I think "handling like a boat" would fall into the category of a mild exaggeration for emphasis.

It will make turn in a tiny amount slower before the car settles as the larger sidewalls move under the car. But the flipside of that is lower unsprung weight and additional sidewall helps ride comfort and also acceleration and stopping a small amount. Unless you plan to do trackdays the main difference is cheaper more available tyres and you're less likely to kerb the wheels.

However I do not know if your car got a big set of brakes being the fastest diesel one so not sure if 17s were needed for clearance. Though looking at the front brakes on the C3 I'd be surprised if they were.

If you stuck to 195/55 which was stock width you do have less rubber on the road, but depending on wheel width 205 as per the 17s should be doable.

 

[SB1500]

Given they actually supplied DS3s on 195/55 R16 I think "handling like a boat" would fall into the category of a mild exaggeration for emphasis.

It will make turn in a tiny amount slower before the car settles as the larger sidewalls move under the car but the flipside of that is lower unsprung weight and additional sidewall helps ride comfort and also acceleration and stopping a small amount. Unless you plan to do trackdays the main difference is cheaper more available tyres and you're less likely to kerb the wheels.

However I do not know if your car got a big set of brakes being the fastest diesel one so not sure if 17s were needed for clearance. Though looking at the front brakes on the C3 I'd be surprised if they were.

Good point, I'll need to check the brakes. Do you know if the DS has a warning to tell you when they are wore down? With my Panda 169 I remember waiting for it to tell me before realising it wouldn't lol


The ride comfort is something worthwhile to me. The week I had my Panda back as it was being fixed, I was immediately aware of how much more comfortable it was over the rough roads / speed bumps (pretty annoying!!!). Though the first test drive of the DS3 I took it to 90 and was surprised how 'steady' it felt vs. the Panda.

Sports suspension is stupid and if I ever buy another car I'll opt for not having it, I can see why the expensive ones comes with computer controlled dampers for the choice of comfort which I bet drivers use 90% of the time.


I considered buying an Abarth 595 a few times over the past couple of years. I can only imagine it'd have suffered more intense roughness from the road. So in that sense, a little glad I avoided it.

 

[StevenRB45]

Good point, I'll need to check the brakes. Do you know if the DS has a warning to tell you when they are wore down? With my Panda 169 I remember waiting for it to tell me before realising it wouldn't lol


The ride comfort is something worthwhile to me. The week I had my Panda back as it was being fixed, I was immediately aware of how much more comfortable it was over the rough roads / speed bumps (pretty annoying!!!). Though the first test drive of the DS3 I took it to 90 and was surprised how 'steady' it felt vs. the Panda.

Sports suspension is stupid and if I ever buy another car I'll opt for not having it, I can see why the expensive ones comes with computer controlled dampers for the choice of comfort which I bet drivers use 90% of the time.


I considered buying an Abarth 595 a few times over the past couple of years. I can only imagine it'd have suffered more intense roughness from the road. So in that sense, a little glad I avoided it.

Have no clue about pad warnings, I've always been of the stick my head under and have a look persuasion and with alloys you can tend to see how much friction material you have quite easily. Do not recall ever seeing anything about them in the handbook or online.

I don't think going to 16s would necessarily transform ride. Should be better but the Panda would still have significantly more tyre vs wheel and the basic suspension set up is less bolted down. If we stuck DS3 wheels on the C3 it would still be soft, but with worse primary ride comfort and a bit more tyre noise and smidge more positive on the direction change.

I just think Citroën suspension lacks any Nuance...sports suspension = hard. Comfortable = Soft, there is nothing between these. A good sports set up is firm but with a damper that mitigates the worst bumps rather than faithfully transmitting every bump to the cabin. A good comfort set up let's the wheels move with the surface of the road but the damping should maintain body control.

Having driven both the C3 and DS3 neither is really successful at hitting the brief...given the Mazda rides nearly as well on it's sports set up as the C3 while handling as well as the DS3 (and that has a strut brace from the factory as standard). But the slightly too soft C3 is more liveable day to day than a car that's too hard.

Computer controlled dampers are only really necessary if want to fit large wheels with skinny tyres and keep ride comfort. A well designed passive set up combined with sensible tyres can do just as well.

 

[SB1500]

Have no clue about pad warnings, I've always been of the stick my head under and have a look persuasion and with alloys you can tend to see how much friction material you have quite easily. Do not recall ever seeing anything about them in the handbook or online.

I don't think going to 16s would necessarily transform ride. Should be better but the Panda would still have significantly more tyre vs wheel and the basic suspension set up is less bolted down. If we stuck DS3 wheels on the C3 it would still be soft, but with worse primary ride comfort and a bit more tyre noise and smidge more positive on the direction change.

I just think Citroën suspension lacks any Nuance...sports suspension = hard. Comfortable = Soft, there is nothing between these. A good sports set up is firm but with a damper that mitigates the worst bumps rather than faithfully transmitting every bump to the cabin. A good comfort set up let's the wheels move with the surface of the road but the damping should maintain body control.

Having driven both the C3 and DS3 neither is really successful at hitting the brief...given the Mazda rides nearly as well on it's sports set up as the C3 while handling as well as the DS3 (and that has a strut brace from the factory as standard). But the slightly too soft C3 is more liveable day to day than a car that's too hard.

Computer controlled dampers are only really necessary if want to fit large wheels with skinny tyres and keep ride comfort. A well designed passive set up combined with sensible tyres can do just as well.

Thanks, always good to learn about this stuff from you and your experience of owning one. Maybe I'll leave the car how it is and save some hassle.


This months maintenance task is wipers... can you (or anyone) recommend which to go for?

Looking at Valeo (always been a good brand in the past), Halfords (sketchy territory) and Bosch (good name, but over rated and over priced?)

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

This months maintenance task is wipers... can you (or anyone) recommend which to go for?

Looking at Valeo (always been a good brand in the past), Halfords (sketchy territory) and Bosch (good name, but over rated and over priced?)

Being able to see the outer pads relatively easily through an alloy wheel is one of the few good reasons I can think of for having alloys! My 7 year old granddaughter thinks it's very amusing that grandad always does this to their cars when visiting! Of course it can catch you out because you can't see the inners, but gives a very useful "snapshot".

Wiper blades? pretty much always Valeo for me as that's what my local factor stocks and I find them very satisfactory. A few years back I had to get a pair in a rush at the weekend from Halfords. The only brand they had in the sizes I needed was Champion and I didn't like them. The rubber seemed to be too hard and they screeched and juddered on the screen. I swapped them back to Valeo within the week and the Valeos were fine. Actually I find my local Halfords very helpful and useful in that they are open at weekends when most trade sources are closed. I'm lucky too in that I have a trade card so Halfords branded stuff is very reasonably priced and, usually, of acceptable quality. I do tend to only go there for parts in an emergency but I would actually choose to buy their premium branded tools which seem of good quality and have lifetime guarantees. My smallest torque wrench, 3/8th drive, is one of theirs and I suspect it's actualy, maybe, a Norbar? I also have their Vortex socket sets which are good and I've found, after extensive research, to be made by the tool "giant" Apex Tools. http://www.apextoolgroup.com/)

My 2016 Ibiza has the "new" single element type which are now just coming up on 5 years old and still working very well indeed. I've just been out and examined them minutely and can find no visible degradation and they are still soft and clear the screen as well as when they were new. Unfortunately I can't find any branding, or other text, on them anywhere. If I can find out who makes them I would go out of my way to buy the same make almost regardless of cost.

On the subject of brand names I find you have to be so careful these days as many are not what they were having been bought out and are being used to sell on the strength of their previous reputation. Bosch is a big brand with an excellent reputation for Electrical goods/components and I have some of their white goods which I find are excellent and I buy things like their alternators and electronic sensors etc without giving it a thought. Something like a wiper blade though is nothing to do with their core knowledge base (might just be a bought in product?) so, maybe very good, or? I'd try one though, if I was getting a good price, and expect it to work well on the strength of the reputation behind the name.

 

[StevenRB45]

Looking at Valeo (always been a good brand in the past), Halfords (sketchy territory) and Bosch (good name, but over rated and over priced?)

I've used Bosch Aerotwins for years. They are expensive in general but www.wiperblades.co.uk is half the price of Halfords.

Stuck a set on the C3 in October to replace original factory ones. Although that websites own brand aero wipers does well in various group tests as well.

 

[StevenRB45]

Being able to see the outer pads relatively easily through an alloy wheel is one of the few good reasons I can think of for having alloys! My 7 year old granddaughter thinks it's very amusing that grandad always does this to their cars when visiting! Of course it can catch you out because you can't see the inners, but gives a very useful "snapshot".

One of the "joys" of Citroën is they don't fit backing plates to the discs...so turn the wheels all the way to one side and stick a phone camera on selfie mode in for inner pads.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

stick a phone camera on selfie mode in for inner pads.

Presupposing you have a 'phone that takes pictures?

 

[jackwhoo]

I've used Bosch Aerotwins for years. They are expensive in general but www.wiperblades.co.uk is half the price of Halfords.

Stuck a set on the C3 in October to replace original factory ones. Although that websites own brand aero wipers does well in various group tests as well.

Hi Jock,
Bosch unsurprisingly have/had a factory in Europe dedicated to designing and manufacturing wipers blades.
Excellent wiper blades made nearby Europe by our fellow Europeans.....
Best wishes
Jack

PS yes to halfords advance tools I too have the 3/8inch drive torque wrench and a few other bits and pieces.