Average speed cameras work. Are they even on ?

it is nice when people pull over, i do it myself – it’s a nice habit i made an effort to adopt when i lived in NZ, where literally EVERYONE does it, it’s amazing

Weirdly, this is true. I say weirdly because, in pretty much every other respect, the standards of driving in NZ are pretty poor, and drivers are pretty selfish, and inconsiderate. You would never get let out of a junction in a busy town, for instance. BUT, on the country roads, people in slower vehicles pull off to let drivers of faster vehicles past. And not just farm vehicles or caravans, even Reg and Doris on their slow Sunday afternoon drive, will get out of the way of faster cars.

BTW re. the electric handbrake thing, the manufacturers know that no one likes them, they do it to save weight and hit eco-targets. It’s not a solution in search of a problem, it’s just a solution to a different problem from the one you might have thought.

they do it to save weight

How much weight does it save? The tiny drum brake in the hub of my Prius can’t weigh much.. and the motor assembly for the caliper on the Passat is fairly hefty.

However I can imagine it’d save drag over the mini drum brake.

I really hope none of you lot are driving to Fort William tomorrow.

sadly I will be, so I shall take care, flashing everyone that overtakes me – just for the craic of course 🙂

The more powerful and capable a car is, the faster you have to drive to get any kind of thrill. The faster you drive (as above) the more dangerous it is, even if you are in a fancy car.

I’d say the opposite is true, for me at least.

When I’ve had underpowered cars, I’ve ragged the tits off them in order to get any sort of performance out of them (and by ‘performance’ I’m talking about climbing sustained inclines, not powersliding across McD’s car park). With a bit of grunt under the right foot, that’s no longer necessary. I’d hazard I’m a considerably more relaxed, smoother, and probably slower, driver in a bigger car than a smaller one.

That might just be me being weird, though. Could also be an age thing, I’ve grown up a bit since the days of normally aspirated 1.7D Fiestas (hateful things).

Made the meeting – now early thanks to some seriously excessive speed and dutch courage. Phew!

bearnecessities – Member

Rebel12, thought I recognised your ‘name’

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/buying-a-car-not-from-the-registered-keeper

Imo, a secondhand RS4 says a lot

Come on what does that say Bear – spit it out please?

xiphon – Member

There are other benefits

Like?

Of course if it turns out rebel is talking bobbins again then by all means let rip

Anyway just to add, a manual handbrake can sometimes be used to regain control of steering and attitude in an inadvertant slide.

ABS can actually lengthen stopping distances in the snow by not allowing a wedge of snow to be built up infront of the wheels. Careful use of a manual handbrake can be used overcome ABS, building some useful wedges of snow ahead of the rear wheels and stopping in a shorter distance.

Any more questions????

sadly I will be, so I shall take care, flashing everyone that overtakes me – just for the craic of course

I’ll be in a red Seat Leon with two bikes on the roof, make sure you give me a wave too 🙂

The best fun I had driving recently was a 1.2 3 cylinder Corsa in Ireland.

It handled well but was incredibly underpowered. However it sounded like a racing car heard from a great distance when you thrashed it. So I had great fun on country roads flogging the nuts off it doing about 45mph 🙂

With a bit of grunt under the right foot, that’s no longer necessary. I’d hazard I’m a considerably more relaxed, smoother, and probably slower, driver in a bigger car than a smaller one

That’s kind of my point. 60mph feels quite fast on country roads in a 1992 1.1 Polo, it feels like a crawl in the Passat. Another thing that stops me going too fast on country roads is the width of the thing.

ABS can actually lengthen stopping distances in the snow by not allowing a wedge of snow to be built up infront of the wheels. Careful use of a manual handbrake can be used overcome ABS, building some useful wedges of snow ahead of the rear wheels and stopping in a shorter distance.

I’m sceptical – I’d have to try that out.

Having said that, even on my winter tyres I’m going that slowly on fresh snow that I never feel any kind of panic, and I certainly never need to hit the handbrake. I’ve always been able to stop perfectly well and in control on snow, regardless of the car I’ve been driving.

Anyway just to add, a manual handbrake can sometimes be used to regain control of steering and attitude in an inadvertant slide.

It regains control of your attitude? 😕

It regains control of your attitude?

Aeronautical term, comes from years of glider flying – sorry, should have been clearer.

It kind of means a combination of the direction in which your car is traveling in relation to the ground, and the angle at which the car is actually facing compared to your direction of travel.

It kind of means a combination of the direction in which your car is traveling in relation to the ground, and the angle at which the car is actually facing compared to your direction of travel.

What’s the IAM recommended method for controlling roll and yaw?

dazh – Member

It kind of means a combination of the direction in which your car is traveling in relation to the ground, and the angle at which the car is actually facing compared to your direction of travel.

What’s the IAM recommended method for controlling roll and yaw?

Probably similar to the STW method for controlling Trolls.

Anyway have to go into a meeting now. Talk amongst yourselves . . .

The best fun I had driving recently was a 1.2 3 cylinder Corsa in Ireland.

It handled well but was incredibly underpowered. However it sounded like a racing car heard from a great distance when you thrashed it. So I had great fun on country roads flogging the nuts off it doing about 45mph

Christ on a stick – just noticed this and had to respond before I go. So it’s okay to flog the nuts of a car driving close to it’s limits so long as you don’t go over the speed limit and it’s in Ireland? Well done Molegrips, that’s the most stinking case of total and utter hypocrisy I’ve ever heard. Hats off to you!

Anyway must dash – Adios Amigo’s 🙂

Well done Molegrips, that’s the most stinking case of total and utter hypocrisy I’ve ever heard

depends what he’s talking about doesn’t it? I’ve had to “flog the nuts off” a fully loaded 0.8l matiz to manage 20mph up Winnats Pass, at no point did I think I was close to the edge of the vehicles limits (with the obvious exception of the engine)

with the obvious exception of the engine

😆

The Corsa, being brand new, actually had surprisingly big and wide tyres and the ride was excellent. As was the build quality, I was most surprised. But the engine was a nightmare. Merging to motorway speeds was really hard, and the economy was rubbish along with it.

Can I join IAM? 😯