Modern efficiency !!!!!!!!!

Reading the thread about combi boilers makes me think that saving the planet is becoming a bit silly, I dont disagree with the basic premise but its costing us individuals lots of money.

I'm collecting my car from the dealer garage tomorrow where its been for the last week because the Catalytic Converter light came on followed by the management light, the traction control and cruise control also failed all because of the DPF failing and it failed because I who prides himself in acheiving the best MPG, doesnt break speed limits, doesnt thrash his car enough to burn the filter clean, so trying to save fuel and drive carefully is about to cost me £507, basically I give up and whats the point of trying.

Rant over.

Martin P

After a long run, like Scotland and back, where I get about 67mpg, I put redex in the next tank and accelerate using lower gears than normal. Also, when there's no one behind me I drop the clutch and let rev limiter kick in - three or four of those blow all the crud out of the system and don't really waste a lot of fuel.

Neil

Martin,

I tend to keep my cars I bought one in 2000 and still have it but I also bought a new one 3 years ago with the same idea to keep. I have had a EGR fail at 17,000 miles and I get more than a little peeved when the dealership tries to put the blame on the driver. Oh do you do short journeys? No. Do you sit in a lot of traffic because that's what does it, No I don't sit in traffic and I do drive up to the legal limits but it's hard to thrash an auto. It's a design issue to overcome the regulations. I think I will still have my old 20 year car when this one goes into sensor overload and I am not allowed to diagnose the issue because the dealership has the management system sewn up. My old one I have got a device to access the computer and when I needed to get the SRS light turned off the dealers wanted £70 just to turn off the light I bought the device to do it and other stuff for £50. The world has gone mad and we the consumer have let it.

Rant just started Alan

So to overcome one issue you are keeping addative, timing belts and clutch manufacturers in business in the long term. An endless circle.

?? I understood that long runs allows the DPF to clean itself anyway

Put 100.000miles on my last company van and the only faults were 3 different sensors failing and needing carried back to the VW dealers as they said it was unsafe to drive simply because a sensor failed (I could see one failure hanging on the end of the wire, it had snapped off the steering pump),

The particulate filter didn't need much keep it clean just a changing to 3rd gear on a dual carriageway at 70 mph and keep it a t 70 for a 30 seconds or so, job done and if one is not happy about matching revs and changing down to 3rd then just check for no following traffic, slow down to a speed you are happy to change into 3rd and rev it to the red line or 70 mph and hold for the aforementioned period

I loved the combi boiler tread, especially the end and I do know where you are coming from Martin. I used to be able to do anything on any car, mechanics, bodywork, welding anything, now struggle to top up the screen wash in the right hole. Its called progress, sadly I have joined, would call out the AA these days for a flat tyre, don't know about jacking things up either, gone are the days of drive on ramps and axle stands. lol

My present car, bought as a genuine two year old petrol, with 6000 miles on the clock burns oil. Not alarming, but if I had wanted a oil burner I would have bought a diesel.

All to do with modern thin oils forbetter mpg, modern machining and running in, do a google search . Now look you have got me going.

I will get a new one next time and flog the grolox off it .

The most green car is my old nissan 200sx Its not particuallrly good on fuel and now sadly spares are almost impossble to source but just not having bought a car for over 20 years saved more energy than i could possibly waste in running it. I did crack and downgrade the 200sx to second place 3years ago because of the spares issue and to be far it's getting tired and really needs new suspension and probably major attention to the braking system even though it still passes it's MOT.

I came into some loot and indulged myself with a Tesla recently but the depreciation on new cars is staggering and when the price starts way up then it's serious lost money.. let alone risking keeping it out of warranty when repairs will be eye-wateringly expensive. Actual fuel costs are dirt cheap of course (free at a supercharger) and it's heaps of fun to drive so any excuse to go get stuff but even then it's a 2 tonne car so tyre wear alone on its expensive boots can matter.

Not long after VW started to introduce their small Diesels in cars like the Polo there were lots of disgruntled owners getting £1000 bills for replacing blocked filters. The customers were blamed for not driving them hard enough! From what I’ve read Diesels aren’t half as cheap to run as some folks think. As taxes on them rise it’s going to be even more expensive to own them. Funny thing though, a neighbor complained to me that he’d lost shed loads of money on his V6 Diesel Porsche so he thought he’d better get rid of it. He then told me he traded it in for a V6 Diesel Jaguar!

Em... dropping the clutch top briefly rev the engine doesn't wear it out, and the engine has a timing chain.

Martin,

I can sympathise with your plight. I know plenty who have been similarly caught. Not much encouragement to being a "sensible " driver.

As George says above, it really does not take a lot to keep it clear. I do a fortnightly blast in 3rd gear for a few miles well up in the rev range, but staying out of lunatic territory. Say 6 - 6500rpm on a car redlined at 8000rpm, but you must keep the revs up there steadily for 5mins at least and it is best done when the engine has already warmed up.

You may burn a little bit of fuel but nothing like you'll pay out if you don't. Not trying to teach anyone how to suck eggs here, but it has worked well for me.

John

I run a petrol Ford P100 that just keeps going on, I also run a Jeep Cherokee 4.0 petrol that is absolutely bomb proof. The emissions don't meet modern standards, but the emissions from buying new cars or spares far out weigh that.

I run a 1999 VW T4 1.9TD......no electronic other than the alarm which will be junked as soon as there is a prob....everything is fixable and it is my forevercar....380,000klm....No rust, cavity wax filled from new......

shop truck is a 1989 Reno Extra 1.6D, speedo stopped at 400,000klm......and a 1934 Commer 2 ton bread van.....

new to the road next year is a 1928 Citroen C4 pick up, that's not a toy and will get used regu during the summer......which in Crete will be 10month's long.......

also, 2 x 1930 Indian motorcycles, why on earh would I waste my money on anything new.....?? hahaha......

If I need to do a lot of miles on 1 journey I rent a car, drive it like I stole it for fun.......

I know why u have to buy modern tho.......

New cars is brainwashing, IMO. More like ‘keeping up with the Jones’’. Been like that since about the 1970s, I would think - when ‘never, never’ hire purchase payments became a popular way to give the impression of wealth, with a shiny new car on the driveway. Public debt has spiralled upwards ever since!

I don’t have a combi boiler because, up until this year, it has been far more cost-efficient to run a slightly less efficient boiler, in the way I have used mine. E7 electric water heating, in the summer months, was more cost efficient than running the gas boiler.

I have run diesels, whenever possible, since1987. I was under no illusion, back then, that diesels were ‘green’. I knew about sulphur in the fuel, NOx emmissions from burning ultra-lean mixtures and that they produced particulates. Diesel fuel has been cleaned up and PDFs have reduced the particulates. They even plugged the new models as being quiet. They could be on the inside, but were not, for those outside!

No, one cannot (usually) over-work an engine in an auto, unless a low gear is forcibly retained. I drive the auto in manual mode most of the time - I can easily do better than the cruise control any day of the week and better than the auto box most days.

My wife has driven a lot of miles in a 2.25l diesel auto. The latest can achieve 50mpg - with care, a light right foot and steady progress. My wife just managed about 38mpg on the last tank of fuel, including quite a lot of longer distances on dual carriageways/motorways. But nevermind - she feels safer in a bigger car.

We have never had troubles with the PDF, but do not trundle around town for weeks on end.

Roll on cheaper secondhand BEVs. That is the future at the present time - unless you are a parochial motorist near Abergavenny, when the River Simple project might catch your eye (but not for me at the projected monthly rental!).

My Passat, year 15, the cat light comes on if I use Shell diesel, not so if I use Supermarket diesel. That means when the cat light comes on a 20 mile trip down the M2 to the next off ramp and back again, needless to say I dont/will not buy Shell anymore. The car tax is £20 a year.

So car emissions fall while wallet emissions rise

Newtons equal and opposite reaction at work

My Passat - no startie.
Failed starter motor/solenoid - a bigger unit cos it keeps starting and stopping at traffic lights etc. to save emissions (when I forget to override it!).

New unit fitted - too late for me, but a recall comes through the post for this very item.

Wonder how much energy and resources it takes to make another, bigger starter compared to what I saved at the lights! Not forgetting, of course, the hassle in being towing home, being without it for 2 days etc.

It seems that an EV may be said to reduce on-the -road emissions and running costs but I am wondering what the true cost is for things like battery lifetime and the replacement of batteries. I haven't seen much printed about that.Colin

I seriously doubt that real self drive vehicles will actually hit the roads for many years to come except perhaps on limited specific routes for autonomous only. My car doesn't look far enough ahead, makes no anticipation for tight bends.. just spots them on it's limited forward planning and reduces speed. It's only supposed to be used on good dual carriageways and motorways and even then you have to be ready to intervene in dodgy circs. If you use the system on single carriageway windy welsh roads it's forever getting it wrong and dropping control back leaving one to sort out it's mess. That's a good computer game so long as you can stay alert enough.
It's going to need a whole slew more processing power, 360 degree high/low lidar as well as cameras and 360 deg radar with much longer range before it can make the sensible anticipations of an experienced driver.

An obvious and simple example is that on country roads when traffic is light I'll bias myself towards the middle of the road in case of stray animals dashing out or jumping a hedge and only move over for on-coming traffic. With wide flat verges I'll do the opposite. Self drive puts the car spot in the middle of the lane whether it's narrow or wide, will try to drive to the speed limit irrespective of road conditions and makes no allowance for possible overhead issues or an unbalanced load on the tractor in front.

Then there's the issues of kids or terrorists with laser pointers, radar jammers on bridges and someone cracking access to the vehicle computers.

I did say long term, does it have one of those sprung flywheels where the springs break and chains do stretch 

Edited By martin perman on 19/12/2018 10:56:52

Edited By martin perman on 19/12/2018 10:57:32