Kick Those Shoes Off and Relax. It's the Delta 2017 Tea Break

[grantp]

Originally Posted by midgetman

At the moment my Saab has s habit of dropping into limp mode. Switching off sometimes clears it as does disconnecting the battery. According to the reader it is something to do with the wastegate circuit. The CAN bus has also failed at the rear meaning the brake lights are stuck on.

Nothing is mechanically "wrong" with the thing, just an electronic fault. Which makes it basically worthless

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

Frustrating Max.

So far mine has never dropped into limp mode but the engine warning light has come up a few times. Lots of little rubber pipes running hither and thither atop the engine, mostly so old they no longer push on and stay on. So have slowly changed them over the years.

Looking at something else recently I stumbled across the last unchanged pipe - the shortest one hidden below some other stuff. Thought I would change it as a precaution - it fell apart as I removed it.

Apart from that the parking sensors stopped working some years ago not long after I had the tow bar fitted and the passenger side mirror "parking aid" feature is at best erratic but I think that is to do with something sticking or a connection in mirror housing since pushing the mirror around a bit seems to be able to bring it back to life sometimes.

It is odd that the market has decided that more and more complicated and powerful vehicles are required, built to last longer than ever in terms of body structures, engines and suspension (maybe except springs!) are concerned and then we run them on roads that are so congested that performance cannot matter much and scrap them anyway well before thier engineering design life expires because the clever electronics become too expensive to repair or replace.

Utterly bonkers.

I see Lamborghini are launching an SUV. I hope have all pplaced you orders for one. Clearly a sensible buy for the enthusiast super car collector in all of us. Especially the bright yellow version.

[Mike Bell]

We ain’t seen nothing yet, Grant! I’ve just be reading about some of the tech that will be needed on level 3 autonomous cars. As well as all the sensors, cameras and radar, one manufacturer is trialling some sort of rotating laser fitted to their test cars......

BTW That Lambo SUV will be circa £165k- for that you could buy 6 Qashqai.....

[Colin McKay]

Or fix a Saab!

[bauble]

Bring back the Morris Minor, simple, reliable, cheap. Sounds like me.

[delta]

Originally Posted by bauble

Bring back the Morris Minor, simple, reliable, cheap. Sounds like me.

Crikkeeeee Bob you just suggested something sensible

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by Colin McKay

Or fix a Saab!

Maybe...

BTW, I see Johnny Hallyday has sadly passed away. He was probably the nearest any French pop star has got to be internationally known. Is that correct, Gerard?

[grantp]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

We ain’t seen nothing yet, Grant! I’ve just be reading about some of the tech that will be needed on level 3 autonomous cars. As well as all the sensors, cameras and radar, one manufacturer is trialling some sort of rotating laser fitted to their test cars......

BTW That Lambo SUV will be circa £165k- for that you could buy 6 Qashqai.....

At least the level 3 tech will be someone else's problem when we are all renting mobility on demand.

However the implications of the complexity might suggest simplification.

i.e. reduce the unknowable risks.

So if all cars on the road had to have the same basic safety systems with fails safe operation the entire system could be simplified.

Obvious benefits for safety.

There will be a law along soon ....


ETA:

Re the Lambo.

Cheapskates. Or are they avoiding competition with the Bentley?

Maybe the rest of the price will be made up of must have options!

[MGDavid]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

Maybe...

BTW, I see Johnny Hallyday has sadly passed away. He was probably the nearest any French pop star has got to be internationally known. Is that correct, Gerard?

wot about Francoise Hardy?

[midgetman]

Mike, I do some marketing work for a friend who sells wheel alignment equipment. All these systems (known as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems or ADAS) have sensors that require re-calibration after minor shunts or even windscreen changes. It's a big business opportunity for us, but an expensive PITA for car owners. When they become compulsory, many people will be priced out of driving.

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by MGDavid

wot about Francoise Hardy?

and Edith Piaf and what about that Serge wotsisname bloke who was married to Jane Birkin?

[Mike Bell]

Not sure I’d call all of them ‘pop stars’.......

[gary396]

Originally Posted by Tim Falce

and Edith Piaf and what about that Serge wotsisname bloke who was married to Jane Birkin?

And Vanessa Paradis with that well known French classic 'Joe Le Taxi'!

And the French hits just keep on coming.....

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by grantp

ETA:

Re the Lambo.

Cheapskates. Or are they avoiding competition with the Bentley?

Maybe the rest of the price will be made up of must have options!

I was in France the other month staying with an old school friend in his Villa, I don't know where I went wrong in life but we had one of those Bentley's for a runabout. I must admit it was very fast but because of the build quality it didn't give an impression of "speed" as it was absolutely quiet and very "comfy" to ride in.

[grantp]

Originally Posted by Tim Falce

and Edith Piaf and what about that Serge wotsisname bloke who was married to Jane Birkin?

Serge....


Serge ....

Private Eye, iirc, referred to him as Serge Forward.

[GORDON STREETER]

This was the car we had, I must admit it was amazing but not the sort of car that I personally would like.

[morninggents]

Originally Posted by grantp

Serge....


Serge ....

Private Eye, iirc, referred to him as Serge Forward.

Gainsborough .......... did a bit of painting on the side IIRC.

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

This was the car we had, I must admit it was amazing but not the sort of car that I personally would like.

Bentayga! Starting price a lot less than the Lambo..... Supposedly a good SUV but I could never own one just because it is so darn ugly! Worse than a Cayenne.....

And I still wouldn't class some of the listed French singists as pop stars.....

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by gary396

And Vanessa Paradis with that well known French classic 'Joe Le Taxi'!

And the French hits just keep on coming.....

Not to mention Plastic Bertrand.

[andy97]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Not to mention Plastic Bertrand.

Belgian.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

On another track, why is it that manufacturers nowadays give so little consideration to the consequences of using small, cheap parts in their products that have built in obsolescence. One such part is fitted to my gas boiler to measure the water pressure inside the system. The sensor is of such poor quality that it requires changing at least once a year (the boiler's only 3.5 years old), and usually fails during the coldest spells. It's costing my gas supplier a fortune to keep coming back to change a tuppenny-ha'penny part that is just so badly designed.

It's all about knowing the price of everything but the value of nothing.

Anyone seen Deepwater Horizon? Most folks think it was a safety issue. In fact it was all about a lack of quality control. BP has a culture of cutting costs in everything from staffing levels to materials and if they can't make the Contractor pay then they don't use the materials.

The disaster occurred because BP had over-run the schedule and they were paying big money per day for the rig. Their managers decided to short cut some vital tests which, had they failed would have cost another ten days or so. Rather than know the quality of the cement grouting, they decided to bury their heads in the sand and wing it.

Of course BP may never recover from the costs but the thirteen who lost their lives and their families will never recover at all.

In my opinion the problem has arisen from the employment of inexperienced graduates rather than experienced personnel in key positions, whether it be engineering or finance. These people have no regard for contracts or procedures, they see things in black and white. You can add Grenfell Tower to that too.

A bit of a leap from Mike's gas boiler (ours at home has also just failed yesterday), but a generally relevant viewpoint methinks.

BTW Graduates when they have experience are as good as anyone.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by andy97

Belgian.

I know but he speaks French.

[gary396]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

.....Anyone seen Deepwater Horizon? ...

Yep. Thought it was quite good - obviously a bit of 'Hollywood' in it but the explanation of what caused the problem I thought was covered well (based on my very limited knowledge of the facts).

[Gerard C]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

Maybe...

BTW, I see Johnny Hallyday has sadly passed away. He was probably the nearest any French pop star has got to be internationally known. Is that correct, Gerard?

Correct, Mike, his nickname in France was The Boss. Very professional he used to found his spectacular and expensive shows with his own money.
I can't believe some of you heard about Françoise Hardy or Serge Gainsbourg or even Plastic Bertrand! I still remember Petula Clark singing in French with a so charming accent.

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

Correct, Mike, his nickname in France was The Boss. Very professional he used to found his spectacular and expensive shows with his own money.
I can't believe some of you heard about Françoise Hardy or Serge Gainsbourg or even Plastic Bertrand! I still remember Petula Clark singing in French with a so charming accent.

...and didn't he compete in Tour de France etc with a Mustang?

Driving back last night from three days in Essen, my car radio picked up Bleunord once I got past Antwerp & I noticed they were playing Johnny Hallyday stuff one after the other. Now I know why.

Christine Keeler's gone too.

[Gerard C]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

BTW Graduates when they have experience are as good as anyone.

Peter, on a light mode, back in the Seventies the best we had in endurance was the Matra team. Some success attracted many graduates wanting to join. Then they had to consider what experience brings to such a team when a graduate calculation showed that if it takes 30 sec to a mechanic to remove a bolt, it would take 15 sec to 2 mechanics. And so on. Common sense is valuable too.