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TFTD Saturday: “The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.” ― Terry Pratchett, “Diggers”

This is my mate, Simon: Who's running tomorrow. Simon is a force of nature. He's got so much energy, it wouldn't surprise me if he were to turn around at the finish and run back to the start 🙄 He's hoping for a time of 3h 15mins. Simon has epilepsy. He got to the point a few years back of becoming high risk of 'sudden death' seizures (you don't get many of those!). With a daughter then in her early teens, after a lot of hospital visits, they worked out he had a trigger point in his brain, so he had a golf ball size part of his brain removed. Recovery took a good couple of years, and was a rollercoaster for both him and his family, but he's doing well now 👍 Not cured, but much reduced in terms of seriousness and frequency. He did the Brighton Marathon two or three years ago, and had a seizure 1/4 mile from the finish. He still finished, saying he hadn't run all that, way to not finish! As I said, force of nature 😎 Anyone else running, or got someone close in it? Gaz (👍Team Simon👍)

Moments of joy i reckon 😁😁

What on earth's going on with the weather? I've just buzzed up the shops and had to wear my cardy, and a coat. Eight degrees and feels like five 🥶 This time last year it was in the low twenties 🙄 Time to bring out the big guns, with a hearty and warming home made lentil soup: Gaz

Oh well, a not so healthy Tea tonight 😃

That reminded me of something that typifies Simon. He can't drive, due to the epilepsy, so catches a bus to work. It's a 20 or so mile journey. When the bus gets to Hailsham, while people are getting on the bus, Simon gets off, gets himself, and the bus driver, a coffee, and gets back on for the rest of the journey 😎 I was his line manager for several years, including pre and post surgery. The surgery effectively re-booted his brain and, as expected, he lost some stuff that he then needed to re-learn. It hit home to me when he was first allowed out, and went to the pub. Playing snooker, he didn't know what ball to play next. All it needed was for someone to say 'blue' and that was it, back in place, and he was off. That simple explanation of what it was like for him, post surgery still gets to me. G EDIT: I've just noticed one of the people who have sponsored Simon is 'Paul the bus driver' - Kudos 👍👍

All they need to do is introduce a mileage tax regardless of power train

In my country a garage doing Controle Technique tests is not allowed by law to carry out repair work, they can adjust headlights etc to allow a vehicle to pass but are not permitted to quote for or do any work on vehicles to avoid a conflict of interest.

I feel a pub visit coming on soon ... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cv2rp4dmxv2o

As intimated earlier, tonight was indeed a Chinese take away. Enough left over for breakfast, dinner & tea tomorrow!!

"the shed's total height must not exceed 2.5m if it is located within 2 metres of the property boundary." https://www.checkatrade.com/blog/expert-advice/planning-permission-shed/

I don't know if this has real basis or is just apocryphal but I was told by a local (Lancashire) shedmaker that the shortened shed height was so they wouldn't stand out too much above neighbourhood fencelines (officially 2m max). It sounded credible but could be a 'local opinion' only.

The whole country of England is that? House of commons this week Rural Mobile coverage in the UK: Not-spots and partial Not-Spots. Google that. Or the reports on EV charger issues and Sim Cards and mobile connections, RIFD or Contactless. Then If only ANPR was everyplace these days, or good Digital Services, radio reception etc. But it might be in much of England. London might be going G5 as parts of the UK have not got G4 yet. So anyway. Sim cards issued to Business Users for their vehicles is a simple starter for 10, then Bar Codes Issued, from Insurers, or with MOT,s or put on at a PDI and required to be read at fuel stations, charger or whatever will do. ANPR at bridges, tunnels and just various roadsides that are tied into HMRC & the Borders Agency etc will be fine. Some is there and lots is not. But then we still do not have compulsory ID cards in the UK but you need ID to go vote. They like taking back control, but it is a post code lottery.

https://electrek.co/2024/04/19/kias-15000-ev2-caught-in-wild-most-affordable-ev-video/ Kia EV2, $15k BEV, spotted in the wild.

I think PCBBC posted the details on this thread 18 June 2023 it worked well on my MIB2 standard.

Why are you talking only about motorways? @Winston_Woof was suggesting charging for ALL mileage regardless of road type... Also the Govt and local councils mostly want people out of cars and onto public transport... Even if it doesn't work for many people And finally you wod be amazed at how easy it is to track vehicle mileage these days using Bluetooth or sim card data, or even ANPR that is pretty much everywhere these days... The infrastructure is already there covering the whole country... We use it at work all the time in strategic transport models... So @Winston_Wolf's suggestion could be implemented without much need for additional technology to charge such as that used on toll roads. Basically there would be very little way of avoiding it... Even on country roads in the cotswolds.

That's amazing... I have a friend who is similar in that she has epilepsy but after a couple of car crashes underwent brain surgery that worked... (In her words the decision to go ahead with it was a 'no brainer'). Can't see her doing a marathon though unless it was a marathon nail and hair do session 🤣

No it was about the same price allowing for the £/€ conversion but half price when you consider its only done every 2 years. Normally done by booking but they will write to you, write not e-mail which costs a Euro just for the stamp to remind you of your upcoming CT (after 2 years you tend to forget) which you can book online, the reminder will always be sent before the bookings get full, so you just drive up at the allotted time and are tested. No road tax here its on first registration so people keep their cars a long time, the CT appointment is no different to my annual free health check, you dont even fall out of sync when buying a newer car as it has to have 18 months remaining on the CT, it's only people like me that imported vehicles pre-Brexit that needed a rendez-vous in a hurry, my old CT centre, the guy is now a friend, would let me drop the car off in the morning, offer to drive me back home but I would run instead, and squeeze it in during the day so I was never delayed with the registration. They make a good living doing CT's and nothing else, typical place will be husband, wife or son and one employee plus a very large commercial building bigger than the typical UK MOT station, there will be two, possibly 3 in a medium sized town.

Yep... The MILs car was due its MOT at the end of February from memory but when we tried to book it in well in advance at the govt test centre the earliest available appointment was late June... Same test centre.

no, its the cover on the pdel can slide up and get stuck under the bottom of the footwell trim panel. it also cant drive on sand or gravel, or any offroad stuff, the locking diffs menu says "coming soon with software update" someone else washed down theirs after exposing it to sand as required to stop the unlacquered steel rusting and their entire dash display stopped working. the tail gate will happily cut your fingers off if in the opening when closing as it has no obstruction sensor. someone else's arrived with scratched body panels and with damage to the dash panel, so tesla took it in for a few days to replace it and fix the scratches. couldnt fix the scratches as the tesla equipment wasnt capable of sorting them out. the new dash is dented and rattles and theres new damage done to other parts from where they tried to replace said dash. that yoke is actually worse than a Delorian

I got home with 25% battery yesterday after having charged again 15 kWh at 65 pence so £9.75. I could have charge a little less but i only had 21 mile range. I was nipping on, it was cold and there was every chance of a diversion so charged to 98%. Now today is going to be damn expensive. Car showing 100% after charging at home at 22 pence a kWh. Only showing 93 miles, but it will do over 100 miles easily as i head to Edinburgh. *27 kWh in 11 hours 45 minutes into a 32.6 kWh battery, less than 30 kWh usable & that cost me £5.96* Charging again public charger in about 85 miles. So when i charge today public the choices are expensive. Edinburgh Council chargers, 7 / 11 kW AC 45 pence a kWh. EC ^^^ Rapids 55 pence & Edinburgh Airport Park & Ride still off from the flood last summer. Podpoint 11 kW or 50 kW 65 pence. BP Pulse, 69 pence. I have subscription. MFG 75 pence. Then Ayrshire. 31 pence 7 / 11 kW AC or 50 kW 37 pence. Minimum £5.00 That is mental if you really just want 10 kWh say or only have time to just get a top up and go. The other options are 55 pence, 69 pence or 75 pence commercial chargers. Then Stirling Council, 59 pence a kWh rapid or 45 pence 7 / 11 kW. £2.00 minimum charge. Perth & Kinross Council 35 pence. 55 pence a kWh for 50 kWh £27.50 69 pence a kWh for 50 kWh £34.50 If you get 3.5 miles a kWh then 175 miles. 4 miles a kWh 200 miles. 75 pence a kWh for 50 kWh £37.50 143.7 a litre, A gallon of petrol £6.53. x 4 = £26.12 153.7 a litre, A gallon of diesel £6.98 x 4 = £27.94 Plenty miles worth of Cheap rate home or work or free charging needed to make private users have the BEV as an economic choice. Public charging at even the average price is just not good for your pocket. Perth & Kinross Council rapid chargers IF YOU GET A WORKING ONE @ 35 pence a kWh. 50 kWh = £17.50 Get 4 miles a kWh so 200 miles and that is fine. that is while the tariff stays like that. Not when they get to the tariff neighbouring Dundee is which is 80 pence for the first kWh then 50 pence. Or Angus Council 55 pence a kWh. Tesla Superchargers for Tesla or Non-Tesla still going to be just below or above 50 pence a kWh where available. Maybe relevant to those Hiring / borrowing BEV,s and just going about driving them and not near home / home chargers.

@Balazs_HU, fuel consumption variations are generally difficult to account for. A minor point but I think you may have used the smaller USA gallons instead of the larger Imperial (British) gallon for your conversions so 5.5L/100 is 51 mpg, 6.2 - 6.4L/100 is 45 to 44 mpg and 8.0 - 8.5L/100 is 35 to 37 mpg. I have a 2014 1.4tsi combi that has only done 105,000 km and there is no doubt in my mind that the engine is a really good, economical unit....however like most petrol engines it drinks noticeably more if you use the performance or if there are adverse road or environmental factors. Based on some official VW issued consumption figures I have seen for early 1.4tsi engines and my own experience I find it hard to believe that your car would have consistently achieved your claimed displayed consumption of 6.2 to 6.4l/100 at real 140 to 150 kph speeds. A diesel could possibly do it or maybe even a mk4 1.5tsi with it's better aerodynamics and longer gearing but that is a moot point. Most British drivers on their roads would not have the freedom to travel at those speeds for any distance without incurring punitive fines and the same here in most of Australia where I live. Quite honestly travelling at a true 130kph in good conditions and I am really happy to get 7L/100, which corresponds with VW claims. Obviously consumption increases with speed. A headwind or stiff crosswind can adversely affect consumption by 1.0 to 1.5L/100 at 110kph in my experience. Equally a tailwind or travelling at speed in enforced reasonably close proximity to other traffic can benefit consumption by similar amounts. If your car has a real consumption problem that is only manifesting itself at higher speeds then it probably has to do with the higher airflows. As @Rooted says check your air-filter is clean as a first step but it gets more difficult from there. Other possibilities may be turbo related or maybe the variable valve timing is not performing as it should? I imagine the only way to disprove either is to put the car on a dynamometer and see if peak outputs are below par? Personally I think your current consumptions at both low and high speeds are quite realistic.

Following the Friday theme I defrosted the last Sea Bass & poached it in Soya Sauce, Lime juice, garlic, ginger, Bay leaves, Coriander & served with some Pilau Rice on the side. Had to fight off one of our cats but all good in the end.

Likewise re 1970 Ford Zodiac 3.0 (also circa 1980) - 19 gallon tank that didn't last long. I don't think it ever managed 20mpg even on a run, around town it wasn't even managing double figures. Fast forward to today with my ageing 1.4tsi Superb which is still a barge of a car Overall of 46 mpg with 50 mpg on a steady run - wow! Currently thinking of downsizing to potentially one car so Fabia/Scala/Kamiq in focus. Octavia ruled out as some basic functions (eg heating) on the touch screen.

1st thing to do is get the car scanned with a Audi/VW/Skoda compatible OBD reader. Fall off in performance under load may point to blocked DPF or even exhaust silencer. I would suggest as a cheap starting point trying one of the aerosol DPF cleaners, I have used one branded as Simple which involved taking the larger - in the case of my 1.4 TDI Greenline - pipe off the DPF differential pressure switch and spraying the product down that line. There could also be an issue with the differential pressure switch itself if it is not seeing an increased pressure differential pressure across the DPF which I understand is what triggers the regen.

You can't, take it to the nearest Halfords, they can do it all for a sensible price.

Don't worry we all shrink as we get older🤣

My daughter has lots of different types of seizures and absences each day due to her epilepsy, we've given up counting them all but when we did it was close to three figures a day. Some she's perfectly fine after as if nothing happened and others it's like someone has hit the reset button or cleared the cache and settings but there's no logic or consistency to what outcome after which type.

MIB2 means nothing unless you specify if it is Standard or High. Two completely different systems, with two different procedures, as linked to in the post you quoted. You’re being told you have MIB2 Standard, which requires v12 (or earlier) maps and applying the patch.

Long and winding is an understatement! Top work.

A problem for Tesla is going to be that the designs are now starting to look dated, very minimal changes since 2012?

Yes, drop the car in on my way to work, and collect on my way home.

After yet another cranial collision this morning, I looked up the average height of a UK male adult. It's 5'10". Why then is the standard UK shed door height 5'6"? I am 6'2"

That has always annoyed me too, take AGES to ring, do they not know people get anxious 😬 I’m always checking the website to see if it’s passed, I must admit I took my car to a different garage this year. I walked back which was around 30 minutes, had a cuppa tea and had a call to say it was all done. I was asked if I wanted a print out for MOT as the government is trying to get it paperless, wonder if that speeds things up

I've read this in the past about some countries having Government appointed/controlled/operated stand alone TEST CENTREs and many seem to accept "walk ins", ie you just turn up, car gets tested and you drive off. In UK, so far, I've always had to hand the car in by 08:00 and collect it by 18:00, okay that suits some people's way of doing things, but not very convenient. So far I've not found out what the cost of doing things that way is, it sounds like it makes a lot of sense, but might end up costing the user or that country's motoring public, more than the way things are set up in UK So, that is where checking the UK Gov MOT website comes into it's own - ie none of the waiting for the workshop phone to (not) get answered, or the promised "we'll phone as soon as it has been tested" that was offered without prompting, never happening - but, my small out of town local independent garage that also does MOTs, does what he said he will do, so he now gets my wife's Polo to MOT. My own car gets its MOT carried out by a VW Group Indie, and the guy at the desk tends to get a bit confused when I turn up to collect my car after it has passed its MOT - as the billing paperwork is hours away from completion!

Yes it's two way. I've made a tweeter mount with the right angle and high quality tweeters. That's already way better. The woofers are also replaced.

The state can try and charge as much as possible to keep the £25B revenue stream that it currently has from Excise duty on hydrocarbons plus the 20% VAT but the are other sources of electricity to charge EVs ie via home solar panels and home or public batteries that have charged up on cheaper overnight electricity. Hydrocarbons are a much easier commodity to tax than lecky. In HMRC Excise on fuel is regarded as the most efficient tax to collect.

Or not checking them properly. DVSA look out for MOT stations that have abnormal results. Posted about here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=10&t=1822649 Thanks. AG Falco

The 130 engine is something else entirely compared to the 105. I have the Octy and a Fabia vRS. The furby does not run out of breath like the Octy does but the Octy is no slouch. I believe it’s pot luck with a DSG, make sure it’s had an oil and filter every 38-40k as scheduled on the older wet clutch boxes like these. Cambelt wise it’s 4 years and about 80k whichever comes sooner I think. Not sure if the latest VAG advice to leave for longer applies on the older cars.

That's a standard recommended design so that segregated cycle lanes are continuous past bus stops and cyclists don't have to stopwhen people are getting on and off the bus, which would happen if the cycle lane went I front of the stop. Segregated lanes being deemed preferable and safer for cyclists. Stupid design regardless and whichever way round...

I don't have a rear wiper on my hatchback, but I had a similar problem on a Peugeot 205 about 35 years ago. The wiper shaft where it comes though the hatch had seized after a few years of dirt and water ingress. Cleaning it up and lightly greasing it cleared the problem.

If an MOT station has a very low advisory rate, they will get a visit from DVSA. Thanks. AG Falco

PpMajor work was head refurbishment with valves and head gasket, new clutch and flywheel, it does eat driveshafts/boots but it does a fair bit of rough track driving other than that usual servicing and cam belt changes.. I've done about 170,,000 of it's total. It's a real workhorse .

Lovely at Carburton this evening........

I love this ^^^ film and Capricorn One (they feel like natural bedfellows if that makes sense

Just rewatched for the first time in a long time Michael Crichtons The Andromeda Strain (1971). All things considered I think it's stood up well for being over 50 years old

Needing something smaller and less diesel-y I sold my Roomster Scout 1.9 TDi and picked up a Citigo 1.0 60 in red on Saturday. The 2017 changes were enough to make me make the swap although I was still a little apprehensive as to what I would think about what is essentially a red shopping basket on 15" alloys but so far...I freakin' love it!

To put this to bed a bit, here are 2 dyno results, of a 65 hp model and a remapped 80 hp model (basically the 75 with some tweaks) This is my car's results for last year with just a k&n panel filter, no other modifications done to the engine - Max Torque (fFt Lb) - 96 (130 nm) @ 2940 - 3030 RPM Max Power (HP) - 77.8 (58.0 kw) @ 5090 - 5370 RPM This is this years results with with engine modifications, including the remap - Max Torque (fFt Lb) - 96 (130 nm) @ 3680 RPM Max Power (HP) - 81.9 (61.0 kw) @ 5000 - 5500 RPM And here's a result pulled from the remappers website Before remap - Max Torque (fFt Lb) - 78 (105 nm) @ 3900 RPM (drops off quickly) Max Power (HP) - 65.0 (48.4 kw) @ 5100 RPM (drops off quickly) After remap - Max Torque (fFt Lb) - 86.8 (116 nm) @ 3950 RPM (drops off quickly) Max Power (HP) - 78.5 (58.5 kw) @ 5750 RPM (drops off quickly) Is a remap worth it? Yes and no, there's pro's & con's to it. The pro is a higher hp which lasts longer and also the max hp reached kicks in a little sooner, although the torque on mine stayed the same regardless of the remap, there was a difference on the remappers car they used (it might be worthwhile noting my intake pipe was damaged so some of the air wasn't reaching the filter and was being drawn away) The con is, is it worth it? I would say if you're planning to keep the car for as long as I have done (4 years in January!) then, in the long run, it's worth it, I barely need to change down, if at all on Motorway runs as the peak torque is almost instant so it pulls along nicely at 70 and keeps flow with faster traffic. Another con is the torque kicking in at a higher rpm, although this is beneficial on motorway driving, having low end torque is sometimes better as power is nothing without torque to go with it.