The idea of driver less cars arriving following a phone call would be great and like many things seems far fetched at the moment but could amaze us and come true (r.e The Internet and Mobile phones in my lifetime).However a word of caution here just after WW2 the railways were starved of investment as it was confidently expected that within ten years the populace would be being ferried about by helicopters!!

 

Usually the technology that actually wins is not what was originally envisaged.   People thought there would be rails whereas that looks like to being needed.  Volume production of the all round cameras, software and the processing power will run at a very quick speed now as it is realised that this is one of the multi-trillion pound prizes of the next decade or two.

 

Google has now past Apple as the world biggest company and who ever partners Google or successfully builds a rival product will win big.

 

Several countries already run trails and UK looking to do this in the next 12 months so we are not lagging too far behind other countries in this key field.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-35748542

I call the car at 4:30am spend 1/2 hr loading tools spare parts etc, drive me 230 miles to my customer (great I can have a kip on the way) I don't want to stop to re charge the batteries on the way either. At the customer I might be there 1hr or all day. Then off to a hotel and 100 miles to the next job etc. Can I keep the car all week?   Driverless cars are in their very early development and I would guess we are looking at 20 years before there are any numbers of these on the road and it won't suddenly change overnight. A couple of accidents in the early days of development on public roads will put them back a few years.  Edit: If the car gets a puncture do I change it or does the car do it itself?

 

May be a trailer or module loaded on to it. would be quite common in our world of Logistics.  In aerospace would we use ULDs to pop stuff quickly in to ground vehicles. Ground often follows aerospace in many ideas a generation or two later ie in tech etc.

 

Accident reduction using driver-less is reckon to be 95% and will only get better.  Much of the new tech is creeping in anti-collision computer, self parking. 

We do not even have Mobile Phone coverage on all networks all over the UK, or decent Radio Reception let alone Digital Radio Networks.

 

If the Self Drive Vehicles can dodge Potholes or call out Self Drive Breakdown and Recovery Services all will be good sometime soon, 

maybe, might be, unlikely.

Driverless air powered car arrives, get in, driven to town, car falls in pothole and stops, feral urban monkeys run out, smash windows and steal all your valuables, car calls Police, Police send you an Email with an appointment 48hrs ahead. It's the future I tell ya! 

Is Dacia the new Skoda? Could be....new models will certainly push value and brand upwards as more and more folk realise that badge snobbery exists for all the wrong reasons nowadays. The 'premium' brands are no longer clear cut, better or indeed 'classy' as everyone drives them (want to be exclusive? Don't get a 3 series or A4, drive a Mondeo....less on the roads....ironically the 3 series and A4 are rapidly becoming the Ford Cortinas and Vauxhall Cavaliers of their day )

Lots of Dacia's on the roads here in Switzerland now....especially the Duster which has developed a bit of a cult following for a dependable 4x4 family car that's replacing the Subaru justy as reliable awd vehicle for anyone in the hills especially farmers.

Dacia has been around for donkeys years as the utility wagon of choice in France and the military. Bland but dependable. Like a Lada Niva 4x4 I suppose.

Early this year my wife wanted a small ish 5 door 'high up' hatch for around £15k cash budget plus finance if needed and we looked at Skoda, Peugeot, Ford, 'Renault' (Clio etc), Citroen, Subaru and Nissan. We are not into the 'badge' culture so almost ignored BMW and Audi (although leasing prices are very cheap for these brands in Switzerland and we did test drive an X1 and a Q2 - neither of us enjoyed them...interior of the BMW was very shoddy compared to her current Citroen and my Superb although the Q2 was better it was not worth the extra money or badge snob appeal in our opinion - and both were quite cramped inside).

We drove all of the above and although I dearly wanted her to take the Skoda Fabia the new Citroen DS4 was at the top of her list until....the Dacia test drive and deal.

This was a real headbanger for me as she ended up buying a Dacia Sandero Stepway - the 'tall' Sandero. When she mooted it I thought, well, let's try it....I'd researched it and the latest 2015/16 model was based on the last Clio chassis which is a decent thing. It had the 1.0ltr turbo petrol engine (no diesel thank you...ever unless I need a tractor) which is actually a real hoot and very economical (chain driven too) and the swiss edition comes with full screen satnav, heated front seats, air-con, great digital stereo with steering wheel controls, cruise and set speed control, all round electric windows, Central locking, rear reversing sensors, roof rails, summer and winter wheels and tyres, three year servicing contract with three year insurance contract, special interior trim....and as a cash deal we could get one for 12k chf - about £9k all in (but not in our colour of choice - she wanted white but only bright metallic blue and metallic black available....so she went for black).

We've had it about 2 months and it's a great little car. The high up driving position suits her really well, it looks quite classy in black with all the chrome bits and it drives really well although is not great for pressing on due to its raised ride height. We've just driven six hours in it to Perpignan to give it its first real run and four up with kit it went really well. Comfortable, frugal and does not feel like a totally budget car at all. Cruised at 130kmh all day. Yes, the interior is not top notch but not a mile away from some of the others we looked at (although the Citroen was quite a way ahead of all the rest including the Audi).

Really impressed so far....and we have £6k cash left for a decent holiday next year. Result

Dave

Edited 2 April, 201610 yr by Wile7

Actually only 898 cc for the 3 cylinder TCE.

 

Will do 175 kph and happy to cruise at 130 I have found too, even with the ECO button pressed.

 

Logan is vast, been so useful.

 

Done 40K Kms in mine in a year and loving it and so comfortable with the Renault seats.

 

Bought a set of the 16 inch wheels the Stepway uses which does make the Sandero/Logan look and feel much nicer.  

 

10 out of 10 for doing what it says.

 

Nothing matches the Dacias from what I have seen for value for money in buying and for running costs.

 

Loving it. 

Edited 2 April, 201610 yr by lol-lol

If you're serious about long term diesel ownership economy the first question to ask is 'where is the EGR valve located'?.

It's the Achilles heel of the modern urban diesel and, if buried down the back of the engine, it can blow the economic argument.....not to mention famed reliability also.

Hyundai are fully Toyota priced here and have lost their 'value for money' tag...........Chinese?.

'South Korea' !

'South Korea' !

No, I mean the next 'cheap' genuine alternative is likely to be Chinese given time.

If you're serious about long term diesel ownership economy the first question to ask is 'where is the EGR valve located'?. It's the Achilles heel of the modern urban diesel and, if buried down the back of the engine, it can blow the economic argument.....not to mention famed reliability also. Hyundai are fully Toyota priced here and have lost their 'value for money' tag...........Chinese?.

Personally I would never buy diesel, especially in a small car, but you are right about the maintainence aspect - EGR access aside...glow plug costs, injection system problems, more expensive service costs are all part of the diesel owning conundrum across a range of brands, so called premium and other.

With the advances in petrol engine technology, hybrids gathering momentum and the slow and very quiet withdrawal of support by national governments for diesel powered cars via road taxation and help at the pumps (France for example) , I think Diesel car sales will be on the decline.

This also means that big engined petrol uber barges are going to get even cheaper to buy used....Yay!

Interesting to note the Saudis are transitioning out of oil for their future; they see the end of oil as THE dominant energy source according to the WSJ.

It seems the major producers are pumping as much as they can for as long as it's still in demand and that's depressing prices.

It seems cheap fuel is here for some time yet.

They believe in Eternal Life but not Eternal Oil it seems. 

No matter anyway they have eternal sun but not eternal drinking water.  

 

One day some Nation will hold them over a barrel to buy H20, so i hope they have enough in that wealth fund.

They believe in Eternal Life but not Eternal Oil it seems. 

No matter anyway they have eternal sun but not eternal drinking water.  

 

One day some Nation will hold them over a barrel to buy H20, so i hope they have enough in that wealth fund.

Plenty of sun for distilling sea water though.

Yes indeed.   Not very good at defending their own seas though, and that is where salt water comes from,

they seem to have to rely on world Super Powers and the UK that is not a Super Power for that.

Those with Nuclear Weapons.

 

That is why i say their wealth fund needs to be doing well, they are a bit lazy and like others to do the work.

Not really doing enough of that now, and not using enough of the Solar Energy to run their pumps, being so Oil Rich.

They are using the companies from around the world to organise things.

Using their money to buy up the world.

 

At least oil will always be required for lubrication, we can not go back to whale oil.

Oil from out of the ground to produce the synthetic products and chemicals we need as well as natural products we need

all of which are under the ground or the seas.

Edited 9 April, 201610 yr by GoneOffSKi

Various over produced veg oils for lubricatants.... with some processing of course..

Very OT in a car forum,

but maybe better to irrigate land and grow foods so that people are not starving and dying around the world.

 

But then maybe if the Saudis were not funding terrorism then the World Powers would not be spending so much having to fight them.

But then they would not make so much money selling arms to others.

(Maybe if Saudi has no Oil or the other countries in that region they will get Nuked anyway.

the countries just becoming a wasteland.)

 

On Topic,  

those terrorists in IS seem to have a plentiful supply of Japanese Vehicles and Chinese Motorbikes.

You cant really see them using many Skoda or even Dacia even if they were getting them free gratis.

Edited 9 April, 201610 yr by GoneOffSKi

Where are you going to mount a .50 cal on a Dacia?

The Hilux is the weapon carrying vehicle of choice.

You can almost imagine the group test in "ISIS Weekly"-

"Toyota, Isuzu or GreatWall - Which reports on your most stable platform for rocket launchers..."

True, unless austerity hits and oil prices keep dropping and the princess force budget cuts to them.

Edited 10 April, 201610 yr by GoneOffSKi

That duster is..... interesting

It'd be a lot more interesting if it got the Merc diesels also.

All sorts of cars & light commercials get Mercedes engines and many have over the years, some being absolute shockers.

 

Is there a particularly good one that is being used by other manufacturers of budget vehicles at the moment.?

It'd be a lot more interesting if it got the Merc diesels also.

You do know that Merc use the Renault 1.5 diesel engines, don't you...

You do know that Merc use the Renault 1.5 diesel engines, don't you...

A joint development?.

http://autoevolution.com/news/dear-mercedes-please-stop-using-renault-engines-62508.html