My TomTom speed flashes red on the very odd occasion that I exceed the speed limit. Really annoying and I have yet to find a way of stopping it, so i've removed it from the display.

As far as heated windscreens go, I understood that patents stood for five years? It must have been a lot more than that by now?

I think patents are 12 years; certainly it's significantly more than 5.

esp@cenet document view

Is the UK patent file for it - made in 1974 :eek: Interestingly, the patent appears to have expired in 1979 as a result of the patent renewal fee not being paid!

Chris

Bump bump bump!

Another one I remembered last night: Vauxhalls used to have the dual-filament (21W/5W) brake and tail light bulbs BUT the bayonet pins on the base were slightly offset instead of opposite each other. This was so that you couldn't put the bulb in the wrong way round and have the brake-light filament on with the tail-lights. OK, if you were ham-fisted you could force it in wrongly, but most people weren't that daft or clumsy.

I'm not sure if they still use them now but the Cavaliers and Astras definitely did and I think the Carltons and Senators might have used them too.

You mean different distances from the contacts, or not separated by 180 degrees on the circle? Cos if it's the former, they're all like that guv!

The pins were not at 180 degrees apart.

The Octavia II uses the same bulb for a rear light and a brake light. The same rule applies to the fog lamp bulb. Reduced voltage for rear light use and the full whack when the fog light(s) are switched on.

Gets around the twin filament kefuffle.

Dancing ladies and a massaging drivers seat.

I can't stand those little lines through the heated front screen on Fords.

I'd rather wait a bit longer for the heated air vents to demist the inside while I'm scraping the outside than look at the stupid lines in the glass ALL YEAR!

Heated windscreens are available as after-market replacements, I know of several people who have them fitted to their Land Rovers.

My keyhole is slightly glow-in-the dark which is nice

I like the illuminated door handles on BMWs too. I also think flappy paddle gearboxes DSG & the like is an excellent development & we should banish the clutch pedal/gearstick combo forever - it just seems a bit archaic to me!

I'd like to see some sort of idiot sensor that detects when someone's driving like a tool around other motorists and pulls the car off the road and somehow punishes the driver.

They had them in the 70s and 80s but they all but faded out... If only I could remember the name :confused:

I'd like to see some sort of idiot sensor that detects when someone's driving like a tool around other motorists and pulls the car off the road and somehow punishes the driver.

They had them in the 70s and 80s but they all but faded out... If only I could remember the name :confused:

What a novel idea :P

I can't stand those little lines through the heated front screen on Fords.

I'd rather wait a bit longer for the heated air vents to demist the inside while I'm scraping the outside than look at the stupid lines in the glass ALL YEAR!

Heated windscreens are available as after-market replacements, I know of several people who have them fitted to their Land Rovers.

Was never a problem for me, as you focus past the faint lines anyway. And the air idea isn't much good when it's cold air as the engine's not warm, and you have a diesel which doesn't really appreciate being run with no load

Steve

Was never a problem for me, as you focus past the faint lines anyway. And the air idea isn't much good when it's cold air as the engine's not warm, and you have a diesel which doesn't really appreciate being run with no load

Can't say it's ever been a problem for me either and the air from the vents doesn't remove the frost/ice from the outside of the glass. Can't imagine buying a car without one now

Chris