+ Reply to Thread
Page 7 of 14 FirstFirst ... 56789 ... LastLast
Results 61 to 70 of 133

Thread: New Car Waiting Time

  1. #61
    Join Date: Feb 2010

    Location: Moved to frozen north, beyond Inverness

    Posts: 2,602
    I'm Dave.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Marco View Post
    A description from Jeremy Clarkson of the Fiat Twin-Air Technology, taken from a review of the Panda:

    ...Certainly, this little car is 10 times more environmentally friendly than the Toyota Prius because it’s smaller and it’s made from fewer parts and Fiat doesn’t have to plunder the Canadian countryside and cause acid rain to make its batteries. With this little car, everybody wins.

    Marco.
    But JC does exaggerate a great deal, and utter a lot of crap, so that doesn't mean that he's right about that.

    One small car he liked about a decade ago was the Hyundai i10 - and I agree it's a (or was - not sure about the new ones) cracking little car, but that doesn't make it a great one.

    Recently I've driven several Fiat 500s, which to my surprise were really nice, though I probably wouldn't actually buy one.
    Dave

  2. #62
    Alex_UK's Avatar
    Alex_UK is offline Spotify + Facebook Moderator / Chilled-Out Wino and only here for the shilling
    Join Date: Aug 2009

    Location: Sunny Suffolk, UK

    Posts: 15,952
    I'm WrappingALilacCurtainAroundMyBobby.

    Default

    Clarkson also hated the BMW 1 Series when it first came out, but I can honestly say the one my wife had for 10 years was the best car we've ever had. Nothing, and I mean nothing went wrong in over 100,000 miles - not even a bulb. Sure, it had to have tyres and brake pads/discs and regular servicing, but it was faultless. It still felt new after a decade. (We bought it nearly new and saved a fortune, you'll be pleased to see, Marco! ) Unlike the Nissan Qashqai she replaced it with, which is one of the most awful cars I have ever had the displeasure to drive. That's a bit harsh, maybe, lots of other people seem to like them. I guess what I'm saying is within reason you need to ignore reviews from motoring journalists who at the end of the day are just trying to sell magazines and make up your own mind.

    What happened to the Morris Minor Traveller Del had - or did I dream that?
    Alex

    Main System: Digital: HP Laptop/M2Tech Hiface/Logitech Media Server/FLAC; Marantz SA7001 KI Signature SACD Player and other digital stuff into Gatorised Beresford Caiman DAC Vinyl: Garrard 401/SME 3009 SII Improved/Sumiko HS/Nagaoka MP-30
    Amplifier: Rega Brio R. Speakers: Spendor SP1. Cables: Various, mainly Mark Grant.
    Please see "about me" for the rest of my cr@p! Gallery


    A.o.S. on Facebook - A.o.S. on Spotify - A.o.S. on Twitter

    There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing and be nothing Aristotle

  3. #63
    Join Date: Nov 2011

    Location: Seaton, Devon, UK

    Posts: 13,240
    I'm Adrian.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by struth View Post
    . Petrol cars have huge tank of highly explosive fluid at back of car which likely more likely to go up. I do know the battery is located as far away as possible from crumple zones
    Petrol can be put out with foam, but not a lithium based battery, that’s my point.
    Listening is the act of aural discrimination and dissemination of sound, and accepting you get it wrong sometimes.

    Analog Inputs: Pro-Ject Signature 10 TT & arm, Benz Micro LP-S, Michel Cusis MC, Goldring 2500 and Ortofon Rondo Blue cartridges, Hitachi FT5500 mk2 Tuner

    Digital:- Marantz SA-KI Pearl CD player, RaspberryPi/HifiBerry Digi+ Pro, Buffalo NAS Drive

    Amplification:- AudioValve Sunilda phono stage, Krell KSP-7B pre-amp, Krell KSA-80 power amp

    Output: Wilson Benesch Vector speakers, KLH Ultimate One Headphones

    Cables: Tellurium Q Ultra Black II RCA & Chord Epic 2 RCA, various speaker leads, & links


    I think I am nearing audio nirvana, but don’t tell anyone.

  4. #64
    Join Date: Apr 2012

    Location: N E Kent

    Posts: 51,624
    I'm Geoff.

    Default

    There are online videos of cars with Lithium batteries catchng fire. You wouldn't want to be in one!
    It is impossible for anything digital to sound analogue, because it isn't analogue!

  5. #65
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK

    Posts: 110,012
    I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Alex_UK View Post
    Clarkson also hated the BMW 1 Series when it first came out, but I can honestly say the one my wife had for 10 years was the best car we've ever had. Nothing, and I mean nothing went wrong in over 100,000 miles - not even a bulb. Sure, it had to have tyres and brake pads/discs and regular servicing, but it was faultless. It still felt new after a decade. (We bought it nearly new and saved a fortune, you'll be pleased to see, Marco! ) Unlike the Nissan Qashqai she replaced it with, which is one of the most awful cars I have ever had the displeasure to drive. That's a bit harsh, maybe, lots of other people seem to like them. I guess what I'm saying is within reason you need to ignore reviews from motoring journalists who at the end of the day are just trying to sell magazines and make up your own mind.

    What happened to the Morris Minor Traveller Del had - or did I dream that?
    Oh yeah, mate. Defo. Firstly, BMWs of that era were well made and very reliable, so I'm not surprised by your positive experience!

    Of course reviews aren't 'Gospel', but I know Clarkson's tastes well enough to recognise when they *could* align with mine, so that's one of the reasons why the Panda's on Del's shortlist of cars to test drive. And yes, she had a Moggie Traveller once, but all the wood rotted away, so it was eventually scrapped!

    She wants to get another one when she retires.

    Marco.
    Main System

    Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.

    Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.

    Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.

    CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.

    Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.

    Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.

    Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.

    Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.

    Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.


    Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!

    Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!


  6. #66
    montesquieu Guest

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by dave2010 View Post
    I think you're wrong. The latest plug in small pure electrics can go 150 miles without too many problems, but I agree that's not enough for really long journeys. I'm not sure what the range is on the Teslas. Even the manufacturers (e.g Renault - Zoe) say that a few years ago the range was under 100 miles, and one vehicle a few years old which I heard of recently has now only a range of about 20 miles - though it's still in use for delivery purposes.

    I just spoke to a friend of mine today, and he says that his daughter has a plug in hybrid, and she never fills it up with petrol. Journeys probably a max of 60 miles a day - but I'm not sure. That's 30 miles to work, and 30 miles back. Obviously for longer journeys the petrol engine would kick in. I wasn't sure if that's how the hybrid petrol/electrics would work. Perhaps if they only run on electricity, then on the day when the petrol engine is needed to go further - that'll be when one discovers the plugs are fouled up or corroded, and the engine doesn't go any more. Surely there should be a way of forcing these cars to either work totally on petrol, or not - though having written that there was a report some while ago about many users of hybrids (work users, who didn't know) running them only on petrol - thus totally ruining the benefits of hybrid cars - as for various reasons running a plug-in hybrid only on the petrol engine is (apparently) less efficient that just having a petrol engine.

    The other thing about some electric cars which might suit Jeremy Clarkson is that some (e.g Teslas) can outstrip most petrol cars performance wise - though they may use more electricity per mile than many others. Various forms of electric hybrids are being tested for racing, but this has nothing to do with efficiency, and they may actually "burn" up more energy than more conventional cars, but features such as regenerative braking, and the high acceleration possible with electric motors is what interests speed freaks.
    150 miles then a 3-4 hour wait after that to recharge is of zero interest to me or to most people and this of course is all going well, what happens in a traffic jam in the dark in the winter?

    Pure batter power might have a place but the only thing that's sustainable for proper mass market transport outside of city use (trunk roads and motorways, which most people like to be able to drive on at some point in their ownership) is something with decent range, quickly refillable. There's a lot of analysis out there that says what I'm saying, hydrogen is expensive at the moment (could come down with a proper shift to nuclear for the base load) but as for pure electric as mass transport, people with garages and driveways are fine but how on earth are we going to charge the 80% of cars parked on the street at home, at work or both? who will build the infrastructure for this, to say nothing of the battery cost (both in ££ and for the environment).

    No, pure electric is a dead end, not scalable, just an interim thing to help manufacturers meet government targets for average MPG while a proper solution is found. Quite cynical of the manufacturers really. Tesla is an exception (Musk is fighting hydrogen fuel cells with all he's got) but the cost of Teslas isn't coming down any time soon - they are not and never will he mass market transportation.

    Google 'range anxiety' and see how many people don't get along with electrics. Many early adopters are bailing out.

  7. #67
    Join Date: Aug 2012

    Location: Sunny Portsmouth

    Posts: 9,165
    I'm TheMostHonestPersonYouWillMeet.

    Default

    Waiting tine seems crazy,,

    I've just ordered a new Honda MSX 125 and the delivery time is just a couple of weeks... and that's enough time for me to wait I reckon...
    Bev


    Mark Levinson N°390s CD Through:Atlas Elektra XLR's To: Mark Levinson N°383 To: Magneplanar .7's

  8. #68
    Join Date: Feb 2010

    Location: Moved to frozen north, beyond Inverness

    Posts: 2,602
    I'm Dave.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by montesquieu View Post
    No, pure electric is a dead end, not scalable, just an interim thing to help manufacturers meet government targets for average MPG while a proper solution is found. Quite cynical of the manufacturers really. Tesla is an exception (Musk is fighting hydrogen fuel cells with all he's got) but the cost of Teslas isn't coming down any time soon - they are not and never will he mass market transportation.
    Sorry, I still don’t agree. I do agree that there are people whose lives may “require” them to drive long distances many days, but that doesn’t apply to most of us. For some people hybrid cars would definitely seem to be an answer, and they might just as well be plug-in hybrids - not the “self charging” sort - marketing crap!

    Many electric cars can now travel large distances, and have a rapid charge - definitely not 3-4 hours.

    You mention mass market transportation. I’m afraid that in our largest city that is commuter trains, and tubes - horrible though they are.
    Dave

  9. #69
    montesquieu Guest

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by dave2010 View Post
    Sorry, I still don’t agree. I do agree that there are people whose lives may “require” them to drive long distances many days, but that doesn’t apply to most of us. For some people hybrid cars would definitely seem to be an answer, and they might just as well be plug-in hybrids - not the “self charging” sort - marketing crap!

    Many electric cars can now travel large distances, and have a rapid charge - definitely not 3-4 hours.

    You mention mass market transportation. I’m afraid that in our largest city that is commuter trains, and tubes - horrible though they are.
    London is very much the exception and barely even moves the dial in terms of overall UK numbers - indeed it's almost an irrelevance in the wider UK picture. Less than 5% of all journeys in the UK are made by rail or light rail including tube. Over 80% are made by car.

    Another case where a Londoner assumes London is the norm when it isn't.

  10. #70
    Join Date: Feb 2010

    Location: Moved to frozen north, beyond Inverness

    Posts: 2,602
    I'm Dave.

    Default

    Sorry - I’m not a Londoner, never have been. You think I really live there!
    Dave

+ Reply to Thread
Page 7 of 14 FirstFirst ... 56789 ... LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •