Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

That feels like it'd be more appropriate for the truck-based NV that was recently discontinued.
 
gaasc said:
Yup, the NV200 is not rated for towing at all.

In the UK, where towing is different, the NV200 has towing capacity of 1100kg max braked, 640kg unbraked. (Source)
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Impressive. My 1960s designed 58bhp Triumph is rated for 762kg.

I'm informed that it is however a dreadful tow car owing to the lack of weight over the rear wheels , long distance between the tow ball and rear axle and narrow track, even with the bigger engines. The big sixes are the tow cars in the range...

0c3643a54c955bf659070b7657c90052--caravan-holiday-camping-car.jpg
 
I saw a Mk4 Golf in a layby yesterday with the bonnet popped, presumably overheated from towing the huge caravan hooked up to it. Apparently the braked towing capacity of a 2.0 TDI Mk4 is 1400kg braked, which is actually really impressive for a little car.

This caravan must've been right at the limit if it wasn't over, it was comically large compared to the car.
 
captain_70s said:
Impressive. My 1960s designed 58bhp Triumph is rated for 762kg.

I'm informed that it is however a dreadful tow car owing to the lack of weight over the rear wheels , long distance between the tow ball and rear axle and narrow track, even with the bigger engines. The big sixes are the tow cars in the range...

View attachment 3564801
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That is impressive, but, you know, I subscribe to the American school of towing, so that caravan is getting bolted behind a Suburban if I have anything to say about it :p
 
The car in my avatar can pull 2200kg but here’s the deal, we do all our towing with a low tongue weight. In my case 90kg. The weight is on the trailer axle(s), not the towing vehicle.

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vs. the American school of towing:

How much does one of those tires weigh, btw? Say they’re 900kg each. It would be funny to put them on the trailer above and hitch it to my Passat just to see what kind of reaction i would get from the Chevy dually owner.

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Anyone know when Avon Tyres stopped being sold in the US? Google is being quite unhelpful, and I'm wondering just how old the ancient full-size spare on the XJR could be, apart from the obvious "too old to be of any use".
 
Labcoatguy said:
Anyone know when Avon Tyres stopped being sold in the US? Google is being quite unhelpful, and I'm wondering just how old the ancient full-size spare on the XJR could be, apart from the obvious "too old to be of any use".
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This should help.


www.cokertire.com

Tire Age -- Decoding Your Tires to Determine the Age

A guide explaining tire age and when to get new tires. Understand where to find tire codes and how to interpret tire age from codes.
www.cokertire.com www.cokertire.com
 
According to the date code it was made in 2004, so they must've left after that.
 
Perc said:
The car in my avatar can pull 2200kg but here’s the deal, we do all our towing with a low tongue weight. In my case 90kg. The weight is on the trailer axle(s), not the towing vehicle.

View attachment 3564808

vs. the American school of towing:

How much does one of those tires weigh, btw? Say they’re 900kg each. It would be funny to put them on the trailer above and hitch it to my Passat just to see what kind of reaction i would get from the Chevy dually owner.

View attachment 3564807
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That's probably not far off on what those tires weigh. The big difference is that truck will hardly notice it's pulling them. Its trailer weight rating is somewhere in the 13-14,000 kg range.
 
Perc said:
The car in my avatar can pull 2200kg but here’s the deal, we do all our towing with a low tongue weight. In my case 90kg. The weight is on the trailer axle(s), not the towing vehicle.
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This is, incidentally, how I load my trailer (except I go a bit heavier on the tongue weight -500, 600lbs because the suspension on the truck demands it).

European trailer brakes absolutely skeeve me out though. Fuckin' weird mechanical linkages.
 
When a starter hangs on a bit too longer so you hear it grind when the engine catches, is there something to do be done or does the starter have to be replaced?
 
sometimes that's actually an issue with the flywheel teeth. Is it sticky on every start or just occasionally?
 
EyeMWing said:
sometimes that's actually an issue with the flywheel teeth. Is it sticky on every start or just occasionally?
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Typically only coldstarts. This is that 850 volvo I have, and well, I can't check it right now because of a continental divide. But once you drive it and come back to it, the starter never hangs on again until the next cold start like the next day.
 
93Flareside said:
Typically only coldstarts. This is that 850 volvo I have, and well, I can't check it right now because of a continental divide. But once you drive it and come back to it, the starter never hangs on again until the next cold start like the next day.
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A thin shim might take care of it. Do you have any idea of how old it is?
 
I know this sounds like a first world problem but I drove someone else's car today and it didn't have adaptive cruise.

If there ever was a no-brainer option to make sure you get when buying a car, this is it.
 
Stories like yours, conversely, make me want to hold out on adaptive cruise as long as possible so I don't end up making it a habit and have trouble re-adapting to older cars. Then again I could say the same thing about automatic transmissions, and so far I haven't had a huge problem switching between them, so maybe it's a non-issue.
 
The e-2008 will not have adaptive cruise (or reversing camera), and I'm sure it will annoy me for a bit as I'll be likely to drive the Ioniq mostly, which has both.
 
Labcoatguy said:
Stories like yours, conversely, make me want to hold out on adaptive cruise as long as possible so I don't end up making it a habit and have trouble re-adapting to older cars. Then again I could say the same thing about automatic transmissions, and so far I haven't had a huge problem switching between them, so maybe it's a non-issue.
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I have no problem re-adapting but it’s just a suckier experience 😝
 
Haven't done a long motorway journey since selling the Tesla but I'm not massively looking forward to cruise control without the intelligence in the Mazda. Having said that I'll be happy to not have to disengage or jerk the wheel to disengage autosteer every time I want to change lanes myself.

Freelander doesn't have cruise, I can live with that.
 
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