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Scary ...

GTV V6

GTV V6

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 20, 2004
Messages
842
Location
Barcelona, Spain
Car(s)
Audi TT V6, Skoda Octavia vRS NX
Yesterday I took my Alfa to be tested, the Spanish equivalent of the english MOT test.

They have a very good setup for testing in Spain, with vibrating platforms to test the suspension, moving plates to test suspension integrity while a guy in a pit is checking everything from underneath and rollers to check brakes.

I was doing the brake test, braking as hard as possible and the pedal went streight to the floor . :shock:

I got out and we walked around the car and there was a big puddle of brake fluid next to the front right hand wheel.

After we put the car over the pit, we found the problem, a tube curving around the bottom of the wheel well had burst.

After driving the car out into the parking bays, I pushed the brake as normal and there was NOTHING... I had to use the handbrake to stop the car.

A freind of mine said I was unlucky that it failed the test, I look at it another way, I'm lucky it failed there instead of while I was driving.

I don't really understand how this happened, the car is only 5 years old, I'll have to wait 3 weeks to see the defective part as I'm off on holiday while it's being repaired.
 
Indeed

Can someone explain these tests for me? Have they always been around, what exactly is the purpose, and your basic feelings on them.....
 
Firecat said:
Indeed

Can someone explain these tests for me? Have they always been around, what exactly is the purpose, and your basic feelings on them.....
Click to expand...

it's basically to keep the roads safe

they test your cars suspension, the brakes, the direction the lights are shining, rust, emission, your papers and some stupid stuff like check if you have danger-triangle (or whatever it's called) in your car

you have to go for the first time when the car is 4 years old, afterwards you have go every year. that's why cars here are leased in periods of 4 years, and also plenty of people buy a car, and just sell it when they have to go for the first time

because of all this, there aren't that many old cars on the road, they're quiet strickt on rust, they go all over the chassis with a hammer, and if they manage to get a hole somewhere, you're screwed.

a second disadvantage is that it's much harder to tune your car, you have to make sure your emission doesn't rise if you do sth to your engine, or each year you have to undo your mods. other stuff like lights, wheels, suspension, exhaust all have to comply with specific rules, which most don't. for suspension it's now even illegal to put it on your car yourself. it needs to be done by a TUV certified dealer
 
I wonder if they plan to introduce that in the States.....I see so many rust buckets on the roads here....
 
Glad I don't live in Belgium ...
 
To say that I'm glad I live in Spain where these tests are obligatory is to greatly understate things.

The test did its job.

Do they not have any test like this in the States or Canada at all?

I thought you lot were all for a bit of (over)regulation.
 
I'm not sure about Canada or all of the States, but nothing like that in Florida
 
GTV V6 said:
To say that I'm glad I live in Spain where these tests are obligatory is to greatly understate things.

The test did its job.

Do they not have any test like this in the States or Canada at all?

I thought you lot were all for a bit of (over)regulation.
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nothing in canada, in USA they have some kind of emission tests though
 
yeah you might the U.S. has these crazy regulations but when it comes to cars, all they care about is that you don't put enough crap out of your exhaust to "harm" the environment. But for some reason they allow people to buy 3mpg Escalades... :unsure:
 
the US has screwed up smog emission laws, and they are all different in variou states. florida has almost no vehicle regulations. in alabama you can register a car with a VIN # and a written note from the previous owner (no title needed).

here in calfornia you are basically screwed in general. you put on a turbo and you probably failed. people actually swap drivetrains to pass the 'smog test' and then put back in their turbo, SC, or nitrous drivetrain. they also change pulleys on superchargers to pass.
there however isnt any real rust or other check. they really don't care. they won't earn $$ from making you patch up rust, so they don't enforce that.
the cops however can charge you $$ for having a loud exhaust, but never charge american cars nomatter what they do.

by the way, about the brake failure. your brake line burst and leaked out the brake fluid, so you have no pressure (and almost no braking power). you should be able to slow down the car by flooring the brakes at 5kph but anything higher will make you crash. i know this since i was helping a friend move a parts car (you know it, a fiero :lol: ) and the brake lines were cut completely, so i used the tranny to stop the car, which no doubt ruined it more, but who cares.
 
well they didn't on a Cavalier.. I'm really worried about Alfa's quality now.. worse than a Cavalier... damn!
 
brake lines break from unusual stress and bad maintenace such as jacking up the car at the wrong spot, and other factors. it doesn't mean the quality is bad really.
 
AutoMX said:
brake lines break from unusual stress and bad maintenace such as jacking up the car at the wrong spot, and other factors. it doesn't mean the quality is bad really.
Click to expand...

It doesn't mean they are not bad quality either... A guy at work has an Alfa... does nothing but complain about it going wrong all the time.
 
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