The "Things that annoy me" thread

Consider it a pedal counter. <=2? Auto. >2? Manual.
But then you have cars with auto clucthes, where you must to move the gear lever.
Semiauto?
 
And what about the Mercs with their footbrake pedals?
 
A cross-post from the Random Thoughts thread because I think my thought fits here better:

I was hearing a podcast and someone asks "I recently got a kid and I need a bigger car. I have a Golf R."

NO YOU IDIOT, YOU DON'T NEED A BIGGER CAR.
You might want a bigger car, but you dont NEED it.
Ugh.

That annoys me as well, especially if the car they're planning to move to is an SUV/crossover, which they "need" for its space.

I distinctly remember watching some British romantic comedy from mid-2000s in which a family moved from a Renault Modus to a Volkswagen Touareg because they had a newborn kid, and how much that mentality annoyed me as a teenager.

Granted, at that time we were a family of four hauling much of our possessions to our coastal residence in a Citroën Saxo every summer, so even the Renault Modus looked like a family car to me, but the point still remains. Unless you're really planning to haul half of your possessions every time you go on a vacation or have more than three kids, you don't need a crossover or an SUV for your purposes. Is it nice to have such car? Probably. Is it necessary? Absolutely not.
 
Thats the thing : people actually move half their posessions once they get a kid. Usually once they have a second child, this goes away when they realize this is just bollocks
 
My parents did the opposite, they had a Capri when I was born and got a Sierra estate when my sister was born. To be fair it was mainly for family holidays where they did take a ton of stuff. Dunno if it was actually essential, I was too young to understand. Capri is still a big car I suppose.
 
A Sierra wagon has much more interior and boot space than a Capri, and also probably four doors.
Going from a Golf to an SUV does not have the same effect.
 
A Sierra wagon has much more interior and boot space than a Capri, and also probably four doors.
Going from a Golf to an SUV does not have the same effect.
True. Sometimes I forget that my standard of SUV doesn't match the norm these days. :D

That reminds me, they've started showing the advert for the new Puma again with it's 'innovative' under-floor storage. The Freelander had this back in 1997, I'm sure other cars had it before that. Just annoys me that they can make out it's an amazing new thing.
 
More things that annoy me : diesel rattle.
Yes yes, Ive gone electric and the true petrolhead inside me is dying a little, but I've started to notice just how utterly loud a cold started diesel engine is. It enrages me if I have to listen to it for an extended period of time even.
I thought there was a tractor or truck idling in my street the other day, but it was one of those old VW sourced SDI engines with ridiculous rattly engine notes (this one was a Skoda Fabia)...

My neighbour across the road drives a (diesel, of course) Corsa. As soon as temperatures drop below zero this means either covering the car the night before (which is what I do with my wife's car), or scratching/deicing the windscreen in the morning. My neighbour does neither, she starts the car at around 8:00, leaves it to idle for 45 minutes (!!!) with the heater on full blast, and leaves at around 8:45 with deiced windows and a heated interior. Aside from the fact this is ridiculous, noisy and plain bad (for the car, the environment, my mood, her wallet...) it's just not effective. Just get the scratcher or deicing fluid and get it over with, no?

Worst of all : about 15 minutes later she's back home already??? So she lets the car idle for 45 minutes for such a short drive? Does not compute?

Yes, I know I'm being pedantic and daft and making a fuss over someone else's business. But WHYYYYY?? When there's so many easier/quicker solutions at hand?

Everyone should just get a remotely heated interior like my golf. No noise, heated cabin and clear windows, all from a button on my phone :p
 
Aside from the fact this is ridiculous, noisy and plain bad (for the car, the environment, my mood, her wallet...) it's just not effective.

Over here that would also be illegal afaik. Ofc doesn’t keep people from doing exactly that constantly. Luckily I live in a place with a giant underground garage, so at least I don’t have to experience this kind of bullshit...
 
Indeed... the old 0.8 cdi smart wouldn’t reach operating temperature at all in winter. That thing really really needed the auxiliary electric heater.
 
Well if her drive is so short, it's better to get the engine up to temp, but 45 minutes sounds incredibly excessive. 15minutes MAYBE.
 
How much is a Webasto or block heater? Either have to be better than running it for 45 minutes. I bet you your life savings that you couldn't make her understand it though.

You'd hate my Land Rover. :LOL:
 
I bet you your life savings that you couldn't make her understand it though.

try and tell someone they don't need a crossover for a family of 1 kid... :p
 
How much is a Webasto or block heater? Either have to be better than running it for 45 minutes. I bet you your life savings that you couldn't make her understand it though.

You'd hate my Land Rover. :LOL:

Inobtanium in .be as far as I know, except in very expensive Volvo’s. And completely superfluous for 355 days a year also....

I don’t mind the rattle when it’s moving since then atleast the engine note changes. Standing still, idling is a different story
 
Well if her drive is so short, it's better to get the engine up to temp, but 45 minutes sounds incredibly excessive. 15minutes MAYBE.
Idling is a terrible way to get the engine up to temperature. It'll spend the longest time running cold, so if you think cold running is bad then idling it up to temperature is the wurst.
 
Idling is a terrible way to get the engine up to temperature. It'll spend the longest time running cold, so if you think cold running is bad then idling it up to temperature is the wurst.
I will firmly disagree with this. but that's my opinion. To think the engine only warms up in certain areas is daft, oil and water get pumped around. You don't tell your boiler to zing up to full firing rate when it's cold unless you want to break shit. My experience, metal flexes and needs to be warmed slowly. The example given above is extreme and should not be done, letting at least the temperature gauge to lift off from 0 is all that's needed. At that point the thermostat has opened, while oil won't be full temp and neither coolant, all items are warm enough to accept higher temps.
 
I will firmly disagree with this. but that's my opinion. To think the engine only warms up in certain areas is daft, oil and water get pumped around. You don't tell your boiler to zing up to full firing rate when it's cold unless you want to break shit. My experience, metal flexes and needs to be warmed slowly. The example given above is extreme and should not be done, letting at least the temperature gauge to lift off from 0 is all that's needed. At that point the thermostat has opened, while oil won't be full temp and neither coolant, all items are warm enough to accept higher temps.
Here's my train of thought:

Per revolution, the idling engine is trying to use the least fuel possible to stay alive [and maybe comply with cold start emission stuff, but it's a euro diesel so who knows].
Least fuel per revolution means least heat per revolution.
Least heat per revolution means most revolutions cold.

In contrast, low-rpm medium-load will give you much more fuel and heat per revolution, consistent with pootling out of your residential area / through town.

Obviously, don't rev the nuts off it cold / zing up to full firing rate. If you live on an on-ramp some cold idling probably is less bad than flooring it cold to merge onto that busy highway.
 
When I start my car (2015 2.5L mazda), it automatically idles at a higher RPM until the engine has warmed up to a certain level, and then it levels off. Is this a fuel/emissions saving feature, or something to prolong the life of the engine?
 
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