Seriously?

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

The facility to power-fold the door mirrors remotely is a good one and one that i'd use if any of my cars had it. I'd only had the Volvo a month or two when the drivers door mirror was taken out by some idiot in a tractor/trailer combo doing about 40mph down Main St (30mph limit) so i was lucky it wasn't the whoel side of the car in a way but power-fold mirrors would have saved it.

I like the description of the lazy locking on your Porsche, my Jag has a similar thing if you hold the unlock button on the fob for an extra second after unlocking - it opens all 4 windows and the sunroof, again a nice party trick on a hot day. However it only has one-touch down on the drivers window, no one-touch up either! Swings and roundabouts i suppose!

All these bells and whistles are fantastic of course Dave, but they do mean there is much more to go wrong.

The Skoda has been almost a model of reliability since I bought it new (September 2013), but you may recall one issue I had with electrical power failing to the driver's door (I think I mentioned it in the RB thread)? A single wire (the 12v supply) had fractured as it entered the door jamb - apparently a common issue with VAG motor cars. I had it fixed in about an hour with a self soldering joint, but the outage had meant I'd lost the central locking, electric windows and mirrors - all due to a single wire. Fortunately I understood enough about vehicle electrics to diagnose and fix the issue at almost no cost, but if I'd got a Skoda dealer to fix it the bill would have been for a new door loom (about £160) plus probably 2 hours of labour - so maybe £300ish.

Now if I compare that with the RB (or even more so GAM): no central locking, manually adjustable mirrors and wind-up windows = nothing to fail. The RB is still on the road after 42 years (and most jobs may be fixed with a penknife and a piece of wood), but I doubt very much that the Skoda (excellent car as it is) will still be in another 33 years.

Just my musings after walking Bob and before taking Dan to school :-).

Alan

[foggyjames]

I thought I would hate start/stop, and was trying to find as late a V70 without it as I could find...but...I'm actually a convert, for two reasons:
1) I've seen localised pollution data around junctions and traffic lights, and it's horrifying.
2) I really like the serenity.

...plus, at 280k miles with no ill-effects, I don't think there's a wear and tear issue.

cheers

James

[SnineT]

Originally Posted by foggyjames

I thought I would hate start/stop, and was trying to find as late a V70 without it as I could find...but...I'm actually a convert, for two reasons:
1) I've seen localised pollution data around junctions and traffic lights, and it's horrifying.
2) I really like the serenity.

...plus, at 280k miles with no ill-effects, I don't think there's a wear and tear issue.

cheers

James

It will cause more wear on the starter & batteries over time but like you said I really like it and when sat at lights that have longer sequences combined with my car being unexpectedly more economic than I thought it would be it's a bit of a win win for everybody,

You can override it without turning it off, if you get it cutting out too early not pushing the brake too hard until actually stopped keeps the lump running and unlike some others you've still got steering assist when the engine is off, I know a mate who had it in a 66 Superb used to curse it.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by SnineT

It will cause more wear on the starter & batteries over time but like you said I really like it and when sat at lights that have longer sequences combined with my car being unexpectedly more economic than I thought it would be it's a bit of a win win for everybody,

You can override it without turning it off, if you get it cutting out too early not pushing the brake too hard until actually stopped keeps the lump running and unlike some others you've still got steering assist when the engine is off, I know a mate who had it in a 66 Superb used to curse it.

I'm not all that keen on the Stop/Start myself (although I can live with it), but Dan has just started learning to drive and he loves it: if he inadvertently (but inevitably) stalls the motor he only has to depress the clutch and it starts - as if by magic (but not quite fast enough for Dad not to notice).

:-)

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

I'm not all that keen on the Stop/Start myself (although I can live with it), but Dan has just started learning to drive and he loves it: if he inadvertently (but inevitably) stalls the motor he only has to depress the clutch and it starts - as if by magic (but not quite fast enough for Dad not to notice).

:-)

In slow moving traffic, time is wasted (causing extra emissions from cars behind) when a stop-start car is constantly restarting to move a few yards and is incredibly frustrating. Also i've been a passenger in a car waiting at a T-junction to get out, just as a suitable gap appears, the engine stopped. By the time it restarted, the gap was gone!

I prefer to use my own judgement as to when to switch the engine off in traffic and usually do so after 20-30 seconds, depending on how quickly the queue is moving.

Would also be a PITA in an auto, having to shift out of D so it would restart, not to mention other problems.

[foggyjames]

On my manual, the engine is running before you've got the clutch fully down. It's very quick. I believe that on some of the newer autos it will stall and re-start automatically in Drive.

The bigger issue is the slower release of the electronic handbrake (which, generally speaking, I like, but the fact that the release isn't completely instant can be a pain).

The bigger issue still is many drivers' appalling observation and anticipation skills, though...

cheers

James

[Othen]

Originally Posted by foggyjames

On my manual, the engine is running before you've got the clutch fully down. It's very quick. I believe that on some of the newer autos it will stall and re-start automatically in Drive.

The bigger issue is the slower release of the electronic handbrake (which, generally speaking, I like, but the fact that the release isn't completely instant can be a pain).

The bigger issue still is many drivers' appalling observation and anticipation skills, though...

cheers

James

I agree; the Stop/Start system has been very well thought out, and does work very well in both my motor cars that have it fitted. The Skoda has a conventional handbrake (which I like); the Porsche has an electrical switch similar to yours I think. Even after 7 years I still can't get used to it and would much prefer a conventional lever.

As I said somewhere above: all these bells and whistles are lovely, but far from essential and in the longer term they are just something to go wrong. The RB is 42 years old and has few superfluous systems - perhaps the headlamp wipers (which work fine now) and the seat belt warning - that is all. GAM has not one iota more than is necessary to run a motor car on the road. My point here is that it is still entirely practical for me to maintain 42 and 59 year old motor cars on the road with no really specialist tools, whereas that will not be possible with my two modern motor cars when they are the same age.

The advantages of modern motor cars are plain to see, particularly in fuel consumption, where even the Porsche (with 270 HP) is considerably more frugal than the RB or GAM. The downside will be most modern cars will be rendered beyond economic repair long before they are mechanically worn because the computer than controls the windscreen wipers (or some such system) will have failed and a replacement would cost more than the value of the vehicle.

I like to justify running both GAM and the RB to myself on these grounds. I know it doesn't really make sense though - I just like them both. I do remain grateful to the government for not charging me any more tax and not making me go through a testing regime designed for modern cars, so allowing me to indulge my interest in older motor cars at almost no cost.

:-)

[Laird Scooby]

The other thing about GAM and the RB is they are the ultimate green vehicle. Their carbon footprints have long since been amortised over their lifetime so they produce little or nothing in the way of carbon footprint on new manufacture.

[Moomoo]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

The other thing about GAM and the RB is they are the ultimate green vehicle. Their carbon footprints have long since been amortised over their lifetime so they produce little or nothing in the way of carbon footprint on new manufacture.

June’s Driver guy Geoff Arthur reveals Volvo EVs create 60% more CO2 in production than equivalent combustion engined vehicles. If all the electricity used to recharge an EV were renewable, 90,000 miles would need to be covered before any benefit is achieved. A projected life span of 124k miles, for the vehicle doesn’t fill me with a yen to buy one anytime soon .

Anyway, I’ve got to take my pet Stegosaurus for a walk! 🧐

[foggyjames]

I think enthusiasts will find ways of keeping the increasingly-computerised cars going. An additional skill-set (i.e. electronics and software) is required, but there are people out there who have done an awful lot of reverse engineering of modern-ish platforms, and remanufacturing of dead modules at reasonable cost is already possible.

But yes, manufacturers themselves will tie a noose around our necks, without a doubt. "Dead module? Must be replaced. But they're discontinued". My friend is selling his 2006 XC70 for this reason. He's resolved it this time around, but sees it as a bad omen, and has gone back to a 940.

cheers

James