advertisement


Cars: Audi, BMW, Mercedes

PsB said:
The permanent 4WD uses a lot more fuel (10-15% more), so a bizarre choice for a car that is heavily sold with little 3-cyl engines to get the CO2 number down.
Click to expand...

Yes. My friend has bought an X40 d3 manual and is very disappointed at the fuel consumption. However, as it's permanent AWD, it was to be expected. Lovely little car, nevertheless.

With the X1, it's surprisingly not not such a big difference between the xDrive and sDrive for fuel consumption - https://www.carbuyer.co.uk/bmw/x1/mpg
 
PsB said:
Handling at the limit? We're talking about an X1! A pure suburban cruiser, with a comfy suspension.
Click to expand...

It doesn't stop BMW still feeling the need to test it at the 'ring.


God alone knows why, unless your morning commute takes in the Nordschleife.
 
Seeker_UK said:
It doesn't stop BMW still feeling the need to test it at the 'ring.

God alone knows why, unless your morning commute takes in the Nordschleife.
Click to expand...

It's part of the marketing of a new upcoming model, including the brash and very visible paintjob. It's meant to be seen.

Or. A treat for the test drivers to have some fun around the ring.

Once at the ring I noticed, without thinking much about it, two Jaguar XJ's. They had ordinary paintjobs and, well, who bothered. Until I, in the corner of my eye noticed that one of them was slowly lowering it's suspension. I made a closer look. Hmmm, it didn't look exactly the same as the other one. It was the upcoming new one (the one in aluminium, I think), properly disguised so that no one (nearly) noticed it, hidden in plain view.
 
RJohan said:
It's part of the marketing of a new upcoming model, including the brash and very visible paintjob. It's meant to be seen.
Click to expand...

That 'paint job' is a wrap and is a pattern designed to make it difficult for rivals to work out key styling and design features of the vehicle; the interior often has the entire dash covered in blankets for the same purpose.

After years of mutual m*sturbation between industry and press, it has resulted in the situation that for a car to have any worth it has to oversteer or post stupid quick times around the 'ring. What this has done is to produce a whole generation of cars that are just too batsh*t fast or hard and uncomfortable to live with day to day. A good example is E28 M5, a fast but comfortable cruiser vs F90 which is designed for the track and will cripple anyone doing more than about 50 miles in one go. AMG are the same...
 
On the subject of testing on tracks, former works rally driver Malcolm Wilson must be doing ok for himself with M-Sport. This is his facilty and purpose built track near Cockermouth, oop north.



Nicely out of the way, and easier to get to than the NotBotherRing.
 
Seeker_UK said:
That 'paint job' is a wrap and is a pattern designed to make it difficult for rivals to work out key styling and design features of the vehicle; the interior often has the entire dash covered in blankets for the same purpose.

After years of mutual m*sturbation between industry and press, it has resulted in the situation that for a car to have any worth it has to oversteer or post stupid quick times around the 'ring. What this has done is to produce a whole generation of cars that are just too batsh*t fast or hard and uncomfortable to live with day to day. A good example is E28 M5, a fast but comfortable cruiser vs F90 which is designed for the track and will cripple anyone doing more than about 50 miles in one go. AMG are the same...
Click to expand...

If they REALLY wanted to avoid being seen they wouldn't turn up at the ring at all, they have their own heavily guarded test tracks. The 'rivals' have their designs locked several years before anyone turn up in drag, it's completely uninteresting to them. I have worked 20 years for the auto industry.

Another time I was at the Ring, when the masked cars still was taped over in black here and there, there was a car I didn't really recognize, Hmmm? Big triangular grill... Could it be a Lancia? I leaned in. The steering wheel was 'masked' with black tape, but the delta shape was clearly visible. A Lancia. Happily I went home and told everybody I had spotted the next Lancia! Probably just what they wanted me to.

I can agree with you on how silly it is with those posted lap times.
 
Tony Lockhart said:
On the subject of testing on tracks, former works rally driver Malcolm Wilson must be doing ok for himself with M-Sport. This is his facilty and purpose built track near Cockermouth, oop north.

Nicely out of the way, and easier to get to than the NotBotherRing.
Click to expand...

A boring job, but some one has to do it.
 
we drove past a heavily disguised range rover a few weeks ago. Interestingly it had no exhaust pipes, so an EV I guess
 
Ponty said:
I have a feeling this will make EV’s the equivalent of Betamax, or how we now view CD’s. I just don’t think electric is the answer.
Click to expand...

Most EVs, I think, are being leased. Nobody cares if they’re BetaMax in the long term. The batteries will have a future after they’ve been removed from cars, as will the motors etc.
 
Ponty said:
I have a feeling this will make EV’s the equivalent of Betamax, or how we now view CD’s. I just don’t think electric is the answer.
Click to expand...
Who cares what happens in 20 years? You'll be in your nuclear powered jet pack by then, and the previous vehicles will be irrelevant.
 
Ponty said:
I have a feeling this will make EV’s the equivalent of Betamax, or how we now view CD’s. I just don’t think electric is the answer.
Click to expand...

I disagree, Hydrogen either in a fuel cell or as an ICE fuel is just not efficient enough. It may be the solution for truck, heavy plant and folks with extreme mileage requirements but BEV is just too easy, simple and efficient for mainstream car use.
 
I'd like to understand how a putative move to 'hydrogen' compares in end-to-end efficiency compared with just synthesizing light fractions that will substitute 'petrol/ diesel'' via Fischer-Tropsch - a process well-known, understood and widely-exploited for over a century, that fundamentally requires water (of no great / any quality, sea water will do), carbon dioxide, and energy as inputs.

It just interests me that there may be such rich, very-well-understood branches of organic chemistry that must also surely, be in play for usefully-absorbing low-quality/problem feedstocks, and might be exploited using low carbon/ renewable energy sources - to solve particular issues in a low-total-emissions way, even just as a bridging/generational technology - and as yet not talked-about much.
 
stevec67 said:
Who cares what happens in 20 years?
Click to expand...

That’s the problem, very few really do. Govts key priority is maximising consumerism and resulting tax revenues in the current electoral period, they really don’t GAF about the environment. 20 years ago we were told to swap to diesels. A few years ago it was back to petrol, now EV’s are flavour of the month just as they desperately need people to spend spend spend. How long before EV’s are the Devil’s spawn? If someone can show me the total environmental footprint and damage of keeping my current petrol and diesel vehicles for 10 years versus 2 new leased EV’s every 3 years, I’d love to understand it. I suspect the key winners will be govts, car manufacturers and banks, not the environment. To help the environment, people need to consume less of everything, manufactured goods and travel included.
 
Audi, BMW, Mercedes.

It’s the drivers of these cars which, for me, are the worst on the road.

I was cut up by a big Audi, on Sunday, during a trip back from Cambridge.
I signalled to pull into the middle lane to position myself from the left lane turn off.
The Audi did the same behind me, them speeded up and went back into the left lane, cutting across me.

A Mercedes driver behind me on a 30mph limit road overtook me, then had to brake violently to stop as a wheelchair crossed over a Zebra crossing.

A recent BMW driver was so close to me on a 40mph limit road I couldn’t see his registration plate.
I touched the brakes and he came even closer.
When we reached the traffic lights he dropped into the left lane and immediately pulled over in front of me as we pulled away.

There’s nothing wrong with the cars. It’s always the drivers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top