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Cotswold Pete

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Everything posted by Cotswold Pete

  1. Maybe put a Mazda 2 on your list, not always that many around but good mpg and should be able to handle your load requirements
  2. I would for sure replace if you think they are the originals. From my experience it makes a subtle difference, the idle seemed smoother, the repsonsive a tad better, the fuel economy did not seem that impacted. When I had plugs changed when they must have done at least 80K, the mechanic said that one of the plugs was looking like it was not going to last much longer as as they had been in the engine for a good few years (probably at least 7 years) they were a little less easy to oik out. I can recall with my first car back in the early 80's taking out the plugs every 5K for a jolly good clean and checking the gap to get the most out of my Renault, it was one of those therapuetic things to do a couple of times year to make sure my low pay was eaked out a little more.
  3. Back to the topic, I would add that wars drive innovation (about the only benefit of wars), so the rapid - or more rapid move away from Ruzzia oil, or in the future Saudi (not reknowned for real adherence to Human Rights) oil means the likely hood of tech that brings us greener benefits is accelerated for the general public in the long run. The LED was developed in the Malverns to allow MoD to not have to pay USA for their TV tech to be able to monitor tanks on the battle field, so after many decades we now benefit by having low energy TVs and lights compared to the old Cathode ray tubes and incandescent bulbs. Using less energy is always a good thing, as even if one were not concenred about climate change, you would be saving a few ££ on the bills, meaning you could afford to shop at Waitrose rather than Poundland
  4. Quite possibly written with a the feather quill by a Buddhist Monk sat in the back seat enjoying the silence during the developement stages of the LS Mk1, so probably not in Latin 😂
  5. Run flats of any kind have stiffer sidewalls, and that will ensure reaction to road surfaces that passes more readily up into the running gear. I would think harder inflation will make it worse (possibly) and running at lower pressure will change the noise as more tread in contact with road. I have noticed around my way some roads (and one or two car parks) just make a wierd noise not really sure why, andsince moving from LS400 to Merc E350 that this different surfaces excite each car differently. However on a 'smooth as a baby's backside' sort of road always felt like any tyre I had on whatever car (including the wifes Honda/Jag/Mazda) the noises were not there. But it always bugged me to have odd noises coz the cabin of a LS or E350 is quite in the first place so subtle road noises seem to reach even my deaf old ears
  6. On that note when I was with my sales team the other day, I told them I wanted them to sell lots of Business Starlink (as we now can) only so that we can make sure Elon has enough cash to naff off to Mars ASAP.
  7. Interesting to read this thread, and my two-pence worth is Humans have been degrading the environment since we jump down from the trees, learnt we could burn them for heat, turn them into arrows and kill mega-fuana, so the burning of carbon based fuels is just the current extension of our mission to eventually ruin the places we live in. As to governments limiting the ability of you and me to drive where ever when ever, I am kind of in support of, becuase we are all (in relative terms) selfish, and some level of control is required, a bit like speed limits, be a interesting world if no one regulated our speed in urban areas coz that was seen a a restriction of our liberties. If we all adopted a quasi-buddhist come Quaker philosophy than maybe we would feel less need to consume and tarmac the planet, but in the meanwhile I am not in position to give up my car and go everywhere by e-bike or shanks-pony, so I am part of the problem my kids will have to solve. It does seem though the pace of global warming has increased in line with human population, so at a guess we are the problem as much as the earth wobbling a little bit nearer to further from the sun from time to time. (Unless of course there are some aliens just around the dark side of the moon having a larf while playing some game of SIM EARTH - and they forgot to switch off the WARM option)🤓
  8. 100% agree, and even the fuel consumption is darned good (unless you are a townie - with all that stop start driving).
  9. A jolly prescient rant. I have worked in IT for 45 years (about to retire) and though the new tech does not completely bamboozle me, it is not as 'smooth' as dealing with a human, and eventually all the youngsters will realise that Tech will frustrate even them as it evolves beyond their skills. On the ticket offices, I am flabbergasted that the government have not looked the data from the 1960's that shows whenever you take the humans away from the function, the vandalism begins (I love railways and have lots of books, and in one recent one this kept coming up) and so what happens when someone decides to take out the ticket machine 'for a laugh'. One can only hope that one day your local MP will be forced to abandon their Jag and have to suffer the consequences of being fined for not being able to get a ticket coz they wanted to save a few bob (to spend on some other unworthy project). That's my rant of the morning, actually already had a rant at work about the problems of convincing people about the 2025 PSTN BT switch phone switch off having read a somewhat inaccurate article on the SkyNews web site. Time to have a cuppa I say and keep it to two rants for this friday.🤐
  10. That is impressive, never got to that figure myself, but never tried cruising at 60 on the way to Scotland, as things are generally flat from where I live to Shap (apart from slight blip up Lickey) and then once over Beattock and down into Glasgow no major climbs all the way up to Pitlochry, then the final weave along the road to Rannoch is where the mpg drops to the floor in an LS. But you arrive nice and relaxed, which is what really counts. Most of the time I never bothered about the mpg as LS was the cheapest car I ran for 15 years, what you saved on mechanics you spent on fuel.
  11. This car is going to be too nice to drive if you ask me, but amazing all the work your putting into it.
  12. I was once told many years ago by a native french speaker that female gender is used when it is an item that you put things in (la voiture, la batteux, la verre), where as masculine was when you put things on or the thing that you put in (whatever the female item you are going to insert it into), (le camion, le metro), Why it is le temoin, who knows, but maybe in years gone by women would not be considered to be fit to give evidence so it would have been a bloke.
  13. Late reply- been off-line enjoying the nice weather to get some DIY done 'auto transmission specialist yorkshire'. I would check that they have Lexus experience, which any good one should do> The place I used in Glos loved Lexus as they knew how to build with longevity in mind, and had many a story about BMWs and why they should be avoided.
  14. I would probably speak to a specialist in auto tranmission systems, usually the ones that can repair as well as service. I certainly used on in Glos for my auto boxes, and never had any problems, and also seemed to me to be no more expensive than getting a local garage with their not quite so specialist knowledge on the auto-box front. In google I can see 3 in and around Leeds, (appreciating Yorkshire is not a small county), so might be worth giving them a call
  15. Been an amazing read ploughing through this post, and having tried the ES at Cheltenham along with similary priced end of range Avenis, and at the time being a 15 year LS400 user, and now a E360 V6 desiel owner, I kind of concur. Nice the though the ES was (certainly felt nicer than the Avensis) it did seem to me that I was not sure as was not sure whether going for a 15yr old LS460 or a GS was what I really wanted to do if I was not going to buy a new car (for the first time in my life). I really like my cruising comfort, as I do not drive on the edge (used to many moons ago - nearly killed myself a few times) but I want a car that can can get me past 'Mrs Grady Old Lady' pootling in her Nissan Micra when I am a little late for work. The LS would give a fair burst when needed, and the E350 is even better, but the ES seemed to lumber, and the top speed only 112mph seemed to be a mental barrier, it bothered me that if I needed real welly then it was not going to do it. The LS and the Merc I have had at over 125 for those really squeaky moments (never with the family in the car). So I would say the ES (IMHO) seems nicer to sit in than the E350 (13 years old), but for sure most cars of the last 10 years seem to be built to a certain degree by accountants counting the cost of plastic versus something nicer. May the debate continue and maybe in 10 years time I will be looking to see if any ES300s going for a song, and I can be a slow old g*t pootling along.
  16. Agree with the 'dead easy' though Kansas in USA is even more chilled (and naff all cars outside of any town) As to the standard of driving, kind of agree but when it is bad it is as mad as anything you will see in UK
  17. Malc, LS's are hard to give up, I had the joy for over 15 years. Been pootling about in Merc E350 since then, and no competition really (unless you count better mpg). I looked at ES, GS and various Toyotas and to be honest nothing set my heart going, and only reason for Merc is a mate of mine who had to give up driving was looking for a buyer. Best of luck in choosing your new steed
  18. IMHO I kind of agree with their stance not their actions. It for sure does not make sense to have large polluting traffic jams as a result of their actions, so they are kind of making matters worse, and alienating people, and I am sure I would be spitting nails if I was caught up in one. I do recall many moons ago being caught in a tailback from some demo along Regents Street London on a Sunday when I was keen to get out of the smoke after a day being a tourist, and even then thinking how naff the fumes were as we inched along (and we did not have AC in cars in them days) Not sure how any government is going to notice of anything unless protest are allowed, and having just watched Paul Whitehouse and his programs about water pollution at least Londoners will benefit from a £4.2B upgrade to the sewers while the rest of us can enjoy more sh*t in our rivers. I feel the militant in me rising!!!
  19. I wonder if as petrol burns hotter than diesel that even though the petrol is not going the car far it is enough to cause problems of a longer term if the hotter combustion does more than just damage the injectors. I might be talking twaddle, but just a though. FUnnily enough the other day I panniced as I had my wifes petrol mazda (my oil burner in getting a new wheel bearing), and having filled the Mazda up started thinking OMG I have put petrol in a diesel car. All the people I have known who have got it wrong have realised with 100 yards and pulled over to no long term effect, other than a red face and some more cash spent on making sure all traces of wrong fuel removed.
  20. I wonder if we will get to point where taking your EV on Eurotunnel will be as much a NoNo as LPG seems to be. Mate if mine who is recently retired fireman said EVs are a real b*stard to deal with when they catch fire.
  21. In my case the bank did call me as I had missed a credit card payment, but they would not tell me what it was for, and the number they told me to ring was different to the number presenting on my phone. So I declined to discuss anything as it smelt like a scam I then rang my bank and they said they were not trying to get hold of me, then the 'scammer' called back. Anyway after much faffing about (2 hours of my time wasted) it turned out it was all genuine, and the fact that I had missed a payment for the first time in 15 years seemed to bother them. I work in IT & Telecoms and so fairly aware of the tricks of the scammers, so am 110% 'alert', but my bank proved to be the idiotic exception.
  22. Indicators the size of a gnats crotchet, this is my moan. Why do more and more car designers think that having a large LED array on the rear with blaring red lights is acceptable when the indicators are so small as to be naffing useless. I am not aware that the Highway code is about to change to say 'indicate if you can be bothered, but do not worry as your indicators will only be visible if the person behind is actually hanging off the bumper'. I know in theory you should be far enough away to anticipate, but more and more my old eyes have no clue as to what the modern EV or hybrid in front is thinking of doing. Apologies if this topic is already covered in this moan, but if it was, I suspect that back then the indicator was the size of 2 gnats crotchet (not one)
  23. Not in my house, every room has a proper music system, even the TV room has the TV plumbed into a non-AV amp along with the 40 year old thorens record deck, a Yamaha cassette deck and an aging CD player (which I will now upgrade) played through some decent transmission line speakers . On the car front I had the Pioneer system in my 400, and in my current Merc 350 it has the Harman system. I would say the LS system had a better sound but part of that may be down to more solid build of an LS over a 350. I always wanted a Nakamichi cassette when I was young and poor with a mortgage, so never achieved that, but still have 600 cassettes to play, and though not as HIFI as the vinyl or CD. IMHO any car without a decent sounds system is never going to be a relaxing drive
  24. Wonder if maybe the rear sway bars need a bit of look at. My missus always said the LS was bouncy and once I had the sway bushes she stopped complaining. Other than that not sure what it could be. I always found the LS hated certain road surfaces and was fine on ones that the Jag, Honda, Mazda gave rough ride, I always put it down to tyres, variety of wear in running gear and my mood for the day. Now I drive an E350 it is much quieter and better at ride than even the LS (which shocked me), but there is one corner I drive on every day where the 350 likes to skip a little rear end dance, where as the other cars held as tight as a train on the tracks.
  25. More than a pound down I would say, as you have to factor in your time (which is not free) to find out that you have not saved anything. Good to see this moan channel woken up. My mona of the day would be working for a company where the first thing I got asked today is 'Do we have a process to know what the process is to be able to enage a 3rd party technician'. In the olden days it was called ask around and if no one has an answer then you either find someone who can make an executive decision or have the b*lls to make your own decision. Death by process, maybe that should be the title of one of the books I am going to write when I retire (along with a few other books bemoaning the naffing waste of time that consumes small companies who are trying to be BSI/ISO compliant - now that's a now money tree if you can get a job there )
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