Mike246

Hi all. This is a really interesting thread (to me, anyway). I also had an SPV for a week and took it back. Technically it's a marvel but otherwise thoughly useless. I assume that you are using the P800 on Orange. If so, where didi you get it, was it a good price and is the car kit Bluetooth? How much use is it as a PDA? Does anyone do a GPS jacket for it?

Matt, Let me know your route and time. I wanna make sure I'm not driving behind you.

Now I know why they brought out the Sportcross ...

If it's the stuff I'm thinking of, there's a bloke round the corner to Tooting Station sits in a chromed-up 5-series. He'll sell you all you want.

Right. Now pay attention, Bond. An LED is a diode that emits light. It is driven by current and the value of this depends on the chemical construction, size and colour. All of these also affect the voltage across the device which will be a set value between 1.6 and 4.2 volts. The LED will be a low resistance when forward-biased (lit). It will be knackered if reverse-biased (connected round the wrong way). LEDs can be connected in series. They can also be connected in parallel but a current-limiting resistor must be in series with each LED. All of the above is interesting but not important. The object is to get the current right. Too little and the LED will be dim; too much and it will be bright and burn out. A car's source voltage is 14.4 from the alternator and you need to drive it at 20mA, therefore you need 680 ohms in series with each.

I was out with the family for a leisurely drive when the car suddenly developed faults. It seems that the engine is flooded and won't start. Also the lights are dim and the wipers appear to be slow. I've noticed that the carpet appears to be damp to the touch. If anyone has got any ideas I would be obliged. Please get in touch by e-mail to richard.hillman@granadatv.co.uk

Claire, I tried that but Steve still said no

Thanks Geoffers for your confirmation. Also for the compliment on the QUANAN - the only customers we want are satisfied ones!

Nope. It doesn't work that way. Trust me, I'm a consultant! LEDs are current-driven so don't worry about voltage across the LED. The forward current is 20mA from a 14 volt source. Mr Ohm says R = V/I therefore you need a series resistor of 700 (use 680 or 750) ohms. Power rating needs to be 0.5 watt.

Testimonial eh? I'll give you a testimonial. Just look at my signature - and that was on there yonks before the factory visit came up. And wot's more, even in the face of adversity from some of the bretheren for tabling a favourable comment or two about the new Avensis and making them feel insecure about the superiority of their ISs (or is it ISi, I'm no good with plurals). :hocus-pokus: I demand to be given careful consideration! (76 words and 1 smilie)

Steve, Count me in. I've done the Honda factory at Swindon and all I got at the end was a lousy pen. At least when I went to Bourneville I did get a freebie of one of their products. That's 39 words.

Some of the portable SatNavs available now look pretty good although I've never tried any. I doubt that they are as easy to program to street level as the Lexus unit but they cost less than half as much and can be moved between vehicles. I've seen the Compaq iPAQ with the Navman jacket and the Garmin unit. Does anyone have any experience of these?

Yeah and sod them if they do. I've just bought a new disk

How about a new Club section? We could call it 'Sirens & Truncheons' .

Steady on, mate! Some of my best friends ......

Thanks Mat, Thanks Steve. Where were you when I was being run out of town for heresy?

We are into dangerous territory here. I put a post up a couple of weeks ago saying how tasty the new Avensis looks from the pics. Got nothing but abuse and sniping about my lack of asthetic appreciation. In the interests of equality I expect Mr PQuist to get the same treatment. Anyway, yesterday I had a look at the real thing and a sit in it. In my view this is a very tasty motor inside and out. It knocks the spots off all the competition including the Passat and the new Accord. It's bigger than an IS but smaller than a GS - about new Vectra size but with a Merc-like presence. You can even get one with sat-nav (albeit a bit sawn-off), ABS, CD, alloys, fog lamps and remote alarm for £15,500. And yes, it has got audio controls on the steering wheel. Sequential shift auto adds another £1,000. It's even got those hook thingeys for hanging your coat up. Got to hand it to Toyota. This car is going to do ever so well.

Matt, I'll vote with Ricky on this. The Trafficmaster Freeway is a really great system. You can't always avoid the jams but at leat you know there is one coming.

Thanks guys, I'll remove all loose and metallic objects from the interior and see what happens.

'spose it could be a money spider I'll mug him in the morning.

1978 'wedge shaped' Austin Princess. In the 9 months I owned it, it needed a new starter motor, new alternator, new driveshifts, packing pieces in the rear suspension to stop the back wheels toeing in, new auto gearbox valveblock to stop jerking on changes and a new power steering rack. I got a visit to Cowley to watch them being made. Having seen the process, I was **** scared to drive back to London in mine. One Saturday night while going round Hyde Park corner, I looked fondly at my wife who was sitting nine inches lower than me. The nearside Hydrogas suspension had failed. I reported this to my friend at Leyland who asked me if the radio was working all right. When I told him it was, he suggested that I jack it up and drive a new car under it.

No, just a South Park 'Kyle' air freshener fixed to the top of the dash. Can't recall anything in the car that just dangles :D

The alarm on my GS goes off occasionally in the middle of the night for no apparant reason. I assume that it is not a local villain or cat or both. Anyone else experienced this or got any ideas?

Kev, The QUANAN system only requires 3 sensors as they have a wide horizontal span compared with vertical. The beam is therefore like a squashed cone so that it reaches 2.5 metres behind but does not give false readings of the ground. 3 sensors on this system is ample for even a GS or LS. Regarding fitting a middle one when using a towbar, there are several solutions depending upon the height of the bumper above the towbar. In most cases, the middle one can be fitted as normal, where there is conflict an adhesive-backed one car be supplied for the towbar mount. For extreme cases, the QUANAN system will work with just two sensors fitted.

I agree that it is really annoying that manual inputs are supressed while on the move. My theory is that this is initiated by boot settings on the disk itself. I recently bought a new disk (CD-ROM version) and I am now permitted to switch to trip computer while driving. My other theory is that deactivation of the route setting can be over-riden through the SatNav's maintenance mode. I'll follow this through with my dealer's Service Manager but how about a petition from like-minded Club members to Lexus GB to sort this out?