Friday, 9. July 2010
To make congestion charges or not to make congestion charges – that is the question that the city council of York has been wrestling with and decided – no charge – at the moment. Not wishing to be a cynic but I feel it may have had something to do with the removal of millions of pounds of funding, introduced by the Labour government to encourage cities to make the charges. But whilst this, and other proposed Read more »
Wednesday, 7. July 2010
One of the things that continues to amaze me is the lack of attention that some people pay to the new car they are about to order. Some of this is actually caused by me and my colleagues by occasionally coming up with a deal that you can’t refuse, making the decision a bit of a no brainer but it is still a good idea to get a test drive of a car that you are likely to order. It is also important to check for certain items that for Read more »
Monday, 5. July 2010
I have warned before about the unhealthy state of steering wheels. Often when people clean their cars they completely forget the steering wheel, considered to hold more germs than a toilet but a new report from the Government’s Health Protection Agency suggests that there is much more to worry about. They have found that legionella, the microbe that causes lethal Legionaire’s disease, breeds in stagnant and Read more »
Monday, 5. July 2010
Thinking of getting an electric car? Many are but before you get too excited the institute of Engineering and Technology has calculated that you would need a battery weighing 1.5 tonnes and costing £100,000 fitted to a Ford Focus sized car to match the range of an equivalent diesel version (370 miles). This means that you would need a pack of lithium-ion batteries the weight of a mid sized hatchback to power – well – a mid sized hatchback for this distance. What do you think of electric cars? By Graham Hill
Monday, 5. July 2010
A rather strange type of crime has emerged around the country putting drivers lives at risk – the stealing of manhole covers. The thefts have left gaping holes in the roads and local authorities with big bills to pay. The covers cost up to £400 to replace. Surry County Council has had 536 stolen costing £160,000 to replace. This has hurt councils even more as hundreds of millions of pounds have already been slashed from Read more »
Friday, 2. July 2010
I am often asked about small autos and what CVT auto is? CVT stands for Continuously Variable Transmission and tends to only be fitted to small autos. Such as the Micra. Unlike a traditional auto which operates in a similar way to a manual, automatically changing between gears the CVT system consists of a belt that slides up and down two cones, effectively providing an infinite number of gear ratios. Unfortunately Read more »
Thursday, 1. July 2010
For years we’ve been very strange in this country, we like to stop our cars by the side of the road, get out a flask of tea, pack of sandwiches and Kit Kats and have a little picnic. Some will even have a gas burner and have a bit of a fry up! All of this whilst CO2 emitting trucks and cars zoom by! As creators of the picnic area in the UK the RAC has slammed UK facilities for running behind those provided in Europe. New Read more »
Tuesday, 29. June 2010
I attended the Buckingham Automotive Forum on Thursday at the University of Buckingham, the quarterly meeting at which the good and the great of the industry give us an indication as to what is likely to happen in the future and if the future is looking good or bad for the industry. In fact I was a guest speaker at the event, speaking alongside Professor Peter Cooke, Professor at the University and government Read more »
Sunday, 27. June 2010
A survey by Fuelcard Company found that 21% of 2,000 commercial vehicle drivers leave their engines running while making deliveries leaving themselves open to vehicle theft. I would suggest that they may need to check their insurance policies to see if the drivers void their policies by being irresponsible. Not least of which there is a substantial amount of fuel being used unnecessarily. By Graham Hill
