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On Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:26:37 +0000, Invisible wrote:
> Sometimes the servo fails to detect that you're inserting a disk, and
> you have to force it a little before it wakes up and starts the loading
> process.
I have seen them fail to detect a disc, but pulling it out and re-
inserting it has always caused it to detect it - I'd never force a disc
into a drive if the drive wasn't accepting it - that's a good way to
wreck the drive.
Jim
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I just read the user manual. Man, that was fun!
First of all, all the diagrams are for a left-hand drive car. You think
that doesn't matter? Well, the buttons on the central console are the
other way around on a right-hand drive car. (E.g., the lock and start
buttons are the other way around.)
Secondly, while the entire manual is in English (i.e., there are no
sections for other languages in it like they sometimes do), none the
less all the computer displays are still in French.
Thirdly, the manual contains endless instances of "if you have this
option, press button A. Alternatively, if you have this other option,
press button B." But which freakin option do *I* have?!
My favourit is the manual for the stereo system, which tells you how to
load and unload CDs from the CD changer, but omits to mention WHERE THIS
IS! (I have since discovered that I don't actually *have* one - contrary
to the information given to me when I purchased the car.)
I spent 20 minutes trying to find the airbag disable switch on the
passenger door before I figured out that when they switched the car to
right-hand drive, they forgot to move the switch. So it's still on the
right-hand side, it's just that that isn't the passenger side anymore!
And another thing. Does anybody remember when if you wanted to fit
seatbelts, you just went to B&Q, bought some seatbelts, and bolted them
to the car? Well of course *this* car has seatbelt pre-tensioners,
force-limiters, front and side air bags, and who knows what else. So if
you want to do *anything* to the seats or seatbelts, you have to get a
qualified Renault engineer to do it.
Similarly, the battery. Want to replace the battery? No, you can't. It
has a special vent port to vent the flammable gasses it produces. You
have to buy a Renault-approved battery and have a technition fit it.
Want new tires or wheels? Well you can't just *replace* them; they've
got tire pressure sensors in. (And they're colour-coded, because each
wheel is unique so the computer knows which is which.) You need special
equipment to replace the tires, and you can only fit Renault-approved
wheels with the sensors in them.
Now manufacturers *always* want you to use their own parts. They make
way more money that way. And I'm pretty sure that no matter what the
manual says, putting non-approved engine oil into my engine isn't going
to destroy it (provided that it's of the correct type). But it seems
there are so many things on this car that require specialist equipment
to work on.
You're supposed to get the crash sensors and air bag pyrotechnics
checked annually - which can only be done by specially-trained Renault
technitions with specialist equipment.
When you open the bonnet, all you see is a big sheet of plastic and "NO
USER-SERVICABLE PARTS INSIDE". (And even here it still doesn't tell me
WHICH FREAKING ENGINE I HAVE!) Some parts of the manual even tell you
how to replace stuff, but say "due to how difficult it is to access
these components, we recommend refering to a service technition".
(Although it doesn't say *Renault* service technition at least!)
Then again, to replace the headlights, you have two options:
1. Unscrew a tiny plate in the wheel arc and stick two fingers inside to
replace the mounting plate that holds the bulbs. The opening is about
3cm wide.
2. Remove the entire front bumper assembly to get at the bulbs from the
front.
Good thing I don't have the Xeon lights though - those have to be
referred to a qualified service technition due to the high-voltage
components inside. (Seeing a pattern here yet?)
And then there's the controls. I think I'm going to have to build a
flowchart or something. Take one example:
The control for the wipers has 4 positions, A, B, C and D. In position
A, the wipers are off. B is intermittent. C is normal speed, and D is
fast speed. Unless your car is fitted with the automatic wipe option, in
which case B is intermittent wipe depending on the amount of water detected.
[Don't you just love the way *you* have to know what the spec of the car
is to figure out which instructions apply?]
Mine evidently has the automatic option, since it wipes every 20
seconds, but now and then it suddenly starts frantically trying to file
through the glass! o_O
Oh, but wait; read the rest of the manual.
When you stop the car, the wipers slow down. And when you move off
again, they return to their original speed. Unless you move the controls
while stopped, in which case the automatic slowdown feature is disabled
and it acts like normal...
This is probably THE single most annoying feature. It's raining, you
stop at some traffic lights, and suddenly you can't see ANYTHING. Or
even worse, you stop at a busy junction, trying to find a gap to pull
out into. This is THE MOST CRITICAL TIME to need to see what's around
you, but no, your wipers have turned themselves off without your permission.
Unfortunately, it seems to be impossible to disable this highly
dangerous behaviour - except by manually moving the controls as soon as
you stop [or slow below 5 MPH, anyway]. There is apparently no way to
make the wipers wipe at the speed you actually asked for. Because, hey,
a blind computer obviously knows better than the human being trying to
drive the vehicle safety. :-P
Still, at least the rear wiper actually works on this car. My old car
had a fault where you'd press the button, and SIX MINUTES LATER, the
rear would wipe. This car, on the other hand, just wipes 10% of the
screen. You win some, you lose some. (I gather previous incriments
didn't HAVE a wiper AT ALL - it's news to me that this is legal...)
A similar thing happens with the lights; they turn themselves on or off
as they please. Apparently you can in fact turn them on even if the
computer doesn't think it's dark, however. (You can't turn them off if
it's dark - but that isn't really a safety issue.)
Now of course, the lights turn themselves off, not when you stop the
engine, but when you open the door. So somebody has programmed in a
feature [I forget how you select it] where the lights stay on for 30
seconds after you lock the car. (They call it "guide me home" -
presumably so you can see your front door or something...)
Ooo, check it out. I have floor storage! An-- uh, OK, I have a trapdoor
leading into a box that's maybe 4cm deep. WORTH IT! Ooo, and the
passenger side one has mould in it. Yay!
And the middle part of the back seat folds out into a table with cup
holders. WTF?
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Invisible wrote:
> Hmm. A fall from a fourth-floor balcony might not be fatal.
<Batman> I'm counting on it. </Batman>
> Well, that seems crystal clear to me! :-D I wander what happens if you
> have an unrestrained labradore wandering around the car?
You die.
BTW, it's a good idea to stick all your briefcase-type junk in the trunk
instead of on the passenger seat when you drive.
> OMG, WTF? PEOPLE DO THIS?? O_O
Most people are pretty stupid sometimes.
--
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
Forget "focus follows mouse." When do
I get "focus follows gaze"?
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>> OMG, WTF? PEOPLE DO THIS?? O_O
>
> Most people are pretty stupid sometimes.
What I liked most was the warning to never put the seatbelt under your
arm or behind your back. It seems so *ludicrously* obvious that this
will result in horrifying bodily injury that I cannot believe anybody
would do something so stupid...
...and yet, they bothered to print the warning, so...
I also liked the warning to never leave children unattended inside the
car. Yeah, LIKE ANYBODY IS TAKING ANY NOTICE OF THAT ONE! Still, I guess
the idea isn't really to keep children safe, but to protect Renault from
lawsuits. ;-)
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Jim Henderson wrote:
> On Thu, 04 Feb 2010 06:14:17 +0000, Stephen wrote:
>
>> Jim Henderson wrote:
>>> On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:37:40 +0000, Stephen wrote:
>>>
>>>> How?
>>> Your examiner was blind? ;-)
>>>
>>>
>> Nor drunk.
>
> Hmmm...you weren't in the UK?
>
Aberdeen
--
Best Regards,
Stephen
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Invisible <voi### [at] dev null> wrote:
> And another thing. Does anybody remember when if you wanted to fit
> seatbelts, you just went to B&Q, bought some seatbelts, and bolted them
> to the car?
I don't think that's been an option for some decades.
> Then again, to replace the headlights, you have two options:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZWqU9X6PR4
The comments suggest they exaggerated the whole thing, but it makes a good
article. I especially like the way the presenter can replace the same bulb in
the VW in 20 seconds whilst drinking a cup of tea with the other hand!
As for the service stuff - well, that's the main reason I run an old, low-spec
car. I can do the annual service myself in an hour or so for 25 quid. :)
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Invisible wrote:
> In the category of "I realise nobody actually gives a damn but I'm going
> to tell you all anyway": I have a new car.
Me too!
http://www.zbxt.net/~aero/saab/sc_front.jpg
http://www.zbxt.net/~aero/saab/sc_back.jpg
> I had a mark-I Renault Megane. I now have a mark-II Renault Megane with
> a bigger engine. (I still have yet to determine *exactly* what model
> I've bought, but it has a 2.0 L petrol engine which may or may not be
> turbocharged.)
I doubt it's not turbocharged.
> - The clutch doesn't enguage until you completely remove your foot from
> the pedal. You can lift the pedal all the way from the floor to almost
> fully released, and you're still not moving. Only in the last 5mm or so
> of travel do you get any power to the wheels.
Traditional French clutch. All the French cars I've drive have had a
clutch like that. It's something I've never got used to.
> - You don't get a key. Instead, you get a huge lump of plastic. If this
> is within 200 yards of the car, all the doors unlock, and the "start"
> button is enabled. (Yes, you actually start the engine by pressing a
> huge "start" button. How stupid is that?)
I wouldn't like the automatic locking/opening, but starting with a
"start" button is pretty logical - as long as you don't separately need
to put the key to the lock (sorry BMW, THAT's plain stupid).
> This means that if I park my car and go shopping, and I happen to walk
> past a shop front that's fairly close to the car park, my car will
> unlock itself and allow anybody who notices and hops in to start the
> engine and drive off.
I'd guess the engine will shut down when you're far enough?
> (Presumably once they get out of range, the engine will stop and they'll
> be locked in? Or maybe it won't - imagine if you were driving the car
> normally and the radio ran out of battery power. Could be quite a safety
> issue!)
Ah yes, if it doesn't load the battery while driving or alert the car
that "hey, my battery is running out, please disable the safety shutdown
feature".
> I still haven't found a way to lock the car yet. Presumably if I walk
> far enough away, it will lock. (But I'll be far away, so I have no way
> of verifying this.)
Try pushing all the buttons! :D
> - Rather than having the normal 4 or the extravagent 5 gears, it has 6.
> I'm not sure why. You'd think they would use this to add more gears to
> the top of the range; but no. They just took the other gears and spaced
> them closer together. In other words, you need to change gear more
> often.
It gives you the possibility to drive more economically - at least in
theory.
> (Which, considering that the clutch doesn't work properly, isn't
> much fun.)
It does. It's just French.
> - It does not appear to be possible to turn the headlights on or off.
> They just turn themselves on or off when they feel like it. (Presumably
> too many French people decided to drive off in the middle of the night
> with no lights on or something?)
That's actually a good thing. Light automation rocks, when you get used
to it you'll hate the German cars without it :-).
> In addition to all this, it has the usual minor stuff that all cars
> have.
Ah yes, "nothing ever works properly". Fix the problems and it'll be a
nicer ride.
> The wipers don't work very well (but then, they never do).
Wait, what? They never do? In the history of me and cars I've had *one*
car with *one* problem on wipers and that was a loose nut on a 14-year
old car!
> The
> brakes are very sharp. (Presumably it just had new brake shoes or
> something.)
New brakes take a part of the glory, but mostly it's just the way the
brakes are built. I too have new brakes, but they aren't oversharp (then
again, I've always liked the feel of Saab's brakes - they just fit my
braking foot).
> It's taken me ages to fiddle with all the mirrors such that
> I can see properly. And so on.
Yes, and to get the seat positioned etc. That always takes some time.
> So it's a rubbish car then?
If it was, would you have bought it?
> Well, not so much. The steering is absurdly light - not sure if that's
> good or bad.
That depends on you and what do you like. I like light but sensitive
steering - Audi had a steering that absorbed the road to itself, even
while it wasn't a light one, I didn't like that, but I assume someone
else does.
> The suspension seems... "better" somehow. The car doesn't
> tip over when it goes around corners, and driving over lumpy roads (or
> just ramps) doesn't shake you around so much. It's better-damped or
> something.
Maybe it's just not worn out yet? Well ok, probably they have had some
time to tune it up, it's not the same model as your previous car, after all.
> I couldn't say whether the 20% bigger engine makes it go any faster,
If it doesn't, it's crap :).
> since I'm constantly in the wrong gear. (I've yet to figure out how to
> access 6th gear. Every time I try I get 4th instead.) Selecting reverse
> is a tad tricky too. I guess I'll get used to it.
You will, you just need to find the 6th first to know how to get there.
-Aero
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Invisible wrote:
>
> My 4-gear Peugeot 1.1 seemed happy to do 60 or so in 3rd gear. But then,
> while it had a small engine, it was also pretty light too...
As I think I've mentioned earlier, I have an old Saab 9000 as a hobby.
I've bought a new gearbox to it, having extremely long gears - it will
take 120-130km/h (around 75mph) on 2nd gear before the rev limiter, so
3rd should be somewhere around 170-180km/h (around 105mph) :-). The
figures on standard gearbox are 100km/h (62mph) and 150km/h (93mph). I
can't wait to get to put it in the car :-).
-Aero
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Orchid XP v8 wrote:
>
> (I also don't understand why one of the manouvers they get you to
> demonstrate is reversing around a corner. This has to be the MOST STUPID
> THING EVER. You should NEVER, EVER do this in real life! So... WTF?)
>
Why not? You can reverse to a parking slot (or out of it) or to a garage
for example.
Try doing it with a trailer :-). After that reversing only the car is
pretty easy...
-Aero
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Invisible wrote:
> scott wrote:
>>> However... is it a 2.0 T 16V or a 2.0 VVT?
>>>
>>> The documentation from the shop says it's the VVT. The stickers on
>>> the car itself just say "2.0 16V".
I think the VVT means variable valve timing.
>> If you have the turbo you'd probably be able to hear it, speed up to
>> about 3000 rpm in 2nd or 3rd gear, then take your foot off the
>> throttle, you should be able to hear it making a faint high pitch
>> whining noise.
Also roll up to 3krpm and floor it - if it's a turbo, it accelerates
significantly better than the old one did. And I do mean clearly
significantly.
> From what I've seen, if a car has turbo, it constantly makes that
> annoying whistling sound.
No, if a car has a broken turbo, it may do that. A good turbo can also
whistle on certain occasions, but not constantly.
> Also, if you floor it, nothing happens for 4
> seconds, and *then* it takes off like a rocket.
No, if a car has significantly too big turbo and a crappy engine control
system, it lags 4 seconds with nothing happening.
Go ahead and give Saab 9-3 TTiD or BMW 123d a test-drive. They both have
*two* turbos, still no whistle nor mentionable lag.
-Aero
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