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.

Or rather, a newER car.

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.)

It's the one with the unspeakably ugly arse. The one I've always hated 
and said nobody should ever buy. And it's grey. Metalic grey. I'm still 
not entirely sure why I did this. I can only conclude it had something 
to do with the cute girl selling it to me...

Being a new car, it comes with its own new set of niggles.

- The back is ugly, like I said. The front isn't the pretiest thing 
ever, but actually seeing it in daylight, it's not that bad.

- It's grey, the most boring colour known to mankind. Even the 
backlights on the instrument panels are grey.

- 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.

- 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?)

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.

(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!)

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.)

- 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. (Which, considering that the clutch doesn't work properly, isn't 
much fun.)

- Due to the absurd conical shape of the rear screen, the wiper only 
wipes approximately 10% of it. Admittedly the 10% in the middle, which 
is the part you're most likely to want to see out of, but even so. Oh, 
and the screen is tiny in the first place anyway.

- 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?)

In addition to all this, it has the usual minor stuff that all cars 
have. The wipers don't work very well (but then, they never do). The 
brakes are very sharp. (Presumably it just had new brake shoes or 
something.) It's taken me ages to fiddle with all the mirrors such that 
I can see properly. And so on.

So it's a rubbish car then?

Well, not so much. The steering is absurdly light - not sure if that's 
good or bad. 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.

I couldn't say whether the 20% bigger engine makes it go any faster, 
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.

It's got a CD-changer in the front, which is nice. It's slot-loading 
though, so any CDs you put in it are likely to get ruined. But then, I 
always use custom CDs for the car anyway. If one gets broke, I burn 
another copy.

All of the windows are electric, not just the front ones. And it has air 
conditioning. (Does anybody else remember when only the most expensive 
luxury cars costing more than the average house had such features?)

In spite of the wonky back end, the boot is surprisingly spacious. And 
its floor is *flat*, which is useful. I pity anyone who has to ride in 
the back seat though. You'd have to be a dwarf or something! ;-) Then 
again, I'm not expecting to have more than one passenger, ever.

On an unrelated note, I asked my insurers to transfer my car insurance, 
but they screwed up. The net result of this is that I'm now with a 
different insurance company who charge me about 40% less for more 
comprehensive insurance. My mother seems kind of annoyed that she's not 
a named driver any more - but, um, WHY? You have your own car, women! WTF?

My mum was always borrowing my car because it's much bigger than her 
little toy car. But now she has a people carrier, so I see no reason for 
her to ever come anywhere near my car. :-P

Overall I'm happy with my car. Just gotta iron out the kinks. (Starting 
with that back window...) Oh, and it would be kind of nice if I could 
look up the spec list for it, but first I'd have to figure out WTF it *is*!

Post a reply to this message

> - The back is ugly, like I said. The front isn't the pretiest thing ever, 
> but actually seeing it in daylight, it's not that bad.

And at dusk/night I guess you can't see it because it's dark grey :-)

> - 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.

My car is the opposite, the clutch engages as soon as you lift your foot 
even slightly, and then there's only about 5mm until it's fully engaged. 
Real fun if I drive a car like yours temporarily (eg a hire car) then go 
back to my car, you end up jerking forwards and stalling a lot!

> 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.

Mine is similar, but I have to put the "key" into the slot before I can 
press the start button.  Are you sure the engine start button works as soon 
as the doors are unlocked?  Maybe the key needs to be closer to the car 
(like 1 meter) before it will start?

> 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.)

Yes that seems silly, it would mean my car would never lock as there are 
typically only a couple of walls between my keys and my car.  Are there no 
buttons on the "key" to force it to lock?

> - Rather than having the normal 4 or the extravagent 5 gears, it has 6. 
> I'm not sure why.

It is not normal to have 4 gears - maybe 30 years ago it was.  The last car 
I saw with 4 gears cost me 100 pounds 10 years ago, and it was already 10 
years old.  Nowadays any car with a half decent engine has 6 gears.

> You'd think they would use this to add more gears to the top of the range; 
> but no.

Uhh, why?  I have never thought to myself "oh i wish i had a 7th gear to 
change up into now".

> brakes are very sharp. (Presumably it just had new brake shoes or 
> something.)

Or maybe because it actually has 4 brake discs with pads and no drums or 
shoes :-)

> Overall I'm happy with my car. Just gotta iron out the kinks. (Starting 
> with that back window...) Oh, and it would be kind of nice if I could look 
> up the spec list for it, but first I'd have to figure out WTF it *is*!

http://www.taxdisc.direct.gov.uk/EvlPortalApp/index.jsp

Click "Vehicle Enquiry" on the left and type in your registration number.

Post a reply to this message

>> - The back is ugly, like I said. The front isn't the pretiest thing 
>> ever, but actually seeing it in daylight, it's not that bad.
> 
> And at dusk/night I guess you can't see it because it's dark grey :-)

Well, it's metallic so it's sort-of shiny. But no, you can't really see 
what anything looks like properly under low-pressure sodium lamps.

>> - 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.
> 
> My car is the opposite, the clutch engages as soon as you lift your foot 
> even slightly, and then there's only about 5mm until it's fully engaged. 
> Real fun if I drive a car like yours temporarily (eg a hire car) then go 
> back to my car, you end up jerking forwards and stalling a lot!

Yeah. I spent a lot of time on my way to work this morning sitting at 
traffic lights reving the nuts of my engine while not actually going 
anywhere.

My old car, as you release the pedal you gradually get more drive. On 
this one, it seems to be either "on" or "off". And it's only "on" when 
the pedal is 100% released.

>> 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.
> 
> Mine is similar, but I have to put the "key" into the slot before I can 
> press the start button.  Are you sure the engine start button works as 
> soon as the doors are unlocked?  Maybe the key needs to be closer to the 
> car (like 1 meter) before it will start?

Mine does in fact have a slot to insert the key into. But this morning 
the key never left my coat pocket, on the back seat, and the car still 
started just fine.

More interesting is the fact that you can't turn the lights off, even 
when the engine isn't running. Sounds like a nice recipe for a flat battery!

>> 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.)
> 
> Yes that seems silly, it would mean my car would never lock as there are 
> typically only a couple of walls between my keys and my car.  Are there 
> no buttons on the "key" to force it to lock?

There are, but the markings on them have almost completely worn off, so 
I can't tell what they do.

>> - Rather than having the normal 4 or the extravagent 5 gears, it has 
>> 6. I'm not sure why.
> 
> It is not normal to have 4 gears - maybe 30 years ago it was.  The last 
> car I saw with 4 gears cost me 100 pounds 10 years ago, and it was 
> already 10 years old.  Nowadays any car with a half decent engine has 6 
> gears.

I have never seen any car anywhere with 6 gears in my entire life. I've 
only seen one or two that have 5 gears. I still don't really see what 
the advantage is. (Other than that bigger numbers sell more...)

>> You'd think they would use this to add more gears to the top of the 
>> range; but no.
> 
> Uhh, why?  I have never thought to myself "oh i wish i had a 7th gear to 
> change up into now".

I think that all the time...

>> brakes are very sharp. (Presumably it just had new brake shoes or 
>> something.)
> 
> Or maybe because it actually has 4 brake discs with pads and no drums or 
> shoes :-)

I was under the impression that drum brakes are more efficient.

>> Overall I'm happy with my car. Just gotta iron out the kinks. 
>> (Starting with that back window...) Oh, and it would be kind of nice 
>> if I could look up the spec list for it, but first I'd have to figure 
>> out WTF it *is*!
> 
> http://www.taxdisc.direct.gov.uk/EvlPortalApp/index.jsp
> 
> Click "Vehicle Enquiry" on the left and type in your registration number.

I already did that. It tells me it's a 2.0 L engine and that the CO2 
emissions are 191 g/Km (I don't know if that's measured or spec'd), and 
the date of manufacture. Doesn't tell me anything extra about the exact 
model. (In fact, you have to tell then the make and model along with the 
registration number.)

Post a reply to this message

Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> > Yes that seems silly, it would mean my car would never lock as there are
> > typically only a couple of walls between my keys and my car.  Are there
> > no buttons on the "key" to force it to lock?
>
> There are, but the markings on them have almost completely worn off, so
> I can't tell what they do.

Doesn't the manual tell you all this info? I'd have a quick flick through that
if it were me.

Post a reply to this message

>>> Yes that seems silly, it would mean my car would never lock as there are
>>> typically only a couple of walls between my keys and my car.  Are there
>>> no buttons on the "key" to force it to lock?
>> There are, but the markings on them have almost completely worn off, so
>> I can't tell what they do.
> 
> Doesn't the manual tell you all this info? I'd have a quick flick through that
> if it were me.

Yeah, I only got the car last night. I hope they included a manual...

Post a reply to this message

> More interesting is the fact that you can't turn the lights off, even when 
> the engine isn't running. Sounds like a nice recipe for a flat battery!

Most cars now will switch off any electrical devices after a certain time to 
avoid a flat battery.

> I have never seen any car anywhere with 6 gears in my entire life.

What has that got to do with what actually exists and is being made out 
there in the real world?

> I still don't really see what the advantage is. (Other than that bigger 
> numbers sell more...)

You can keep the engine revs in your desired range (eg for quietness, fuel 
economy or performance) for more of the time.  If you only have 4 gears that 
span from 5 to 120 mph, then you are going to be forced to use a very wide 
range of the engine's rpm, with 6 gears you get more choice of whether to 
stay 1000-2000 rpm for quietness, 4000-6000 rpm for performance, etc.

At one extreme you have a car with just one gear, a lot of go-karts are like 
this, and it's just like driving a car stuck in 3rd gear.  The acceleration 
is rubbish until about 40 mph, then you get a kick of power up to about 80, 
then you're on the rev-limiter so can't go any faster.  The other extreme is 
trucks, they have like 30 gears, and they need that many because the big 
diesel engines typically only produce useful power over a very narrow range 
of speeds.

>> Uhh, why?  I have never thought to myself "oh i wish i had a 7th gear to 
>> change up into now".
>
> I think that all the time...

What benefit would that give?

> I was under the impression that drum brakes are more efficient.

The problem with drum brakes is that all the heat builds up inside and can't 
go anywhere, a drum brake designed for a certain application will be bigger 
and heavier than a disc brake capable of dissipating the same amount of 
heat.  Anyway, today, only the smallest cars have drum brakes, and even then 
only on the rear two wheels where not much braking effort needs to be done. 
I think they are cheaper, and help with connecting in the handbrake or 
something.

> I already did that. It tells me it's a 2.0 L engine and that the CO2 
> emissions are 191 g/Km (I don't know if that's measured or spec'd), and 
> the date of manufacture. Doesn't tell me anything extra about the exact 
> model. (In fact, you have to tell then the make and model along with the 
> registration number.)

Hmm, I thought I recalled it giving more info than that.  Maybe try a couple 
of those online insurance quote websites, they quite often take your 
registration number and give you the spec.  Or if all else fails simply take 
it to a Renault dealer and ask them, they will likely check the serial 
number and find it out for you.

Post a reply to this message

Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> >>> Yes that seems silly, it would mean my car would never lock as there are
> >>> typically only a couple of walls between my keys and my car.  Are there
> >>> no buttons on the "key" to force it to lock?
> >> There are, but the markings on them have almost completely worn off, so
> >> I can't tell what they do.
> >
> > Doesn't the manual tell you all this info? I'd have a quick flick through that
> > if it were me.
>
> Yeah, I only got the car last night. I hope they included a manual...

Check the glovebox :). Even if it's missing (I assume this is a used car?) you
should be able to find something online.

Post a reply to this message

>> More interesting is the fact that you can't turn the lights off, even 
>> when the engine isn't running. Sounds like a nice recipe for a flat 
>> battery!
> 
> Most cars now will switch off any electrical devices after a certain 
> time to avoid a flat battery.

Here's to hoping...

>> I have never seen any car anywhere with 6 gears in my entire life.
> 
> What has that got to do with what actually exists and is being made out 
> there in the real world?

Well, I've seen quite a few cars, and almost all of them had 4 gears. I 
suppose alternatively I could pluck numbers out of thin air and claim 
that had more to do with reality. :-P

>> I still don't really see what the advantage is. (Other than that 
>> bigger numbers sell more...)
> 
> You can keep the engine revs in your desired range (eg for quietness, 
> fuel economy or performance) for more of the time.  If you only have 4 
> gears that span from 5 to 120 mph, then you are going to be forced to 
> use a very wide range of the engine's rpm, with 6 gears you get more 
> choice of whether to stay 1000-2000 rpm for quietness, 4000-6000 rpm for 
> performance, etc.

And yet, the gears are spaced so that changing gear is only useful at 
speeds below 50 MPH. Once you're doing more than 50, you're in top gear 
and there's no advantage. That's what I don't get.

> The other extreme is trucks, they have like 30 gears, and they need that 
> many because the big diesel engines typically only produce useful power 
> over a very narrow range of speeds.

...seriously?? O_O

>>> Uhh, why?  I have never thought to myself "oh i wish i had a 7th gear 
>>> to change up into now".
>>
>> I think that all the time...
> 
> What benefit would that give?

It's just that when the engine revs get high, you feel like you should 
be changing up a gear. (But there aren't any.)

I guess it might allow you to cruse along the motorways at high speed 
without having to have the engine running at 8,000 RPM, which might 
reduce wear a little... but no, not much of an advantage. (And yet... 
this car has 6 gears for some reason.)

>> I was under the impression that drum brakes are more efficient.
> 
> The problem with drum brakes is that all the heat builds up inside and 
> can't go anywhere, a drum brake designed for a certain application will 
> be bigger and heavier than a disc brake capable of dissipating the same 
> amount of heat.  Anyway, today, only the smallest cars have drum brakes, 
> and even then only on the rear two wheels where not much braking effort 
> needs to be done. I think they are cheaper, and help with connecting in 
> the handbrake or something.

Interesting. I always through disk brakes are cheaper, so they use those 
where they can't afford to fit propper drum brakes.

>> I already did that. It tells me it's a 2.0 L engine and that the CO2 
>> emissions are 191 g/Km (I don't know if that's measured or spec'd), 
>> and the date of manufacture. Doesn't tell me anything extra about the 
>> exact model. (In fact, you have to tell then the make and model along 
>> with the registration number.)
> 
> Hmm, I thought I recalled it giving more info than that.

I had expected it to also... but no.

> Maybe try a 
> couple of those online insurance quote websites, they quite often take 
> your registration number and give you the spec.  Or if all else fails 
> simply take it to a Renault dealer and ask them, they will likely check 
> the serial number and find it out for you.

Yeah, I could do...

I know it's a Renault Megane Dynamique 2.0 L pretrol, but I can't figure 
out exactly what engine type it is.

Post a reply to this message

>> Yeah, I only got the car last night. I hope they included a manual...
> 
> Check the glovebox :)

WIN!

Post a reply to this message

> Well, I've seen quite a few cars, and almost all of them had 4 gears.

Funny, I usually take about 10 rental cars per year and I don't recall any 
of them ever having 4 gears, even when I picked the absolute cheapest one 
they offered.  Can you give any examples?

> And yet, the gears are spaced so that changing gear is only useful at 
> speeds below 50 MPH. Once you're doing more than 50, you're in top gear 
> and there's no advantage.

Some people like to accelerate above 50 MPH you know :-)  I suspect at 50 
mph in your car you still have the choice of 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th gears, 
how is that not useful?  Even at 80 mph I suspect that 4th gear would still 
be available to give you the maximum acceleration (should you ever need it). 
That's the idea of gears.

> It's just that when the engine revs get high, you feel like you should be 
> changing up a gear. (But there aren't any.)

Driving around at low revs might be fine at low speeds, but at higher speeds 
you *need* the higher rpms to generate the power to overcome the air drag. 
6th gear is designed specifically so that the engine is developing its 
maximum power at the top speed of your car, otherwise you wouldn't be able 
to reach that speed!

> I guess it might allow you to cruse along the motorways at high speed 
> without having to have the engine running at 8,000 RPM,

If you are revving near the redline in top gear then it probably means you 
*need* that much power from your engine to maintain that speed.  If you 
change up a gear you're no longer going to have the torque needed to 
maintain that speed.

> Interesting. I always through disk brakes are cheaper, so they use those 
> where they can't afford to fit propper drum brakes.

Hehe no, otherwise F1 cars would use drum brakes and cheap cars would use 
disc brakes.  It's the other way around.

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