Viking

Cheers mate.

I know there's been issues with the Mk5 chassis out of the factory, and the manufacturers specification is not working well for the rear ends. Unfortunately I'm nowhere near any of your WIM stations as there appears to be a big black hole up north where I am. Are there any settings you could recommend if I take it to a local place? There's a few near me who are supposedly good according to the lads on the local VAG forum (including North Eastern Tyre and Autocare).

Just been out to drop the daughter off at school and come home. Felt the tyres, and the inner edge of the rears is warm while the outer edge is cool. Does this add anything to it?

Not sure which part of the forum would be better for this so I thought I'd post it in here. Last weekend we had a trip up to Edinburgh, and it's the first time for ages I've driven the car for a decent distance. I thought I heard a wheel bearing grumbling at the rear, so made a mental note to have a look. As the fronts are odd (one Conti Sport and one Accelera) I thought I'd change all the wheels over to my spare set and look to get some fresh rubber on the ones I removed. The Conti is near to the wear bars anyway and the Accelera is just a crap one the dealer put on for some reason before I bought it. Both the Contis on the rear have plenty of tread. So, took 'em off today and had a look at them. This is what I saw on the rear tyres. Inside edge is on the left and outside on the right. I dunno if you can see but the right hand side of the tread has worn strangely. The extreme right hand set of blocks has worn down more than the one next to it, and there's a definate lip between the two. The opposite wheel seems to be the same. After putting the other wheels on I took it for a quick test drive and the wheel bearing isn't droning any more. No surprise there. Any ideas what the problem might be?

The OBDII protocols are basically the same for all vehicles. However, OBDII only requires emissions related codes and data to be provided by the access port on specified pins. After this the manufacturer is at leisure to decide what is available through the port, and it's here that the vehicle specific code readers come into their own. Any OBDII reader will read and clear "check engine light " faults, but for true diagnostics a dedicated Toyota / Lexus machine as linked to earlier is invaluable.

Daughter had a Yaris and it was the very devil to find an OBD solution for it. The local garage tried 3 or 4 different programs before they found one which would work. Mind you, it was a 2000 Yaris and I suppose they've come on some since 2001 when OBDII became compulsory. I gave up looking for a cheap solution when she stopped bending it and sold it. I have VCDS for her new car (Seat Ibiza) and our Jetta, and I also have Peugeot Planet for the van. Both laptop based solutions.

"He said he was on his way to cheer up children on the cancer ward of a local hospital. The driver was not charged." Finally some sense in this world. Well done to the Police for showing some plain simple common sense.

I'd suggest that although it may not be illegal, your insurance company would argue that it's a modification from manufacturers specification for both the vehicle it's fitted to and the tyres manufacturing spec. As such, any vehicle that's got such a modification and is being driven on the road will undoubtedly be uninsured, and therefore breaking the law. I can't see any insurance company accepting that as a modification to the vehicle and allowing cover, can you?

A good idea for people who look at their tyres on a regular basis. However, normal Joe Public won't notice until the wheel comes off (so to speak).

Well, there are only 13 of this particular model still either taxed or registered SORN. In comparison there are 138 Aston Martin V8 registered either taxed or SORN. So it's rare as.

Yep.

To be fair, the Lotus twinks (twin cam) were produced for rallying and many of them will have bitten the dust many moons ago. To see one in a showroom condition makes me wonder where my mates Mk1 RS2000 went to when someone nicked it from outside his workplace in Keswick many years ago. If anyone ever sees TTC404M anywhere, let me know. Be interesting to find out what happened to it.

No help as such, but that Master Tech is talking out of his arse. All pull to the left indeed. Tony or some of the staff will be along shortly with some words of advice.

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Which is why they fit a low limiter for neutral. Foot to the floor in neutral in a Lambo might only be 3000rpm. Just a guess.

I'm sure Lamborghini have low rev limit for sitting in neutral. It doesn't allow the car to rev to the redline unless in gear and in motion. Some functions like launch control also use the lower rev limit. Select a certain setting, foot flat to the floor, hold on the shift paddle, and when you let go it boots it. Summat like that on Ferarri as I recall so I'm sure Lambo would be doing something similar.

Saw a nice accident yesterday. Heading up the country roads in Teesdale in about an inch of snow, towards Mickleton. Came round a corner and headed down a slight hill towards a junction, where a wagon had decided to park, part blocking the road (for some strange reason). Coming towards me was a Volvo S40 with his indicator on, aiming to overtake the wagon and head towards me. I was doing about 25mph and when I saw him indicate I slowed down thinking he was going too fast to stop. He had plenty of time to pull out and overtake, get past the wagon and pull back in again before I got there, and besides I was slowing in anticipation anyway. However, he sees me and must've panicked, and slammed the anchors on. Lost control completely, and tried to aim for the road off where the wagon was parked. There was enough space to get down the side road had he been in control, but as it happened he just slewed into the rear corner of the back of the wagon and destroyed the front end of his car. I saw the car again later as it was being towed into Mickleton (where I was working) to the garage there.

Link.

Can you explain a little? Does it monitor tyre pressure, or adjust tyre pressure, or something else?

If you look closely you can see the airbag go off when he lands.

y'know I don't often think much of BMX stuff (except the usual Youtube "fail" videos) but that guy is excellent.

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I dunno, but I bet it hurt like hell.

Your a right investigator aren't you I do my best.

It was done by Steve McGhee. Link.