ScoobyChris - Viewing Profile - The Skoda Forum and Community

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Group:Members
Active Posts:18710(6.82 per day)
Most Active In: Skoda Fabia I (5049 posts)
Joined:04-March 03
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Last Active: Yesterday, 07:59
Currently: Offline
Member Title: Briskodian
Age: 32 years old
Birthday: November 13, 1977
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E-mail: Click here to e-mail me
MSN: mawerc@uk.ibm.com

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Car: Fiat Panda

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Posts I've Made

In Topic: been test driving for a new car

Posted 7 Sep 2010

Out of that list, I'd be looking at the Volvo or Mazda. I was deeply unimpressed with the S3 and found it a bit lacking in excitement to drive. Volvo has the most comfortable seats I think I've ever sat in with fairly soft suspension and from what I recall the dash was a bit naff. Went very well though :D

janner_Sy, on 04 September 2010 - 17:49, said:
i wouldnt want the wife to be driving a really fast RWD car though especially in the wet, thats the main problem for me with BMW

Maybe you could get her some driver training, rather than buying a boring car? :rofl:

Chris
In Topic: Rear window tinting

Posted 4 Sep 2010

Fab Estate, on 04 September 2010 - 10:58, said:
Rear window tinting is a bit like the wooden beads people use to sit on years ago or dice dangling from the rear view mirror or more recently black wheels that people get .
They are just a fad where car enthusiasts jump on the bandwagon and pay the earth for the privilege.

More and more cars are coming out of the factory with tinted rear windows. Mine little shopping car did and I didn't pay anything for the privilege :rofl:

Chris
In Topic: NAS storage

Posted 4 Sep 2010

Mort, on 04 September 2010 - 10:17, said:
I've always wondered about the redundancy on NASs with dual drives. You're (usually) getting two drives of equal capacity, same make, bought at the same time and with almost identical usage patterns and environment. If one goes then surely the second isn't far behind?

Yep it's certainly a concern, although I've never encountered it either at work or home so maybe it's less of a problem and the drives have bigger tolerances. Still, you can never trust anything, so any of my data that can't be easily recreated is backed up elsewhere too just to increase my chances :D

Edit: Just checked my NAS and the two discs are actually operating at different temperatures which may be a factor...

Chris
In Topic: Do you brake?

Posted 4 Sep 2010

Willsvrs, on 04 September 2010 - 13:39, said:
Nevertheless there are people on the roads who interpret every possible driving condition as an opportunity to touch the brakes! I'd say this is mostly down to poor driving awareness or lack of experience. There seems to be a panic braking syndrome!

Absolutely. One of the problems we have is that people are very defensive about their driving ability (just look how many people rate themselves above average!) which means that they have no motivation to improve ... and let's face it, we can all improve!

Willsvrs, on 04 September 2010 - 13:39, said:
I think the point raised earlier on that the car in front's brake lights serve as a warning to the driver behind is flawed! Whilst they do serve as a warning that the car in front is slowing down - if this is the only thing you're relying on to help you moderate your speed, then you're just waiting to have an accident! Whether you see their brake lights or not, it's your responsibility as the operator of your own vehicle to keep a safe distance from the car in front.

Maybe we should remove brake light bulbs from cars and see how long we all last ;)

Chris
In Topic: Do you brake?

Posted 4 Sep 2010

swedishskoda, on 04 September 2010 - 12:33, said:
Could that be interpreted 'if your main objective is to drive for "fun", rather than "chauffeuring"...'? The 'progress' (e.g. gained minutes during a 100 miles trip) can't be that big? Even after this 'edit' I agree with your statement "Different approaches, but both equally valid :D '

By progress, I was really referring to the other extreme of emergency vehicles on a shout where there is a need to make progress and where response time is crucial. For regular driving, I'd probably agree that fun might be a better suited definition and I suspect that it's rare for people to drive entirely at either extreme on a journey.

swedishskoda, on 04 September 2010 - 12:33, said:
Approaching a hazard is, of course, completely different from adjusting your speed to 'natural' obstacles such as speed limits or roundabouts that are easy to spot from a long distance.

That's an interesting point and I'm not sure my use of "hazard" is well defined. Roadcraft has the rather woolly definition of "Any thing or situation that has the potential for danger" but I think I'd include natural obstacles in there too. One thing that I like to instil in associates is that identifying a hazard, planning on how to deal with that hazard, and dealing with that hazard are three distinct phases and that just because you've seen and identified a hazard, it may not make sense to deal with it just yet - remember that the closer you get to the hazard the more information you accumulate about that hazard and therefore the more informed decision you can make. With the Roadcraft approach, we aim to only go through the System (Information, Position, Speed, Gear, Acceleration) once per hazard so for us to be using engine braking to get the speed correct, we would be only making a small change in speed or making a decision early.

I quite like Eisenhower's quote (paraphrased from memory) - “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but the act of planning is indispensable.”

Chris