Fleet Report;- Rover 825Si; Clutching At Straws

 
So, everything has been splendid for a long while, and I've got lovely spangly floor mats and everything. But as of last Sunday I hadn't actually been able to drive it anywhere. The clutch pedal always did have a lot of travel in it, but about a fortnight ago it got to a point where the pedal had to go right to the limit of its travel in order to let me change gear. On my last journey from work to home, the pedal itself would skulk down by the bulkhead and I'd have to hook it back up with the tip of a size 13. Not ideal.

It also meant that I couldn't do the whole "competitive Grandad" thing away from the lights, 'cos I couldn't change deftly from first to second. So, of course, something hd to be done. Into the workshop we went; a good chance to try out the new ramps my Dad bought only to find that his 540 won't go up them.

Click to read more....

Missed Gears

Why, after being partially responsible for the first car ever to hit the road, and after a hundred years of vehicle production, many of which have passed into legend, can Mercedes-Benz still not produce a decent Manual Gearbox?

Mercedes have long had it in for fans of the row-your-own 'box, we can have a manual in some models if we're desperate, but we have to make do with a foot-operated parking brake neccesitating the rapid growth of a third foot if you want to perform a smooth hill-start. That's OK, it's a foible we have learnt to adjust to, even joke about with each other.

And it's not as if they seriously want to do away with them altogether, the new E-Class diesel is marketed heavily on the promise of low emissions, even lower when a slushbox is omitted. To remain class competitive you have to offer a nice modern six-speed gearbox, with nicely chosen ratios to compliment the power delivery of the car. On paper MB have done just this.

But it's terrible.

Click to read more....