Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

If I order one today (which I can't as I can't access the configuration tool) it would be delivered in May 2022.

Anyone have Nokian Powerproof (yes thats their name) tyres? Had Nokian Z line (pretty much same tyre that came out about 5 years ago) on Volvo and was happy with it, nearly as good as a Uniroyal RS3/5 in the wet, but taughter sidewalls, last longer in summer use, and do a reasonable enough job of dealing with <7c greasy damp winter tarmac (where proper winters should be on).
Had a set of Michelin Primacy just before the Z lines and gave them away to a mate after a month, terrible grip in the dry AND the wet, wondered if they were maybe knock off tyres as they drove so badly compared to a mid price tyre from a name that not many have heard of.

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Few bike brands/distributors have started doing this, just de listing the option to actually buy anything as their back order lists are already silly long.

Radar cruise is all fine and dandy until you come up to a vehicle you want to overtake on the autoroute and it bloody slows you down.

Set the distance short and carry out your overtake move before it kicks in.

The E63 will happily thunder into the back of someone at full speed, should you take a nap whilst on the M3, so this was a big upgrade.

(Unless it has automatic braking that I've not got close enough to activate, which I admit is possible).

I found it got very confused by HGVs in the next lane, is there a setting to improve that? Seemed quite temperamental tbh.

Guess depends what car it is, tried a few newer E class out with it on and been impressed (in the 30 miles I did), even had someone come from lane 3 into lane 2 (where I was) then straight off a slip road, car braked consistently (made a bonging noise) just as I was going to brake, then seemed to count to 5 and then slowly caught back up with the car infront at same distance and speed I was doing before. Handy!
Tried a slightly older Volvo with it (2010?) and it didn't like rain or any other vehicles going same direction so motorways with narrower lanes it kept turning off or just dropping way back.

Wonder if the W8 engine would fit?

No other reason other than I have been investigating the engines recently.

Did it bong and put lots of flashing lights up on the dash too? I know the jag XF made lots of noises and flashed up lots notices wanting you to interact/intervene. But that was quite a few years ago.

Not thought too too much about price yet (since I haven't secure a replacement for now), probably £4-4.5k.

My XC90 shits the bed every time you come to a traffic calming island and don’t indicate around it. Even more so if there is a parked car behind it. And various other scenarios.
All these safety features are great in principle but in day to day driving are more of an annoyance and you end up switching them off. Lane departure assistance for example does not work (read: is too efficient)on country roads. The constant vibration through the wheel gets annoying after a while telling you you’re close to or crossing the line in the middle.
As above active cruise control you have got to set it short and make your manoeuvres in good time to ensure it doesn’t auto brake.

I find the adaptive cruise control on our Skoda really good. I use it loads on dual carriageways and motorways, also for average speed camera areas and extended 30 zones (not london).

I find it is a safer driver than I am on dual carriageways / motorways as it doesn't tailgate (not that I generally do but sometimes frustration takes over when approaching someone bimbling along at 60 in the outside lane). It is also better at judging how hard the car in front is braking, or what the approaching speed differential is.

OTOH my father's Subaru has that lane departure thing and it's just a bloody nuisance on A roads. Can't find a way to turn it off, either.

I fully expect autonomous vehicles to be safer than human driven ones.

The radar cruise was on a brand new 2019 Passat that I rented. Didn't really work out how to change the distance, but I did work out how to turn it off.

It also had lane departure, and I swear the bloody thing tried to steer you back into your lane and fight you steering into the outside lane, it was horrible.
My Citroën hasn't got that, but if it did it would be in the form of buzzers in the driver's seat. It too would be turned off all the time because I live in the countryside and there's a lot of small empty roads where you're straddling the white line much of the time.

The Passat did have those fantastic matrix LED headlights though, which knew (via GPS) what country we were in and automatically changed to dipping on the right when we got to France.

The Citroën of course has automatic steering xenon lights so apparently never needs changing from left to right dipping

Modern lights really do piss all over older ones. Electric power steering makes the car feel like a toy, however- largely by deleting all the feel.

The '09 Passat I had had the worst steering feel I've encountered. I used have micro panics on the motorway as it think the the tyres has lost contact with the road. Especially during wet weather.

The Skoda steering has quite a nice weight by comparison.

The wife’s Jazz’s steering feels absolutely bonkers after being in the e46. Almost no resistance whatsoever.

In vaguely related news, just had to jumpstart the Jazz as it hasn’t been driven at all since baby arrived, but it’s having its maiden voyage with the weeman as we speak. Hopefully a positive step towards my wife regaining some autonomy.

fantastic matrix LED headlights though

This.

Volvo's xenons were good; The LEDs however are another level. Coupled with the high beam assist shutting down areas of lighting when you come across another vehicle so you can run full beam at all times I feel like I'm driving on a floodlight football pitch at all times - no GPS align, but there is a setting for that.
Roll on winter when I can actually use them!

How do pedestrians and cyclists factor into that?

The high beam turns off when there are street lamps, and would edit the beam to avoid the cyclist if they have lights on

Interesting question. My personal thought is I’d like to be seen in either instance so being lit up would be OK for me.
But the feature overall I guess is designed for ‘non populated’ road driving where you’ll seldom come across either and not driving in a city with full beam on blinding everyone in sight.

Any volunteers for testing? 😬

And having had a quick look as Dammit mentions, it appears to disable in lit areas. So guess my thoughts stand!

Is there a forum approved bike rack?
It'll have to fit a 2008 Clio. Also what's better, roof or boot?

Other cyclists are the main light emitting hazard, not cars.

If you have a tow hitch and an electrical connector then I would use that, but I suspect that a Clio would not have these so I would (as I have done with cars since the 850R) put them on the roof instead. I like the Thule ones that clamp the fork as a hub does, and have a strap for the rear wheel.

Yeah I had trepidations about a boot rack. It's two bikes that'll have to be high enough, at that point, might as well be on the roof. It's partners car anyway, and she prefers the roof.
I like the look of the fork mount ones, how secure are they with the straps?