Your fleet running reports

[Ascender]

Does anybody use an all-over car cover? It was about -6 last night so the Boxster is frozen all over, inside and out. Am thinking that instead of faffing around with a windscreen cover it might be just as easy to get some sort of cover I can use over the winter.

I'm guessing Porsche do a restful item with a large crest on it (no thanks) which costs £500, and the cheap £40 ones on Amazon will be like tissue paper, so somewhere in between those extremes I'm thinking.

[V8Granite]

I’ve stored a car outside and in since 2004 and a car cover has always disappointed.

It will always get damp, unless it’s sealed all around as wind gets underneath it.

It must be clean when it goes on.

They need washing as dirt still gets under.

Really horrible weather they can’t stay on if they are exposed to the wind at all. I’ve seen some really tight ones where 3 straps goes underneath and tightens up, are you really going to wash it each time you park up ?

Treat the roof and seals and on a nice dry day crack the windows when you can. Plus silica gel packs left in.

See it as a good excuse for a 30 minute drive once a week to warm it through and get ventilation.

Dave!

[jamcg]

Does anybody use an all-over car cover? It was about -6 last night so the Boxster is frozen all over, inside and out. Am thinking that instead of faffing around with a windscreen cover it might be just as easy to get some sort of cover I can use over the winter.

I'm guessing Porsche do a restful item with a large crest on it (no thanks) which costs £500, and the cheap £40 ones on Amazon will be like tissue paper, so somewhere in between those extremes I'm thinking.

I used one in my old property when my park g space was under a tree- all that happens is the cover freezes to the window so it won’t cure that issue and they blow off in strong winds, no matter how tight you tie them on, so risks damaging paintwork etc. Better option is to build a carport if you have the space

[integrale_evo]

I’ve got one of these on the e30, golf and alfasud.

https://www.classicadditions.com/en-GB/ ... prod_10077

You do get condensation under them at this time of year, but far less moisture than they’d get in them having been left out in all weathers considering it’s rained pretty much every day since the end of September.

No other issues on the golf or e30, unfortunately the Alfa paint has microblistered in a few places but I’d blame that more on the dubious quality of the paint work it’s had as the paint has always felt very soft rather than something all covered cars will suffer from. And not enough to put me off using one as without it would probably be full of water by now.

Never lost one in even the strongest winds and only use the front and rear straps ( for ease of use )

The most annoying thing is storing it when you take it off as it’s usually damp and you don’t want to lay it on the ground to fold it or roll it up to put it in a bag, or pack it away wet.

[Rich B]

Car covers seem way more hassle than they're worth for normal cars. Great if you're storing a car for 6 months, but daft for short term use. If your car is icing up inside, surely it has a damp problem?

[Sundayjumper]

Cayenne thermostat done. About two hours but there was a lot of faffing. I reckon I could do it in not much over an hour next time. It’s in the hole below the intake. Quite easy to get to really.

C0C9A7C5-DFA9-42E5-BB50-264AF9DEDE37.jpeg (124.07 KiB) Viewed 1776 times

Test driven in -2 degrees ambient and the temp gauge sits dead centre now, as it should. Previously it dropped down to about a quarter when cruising at steady speed.

[Beany]

Really quite cold (frosty all day) and moist today so decided against stripping the door down. Will see how tomorrow is.

For clarity, where's what I'm aiming for. Once you get in there, piece of piss. It's getting there that looks to be fucking tedious as the glass is in the way, etc.

[Sundayjumper]

This was the state of the old water pump on the Scimitar. A new one has been ordered !

2F85AE54-5A9A-47F7-9138-BBD358B58C34.jpeg (118.95 KiB) Viewed 1669 times

[Jobbo]

Won’t that be the state of everything on the Scimitar?

[V8Granite]

Lane avoidance, deviation or whatever it’s called system is a liability in the snow. It randomly tugs at the wheel and I’d forgotten to turn it off this morning.

Not fully being able to turn off traction control is a test, i mashed and sawed my way up a steep snowy hill yesterday.

People drive like idiots in the snow. I dropped my tyres 10psi all round yesterday and it’s proven a huge benefit and I’m getting everywhere I need to be, even up steep snow covered hills.

Why do people not know how to defrost a car? Turn engine on and keep it running, fans off and let it heat soak a little and then pop the heaters on slowly and build them up with temp.
There were 2 vans and a car where I was staying all running before me and all not de-frosted while I drove off with a clear screen.

I wanted a heated screen as I always forget how great they are.

Rambling over.

Dave!

[simon_g]

I turned on the AC and heated windscreen from the car's app when I was still in bed. Nice warm clear car by the time we left.

[mik]

I posted a thread in the E-Tron forum just a couple of days back in relation to Lane Detection. It’s a system I always turn off in cars, but on the UK version - Audi won’t let me make that a default setting. A press on the end of the left stalk is all it takes to switch it off, but doing this every time you start up is a PITA.

I was out in it the other night - fast A-road doing about 60. It was about -2 DegC but the surface was treated. Turned into a bend and the steering lightened immediately.... which I assumed was understeer - but it was actually just the Lane control deciding it didn’t like my line and steering for me. Plenty of grip. Fuck. Off. Shat myself.

In other news I was messing around with the re-gen settings. I have been using it in manual mode - so you set the level of regen you want with the paddles. It responds to the paddles instantly so you can use it dynamically to trim off speed to suit the corner approaching. It’s pretty cool.

There is an auto mode that uses the nav and I think also the adaptive cruise sensor to decide how much regen you get. Come off the throttle on a long straight and it’ll just coast. Come off as you approach a roundabout and regen is instantly there. It also seems to recognise if you are going down a hill, or whether there is a car in front of you. I need to drive it more to try and work out what it is using, but it gets it right 90% of the time and is rather clever. Unfortunately that leaves 10% of the time when it doesn’t... approach a corner with no regen, turn in and it decides to apply a little regen just as you turn in. Erm- no.

Will play a bit more. Mrs mik likes it on auto, but I think I’ll use it in manual. It’s like having a variable exhaust brake to play with too, and brings a fresh driving challenge to do it all smoothly...

Maximum regen is only available when you actually use the brake pedal. Initially you get Max regen, and then as you press harder it smoothly transitions the actual brakes in. If you slow to a stop you can see the regen rolling off in the last couple of mph to avoid a jerky stop - without you having to roll off the brake pedal as you would normally. Great feature for jerky drivers - I hope it is introduced to all private taxis soon.

When I toured the Tesla workshop in Edinburgh a couple of years back, they mentioned they replaced 50% of discs due to wear, and 50% due to corrosion caused by lack of use) on the Audi the best way to keep the discs clean is to flick it to neutral - this allows you to brake without any regen being kicked in. (As mentioned on my intro thread, the discs on the E-Tron are the biggest of any car we've owned. With chunky 4pots monoblock callipers on the rear and whopping 6pots on the front. Which makes sense for a 2.5tonne car with it's accelerative ability. I don't want to change these massive rotors due to lack of use....)

Edit: just checked - front discs are 375mm diameter, and a rather thick 36mm. I thought the 365x32 on the VXR8 were big...

[Delphi]

Found at least one of the reasons why the heater is on all the time on the 928. The heater control valve is kaput. A new one from Porsche is £90. Turns out it's the identical part on a Mercedes W123 which is available for £20 so I've ordered that and will be fitting it this weekend.

[scotta]

Ive started the winter jobs on the Elise.

First up replacement headlights





The old ones were slighlty crusty and should have been changed before now. Problem being they are unobtainable now. I found a set of old stock for sale on one of the owners forums for £180 Which is remakably more than the £30 a unit they used to cost but a bit less than what this chancer wants on ebay - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/x2-Pair-Genu ... 4301743463

Also on the list are the gear shift cables to be done. I noticed that the cable insulation is split on one of them so preventative maintenance rather than anything else. However thanks to Brexit they haven't yet arrived despite ordering them on the 4th.Tracking shows them sat in Oldbury since the 12th. Dunno WTF is going on.

22.01.2021 10:57 Oldbury (GB)
In transit.
18.01.2021 13:02 Oldbury (GB)
In transit.
15.01.2021 13:15 Oldbury (GB)
In transit.
14.01.2021 17:08 Oldbury (GB)
In transit.
13.01.2021 15:10 Oldbury (GB)
In transit.
12.01.2021 15:07 Oldbury (GB)
In transit.
05.01.2021 22:16 Oirschot (NL)
Parcel cleared by customs.
05.01.2021 22:16 Oirschot (NL)
In transit.
05.01.2021 18:19 Berkel en Rodenr ...
In transit.
05.01.2021 16:24 Berkel en Rodenr ...
Received by DPD from consignor.
05.01.2021 14:47 DPD data centre
Order information has been transmitted to DPD.

[Jobbo]

Aren't the Elise headlights a standard off the shelf part like the old Mini/MX5/Land Rover Defender ones?

[duncs500]

@scotta Didn't fancy some of those LED ones that people are putting in these days? How difficult is it to do?

[scotta]

Aren't the Elise headlights a standard off the shelf part like the old Mini/MX5/Land Rover Defender ones?

No - Custom made by Valeo/Cibie.

ETA - Eliseparts do a replacement kit but the lens's are different.

https://www.eliseparts.com/shop/left-ha ... onversion/

[scotta]

@scotta Didn't fancy some of those LED ones that people are putting in these days? How difficult is it to do?

I don't think it's that difficult at all. But i very rarely drive it at night so didn't think it was worth doing. I plan to replace the driving lights with the LED bulbs I've put in the F31.

[duncs500]

A lot of people seem to be going for Harley Davidson 5.75" LED lamps. They're £20 to £30 each, but I think you have to do something to a bracket to make them work. Meant to be good mind you.

[scotta]

A lot of people seem to be going for Harley Davidson 5.75" LED lamps. They're £20 to £30 each, but I think you have to do something to a bracket to make them work. Meant to be good mind you.

Yes you have to fabricate a bracket to fit them to the clam. That in itself shouldn't be overly difficult as you can buy the holding clips and screws from eliseparts. Im less sold on the look though.



Thread - https://www.scottishelises.com/phpbb/vi ... =5&t=44609