Your fleet running reports

[16vCento]

Out in the E-Tron on Saturday for an IKEA trip, and hit a traffic jam on the M8. For the first time it occurred to me to try the adaptive cruise in this scenario - set it to 50mph and it just did the job for me.

I mentioned before that it applies regen to slow the car and maintain your chosen speed going downhill, or if you come up behind another car, but regen doesn’t work as you approach 0mph, so it never occurred to me that it would engage the conventional brakes to bring the car to a full stop. But - it did.

Adjusting the distance setting allowed me to choose how close it pulled up behind the car in front…. which it then did very repeatably, whether the car in front slowed quickly or suddenly.

Impressed. Made 12-15mins in a jam a breeze

I use it all the time on the mway in the Jag, I particularly like that it doesn't gradually bring me back to the selected speed, but happily drops 3 or 4 gears in one go and takes off.

I also don't get in trouble, as I didn't do it, the car did

[McSwede]

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My Volvo had it but it wasn't nearly as good; in particular, no matter what the setting, it would slow down really early for a car way ahead in your lane. Worked fine when you did the full autopilot, particularly in traffic jams, but not as usable as normal cruise in normal mixed traffic unless you just wanted to follow someone in the middle lane at 65.

This has been my experience when trying it in Lexus & Volvo. I really disliked it.

[Mito Man]

I find all forms of cruise control pointless. The old fashioned one is more of an annoyance having to constantly brake and then reactivate it. The modern systems just annoy me as they usually leave too much of a gap to the car infront so it looks like you're not even trying to make progress and some one will then undertake you and slot in front, queue the car having a small panic and then braking to re-establish its big gap. The only exception is on long sections of motorway roadworks with 50mph average speed cameras where they're ok.

[McSwede]

I find all forms of cruise control pointless. The old fashioned one is more of an annoyance having to constantly brake and then reactivate it. The modern systems just annoy me as they usually leave too much of a gap to the car infront so it looks like you're not even trying to make progress and some one will then undertake you and slot in front, queue the car having a small panic and then braking to re-establish its big gap. The only exception is on long sections of motorway roadworks with 50mph average speed cameras where they're ok.

You don't have to brake to disengage. Most of my motorway trips I just use the buttons to toggle it on and off making perfectly smooth progress, especially so with the regen braking on the 330e. It works a treat!

[Rich B]

I find all forms of cruise control pointless. The old fashioned one is more of an annoyance having to constantly brake and then reactivate it. The modern systems just annoy me as they usually leave too much of a gap to the car infront so it looks like you're not even trying to make progress and some one will then undertake you and slot in front, queue the car having a small panic and then braking to re-establish its big gap. The only exception is on long sections of motorway roadworks with 50mph average speed cameras where they're ok.

You don't have to brake to disengage. Most of my motorway trips I just use the buttons to toggle it on and off making perfectly smooth progress, especially so with the regen braking on the 330e. It works a treat!

might as well use the pedals if you're toggling the buttons imo.

[Jobbo]

might as well use the pedals if you're toggling the buttons imo.

Weird logic... Might as well steer with your feet too?

[Mito Man]

Hmm, now I think about it I don't think I ever use the steering wheel buttons to change music or volume either

[Rich B]

might as well use the pedals if you're toggling the buttons imo.

Weird logic... Might as well steer with your feet too?

not really, adaptive cruise requires no buttons or pedal input to control your speed.

[McSwede]

I find all forms of cruise control pointless. The old fashioned one is more of an annoyance having to constantly brake and then reactivate it. The modern systems just annoy me as they usually leave too much of a gap to the car infront so it looks like you're not even trying to make progress and some one will then undertake you and slot in front, queue the car having a small panic and then braking to re-establish its big gap. The only exception is on long sections of motorway roadworks with 50mph average speed cameras where they're ok.

You don't have to brake to disengage. Most of my motorway trips I just use the buttons to toggle it on and off making perfectly smooth progress, especially so with the regen braking on the 330e. It works a treat!

might as well use the pedals if you're toggling the buttons imo.

Nah. It's dead easy and I'm used to it. I drive one handed just to annoy Mik (even though he can't see me) so I need to do something with my spare hand

[Jobbo]

might as well use the pedals if you're toggling the buttons imo.

Weird logic... Might as well steer with your feet too?

not really, adaptive cruise requires no buttons or pedal input to control your speed.

The pedal can do one thing, turning it off. Using your hand you can tweak the speed up or down, pause or resume - it's like we've become gods.

[mik]

I drive one handed just to annoy Mik (even though he can't see me)

I fucking knew it!

[McSwede]

I drive one handed just to annoy Mik (even though he can't see me)

I fucking knew it!

Sorry. I couldn't keep it a secret any longer

[Jobbo]

Audi Adblue warning came on this morning on my way to work. I wanted to know how many miles I'd get between top-ups and, annoyingly, didn't post the mileage when it last came on. I've found my post from 15 November though so it must have been at around 24,600 miles. Today's light came on at around 34,200 miles. That gives you a 1500 mile warning before it runs out, though since it's a really annoying pop-up and chime every time you start the car, and it stays on the dash display unless you switch to a different screen, it harasses you into topping up straight away.

Also can't remember how much it took last time; I didn't empty the whole 20l canister into it. I think the tank capacity is about 17l, so I imagine there must be about 5l left in the old canister.

I'm sure this will be most uninteresting but I'm putting as much info as I can here so when I next get the top up warning, I can find this again and it's actually useful

And I got the 1500 mile warning today at just under 45,000 miles. Since it's going in for a service a week tomorrow I shall just put the dregs of the last open canister of Adblue in and let them top it up to full next week.

Nearly 11,000 miles per ~15l of Adblue, seems consistent with the various rules of thumb online (1l of Adblue per 1000km) and my generally economical driving. Managed 53.7mpg on the display on the way home yesterday; last tank of fuel was 45.8mpg on the display and 44.9mpg calculated.

[drcarlos]

First TVR glitch this week, although not due to a TVR part, passenger side front brake started binding while I was driving to Go Outdoors the other day, felt a bit squirrelly under brakes for a bit, then got a bit smelly then started to judder just as I was getting there. Figured I'd let it cool in the carpark while I was getting the camping mat I was there for and then pootle home the 25 miles stopping if I needed to to let it cool off again, it decided to unbind itself and was fine on the way home.
It's Escort/Granada Cosworth calipers so I'll get a rebuild kit and new pistons from big red and rebuild them over the winter (unless they decide to screw around again to hasten the need for it sooner). The brakes are not standard and were an upgrade fitted in about 2002 so are probably due for a bit of maintenance. I've fitted new discs and pads so a caliper refresh isn't too bad at about £35 for parts.
In this weather it's just the wrong side of hot to drive it in the heat of the day as you get burned to a crisp, but evenings and mornings are fine.
Kenwood amp is sounding nice in the L200.
Berlingo AC is fixed and working well, the vibe component speakers I fitted sound pretty nice for cheapies and certainly better than standard ones which plumbed new depths of shitness (weedy and no tweeters fitted despite there being holes and plugs for them).

[Sundayjumper]

First TVR glitch this week, although not due to a TVR part...

Yeah, yeah, whatever ! It reminds me of the time I met a particularly awful Alfa fanboi who insisted, INSISTED, that their shonky reputation was totally not their fault, and was completely due them using unreliable German electronics

[Matty]

First TVR glitch this week, although not due to a TVR part...

Yeah, yeah, whatever ! It reminds me of the time I met a particularly awful Alfa fanboi who insisted, INSISTED, that their shonky reputation was totally not their fault, and was completely due them using unreliable German electronics

Jimmy can be quite opinionated.

[Jimmy Choo]

First TVR glitch this week, although not due to a TVR part...

Yeah, yeah, whatever ! It reminds me of the time I met a particularly awful Alfa fanboi who insisted, INSISTED, that their shonky reputation was totally not their fault, and was completely due them using unreliable German electronics

Jimmy can be quite opinionated.

Oi! I resemble that remark!

[JonMad]

Yeti + trailer. Just back from 1600 miles to and around France, 1150 of which was towing at a gentle 60mph, which was lovely for admiring the scenery but 32-35mpg at 60mph wasn't fantastic. I had ordered an Emovis-Tag (Liber-t tag) based on a recommendation and I thoroughly recommended one for speeding through the tolls - the ones you could approach at up to 30km/h were particularly satisfying.

Faultless, apart from on the way home the rig seems to have developed a squeak/creak that you can hear at low speed manoeuvring, forward or back. First noticed as we arrived at the tunnel so I was glad to get on the train and be back on the UK side in case of any issue, Got home ok and a quick YouTube search suggests it's the tow ball/hitch interface and nothing serious like wheel bearings or anything else important on the trailer. Backed up by me unhitching the trailer to put it in the garage and it didn't squeak when I rolled it in (oo-er ). Graphite spray or white lithium grease was recommended in one of the videos I watched. Going to try the graphite option on the tow ball - less messy than greasing my ball.

[Mito Man]

Yeah you should keep your ball greased.

[Swervin_Mervin]

10 years I've had the 330i and I still haven't had the a/c regassed. And today was a reminder why I should

Weirdly, I noticed that the centre passenger side air vent blows slightly colder than all the other vents, wtf?