Rant of the Day v2.

[llondel]

Do not rotate tires ! Leave 'em where they have got used to being.

If I stop my tyres rotating they leave skid marks on the road. I try not to do that.

Garages over here rotate tyres whenever you take a car in for service. I far prefer to leave them and replace pairs rather than have to cough up for all four at once if they've been evenly worn.

[G-CPTN]

I have one (rear, non-driven) tyre which has worn more than its partner on the opposite rear wheel (both original fit from new).

[OFSO]

One of my colleagues complained to BMW about uneven wear on his tires. The BMW dealership's response was "where do you live ? Eberstadt ? You are making too many right-hand turns off the autobahn".
So there.

[G-CPTN]

One of my colleagues complained to BMW about uneven wear on his tires. The BMW dealership's response was "where do you live ? Eberstadt ? You are making too many right-hand turns off the autobahn".
So there.

I thought that maybe I was overtaking too many times . . .

[barkingmad]

Before the modern epidemic of expert yoof I was told for a front-wheel drive car the weight of the engine would give adequate adhesion for part-worn tyres and if replacing any, put new on the rear as that would compensate for the lack of weight when cornering.
I have maintained the practice and so far so good. The right foot is one of the principal factors in tyre wear, using the binary system of brake/accelerator will cost more in the long run.
However, I have had a moaning fwd differential which was quietened by fitting a tyre which more closely matched it’s mate on the other side of the same ‘axle’.

[Pontius Navigator]

My second car was a Triumph 1300. Now it might not have qualified for not racer but it was different. It was one of the first front wheel drive cars after the Mini. I went from 39bhp in a Ford Anglia to 61bhp, a huge increase. I once did two 180 mile journeys in a day in just 6 hours. That scares me now .

One squeak had me pulling in to a lay by on the right when I ran out of road, and the other, descending from Walter's Ash, where the road gets very narrow, well I never saw the other car.

It has a fantastic turning circle and on the original Dunlop cross ply tyres you could get 5,500 miles on the front. Radicals improved that to over 20k.

[llondel]

I always put the newest tyres on the front for a FWD car because that's where it's all happening. Provided the front wheels don't lose grip you can usually compensate for any vagaries of the back by steering into a skid. The classic hammer it into a bend and take your foot off the power, then try to catch the resulting oversteer before going through the hedge backwards.

[Capetonian]

I always put the newest tyres on the front for a FWD car

Conventional wisdom, and I have always done the same. There is more modern train of thought that the best tyres should be on the rear axle.
Nope, I don't understand it either.

[Wodrick]

There is more modern train of thought that the best tyres should be on the rear axle

That's what Michelin recommend.

[OFSO]

There's so much torque from the diesel that the driven wheels wear tires first.

In FWD cars acceleration lifts the front of the body transferring weight to the rear, undriven wheels. Less load on the fronts allows wheelspin. Tires wear. Go watch dragsters, opposite effect... Jacked up Funny Cars make use of this, putting more weight on the rear driven wheels when the Christmas tree turns green.

I'll be at Pendine Sands next summer with the flathead...

[Hydromet]

I usually get 20-30,000 km out of my tyres, and change 2 at a time. However, last year I had the first puncture in the car's 10+ year life, so used the virgin spare.
At the car's last inspection the mechanic advised that the tyres on the two front (driving) wheels would need to be replaced soon. At the service this week, he advised that as well as the two that I knew of, the virgin spare had hardened and was unsafe, and one other tyre would need replacing soon (which I knew). He suggested replacing four tyres, and keeping the best of the old ones as a spare. Makes sense, but hit the hip pocket nerve.

[Pontius Navigator]

My previous Merc had an unused full size spare, 15 years old when I sold it. Before I got it, 5 yrs old, there was a screw in the thread. Pressure was OK and I never tried to use it.

Current Merc has a spacer saver, had to use it at 13 years, it was fine.

I guess when it comes to spray cans it depends on the puncture. SAAB, 80mph blow out in a pothole. No chance without the spare.

Fiesta, puncture on rear, no sign of the flat until I stopped 5 miles on. Just floppy rubber. No chance without a spare.

In 50 odd years I have had 5 punctures and only two where a spray can might have worked.

[G-CPTN]

Spray cans make the tyre 'unrepairable'.

[4mastacker]

This is the reply I received from the BBC after asking how much it cost to send a reporter and a support team to Australia to report on the fires when there were other reporters already on-site.

In order to properly serve the audiences of all BBC News’ services it’s sometimes necessary to deploy additional staff to cover big stories which are important both to domestic and global audiences. The extent of the fires in Australia, the damage caused, the response of the authorities and the human stories of those affected, as well as what it says about climate change, all make this a news story of wider significance and interest for our audiences where extra resources were required. Clive Myrie is a highly experienced journalist and presenter whose distinctive content for TV bulletins is an important part of our coverage. We assure you we always balance the costs of sending staff abroad but in this case we felt there was a very strong editorial justification given the scale of the story and how it has developed.

No mention of the cost but they did manage to include mention of 'climate change'.

W

Screenshot 2020-01-07 at 22.28.08.png (35.11 KiB) Viewed 239 times

[Wodrick]

For some reason HMRC have cancelled my NT status and started charging income tax.
This is wrong as I have been a Spanish taxpayer for sometime now.
Couldn't get past the machine tonight, try tomorrow after Traffico.

[Slasher]

We assure you we always balance the costs of sending staff abroad but in this case we felt there was a very strong editorial justification given the scale of the story and how it has developed.

Maybe the local reporters just aren’t left wing enough and someone needed a nice all expenses paid holiday rather than be involved in something like Sweeps Week.

[barkingmad]

Anyone here had recent experience of “smart meters” as installed in UK?

I observe the total cost to UK energy consumers is now north of £13,500,000,000 and still heading north.

Estimated savings quoted as 3% in electricity and 2.2% gas consumptions so this will please little Gretel Thumberg greatly.

But the actual hard cash cost to consumers is not being shouted from the rooftops.

I started to peruse the UK government’s pdf report on this farce and on encountering the word “counterfactual” and realising I’d have to look up the meaning in a modern dictionary I soon lost the will to live. Scanning onwards in this dreary tome I was struggling in a morass of ‘managementspeak’ and failed to totally digest the offering. Maybe it’s my age...........

[Pontius Navigator]

BM, I get regular phone calls, sometimes 2-3 per day, on my mobile. My mobile is for my convenience not theirs and I rarely pick up calls. One day, in a noisy cafe, I did. I said it was not convenient and to ring my landline number. I made her repeat it. She did and then launched into her spiel. I repeated and made her read back again. The mobile calls continued. I think her English was poor and she had to deliver a script.

Anyway, be warned, I looked online and was offered a PM slot in mid February, so they are obviously quite busy so they don't need my custom yet. But worse, they need gas and electric each to be off for one hour in turn - in mid winter!

Now my tariff comes to an end in March and I am looking for a new deal. I would be interested in economy 7 or night tariff for my appliances. I am changing cars and a plug in hybrid is an option. I had a look at my existing company offering. There are literally dozens of tariffs listed with names like Simply this or online that with different end dates. Not one shows the costs and comparisons, you need to go through each in turn. I gave up.

[Boac]

Not one shows the costs and comparisons, you need to go through each in turn. I gave up.

- have you heard of comparison sites?

PS Don't just use one.

[1DC]

AS I have mentioned earlier i have a smart meter and it is a complete waste of money.It is on Boris's list of items to get rid of because their isn't any value in it..