Which side is the fuel tank filler on?
in [UK Drivers]
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From: Ret. on 28 May 2010 08:18 Adrian wrote: > boltar2003(a)boltar.world gurgled happily, sounding much like they were > saying: > >>> Yet again, looking at the Astra brochure, I note that the >>> top-of-the-range model has bigger wheels as standard than the rest >>> of the range = 17". >>> >>> Why oh why do they do this? So far as I am concerned there is no >>> advantage > >> Simple - because they look good. > > Not quite that simple. > > It's primarily because that's what customers - real, live buyers - say > they want in customer clinics, focus groups, and other similar > exercises which the manufacturers base their marketing decisions on. But are those real live buyers advised that although the wheels may *look* better - they will result in a harsher ride and considerably more expensive tyres when replacement comes around? I suspect that such matters would not even occur to the majority of buyers - and that if they *were* aware of it, they may not be quite so keen... > > Anyway, having a look at Vauxhall's website, he's not actually > correct. > > Half of the spec choices have 17" alloys as standard and 18" as > option. Two of the remaining choices have 16" steels as standard, > with 17" as an option. The pikiest of pikey-spec (which doesn't even > have metallic paint as an option) versions is 16" only. > > 16" steel only - Expression > 16" steel or 17" alloy - ES or Exclusiv > 17" alloy or 18" alloy - SE, Elite or SRi. Exactly - so if I wanted to buy an Elite (which I would, because I actually like the 'fripperies' you so despise), I have no choice but to have 17" wheels which are completely unnecessary on a car of that type. 15" wheels would give a much smoother ride - and replacement tyres would be a lot less expensive. -- Kev
From: Ian Jackson on 28 May 2010 09:03 In message <hto2pu$dqk$1(a)heffalump.dur.ac.uk>, Albert T Cone <a.k.kirby(a)durham.ac.uk> writes >Ian Jackson wrote: >> In message <htjasi$ab4$2(a)heffalump.dur.ac.uk>, Albert T Cone >><a.k.kirby(a)durham.ac.uk> writes >>> boltar2003(a)boltar.world wrote: >>>> On Wed, 26 May 2010 14:55:58 +0100 >>>> Albert T Cone <a.k.kirby(a)durham.ac.uk> wrote: >>>>> Another way to imagine it is that, given a low-resistance path to >>>>>earth, the charge on the car will discharge to earth in a very >>>>>short time, producing a short current pulse (with a high peak >>>>>value, hence the putative spark risk), in which the bulk of the >>>>>energy is contained in high frequency (RF) components. The >>>>>effect of the rings is to increase the reactance of the conductor >>>>>preventing a short current pulse and reducing the peak current >>>>>the concomitant spark risk. >>>> Ah ok. They're just acting like inductors in other words. >>> >>> Indeed. >> Maybe I'm sticking my neck out a little, but I think that >>explanation is simply not true. It may be why they put the rings on >>the hoses (assuming they are ferrite - which I doubt), but the >>increase of inductance obtained is unlikely to have any appreciable >>effect on the amplitude of a spark discharge. >Indeed it does. Not excatly the same application, but the same >physics, if you are interested: >http://cdsweb.cern.ch/record/556605/files/fpah302.pdf > I've had a quick look at the article but, apart from sharpening up the high-voltage pulses, I don't immediately understand what else happens. [I also think it suffers a little in the translation from Russian.] It needs to be read very carefully. >Even the few microhenries offered by a handful of rings offers a >reactance of several ohms at frequencies in the MHz... > >> It all sounds like a mixture of snake oil and 'SWAR' grease! >Dickering about with forces wot we didn't ought to wot of, eh? The object of the exercise seems to entail sending high voltage pulses down coax cable. If the ferrites embrace both the inner and the outer conductors, I feel that what the ferrites are doing is to force the pulse 'signal' to propagate in a differential mode, and to suppress any tendency for common-mode propagation (possibly caused by, at RF, less-than-perfect mutual bonding of the 'earthy' side of the system - especially as the pulses are required to have very fast rise-times, and therefore considerable high frequency content). However, the effect of the ferrites on the propagation in the coax lines (130 of them on each!) will be quite different from that of a couple of ferrite rings loosely slipped over a single conductor - which, our situation, is the hose of the petrol pump. I'm yet to be convinced that the rings are, in fact, ferrite, and are not rubber or plastic, put there to reduce scuffing of the hose on the ground. -- Ian
From: Silk on 28 May 2010 09:09 On 28/05/2010 14:03, Ian Jackson wrote: I'm yet to be convinced that > the rings are, in fact, ferrite, and are not rubber or plastic, put > there to reduce scuffing of the hose on the ground. I think you'll find the ferrite theory was put forward by an unemployed petrol pump attendant. Say no more.
From: boltar2003 on 28 May 2010 09:09 On 28 May 2010 12:06:29 GMT Adrian <toomany2cvs(a)gmail.com> wrote: >boltar2003(a)boltar.world gurgled happily, sounding much like they were >saying: > >>>Yet again, looking at the Astra brochure, I note that the >>>top-of-the-range model has bigger wheels as standard than the rest of >>>the range = 17". >>> >>>Why oh why do they do this? So far as I am concerned there is no >>>advantage > >> Simple - because they look good. > >Not quite that simple. > >It's primarily because that's what customers - real, live buyers - say >they want in customer clinics, focus groups, and other similar exercises >which the manufacturers base their marketing decisions on. And why do they say they want them? B2003
From: Adrian on 28 May 2010 09:11
boltar2003(a)boltar.world gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying: >>>>Why oh why do they do this? So far as I am concerned there is no >>>>advantage >>> Simple - because they look good. >>Not quite that simple. >> >>It's primarily because that's what customers - real, live buyers - say >>they want in customer clinics, focus groups, and other similar exercises >>which the manufacturers base their marketing decisions on. > And why do they say they want them? A variety of reasons. But you miss my point. My point was that "they look good" - taken in isolation - is not why manufacturers do it. It's because customers want them to. It gets sales. It's profitable. If customers didn't give a toss, and it wasn't profitable, it wouldn't matter HOW good something looked. Or didn't look. |