Brake fluid in power steering?

[The Natural Philosopher]

No, they are not.

They are gel.

[Commander Kinsey]

There's no reason it couldn't work just like Calor gas tanks. I take one in and get another. At some point they're considered no good anymore and are scrapped, but it's part of the cost of the exchange, the bill is footed by Calor.

[Commander Kinsey]

Surely the answer is to have lots of gears. Which is what a lot of cars are doing nowadays.

[Commander Kinsey]

I really can't be bothered buying a fancy phone (which will probably be lost, broken, or stolen) just for that, my card works fine almost everywhere. I have a £7 phone that makes calls and texts, because that's what a phone is for. A card for paying, and a computer for using the internet.

[Rod Speed]

Then you get to wear stupid results like that and get to wear getting lost there too and get to wear not being able to understand what some foreign devil is trying to tell you about your car being about to die too.

It isnt just for that, its for everything else too.

But its when it doesn't that wastes your time.

Plenty of £7 phones will do google pay and all the other useful stuff too.

[Commander Kinsey]

Doesn't happen often enough for me to care. I take a device I need where I'm going. A phone for phonecalls, a satnav for directions, a debit card for buying. You lose your phone, you lose all three, I only lose one.

There is nothing else I need when out.

Only happened once, in France. And they probably have better connections between Visa in different countries now.

My debit card does that and is a fraction of the size. And it still works if I get it wet. And it works everywhere, I don't think many shops do google pay yet.

[Rod Speed]

Those with even half a clue have it all in the one device.

I'm not stupid enough to lose things and if I was I'd have a spare in the car.

Bullshit. You clearly need a translator for starters.

You have admitted you have f***ed up just as badly plenty of other times like when you killed your car by ignoring the temperature warning light.

They certainly have a much better system for paying for petrol now with error messages in your language.

Not the other stuff it doesn't.

Not anymore.

So does any decent phone now.

So does any decent phone.

You're wrong ALL of ours do.

[rbowman]

If Calor is anything like our Blue Rhino you've footed the bill many times over.

[rbowman]

I've driven vehicles with 9 or 10 forward speeds. They also has an 1800 rpm redline. You do as lot of shifting...

[boltar]

The electrolyte is infused in rest of the material. Its not a gel.

[Xeno]

The reality is CVT these days. CVT makes it possible to keep the engine at the point of MBT all the time for maximum efficiency. You only need lots of gears if you have an engine with a narrow power band and a step change transmission. The secret to MBT is volumetric efficiency and it's not easy to achieve the best VE throughout the RPM range. FWIW, you will find, on a nine speed auto trans, that half the ratios are actually *overdrive*. Typically 5th is direct drive and 6-9 are overdrive. That is the keep RPM lower under light load cruise situations thereby enhancing fuel economy.

[rbowman]

Yup. I understand some now have automatic transmissions. Large diesels have a usable powerband about as wide as a two stroke motorcycle.

[Xeno]

Some? Quite a lot actually. That was the case as far back as 40+ years ago. I worked on a bus fleet where there were *no* manual gearboxes at all. Some were pre-selectors (Leyland), others used Allison 4 speed autos (Hino). My brother was a bus driver for 27 years and almost all buses in the fleet were autos. The exceptions were a few small Bedford buses that had 4 speed crash boxes with a 2 speed diff and my brother was one of the few drivers who could drive them. They were used in the very hilly parts of his home city that had narrow winding streets.

[Commander Kinsey]

With that many gears it really should be an auto. A manual would really wear out your left leg and arm.

[Commander Kinsey]

With something as common as cars, competition would make the price sensible. The point is you might get an old battery one day, but you'll get a good one the next. And you never have a huge outlay to buy a new one.

[Rod Speed]

What do you think of those reliability wise ? I own manuals but now that I am looking for a fancy advanced cruise control, an auto has some real advantages and is much better to lend to my mates, one cant drive a manual and shows up here every year for a week or so and it would be better for that.

Do you agree with Clare about dual clutch systems ?

And on fancy advanced cruise controls, do you know of one that uses a speed limit database so that on a long trip it will automatically go thru towns along the way at the excess over the speed limit that you specify automatically and the at the highway speed between them ? And read the street speed limit signs so it will do the road works automatically too ? Even say the volvo XC40 will read the street signs in theory but for some reason doesn't use a speed limit database.

Reading the speed limit signs isnt essential, but a speed limit database is. The are plenty of very reliable speed limit databases used by phone satnavs.

[Commander Kinsey]

If I got something like that I'd want it to only obey speed limits where cameras were situated.

[rbowman]

Particularly your left leg. The clutch in a big truck is rather stiff, plus you double clutch. Automating heavy truck transmissions was a challenge. I think the approach is automating the manual sequence rather than redesigning the transmission.

[rbowman]

Typically they don't weight 78,000 pounds... With a light load you can skip a few gears, particularly the bottom ones.

[rbowman]

As long as the old battery didn't die ten miles from your destination.