Car design annoyances:
I am not going to broach the topic of manufacturers websites always opening at EVs, or their model choices starting with them. OK, I have. Nor the fact that companies like Ford no longer make their cheaper models, such as Fiestas, and their available range starts at what price? Wow, now that is a lot of money for a Ford.
Nor is it that most choices nowadays are SUVs, but I get why they are popular. And of course, they all look the same, and in the main in my opinion are quite unattractive. When was making beautiful cars racist?
I own a 2011 Volvo XC70, and for our needs it is the perfect car, and if it keels over, I will replace it with another one. But they stopped making them in 2016. They did ‘Cross Country’ their range of V60s and V90s for a while (AWD, raised ride height, macho plastic cladding) but sadly all Volvos have only 4-cylinder engine options for a few years now. Now they have dropped that range of estates and saloons in the UK, and only sell SUVs. And like other manufacturers they have now dropped the Diesel engine as an option. So, for me, I now spend less time studying the car review channels on YouTube, as the new cars are becoming less appealing, and seriously expensive. The only manufacturers that still produce large engine estates are BMW or Mercedes. I note Mazda has introduced a new large capacity 6-cylinder diesel engine to their top of the range SUV. And unbelievably it is available in the UK, but again expensive.
Here is a topic for a future article: AWD v 4WD. A friend of mine says the difference is that AWD is permanently All Wheel Drive. And I had an arrogance about my Volvo being permanently Four-Wheel Drive. You know, the arrogance that I will never get stuck. It turns out it is not permanent, but front wheel drive until the electronics detects front wheel slippage and then sends drive to the rear wheels. All managed within a Haldex electro/hydraulic system. That would account for the electrical noise from the rear when I park up then! And is not the electric handbrake being applied ala our Golf (sorry Zinta, you got that wrong)
These part time 4WD are quite commonplace, I once had a Mazda CX-7 that had a similar system. I proved it worked when I got stuck on some ice and looked out the window to see both front and rear tyres spinning on the ice.
Why don’t car manufacturers copy the system in their pickup ranges: manually selected 2WD or 4WD in low or high ratio? Could someone with the knowledge please explain.
My buy before die car was always going to be the Jaguar XF estate with AWD and a Diesel engine. Then the latest and better-looking incarnation of that car dropped the glorious V6 and the only options were 4 cylinder engines. So, that model fell off the desirable list. Helped by Geoff at Geoff Buys Cars on YouTube covering the failure rates on those JLR Ingenium engines. I did hold hope that they would finish their production of engine cars with a V8 shoved in under that long bonnet. But as soon as that infamous Jaguar advert appeared, I knew they had lost the plot, where going upmarket and I suddenly lost interest in Jaguars altogether. Not that I was ever going to be financially able to buy one, but that Lottery must be won by someone, and we all need to do virtual tyre kicking occasionally.
It is all about the exhausts
When you spend time on the road, you get to see a great deal of car rear ends. And you have time to study the exhaust arrangements. For me, the preferred look is a car with two or four pipes, separately exiting at each side of the vehicle. Volvo and Mazda do the two across most of their ranges, but I have seen lesser versions of their products utilising only one pipe: no, no, no.
Oh, and those dual exhausts at either side must be pointing directly at you as a follower. Having the appearance of a rifle, or rather a blunderbuss. None of this bending to the ground nonsense.
Let us focus (car pun!) on the VW Golf, before they stop producing it.
We also have a 1.6 Diesel Golf and that has an exhaust that exits to the left. For me: not a great look. I love symmetry and if it is only to have one pipe, I suggest it should be in the middle of the car. There are cars that have that look, but my wife says they look like an anus!
Albeit a few manufacturers stretch to more than one, with the Honda Civic Type R being odd (literally) in having three pipes, when using a four-cylinder engine, again no, no, no!
I had decided the reason they were not keen on fitting central exhausts was that it would inhibit the fitting of a tow bar. I certainly do not foresee one being fitted to that Civic above. But of late, I have noticed that some of Nissan’s products have a central light or reflector in the middle of the bumper, so obviously the fitting of a tow bar, would impact on the efficiency of that light.
Back to the Golf, as you go up in engine performance (e.g. GTD) they double up, so two pipes alongside each other to one side. These I find even more offensive, if to have two: it must be one either side. But why choose a dual exhaust tailpipe over a larger diameter single tip?
When the Golf attains GTI status, it then gets, what is in my opinion, the ideal look and has two larger diameter pipes exiting at either side.
The Golf R doubles up on that with two lots of two pipes, a bit over the top perhaps, but that is the version favoured by most manufacturers of performance cars. As the R is Volkswagen’s top performance version. Indeed, that is the standard look across all VW’s R models.
What is not acceptable is inserts in rear diffusers that imitate exhaust pipes, the real exhaust being found somewhere hidden under the rear of the car. It is as if they want to hide that the car has an engine, but then they have those silly inserts.
I once owned a BMW 335d which has a fantastic engine, and it had two pipes exiting either side. A friend bought a younger version of the same car, and that has the twin tail pipes alongside each other to the left. He also dislikes that look, preferring those that were on mine. Younger versions of that model have returned to the displaced look. So, these exhaust routings are not an engineering decision, they must be purely cosmetic or more likely down to cost.
Further annoyance from that end: ‘Turbo’ on a car without an engine (Porsche EV)
More annoyances from the rear end: Dealer advertising
These vary from the dealership details on the number plates, the stick-on label in the rear window to the chrome badge attached to the tailgate or boot, usually in some 1980s font, looking like the ‘Vanden Plas’ on an Austin Allegro. Can you remove these without damaging the paintwork?
Driving habit annoyances
Where to start? I have tried to cover them in my articles on driving.
There are so many examples it is difficult to know where to start. Tailgating, late braking, inability to stay in one’s lane (noticed only when driving over lane markers) incapable of parallel parking, pulling out in front of oncoming cars. I have witnessed myself do all that and more!
I have followed people that are hesitant to progress and exiting junctions ages after they could had gone, the usual coffin dodgers’ traits. On overtaking them, you check if they are on a ventilator, only to find often that they are much younger, but shall we say: ‘not Anglo-Saxon.’ Often, they are in powerful cars. Have these people ever passed a driving test?
Here is my favourite example of poor driving: I was in the right-hand lane of a dual lane entering a roundabout, both lanes were identified as suitable for going straight on. The right-hand lane which I was in, was signed to be for turning right also. A car is to my left and we both enter the roundabout (luckily slowly) together, but he/she then decides to turn right! So, rather than drive into it, I drive in parallel with them around the roundabout, that car exits right, unaware of the carnage that could had occurred, I continue round to reach my exit (again) Never underestimate the incapability of other drivers.
I have previously banged on about the lack of good manners in acknowledging that when stopping behind a parked car to let oncoming cars through, more often nowadays very few ‘thank you’ by the wave. Now, in view of a Latvian often being in the passenger seat, I have softened my position on that. I have been informed: no one in Latvia thanks others, when it is clear who has the ‘right of way.’ With that in mind, I now hesitate to give the finger to those not waving. Yet, when in the passenger seat, I increasingly find myself doing the thanking!
However, I have now witnessed a worrying trend: people that do not have the right of way, and overtake parked cars and make you brake, when coming the other way. Some, you could forgive for making a bad judgement (I have done it) But a little acknowledgement would not go amiss. But it is the two or three cars that follow that lead car, that grind my gears. And have you noticed how they refuse to even make eye contact with you? Now, these people are known in the motoring world as ‘cheeky bastards.’ In view of me nowadays driving around in old doggish cars, I need to be more ‘assertive’ in just continuing forward and see whether they then make eye contact. Note to self: carry a baseball bat on the back seat.
Driving habit annoyance number 1: Numbers of vehicles on the road
I heard on the radio that in the last 20 years, numbers of registered cars have increased from twenty to forty-one million.
Let us be honest: driving was so much more pleasant during the lockdowns, wasn’t it? We walk dogs in areas close to the dual carriageway (there are no motorways in Norfolk) and hearing that constant drone of traffic does impact on the pleasure of being in the countryside. But, hey we had to drive to get to the walking area. Fortunately, the government have made a lot of effort in trying to reduce that number of cars on the road: by making the average person so much poorer that they would consider not owning one or by encouraging the affluent who own many cars to want to emigrate, or simply by euthanizing many drivers by pushing mNRA vaccinations to prevent colds or reduce obesity.
Driving habit annoyance number 2: Litter
Not necessarily always done by the driver, but certainly occupants of the car/van/lorry. Having driven through thirteen countries in Europe two years ago, I can honestly say our verges are the most litter strewn in Europe. It is obviously indicative of a larger social issue, and “throwers” breed even worse “throwers” ‘Don’t be a tosser’ is used on the signage of Stansted Airport in the Pickup and drop off car park. I have used that car park many times, and the dyke at the rear of it is almost a landfill site in appearance. Sadly, we share this planet with low-lifes.
Driving habit annoyance number 3: Cocks
The BMW 3 series is the car of choice for the driver you see in your rear-view mirror on a motorway overtaking lane, catching you very quickly. You move over to the left and watch as he applies the brakes to stop hitting the car that you were following, which is making slow progress with all the others in that lane overtaking vehicles to their left. So, it is not as though he was unaware of the queue of cars driving 20 mph slower than that he/she was.
Clearly that driver is not paying for their fuel or brake pads.
Road design annoyances
Once again lots of choices here. My greatest local gripe is the exit from Norwich to the A47 heading east. Before the NDR (Northen Distributor Road) was created. That exit was once a slip road direct to the A47 eastbound. Since the creation of the NDR. You must cross the A47 twice via bridges (one crossing having traffic lights) before you get on to a slip road that puts you on it. It winds me up so much, if I am in Norwich, I look for different routes for exiting the city.
Road design annoyance 2: Speed Cushions
I managed to find out the correct name: ‘Speed Cushions’ as opposed to ‘Speed Bumps/Humps that are part way across the road’ from someone who once worked for the local Council on road safety. I mentioned that I could not understand their purpose. A large SUV will drive over them like they were not there. A Supercar will lose its front valance and its engine sump. She said “they are there to slow down boy racers in hot hatches”.
A friend of ours has a small Smart car and loathes these ‘cushions’ finding them difficult to drive over, with having such a narrow wheelbase, at snail pace they move to the centre of the road to run only the nearside wheels over the bumps. If someone is coming the other way and chooses to do the same: crunch! The one section of road where I regularly drive that has these speed cushions, also has full width speed humps! FFS, we live in clown world.
Road design annoyance 3: White chevrons painted at roundabouts
They divert you from hugging the roundabout as you turn right. I just ignore them, as I believe it is safer to be away from the cars entering the roundabout.
‘Doug’s roundabout’ has just had it done to it. That roundabout is mentioned Here.
The chevrons first appeared around a year ago, then two weeks ago, the road surface at that roundabout was redressed, I was not certain why, as it had no potholes. I assumed they realised the chevrons were pointless. But no, last week they repainted the chevrons. Each time they do this work, they must close the dual carriageway that crosses it, which is a major thoroughfare for the area, plus the two additional exits to local villages. Creating a lot of additional mileage from detours via small roads.
I have been driving around that roundabout for over 30 years and other than the ever-increasing amount of traffic, nothing has changed. These chevrons are recent additions. So recent in fact, that I cannot find an aerial photo of ‘Doug’s roundabout’, with those chevrons. But here is a similar set of chevrons on another roundabout on the same dual carriageway.
