Boxing day madness

This is the place for posts that don't fit into any other category.

Moderator: RichardW

Post Reply
vanny
Posts: 767
Joined: 16 May 2002, 21:08
Location: BXProject
My Cars:
x 1
Contact:

Boxing day madness

Post by vanny »

Well my store is closed so im not in work, YEY!
Instead im getting up at about 5am and travelling to durham to go paddle a river! Now it's about a three hour drive, on boxing day! Secondly its gonna be baltic, there already forecasting lots of snow and ice. Im gonna be on this half frozen river praying that i dont have to roll for about 4 hours (though i reckon if i go for it i can do it in 2.5!). Then i have the three hour drive back. Not to mention im in work the following day which will be the first day of the sales and insane!
So my questions are simple;
1) Has the LHM really gone to my head?
2) anyone else doing anything insane on boxing day/xmas day?
oilyspanner
Posts: 1246
Joined: 26 Oct 2003, 16:08
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:

Post by oilyspanner »

Used to paddle a bit in the old days myself, once paddled the new year in on a half frozen swimming pool in the snow, when you roll it makes your brain hurt, its a long drive in the forecast weather, be prepared for eventualities and go have some fun,For myself I am spending some time sleeping, meeting the family, and I expect some good red wine to go west. Merry Christmas Vanny.
pity your not taking the red beast. or are you?
Stewart
martyhopkirk

Post by martyhopkirk »

Was planning on walking up Helvellyn via Striding and Swirral Edge with a couple of mates and a large thermos..... Chances are if we have snow round and about I will be taking number one son and sledge up Beacon Fell ( with said large thermos also). Am debating which car will handle snow & ice best - AX cos its light (and now warm) or Xant cos its big, heavy and has ABS.
Gave over going for freezing paddles a long time back in my 20's.... the world is no longer prepared to accept the sight of my body in a pair of Speedo's.
PowerLee
Posts: 1260
Joined: 01 May 2004, 19:49
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars: Current - Slightly modified 2016 Pug 308 Puretech 130 Allure
Past:
2003 - 206 GLX TU3JP & 206 SE ET3JP4
1995 - 405 Executive XU10J2
1996 - 406 GLX XU10J4R
1994 - 405 GTX XU10J2
x 1

Post by PowerLee »

ABS DOESNT work on snow!
If theres snow laying on the road then I would take the AX or pull the Xantias ABS fuse out.
vanny
Posts: 767
Joined: 16 May 2002, 21:08
Location: BXProject
My Cars:
x 1
Contact:

Post by vanny »

Stewart, yes i am taking the red thing, otherwise i'd be working! Not many days of insurance left.
I have it's winter tyres on, 165 Michelins, almost as good as 2CV/bicycle tyres for cutting through snow. And since i got the car the ABS is on an overide switch because it freaks me out when it messes with the brakes and im driving round town in the dry over speed bumps etc!
Stinkwheel
Posts: 562
Joined: 28 May 2004, 01:02
Location:
My Cars:
x 1

Post by Stinkwheel »

I had a very near miss with ABS once. Larking about following a mate in his nissan I hit the brakes as i was quite close to him and he slowed and guess what, no braking effect on snow, way hayy, blimey Im going to modify the front of my CX Turbo on his Almera :-(
Missed him by about 2 thou.
martyhopkirk

Post by martyhopkirk »

And here is me thinking its the be all and end all of motoring [ABS]. Contemplating the thought of installing a breaker switch on the Xantia then if its that bad... Vanny, what would you do?
vanny
Posts: 767
Joined: 16 May 2002, 21:08
Location: BXProject
My Cars:
x 1
Contact:

Post by vanny »

well like i said i REALLY dont like the way it messes about with the brakes when your just normal driving around town. That said in the BX, on a dry road i simply cant get the brakes to lock with the ABS on! When i got the car the ABS didnt work, a couple of mintues testing with the ABS manual showed there was no live feed to the ECU, so i stole a live feed from the central locking relay (because it's convienient) and fed that through a switch in the centre console (again because ti was convienient). Given the way the ABS light on the dash works, the light comes on if the power to the unit is of, it also turns off the power to the underbonet unit, two birds one stone sort of thing.
For something like a motorway i wouldn't want to be without it because i simply cant stop the car as fast as the ABS, though i tend to use the ABS in conjunction with engine breaking so the full use of the ABS isn't needed. Unfortunately in this age of most cars having ABS, too many SUV's on the road, everyone following nose to tail there is a tendancy when people are hammering down the motorway to either suddenly stop, or narrowly cut you up, and however much attention you pay or foresight you have its getting harder and harder to dodge the idiots. Gone are the times when you could pretty much predict what even the worlds worst driver would do, so i'll swear by the ABS for higher speeds than bumbling round a housing estate.
I'd stick a switch on the +ve supply to the control ECU!
AWG
Posts: 82
Joined: 19 Oct 2003, 14:51
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:

Post by AWG »

My Boxing Day joy will be standing thigh deep in the Thames: should clear the head. Go to get the launch out of the water and clean it but don't fancy it in Jan on when the water's even colder. After that it should keep up with the senior crews so wind chill for the launch driver - there's a downside to everything.
Christmas Day?....... food, drink, sleep, repeat, repeat........
PowerLee
Posts: 1260
Joined: 01 May 2004, 19:49
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars: Current - Slightly modified 2016 Pug 308 Puretech 130 Allure
Past:
2003 - 206 GLX TU3JP & 206 SE ET3JP4
1995 - 405 Executive XU10J2
1996 - 406 GLX XU10J4R
1994 - 405 GTX XU10J2
x 1

Post by PowerLee »

The only time to worry about the ABS is when the road is covered with snow, At all over times the ABS is fine.
Dont worry about it on ice because no car brakes work on that surface!
The easy way to switch ABS off is just unplug one of the sensors under the bonnet or pull the fuse.
Do either of these & the ABS light will come on & the ABS is shut down & your back to normal brakes.
Just reconnect the sensor plug or reinstall the fuse & restart the car to switch the ABS back on again.
You could also do as Vanny said & install a switch in the +12 supply to the ABS control unit.
Stuart McB
Posts: 1635
Joined: 03 Oct 2003, 00:50
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:
x 1

Post by Stuart McB »

Ah boxing day, don't you just love it. I'm up for getting the biggest TV in the boot of the Xsara (3 door interesting). Wife says 38" with all the techno blah, I say 42" plasma. Lets go. Will end up with a 28" and DVD recorder though. Can't complain only got a tiny 24" wide screen and in the new house with a 28" long living room it looks the size of a portable. As for ABS never had it on a car I've owned so never thoght too much about it.
martyhopkirk

Post by martyhopkirk »

Well the Xantia is my first ever with ABS - thought it was the dogs dangly bits when towing this summer....
<i>Edit...</i>
Went up Beacon Fell with sledge and Xantia - behaved itself perfectly.Image
Snow disappointing though. Not like I remember as a child.......
tomsheppard
Posts: 1801
Joined: 19 Dec 2002, 14:46
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:

Post by tomsheppard »

Watched Saints play Charlton. How silly is that?
Guru Meditation
Posts: 259
Joined: 18 Dec 2002, 02:30
Location:
My Cars:
Contact:

Post by Guru Meditation »

24" widescreen in a 28" (inch) long living room!? Where do you sit?
ACTIVE8
Posts: 2317
Joined: 16 Nov 2004, 16:49
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:
x 6

Post by ACTIVE8 »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"> 24" widescreen in a 28" (inch) long living room!? Where do you sit? <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Outside [:)]
Next room [:)]
Post Reply