Aren't cars rubbish?

[swee'pea99]

I hate the way "limp mode" is activated instantly

What in hell is 'limp mode'?

 

[PhilDawson8270]

What in hell is 'limp mode'?

When the car detects a serious fault, so goes into a safety low power mode to protect the engine from further damage.

 

[screenman]

What in hell is 'limp mode'?

Limited power mode, my old VW seem to spend more time in it than out for a while.

 

[PhilDawson8270]

my old VW seem to spend more time in it than out for a while.

I seem to feel that my car is in limp mode. Then I realise it's not, I just decided to buy the eco-engine model

 

[DaveReading]

I hate the way "limp mode" is activated instantly; very scary when driving in the outside lane of a busy motorway and suddenly find engine power greatly reduced. Gave me a real "brown trousers" moment....

No, a proper brown trousers moment is when the manifold pressure sensor fails on a Ford Focus.

The engine just stops - no limp mode or default setting, the ECU doesn't care that you're doing 80 in the outside lane of the M6 at the time.

 

[marknotgeorge]

Edwina Curry (of egg disease game) used to have a corolla GTi.

Yebbut she was MP of South Derbyshire. Where Burnaston is.

 

[mjr]

No, a proper brown trousers moment is when the manifold pressure sensor fails on a Ford Focus.

The engine just stops - no limp mode or default setting, the ECU doesn't care that you're doing 80 in the outside lane of the M6 at the time.

A similar effect can be had with an engine seizure on Seat Ibizas when the cooling system enjoys a sudden catastrophic failure. I think the clutch then failsafed, allowing it to coast to narrow shoulder of the A47, but I wasn't driving it at that moment.

 

[Reynard]

Interesting that a lot of the favourite cars are old models. Should I have titled this "aren't MODERN cars rubbish?"

Austin Allegro. *cough* *cough*

Back in my undergrad uni days, several guys at the uni motor club had them, mainly because they were so damn cheap. But then they spent all their time fixing the damn things...

One classic I'd love to have (or at the very least drive) is a Sunbeam Talbot Lotus.

 

[swee'pea99]

When the car detects a serious fault, so goes into a safety low power mode to protect the engine from further damage.

Ah. Thanks.

 

[swee'pea99]

I remember my 1968 Triumph vitesse

My first car was my mum's Triumph Herald - same thing but with a smaller engine. Lovely, lovely car. Absolute rust bucket - I had to replace both doors, neither colour matching the original or each other - but couldn't do much about the floor well. You could see the road whizzing by if you looked down, and in heavy rain your feet got wet. Lovely to drive. Sadly one of the wheels fell off, and at that point I decided it was probably best to call it a day.