Stupid things non petrolheads say... Vol 2
Discussion
IanCress said:
What's wrong with scraping the windscreen? Must take me all of 60 seconds to clear the windows, and no risk of pouring water over my trousers.
Scraping removed the frost, but leaves a cold windscreen which can mist up again once you get in. Warm water leaves a warm windscreen which is less likely to mist up or refreezeDon't quite understand the diesel hate on here. I'd quite happily drive say a 2 litre diesel with 190 BHP as opposed to a 1.2 petrol with 100bhp. Obviously if you want something extremely fast, you'd go for say a 3 litre supercharged petrol, but for the motorway munching and odd jaunt around town, what's wrong with decently-powered diesels? Most people on here would claim the aforementioned 1.2 petrol would seem much nippier than the 2 litre diesel 'just because it's a petrol' - mid-sized diesels (2 litres) seem much easier to obtain than the equivalent sized petrol - and so a lot of people go for a diesel. Yawn zzz boring.
The original Nick the Greek said:
"I drive a sports diesel car......."
"My diesel car is an MSport".....
" I have an AMG diesel".....
"My diesel is Sports line..."
Blame the car makers, not the punters. The OEMs realise there's a big amount of cash to be made from the aspiration punters who want the styling and premium badge of an 'AMG Line', 'S Line' or 'M Sport' but don't want anything more than a 1.5 Diesel. "My diesel car is an MSport".....
" I have an AMG diesel".....
"My diesel is Sports line..."
Yes it narrows the gap between boggo spec and true AMG/RS/M cars but why should we care?
I have an M3. The fact that some chump things his 118i M Sport is in the same league shouldn't affect me.
everyeggabird said:
Plastic bottle filled with warm water from the tap, pour over car, deposit bottle in foot well, drive away.
Plastic spray bottle filled with 2/3 isopropyl alcohol (buttons on eBay) and 1/3 tap water. Leave it in your basket of 'car stuff' in the boot. A couple of sprays on the window and it'll spread and eat through the frost/ice in seconds. The alcohol lowers the melting point of water so far that it can't possibly refreeze. Works as a 'pre icer' the night before too. No mess, cheaper than deicer and works far better. 
PanzerCommander said:
Hooli said:
No idea.
Scraping the screen takes about the same amount of time as the demister takes to clear the inside, so it's not even wasting any time.
I don't start the engine and demist. The car is rather noisy so I just start up slip into gear and slope off as quietly as possible. I find if you shut the HVAC off before you stop the car it closes all the vents and the inside doesn't mist Scraping the screen takes about the same amount of time as the demister takes to clear the inside, so it's not even wasting any time.
A watering can full of hot water takes the same amount of time to fill as it does to walk to the front of the drive open the gates and walk back to the kitchen, dump it on the car - job done.
Tried shutting the vents etc, never known it make a difference on any car I've had.
rainmakerraw said:
Plastic spray bottle filled with 2/3 isopropyl alcohol (buttons on eBay) and 1/3 tap water. Leave it in your basket of 'car stuff' in the boot. A couple of sprays on the window and it'll spread and eat through the frost/ice in seconds. The alcohol lowers the melting point of water so far that it can't possibly refreeze. Works as a 'pre icer' the night before too. No mess, cheaper than deicer and works far better.
Handy tip there, might look into it.yellowjack said:
Scraping the windscreen? Sooooooo last century, daaaaaahlings!
(Ford Mondeo - start car, push button on dash, and allow the modern miracle that is "Electricity" to do the work, front, rear, and door mirrors. Occasionally, when there's a particularly sharp frost, I have to scrape a couple of inches of screen near the 'A' pillars, and the headlight/indicator lens)
Yeah, yeah! I know. 'diesel Ford Mondeo' = 'Non-petrolhead'
My Dad had one of those electric screens on his K-reg Mk5 Escort in 1993. It was brilliant. I presume Ford have pretty tight protection on this design though? They should be standard issue on all cars! (Ford Mondeo - start car, push button on dash, and allow the modern miracle that is "Electricity" to do the work, front, rear, and door mirrors. Occasionally, when there's a particularly sharp frost, I have to scrape a couple of inches of screen near the 'A' pillars, and the headlight/indicator lens)
Yeah, yeah! I know. 'diesel Ford Mondeo' = 'Non-petrolhead'
Would love that car now (in that condition of course) It was a white RS2000 where he was allowed to tick all the boxes (company car). It was about 150ps from what I remember (it felt fast back then) with bucket seats and air conditioning. I was 17 and just got my driving license, but he never ever let me drive it!
Utterpiffle said:
My Dad had one of those electric screens on his K-reg Mk5 Escort in 1993. It was brilliant. I presume Ford have pretty tight protection on this design though? They should be standard issue on all cars!
Would love that car now (in that condition of course) It was a white RS2000 where he was allowed to tick all the boxes (company car). It was about 150ps from what I remember (it felt fast back then) with bucket seats and air conditioning. I was 17 and just got my driving license, but he never ever let me drive it!
Yeah they are damn fine inventions, shame my 2006 Mustang doesn't have one Would love that car now (in that condition of course) It was a white RS2000 where he was allowed to tick all the boxes (company car). It was about 150ps from what I remember (it felt fast back then) with bucket seats and air conditioning. I was 17 and just got my driving license, but he never ever let me drive it!
I think the Ford patent ran out recently so anybody can use the same windscreen heating technology on their cars.
MartG said:
IanCress said:
What's wrong with scraping the windscreen? Must take me all of 60 seconds to clear the windows, and no risk of pouring water over my trousers.
Scraping removed the frost, but leaves a cold windscreen which can mist up again once you get in. Warm water leaves a warm windscreen which is less likely to mist up or refreezewarm water just works ...why do people have to fight it
rainmakerraw said:
Plastic spray bottle filled with 2/3 isopropyl alcohol (buttons on eBay) and 1/3 tap water. Leave it in your basket of 'car stuff' in the boot. A couple of sprays on the window and it'll spread and eat through the frost/ice in seconds. The alcohol lowers the melting point of water so far that it can't possibly refreeze. Works as a 'pre icer' the night before too. No mess, cheaper than deicer and works far better.
I'm definitely getting added to some sort of list if I start buying isopropyl alcohol from eBay.GroundEffect said:
Blame the car makers, not the punters. The OEMs realise there's a big amount of cash to be made from the aspiration punters who want the styling and premium badge of an 'AMG Line', 'S Line' or 'M Sport' but don't want anything more than a 1.5 Diesel.
Yes it narrows the gap between boggo spec and true AMG/RS/M cars but why should we care?
I have an M3. The fact that some chump things his 118i M Sport is in the same league shouldn't affect me.
Indeed!Yes it narrows the gap between boggo spec and true AMG/RS/M cars but why should we care?
I have an M3. The fact that some chump things his 118i M Sport is in the same league shouldn't affect me.
I'll qualify my quote ....
"My diesel is an MSport. These M BMWs are faster than the other ones...."
steveo3002 said:
plus its scuffing up the screen by dragging all the salt n filth about with the scraper
warm water just works ...why do people have to fight it
There is no such thing as "scuffing" up the screen.warm water just works ...why do people have to fight it
1. My screen is usually pretty clear before I park - so no salt to "drag".
2. Unless I am driving directly behind the salt lorry, it's saline SOLUTION on the windscreen, not chunks of salt. And saline solution doesn't crystalise overnight, it freezes.
3. You are dragging a rigid plastic scraper across the screen and dragging bits of ice. These are at least as brittle and hard as solid salt, yet they NEVER "scuff" the screen.
4. Even if it were little chunks of salt on the windscreen they aren't diamond, you wont be able to scratch the windscreen. I guess if you had a massive hammer made of salt you might be able to crack the windscreen, but the whole choice of glass is specifically made to crack not scratch.
5. Hence, you never, ever, see adverts for cars with a "slight dent in the windscreen" or with some small "cosmetic scratches on the windscreen that will T-Cut right out" - it has cracks, or nothing.
Salt can't actually scratch windscreens; it's too soft. The thing you need to worry about for scratching glass is sand which is easily hard enough. Unless the screen is particularly dirty though it's unlikely to be an issue. And in any event it's no worse than cleaning the screen with the windscreen washers in the summer.
rainmakerraw said:
everyeggabird said:
Plastic bottle filled with warm water from the tap, pour over car, deposit bottle in foot well, drive away.
Plastic spray bottle filled with 2/3 isopropyl alcohol (buttons on eBay) and 1/3 tap water. Leave it in your basket of 'car stuff' in the boot. A couple of sprays on the window and it'll spread and eat through the frost/ice in seconds. The alcohol lowers the melting point of water so far that it can't possibly refreeze. Works as a 'pre icer' the night before too. No mess, cheaper than deicer and works far better. Plus the windscreen won't re-freeze if you have the wipers on wiping and the heater on heating, at least, it never has in my car.
I too don't get why anyone does anything else that costs more money and requires more effort, I just want to get up and go and I can, have never shattered a windscreen and don't expect I ever will.
PanzerCommander said:
Yeah they are damn fine inventions, shame my 2006 Mustang doesn't have one
I think the Ford patent ran out recently so anybody can use the same windscreen heating technology on their cars.
Don't they cause issues for aftermarket satnavs and speed camera detectors?I think the Ford patent ran out recently so anybody can use the same windscreen heating technology on their cars.
Shakermaker said:
I too don't get why anyone does anything else that costs more money and requires more effort, I just want to get up and go and I can, have never shattered a windscreen and don't expect I ever will.
Before I knew any better I used to pour boiling water form the kettle onto the windscreen before work on frosty mornings (we're talking 12 years or so ago). Used to do it every morning and never once had a problem.... not that I'd recommend giving it a go though! I'd rather just turn the car on and leave it run for 5 minutes before setting off.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff