Stupid things non petrolheads say....

[HereBeMonsters]

Blown2CV said:

Up until quite recently VW still did a Golf SDi, S standing for Sans Turbo. 0-60 in about 15 seconds IIRC.

SDI?

Slowest Diesel Invented.

[CYMR0]

HereBeMonsters said:

Blown2CV said:

Up until quite recently VW still did a Golf SDi, S standing for Sans Turbo. 0-60 in about 15 seconds IIRC.

SDI?

Slowest Diesel Invented.

Actually stands for "Saugdiesel" because it sucks (seriously).

In this case it sucks because it doesn't have a turbo to blow.

[Jayyylo]

I learnt to drive in a mk4 Golf SDI and it was the perfect tool for the job. It was genuinely impossible to stall and slow enough to stop me from getting into bother when I'd passed my test.
I did have a few 'races' with my friend in a 1.4 polo and we were always neck and neck so it had similar straight line performance to a small petrol of the time.
I think the 1.9 SDI produced a whopping 67 bhp.

[iva cosworth]

I bought a Caddy SDi new in 1997 to use for courier work.

I put 48,000 miles on it in 8 months.

Performance was adequate and I broke the clutch at 40,000 miles,changed under warranty.

[Blown2CV]

iva cosworth said:

I bought a Caddy SDi new in 1997 to use for courier work.

I put 48,000 miles on it in 8 months.

Performance was adequate and I broke the clutch at 40,000 miles,changed under warranty.

That's a beautiful story.

[MartG]

ORD said:

Are there any NA diesels around?

Girl I used to work with swapped her 1.3i petrol Corsa for a 1.5 NA diesel because she thought it would be faster as it had a bigger engine

[Mr2Mike]

sebhaque said:

"Is your car broken?" from a concerned middle-aged woman.
"No, it's a sporty exhaust system as I like a nice noise from my car" from me.

The trouble is that some car owners apparently get confused at the difference between "obnoxiously loud" and "nice noise"

[Blown2CV]

Mr2Mike said:

sebhaque said:

"Is your car broken?" from a concerned middle-aged woman.
"No, it's a sporty exhaust system as I like a nice noise from my car" from me.

The trouble is that some car owners apparently get confused at the difference between "obnoxiously loud" and "nice noise"

and to the non-petrolhead (overt or latent) any loud car is just a horrific noise regardless.

[sebhaque]

Blown2CV said:

Did you really say those things verbatim? Sounds like the sort of responses someone would like to have given if they'd had time to think and compose their words carefully!

I've put up with quite a few of these types of questions in the past. Being a younger bloke, it's very common (I even remember joining another non-car forum back when I was 17 and nearly getting shooed off because I liked "those fast deathtrap cars"). As a result I've got a few generic phrases I rattle off because of how often I've had to use them. Just ask me how much my insurance is.

Blown2CV said:

and to the non-petrolhead (overt or latent) any loud car is just a horrific noise regardless.

Indeed. I've even been motioned at by a NIMBY to slow down while driving through a village (I was driving a VX220 Turb with straight pipes). The fact I was following a bus was lost on him.

[Blown2CV]

I've definitely been on the receiving end of that before so I know how it feels!

[irocfan]

sebhaque said:

Just ask me how much my insurance is.

ok I'll bite...

[sebhaque]

irocfan said:

ok I'll bite...

It's nothing sinister. 99% of all insurance conversations I have go like this:
Third Party: "I bet that must cost a fortune to insure."
Me: "It's not too bad actually. £600 with all modifications declared."
TP: <insert appreciative statement about how reasonable a rate that is>
TP: "You must be fronting/hiding something/sucking someone off"
Me: "I'm guessing it's due to all the statistics we don't hear about, I've had a few different cars now [read: 20-odd] so I'm guessing the statistics say I'm experienced with powerful cars etc. I don't know, it's not really the done thing to complain when your insurance is too reasonable.
TP: <insert agreeing statement>

As Mr 2CV said, doesn't sound verbatim. However once you've had to say it enough times you can recite the statement pretty quickly on-the-fly.

Somewhat thread-related, one of the girls in the office is complaining that it cost her something like £43 per tyre on her MINI. So expensive, apparently.

[aka_kerrly]

sebhaque said:

Somewhat thread-related, one of the girls in the office is complaining that it cost her something like £43 per tyre on her MINI. So expensive, apparently.

Or like my friend last night who thought that supplying and fitting a new coil spring for £80 was a rip off and it should be a £10-20 job.

I did ask if she knew what a coil spring was, how big it was, how important it is and so forth but she still thought a bit of "bendy metal" shouldn't be expensive.

[irocfan]

sebhaque said:

Somewhat thread-related, one of the girls in the office is complaining that it cost her something like £43 per tyre on her MINI. So expensive, apparently.

£43 a tyre sounds downright cheap to me (even if it's an original mini - which I rather suspect it won't be)

[stevo8800]

Sister - "Do you really need a car that big?"
Me & Wife - "No......I just wanted it."

Why people assume(related to motors)that you should only buy the type of car that you actually NEED? Do you(Sis) need 8 handbags or 20 colours of nail polish? Methinks not :S

[Tyre Tread]

aka_kerrly said:

Or like my friend last night who thought that supplying and fitting a new coil spring for £80 was a rip off and it should be a £10-20 job.

I did ask if she knew what a coil spring was, how big it was, how important it is and so forth but she still thought a bit of "bendy metal" shouldn't be expensive.

Suggest she buys the tools and parts and does it herself then while keeping her nails nice & pretty.

[leafspring]

I step out of the door this morning just as a Neighbour (well she lives down the road) is walking by with her kids

Neighbour: "excuse me"

Me "yes"

(I have to walk the same way she's going so I decide we talk and walk)

N: "why do you need two Land Rovers?"

(by this time we've exited the street)

M: "erm (stop myself saying "mind your own fking business") The yellow one is Dads and the green one is mine... why?"

N: accusatory tone "do you know how much damage they're doing to our atmosphere?"

M: "er... none, they're parked on the drive and I'm walking to work"

N: venomous look and strides off on her merry way

[xRIEx]

leafspring said:

I step out of the door this morning just as a Neighbour (well she lives down the road) is walking by with her kids

Neighbour: "excuse me"

Me "yes"

(I have to walk the same way she's going so I decide we talk and walk)

N: "why do you need two Land Rovers?"

(by this time we've exited the street)

M: "erm (stop myself saying "mind your own fking business") The yellow one is Dads and the green one is mine... why?"

N: accusatory tone "do you know how much damage they're doing to our atmosphere?"

M: "er... none, they're parked on the drive and I'm walking to work"

N: venomous look and strides off on her merry way

"Less than one dog."

With the advantage of not having to pick up st.

[Baryonyx]

MartG said:

Girl I used to work with swapped her 1.3i petrol Corsa for a 1.5 NA diesel because she thought it would be faster as it had a bigger engine

A lad I worked with had a mk5 Fiesta 1.8 diesel. Slow and tractor-like. He reckoned it would be a match for the mk5 Fiesta Zetec S I had because mine was "only a 1.6".

[irocfan]

xRIEx said:

leafspring said:

I step out of the door this morning just as a Neighbour (well she lives down the road) is walking by with her kids

Neighbour: "excuse me"

Me "yes"

(I have to walk the same way she's going so I decide we talk and walk)

N: "why do you need two Land Rovers?"

(by this time we've exited the street)

M: "erm (stop myself saying "mind your own fking business") The yellow one is Dads and the green one is mine... why?"

N: accusatory tone "do you know how much damage they're doing to our atmosphere?"

M: "er... none, they're parked on the drive and I'm walking to work"

N: venomous look and strides off on her merry way

"Less than one dog."

With the advantage of not having to pick up st.

should have mentioned the issues surrounding over-population....