Urban myths about cars

[88wiff]

tali1 said:

Watchdog showed that Peugeot 406 boots and VW Golf windows are v easy to open
A nail will start a JCB.

I remember that episode, the 406's if you banged your hand next to the boot lock they used open!

[Baffled Spoon]

chris.mapey said:

_Batty_ said:

i was told that you could unlock a Sierra with a half a tennis ball over the lock.
something to do with pressuring the locks?

and certain VAGs would drop all their windows if you put a empty biro in door locks?

Aaah the fabled tennis ball trick - as I understand it, the tennis ball trick only works for cars with pneumatic locking (Merc / VAG etc) not for Ford's solenoid system

another, as I understand it -



Chris

They tried this one on mythbusters on the the discovery channel recently. The myth was busted, so no you can't use a tennis ball (or generally air pressure it was later discovered) to unlock a car.

[Hooli]

Baffled Spoon said:

chris.mapey said:

_Batty_ said:

i was told that you could unlock a Sierra with a half a tennis ball over the lock.
something to do with pressuring the locks?

and certain VAGs would drop all their windows if you put a empty biro in door locks?

Aaah the fabled tennis ball trick - as I understand it, the tennis ball trick only works for cars with pneumatic locking (Merc / VAG etc) not for Ford's solenoid system

another, as I understand it -



Chris

They tried this one on mythbusters on the the discovery channel recently. The myth was busted, so no you can't use a tennis ball (or generally air pressure it was later discovered) to unlock a car.

ive seen it done on a rusty old ford. wack the half a ball hard enough & the lock pops out the door. you then just turn the whole lock to open the car.

i didnt believe it either so a mate proved it on a car he was stripping as a banger.

[Petros]

davido140 said:

I heard that Mercedes ended up developing the A class (thats the silly mini MPV one right?) due to a leak from BMW about a similar car they were designing.

But the leak was fabricated, and Merc spent a fortune developing a turkey, that fell over when it went round corners.

Probably horse crap.

Edited by davido140 on Wednesday 12th March 20:27

It fell over Horse Crap ?

[Petros]

Whynot said:

Mitsubishi Pajero (the other name for the Mitsubishi Shogun), in Spanish a Pajero is a manual labourer in a field but more commonly means 'wr'.

I used to own one...

You owned a W..... ?

[Sam_68]

_Batty_ said:

and certain VAGs would drop all their windows if you put a empty biro in door locks?

Old Volkswagens (Mk II Golf generation) were absurdly easy to break into by driving a screwdriver in under the edge of the door handle in a specific location and flipping the lock.

[fourwheelsteer]

cg360 said:

You're right, fws. Lower fifth on valvers. More available revs makes the top speed higher.

Had golfs yourself, then?

Not yet, but I'd like to own a Mk2 16v one day.

[Twincam16]

paulshears said:

[quote=carl_wBut we already ascertained that the Golf was named after the gulfstream, yet there werem Golf models called Driver and Caddy.

there was a Ryder too.....as in Ryder Cup

IIRC the 'pun on golf/horsey-sport-related names' were all UK market special editions.

[jesta1865]

Road_Terrorist said:

Dracoro said:

_Batty_ said:

i was told that you could unlock a Sierra with a half a tennis ball over the lock.

Stick ANYTHING into an old ford door lock and you'll be able to open it.

As proved by a mate who proudly showed us his Escort Mexico. Of the group of us, ALL had at least one key on their keyfob that would open the car

That's quite true, Ford keys will usually work in other Ford type locks, especially if they are a bit old and worn. I could take the key from my Mk2 Cortina and open most of my Mk2 Escorts very easily, especially the boot lock.

too right, on the way to football one day we were discussing the fact that my mates escort keys would open another ones dads sierra cosworth! then the guy driving (mk2 escort) said thats nothing, and whilst doing 70 took his keys from the ignition and threw them in the passenger footwell, the car never missed a beat even when he put them back in :-)

[MrKipling43]

Mega myth: The SPECS cameras through the roadworks on the M1 actually work.

[Futuramic]

Someone a while ago claimed that the Starion was sold as a Pontiac in the US.
Untrue, Mitsubishi are (or were then anyway) part of Chrysler; so the Starion was in fact sold as the Dodge Conquest.

I believe the four cylinder Mitsubishi Sapporo was planned to be called the Dodge Challenger in American markets! Though this may be a lie.

Another rumour about Ford security, this time concerning early Transits. Apparantly the rear door glass is slightly smaller than the frame apature, the gap is filled by the rubber seal - which also holds the window in place. I was told that it is possible to cut the seal all the way round the window with a craft knife, by slipping the blade between the glass and the frame. The window can then be taken out and entry granted to the van. God knows how true it is.

[Hub]

Wasn't there one about one of the Jaguar XJs, that the sloping boot line was the result of a melted/damaged clay prototype going into production or something?

[Twincam16]

Hub said:

Wasn't there one about one of the Jaguar XJs, that the sloping boot line was the result of a melted/damaged clay prototype going into production or something?

Apparently the XJ40 clay model was transported in an unrefridgerated van on a hot day and the bootlid drooped by a few milimeters. It was decided that, actually, this made it slightly more curvaceous and elegant and kept it in.

[CraigW]

i really cant believe that

[hman]

does clay melt? I thought it would dry out.

[Strawman]

hman said:

does clay melt? I thought it would dry out.

It sags, until it has been baked / fired.

[hman]

ok then.

[Twincam16]

I wouldn't be surprised if it was true - for starters the XJ40's basic shape was decided on in 1977 - the year of that massive heatwave. This is the original clay:



And this is the final model - there's a definite droop in the bootlid in comparison:

[Wigeon Incognito]

I'd love to believe it but the pictures of the clay and the final model are too different to be explained by melting of the clay.

[stigmundfreud]

yes the rear "quarterlight" is a lot bigger in the clay version