Most inapporpriate car for the conditions
Discussion
I have been in Lagos Nigeria for a little while of late, and have been driven around the city days in a spanking new 6 series Coupe. It is a lovely vehicle inside and out, lots of bells and whistles, but thanks to the rock hard suspension and +20 inch tyres the ride on the cratered, broken and downright agricultural streets of Lagos, has managed to actually bruise my kidneys.
The low ground clearance makes every journey a bottoming out and under body scrapefest. The difference between sitting in the front and back seats was also marked, you experience a strange almost bobbing motion at the back going over bumps (huge rubble filled antitank obstacles type "bumps") besides the spine compressing ride, tied to lovely looking, but not especially comfortable seats.
The sheer size and length of the vehicle made it a effort to maneuver in the crowded streets and sitting low meant the driver had all sorts of blindspots for pedestrians, motor bikes, animals, insane street vendors etc.
The parking sensors would be constantly beeping when parking, because of the sheer congested number of pedestrians on the streets, rendering the sensor a noisy irritation and pretty much useless.
I am struggling to think of a more inappropriate vehicle for the conditions, although the brand new 991 911 I saw negotiating a stagnant water filled, moon crater sized pothole yesterday, may have been even more so.
Anyone had a similarly poorly matched vehicle for the conditions ?
The low ground clearance makes every journey a bottoming out and under body scrapefest. The difference between sitting in the front and back seats was also marked, you experience a strange almost bobbing motion at the back going over bumps (huge rubble filled antitank obstacles type "bumps") besides the spine compressing ride, tied to lovely looking, but not especially comfortable seats.
The sheer size and length of the vehicle made it a effort to maneuver in the crowded streets and sitting low meant the driver had all sorts of blindspots for pedestrians, motor bikes, animals, insane street vendors etc.
The parking sensors would be constantly beeping when parking, because of the sheer congested number of pedestrians on the streets, rendering the sensor a noisy irritation and pretty much useless.
I am struggling to think of a more inappropriate vehicle for the conditions, although the brand new 991 911 I saw negotiating a stagnant water filled, moon crater sized pothole yesterday, may have been even more so.
Anyone had a similarly poorly matched vehicle for the conditions ?
Kozy said:
I saw someone driving a stretch limo around a grass field autotest once.
I think that ranks fairly high.
Bit like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-pzol0sxro&fea...I think that ranks fairly high.
I had another drive in the 640 in Lagos this week. The suspension was completely transformed this time, it turns out the PDI delivery did not include removing the shipping suspension inserts, so it was driving on a pretty much solid rear suspension. 
When you consider the state of the roads in Lagos and the low profile tyres on the car, the ride was quite compliant, almost comfortable. It is not in the magic carpet ride quality, but certainly better than the back breaking hardness it had before.
When you consider the state of the roads in Lagos and the low profile tyres on the car, the ride was quite compliant, almost comfortable. It is not in the magic carpet ride quality, but certainly better than the back breaking hardness it had before.
QuantumTokoloshi said:
I had another drive in the 640 in Lagos this week. The suspension was completely transformed this time, it turns out the PDI delivery did not include removing the shipping suspension inserts, so it was driving on a pretty much solid rear suspension.
When you consider the state of the roads in Lagos and the low profile tyres on the car, the ride was quite compliant, almost comfortable. It is not in the magic carpet ride quality, but certainly better than the back breaking hardness it had before.
Check for damaged top mounts, and bushes if you have driven over bumpy roads with the blocks left in.When you consider the state of the roads in Lagos and the low profile tyres on the car, the ride was quite compliant, almost comfortable. It is not in the magic carpet ride quality, but certainly better than the back breaking hardness it had before.
Mentioned this on another thread but a few years ago I was a rep & as reps we got a car allowance with no restrictions. One lad who covered part of the South East had a Caterham for about 3 or 4 months until he decided it was too hardcore & got an Elise.
Not your typical 3-series/A4/C-class silver diesel rep car
Not your typical 3-series/A4/C-class silver diesel rep car
wildoliver said:
I have a bad habit of going green laning in MX5s.
Cool, but I ended up inadvertently doing so a number of times in my 996... following Sicilian country roads that have a nasty habit of succumbing to land-slips (not quite landslides, the road just seems to have melted and sometimes a 50 yard stretch of it just washes away downhill). 
king nightmare...s p a c e m a n said:
Look out for a load of fire engines if you're still in Lagos, saw 6 of them going into the Lagos bound compound earlier. The sirens and blue lights all still worked 
Seems anything with flashing lights have them turned on and sirens blaring in Lagos, my taxi driver to the airport was flashing his brights so often, I was wondering if I was in a mobile disco, tied to the incessant hooting, made the 3 hr, 20 km journey to the airport an advert for Paracetamol tablets.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff