Driving without wing and hanging side light an offense?
Discussion
My cars a bit sluggish at the moment and I think this is caused by the damage to a wing and how the arch thingy underneath maybe putting touching the tyre or whatever.
Just to confirm I am thinking to take the wing off and take for a drive to see if it resolves the situaton in which case I might just repair panels because fixing them is too much work right now. The side light fits in a square in the wing so to remove that would leave the side light hanging out from a cable.
Would it be an offense to be driving without a wing and with the side light hanging from the cable rather than slotting in to the wing?
Just to confirm I am thinking to take the wing off and take for a drive to see if it resolves the situaton in which case I might just repair panels because fixing them is too much work right now. The side light fits in a square in the wing so to remove that would leave the side light hanging out from a cable.
Would it be an offense to be driving without a wing and with the side light hanging from the cable rather than slotting in to the wing?
Edited by SpeedySpeedBoy on Friday 2nd November 17:48
This thread sounds like a complete wind up, but okay, I'll bite:
If you are already taking the damaged wing off completely, it's no more work to fit an undamaged replacement wing back onto the car, than it does to refit the damaged wing.
Taking the damaged wing off, repairing it, and then refitting it will be a lot more work than simply fitting a replacement wing.
If the wheel arch liner was rubbing on the tyre enough to make the car "sluggish", it would be blindingly obvious what the problem was (and there would be a Hell of a racket being made, and possibly smoke too).
If the damaged wing was causing the car to become "sluggish", again, it would be blindingly obvious.
TBH, I'm not convinced anyone who describes a wheel arch liner as an: "arch thingy" should really be doing any work on a car!
Here's a little clue for you: How many cars do you see out and about, driving around on the public roads without wings on them?
SpeedySpeedBoy said:
My cars a bit sluggish at the moment and I think this is caused by the damage to a fender and how the arch thingy underneath maybe putting touching the tyre or whatever.......
Perhaps if you try writing in English rather than gobbledygook, you might get more replies.SpeedySpeedBoy said:
.....Just to confirm I am thinking to take the wing off and take for a drive to see if it resolves the situaton in which case I might just repair panels because fixing them is too much work right now.....
This makes no sense at all.If you are already taking the damaged wing off completely, it's no more work to fit an undamaged replacement wing back onto the car, than it does to refit the damaged wing.
Taking the damaged wing off, repairing it, and then refitting it will be a lot more work than simply fitting a replacement wing.
If the wheel arch liner was rubbing on the tyre enough to make the car "sluggish", it would be blindingly obvious what the problem was (and there would be a Hell of a racket being made, and possibly smoke too).
If the damaged wing was causing the car to become "sluggish", again, it would be blindingly obvious.
TBH, I'm not convinced anyone who describes a wheel arch liner as an: "arch thingy" should really be doing any work on a car!
SpeedySpeedBoy said:
........The side light fits in a square in the wing so to remove that would leave the side light hanging out from a cable.
Would it be an offense to be driving without a wing and with the side light hanging from the cable rather than slotting in to the wing?
If you don't know the answer to this already, you really shouldn't be driving a car on the public road! Would it be an offense to be driving without a wing and with the side light hanging from the cable rather than slotting in to the wing?
Here's a little clue for you: How many cars do you see out and about, driving around on the public roads without wings on them?
Russian Troll Bot said:
In the last six months the OP months has lost his keys, been in an accident, snapped a wheel stud, had the head gasket go thanks to a cowboy garage, had a wheel fall off and now this. He really should start avoiding those ladders, broken mirrors and black cats.
You forgot the best one where his car broke down on the M25 and, whilst waiting for the RAC, he got arrested by TrafPol and his car was taken to an impound yard 
For anyone that fancies some light reading this weekend
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
del mar said:
I have done it.
Car was stripped of wings / bumpers and all trim for a repaint. 20 min drive to the body shop late on a Sunday.
What are the odds of a policeman being around then ?
Much higher than normal it appears.
The OP asked if driving a car with a wing missing, and the sidelight hanging off was an offence - Not: "Has anyone ever gotten away with it?"Car was stripped of wings / bumpers and all trim for a repaint. 20 min drive to the body shop late on a Sunday.
What are the odds of a policeman being around then ?
Much higher than normal it appears.
Had a Police officer seen you driving your car with no wings and bumpers on your car, do you think they would have ignored it?
Just because you don't get caught, doesn't make it legal! (Or sensible!)
del mar said:
I have done it.
Car was stripped of wings / bumpers and all trim for a repaint. 20 min drive to the body shop late on a Sunday.
What are the odds of a policeman being around then ?
Much higher than normal it appears.
By that logic you may as well have downed a couple of two litre bottles of white lightening before setting off and turned over a petrol station on the way.Car was stripped of wings / bumpers and all trim for a repaint. 20 min drive to the body shop late on a Sunday.
What are the odds of a policeman being around then ?
Much higher than normal it appears.
JagerT said:
I suspect the damaged wing is ruining the aerodynamics ,hence the sluggish performance.
Can a damaged wing be that significant that it would cause a car to be have sluggish performance? I'd imagine most cars with cracked or bent panels dont affect the performance that much that it becomes sluggish, or am I wrong? Is the wing a special case?Edited by SpeedySpeedBoy on Sunday 18th November 02:21
SpeedySpeedBoy said:
JagerT said:
I suspect the damaged wing is ruining the aerodynamics ,hence the sluggish performance.
Can a damaged wing be that significant that it would cause a car to be have sluggish performance? I'd imagine most cars with cracked or bent panels dont affect the performance that much that it becomes sluggish, or am I wrong? Is the wing a special case?Edited by SpeedySpeedBoy on Sunday 18th November 02:21
If the damage to the wing means it has been pulled outwards, allowing air inside the wing, then at high speeds (60mph and above), you might notice some additional drag on the car , but getting up to those speeds, you're not going to notice it that much, if at all.
If the damage to wing has pushed it inwards, it will pretty much make bugger all difference to the car in real terms.
(I suspect JagetT's response was somewhat tongue in cheek BTW )
As I've posted before, if the damaged wing was making the car's performance sluggish, as you suggest, it would be blindingly obvious, as it would have to be rubbing against the tyre, which would cause wear to the tyre, and generate noise/smoke.
Severe suspension/hub damage could cause a car some performance issues, but again, the symptoms would be obvious - the car would pull pretty violently to the side of the damage (if your car is pulling violently to one side, stop driving it immediately and get it towed to a garage to fix it properly!)
General sluggish performance is far more likely to be related to an engine issue that an wing/aerodynamic issue
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