Be Excellent To Each Other

It better be Tumeric Yellow

not 100% sure...

Re the emissions thing I recall when the story first broke there were interviews with a few engineers who were saying that what VW were claiming for their engines was clearly impossible, in that you couldn't increase power, with improved efficiency, and lower emissions all at the same time - so there had to be some sort of shenanigans going on.

They also said that there was a culture at VW of the managers being engineer types, so their claims that they didn't know what was going on were 'geschwätz'.

Christ, look at the fuel tank in a Porsche 997:

Bet that started out as a lump of expanding foam. Or they've just turned the car upside down and poured fibre glass into it.

Suppose it gave the body designers something to do.

Yep, EGRs are a normal well established bit of engine technology, albeit one that tuners like to block off and map out of use.

Unfortunately using this far more heavily than it was originally designed for is definitely causing engines to run badly and is killing EGRs in quick succession.

I don't like diesels I think they're shit, there's a ridiculous amount of faffy technology that has to go into them to make them socially acceptable, which is understandable really since they run on what seems to be a substance that's quite similar to tar, and it must be quite a challenge to have them not kill everyone in a five mile radius with noxious exhaust fumes.

Petrol is the gentleman's choice of fuel.

Yes. Much better for the environment having a car that burns a litre of oil every 1,500 miles.

Also: Faffy technology!

My tongue was firmly in my cheek

I do think however that all the crap they have to lob into and around diesel engines and exhaust systems to make them work in an 'acceptable manner' is somewhat OTT though.

There's not much difference.

Turbo to improve power and economy, same as on a petrol car.
Catalytic converter, same as on a petrol car.
EGR valve, same as on a petrol car.
Particulate filters in the exhaust, starting to appear on petrol engines too.

Adblue in the exhaust is about the only significant difference between the two fuels now.

Apparently engine tech has advanced enough that egr is going out again (whereas mine was 'fixed' along with the dpf and remap). I have no citation except "a YouTube channel I don't distrust but I don't remember which one".

Apparently VW are now doing the exhaust manifold in block with turbo up against it as others, but are watercooling it for up to 20% efficiency gains (that's Engineering Explained).

Sounds great, but vw.

Apparently diesel EGR is way more complicated than petrol for "don't cook the bits instantly" reasons.

Diesel really does need to be made dead in noncommercial applications.

I get the impression its coming in the uk with so many brands *only* doing diesel in the big earners at the moment - can't buy a Volvo S/V90 or new Disco Sport with a petrol here for example, or most Jag XF options (all AWD Sportbacks). Looks to me like an attempt to appease manufacturers and fuel companies before going ".....aaaaand you're done" in a year or two.

Meanwhile, bizarrely, the Morrison's next to work is 1p/l cheaper for derv than petrol at the moment. My car doesn't even hate it!

Apparently I like saying apparently.

Um...

http://rules.config.landrover.com/jdxl/ ... model.html

Ooh, that's new!

That's probably Helens new car if the E-Pace isn't significantly cheaper (and has the same engine).

What I want is the new f-type 300bhp motor in an AWD XF Sportback. Well, what I *want* is an XF R Sportback (SVR!), but even if it happened I couldn't dream of affording one. I could at least *dream* of affording an XF S when they replace the v6 (I'm hoping that's why there's no Sportback XF S yet).

(Brackets!)

I'm not having much luck trying to find a BMW 530d GT that I can borrow for a couple of days to see if I actually like the way they drive.

I can't test drive one, as they're not made new any more and I don't want to waste a dealer's time test driving a car when I'm not in a position to buy it yet.

Can't find any rental companies that have one to rent out either.

I mean - if you are seriously thinking about buying one in the future then I'm sure they won't mind.

Yes, it's what they are there for.

Well, ideally I want one for a few days so I can see what it's like on my commute etc. and general day to day use. Given that I could easily add 150 miles on to it they may not be keen.

Suppose I can ask, though.

Has anyone got a car with that 'ANDROID AUTO' thing in it?

https://www.android.com/auto/

As a Spotify convert I now want ANDROID AUTO in my car. Which won't be the S4, obviously.

Can you retrofit it?

Even if it's possible I'd hate to even consider retrofitting anything to the S4 as everything is tied together with the MMI controls down near the shifter, the 'head unit' itself, the steering wheel controls and then the screen which is built into the dash.

The bits circled in green here, but not quite so left-hand drive.

It's a good excuse to start looking at cars anyway, which is one of my favourite things to do.

EDIT - Google says you can retrofit Android head units, but you want to be doing it as a slot-in double-DIN head unit, so I can't see any way of shoehorning that into the S4. Anyway, my experience of the fucking Dension in the fucking Mercedes is still slightly terrifying.

Hmm. If it was single din, I'd well have a go

I'd rather they make a head unit that runs Android like this - the idea of plugging a phone into a car seems so archaic these days.

Who plugs a phone into a car? That's like a baby's toy. I use Bluetooth.

Me, so I get full control over media playback through the stereo and steering wheel controls, and the phone gets charged.

You should still have all the former with bluetooth, though obviously not charging, no.

Wireless charging is the way forward I've heard

It's the future! past!

You can skip forwards and back, but not browse through albums and track listings.
Not sure whether that's a limitation of Apple's bluetooth implementation or VW/Skoda's stereo.

Having looked into this a bit more and watched a few YouTube videos (there's a fun way to spend a Saturday evening), I think the best way to get Android Auto is as an 'entire replacement system' (i.e. the double-DIN head unit that completely supplants what's in your car now), rather than as a factory fit option.

In the former scenario it works exactly as you'd expect, whatever's in your car is no more, and Android Auto becomes the entire infotainment ecosystem for your car.

In the latter scenario it appears to be a sort of 'sub-app' of your car's primary system, (in Hondas for example, it's an option on the main menu along with SOUND, NAV, TELEPHONE, etc), which to my mind is a rather clunkier way of doing things - and effectively doubles up on most of what Android Auto does.

I'll have to specifically investigate how it works in Vauxhalls, but if it's the same premise then I'm not mega-convinced. (I'm currently considering a nearly-new 1.6T Astra in Elite Nav spec, nothing overly exciting but it's 200bhp, 6.6 for 0-60mph and a top-end of 146mph - kind of the same stats as my Type-R.)

I'm also not wildly convinced about having to plug the phone in with a cable every time, as I'm usually only in my car for 20-30 minutes at a time, and I am a wireless charging kind of guy, so I find plugging cables into phones modestly offensive.

EDIT - It does seem to work in roughly the same manner in Vauxhalls, although as with the Hondas, it is very well integrated, but it's still a sort of 'sub-system' of the car's own infotainment system.

Here's what it looks like in a Honda anyway.

I makes sense to have it as a sub option. Not everyone has an android phone, after all

Indeed, but it'd be nice to have the option to have it become the default, a bit like the way you can put the Google Now launcher on any Android phone and blow away the inferior manufacturer skin.

Eh, what? You getting rid of the S4 already..?
All this changing cars must be costing you a veritable fortune - and that looks set to continue with drive-off-a-cliff Vauxhall depreciation - especially a petrol Vauxhall? How new is it/how much?

I haven't used Auto integrated into cars, amusingly, but I have used the Apple version, CarPlay. It's nice to have the big car screen and the car's physical buttons integrated into your phone's (generally far superior) apps.

Note that AA is an app you can download now, so you can try it out: https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... d&hl=en_GB It'll give you all the Auto UX but on your phone's screen. It's not as useful as full integration but it's OK in a pinch if you have the phone mounted somewhere convenient. Also a useful demo. It's what I use when in my own car.

Must be nice to live in Infinite Battery Life land. But for those of us here on Planet Earth, GPS navigation plus music streaming is ruinous on battery life.

As others have said, this is the only way to do it; the car's dash can't be broken if you don't have an Android phone or haven't connected your phone or your phone is flat. Also there's a ton of car UX stuff you can't access through the phone, like all the setup screens and stuff, or car system information. On the Mustang I drove with CarPlay, it defaulted into the Apple UX as soon as I connected my iPhone, so I didn't need to think about it much.


That's a thing too, except for the entire car, not just the head unit: https://arstechnica.co.uk/cars/2017/05/ ... ds-review/

(Hah, I just realised that photo was taken at I/O and my team's booth was just behind where the photographer was standing for that article's header image. Several of my colleagues are visible in the second pic, although I'm not; must have not been one of my shifts when Ars were there.)

I think I've lost my balls with fast cars, I got the S4 up to 143mph on a clear blast over the mountain over TT and chickened out, so much for getting it bouncing off the 155mph limiter. I blame the vasectomy and my advancement into being an old jaffa cake motherfucker.

The S4 is a fantastic car, probably the best car I've ever owned, and I'm not definitely getting rid of it, but I have asked a couple of local dealers for part-ex valuations as Autotrader reckons it's worth £14600 on trade-in, which seems stupid high to me since I paid £16K at retail last November.

It's also cosmically expensive to run, what with £220 batteries and £200 brake pads and suchlike. (Although of course that'll be massively eclipsed by any depreceation on a nearly-new Vauxhall.....)

I just think it'd be a nice to have a really modern car with all the swizzy toys on it, such as Android Auto which seems funky.

There are two main Astra contenders:

1) The 1.6T with 200bhp as outlined above. Tidy performance, can be bought in SRi Nav spec at less than 12 months old with <5K on it for about £14-£16K.

2) The 1.4T with 150bhp, performance suffers (although it's not dreadful), but can be bought pre-reg with delivery miles in Elite Nav spec for £15-£16K.

(Both have factory-fit Android Auto.)

Each to his own, but (entirely IMO of course) it is beyond crazy spending 16 large on an Astra that'll spunk £10k of that in depreciation over the next 3 years? (Plus, you know you're gonna *hate* it in 6 months, possibly 3, ghastly, tinny things - I've had 3 of 'em over the years and all of them had all the engineering integrity of a bent paperclip serving as a makeshift fuse. There's a reason they've gone bust/been sold for a song)

For context - and admittedly total ManMaths on my part - my brand new Cayman S only depreciated £15k over 3 years - with zero repair bills (and no oil consumption in all of that time ). So the actual costs to you, for running a secondhand 1.6 Astra, are not too dissimilar to a 180mph new Porsche...

But to be more serious, why don't you do what I've long suggested and basically get a £5k diesel estate hatch for all the worthy family stuff, and get yourself a secondhand Caterham (with NIL depreciation) for about £13-14k, for you? And I mean, come on, 143mph over the mountain pass, you're far from over the hill I'd say.

Oh, Hearthly.

Thanks for pointing this out, Doc. I wasn't aware that it was available as an App. It works really well and integrates with Audible. Top notch.

Been offered £14K for the S4 on trade-in, bit lower than Autotrader's figure but still not bad.

I've gone off the Astra idea because it's stupid and also because I've gone off Android Auto what with having to plug the phone in every time and having to faff about with an app and whatnot, whereas for example in the S4 it just picks up immediately from wherever it was on the SD card/USB key/whatever. (As previously noted, on a decent run to work in the morning, I'm in the car for less than 20 minutes.)

Maybe the only 'sensible' (lol) way to go from the S4 is MORE BONKERS, like this awesome looking specimen which I know lots of people hate but appeals very much to my Need For Speed fantasies. (This car is in stock, on the island.)

Your resistance to plugging stuff in is staggering. Were you bitten by a USB plug as a child?

Totally respect the sheer ability to cover ground quickly; the massive traction, torque and towering turbo midrange, even as that's everything I'm not about... Then there's the peerless, unburstable Jap build quality and reliability, even when third party chipped to fuck.

But bugger me, that's a face only a mother could love.

Also, buying a car cause you like the phone connectivity and the bloody radio....? Pfffft you sound like Russ from Fruit Forums c.2002. What the hell is the matter with you man you're over 40. Innit.

I take it the second car Caterham with worthy family hack idea still doesn't appeal, then. Eeh, you can lead a horse to water etc., huh.

If I were cruising on motorways for hours at a time it’d make sense, but for example this morning it was absolutely pissing it down so I ran out to the car, jumped in, shut the door, started the engine, my music automatically started playing, and set off.

I wouldn’t want to change that to:

‘Jumped in, shut the door, started the engine, fished my phone out of my pocket (which is awkward when sat in a car seat), mucked about plugging it in with wet hands whilst CURSING THE WIRES, waited for it to sync up with the head unit, navigated to the Android Auto app on the car’s touchscreen, launched Spotify, waited for it to bring up my playlist, started the music, and then set off’. (Or whatever derivative of those steps were required.)

Plus there’s the fact that by just having trance on, all the time (2x32GB SD cards is a lot of trance), I don’t have to think about what to listen to.

I have gone off the idea of Astras and Android Auto, having seen videos of it in action I am not convinced it's right for me.

That extra minute is well worth £10k. Go for it.

Actually nicer than they have been though!

Looks like an angry Rover 25