Speed limiters to be fitted on all cars from 2022

[Kimbers]

I understand what you are saying but can't help but point out that while Toyota are leaders in the field, they also have a lot of competition. Kia, especially, are giving them a run for their money and their products are better, cheaper, have more kit and are our choice when buying. Their Niro is a superb Small SUV which Toyota can't offer anywhere near that price with their awful CH-R which is also £5-8k more expensive. You could buy the PHEV version of the Niro and still save £2500!!

Kia also have the full electric option and plug in option. They also have the Optima Plug in which is excellent and a size Toyota don't offer. 

I know what you are saying about the cost of a plug in, since the Govt removed their £2500. However, my average of 92.5MPG over 8000 miles in a Niro Plug in and 72mpg in the Optima SW Plug in PLUS a Co2 figure 70g/km lower than the Toyota really do point you away from the Toyota product even with the extra cost, if your primary option is to reduce your footprint and energy consumption.

To prove I know what I am saying here's a pic of my old Niro and the car I really prefer driving!

[Cdm2018]

Ok I will visit Kia and check out their options , I was looking at Corolla estate and Yaris for our staff so need to have a similar size and spec with Kia 

not sure about range as for myself I drive across a large part of country doing 20k a year and my private mileage is included just pay for my petrol for non business trips 

[Kimbers]

I think Niro will surprise you against the Corolla. I really do. 

[Cdm2018]

Booked to see fleet person on 8 April but I don’t think the dealership where we will be meeting will have a Niro to look at ? 

I guess this first meeting is just discussion on Kia ‘s green & safety attributes ?

by the way your Ardent Red Evora looked eager to get on the road ? Lol 

my 2010 2+2 ardent red is enjoying the sunny weather at moment but looks different since I wrapped the roof and other parts !

[Kimbers]

I am thinking of wrapping the roof or painting it Black. First things first is getting it through its MOT!

Which is you local Kia Dealer? I buy 1500 a year so prob know most dealers in the country and their regional Kia Managers!

Niro is in facelift right now so no old Model and new model expected in the next few months.  I have the last 30 being built on order  

[Cdm2018]

Meeting in Melton Mowbray it’s Sandiclffe dealership did you meet with Kia fleet guy direct ? 

We are national charity but the road fleet only numbers 50-75 cars but we have 200+ fleet of adapted type of mini buses which we want to change but these type have no hybrid solution as yet ? Unless you know something ? 

I am not fleet manager I seems to have this thrusted onto myself as no other person was willing to take it on !

[Kimbers]

Sandicliffe Fleet Guy is a very good mate of mine, Steve Ingram. he's in charge of all Business throughout Sandicliffe and they are my top dealer in the country. 

Send me a PM with your Name and details and when you are meeting and I will make sure he see's you instead of some Salesman. 

[drdoom]

Advise caution in purchasing either Kia or Hyundai cars of recent years if equipped with the 4 cylinder, termed Theta II, I believe. A close mate is the senior mechanic at a Kia dealership nearby and has been keeping me posted on the rate of major failures over the past few years. Scrapped short blocks have been shipped home by the pallet-load, failures are ongoing with warranty fixes coming up short of cleaning out the responsible swarf residue in complex mechanisms deemed OK. This has only just surfaced in media coverage several weeks ago, and a class action lawsuit is underway in the U.S.

Edited March 29, 2019 by drdoom
Back on Topic

[drdoom]

Back on topic, viewing the institution of full spectrum driving monitors as a measure in the interests of saving lives is like viewing foreign policy as being all about our love of freedom and democracy. Sorry Sunshine, it's all about the money and the power which arises from it. The world broadly and comprehensively is arcing toward a full surveillance state model. Is this the future to which we'd hoped progress would lead?

 

[au-yt]

9 hours ago, Kimbers said:

Approved "In Principle" by the EU and being ratified now. We are told it will happen 100%. It will also be "Smart" eventually and know the speed limits on which road you are on. 

For me this is easily changed for further money generating by countries starting to charge for road usage and mileage and could also be used to inform authorities when you break speed limits. There would have to be a change in law but regular speeding could enable authorities to charge if the system is calibrated.

And before anyone says that will never happen, it already has. Read this.

https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/latest-fleet-news/editor-s-view-the-big-picture/2018/12/03/prepare-for-the-future-by-understanding-benefits-of-telematics

 

Just made classic cars more valuable

[USAndretti42]

Having read more about the subject I see that, unless the car had automatic emergency braking, the speed limiter just cuts the engine power to prevent exceeding the limit.  So it won't prevent speeding.  On my wife's car, an automatic diesel, the coastdown is so slow that it takes ages to drop from 60 to 30mph.  Thus, if the system gets triggered at the limit, the car will continue to speed for hundreds of yards.  Likewise, if there is a downhill stretch, the car could easily exceed the limit again.  So, I wonder whether this technology will lead to a drop or increase in tickets (through drivers being over-reliant on it)?

[C8RKH]

To my mind it is just unnecessary state interference.  I realise as a driving enthusiast I am biased but as @drdoom says I really don't like the way things are going.

So much about the great, old film, Enemy of the State (Gene Hackman and Will Smith) and how future tech will be manipulated is coming true. I do think this is yet another example of just how controlling of its citizens the EU wants to be.

[Barrykearley]

Don’t worry - there will be a selection of local spotty (or not spotty) teenagers whom will plug in a computer and make this problem go away 👍

[drdoom]

11 hours ago, C8RKH said:

To my mind it is just unnecessary state interference.  I realise as a driving enthusiast I am biased but as @drdoom says I really don't like the way things are going.

So much about the great, old film, Enemy of the State (Gene Hackman and Will Smith) and how future tech will be manipulated is coming true. I do think this is yet another example of just how controlling of its citizens the EU wants to be.

It would be handy if this were nothing more than a matter of shrugging off EU bureaucrats, or can one fault them for the vast number of surveillance cameras deployed in the UK? Power, once gained, is very rarely conceded by any authority.

To Trevor's points I must take a look at Enemy of the State sometime, though I don't expect to be surprised. My dystopian instincts were shaped somewhat by Orwell, of course, and I'll give a nod to the thoroughly cheeky  Peter O'Toole film, The Ruling Class. Both recommended reading. Technology is spawning new levels of numptyism, an example being here in Canada where daytime running lights are mandatory the clueless are seen motoring about in the dark with no proper headlamps, no rear running lamps. They've been bluffed into thinking all's well by way of the DRL smear on the motorway ahead and by the lusciously digital dashboard array. Autonomous cars are assuredly going to serve well for that lot.

The automobile stands as one of the greatest emancipators the world has known, without question. We should remind those who are ever so quick to submit to measures of governance or technology that carve away at that exquisite liberty. 

[oilmagnet477]

In my 52 years on this planet, I still maintain that most (and I stress MOST) ideas that are dreamt up, with the aid of technological advancement, are done with the best of intentions but generally feed an ever growing law of un-intended consequences?

The most rapid development of automotive and mechanical invention (post industrial revolution) has come about as a result of war - with the net result that more and more people survive what would previously have led to a decrease in the overall population.

Net result of this 'progress' is that the gene pool, which would historically have remained under control of natural selection (or survival of the fittest), is diluted to a point where the 'average' is continually lowered.

How is it possible for the 'most intelligent life form on the planet' to have developed the capability to reverse evolution whilst failing to prevent the acceleration of our demise?

[100th_Idiot]

20 hours ago, oilmagnet477 said:

In my 52 years on this planet, I still maintain that most (and I stress MOST) ideas that are dreamt up, with the aid of technological advancement, are done with the best of intentions but generally feed an ever growing law of un-intended consequences?

The most rapid development of automotive and mechanical invention (post industrial revolution) has come about as a result of war - with the net result that more and more people survive what would previously have led to a decrease in the overall population.

Net result of this 'progress' is that the gene pool, which would historically have remained under control of natural selection (or survival of the fittest), is diluted to a point where the 'average' is continually lowered.

How is it possible for the 'most intelligent life form on the planet' to have developed the capability to reverse evolution whilst failing to prevent the acceleration of our demise?

Now you need to watch Idiocracy.

[Breeze]

I should think the smart aspect of this is also a way in which electric vehicles can be taxed to make up for the shortfall in fuel tax. When I read all this I have to say I’m glad I’m an old bugger, I’ll probably be in my box before the worst of this becomes mandatory. The future doesn’t really look a very inspiring place with constant surveillance and control of the population. Amazing how we’ve all collectively walked into 1984 without a murmur.