Archive for October, 2013
Lightning: Safety Tips For The Real Thing (Rather than Greased or McQueen)
One of the things about the warmer and more volatile weather of spring is that thunderstorms become a lot more common. Opinions are mixed about thunder and lightning (and hail and wind and…), with some people loving a good thunderstorm while others sit quaking like jellies with every roll of thunder. I’m in the former camp but every driver needs to know a thing or three about driving when conditions get a bit wild.
First of all: the issue of lightning. What should you do if there’s a violent storm when you’re driving?
Whatever you do, stay in your car. You may or may not be able to keep driving, depending on what else is going on. Even if your car gets hit by lightning, you will be safe as long as you’re not touching any metal. The car will take the hit for you thanks to the metal of the body, which will conduct electricity and help ground it. You might get a few problems with the electrics and the body work in the rare event that you get hit.
Contrary to popular belief, it’s not the rubber tyres acting as insulators between you and the ground that make it safe for you to be in the car during a lighting storm. It’s the metal. A cage of metal around you acts like a sort of shield so the lighting hits it and not you. This is known to science buffs as a Faraday cage, and if you check out a few good BBC or Discovery Channel documentaries on weather and electricity, you can see people standing inside these cages – and not touching the metal – while artificially generated lighting crackles around them. But make sure that you are surrounded by metal – if you’re in a convertible vehicle, put the top up. Those caught out in a soft-top convertible have a bit more of a problem as here, you’re not completely surrounded by metal. In this case, your safest bet is to get to a decent shelter ASAP until the storm passes. A public loo or a bus shelter will do the trick.
What if there’s no shelter in sight and you are out in a soft-top convertible? The various lightning safety websites I visited didn’t really give an answer to this one, but going by the advice they give for other situations, I guess the best thing to do would be pull over and get your body as low as you can. The front pillar in most convertibles is usually the highest part of the vehicle (you see a good example of this in the picture accompanying our VW Golf Cabriolet review ). This suggests that this will be the point struck by lightning, so keep well away from it as much as possible and don’t touch anything metal. The odds are in your favour and you might not get hit, so try not to panic. Whatever you do, stay in the car!
It’s a smart idea to switch your car radio off during a thunderstorm and to put down your aerial. Those with integrated permanent aerials in their cars might have a bit of a problem. Anything that sticks up attracts lighting. They also say that it’s wisest not to use a phone, even a cordless phone.
And if your car does get struck by lightning? The amount of damage does vary. You hear stories ranging from the tyres blowing out (all four of them) and the electrics getting totally fried, through to next to nothing happening. Just as well that most car insurance policies do cover lighting strike!
The History of Holden – Infographic
Holden are in uncertain times in Australia, but there’s no doubting that their history is as varied and interesting as it comes. It is widely recognised as being ingrained into Oz culture – this infographic takes a look at the history of Holden as a car manufacturer, with images of many of their marques over the years.
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Tail's Still Wagon.
It’s pretty much accepted that Australian ingenuity created the “ute”; what’s forgotten is the country’s love affair with the humble station wagon. It’s also overlooked at how many are still available.
First and foremost is the Holden Commodore Sportwagon. The Commodore has had a wagon for every model since the range was released wayyyyy back in 1978. With the release a couple of months ago of the VF, Holden took the somewhat unusual step of releasing all models at once, whereas previously the wagon was shown later. Unfortunately, there wasn’t funds to redevelop the wagon and ute rear.
Ford had a wagon version of the Falcon pretty much from the start; the Territory effectively killed that much to many fleet buyers annoyance whilst Toyota canned their Camry wagon when they released the Aurion whilst Mitsubishi never released a wagon version of the 380, the car that superseded the Magna. 
BUT, Ford has the Mondeo wagon, Toyota may yet re-release a Corolla wagon for Australia (shown overseas) and Mitsubishi had a Lancer wagon until 2007. Other brands have wagons too with various names such as Tourer, Estate or Shooting Brake, with BMW, Audi, Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, Mazda, Hyundai, Volvo, Volkswagen, Skoda and even Jaguar with their XF Sportbrake.
There’s always been benefits of having a non-SUV load carrier, with the extra space for day to day tasks such as shopping but room for kids stuff like prams, bikes, even the humble family pooch. The exterior design has varied from blocky, to what looks like an add-on to the very stylish.
Unfortunately, with the rise of the SUV the demand for a low riding wagon is slowly dropping off here in Australia and in the US whilst remaining steady in the UK and European region. They’re useful, practical, better for many people than a SUV or sedan so consider that when next you go looking for something with practicality and room.
Still Holden On…But For How Long?
Holden’s call for extra funding has been answered in the most unexpected way; the answer was no yet they look like they will get their funds request. Confused?
As it stands, it appears the Federal Government has had a change of heart and will NOT go ahead with the proposed funding cuts of around a half billion dollars. This isn’t good news for just Holden, it’s good news for Toyota and Ford AND all of the businesses that supply the automotive industry. Holden also hadn’t put forward a formal request for extra funding by the end of 2013 as they were expected to do, as Industries Minister Ian Macfarlane’s office confirmed recently. Current funding for Holden was approved and locked in by the previous Government, which was intended to give Holden the strength to manufacture two cars through to 2022. Says Mr Macfarlane after the walk through at Holden’s Elizabeth, South Australia factory: “There’s money there,” he said. “The Labor Party’s added money through to 2020, which we haven’t touched and I’m not going to touch – that’s all there for keeps. It’s in the forward estimates, it’s been through the budgetary process, it’s been legislated, there’s at least $1 billion. The more, the better, as far as I am concerned, because I don’t want the industry to close down, I want them to keep going.”
This would indicate that although the Government had said they’d withhold $500million, it wasn’t mentioned that there would still be the same amount on offer anyway. This comes from an interim investigation that Mr Macfarlane has requested into the state of the industry to be completed within three months with a more detailed report to follow by the end of the first quarter of 2014. Should that report be as Mr Macfarlane clearly hopes, then there will be funding put forward with that coming from the surplus due to an underspend of allocated funds, thanks to the downturn in production over the last couple of years. This also apparently backs Holden’s original call for extra funding due to a change of market conditions since their original funding request was signed off by state and the Federal Governments in 2012.
Level 2, 9 Help Street