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One in a Tractor, One in a Car, One in a Scooter…
At this time of year, if you have children, attend church or both, you are likely to see at least one nativity play – you know the sort of thing: kids (and sometimes adults) dressed up in bathrobes, sandals and tea towels all standing around a girl with a blue sheet holding a baby doll while a rather embarrassed boy stands nearby with a fake beard and another bathrobe-and-tea towel costume. If you’re lucky, you get something done by adults that usually involves a live donkey and a real baby. And you sometimes get people trying to freshen the traditional story up by adding a modern twist to it – I’ve seen at least two “Mary and Joseph use social media/the internet” YouTube clips.
One thing that hasn’t been done – probably because it’s a bit hard to organise – is an update of the transport options. What would be the modern day equivalent of the camel, the ox and the donkey? (Not that any of these are actually mentioned in the Biblical account. The presence of the ox and the donkey (formerly known as an ass) is deduced by the presence of an animal’s feed box complete with hay to make a makeshift baby’s bed, while the magi needed something for to make the trip from the Iran/Afghanistan/Pakistan sort of area to Israel. For all we know, Mary and Joseph may have made the trip on foot or taken an ox-cart.)
So, if you were updating the forms of transport that were possible back in 10BC to 6 AD (the range of dates that the original Christmas happened in), what are your possibilities? Apart from the Three Kings of Orient who were, as every cheeky kid sings, “one in a tractor, one in a car, one in a scooter tooting his hooter, following yonder star.”
Donkey:
Features: Cheap to acquire, cheap to feed, small and surprisingly strong for the size. Best suited to smaller families.
Modern equivalent: A Peugeot hatchback or some other small and frugal hatchback (Suzuki Swift, Mini Cooper, VW Beetle, etc.).
Ox/Bullock Cart:
Features: Good towing power, a bit thirstier than the donkey, reliable but not much of a speedster. Can take large loads.
Modern equivalent: A trade van or ute, such as the Toyota Hilux or the Ford Transit. Could also be replaced by an MPV such as the Mitsubishi Grandis or the Honda Odyssey.
Camel:
Features: Tough, big and can handle rough terrain.
Modern equivalent: A real bush-bashing 4×4. The Mistubishi Pajero, with its past performance in the Dakar Rally, would have to be a serious contender, given the desert that the Magi had to cross, with Jeeps, Nissan Patrols and Land Rovers being other possibilities.
Horse (probably in a chariot):
Features: Fast, luxurious and sporty. Probably used (in the Nativity play context) by King Herod and/or Roman soldiers.
Modern equivalent: A Porsche Boxter or 911, or a nippy Alfa Romeo speedster.
Mule:
Features: Not quite as upmarket as the horse but not as working-class as the donkey. Has a reasonable turn of speed when needed.
Modern equivalent: Any good luxury executive saloon. Think BMW, Mercedes and Lexus.
Alternative features: A mule is, of course, a hybrid between a horse and a donkey.
Alternative Modern equivalent: A hybrid vehicle such as the Toyota Prius or Hybrid Camry.
Elephant (which is possible, given the Persian origins of the Magi, but not likely):
Features: exotic, large and expensive to feed, with military overtones.
Modern equivalent: Hummer.
The Holden Recall – What’s It All About?
A couple of weeks ago, the radio and other new channels rang with the news that Holden had ordered a recall. Now there are a lot of Holden enthusiasts out there, and a few of them might have got a bit worried that their new pride and joy might be part of the recall. And now another one’s just been launched. What is going on?
In a nutshell, if you haven’t got a letter from Holden, don’t panic: you’re fine. Holden took responsibility for tracking down the owners of the vehicles affected by the product recall. Two types of Holden have been affected by this recall. First of all (recall notice issued 21st November) , there’s the 2.0 L Diesel Holden Captiva Series one with the following VIN numbers:
• KL3CD26RJ8H307843 to KL3CG26RJ8H313387 (2008)
• KL3CA26RJ9B258567 to KL3CD26RJ9B557340 (2009)
• KL3CA26RJAB000715 to KL3CD26RJAB118110 (2010–2011).
The second Holden recall which was only issued yesterday (5th December) applies to the 2.0 L Diesel Holden Epica with the following VIN numbers:
• KL3LA69RJ9B137502 to KL3LA69RJ9B529009 (2009)
• KL3LA69RJAB000281 to KL3LA69RJAB099015 (2010)
• KL3LA69RJBB005838 to KL3LA69RJBB065472 (2011)
To find out more about the details of the recall, visit http://www.recalls.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/1008793 about the Epica recall and
http://www.recalls.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/1008473 about the Captiva.
If you have another type of Holden, then this recall doesn’t apply to you. You can keep driving your Commodore or Calais quite happily.
Product recalls happen because of a flaw in the product – in this case, the car, and it’s the same problem in both the 2.0 L Captiva and the Epica. And because bringing your car back to an authorised Holden dealer to be given a clean bill of health or to get the problem fixed is a nuisance, especially at this time of year, we’re not talking about some fiddly little thing. Here, the problem is a potential leak in the fuel feed hose – in other words, there’s a risk of diesel getting where it shouldn’t be, which is a very dangerous situation, as the stuff’s highly flammable.
Product recalls are annoying, but they’re part of the way that manufacturers ensure that their product is safe. I, for one, am glad that Holden is checking their products and taking action now that they’ve found an alarming (but easily fixed) flaw in their vehicles. It’s much better than doing nothing – and, according to the Dog and Lemon Guide, there has been a case in history where an automotive manufacturer – which will remain unnamed because it was in the past and the cars in question are off the road, but it wasn’t Holden – decided that it would be cheaper to pay compensation to grieving relatives than to fix a design flaw that could lead to the cars catching fire. So, Holden, thanks for caring and making sure that customer satisfaction and safety are important to you.
And if you have been contacted by Holden about your Captiva or your Epica, don’t be a silly muggins and ignore it. Yes, it’s a nuisance to have to take your car back to an authorised dealer to get it checked and fixed, but if you don’t do it, you could be putting yourself at risk. We don’t want that. Holden doesn’t want it. And you don’t really want it either.
PS: If you want to know more about product recalls and consumer rights, visit the Product Recalls page of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commision’s website at http://www.recalls.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/952401.
A Varley Good Idea
A lot of people switch off when they read about electric cars. They’re all over in the USA, aren’t they? Or they’re just concept cars that turn up to make a manufacturer look good at a big motor show. We just can’t get straight electric cars over here in Australia at the moment, and those who are interested in sustainable motoring and alternative fuels have to make do with hybrid cars (and probably feel very grateful for their Toyota Prius and Honda Civic hybrids.
Well, that’s about to change. Varley is getting in on the act. Varley may be quite an old Australian company that was originally founded in 1886 and has been involved in all sorts of engineering projects (including marine, defence force, rail and more) for quite some time. However, now Varley is producing Australia’s first-ever all-electric supercar, the evR450.
The Varley evR450 first made a rather tentative appearance at the Electric Vehicle Conference held in Brisbane in mid-October 2011 and the makers have been surprised at how much interest has been shown in this vehicle. Maybe they shouldn’t have been so surprised – electric cars and hybrid cars are very sexy in automotive design (and this isn’t the only place that electric-powered transport is a hot topic: aviation is another area where the engineers are breaking new ground to get a battery-powered plane off the ground).
The Varley evR450 does quite well in the supercar stakes, as it can do the nought-to-100 sprint in a very, very respectable 3.8 seconds, which can beat the figures of some other Aussie-built supercars such as the HSV and FPV. Its top speed is a nippy 200 km/h, and it can do anything between 150 and 300 km to the battery pack, depending on the type of battery pack under the bonnet.
However, while the Varley evR450 is the first real passenger-style car to be launched on the Australian market, this isn’t the first electric vehicle that Varley have manufactured. Varley already make a number of small electric runabouts that you may well have seen in action. If you’ve seen some of those dinky tugs on wheels at airports pulling the baggage carts and the like, the chances are that it’s a Varley and it’s probably electric. Varley also make those little buses that take people on tours around parks and botanical gardens. Have a look on the back of one of those vehicles next time you see one to see if the Varley logo’s on the back. And have a listen and a sniff, too: can you smell fuel burning? And is the motor quiet?
The Varley evR450 will officially hit the roads in Queensland in January 2012, which isn’t far off. At the moment, they’re not sure how many units are going to produce for sale, and they’re going to wait and see what the demand’s like (which means that it won’t be listed in Private Fleet’s car reviews for the moment, and this post is the best you’re going to get for now). The Varley evR450 is aimed at the luxury car end of the market, and will cost about $200,000.
Fuel Efficient Driving Advice From The Boffins
Sometimes, it’s not what you drive but how you drive that counts. The boffins have done all sorts of research into cutting fuel costs and driving more efficiently to find out just how you should drive to trim down the fuel costs. Sometimes it’s not as simple as looking for a little small-engined hatchback such as a Peugeot 207 or a Mazda 2 to replace a large gas-guzzler.
A lot of that research has been done with heavy trucks – after all, if you’re the owner of a company with oodles of big rigs to top up with diesel or petrol, you will want to know what you can do to save on fuel bills without affecting your performance. And, as the boffins found out, what works with heavy vehicles tends to work with smaller vehicles – fleets and privately owned vehicles – as well.
One of the most interesting ways of saving fuel that does apply to all vehicles (obviously, things related to truck design don’t relate to your family wheels) is how you drive. The difference in fuel consumption between a good driver (i.e. one who drives efficiently) and a not-so-good one could be up to 35%. As an added bonus, the boffins found that the more fuel-efficient drivers were also the safer drivers, which provides an extra incentive for improving your driving behaviour.
What were the factors that made the difference between a good driver and a not-so-good driver? Speed was the first factor – if you keep under or to the speed limit, you will consume less fuel than you would if you stepped on the gas a bit more. Gear selection, i.e. picking the right gear for what you’re doing, was another important factor mentioned, as was changing gear at the right number of engine revs. Of course, if you have an automatic gearbox, these two factors aren’t really an issue.
The fourth point on the list is one that does come down to the individual driver: the aggressiveness of using the brake and the accelerator pedals. In a nutshell, if you step on the pedals like you’re trying to squash cockroaches, you will go through the gas a lot more. If you use the pedals like you’re trying to walk across gravel barefoot, you use less. This factor has been noticed by the car manufacturers as well, and they’ve introduced indicators on the dashboard to let you know if you’re driving aggressively or not – the Honda Insight is one good example.
Idling time was another factor that the boffins noticed, but is probably one that we could have told them about. If you leave your motor idling for longer, you go through more petrol. Unless, of course, you have a hybrid vehicle such as the Toyota Prius that lets the electric motor take over if you do have to sit there with the motor going – at the traffic lights, for example. What shouldn’t be done, electric vehicle or otherwise, is sitting there at the side of the road with the motor going. If you have to take a phone call (and you haven’t got a hands-free phone) or if you’re a courier or tradesperson who has to do a bit of paperwork at every stop, then leave the motor off when you’re doing it.
One factor, albeit a lesser one, could be controversial. This advice was to open the windows instead of using the air conditioning, as this uses less fuel. However, another set of boffins have concluded that doing this exposes you to more nasties from pollution getting into your airways and you should use the air conditioning if you want to minimise your exposure to particulate matter, carbon monoxide and all the rest of it. On the other hand, if everybody opened their windows instead of using the air conditioning, we’d all use less fuel and there’d be fewer pollutants in the air. The big thing here is getting everyone started with the good habits.
Other factors mentioned by the boffins for reducing fuel consumption included aerodynamics (take those roof racks off if you’re not carrying them), keeping tyres at the right pressure and maintaining the engines properly (a clogged air filter can increase fuel consumption by 10%, for example). Another one was picking the right vehicle for the job, which is very relevant to a fleet but is less relevant to the private driver, except it gives you an excuse to ask your mate for the loan of his/her Land Rover if you need to shift a heavy load of furniture and you’ve got a little Mini.
Level 2, 9 Help Street