Car Wash Machines: A Good Thing Or Not?
Going through the car wash used to be something of a treat when I was a child, especially as we lived in a small town and a mechanical car wash at a garage was something that only happened when we went into a larger town. It was just a little bit scary as well as fun – were those big mechanical arms going to go too far and crush the car? Would those rubbery things going flubbida-flubbida-flubbida against the window going to break the glass? Would the machine let us out again at the end? But out we would come in the family Mitsubishi station wagon, all clean and gleaming again, without any of the dust from all the back roads, just like magic. The added bonus was that I wasn’t going to be sent out to the driveway with a brush and a bucket of hot soapy water.
Today, I’m back there with the bucket of water (when I can’t persuade my teenagers to do the job), for two reasons, mostly. Firstly, if I’m going to spend a couple of bucks getting my car cleaned, I’d rather pay the kids to do it instead of the garage, as this will stop them (the kids, that is) pestering me for extra cash. Secondly, I have the sort of car that doesn’t like car washes: a Nissan Navara ute with an open deck at the back. Some types of car wash machine just don’t like these.
A Positive Charge: Proton Suprima S
Take a dash of Impreza hatchback, add a splash of Honda and toss in Lotus fettled underpinnings and there’s the Proton Suprima S. A Wheel Thing has been granted access to three Proton cars, kicking off with the aforementioned Suprima S, followed by the people mover styled Exora and wrapping up with the Preve’ sedan.
The Suprima S is a two model range, the GX and GXR with a single engine and transmission option. The donk is a 1.6L, four cylinder, turbo petrol kit, butting up against a CVT with a preprogrammed, seven ratio manual shift operated by the gearshift and (in the GXR) paddle 
shifts. There’s 103kW on tap at 5000rpm and a linear delivery of torque, 205Nm from 2000 to 4000 revs. It’s not a rapid mover, with Proton quoting a tick under ten seconds to hit 100 kmh. It feels a bit quicker than that and the CVT certainly aids in a constant feel of “push in the back”, with a seamless, ongoing delivery that belies what the speedo says. The engine itself is smooth, quiet however there’s a constant and irritating moan from somewhere directly in front of the passenger seat. It’s noticeable and intrusive, from ignition on to off and detracts from the driving experience. Economy wasn’t as good as expected; the Suprima has a smallish 50 litre tank on board and was drained at around 9 litres per hundred.
Petrolheads and Automotive Enthusiasts
Some time ago, my fellow blogger Lewis wrote about full-time and part-time drivers and the differences between them. Now, I’ve already responded to this post once, but a second bit of comment is called for. Not all full-time drivers are the same. They can be split into “petrolheads” and “automotive enthusiasts”.
“Petrolheads” are the full-time drivers we all love to hate. In their mildest version, they are all about power and performance – they want something that goes fast and hard. They hate to be overtaken. They get passionate about whether the car sports a blue oval or a red lion. They like to modify their exhausts so the entire neighbourhood can hear just how good their engine is. They may even, like our next-door neighbours once did with their new Ford Ranger, decide to demonstrate burnouts in the mud in the small hours of the morning (said neighbour also demonstrated brand new chainsaw at 3:00 a.m. on that particular night).
The Last Car Journey You’ll Ever Take
Two things are inevitable in life, they say: death and taxes. Taxes come annually and don’t usually mean a ride in a special sort of vehicle (unless you’ve been dodging taxes but that’s another story). But when the ultimate inevitable comes for you, like it came for my father-in-law recently, you will take your last trip inside a hearse.
I used to think that a hearse was a specially built type of vehicle, something along the lines of a London taxi or an ambulance. This is not the case – and it isn’t the case for an ambulance, either, as quite a few around the world are modified trade vans along the lines of a Ford Transit. . Hearses are also modified regular vehicles. Not too much modification is required, either. You just have to choose your car right.
Level 2, 9 Help Street