Rolfe
Moderator
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2023
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- Location
- West Linton, Scotland
- Driving
- MG4 SE SR
New tyres fitted good to go.
New tyres, so the old new one was not repairable?New tyres fitted good to go.
I plan on getting runflats when we move and my daily commute increases from 11km to 110km. Unfortunately in the OE size all you can seemingly get (here in Australia anyway) is a Pirelli runflat. So to have some more options one would have to change rims as well.What an ordealHave fun on the 2nd attempt - we did it many years ago - views are amazing, but the road was surprisingly narrow and poorly maintained - we're not talking of quality, "italian job" Alpine passes!
But about tyres, surely the answer for us all without space-savers is to have run-flats? My old BMW had them and worked a treat on the 2 occasions we got flats in 10+ years.
I simply don't understand how manufacturers can fob us off with no space-saver and a bottle of gloop these days. Surely run-flats are the answer?
You tease!Home now. In bed with a large glass of wine. Caliban is in the garage with the Zappi. Pictures and fuller details tomorrow, for those still interested.
Well, I suppose I should tell all. To be honest, I'm feeling quite depressed about it all. I've been feeling a bit down for a few weeks, hence being away from the forum for a little while, and the trip(s) to the Lake District were something of a cheer-myself-up strategy. I managed to laugh the first disaster off as bad luck, but twice in a row is getting me down.
The day was absolutely perfect. Clear and sunny with great visibility for the fantastic views. The road was less busy than last time, perhaps because it was a Wednesday not a Friday, which made it pretty stress-free. I got to the start of the Wrynose Pass without incident.
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Here's the top of the Wrynose Pass, with the road snaking off towards Cockley Beck and then the start of the Hardknott Pass beyond.
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This time I got to Cockley Beck bridge with no trouble at all, and I could see nothing to explain the puncture on the first attempt. The start of the Hardknott Pass beckoned.
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I had a minor hiccup at the first bad hairpin when I tried to pull in to let a car that had come up behind me rather fast go past, and lost traction slighly when I miscalculated, but soon recovered, let the other car past, and Caliban took the hairpin perfectly. After that it was fairly plain sailing all the way. I have to say it felt quite hairy and I turned the aircon temperature down a couple of times and not just because it was sunny, but really, take it slow and it's fine. At the summit I came upon a group of not-at-all-young cyclists just getting to the top, and frankly, kudos. Respect. (The gear ratios on the first guy's bike were something else.) They must have been incredibly fit. Here are a few pics from the road.
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About two-thirds of the way down there is a Roman fort (the entire thing was a Roman road, though not straight as most of them were) and I climbed up for a look.
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This is the bath house, which I only realised later is separate from the rest of the fort which is a bit higher up the hill and not really visible from the road. If I do go back, I'll climb further up and see the rest.
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This is Caliban in the little car park for the fort.
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I went on to Ravenglass, partly because of the intriguing name. Very pretty village with another Roman bath house, a castle and a steam railway, but distressingly short of coffee shops.
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I had been considering whether to risk going back the same way, because although it wasn't really difficult, it's scary the same way a roller-coaster is scary. But as I drove out of Ravenglass the mid-afternoon was so pretty and I knew that I'd have the late afternoon sunshine behind me going back over the pass which would be lovely, and had a rush of bravery - or foolhardiness.
Great pictures and terrific sunshine.
So sorry to hear you’re not feeling up to the mark.
I'm not the world's best mathematician but statistically what are the chances? The film rights alone must be worth a new set of tyres, of which, now you have new boots on one side, will it need new shoes on the other? Must admit the last two times I did Hardknott I was more worried about brake fade or clutch slip than punctures, perhaps the deterioration of the road and verges over the years have created more unfavourable conditions for tyres especially as manufacturers have tried to make them lighter and more cost effective than previously . At least the RAC came through this time with the new tyre solutions . Phew!It would be ironic if it was caused by recently unearthed Roman artefacts ( spearheads , pottery shards ) lining the verges of the road.
which are now the property of the tyre fitter.
You have to survive with a smile - we all love the descriptive tales. Shame some of them get a bit expensive though.It was a perfect day, and should have worked out a lot better than it did. I'll survive, I guess.
Aye I must admit I love the way the EV pulls itself up steep bits that make an ICE car think twice. There’s a couple of steep hairpin type bends on the road between Linlithgow and Bathgate where I always tend to pull away from following icemobiles. Perhaps less so now with the Berlingo but it still has that reassuring torquey sort of tug up hills.Brake fade or clutch slip. Frankly, I would not go up there in a car with a manual gear-shift for the Crown Jewels. I suppose the Golf with its DSG would have been fine, but even so I was a lot happier with the electric motor until the point where the traction control said "no more!" and I was deluding myself it was the motor.
But yes, it was loss of traction I was mostly concerned about, but reasoned that the Goodyears really ought to be fine. Which they were. Until they weren't. I was actually slightly unsure about the motor getting up the 30% parts because I know there are ICE cars that simply would not do that. Nuts of course, but maybe that was why I was too ready to imagine the motor was struggling when it was the tyres. I don't know where my brain was at that point, just too stressed to put two and two together and get four.
In fact an EV is the perfect car for a road like that, supposing your tyres can take it (no slip, and no punctures). Consider, referring to the map above. Caliban actually made it all the way up the Hardknott pass from the Jubilee Bridge to the summit (where the new tyres were fitted) with two flat tyres. Nearly a mile with hairpin bends going up 20% gradients. Show me the ICE car that can do that.
You have to survive with a smile - we all love the descriptive tales. Shame some of them get a bit expensive though.
Could your deflated tyre(s) have been loose on the rims and the wheel spinning a weee bit inside without moving the tyre so efficiently to give the feeling of loss of power? That is the only explanation I can think of and again that could have been exacerbated by the willing torque of the EV?