From July 6th the EU may have been limiting your speed.

Yes, but I admit to having had to look it up!

A mate of mine who had a Reliant Regal got done for speeding in the middle of that. I don't know whether the copper thought he should be giving him a ticket or a prize! I recall he got done a tenner - or half a week's wages for him (after tax)
Those old Reliants were quicker than they looked. He just hadn't been trying previously. They'd easily have done more than 60! Many years ago, I had a Bond Bug, which was actually (considering the lack of wheels) worryingly quick! OK, I didn't really believe the speedo when it said 100 MPH, but I think it would genuinely do at least 80 in a straight line.
 
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I remember then Bond 875 was quick, but that had naff all weight and the engine/gearbox straight out of an Imp. The Regal had something like a Austin 7 engine (in effect)...
 
The Regal had something like a Austin 7 engine (in effect)...
Was the Austin 7 fitted with a overhead valve aluminium block with steel liners engine? I think unlikely, not quite like the Coventry Climax engine used in the Imp, but it was for the time an unusual engine to find in a car.

What I remember about the Regal engine was you had to undo the right hand engine mounting and jack up engine to renew the oil filter. And would need to bleed the heater to get it working, and it would only work for around 50 miles before needing bleeding again.

They has a leak off pipe to drain petrol if you flooded the engine directed directly onto the exhaust pipe, many caught on fire, and all the resin would burn leaving all the fibreglass lying on the chassis.
 
It was during a visit to the 1937 Commercial vehicle show that Reliant acquired the supply of the Austin 7 engine for their vehicles which they used from 1938 to 1939 when Austin ceased manufacture of the engines and Reliant made their own 747cc side-valve engine that was closely modeled on the Austin 7.
From the official web site of the Reliant Motor Club. I was actually thinking about the earlier Regal mk.1 to mk.6 (the rounded model) which had a cast iron engine derived from the Austin 7 engine, not the later model, the Regal 3 (with the Anglia-like back window that sloped the "wrong way"), which had a Reliant-designed 600cc OHV aluminium engine. The only Reliant I ever owned myself was a Scimitar GTE (SE5a), although my brother did have one of the earlier Regals when I was a teenager
 
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From 2024, all new cars sold, will need an advanced emergency braking system (already fitted to a lot of cars) which will detect an imminent collision with another car or larger vehicle, and apply the brakes automatically.
I had a mercedes as a courtesy car for a few days and that emergency braking system kicked off a couple of times for no reason, once in the middle of the roundabout.
Fortunately nobody was behind me, otherwise they would have surely hit me.
 
Yes, they do that. I've had it happen on PSA and VAG cars. The technology isn't quite there yet, IMO, which I think, is why so many manufacturers are currently offering it - so that they can get more "real world" experience of it. That said, for me, it has always been a sharp dab on the brakes. It hasn't actually slowed the car appreciably, and nobody has gone into the back of me. Scares the living daylights out of me when it happens though!
 
Yes, the little 4-pot Reliant engine was based on the Austin 7 engine. It only had a 3-main bearing crank. It was produced in various sizes - 600 to 850cc. Most used Zenith carbs, but the 850 used an SU, and fuel could drip from it if the float chamber flooded. They had a tray under them to stop it dripping onto the exhaust manifold. In reality, few ended up going up in smoke, but those that did, burned well!
Was the Austin 7 fitted with a overhead valve aluminium block with steel liners engine? I think unlikely, not quite like the Coventry Climax engine used in the Imp, but it was for the time an unusual engine to find in a car.

What I remember about the Regal engine was you had to undo the right hand engine mounting and jack up engine to renew the oil filter. And would need to bleed the heater to get it working, and it would only work for around 50 miles before needing bleeding again.

They has a leak off pipe to drain petrol if you flooded the engine directed directly onto the exhaust pipe, many caught on fire, and all the resin would burn leaving all the fibreglass lying on the chassis.
 
I had a mercedes as a courtesy car for a few days and that emergency braking system kicked off a couple of times for no reason, once in the middle of the roundabout.
Fortunately nobody was behind me, otherwise they would have surely hit me.
we have one of these pieces of garbage, it done an emergency brake all by itself, what a bloody fright. Not that mercedes will admit it but the whole auto collision avoidance thing is just stupid, the warning sound and red triangle often appear for no reason

It is also utterly useless with speed limits, it often gets it completely wrong, thinks any wide modern single carriageway road is a 70. Also thinks the NSL sign coming out of a 20 zone is 30. So if this was automated we could be stuck at 30mph for considerable distances.

But getting back to the original post, car speeds limited to the law of the road is a brilliant step forward, lets hope insurance companies void any policy where idiots over ride the system. I wish they would go another step and limit the siz and power output of cars, it is becoming just ludicrous the size of these idiotic SUVs.
 
Two different systems. Speed limit recognition and emergency braking. I must admit, I'm curious what excuse the fans of automated speed limit enforcement are going to come up with when this system doesn't deliver the benefits they'd hoped for! In the meantime, we can all look forward to our roads being clogged, not just by a couple of lorries limited to the same speed, trying to overtake each other for several miles, but for the same thing to happen with all cars too...
 
if the speed limit is 70 and the car in front has worn out tyres and is only doing 69.5. what point will there be in over taking it ? and why would this clog up our roads - nobody should be overtaking when you are going at the speed limit

It is only those who want to drive very fast that will object at having to obey the law.
 
I don’t see much to complain about with most of these issues.
There are some tin foil hat anti EU nuts but they would probably complain about seatbelts and airbags being introduced.

Speeding is a genuine issue (I have been done three times)

we have to recognise that eventually electric cars will prevail, and self driving cars will eventually take over in the same way that cars took over from horses. Some people sound like the (American?) council/ township that ruled that an early motor vehicle that encountered a horse should be “dismantled and covered up to avoid the horse being startled”
 
if the speed limit is 70 and the car in front has worn out tyres and is only doing 69.5. what point will there be in over taking it ? and why would this clog up our roads - nobody should be overtaking when you are going at the speed limit

It is only those who want to drive very fast that will object at having to obey the law.
Ah... that'll be why you never see two trucks, limited to the same speed, trying to overtake each other, then? :rolleyes:
 
Ah... that'll be why you never see two trucks, limited to the same speed, trying to overtake each other, then? :rolleyes:
yes 'elephant racing' it is only a problem for those vehicles who are permitted to travel faster. if everyone was limited to 70mph on a motorway then who would the nuisance be to ? those who have modified their cars so as they can break the law.

On enviromental grounds may be the new max limit should be 56 mph for all vehicles
 
I don’t see much to complain about with most of these issues.
There are some tin foil hat anti EU nuts but they would probably complain about seatbelts and airbags being introduced.

Speeding is a genuine issue (I have been done three times)

we have to recognise that eventually electric cars will prevail, and self driving cars will eventually take over in the same way that cars took over from horses. Some people sound like the (American?) council/ township that ruled that an early motor vehicle that encountered a horse should be “dismantled and covered up to avoid the horse being startled”
Yes, I think much of that is inevitable. However, "speeding" in itself, needs looking at. I do not believe it is the problem that some people seem to think it is. Clearly, you have three convictions and have lived to tell the tale. The problem is far more complex than that. It's a question of degree and circumstance. I won't trot-out the well-worn arguments about 29MPH in the snow, past a school at chucking out time being "safe" and 31 past the same school in the middle of the summer holidays at night being "dangerous", but I'm sure we're all familiar with them.
The fact is, with increasingly zealous enforcement (and then subsequent speed limit reductions and even more enforcement, when that failed to deliver the anticipated benefits), we aren't seeing the death and serious injury figures on our roads falling. In my view, it's time to have a re-think. I'm beginning to think we're barking up the wrong tree.
 
yes 'elephant racing' it is only a problem for those vehicles who are permitted to travel faster. if everyone was limited to 70mph on a motorway then who would the nuisance be to ? those who have modified their cars so as they can break the law.

On enviromental grounds may be the new max limit should be 56 mph for all vehicles
So in other words, you accept that, human nature being what it is, people will always try to make the best progress they can, even though it might be only 0.5 MPH faster than the next guy? Yes, that's what will happen. If you want to see what traffic is like when everything is limited to the same speed. Go cruise a few 50 MPH roadworks...

Great, isn't it?
 
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