aiboart

XR6T's were designed by FPV Some very early XR6T's were built by FPV, at with FPV, with FPV parts... So logically ... they must be FPV's

Earth science people have known about this for decades. The entire global warming frenzy is a mad fashion, for people who do not know the difference between opinion and hard data. Typically it finds its greatest support in the people who fancy themselves as highly intelligent based on their wholesale subscription to opinion systems, religions, and religions that masquerade as science, sociology is one example. It is still a mystery how people of the humanities who generally parade their profound technological ignorance as a badge of honor and let's face it, intellectual superiority, have latched on to support the delusion that global warming is new and man made and greated by the greed of the West. The fact is that these same people cannot fathom the maths, the computer models, the difference between data and opinion etc. They boast that they do not know how a mobile phone works or how a car works, yet, they have the audacity to claim absolutely to know how a system as staggeringly complex as the earth operates. Oh please! Science begins when opinion ends and experiment and hard data over ride theory. Scientific opinion is an oxymoron. The chattering classes love the whole global warming rubbish because it is about belief and fashion. They 'believe' in global warming which in the humanities world is all that is required, really. In the real world however the earth or any other really system could not give a stuff about what you believe, or if your computer game, cough, model, runs on an Apple Mac. In general the technocracy as a group, have not subscribed for a number of reasons, 1 They know the difference between data, experiment and opinion. 2 They innately appreciate scale, numbers, causality, linear and non linear systems. (they know how big and significant stuff is) 3 They know about historical planetary data. Regards, aa

Link to 'Drive' article Canberra looks to slow driversMATT CAMPBELL November 29, 2009 . More 40km/h zones have been proposed for the nation's capital. It could be the end of all that free-flowing traffic for Canberrans. The Department of Territory and Municipal Services (TAMS) is seeking public feedback relating to dropping the speed limit to 40km/h around shopping centres and community facilities. The move aims to increase pedestrian and cyclist safety in the nation's capital. According to TAMS, the risk of death to a pedestrian or cyclist struck by a vehicle at 60km/h is greater than 90 per cent. TAMS say that the lower the speed, the lower the risk: at 50km/h the risk decreases slightly to 80 per cent. At a collision speed at the proposed limit of 40km/h, the risk of death reduces significantly to approximately 30 per cent. As with NSW, the ACT already utilises 40km/h speed zones during school times. Also operating in the ACT are 40km/h precincts in areas such as hospitals and universities, which come under the jurisdiction of those facilities. A report conducted by ARRB Group suggests the lower speed limit would be most appropriate in areas with the highest pedestrian movements. Sydney City Council has previously called for a blanket 40km/h speed zone across the CBD due to high pedestrian activity. The ACT's Minister for Transport, Jon Stanhope, is urging people to have their say on the proposed lower speed limits. Canberrans have until December 18 to voice their opinions. More information and an online questionnaire, visit: http://www.tams.act.gov.au/

Yep. It was pretty clear that either Rudd was insane or that there was another agenda. The treating a smoking gun pointing to the true agenda. Interestingly enough the triumph of opinion over experimenatal result which was a direct case of the Dark Ages was also the result of a then government initiative of the time. The Roman emperor Constantine decided to that the empire should get religion, Christianity, and as a result the Holy Roman Empire was born. Whist Constantine is a declared saint, there is no evidence whatsoever that he actually believed in the religion he foisted on to the empire. Speculation is that it was a means to extend control of the state into the household by frightening and thereby controlling the population. Yep. Its the usual gig, tell the population that they are no good (sin) that you are better (priest) and that unless they pay sacrafice (tax) the world will end pronto, you know in Egypt it was the sun would fail to rise, in other places the wolf would eat the sun (eclips) yada yada. In the case of the so called human induced global warming there is no experiment as such just a bunch of measurements onto which are grafted endless almost arbitrary correction factors and computer models which are themselves arbitraty assumptions codified into computer language. The correction factors and computer models are not strictly arbitrary however because they are there primarily to make certain the data comes out the way it should, I.e. the data comes out in a forms that ensures the next research grant comes in - from the Government - which is of course driving the new emission trading tax. The Governemnt needs to For the scientists it is a case of make the data show human global warming exists or else you are and idiot and your out of a job and a career. Science now operates luke a a pro sport, its about money and profile in order to make more money. Comply, follow the rules bring in the bucks make the sponsors happy or your out. Regards, aa

Scientific opinion is an oxymoron. Think about it. Science begins when opinions ends and testing starts. The opinion of 900 world respected scientists, or 9,000 scientists or 9 million scientists is worth nothing when compared to the results of one single experiment. The last time the West had opinion triumph over experimental results we had the Dark Ages. That was a time when the Clergy (Greens) stood on the pulpit (media) and decried the heretics (global warming denier) and ran the tax on sin (carbon emissions) called the Indulgence (Carbon Credit). Yep it is a new religion being born before your eyes with dire threats of extermination if you do not pay the priests the temple offering. In the case of the so called human induced global warming there is no experiment as such just a bunch of measurements onto which are grafted endless almost arbitrary correction factors. The correction factors are not strictly arbitrary because they are there primarily to make certain the data comes out the way it should, I.e. the data comes out in a forms that ensures the next research grant comes in - from the government - which is of course driving the new emission trading tax. For the scientists it is a case of make the data show human global warming exists or else you are and idiot and your out of a job and a career. With respect to planetary geophysics, computer modeling, sea level rises, global thermal history, global atomosphic compositions, extinctions, flora diversity yada yada, here are some interesting facts that you can research for yourself sea level rises and falls occur at staggering frequency in the geological record - and that is just from the data we have at hand now. More data means we can see even higher frequency events. global warming and cooling events are same same, staggering frequency of climate change that gets even more frequent with more data. the earth is alive and evolving and emitting staggering amounts of material, and a good portion of that material is carbon dioxide. a staggering amount of the material is basalt which forms the ocean bottom. The oceans are being created and destroyed. There are several new seas in creation in the middle east and you can see the form on any map or globe of the area. global currents are pivotal to the earth's climate. There are also very fickle and can change or reroute with a single tectonic event or landslip. the emissions from a volcanoes dwarf all human activity combined. Just measure the volumes of any major volcano on Google, then remember there is potentially thousands of cubic km of magma sitting under that rock pimple. Now remember a percentage of those cubic km are carbon dioxide. the mid ocean ridge is essentially a volcano 23,000 km long and 2km high, it dwarfs the point volcanoes. the air is in a sense the light fraction of magma, it is in fact the gasses that separate from magma at low surface pressures. the magnetic poles collapse rapidly and then rebuild rapidly in the reverse direction. Regards, aa

Once you get some hi po brake pads on the car the front wheels will always be a different color to the back wheels anyway. After a week the front and rear wheels will look like altogether different styles. In my car after a week the rear wheels are still factory silver. The front wheels however are are matt brown. The brake dust is so even and the color so saturated it looks as if it has been sprayed on, which I suppose it has. BTW, nice car.

When people act in your interest without incentive and without coercion they are your friend, they like you. When people act against your interest in favor of their own interest they are a competitor. When people act in your interest out of incentive they are your customer. When people act in your interest out of coercion they are your slave. When people act against your interest without incentive and without coercion they are your enemy - they don't like you. Regards, aa

I have/had the slightest amount of rust on the top surface in the seam in the boot on the drivers side near the gas strut in the BAII. I addressed this with zinc paint and touch up paint. There is also a very tiny amount of surface rust in the weld spot inside the boot underneath the seam. It appears to be absolutely confined to the near surface. The above can be repaired under Ford warranty. I am concerned however about the repair process hacking into the body shell and possibly exacerbating what appears at this stage is a manageable problem. I think I have arrested the rust with judicious application of sealant and zinc rich paint. I may be very wrong. Warranty is running out. I need to decide in the next few weeks whether to act on not. What do you recommend? What is the the standard procedure for what is a known fault in the B series and is the standard rectification effective or is the cure worse than the problem. I really enjoy the car, service it like an aircraft and thus and plan to keep it for as long as possible. Regards, aa

Goodyear F1 Asymmetric. 17" (note ZAP has spoken of the 19") Completely linear response everywhere all the time with ultra high limits of grip in wet and dry. No real breakaway behavior just a linear decay of adhesion with increasing acceleration vectors. Also capable of brilliant transient behavior in both wet and dry if called upon. A brilliant tyre for my family and perhaps yours. In the wet, the GF1A is a cause of disappointment of drivers of high performance 4WD's who dump high revs into their 4WD drivelines, only to see a XR6T/F6 effortlessly sail away on a wave of contact patch friendly linear torque augmented by GF1A adhesion. Braking in the wet is as per in the dry, it really is quite incredible I must say. Over 1.5 sets of these the tyres my car has not so much as squealed a tyre. No drama, no noise, no histrionics, no fuss. The only exception to the above would be a deliberate invocation of ABS, which is of one does not do and is easily avoided with such a linear and high performance tyre,and, the the odd occasion on cool days when the A4 accelerates like crazy. Upshift can case a momentary rear end wiggle. All the car's power, braking and steering inputs go into the cars dynamic performance. That's my idea of how a car should run. Regards, aa

I am certain that a friendly super model will reach into the pipe and retrieve the dipstip for you. Regards, aa

In the BA/BF series fitted with the fold down rear seat armrest, when the arm rest is in use, a thin elasticized fabric barrier is all separates the boot from the cabin; in my car this is 99% of the time. Blocking the arm rest cavity and hence somewhat isolating the boot space, is therefore potentially a means of chasing down some NVH improvements, although, complete isolation of these spaces would require serious work around the split fold seat system. One simple way to block the cavity when the armrest is in use, is to fashion a cushion or a plug, which makes a tight fit into the cavity. So as not to appear out of place, the cushion covering would ideally closely match the style and material of the existing upholstery. When not in use, the cushion/plug could serve as a normal cushion. Memory foam would provide a decent acoustic density and edge sealing capability for this application. I have spoken to a well known motor trimmer about fashioning such a cushion, in leather to match the existing cabin leather, and the project seems quite a low cost option for potential NVH improvements. Some, but not all, of the the dimensions of the plug could be taken off the arm rest itself. (the armrest plugs the cavity when retracted) The armrest partially occupies the cavity even when lowered, so any dimensions taken from the arm rest would to be modified for use as a plug. Regards, aa

I tried an iPhone last week with a BA (BF) Factory Bluetooth kit. iPhone did not answer calls, it did not provide link to mike. iPhone would only hook up to the Bluetooth to output sound. I did not pursue this matter apart from re-pairing and rebooting the machine a few times.iPhone has since been retired to its seemingly proper place as very neat accelerometer controlled game platform. (iPhone Xplane is very cool and and ice hockey is fun). Work phones are back to being either Windows Mobile 6 devices or Nokia N series, both of which work fine with the B series Factory Bluetooth. Regards, aa

Toyota has just recalled 3.8 million cars in the USA in relation to a fatal problem stemming from floor mat design. With respect to the BA/BF series. It is known that the 'XR' mats have a bullet proof fastening and location system. These carpets will wear out before they move, at all. The FPV mats with their metallica button fastening system are reported to be another matter. Your choice. New York Times '...While it still has plenty of cash, and now outranks General Motors as the world’s biggest carmaker, that is not good enough, Mr. Toyoda told journalists. The company, hit by a spate of recalls in the middle of the decade, is betraying its roots as a quality automaker, he said. Last week, Toyota announced its biggest recall ever in the United States after a crash in August in which a California highway patrol officer and three family members were killed. The accident, which Mr. Toyoda called “extremely regrettable,” apparently occurred when the accelerator got jammed by a floor mat. “Four precious lives have been lost. I offer my deepest condolences,” Mr. Toyoda said. “Customers bought our cars because they thought they were the safest. But now we have given them cause for grave concern. I can’t begin to express my remorse.” And Mr. Toyoda did not stop there. ...' CNN Toyota: 3.8 million cars with risky floor mats NHTSA and world's largest automaker warn vehicle owners to remove driver's side floor mats in 7 Lexus and Toyota models. NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Toyota issued a safety warning for 3.8 million Lexus and Toyota cars because of potentially deadly floor mats. In statements released Tuesday, the world's largest automaker and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration warned drivers to remove the mats or risk a forced-down accelerator pedal that could lead to a fatal crash. The seven models being recalled could potentially have removable mats that would interfere with the pedal and cause it to stick. "A stuck open accelerator pedal may result in very high vehicle speeds and make it difficult to stop the vehicle, which could cause a crash, serious injury or death," said Toyota in its statement. Though Toyota recalled accessory all-weather floor mats in 2007 for similar problems, NHTSA noted that reports of vehicles accelerating rapidly even after the release of the pedal have continued. In a statement posted on the automaker's Web site earlier this month, Toyota said that preliminary information from investigators indicated that a fatal crash involving a family driving a 2009 ES350 loaned by a local Lexus dealer in San Diego could have been caused by an all-weather floor mat interfering with the accelerated pedal because of a faulty mat installation. "There is an urgent matter," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in the NHTSA statement. "For everyone's sake, we strongly urge owners of these vehicles to remove mats or other obstacles that could lead to unintended acceleration." Toyota has announced that it will soon launch a safety recall to redress the problem, but NHTSA and the automaker warn Toyota and Lexus drivers of certain models to remove that floor mats sooner for safety. The Toyota models being impacted are: 2007-2010 Camry, 2005-2010 Avalon, 2004-2009 Prius, 2005-2010 Tacoma and 2007-2010 Tundra. The Lexus models facing the safety recall are the 2007-2010 ES 350, and the 2006-2010 IS 250 and IS 350. US News Toyota Floormat Recall Could Expand Posted: Oct. 01, 2009 10:10 a.m. If your Toyota wasn't included in the massive floormat recall campaign announced yesterday, don't breathe easy yet. In fact, you may want to remove your driver's side floormat as a precaution, even if you haven't been instructed to. The list of affected vehicles may grow in coming weeks. Toyota, and its luxury division, Lexus, have asked owners of some models to remove the driver's side floormat from their vehicle for fear that it might trap the accelerator pedal and cause the car to accelerate without warning. The campaign is not yet a formal recall, the Boston Globe explains, but "yesterday's notice was nothing more than a safety advisory." The company is working the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to get the word out that owners of some Toyota vehicles should remove their driver's side floor mat, but Toyota northeast PR manager Wade Hoyt told the Globe that the matter won't be a formal recall "until we've worked out a fix that NHTSA approves." Before that happens, however, the recall may expand to include more Toyota and Lexus models. Kicking Tires explains, "We had a 2010 Toyota Prius in our test fleet this week and noted its floormat set-up is similar to Toyotas included in the recall. The 2010 Prius is not included in the current recall, but the 2005-2009 Prius is." Concerned, KT reviewers contacted Toyota. Toyota spokesman John Hanson told them that "the 2010 model uses the same type of floormats as the older Prius, as do many other current Toyota models not included in the recall." The 2010 Prius was left out of the recall, he said, "because there have been no specific complaints filed with either Toyota or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the floormats...However, when the recall is finalized, which could be as early as next week, the 2010 Prius may be included." If Toyota is waiting until specific complaints emerge before including a particular model in the recall, then the list of affected models could continue to grow for some time. Now that the issue has received so much publicity, owners are certain to be on the lookout for floormat-related problems with most Toyota and Lexus cars, and it seems reasonable to assume that more complaints lie ahead. The company faced a similar issue in 2007. It responded, that time, with a recall of certain Camry and Lexus ES350 models. Autoblog noted at the time, however, that while the formal recall covered just those two cars, the NHTSA also warned "Toyota Prius, Avalon, RAV4 and Tacoma owners to check and make sure their floor mats [were] properly secured." The company is working on a solution to the problem that goes beyond a simple floormat redesign. Toyota spokesman Brian Lyons told the New York Times that the company is exploring solutions that would allow the driver to easily overcome any problem that caused unintended acceleration. "It is conceivable we could develop software so that if the gas pedal and brake pedal were hit at the same time, the brake pedal wins," he told the Times. A software change would have the additional advantage of being inexpensive and quick for dealers to perform. Lyons added, "We have several ideas in mind."

Nice tune, very drivable, very linear, very flat. Actually everything is very flat and or linear. If you are worried about your box, and your tyre hookup for that matter, you may consider retuning to flatten the small torque spike at 2600 RPM. Still, in the grand scheme of these things this is only a a (very) small spike. This is one considerably refined tune. Removing the small spike, and the impulse, may make the car feel considerably slower, however by removing the spike and maintaining tyre grip, it is also likely to make the car considerably faster. Regards, aa

Here are some suggestions, Tighten up all chassis and driveline bolts. If you can't do this yourself, pay the dealer to do it for you. This is not expensive, but the results are brilliant in respect to eliminating NMH. Do it and do it regularly. It is a lot easier to prevent NVH in the first instance with this simple and yet typically overlooked maintenance item than trying to block NVH from entering the cabin with remedial engineering. In addition to starkly and significantly improving NVH tightening up the chassis and driveline will improve control fidelity and decrease latency. If you don't have decent Ford floor mats, get some. Buy only ultra high performance tyres which are known to have good NVH characteristics. Get some high quality monotubes shocks. These have a phenomal effect on all aspects of NVH. At low speed they do not whoosh and rattle at all. Their action is oily smooth due to the high quality construction. At speed the digressive tune cuts in to allow relatively high rates wheel compliance, which significantly reduces wheel impact (NVH) and body responses (VH); wheel compliance dramatically adds to mechanical grip on rough surfaces. Ford make a heavy fitted rubber tub-like mat that fits into the boot of the BA/BF. It is meant to provide a form of easily removed and easily cleaned water proof protection for the boot, however, the nature of the material and its fit act to block and absorb noise emminating from under the boot floor. Ford also make a spongy rubber flap that is desiged to flip over the loading lip. When retracted this sits in an ideal position to absorb NVH from the underfloor area in the boot. Get a factory BA/BF boot lid liner. Again a factory fit item that acts to dampen noise in the boot. Check to see that the rubber plugs in the bottom of your spare wheel are present. (there are supposed to be two, my car only had one). If using the Aux imput, upgrade to the Ford pre amp version rather than the straight cable. Even better, consider the new ASL noise suppressed preamped version (ASL is the Ford Factory apppointed ICC repairer). Regards, aa

Thanks guys. I appreciate your help. I am going to have another crack at the problem in a few days. Just to illustrate the capricious nature of this problem, it was going nuts the other day with the gearbox or exhaust or bits of the suspension seeking, it seems, to come through the cabin floor or firewall. Next day, nada, nothing at all. This was despite hundreds of km of open road and city driving over variable terrain. The car was so dam refined my self declared non rev head passanger decided he wanted to buy a XR6T. The day after that, the high energy banging was on again over the slightest imperfection in the asphalt. Pat, I would like to order some of your new Kiwi rear drop links. This will probably have to be via mail order, though if I can find the time I would certainly like make the journey to see you in the new workshop. Regards, John

Thanks for the help. I had the Bilsteins dynoed on the car which showed nothing, nor did the problem occur during the dyno process. Then I bought a 5th Bilstein to replace the unit in the car and the problem still occured. For the sake of completeness I will follow your advice and have the spare Bilstein dynoed off the car. The presentation of this problem has a consistent temperature controlled component, a suspension speed component and a direction component (strongly favors rebound - down). To my mind a hydraulic system would be most likely to behave consistently in those conditions. I will see to swapping out the Ferrofluid bushes as your suggest. Regards, aa

BAII XR6T A4 STD wheels, springs, engine and tune Bilstein monotunes dba 5000 front discs A very sticky problem. The car behaves perfectly when the weather is warm. It is just brilliant. When the weather turns cool things change seriously for the worse. Once the weather turns cool, any steepish downward irregularity in the asphalt, even liquid smooth asphalt frequently generates a massive bang that originates under the pedals, or in front of the driver. This is sometimes a massive impact that sends a wave through the floor into the driver and the rest of the car. It is exceedingly unpleasant. More typically there is an extremely loud bang or series of bangs that sounds like someone is hitting the suspension or the cross member with a iron rod out in in engine bay. At other times the noise it has a metallic springy character. The noise simply does not occur in warm weather under any conditions. It does not occur in summer, at all. The noise will tend to occur at every steepish irregularity in the road where the drivers side goes in rebound. In weather such such as today (max say 18C) the noise will also occur on level but crazed asphalt. Once triggered, by even very smooth but undulating asphalt, the noises will continue to occur several dozen times per km for hours on end. At other times it disappears for hundreds of km, until a slightly larger break in the asphalt will trigger a large bang, and then we get the constant banking for hours on end with every crack or dip in the asphalt. The noise often has a massive springy character to the bang. The noise is speed independent. It occurs in my driveway at 0.5kph when the front driver side wheel goes slowly over a 2cm drop. It is normally associated with the driver side when in rebound, albeit minor excursions though at it also occurs at bump. Frequently in cold weather when the noise occurs, it is followed by several lesser bangs and gives every impression of something bouncing around. Things done to date 2 dealerships, more than 10 visits. Replaced lower ball joints, replaced engine mount (leaks and witness mark found), tightened steering rack (witness mark found), tightened all chassis bolts several times. 2 Pedders visits, the noise has a tendency to disappear for a couple of days after the car goes up on a hoist. 1 shock place I have convinced myself over a period of 18 months that the noise is, sticking sway bar drop links sticking sway bar other sticking bush somewhere in the suspension loose bush somewhere in the suspension coil binding clinking two piece front discs exhaust hitting cross member exhaust hitting heat shield heat shield flexing and flicking heat shield fasteners hitting body under batter air pipe hitting the body undefined bind in the suspension causing crashing into road irregularities auto box smashing into something engine smashing into something body welds I have all the above checked out many many times. The difficulty in is that once the car goes on a hoist the noise will disappear for a half a day. Any ideas? Regards, aa

...and that/those reasons might be what? DSGB, DI, LPG-DI, vble geo turbo, vble geo exhaust ... All hints gladly accepted. Regards aa

Ans. 1 Altogether a different league. 2 These brakes use a custom rotor 325*32mm IIRC. They fit under 17" rims. 3 DBA make a variety of high quality rotors for this application. DBA4000 are probably higher grade than OEM discs due to high quality materials and design improvements. DBA5000 are the two piece variant. Regards, aa

The front Premium Brakes have a black powdercoated caliper. Rear caliper is std Al. Both Front and Rear discs used the 'eliptical' groove pattern. The car in question sound like it has standard brakes with a premium disc at the rear. Regards, aa

The auto dim mirror on the X5 is no doubt in constant use, with faster traffic constantly coming up behind and then passing.... Regards, aa

When you have the car serviced have all the suspension and body bolts torqued to specification. This is not a normal service item and costs extra. I doubt many people have it done. This is a shame because conventional wisdom is that cars get rattly and noisy as they get older. The fact is that good servicing can result in a car that is quieter than new. Bilsteins will remove a lot, and I mean a huge amount, of the noises that we think of as normal, and that in fact are normal for this type of car even when new. A lot of these standard background noises, even the ones that occur when say reversing out of a driveway, simply disappear when using Bilsteins. The story only gets better as the speed builds and or the road gets rougher. With respect to increasing sway bar sizes, I honestly have no idea why this is necessary in road going versions of these cars. Regards, aa

FWIW, it may be useful to check that the problem is not an artifact of the testing process. So, How have you calculated the fuel usage? If using the trip computer to calculate average fuel usage, have you reset the trip computer? Regards, aa

Doesn't the standard method of replacing the bush involve dismantling the entire rear cradle and involve approximately $900 of labor? You come along and figure out how to do the same thing from the boot in 20 minutes and a couple of tools? This is simply brilliant. Congratulations. Regards, aa