Fun Dutch commercial demonstrating Forester as a tow car.
Monthly Archive for March, 2008
Porta-Jump is a tiny jumpstarter battery measuring only 3 x 3 x 2.5 inches. The handy feature is that it connects to the cigarette lighter. Jumper cables are not needed. You have to wait few minutes and when Porta-Jump shows a green light car can be started.
Porta-Jump also re-charges itself while driving. Official web pages sells this tiny wonder with $29.99 price. However, there has been also $19.99 street prices for Porta-Jump. I wonder how well this actually works? Especially during winter when more power is required from the battery to start the car.
We had a snowstorm today and the driving conditions were very bad. It started snowing at night and there was 20 cm of snow on the roads in the morning. Additionally there was slippery ice under the snow, so studded winter tyres were really needed. Severe wind made the visibility poor. Sometimes it was hard to see if traffic lights were red or green before they were closer than 10 meters.
Driving conditions were extreme especially for a motor home with a front wheel drive. Ford Transit based Carado proved to be a balanced and good to drive. It behaved in a logical way in a thick snow and when the front wheels lost their grip. It did not do any quirks. Anti-locking feature of the brakes actuated in a sophisticated manner without rattling the brake pedal too much.
Tom Tom uses two different notations to show the version numbers of the maps. The online store displays version numbers in the form of v7.15. The same thing shown in the navigator display is v715.xxxx.
How to check Tom Tom version numbers?
Tap the bottom right corner when you are navigating in the driving view. This brings up the summary screen. There is a version number indicating the application SW version in the bottom right corner. Tapping this version number reveals a new screen that has more detailed information about your navigator. The application SW version is shown in more detail, the available free memory, map that you are currently using and the version number of the map.
I was returning home when a rock hit to the windscreen a couple of days ago. I heard a loud bang and I even saw the rock. The result was a proper damage. White spot with a diameter of few millimeters and three cracks of 10 mm. The spot is located on the driver’s side, but fortunately it is in the lower part of the windscreen, so it does not disturb the visibility. I wasn’t very happy, since I have driven only 5900 km with Carado and it still feels like a brand new.
I placed a tape over the damage to prevent dirt going inside the glass. I hope that the cracks do not start to expand before I’ll get them fixed. I called windscreen service and they said that it takes around 2 hours to fix the damage. It depends how well the resin will flow inside the glass.
I have an insurance that will cover this type of damages without affecting the bonus system. It covers the fixing costs 100%. If the fixing does not work and the windscreen needs to be changed then I’ll have to pay 150 euros and the insurance will cover the rest.
Rayzer is a new type of auxiliary light manufactured by a Swedish company Visualeyes. Rayzer is mounted inside a car behind the rear-view mirror. The light uses two 35 watts HID Xenon bulbs that last 3000 hours. Visualeyes claims 300% improved visibility when compared to traditional auxiliary lights.
The lights are controlled by a remote unit installed under the hood. It detects vehicle’s high-beams and controls the light unit via RF link without wires. Rayzer has also a sensor for oncoming traffic, which dims the lights. The level adjustment is manual operation.
Rayzer operates with 12 Volts and 10 A fuse is enough. The price is 830 EUR / 7950 SEK / 1270 USD.
The German Pro Mobil magazine has tested Fendt K 400, which is a Van class motor home. It received ratings between 2.5 stars (winter use) and 4 stars (payload). Most of the ratings were 3 stars. Fendt has a 700 kg payload, which is plenty for two persons.
K 400 uses Ford chassis with the more powerful 130 hp 2.2-litre TDCI. The average consumption in the test was 11,5 litres per 100 km. This translates to 20.5 miles per gallon.
Our hotel reviews from the Helsinki area continues and this time we’ll tell you our experiences about the Radisson SAS Royal hotel. Royal is located at the heart of Helsinki right next to the Kamppi shopping center. The street address is Runeberginkatu 2. The location is ideal if you are planning to see what the downtown has to offer. There is main bus terminal and subway station in the Kamppi shopping center, so public transportation is easily accessible.
We stayed one night in the Standard room, which was approximately 20 square meters in size. The equipment level was good. There was iron for clothes, safety deposit box, bathtub, and hair dryer. Bathtubs are getting less common in Finland even in hotels nowadays. Wireless Internet access was included to the 140 euros standard price and it was provided by Sonera Homerun.
There was a bad smell in the hallway because of the near by laundry room had a door open almost all the time. Fortunately the smell did not come into our room. Royal has its own garage in the neighbouring building. It can be accessed via Lapinlahdenkatu and Lapinrinne. Late check out is possible if you want to make for example some last minute shopping before leaving.
There is a cafe in the lobby run by Coffee House. The breakfast service was very friendly and quick. There’s also grab & run breakfast for those in a hurry. It means that you can take a cup of coffee or tea and croissants with you.
Näytä suurempi kartta
Nissan Navara received a poor 1 struck star rating originally in the EuroNCAP. See the previous article. Nissan took an action to improve Navara’s safety performance and now the pick-up has been re-tested. The improved model got 3 star rating. The child occupant protection also improved to 4 stars.
The improvements are achieved via software update. So if you own a Navara visit the Nissan service to download the new software to upgrade your pick-up’s safety level.
Isuzu is also considering how it could improve the safety of D-Max/Rodeo model. The D-Max result is only 2 stars where one start is struck through.
Hotel Seaside offered a nice and comfortable place to stay during my visit in Helsinki. The hotel is located in Ruoholahti, which is approximately 1 kilometer to the South-West from Kamppi shopping center. That’s an easy walk to the downtown if the weather is fine. There is a tram stop on the opposite side of the road if you don’t feel like walking.
The room was large for two persons and although it was quite narrow there was plenty of space. The equipment level was good. TV had a rotating stand, there was large cabinet and iron for clothes, and microwave oven. Wireless internet access was provided by Sonera Homerun and it was included to the 90 euros standard price.
Shower and toilet were separate spaces. The hotel was quiet during the night and breakfast was well served. There was a cafe in the lobby managed by Coffee House. It had basic offerings like coffee, tee, sodas, muffins, buns, etc. A cup of coffee and a muffin was 5 euros. The Viola restaurant downstairs proved to be a good place to dine.
Parking spaces are most often the problem area in the downtown hotels. Seaside offers 100 places for passenger cars.
Näytä suurempi kartta
Caravanuutiset.com
Subscribe via RSS feed
Become a fan on Facebook
Follow Tommi on Twitter
Recent Comments