macabethiel
07-06-2014, 11:36
Reading MicraSheds post reminds me of a true story from the 60's.
My late father worked for a Vauxhall Dealership in Derby and one of his customers a partner in a firm of Accountants was moaning about the fuel consumption of his new car.
It was a Vauxhall Viscount 3.3 Litre petrol an upmarket version of the Cresta with electric windows, vinyl roof etc. He was only returning about 6 mpg.
My father went out in the vehicle with him to ascertain his driving style and noticed that when he put it into gear he put it in gear marked D1 instead of D2 and drove off on the test drive reaching speeds of up to 50 mph in first gear.(It was the old auto box design known as powerglide and only had two selectable gear ranges).
He pointed out to the owner that position D1 was the first gear driving range and that he should put it in D2. The owner said it went plenty fast enough in D1 without the car running away with itself in D2.
Said owner was persuaded to use D2 and all was well for about a month when he returned to the dealership wanting to know what IGN meant on his dashboard as it had been illuminated for a couple of days and the engine smelt hot!!
The fanbelt was broken and he had no idea that it stood for Ignition ?
Luckily the engine had not overheated enough to blow the head gasket as he only lived a couple of miles from his office.
Apparently he was a brilliant accountant !!
My late father worked for a Vauxhall Dealership in Derby and one of his customers a partner in a firm of Accountants was moaning about the fuel consumption of his new car.
It was a Vauxhall Viscount 3.3 Litre petrol an upmarket version of the Cresta with electric windows, vinyl roof etc. He was only returning about 6 mpg.
My father went out in the vehicle with him to ascertain his driving style and noticed that when he put it into gear he put it in gear marked D1 instead of D2 and drove off on the test drive reaching speeds of up to 50 mph in first gear.(It was the old auto box design known as powerglide and only had two selectable gear ranges).
He pointed out to the owner that position D1 was the first gear driving range and that he should put it in D2. The owner said it went plenty fast enough in D1 without the car running away with itself in D2.
Said owner was persuaded to use D2 and all was well for about a month when he returned to the dealership wanting to know what IGN meant on his dashboard as it had been illuminated for a couple of days and the engine smelt hot!!
The fanbelt was broken and he had no idea that it stood for Ignition ?
Luckily the engine had not overheated enough to blow the head gasket as he only lived a couple of miles from his office.
Apparently he was a brilliant accountant !!