Hi Miles.

27-Jan-04 19:14:10, Miles Maxted wrote to David Williams


 MM> G'morning again,

 DW>> My car is nice and warm only *after* I have driven it for quite a
 DW>> few minutes in the morning, freezing my hands to the steering
 DW>> wheel as I do so.

 MM> Go buy yourself an old air-cooled VW - nearly instant heating in
 MM> one of those, as I recall...

It takes 2-3 minutes to warm up enough IIRC  the main problem is that the
motor is in the back and so for people in the fromt the heat takes a little
longer to come though as it has to first warm the ducting.

Citr”en did a front-engine air-cooled flat-four engined car ("CX" model)
but by now the engines are falling apart,  it's only a couple of years
since VW shut down it's beetle plant in Mexico City.

 DV>> What I want is some sort of index that takes into account the
 DW>> conductivities of steering wheels,

Leather is pretty good in that reguard.

 DW>> the warm-up times of engines under different temperature conditions,

can be improved by messing with the ignition timing :)

 DW>> the cooling effects on
 DW>> hands of the inevitable contacts with snow on the door handle,
 DW>> and so on.

get a remote than can open the door :)

 MM> ...or perhaps a remote that starts the vehicle minutes before you
 MM> venture out to it;  its become fashionable to fit such remotes to
 MM> fancy cars here,  but recently some clown started up his 4x4 in a
 MM> major Albany carpark only to find he'd run down a pregnant lady
 MM> when he finally found the vehicle crashed in a store-front.

 MM> Now "they" are legislating against the devices on manuals...

fair enough! you's want atleast a starter disabling switch like automatic
transmissions have.

 DW>> My face rarely gets seriously cold. It's my hands that I worry
 DW>> about.

my mum wears gloves.

 MM> Interesting;  personally, its the feet that get my attention - and
 MM> dry socks and leather that I try hardest for in slush and snow...

 MM> :-))

 -=> Bye <=-

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