purchased a new car...

[seiko1]

They aint so tough ya know

hummer-crash-small.jpg (43.43 KiB) Viewed 721 times

[Richo]

and the winner is :


by aardvark on Sat Jul 10, 2010 11:16 pm

Great ... cops with Knee Sliders .... that all we need

[kaneg]

In a way, I rather that than speed cameras

I've been to a ride about six month back with the Frontline riders group, fireys and cops, they don't mind a twist of the wrist here and there

[aardvark]

Great ... cops with Knee Sliders .... that all we need

To be honest mate, I don't need knee sliders. The stupid crash bars, fairings, footpegs and engine casings grind well before I'm able to get my knee down!

[Richo]

Grinding away good ole tax payers Money .. .. ..

I just hope you enjoy doin it Jase .... Cos it is good to see

[Kermit]

[Strika]

We did the same Aadvark, went looking at all the baby haulers and settled on a Murano. Our checklist was: Ease of loading a pram, had to have leather for easy clean up of the little ones mess with reclinable rear seats, responsive engine at low rpm for effortless city use (will never see offroad), AWD for safety in the wet, tall ride height to ease my back getting in and out as well as loading the bub, and it had to be modern with GPS and Ipod connect, and most of all comfortable.

Kaneg, don't be put off by the Taiwan/Chinese bits and pieces. Almost all major manufacturers have plants or partners in either Taiwan or the mainland these days. Not everything from China is as bad as the ebay copies we normally see for 1/10th the price. Besides Great Wall, I think Geely (reminds me of Adam Gilchrist) has big plans for Australia this year too.

Just wanted to clear up a misconception that you have. It is common across the buying public to have this thought process. But, A Nissan Murano, is not actually AWD. It is, like most supposed AWD systems, an "On-Demand" system. This means that it operates in 2wd for normal driving, then, when the computer senses slippage, it transfers power to the rear wheels. About the only true AWD system on cars today, is the Subaru AWD system.This system operates ALL 4 wheels, ALL the time. It can transfer the ratio of front to rear power depending on circumstances, but it starts off operating in about a 60/40 split. I think the Audi Quattro System might also be similiar. But, X-trail, Murano, Outlander etc., are all on demand systems. So in terms of passive safety, they are next to useless, as you have to get into trouble, before the system operates in true AWD. The point of AWD, is to spread power to all 4 wheels, all the time. Spreading the power delivery across 4 contact patches, means it is less likely to slip or lose traction in the first place, as there is less power going to each wheel.

[Strika]

In a way, I rather that than speed cameras

I've been to a ride about six month back with the Frontline riders group, fireys and cops, they don't mind a twist of the wrist here and there

I've ridden with those boys down here in Vic A few times and yeah...you're spot on!! Although, today, even they can't get away with a lot of what they used to!!!!

[kaneg]

Yep Strika, thanks for clearing the 4WD missconception up for all of us, I remember once testdriving a WRX just for the fun of it.
The salesman said something that made a hack of a sense, he said when you're driving this car in the rain, the only difference you'll experience iis that your windscreen wipers are going....

what a great spill...

on the other thing :
"Kaneg, don't be put off by the Taiwan/Chinese bits and pieces".

it's too late to get put off by them , we get them "bits and pieces" by container loads

For about a couple of years now Jaguar and Land Rover is owned by an Indian trucking company Tata

[Mattjin]

We did the same Aadvark, went looking at all the baby haulers and settled on a Murano. Our checklist was: Ease of loading a pram, had to have leather for easy clean up of the little ones mess with reclinable rear seats, responsive engine at low rpm for effortless city use (will never see offroad), AWD for safety in the wet, tall ride height to ease my back getting in and out as well as loading the bub, and it had to be modern with GPS and Ipod connect, and most of all comfortable.

Kaneg, don't be put off by the Taiwan/Chinese bits and pieces. Almost all major manufacturers have plants or partners in either Taiwan or the mainland these days. Not everything from China is as bad as the ebay copies we normally see for 1/10th the price. Besides Great Wall, I think Geely (reminds me of Adam Gilchrist) has big plans for Australia this year too.

Just wanted to clear up a misconception that you have. It is common across the buying public to have this thought process. But, A Nissan Murano, is not actually AWD. It is, like most supposed AWD systems, an "On-Demand" system. This means that it operates in 2wd for normal driving, then, when the computer senses slippage, it transfers power to the rear wheels. About the only true AWD system on cars today, is the Subaru AWD system.This system operates ALL 4 wheels, ALL the time. It can transfer the ratio of front to rear power depending on circumstances, but it starts off operating in about a 60/40 split. I think the Audi Quattro System might also be similiar. But, X-trail, Murano, Outlander etc., are all on demand systems. So in terms of passive safety, they are next to useless, as you have to get into trouble, before the system operates in true AWD. The point of AWD, is to spread power to all 4 wheels, all the time. Spreading the power delivery across 4 contact patches, means it is less likely to slip or lose traction in the first place, as there is less power going to each wheel.

I understand your concern however I have no misconception, I know exactly what I bought, and the Murano actually replaced a Mitsubishi Evo7 that I was daily driving before the bub came along. My job is working with performance cars all day long, including at least one GTR, WRX, and Evo in the shop at any one time. The Evo's are by far the king of AWD, not only splitting front and back, but side to side as well and have done so since around 2000. The Murano is predominantly FWD, but will feed in the RWD as it detects slip and can be locked to be AWD at low speed (button on the dash). GTR's work the same, but are RWD and feed in the FWD as wheel slip is detected. But I defy you to tell the difference with the normal driving that you would do with your child in the back. Maybe at high speed down a dirt road way beyond what I would do with my son in the car. The constant vs active is pretty much a non-event in this class of vehicle. AWD does not give you more lateral grip. Both systems are only of benefit when pulling out of a T-intersection in the wet. When maybe 90% of the Ford Territories are RWD only you can see my point. If I wanted to drive faster than I do with the Murano, I would have kept the Evo and put a seat in back.

BTW, wheel slip is usually detected by the ECU alot faster than a human will detect it. Some of my current work is with soft traction control, where we can detect as little as 5 degrees of rotational slip on one wheel, limited more by the tooth count on the sensor than anything else. The power is taken away before the next spark event, and before the brain has detected it, let alone told the foot to get off the throttle. The Murano and most normal road based OEM systems are not this fast, but it is still fairly seemless in normal operation, feeling the rear kick in when you launch it in the wet. The N/A model Subaru's dont have enough power to worry about this

But yes I see your point. Alot of people do not know the difference, but then again most of them would never use the benefit.