Less whine, more wine
The whingers who complain about space-saver wheels really annoy me (InGear, Letters, last week and June 13). What sort of tyres do they use and how badly do they drive? Four years ago I ran over a lorry exhaust with my VW Golf on the RN10 a few miles north of Bordeaux. It was at night on a dark road and I should have been on full beam — c’est la vie! Puncture? More like a ripped tyre and smashed alloy wheel, but the car still moved. Driving no faster than 50mph, the narrow wheel took me the several hundred miles back to London, with only the hoots of les routiers to disturb the calm. I did have a standard spare when I bought my car in 1988 but changed it for the smaller one some years ago, as every bit of space saved is weight reduced (and more wine brought home), and using the little wheel brought impressive fuel consumption of 54mpg. I can’t be the only one to appreciate these clever gizmos, so let’s have less moaning, please.
Mike O’Neill, Isle of Dogs, east London
Test case
Could I add my support to all your recent correspondents who have criticised space-savers? I think it’s disappointing that Renault supplied my wife’s Scénic with four alloy wheels and a full-sized, but steel, spare. However, it will at least pass an MoT, which I’m told a car with a space-saver in use will not. How can it be legal to drive a car on a public road that won’t pass an MoT? Even if it is legal, it can’t be sensible.
Brian Dorey, Longhope, Gloucestershire
Water damage
Further to the letter from PT of Coventry regarding water in the electronic control unit (ECU) of his Peugeot 307, I can assure you this is neither a one-off problem nor one confined to cars of more than three years in age (Car Clinic, last week). I had ECU problems with my one-year-old Peugeot 207 S between August and December last year. After numerous dealer visits and excuses, and misleading reports, the service manager finally admitted the problem was water in the ECU, and that he had being trying to confirm it as a warranty problem. He assured me he could find no evidence of the same problem on other Peugeots, and said he had taken steps that he “hoped” would fix the problem — sticking a piece of rubber in the gully under the bonnet.
William Murdock, Bridgend, south Wales
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Apples aren’t the only fruit
Your love affair with all things Apple seems to have no limits (InGear, “Video-calling: the latest trick of the magic Apple”, last week). It seems that, before it was even available, you rated the iPhone 4 ahead of its rivals on the basis that: 1) you can make video calls to other iPhone 4s if you are both in wi-fi zones 2) battery life may be improved 3) call quality may be improved ... etc. The iPhone is a great toy, but try sending and receiving 100 emails or making 100 calls a day on it (it is a phone, after all). If you want a smartphone for business, the iPhone isn’t it, but the BlackBerry is. In addition, BlackBerry Messenger is an outstanding app for instant messaging, but there’s nothing like it on the iPhone. And it’s free.
Stewart Goldberg, sent from my BlackBerry
Editor’s note: we thoroughly tested the new iPhone 4, which went on sale on Thursday, before reviewing it
Gallic gumption
I wholly agree with Georgie Goddard (Letters, June 13) that the French vehicle tax system should be introduced here, especially as the amount spent on our roads is minute compared with the amount of money raised by fuel tax and Vat alone. I would also suggest that road tax discs be replaced with insurance discs issued by the insurer to expose those who drive uninsured.
Derrick Salmon, London
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