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D3 - Wheels and Tyres Refurbing, center caps, tyre brands, tyrefitters - discuss it here

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  #11  
Old 30th August 2016, 08:52 PM
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I have to agree with the comments on D3 curvature causing perspective errors when trying to park. SWMBO used to have lots of problems with this when we first gained the pleasure of owning an 8. I resolved it to some extent by fitting a reversing camera. She does still have the odd problem when parallel parking outside our house, the neighbours sometimes leave very little room.
Personally, touch wood, I have never suffered from this problem possibly due to my years of driving 12 metre coaches.
That reminds me, when driving home from this years annual meet we drove along some rather narrow lanes that gave me some concern with approaching cars, then realised that I used to drive full size coaches along the same lanes and never worried about passing buses and lorries. I guess it is down to perspective again, when driving a car you are much lower than when in a large commercial.

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Last edited by tc4332; 31st August 2016 at 07:18 AM.
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  #12  
Old 30th August 2016, 09:05 PM
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For parallel parking I often prefer to turn round so I've got the drivers side adjacent to the kerb - find it easier to wind the window down/open the door so I can shuffle close to the kerb without relying on mirrors and spatial awareness of where the front wheel is

I avoid tight multi-storey car parks - far too scary in something so big!

Haven't kerbed a wheel on the d2, even with spacers

I've got a licence to drive artics too, so maybe that helps?!
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  #13  
Old 30th August 2016, 09:06 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pug View Post
I'm going to say, in all the cars I've ever driven, from Fiestas, A8's, Fore D Rangers, Transit Vans and Motorhomes, I've never curbed one. We have an extremely tight car park at work which has small curbs, and I've never curbed a single car. (Touch wood). It's just something you're born with.
I felt the same. Then I bought the D3, and I thought maybe I was losing my faculties or something. Glad to know I'm not alone.
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Last edited by Johnmed; 31st August 2016 at 01:18 AM.
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Old 30th August 2016, 09:17 PM
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Quote:
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I felt the same. Then I bought the D3, and I thought maybe I was losing my faculties or something. Glad to know I'm. It alone.
I am extremely careful when parking and will take as much time as I need; in an 8, it usually involves having my head out of the drivers side window. A friend with an S8 often curbs his wheels, and curbed a D4 courtesy car too!
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Old 30th August 2016, 09:37 PM
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Owned my D3 two years and ran it on the 20" FE wheels for a while then decided to get the OEM wheels refurbished for this summer and the annual meet. Got them done, lovely job, then you guessed it, dodged a lorry running wide and scraped the left rear on a high kerb. I'm not paying £90 to get it redone so it's touched up and barely noticeable.

They're a big unit, as are the D2's, caution is required with all of them
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  #16  
Old 30th August 2016, 11:56 PM
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Great feedback, back of envelope maths suggests a 50/50 split on curbing being an extraordinary issue for the D3!

Having just spent the past 7 days driving around Europe (went to a wedding in Germany where I actually got questioned on the logic of the U.K. voting Leave, perhaps a different thread!) I remembered how narrow certain driving situations can be, multi storey car parks/toll booths in France, autobahn road works in Germany, the Channel Tunnel! Anyway, not a problem, got home and curbed the OS wheel parking outside my own house!

Anyway I have D3 curbing syndrome! To misquote Pug, maybe you're born with it!
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Old 31st August 2016, 12:12 AM
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Yeo same issues can't tell where the car is in relation to kerbs in the mirror, tight turning in multi story car parks with high kerbs are another favourite.

I have done the wheels completely twice and have another two that are scuffed again.

The 20" are so unforgiving, it's about time we have chamfered kerbs so we can avoid damage.
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Old 31st August 2016, 12:23 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Delboy View Post
Yeo same issues can't tell where the car is in relation to kerbs in the mirror, tight turning in multi story car parks with high kerbs are another favourite.

I have done the wheels completely twice and have another two that are scuffed again.

The 20" are so unforgiving, it's about time we have chamfered kerbs so we can avoid damage.
Maybe all curbs to be covered in some sort of felt. I think the fitment of the wheel and tyre aren't particularly forgiving. If you look at a new Ford Focus ST, they have so much of the lip of the tyre over the edge, it makes it almost impossible to curb them without taking half the tyre off. I guess it's just the way the tyre sits on the rim on 8's.
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Old 31st August 2016, 05:15 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pug View Post
Maybe all curbs to be covered in some sort of felt. I think the fitment of the wheel and tyre aren't particularly forgiving. If you look at a new Ford Focus ST, they have so much of the lip of the tyre over the edge, it makes it almost impossible to curb them without taking half the tyre off. I guess it's just the way the tyre sits on the rim on 8's.
It certainly helps to buy the "right tyre" with a design that includes rim protection!
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  #20  
Old 31st August 2016, 06:24 AM
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Thought that you might be interested in seeing how bus drivers are taught to drive considerately with passenger safety in mind.

http://www.topgear.com/videos/top-gear-tv/bus-racing-series-12-episode-5
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