A brief overview of AdBlue

Many people in the motor industry will remember the switch from Euro 3 engines to Euro 4 in circa 2005 when the common question in the industry was “will this car meet the Euro 4 emissions standard?”. Almost 10 years later, Euro 6 is just around the corner and the focus on the new standard has been the reduction in Nitrous Oxide (NOx) emissions. 

The cut in NOx emissions required to meet the Euro 6 standard has been significant. Euro 5 standard allowed 180mg/km and the Euro 6 standard only allows 80mg/km. To achieve this cap, many manufacturers are opting to fit a fuel borne urea fluid system (commonly known as AdBlue) to break down emissions in the exhaust system. Manufacturers that are currently adopting this approach to reducing emissions include Audi, BMW, Citroen, Ford, Peugeot and Vauxhall.

Scam Email Alert - Parking Ticket from Ministry of Justice

A large number of people have received a scam email suggesting that it is an urgent reminder for an alleged parking offence. This email is NOT from the Ministry of Justice and we advise against responding to it or clicking on any of the links contained in the email. The email contains the following content:

Apple CarPlay is set to bring iOS software to the car.

Apple has announced further details of their in-car iOS based software system and have re-branded it as CarPlay. With a voice activated interface based on Siri, Apple is keen to make your car dashboard as feature packed as your iPhone or iPad. 

The first vehicles to benefit from CarPlay will be Ferrari, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar, Mercedes Benz and Volvo, although based on this video Volvo may actually be the first. Don't worry if these manufacturers aren't to your taste or budget, according the the CarPlay section of the Apple website, other manufacturers will be close behind.

I'm not sure how keen I am on the thought of Siri reading my text messages out whilst I drive, it could be quite a distraction. Mobile phone based satellite navigation on the other hand, must be far cheaper than the £1000+ versions from some manufacturers.

Check out more details on the Apple Website - www.apple.com/ios/carplay

Ashley’s Winter Tyre Blog pt6

Originally I had planned to change my winter tyres back to summer tyres this week but as the photo shows it's a good job I didn’t.

Running winter tyres in summer conditions causes excessive wear but due to the recent weather warnings I cancelled my plans to swap my winter tyres back to the original set of all weather tyres just on the off chance of us actually getting the snow as predicted. I was really glad that I made that decision this morning, because when I woke up around 6:30am there was approx. 1-2 inches of snow that had settled all around my home in Sheffield.

Ashley’s Winter Tyre Blog pt5

You probably don’t need me to tell you that Saturday afternoon saw the first of the snow for the majority of the country. Whilst the rest of the country looked out of their windows in dismay, I was more excited than many children as the time to test my 3 Series with winter tyres had arrived. Just about every news update on the weather showed a BMW spinning it’s rear wheels in the snow, I was determined to be the exception to this.

After family commitments….. sledging with my daughters…. I needed an excuse to get in the car so we decided to go out for a meal. Despite it being a short journey this would involve driving up the same snow covered hill that had prevented me from getting to work for the last three years. For years my (relatively) expensive BMW has been embarrassed by other cars when it comes to performance in the snow.