How quick do you have to go....

[Eirik]

to close the fuel door on a Cooper S if you forget to close it after a refill and you don't want to stop to close it. On a normal BMW i just have to do like 70km/h but in the Mini I was doing 160km/h and it still nothing.
Anyone knows?

[Dixy72]

seriously?????? imho the effort put into driving fast to close it would maybe better spent stopping paying attention and closing it manually, just incase something happens and you don't see it wiping yourself out or more importantly hurting someone else. :-/

[Angib]

Quote: Originally Posted by Dixy72 (original)

seriously?????? imho the effort put into driving fast to close it would maybe better spent stopping paying attention and closing it manually, just incase something happens and you don't see it wiping yourself out or more importantly hurting someone else. :-/

Is this serious? Hurting someone with a fold-back filler cap, that doesn't stick out any further than the door mirror in front of it? I think even an H&S officer would have trouble keeping a straight face if they had to read that out....

For Eirik, my guess is that the upright windscreen of the standard Mini generates a vortex that travels back along the sides of the car so there isn't smooth flow down the sides that would push the cap shut - unlike a BMW with a fully raked screen that won't have much of a vortex.

Citroen DSs ('real' ones, like a DS21) shed a spectacular vortex off the base of the screen and it gets reinforced by the sloped tail - there's a photo somewhere of one being driven through leaves that show up the two huge vortices trailing behind the car.

In the last few days of driving on salted roads, there have been some amazing dirt patterns on the side of my Roadster that I never saw on my Convertible which would just be dirty, so I guess the Roadster's screen rake has some effect.

And the shaped filler 'cap' of an S may have less drag than the flat cap of a BMW, so it may need a higher speed to create the same closing force.

Technical enuf for ya?

[Dixy72]

Quote: Originally Posted by Angib (original)

Is this serious? Hurting someone with a fold-back filler cap, that doesn't stick out any further than the door mirror in front of it? I think even an H&S officer would have trouble keeping a straight face if they had to read that out....

For Eirik, my guess is that the upright windscreen of the standard Mini generates a vortex that travels back along the sides of the car so there isn't smooth flow down the sides that would push the cap shut - unlike a BMW with a fully raked screen that won't have much of a vortex.

Citroen DSs ('real' ones, like a DS21) shed a spectacular vortex off the base of the screen and it gets reinforced by the sloped tail - there's a photo somewhere of one being driven through leaves that show up the two huge vortices trailing behind the car.

In the last few days of driving on salted roads, there have been some amazing dirt patterns on the side of my Roadster that I never saw on my Convertible which would just be dirty, so I guess the Roadster's screen rake has some effect.

And the shaped filler 'cap' of an S may have less drag than the flat cap of a BMW, so it may need a higher speed to create the same closing force.

Technical enuf for ya?

Yes I was and wasn't talking about getting hit by it, !!!! I meant driving fast then looking to see if it closed itself..... nice to know your your Thinking outside the box ???

[Dermottdog]

I have to agree with the above. Speeding to get home to your wife about to give birth or saying goodbye to a loved one as they draw their last breath will maybe find some sympathy from the boys in blue but "I'm just speeding to close my filler cap" won't cut the mustard!!

[The Nun]

It will close at 145 mph, so you need a JCW tuning kit fitting.

[Angib]

Quote: Originally Posted by Dermottdog (original)

.....from the boys in blue but "I'm just speeding to close my filler cap" won't cut the mustard!!

Do you mean they don't award marks for the most creative speeding excuse, with a free pardon to this week's winner? That's disappointing.

A guy in the next street was not let off when he was stopped speeding on his Yamaha 1000 claiming he was trying to clean the plugs - at a little under 150mph. I told him he was foolish not to be doing 155mph as at least he would have got (briefly) an entry in the Guinness Book of Records as the worst speeder in Britain. I mean, if you're going to have to sit out a six month ban, you might as well get something in exchange.