motor

nthfinity · 02-01-2007, 07:06 PM

Not only is Mr. Clarkson a blithering idiot we all love to watch in Top Gear's features like "building the Caterham" , "repave a road in 24 hours", " make a toyboata" and so on, but the act carries over to his home life as well.

Everybody knows the story of the Jeremy's Ford GT, his love of the car, the increase in asking price, the issue with the car alarm, his buy-back he got from Ford, and ultimately, his re-ownership of the GT shortly afterward. But, there is another side of this tale which has yet to be told!

Some crap Euro legislation requires cars like the Ford GT be equiped with a anti-theft imobilizer; which Ford does not have OEM. Jeremy opted for a Cobra system Imobilizer; which requires the owner to carry with him a credit card sized device which activates, or deactivates the system. Jeremy paid the system's operation little heed, and often found himself being called to be informed that his GT was in fact stolen. Good job Jeremy, but I'll let you slide on that one; no matter how far you throw your voice at Ford, and the system's installers; it is still your fault.

Next comes the trickle charger event, this is where Jeremy started calling ford demanding his money back as a show of force and solidarity. Clarkson often found himself not driving his beloved Ford GT for a few months, only to decide it was a good day here and there, few and far between. In that time, the GT's battery goes dry from lack of use and abuse; so Jeremy does the logical thing, and attach the trickle charger, right?

As many of you know, a trickle charger is designed to keep a battery charged at the same value while not being used over a significant period of time. A trickle charger does not in fact charge a battery. Go figure.

There is some vindication for the TV presenter, as there was a legitimate problem somewhat later with the Cobra alarm system, and periodically activating itself.

Was any of this worthy of by back from Ford? No. And mighty Jeremy Clarkson knew this when he bought the car back; ah life is good now, and a few lessons have been learned. Will we see such a vocal Clarkson for his next supercar purchass?

TopGearNL · 02-01-2007, 07:21 PM

Well he´s going to buy a Gallardo Spyder so Ive heard so wait and see what happens with that..

I knew that it wasn´t all down to Ford, I just couldn´t believe that!

Mattk · 02-01-2007, 09:59 PM

Ah, the stress of Top Gear has made him unable to comprehend real life.

sameerrao · 02-01-2007, 10:26 PM

Originally Posted by nthfinity

As many of you know, a trickle charger is designed to keep a battery charged at the same value while not being used over a significant period of time. A trickle charger does not in fact charge a battery. Go figure.

Wrong - a trickle charger/battery tender can charge a battery - it just takes a real long time to full charge the battery - something like 8-12 hours depending the amperage.

I have a battery tender which is basically a trickle charger with circuitry to prevent overcharging the battery

http://batterytender.com/faqs.php/?o...ba9dda642f07#2

nthfinity · 02-01-2007, 10:36 PM

Originally Posted by sameerrao

Originally Posted by nthfinity

As many of you know, a trickle charger is designed to keep a battery charged at the same value while not being used over a significant period of time. A trickle charger does not in fact charge a battery. Go figure.

Wrong - a trickle charger/battery tender can charge a battery - it just takes a real long time to full charge the battery - something like 8-12 hours depending the amperage.

I have a battery tender which is basically a trickle charger with circuitry to prevent overcharging the battery

http://batterytender.com/faqs.php/?o...ba9dda642f07#2

from a certain point of view, it isn't wrong..... the insta-now gratifcation point of view it is very far from wrong..... i mean, a battery charger will charge a car enough to start it in minutes only (about 15 in my experience) the trickle charger is totally useless in the same manner in which JC was intentending it to be used for

Mattk · 02-01-2007, 10:43 PM

Can't you just call up roadside assistance and have them jumpstart the thing?

T-Bird · 02-02-2007, 08:37 AM

the man owns multiple cars, it's hard to believe that he doesn't own a set of jumper cables. Every car in my family has a set in them. And we have a battery charger that has a jump setting as do most where you can do a high amperage 12 volt charge to instantly start it, hell the ones at work can even do 15 volts to keep the car running without an alternator not that I would trust it though.

Stoopie · 02-02-2007, 08:42 AM

LOL I wonder what he'll do if his SLK55 AMG breaks down after he hasn't used it for months.. Next chapter of the JC story

saadie · 02-02-2007, 09:16 AM

why bring this up when "" And mighty Jeremy Clarkson knew this when he bought the car back; ah life is good now, and a few lessons have been learned."" ...

i see lots comming up against him after " the good bad the ugly" .. :roll:
like .. he cant drive ... he cant keep a car etc etc ...
well anyway .. i have a question ..

who cares ?

ViperASR · 02-02-2007, 12:17 PM

Originally Posted by nthfinity

Originally Posted by sameerrao

Originally Posted by nthfinity

As many of you know, a trickle charger is designed to keep a battery charged at the same value while not being used over a significant period of time. A trickle charger does not in fact charge a battery. Go figure.

Wrong - a trickle charger/battery tender can charge a battery - it just takes a real long time to full charge the battery - something like 8-12 hours depending the amperage.

I have a battery tender which is basically a trickle charger with circuitry to prevent overcharging the battery

http://batterytender.com/faqs.php/?o...ba9dda642f07#2

from a certain point of view, it isn't wrong..... the insta-now gratifcation point of view it is very far from wrong..... i mean, a battery charger will charge a car enough to start it in minutes only (about 15 in my experience) the trickle charger is totally useless in the same manner in which JC was intentending it to be used for

If your looking for instant gradification (instant starting) then you basically have to jump it from another car/battery.

As for the battery tenders/trickle chargers, we have then on our jet-skis and Rhinos at work to keep the batteries charged, and they do charge a flat battery, it just takes some time, as does many other battery chargers.

sentra_dude · 02-02-2007, 01:25 PM

What was the point of this post...?

Clarkson often found himself not driving his beloved Ford GT for a few months, only to decide it was a good day here and there, few and far between. In that time, the GT's battery goes dry from lack of use and abuse; so Jeremy does the logical thing, and attach the trickle charger, right?

As many of you know, a trickle charger is designed to keep a battery charged at the same value while not being used over a significant period of time. A trickle charger does not in fact charge a battery. Go figure.

There is some vindication for the TV presenter, as there was a legitimate problem somewhat later with the Cobra alarm system, and periodically activating itself.

You say he is an idiot, but then you say it wasn't his fault? As sameerrao pointed out a trickle charger is supposed to charge your battery, so why wouldn't he be upset when his car's battery was dead after it had been sitting on a trickle charger for a long period?

saadie · 02-02-2007, 01:27 PM

because who ever wrote that dont know how a trickle charger works

RC45 · 02-02-2007, 01:45 PM

Originally Posted by saadie

because who ever wrote that dont know how a trickle charger works

Actually - I have NEVER been succesful in tryign to recover a completely discharged battery via a Trickle Charger charge.

Ever.

The best I have had is the battery will have a sufficient charge to crank the motor perhpas 2 or 3 times and then be completly drained again.

Maintaining and constant charge over time on a good and well charged u battery is very different from trying to revive a flat battery via trickle charging.

sameerrao · 02-02-2007, 02:08 PM

^ In that case the battery needs to be replaced IMO. My Audi battery was like that in 2005 due to very little use of the car as I was in California 95% of the time. I got it jump started then and ran it for a good 1 hour and shut it off but couldnt restart it again. I took it to the Interstate guys and after some quick tests, they said the battery was dead.

But from a use standpoint, it makes sense to leave the battery tender on if the car is going to be idle for a long period of time. With the 2 or 4 amps models it will take forever to get it charged again.

Drive the mofo

TeflonTron · 02-02-2007, 03:17 PM

TBH, I never listen to a word that JC says and haven't done so in a long, long time. He's 100% about sensationalistic Journalism, and is always contradicting what he has said about a car before, so he hardly has that much credibility, or at least objectivity in my book.