Soli-hell
Here, in Solihull, the local Council members are great fans of speed humps. My observation of local roads, so afflicted, is that drivers no longer slow down for them with the result that residents suffer the resultant noise of vehicles clunking over them and the poor old car suffers extra wear and tear. Local residents who know the roads, myself included, choose a longer route to avoid these roads -to the detriment of the environment presumably. You mention the poor quality of European coil springs and the superiority of Far Eastern equivalents. I drive a 2009 (1.33 petrol) Toyota Yaris that, as you know, is Japanese but manufactured in France. Have you any knowledge of the type of coil spring fitted to the suspension?
Asked on 27 June 2009 by
Answered by
Honest John
We have a Yaris based car in Thailand and its rear coil springs at least are pigtailed. It has done 120k kilometres, no problems, and some of the potholes in rural Thailand need to be seen to be believed. But, of course, Thailand never freezes so the roads are never salted so springs never corrode and fracture from road salt. However, suspension and tyre damage caused by speed humps and speed cushions urgently needs to be properly investigated. How many spring failures and how many blowouts from worn inner shoulders of tyres have caused fatal crashes? I estimate around 500 fatalities a year. On 22nd May Boris Johnson was nearly wiped out on his bicycle when the back door of a truck unlatched on a speed hump, hit a car, and dragged it across the road. (Footage at www.liveleak.com/view?i=416_1243123434)
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