MICHAEL McALEERanswers all your motoring queries
From M O’M: Further to your response to the driver with an automatic transmission (September 30th), is it true that automatic cars use more fuel than regular transmissions?
It was the case in the past but increasingly among the better automatic transmissions the fuel consumption is actually better than with manual gearboxes. At the top end of developments, Porsche automatic transmissions are more fuel efficient and offer lower emissions than their manual counterparts.
Volkswagen’s dual-clutch transmissions, which feature on a wide range of models within their brand and in Skoda, Seat and Audi, are often more efficient as they are tuned to improve fuel consumption, keeping the revs lower.
From Anne Tuite, Co Meath: I am looking for the cheapest (in price, running costs, insurance, tax, and so on), most compact car that allows me to legally carry at least six passengers.
I don’t care about looks, performance, speed or beauty – I’m after pure practicality. I’d prefer new or nearly new. The car just needs to get me from A to a very short B (mostly bringing the children to clubs and friends whenever their legs or bikes can’t make it).
The car industry has created a car for virtually every taste and requirement, but so far a truly compact car that carries six passengers seems to have them stumped.
If distances are short, the mid-range people carriers with limited legroom in the third row will suffice. In that category I’d suggest the Opel Zafira. The 1.7-litre diesel is a little underpowered for our tastes, but comes in at 152g/km and starts at €27,211. It has annual road tax of €302 and an official fuel consumption figure of nearly 50mpg. Buying new also means you get a full warranty that can help keep the running costs down.
Another alternative we would suggest you consider would be the Ford S-Max, though it’s a little more expensive, starting at €34,815 for the 1.8-litre TDCi and emissions are higher, meaning higher motor tax.
From AC: I have not used my car and have had it parked up for about eight months. As I wasn’t taking it out, I didn’t bother to tax it once it ran out. I’m putting it back on the road but the NCT has run out now and I can’t pay the tax online.
There should be no problem with retaxing the car, although you may have missed the chance to reclaim the tax on the car while it was off the road. If there is more than three months left on the tax when a car is either scrapped or parked up, you can reclaim the excess tax paid from your local council.
In terms of the NCT, due to the backlog at national car test centres at present, a letter showing that you have an appointment for a test should suffice.
From T Burton: Maybe I’m being naive, but why don’t they just scrap the provisional driving licence altogether and only let people on the road who have passed the test.
The theory test is a joke and no amount of silly questions really prepares you for handling a car at 120km/h on a motorway. Some of the sanctimonious questions on the test, particularly around drink driving, are blindingly obvious. Training should be done in private centres and the test on the road. Pass it and you join the rest of us, fail and you stay off the road. Simple.
While your point is valid, no provisionally licensed driver should be driving on a motorway in the first place. The theory test is better than the previous system where all you needed to do to get on the road was fill out the application form. The quality of the test may need some improvement, but it’s a useful exercise in getting people to think about the situations they are going to encounter when they join the rest of us on the road.
The ideal situation would, of course, be that learner drivers are taught – at least initially – at private centres.
Remember, the current system of supervision is meant to allow learners to drive on the road as part of their instruction. It’s not meant as a way around the test. And even with the current system, if it’s enforced, there is only so much a fully licensed motorist can do from the passenger seat if the provisional driver does something stupid.