Recent content by alfazagato

Er....no! I did have breakdown cover but you have no choice when you stop in a contraflow. The contractors pick you up and take you to a position of safety. I had the spare on and re-packed in 25 minutes (ish) so, as far as I am concerned, a great result.

I used the space-saver once. The puncture happened on the M1 on a contraflow section late at night. I was quickly picked up by a low-loader and taken to the services where I used the factory jack, the compressor and fitted the space-saver . The tyre had shredded and there was no possible way the...

Yes I have the correct boot floor panel....I have had the car from new and the spare as an option......it is the diameter which poses the problem and even Maranello couldn't get the tyre back to its original size. Yes we removed the valve, put a strap round the perimeter and pushed and shoved to...

Flat-bedded off the M1 at night, after a flat tyre on a contraflow section which resulted in shredded sidewalls, to a services where the spare was fitted. I drove back to London at 50mph and arrived about two hours late. If I had no spare, the "goo" would certainly not have inflated the remains...

OK, I do tend to drive at about the legal limit on motorways and that was the sort of running that I was comparing. If Benny, CatmanV2 and Zagatoes30 are using their Trip function to see the consumption they note, then we are saying roughly the same thing. Benny, as far as having the roof down...

Thanks for your thoughts....most illuminating!! On the subject of fuel consumption I think that I have found part of the answer in that the Trip works in miles per US gallon which being 0.83 of an Imperial one makes up some of the difference. So my 21 miles per US gallon is, in fact, 25.5 per...

Out of caution I think that I will continue with the continuous movements up and down...thanks for the advice. BTW I never manage to get more than 20-21 mpg on a run, as displayed on the trip screen. Is this reasonable? My 996 gives me mid 30s!

When I bought my 4200 Spyder from Marenello in 2003 I was warned that under no circumstances should I stop the hood action either opening or closing. I have followed this dictum for the last 14 years together with operating the roof every month even in the garage. However in talking to a fellow...

Use a Dremmel with a small diameter cutting disc and cut a slot in the head of the screw big enough to take the bade of a screwdriver. Then unscrew out!

Anybody know the correct tyre size for a 4 litre Mistral? Handbook says 215x15, parts book says 210x15 and Longstone say 215/70x15. Clearly all differing sizes with implications on speedometer readings and the ability to fit in the wheel well.

Thanks for all the observations.....I still have pressure and it appears to be good but sluggish.....so I won't worry too much, just keep an eye on what's happening. The replacement of the sender was done by Autofficina who were very, very accommodating and good. The knack appears to be to cover...

I have just changed the oil pressure sender on my 4200 Spyder. The previous sender worked beautifully until it suddenly showed no pressure at all, but whilst it did work the pressure on start-up was 5 bar and hot tick-over 2.5, the needle jumped immediately you touched the accelerator back to 5...

There's a bit of kit in the US made by Save-a-battery, Granite Digital in CA, which acts as a trickle charger but also can be programmed to deep-cycle the battery. I have had them on all my cars for some five years and no battery problems at all. It is worth noting that all the batteries were...

As a battery charger try Save-a-Battery. Its an American product made by Granite Digital which is available over here and plugs into the cigarette lighter or the power take-off in the boot. I have them on all my cars and after five years have not had a failure to start.

I had this problem which was solved by removing the side panel to the centre consul and cutting a little off the rubber tube which acts as a drain from the underscuttle area. This tube gets bunged-up and allows the water to build up and overflow. Details of how to do the job are here somewhere.