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Climate change data verification is a critical process to ensure the accuracy, reliability, and credibility of climate-related information. The verification of climate change data involves several key steps and methodologies:

1. Data Collection: The first step is to collect data from various sources, including weather stations, satellites, ocean buoys, ice cores, tree rings, and more. This data encompasses a wide range of climate indicators such as temperature, precipitation, sea level, greenhouse gas concentrations, and more.
2. Quality Control: Raw data collected from different sources may contain errors, anomalies, or inconsistencies. Quality control procedures involve checking data for inaccuracies and correcting them. This includes identifying and addressing issues like sensor malfunctions, calibration errors, and data transmission problems.
3. Data Homogenization: When working with historical climate data collected over long periods, it’s essential to ensure consistency across time. Data homogenization involves adjusting historical records to account for changes in measurement methods, station locations, or instrumentation over time. This ensures that trends and anomalies are not artifacts of changes in data collection methods.
4. Peer Review: Climate scientists and researchers subject their data and findings to peer review. Peer review involves having other experts in the field assess the methodology, data sources, and conclusions. This process helps identify any potential biases, errors, or limitations in the data and analysis.
5. Data Transparency: To enhance transparency and credibility, climate scientists often make their data and methodologies publicly available. This allows other researchers to independently verify the results and conduct their own analyses.
6. Cross-Validation: Climate data is often cross-validated using multiple sources and methods. For example, temperature data collected from weather stations can be compared to satellite-based temperature measurements or reconstructed from proxies like tree rings and ice cores. Consistency across different sources and methods strengthens the confidence in the data.
7. Long-Term Trends: Climate data is analyzed for long-term trends to distinguish natural variability from anthropogenic (human-induced) changes. Statistical techniques, such as time series analysis and trend detection, help identify significant trends and their statistical significance.
8. Climate Models: Climate models are used to simulate past and future climate conditions. Data is used to validate these models by comparing their output to observed data. Models that accurately simulate historical climate conditions are more likely to produce reliable projections of future climate change.
9. Independent Verification: Independent organizations and government agencies often conduct their own assessments of climate data and trends. These assessments can serve as additional verification and validation processes.
10. Continuous Monitoring: Climate data is continually monitored and updated as new data becomes available. This ongoing process ensures that climate information remains current and accurate.

It’s important to note that the verification of climate change data is an ongoing and collaborative effort involving scientists, researchers, and organizations worldwide. Rigorous verification processes help build confidence in our understanding of climate change and its impacts, which is crucial for informing policy decisions and mitigation strategies.

Climate change data is collected from various sources and through multiple methods to monitor and understand changes in the Earth’s climate system. Some of the primary sources of climate change data include:

1. Weather Stations: Weather stations around the world record meteorological data such as temperature, precipitation, wind speed, and atmospheric pressure. This historical weather data is crucial for assessing long-term climate trends.

2. Satellites: Earth-observing satellites provide a wealth of data on various climate-related parameters. Satellites can measure sea surface temperatures, ice cover, land surface temperatures, greenhouse gas concentrations, and more, offering a global perspective.

3. Ocean Buoys: Floating ocean buoys equipped with sensors collect data on sea surface temperatures, ocean currents, and other oceanic conditions. These buoys are strategically positioned in oceans to monitor changes over time.

4. Ice Cores: Ice cores extracted from glaciers and polar ice caps provide valuable data on past climate conditions. By analyzing the composition of ice cores, scientists can reconstruct historical climate patterns, including temperature and atmospheric composition.

5. Tree Rings: The study of tree rings (dendrochronology) helps researchers understand past climate variability. Tree rings can reveal information about temperature, precipitation, and droughts over centuries or even millennia.

6. Proxy Data: Various proxy data sources, such as lake sediments, coral reefs, and cave formations, provide indirect evidence of past climate conditions. These proxies are used to reconstruct historical climate records.

7. Climate Models: Climate models simulate the Earth’s climate system, allowing scientists to project future climate scenarios based on various greenhouse gas emissions scenarios. Climate models use historical data as input to validate their accuracy and make predictions.

8. Atmospheric Measurements: Instruments like weather balloons and aircraft are used to collect atmospheric data, including temperature, humidity, and greenhouse gas concentrations in different layers of the atmosphere.

9. Environmental Sensors: Ground-based sensors, such as those used in weather networks and environmental monitoring stations, measure various climate-related parameters at specific locations.

10. Oceanographic Research: Oceanographic research vessels collect data on ocean temperatures, currents, and salinity levels through direct measurements and sampling.

11. Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Monitoring: A global network of CO2 monitoring stations tracks greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. The Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii is a prominent example.

12. Glaciological Research: Glaciologists study glaciers and ice sheets to monitor their changes in size and mass. This data helps assess contributions to sea-level rise.

13. Paleoclimatology: The study of past climates through the examination of geological and biological evidence provides insights into long-term climate trends.

14. Hydrological Data: Data on river flow, snowpack, and groundwater levels are important for understanding how climate change affects water resources.

15. Environmental Surveys: Surveys and studies conducted by environmental agencies, research institutions, and organizations worldwide provide valuable data on climate change impacts on ecosystems, biodiversity, and human societies.

Climate data is often collected and curated by government agencies, research institutions, and international organizations. It is made available to scientists, policymakers, and the public through various databases, research papers, and climate monitoring platforms. These data sources collectively contribute to our understanding of climate change and its impacts on the planet.

It’s a very good question, and there is a very good answer. Trust in climate change data is built on a combination of rigorous scientific processes and not just one data point, the data has transparency in that it is openly available for independent review, it’s rigorously peer reviewed by other scientists who desperately want to show how clever they are by spotting a mistake, and importantly there’s the convergence of evidence from multiple independent sources often working in very different areas. Here are key reasons why we should trust climate change data:

1. The Scientific Method

Climate change data is collected and analyzed using the scientific method, a systematic and evidence-based approach. Scientists follow established protocols for data collection, measurement, and analysis to ensure accuracy and reliability.

2. Peer Review

Research findings and data are subject to peer review, where experts in the field evaluate the methodology, data quality, and conclusions. This process helps identify errors, biases, or limitations in the data or analysis.

3. Transparency

Data sources, collection methods, and analysis techniques are typically documented and made available to the scientific community and the public. This transparency allows others to replicate studies and verify results independently.

4. Consistency Across Studies

Multiple independent studies conducted by scientists around the world consistently support the conclusion that the Earth’s climate is changing due to human activities. This convergence of evidence reinforces the reliability of climate change data.

5. Long-Term Monitoring

Many climate data sets span decades or even centuries, providing a historical record of climate trends. Long-term monitoring helps identify patterns and anomalies, contributing to our understanding of climate change.

6. Global Collaboration

Climate scientists from different countries and institutions collaborate on research and data analysis. This international cooperation ensures a diversity of perspectives and reduces the likelihood of bias or manipulation.

7. Data Validation

Climate data is subject to rigorous validation processes. Researchers use various methods, including cross-validation with independent data sets and comparison with physical principles, to confirm the accuracy of measurements.

8. Independent Verification

Government agencies, universities, research institutions, and organizations worldwide collect and analyze climate data independently. This redundancy in data collection and analysis provides checks and balances.

9. Historical Records

Historical climate data, such as temperature records, ice core data, and proxy records, offer insights into past climate conditions. These records help validate current climate models and observations.

10. Scientific Consensus

The overwhelming majority of climate scientists and scientific organizations agree that climate change is occurring, largely driven by human activities. Scientific consensus is a strong indicator of the reliability of climate change data.

11. Real-World Impacts

Observations of real-world impacts, such as rising global temperatures, sea-level rise, melting ice sheets, and changes in weather patterns, align with the predictions made by climate models based on climate data.

12. Reproducibility

The ability of different researchers to reproduce climate data and results independently adds another layer of credibility to the findings.

13. Continuous Monitoring

Climate data is continually monitored and updated as new data becomes available. This ongoing process ensures that climate information remains current and accurate.

Of course no scientific data is entirely immune to errors or uncertainties, but the combination of rigorous scientific practices, peer review, transparency, and the convergence of evidence from multiple sources makes climate change data highly reliable and trustworthy. Hopefully it forms the foundation for informed policymaking and effective climate action to address the challenges of global changes.

Ralph Hosier is a British automotive engineer and television presenter known for his work in the automotive industry and appearances on various automotive-related television shows. He has decades of expertise in advanced vehicle engineering and modifications. Ralph has been involved in designing and building custom and modified vehicles, and he has shared his knowledge and experiences with audiences through television programs and publications. He has had a diverse and notable career in the automotive industry, here is an overview of Ralph Hosier’s career:

1. Automotive Engineering: Ralph Hosier is well-known for his expertise in automotive engineering, particularly in the field of vehicle modifications and customization. He has been designing and building custom vehicles since the late ’80s, often pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in terms of automotive engineering. He has worked in the automotive industry at R&D facilities for large and small companies including many years working with Ford, JLR and Rolls Royce and Bentley.
2. Television Presenter: Ralph Hosier has appeared on various automotive-related television programs including Supercar Megabuild, Mission Ignition, Scrapyard Supercar, where he shares his knowledge and passion for cars as well as working behind the scenes helping to create the shows. He is known for his engaging and informative presentations, often demonstrating the intricacies of vehicle modifications and automotive engineering.
3. Engineering Projects: Throughout his career, Ralph has worked on a wide range of automotive projects, including performance enhancements, restorations, and unique vehicle builds. He has been involved in projects that showcase innovative engineering solutions and creative design.
4. Writing: Ralph Hosier has also contributed to automotive publications and magazines, where he has written articles on topics related to automotive engineering, vehicle modifications, and industry trends.
5. Consulting: Beyond his media appearances, Ralph has provided consulting services to the automotive industry for decades. His expertise in vehicle modifications and engineering solutions has been sought after by both automotive manufacturers and enthusiasts.
6. Educational Outreach: Ralph has been involved in educational initiatives related to automotive engineering. He has participated in workshops, seminars, and events aimed at educating individuals about the technical aspects of cars and modifications.

Ralph is a chartered engineer, a member of the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI), a member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) and a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers.
There are now more letters after his name than there are in it 

R.Hosier B.Eng(Hons) C.Eng MIET MIMI MGoMW

Mystery is a funny old thing; life is generally richer for it but when it comes to engineering, a mystery is like having worms, it constantly gnaws away in a really irritating way. So, dear reader, I am going to give you worms.
As you may know, a traditional car engine struggles to turn 30% of the fuel’s energy into useful power, although bigger engines are better in this respect and the largest piston engines can reach up to 50% efficiency.
There have been many attempts to make a better engine, but not content with these options, a legendary NASCAR mechanic and top racer Henry ‘Smokey’ Yunick started thinking about the main losses – coolant and exhaust heat – and how that energy could be re-routed back into producing useful power. And as he was a very practical kind of chap, having also invented a silent tyre, extended tip spark plugs and reverse flow cooling, he not only devised a theory but set about building some working engines, based on bog-standard road cars.
After building a number of amazing engines, one of which was used regularly by his daughter as a daily driver (see correction below!) , he also set about patenting the system all over the world. Once he had the relevant protection for his idea he was going to show the world.
Unfortunately, and rather frustratingly for the world in general, he then died. His company and family are still pursuing world wide patents on the various clever bits that make it work and are reluctant to let anyone else play with his creations.

(Please see the fantastic reply from his daughter below for corrections!)

His patent applications make interesting reading, and generate as many questions as answers. What he describes is a way of recovering almost half of the waste heat from a standard car engine, some of his conversions are claimed to double the car’s acceleration and its mpg at the same time. His daughters VW Golf is said to produce 150bhp (up from 110 as standard) and average over 60 mpg (up from 30mpg).
One of the problems with using petrol in an engine is that it tends to form clumps of molecules which can only burn on the surface, leading to un-burnt fuel and partially burnt fuel being thrown away down the exhaust pipe, these are the hydrocarbons (HC) you see on the mot test results.
Interestingly Smokey’s design uses carburettors, the heat is used to evaporate the fuel giving a more homogeneous mixture which burns more completely. This is a technique used even today by the car industry on injection systems, at part load fuel is injected onto the back of a closed intake valve to use the heat.
Heat is the key to Smokey’s design – in simple terms it first uses the coolant to heat the air fuel mixture to 90ºC at which point the fuel is almost entirely gaseous. It then uses the exhaust, which completely surrounds the intake, to increases the charge temperature to 230ºC. At this point the mixture has expanded quite a bit so a turbo or ‘Homogeniser’ as they call it (not a turbo in the traditional sense because it further heats and mixes the fuel with air) blows down the manifold to stop the mixture escaping back up the intake. The heat will have increased the charge pressure quite considerably, thus turning more heat energy into pressure energy that the engine can convert into torque. And the turbo, sorry – homogeniser, will have boosted things a bit further too, but of course the density will be quite low unless the turbo is running very high boost, and there is no intercooler to waste heat energy. With very high intake pressure it is also possible to re-design intake cam duration to get more cylinder filling, although it is not clear if this is part of his design.
Now the piston compresses the mixture which heats it up further to 820ºC. Now normally this would have detonated and blown the engine to bits, petrol mixture goes bang at about 350ºC, so clearly Mr Yunick was doing something very clever here and the info he had released may be deliberately misleading to buy him time whilst he got the patents, but what ever he did there it is his main secret and you will no doubt be very disappointed to hear that I have absolutely no idea how he does this. Clearly the nicely mixed charge is not really at 820ºC if combustion is going to start with a spark in the conventional manner, although enough energy has been put into it to reach this temperature. If combustion starts in a diesel type compression ignition then the whole charge will go bang at once, rather than a diesel’s controlled gradual burn, and blow the piston. Something must control the combustion?
Could it be water injection? Water mist would reduce the mixture temperature and itself expand in the fierce heat and generate more pressure and thus power. But that’s just a guess on my part and no mention of any other substance exists on the patents.
On the cars he converted there is a very small radiator and no fan, allegedly coolant volume is very small too, helping warm up time. These cars have been driven by a number of journalists and the performance and fuel economy have been verified, so in that respect the design has been ‘shown’ to work.
The only clue comes from some of the mechanics that worked for him who have alleged that the engines were very prone to pinking and melted pistons, but to be fair so do many ordinary mass production engines when they are in their prototype stage.
It’s a strange situation, undoubtedly Smokey was a great mechanic and built some of the best race cars in the world, so he was no amateur and knew what he was doing. Some people have wondered if it was an elaborate hoax to poke fun at the establishment, but why would you fund world wide patents for a hoax and what about the cars’ performance? And why are his ‘prototypes’ still in use? Why won’t the family let anyone else take the engines apart? So many questions.
It’s interesting to note that these revolutionary high efficiency engines are still only using 60-70% of the fuel’s energy, so it’s not in the league of infeasible perpetual motion machines, the energy balance makes sense. It’s just the combustion control that makes no sense and is without any explanation. These ‘Hot Vapour’ engines, if they turn out to be real, have amazing abilities and could herald a new era for piston engines. Just imagine a 600bhp V8 that does 60 mpg. It’s a beautiful idea.

There are some deluded factions of the motoring press that have loudly and ignorantly derided a very useful and miss-understood service that helps motorists in need and saves police time.

The motorway Traffic Officers are referred to by one loud mouthed buffoon as ‘wombles’, but they answer a long standing complaint made by hoards of motorists since the early days of motorways; why are police used to do non-police type work such as directing traffic round a crash site, staying with crash victims until help arrives, sweeping up debris off the motorway, putting out emergency signs and cones etc. The list goes on, there are a huge number of time consuming jobs that although important don’t really need an officer with the powers of arrest and a highly equipped patrol car.

For years drivers argued, mostly in pubs, that it would be far better to have someone else to do these tasks and free up the police to chase criminals. And that is exactly what the Traffic Officers were invented for, yes my friends this is a case of the government actually listening to the motoring public.

And it works too; a friend of mine was involved in an unfortunate incident when they managed to spin on a motorway slip road and ended up bouncing off both crash barriers before coming to a halt at 90 degrees to lane 1. Which is bad. The Traffic Officers arrived and immediately coned off the lane whist they pushed the wreck to a safe position, then after assessing the situation for safety they cleared up the debris and re-opened the lane very swiftly. The police arrived and took details, did a breath test and the usual checks but then were immediately free to move on to the next drama, meanwhile the TO stayed with my chum until the recovery truck arrived. They also notified the roads agency that the barrier needed mending. All in all a very efficient, helpful and potentially life saving service. What’s not to like?

Sometimes where people have been hurt they have to close the road to recover and record all the evidence which can seem like an unnecessary delay to the uninformed driver, and sometimes being better to be safe than sorry means that some delays do turn out to be unnecessary, but I for one would far rather they were reasonably cautious than risk my life.

Every time I see a TO parked up apparently doing nothing I breathe a sigh of relief that this indicates that this particular stretch of road has no problems, no one has crashed, no one is having an utterly miserable day, no one is dying, it’s damn good to see a dormant patrol car. And when I slowly crawl through a conned off incident I give a cheery waive to the TO directing the traffic and restoring order to the chaos behind them.

So why are they being lambasted in certain media circles? Probably due to a fine and heady mixture of making up a good storey, being controversial to sell more copy but mostly pig ignorance and stupidity. Just the usual then.

Racers claim that better brakes make faster lap times, but how can something that slows you down make you faster?

Simple; the better the brakes the longer you can stay on the power before braking for the next corner.

Brakes are all about heat, and ditching as much of it as quickly as possible, they work by converting the cars speed energy into heat energy which is then taken swiftly away in the air streaming through them, in theory. But a big car at high speed has an awful lot of energy; for instance getting a Bugatti Veyron to do an emergency stop from high speed might put the equivalent of several thousand bhp through the brakes make the discs glow bright red.

There are two basic types of brake, drum brakes get their name from the drum of steel with curved shoes inside that are pushed outwards against the inside of the drum when the brake pedal is pushed. These can be found on the back axles of cheaper cars and are quite frankly a bit pants; the braking force is limited, the pistons are small and the pressure pushing the shoes out into the drum is similarly small.

By comparison disc brakes can exert a much higher force onto the disc without risk of it failing.

It uses a disc with a set of pads held in a calliper that are forced against both sides of the disc when the pedal is pressed, generating much more force.

In both cases the disc or drum part is attached to the wheel hub so it rotates with the wheel and the pads or shoes are held stationary on the axle, or strut, or what ever dangly bits are attached to the suspension.
All brakes work by friction, pressing a pretty darn tough pad of friction material against the spinning metal, the harder the friction material is pressed against the metal the more friction is produced and the greater the braking force.
Brake systems use a special type of hydraulic oil to drive the pistons which push the friction material into the disc or drum. At the pedal end there is another piston in the master cylinder which is connected by hydraulic brake pipe to the slave cylinders at each wheel. In some cars the brake force is artificially increased by a servo directly connected between the brake pedal and the master cylinder, this uses vacuum from the intake manifold to move a large diaphragm when the brake pedal was pressed, as the pedal moved down small holes in the servo control section are progressively uncovered which applies more vacuum to the diaphragm which in turn applies a greater force to the master piston of up to four times the force at the pedal.

Some cars with Anti-lock Brake Systems (ABS) use a powerful electric pump to do this instead. The ABS system measures wheel speeds and if it detects that a wheel is slowing down faster than a safe limit then it knows that that wheel is about to start locking up, so it lets the brake pressure off the individual wheel by opening a solenoid valve in the ABS valve block, just for a tiny fraction of a second until the wheel frees up just enough to know it wont lock. You can feel this when it happens as a sort of buzzing or vibration under the brake pedal. ABS allows maximum braking force without the risk of skidding. But if you are going to fast then you are still going to crash no matter what the brakes do.
The fierce heat generated from heavy braking has to be dissipated into the air which is why race cars have ducts taking fresh air from the front of the car to the disc centre, the hot air then has to go somewhere and the design of the wheel should allow it to escape readily. To get more heat into the air some discs are vented with radial channels cast into the disc to draw air from the centre outwards, some discs also have small holes drilled through for even more ventilation but these can lead to cracks starting unless they are made very well. Groves on performance discs can help remove the tiny gas layer that build up between the pad and disc sometimes and increase pad bite, the down side is that they can increase pad wear when used aggressively.
The brake size needed on a car depends on its weight and how fast it is likely to go, more powerful cars can more readily get up to higher speeds they need bigger brakes. Bigger pistons and a larger diameter disc make better brakes. Also if the brakes are going to be used for long durations, such as when racing, there is less time between brake applications for them to cool down adequately, this is where vented disks can be a real benefit.
All that heat soaks through the system into the brake fluid and although it is engineered to work at these very high temperatures in extreme cases the temperature can get high enough for the oil to boil, this generates gasses which compress easily and make the brake pedal feel very soft. This is brake fade and in really bad cases the brake pedal can sink to the floor with very little braking force generated, pumping the pedal up and down a few times can sometimes help but basically if the brakes fade on a race track then the car generally crashes. That is why on roads with long descents the car’s speed should be controlled by using a low gear and engine braking rather than holding the brakes on for extended periods.

Old brake fluid absorbs water which boils and fades much more easily which is why it must be changed every few years to stay safe. Silicon based fluid is different and doesn’t absorb water but moisture still pools inside the system and needs flushing through every few years, it’s also a bit more squashy than mineral fluid making it unsuitable for fast acting ABS.

Brakes are often overlooked and any wear only becomes apparent at the mot or in an emergency stop. The trouble is that they have a hard life and can disintegrate with the friction material splitting off the steel backing or wearing down to nothing unnoticed, and they usually seem to work fine right up to the point were they don’t work at all and you crash. Maintenance and regular inspection is vital.

It’s well known that suspension alignment is crucial for handling and safety, but how much can be checked at home? The main one that we can usually adjust is the front toe angle, but even though there might not be a simple adjustment for rear toe, camber, castor etc. it is worth checking them soon after buying a vehicle, just to see if it is straight.

What’s needed is some sort of datum point from which to take measurements to the wheels. The simplest way of doing this is to use two pieces of string, the thinner the better, one each side of the car at hub height and parallel to each other. With the car sat centrally between them we can measure from the string to the front and rear edges of each wheel and find out at what angle they are pointing in or out.

This method takes practice and initially may take time to set up and get consistent results, especially when you mess thing s up by tripping over the string. But with perseverance it becomes a very quick and surprisingly accurate operation.

ACCURACY VS PRECISION

It’s very easy to spend ages taking detailed readings, but beware. It’s easy to have accidentally moved the string, thus highlighting the difference between accuracy and precision. For example if you measure a block of metal that is in fact 50mm wide with a cheap digital vernier that reads 47.9836mm, it is very precise but not very accurate. By contrast if you use an old tape measure it may read 5cm, not very precise but completely accurate.

With the string method we are looking for accuracy, and consistent results.

Park the car on flat and even ground, this is very important; you can’t do it on grass.

Attach a piece of string to a suitable stand that won’t move when you pull the string tight, such as a breezeblock, at each end. The string must be at the same height, give or take a couple of millimetres, as the wheel hub centres and extend beyond each end of the car by a foot or so. The string should be as close to the car as possible without snagging on any bodywork etc. Ideally we would get this parallel to the centre line of the car, but as that can be difficult to define, just make it parallel to the sills to start with. It can be adjusted in a moment. Next put the other string on the other side in the same manner.

Now measure the distance between the strings at the front and the rear of the car to check they are parallel and adjust the string stands evenly until the same measurement is achieved at both ends.

Bear in mind that most cars have different track widths front and rear, so don’t expect the same hub to string distance front and rear.

When taking a measurement hold the ruler just underneath the string and take a reading from the edge of the string closest the car. With practice, and fine string, it is quite possible to get precision to 0.5mm, more than enough for our purposes.

You should now have two parallel lines at hub height, so to measure toe angle you can measure at a right angle from the string to the front and rear edges of the wheel or tyre, but beware, there are pitfalls here. Toe angle is very rarely quoted as an angle, that would be far too simple, so instead we work with a measurement which is the difference in the distances between the front and rear edges of the wheel/tyre. Now, to make it more complicated there are three systems in use, usual European method is to measure to the edge of the wheel rim (which is often bent and suffering kerb damage making the measurement difficult), the Japanese method is to use the step before the rim (more sensible as less prone to damage but depends on wheel design as how easy it is to get ruler on), the Americans go for the mid point of the tyre side wall (how you judge where the middle is can be tricky). So it is important to check the manufacturers’ specification before measuring your car.

Now, as we won’t be measuring between the wheels, but instead from the string to the wheel, we are effectively looking at half the car. So what we need to do is combine the reading from both sides.

For example on the car pictured here, the measurements from the string to the front left wheel are 47mm at the front of the wheel rim and 46mm at the rear edge. So the front edge is 1mm further inboard than the rear.

Now onto the right front wheel and I have 51mm at the front edge and 49mm at the back. So it is 2mm inboard at the front.

That means that I have a total 3mm toe in. And the car is slightly closer to the string on the left and I also haven’t got the steering set quite as straight as I thought, but the latter doesn’t affect the results.

Measurements at the rear are 47mm on the left and 50mm on the right. In both cases it is the same at the front and rear edges. So the rear wheels are completely parallel.

All this makes the assumption that the wheels are not bent or dented, so it is useful to check the run out first.

Jack and properly support the axle up until the tyre is just off the ground, then place a suitable datum, a breeze block perhaps, next to the wheel and clamp a ruler onto it so that its edge is just touching the wheel rim. Next, spin the wheel and see if the gap opens up or the ruler gets pushed back, anything more than a fraction of a mm is less than ideal, although its amazing how much wobbly wheel factor some people live with. If the wheel is bent then it is still possible to check the geometry, but the wheel has to be set so that the front and rear edges where we take measurements from have the same offset, but its obviously best to get it fixed first.

Another potential problem is that as the car moves forward or backwards, the suspension moves on the bushes. This means that you get a different toe angle reading depending on whether you reversed the car or went in forwards before measuring it. The best bet is to take a set of measurements then drive the car in the other direction for a few feet and take another set. This usefully highlights any potential bush or bearing troubles too.

Normally it’s the readings taken when the car has moved forward that are more important, after all that’s the direction you normally drive in, but the driven axle has to cope with being pushed forward when accelerating and being pushed backwards when braking. So both readings must be within specification.

Next up we can check to see if the front and rear axles are centred properly. The first step is to check the wheelbase on both sides and compare this to the manufacturers’ specification, bearing in mind that some cars, such as the Renault 4, have a different wheelbase on each side.

Having set the strings up to be parallel measure to the hub centres, and also to suitable datum points on the body/chassis such as the seam on the sill. If the car has been badly repaired after a shunt then one axle could be offset causing the car to crab. Should the results show the car is out of alignment, it might be a case of rebuilding the suspension or possibly the body may need straightening. However, before embarking on any drastic action based on the string and bricks method its worth double-checking at a professional alignment facility.

The next step is to use another piece of string and a bolt to test camber, most cars have the tyre inboard of the wheel arch, or at least they should. So by attaching a simple plumb bob to the top centre of the wheel arch with some sticky tape we can measure from the string to the top and bottom edges of the wheel and see how far it leans in or out. Now, this is absolutely dependent on the car being on flat ground, so check the ground with a long sprit level first. Also the tyres need to be inflated correctly and be matched so the wheels on each side are the same height off the ground, check this by measuring from the ground to the wheel.

Now, camber measurements are usually quoted as angles, so we need to convert our mm measurements in to degrees. This involves a small amount of school trigonometry, what we have is a triangle; if the top measurement (O) was 31mm and the bottom one was 21mm then there is 10mm difference, if the top and bottom measuring points on the wheel are 300mm apart then the triangle has a long side (H) of 300mm and a short side of 1mm, so the camber angle (a) is the inverse sine of 10/300 = 1.9 degrees.

Checking your car’s steering and suspension geometry can be quite simple, once you get the hang of it, and although the accuracy isn’t as fine as with laser alignment kit it does give a very useful idea of which way your wheels are pointing, can help highlight suspension faults and it’s a technique that is used by some of the top motor racing teams to this day.

Practice this method until you become proficient and you’ll have a simple and easy to set up system ready for use almost anywhere.

Another great pub debate question, of course 4WD is the best solution, but some purists would call that cheating.

Technically its a very complex subject, not least because RWD or FWD is only a small part of the whole picture. Suspension geometry and weight distribution are critical, but also tyres have a dramatic effect, and a cunning change of rubber can change the car’s handling characteristics utterly.

Best traction is usually found when the most weight is bearing down on the driven wheels, favouring FWD or mid engine RWD, but of course the engine is usually less than 15% of a cars weight, and at speed the aerodynamics take over, so even that rule is not set in stone.

There are, of course, rules of thumb. Most dynamics engineers reckon that FWD works best for up to approximately 300 bhp, above that and the weight shift rearwards when accelerating favours RWD.

When accelerating out of corners, FWD will tend to accelerate the car in the direction the front wheels are pointing in, more or less, where as RWD will tend to accelerate the car along its centre line, which on a corner where the front wheels are pulling the front away from that line so the driving force pushes the back end out, so FWD cars can get on the power sooner. But as ever, either case can be engineered around.

Going fast down the road also depends to a surprisingly high degree on how well the car suits your driving style; if your car does exactly what you are expecting, under or over steering, then you will get the best from it. It’s that predictability and familiarity that allows you to place the car accurately and easily just where it needs to be. That’s why two team mate’s F1 cars from the same stable are often set up to handle very differently. Also visibility is important, if the corners apex is masked by a massive A pillar then you cant judge your position properly on your mountain road. Confidence is key.

This may go some way to explain why some people swear by one or other set up, there will always be die-hard RWD fans who just cant get to grips with FWD, and equally there are hoards of FWD evangelists who can’t understand why anyone would want a car that spins off the road when you accelerate round a corner.

Motorsport at any level is hugely enthralling, but the costs are prohibitive for the vast majority of enthusiasts. There are, however, a few ways round this and it is possible to do a day’s competition for less than the cost of a full tank of fuel.

The fastest cars in drag racing accelerate from 0 to 100mph in 0.8 of a second, and exceed 330mph in ¼ of a mile, but they will spend 500 quid on fuel for each run, followed by replacing most of the 50 grand engine. By comparison The Slow Car Club take bangers usually costing less than 500 quid up the track at Santa Pod on Run What Ya Brung days, entry costs 35 quid for a whole day of driving flat out. It doesn’t matter how fast the car is because after the first few runs you start trying to beat your own personal best time, it is highly addictive and lots of fun.

If you have ever fancied rally driving but haven’t got a rally car and baulk at the £300 entry fee for even the smallest of events then drop down a few gears and look at Production Car Trials. As the name suggests the cars are standard and there are classes for different engine sizes and engine/drive configurations, 4x4s are banned. The set up is simple; take a muddy hill with a few obstacles, mark out a challenging twisty course and see how far you can drive a car up the track before getting stuck. About the only modification you can make to the car is dropping the tyre pressures. The tracks are divided into 10 sections and you get penalty points depending on how badly you do, if you manage to get all the way up then you have no penalties and its a clear run. The skill required is remarkable and it is easy to get utterly immersed in the task of coaxing your banger that extra few inches up the track, it’s just as addictive as high speed track racing and highly recommended.

Another variant on the rally theme is the 12 Car Event, this is a navigational event run on public roads so speeds are modest. A route is issued to the drivers at the start line and timekeepers are stationed at the end of each section, the skill is in the teamwork between the navigator and driver to ensure the best route is taken and speed optimised to make sure the car arrives at precisely the right time. It’s very competitive and requires self control as much as car control, going to fast is as bad as too slow.

You have probably seen some footage of cars being expertly drifted round a very tight course laid out with cones in a car park. This is Autotesting and is a measure of drivers skill against the clock whilst negotiating hairpin bends, reverse parking and tight slaloms. You’ll need good tyres to get the best out of the car but for road car classes that’s about the only thing you can change. Precision and pace are needed in bucket loads, you think you can handle a car – this will make you think again!

But if driving flat out round corners is high on your needs list then consider Hill Climb or Sprints, this is usually on race tracks and does require a race licence so the costs start mounting but it does mean you can drive at high speeds on real circuits. The idea is simple – to get fro the start line to the finish line as fast as possible and its wonderful to watch as there is often old F1 machinery operating in the upper classes. If you wonder what the difference is a Hill climb is up hill and a sprint is on the flat, more or less.

In fact there is a surprising wealth of cheap motorsport opportunities in this country, if you are handy with the spanners then there is Grass Track (sprint races in a field), Comp Safari (rallying for grown ups), economy runs (more fun than you might think) and even real circuit racing can be done on a budget of less than £3000.

Currently I am liking the idea of buying a bargain banger for less than £500 and seeing just how many events it can do in a year. Probably something old, maybe another Jag, or a 2CV, or a Maestro, the more un-motorsport the better, maybe a diesel. Anyone fancy joining in?

Cresting a tree lined hill in majestically controlled opulence, I marvel at the sheer volume of technical excellence dedicating its existence to making my drive a simply fabulous experience.

The Rolls Royce Ghost is unusual in RR history as it is expected that owners will drive it, for some of the time anyway. Traditional RR theory has it that owners always travel in the back and so driver aids were kept to a minimum, but the Ghost has a plethora of modern technological wonders to make driving easier and more pleasurable.

As with many cars today it has an electric handbrake. But it performs a more sophisticated role here than on a humble peasant hatchback, it holds the car at rest until the accelerator is pressed when it is seamlessly released, leaving the switch in this mode means that the brake is automatically applied when at rest and if the driver exits for a quick ‘comfort break’ in the hedges the gearbox is automatically put into parked too. This is surprisingly useful when swapping drivers on long trips and the such like.

Gear selection is elegantly simple with Park, Reverse, Neutral and Drive being the only options. It goes without saying that the system analyses your driving style and adapts to suit, almost anticipating your desire for a gear shift before you know it.

The head up display shows the current speed limit derived from the on-board camera and some very clever image recognition systems that look for road signs, this means it can pick up temporary and new speed limits which is something sat-nav based systems have no chance of dealing with. This is linked to the adaptive cruise control so you never need get caught for speeding ever again. The system also notices white lines and if it detects the driver drifting out of lane without indicating it will discretely vibrate the steering wheel.

But I found driving it a surprise for all the wrong reasons. For sure the power delivery is smooth and effortless, with a wealth of thrust available throughout the rev range, and the ride is supple yet responsive but a tad more twitchy than Roller’s of old. The cabin is well insulated from outside noise, shutting the door is like closing a granite lid on a padded tomb, but unfortunately there was a fair amount of road noise transmitted through the car itself, particularly tyre noise. This might be more noticeable because of the near total lack of other noise, yet having driven older offerings from this legendary brand where there was no noise at all at moderate speeds I do think this is genuine and a step in the wrong direction. Although it has to be said that with the Crewe built cars wind noise, scuttle shake and a tendency not to go in precisely the direction intended were always features, which have thankfully all been dispelled in the new models.

So if the new car is better insulated, more solidly built and has better suspension how come there is more road noise? Well, I think this may be due to the affliction that most modern cars suffer from; excessively low profile tyres.

The thing driving this move towards rubber bands is not solid engineering but the fickle whim of fashion. Even Range Rovers run on 40 profile tyres now, which is quite frankly ridiculous. Low profile means the tyre cant adapt to the road surface and makes for a harsh ride and a tendency to skitter on all but the smoothest of surfaces. Tyres are an important part of the suspension system and making them too stiff is like welding girders onto the springs. You’ll never see an F1 car on low profiles.

I would dearly love to drive this magnificent car on better tyres, then I am sure it would effortlessly waft in silent majesty, just as it should.