Ask Uncle TopGear
OUR MYSTERIOUS AGONY UNCLE TRIES TO SOLVE YOUR DILEMMAS. SORRY IF HE GETS A BIT GRUMPY
Dear Uncle TG
I like the look of the Vauxhall Cascada. Should I buy one, even though I’m not a middle-aged divorced lady? Stuart, Barnet
No. Please wait until you are.
Dear Uncle TG
What does AMG stand for? Anish, by email
Aufrecht Melcher Großaspach, which translates from the German into “AAAARRGH MY GOD!”
Dear Uncle TG
I read that Jaguar Land Rover is thinking of building a factory outside of Britain. What is the world coming to? Peter, Winchester
It sounds to me like the world is going global. I know, imagine that.
Dear Uncle TG
I love my Lotus Elise but I fnd it a bit noisy for long journeys. I think quite a lot of the noise on the motorway is coming from the tyres. Does this sound right, and is there anything I can do to stop it? Sarah, by email
Well now, let’s try to be scientifc about this and eliminate possible causes in a systematic manner. Have you tried taking the tyres of and leaving them at home? What sort of noise does the car make then, I wonder?
Dear Uncle TG
I inherited my uncle’s old Rover SD1 Vitesse a few years ago and have been slowly restoring and tuning it. At this point the car is basically sorted and I fancy a real power boost. What do you think of Edelbrock carbs? Rog, Stamford
Nice, but they can be quite fattening.
Dear Uncle TG
My dad says that in the old days people could be killed by opening the engine cover on a Porsche 911 while wearing a tie because it would get sucked into the mechanism. Is this actually true? Dexter, by email Funnily enough, “Argh! I’m being sucked into the mechanism!” was the last thing said by my Great Uncle Tiberius. Although of course he didn’t wear a tie for religious reasons and he couldn’t go near a Porsche 911, also for religious reasons.
Dear Uncle TG
I was looking to replace our Mercedes ML350 with a newer model, and my dealer told me the car is no longer called the ML. Despite little change in appearance, it is now the GLE. What does this mean? HG, Wilts
GLE means leather seats and electric windows. At least, it does on the 1987 Volvo 340. I assume that the same rules apply for Mercedes.