Latest news with #car
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Police issue CCTV appeal after Royal Oldham Hospital theft
Police have issued a CCTV appeal following a theft from a car at the Royal Oldham Hospital. A cruise control radar - the device which automatically adjusts a vehicle's speed to maintain a safe distance from other cars - worth £1,500 was stolen between 5.30pm and 8.45pm on July 12. The victim was attending an appointment at the hospital with his pregnant wife. Police say they would like to speak to the man pictured in connection with their investigation. READ MORE: Police firearms officer branded 'uncontrolled bully with a badge' at Manchester Airport 'attack' trial READ MORE: LIVE M6 and M56 traffic updates as crashes cause severe delays on both motorways as holiday getaway begins Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 quoting log number 002242-13072025 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111. Day in day out, our reporters in the Manchester Evening News newsroom bring you remarkable stories from all aspects of Mancunian life. However, with the pace of life these days, the frenetic news agenda and social media algorithms, you might not be getting a chance to read it. That's why every week our Features and Perspectives editor Rob Williams brings you Unmissable, highlighting the best of what we do - bringing it to you directly from us. Make sure you don't miss out, and see what else we have to offer, by clicking here and signing up for MEN Daily News. And be sure to join our politics writer Jo Timan every Sunday for his essential commentary on what matters most to you in Greater Manchester each week in our newsletter Due North. You can also sign up for that here. You can also get all your favourite content from the Manchester Evening News on WhatsApp. Click here to see everything we offer, including everything from breaking news to Coronation Street. If you prefer reading our stories on your phone, consider downloading the Manchester Evening News app here, and our news desk will make sure every time an essential story breaks, you'll be the first to hear about it. And finally, if there is a story you think our journalists should be looking into, we want to hear from you. Email us on newsdesk@ or give us a ring on 0161 211 2920.
The Drive
a day ago
- Automotive
- The Drive
Ryobi Dual-Function Creeper and Seat Review: Handy Stool With Headlights
The latest car news, reviews, and features. If you spend any time tinkering with or detailing vehicles just a couple of feet off the ground, a rolling stool is a garage essential. And if you sometimes need to get under a car, a creeper can be critical too. This Ryobi 18V dual-function creeper/seat can transform between both, and has a few other helpful features as well. Review Contents: This thing's full name is the Ryobi 18V ONE+ Dual Function Lighted Creeper/Seat, and the model is PCL692B. You can buy it at The Home Depot for $159.00, and it comes with a three-year warranty. Headlights on a stool? More useful than you might think! Andrew P. Collins It's a rolling creeper you can slide around on your back on, but when you pull a lever, it splits upward and converts into a stool. Plug a sold-separately Ryobi battery into the back and you can use two little flexi-arm lamps to illuminate your work area. There's also a parts tray. Ryobi is sold exclusively at The Home Depot, but it is not really the retailer's 'house brand.' It's actually owned by Techtronic Industries (TTI), which is also the parent company of Milwaukee, Hart, AEG, and a handful of other tool and home maintenance brands. Running a signature highlighter green color, Ryobi is designed for homeowner and hobbyist-level work. I would not recommend it for daily commercial-grade abuse, but as a lower-cost option for around-the-house tinkering and repairs, it's fine. This feature-rich creeper is an interesting in-betweener, because it's much more money than a basic creeper, but still far cheaper than something similar from a fancier brand. Very Easy. Andrew P. Collins This creeper/seat comes with paper instructions and a QR code claiming to link to an assembly video. Unfortunately, that didn't work—it just took me to the product page. But you won't be annoyed by this for long, because even without a guide, the assembly is pretty much pet-money level work. All you need to do is tighten six caster wheels and insert six pins at the hinge points. Once you've got it together, well, you know how to roll around on a stool, right? The only other function to understand is the pair of lights on bendy mounts—just point them where you want light and hit the button. Well-equipped. Andrew P. Collins In just one Sunday of driveway wrenching, I learned to appreciate the versatility of this thing. I was doing brakes on my Polaris Ranger while my brother-in-law did brakes on his Bimmer, and we both made use of the Ryobi as a creeper and a seat. I ended up using the parts tray to hold my phone, which was handy because it's always falling out of my pocket when I'm climbing around cars. The pointable lights, which I initially thought looked silly, turned out to be quite helpful. Unlike a magnetic worklight, you can put these anywhere—I rolled the creeper under the BMW and shined a light up at my BIL's work area with great results. The only annoying thing about them is that they sag a little after being positioned. But brightness is great—even on a sunny day, they helped light up the dark corners of vehicle undersides. You just slide the green bit on the light a little to adjust the focus of the beam. Andrew P. Collins You can also focus the lights between a spot and wider spot beam, which is pretty cool. This device is also compatible with Ryobi's Link system (where you can attach trays for parts and things). Fine. There are no glaringly ugly welds or connection points; in fact the seams are all pretty clean. The plastic all feels reasonably robust without weird gaps, and the caster wheels spin and roll nicely. The lever that lets you raise the stool from the creeper is a little inelegant, as are the staples holding the cover on the seat pads. The bendy arms that the lights are mounted on don't stay in position as nicely as I'd like them to. The attachable parts tray is very dinky and can fall off. Great. Looking up torque specs, or scrolling Instagram, while Rick does actual work. The flip-up pad that you'd use to support your head in creeper mode is also handy when it's right behind your butt. That little extra bit of backside comfort really went a long way; my old stool is just flat-bottomed. The tall caster wheels make it really easy to scoot around on this thing, even over rougher pavement. Your body does tend to get in the way of the lights a little more when this thing's in stool mode, but you can still get utility out of them. The plastic area near the carry handle also has holsters for tools, like sockets and pliers, which is also pretty nice. Good. You need to lift a car quite high to get this thing to fit under a car—that's my only real complaint about its viability as a creeper. The headlamps are incredibly helpful in this mode; you can adjust them from spot to flood beams (relatively speaking) and light up your whole under-car work area rather nicely. But I personally still don't like creepers in general—I find them too bulky for quickly swinging in and out from under something. I'd still rather use something super-thin like the Husky Liners Garage Mat. The Ryobi creeper makes a great flashlight holder. My brohan Ricky here used the Husky garage mat for his knees and tools while the Ryobi lit up his work area from the other side. Andrew P. Collins And while I liked the wheels for how smoothly they rolled, they also picked up debris quite quickly. If you're lucky enough to have a glass-smooth concrete floor, must be nice, and you won't have this problem. For the rest of us working in old houses and driveways, beware of rocks and tree bits. Mid. If you live anywhere besides a big city, you can probably score a creeper at a yard sale for like $10 on any given summer weekend. If your grandpa's still alive, ask if you can have his old one. If you want a new convertible one with a stool mode, even those can be found for under $50 on Amazon. So, at $160 plus tax, it feels like you're paying a pretty big premium here for the lights. However—there is also the general niceness factor, which is tough to articulate, but I'll do my best. A $40 creeper/stool will perform the same function, but the form factor on this is considerably nicer than a bottom-end one. You also get a nice three-year warranty and the convenience of The Home Depot's customer service desk—if this thing breaks on you at 6 p.m. on a Sunday, you can probably whip over to your local HD and get it swapped out with the receipt. Decent. I just realized my gym shorts color-match this stool. Andrew P. Collins Broadly speaking, I like this thing. Personally, I think I'd rather buy a nice stool with a backrest. But if you like the idea of a convertible stool-and-creeper in one, give this thing a look. Headlights turned out to be surprisingly useful on a stool, and it's quite comfortable to sit or lie down on. Touchpoint quality was fine. You can get a basic stool/creeper combo for far less money, but even at full list price, this still isn't all that expensive. If you're already in the Ryobi battery ecosystem, it's not a bad pick-up. It would also make a good gift for somebody who likes to casually tinker, especially if they have other Ryobi tools in their arsenal (for battery compatibility). Because it's nice to have, and the lights are fun, but all the DIY'ers I know are cheapskates and would hesitate to buy anything for themselves that only serves comfort purposes. Super comfy, especially as a stool Surprisingly useful headlamps Nice rolly wheels Expensive for a creeper Requires a big battery A little cumbersome to store Weight Capacity: 400 pounds Light Brightness: 800 lumens max Per Light, Flood Mode High: 400 lumens Per Light, Flood Mode Low: 200 lumens Per Light, Spot Mode High: 200 lumens Per Light, Spot Mode Low: 100 lumens Caster Wheel Size: 3 inches Height (Stool Mode): 16.74 inches Height (Creeper Mode): 6.75 inches Min Battery Runtime: 3 hours on high brightness with a 2Ah battery Stool seat Creeper seat and frame All necessary assembly hardware Small assembly hex wrench Two lights (pre-wired and bulb-equipped) Caster wheels Printed instructions A battery is not included, but Ryobi runs 'free batteries with tools' deals all the time, so keep your eyes out for one of those. See It Our team's hard at work, testing tools, parts, and shop equipment. Let our trials and experience be your guide to mastering The Garage. 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Top Gear
a day ago
- Automotive
- Top Gear
MG Motor UK IM5 Driving, Engines & Performance
Driving What is it like to drive? That's the wrong question. What you should be asking first is 'Is it comfortable?' Because it isn't, and it dominates your entire experience of the car. The MG IM5 runs double wishbone suspension up front and a multi-link setup at the rear. Tuned well, this ought to be capable of a supple ride, even if it does have to fight with all 2.3 tonnes of the Performance version tested here. Advertisement - Page continues below The reality is… very different. From crawling through town to wafting down A roads and cruising along the motorway, there's a constant shimmy and shake; sometimes at the back, sometimes at the rear, mostly both. The front and rear often feel like they're doing different things, and there's no dialling it out with the driving modes because none of them alter the suspension in any way. When you hit a rut or pothole it thunks loudly, and in corners you can feel it scrabbling against Newton's third law. Don't get us wrong, the IM5 doesn't wallow or pitch very much at all, and although the ride's rather firm that's not really the problem: it just comes across as unsophisticated and under-developed. However much testing it went through in China, MG had too big a rescue job on its hands to make it UK ready. There's no sugar-coating it: it's extremely poor. The IM5 is easily MG's worst ambassador now – and weirdly, the more ungainly IM6 SUV rides slightly better. Even in its most basic form without air suspension. Which the IM5 doesn't get at all. Don't be surprised if MG U-turns on that decision ASAP. Get it all out of your system. What else do I need to know? The dynamics are insipid. You get no feedback from the tyres and no information at all through the steering wheel – we're keen to know if the rear-wheel drive versions feel pointier and more, well, alive. Advertisement - Page continues below You can sling the IM5 about a bit on a fast road and it does at least feel balanced (the majority of the torque tends to go to the back, going by the digi-readout), but it doesn't take much for understeer to kick in and you'll frequently lose your way because of the synthetic steering. So eventually you'll just not bother. The throttle and brake pedals are noticeably elastic, but that's fine for a car like this. Modulation from both is nice and relaxed, so making progress in town is just as easy as it is on the motorway. All of that means you've little trust in the ungodly acceleration. Plant the accelerator and an initial surge pins you back in your seat before a tidal wave of torque – 592lb ft in the Performance – really hits home. It's like Oleksandr Usyk has been personally invited to give your belly his best shot. Brace! Brace! There's rear-wheel steering, and you'll be very thankful for it in tight turns. You get three levels of regen – adjustable via the screen only – and the strongest one is still very light, so no one-pedalling. Driving modes include Super Eco, Eco, Comfort, and Sport, plus a Custom setting so you can fine-tune the steering effort and pedal response. The range looks impressive on paper. Is it? This dual-motored, all-wheel drive Performance promises 357 miles of range, and on a rainy July day on a mix of roads we coaxed a solid 3.0 mi/kWh from it – aka, about 290 miles from its 100kWh battery (96.5kWh usable). With a drag coefficient of 0.226 we were expecting better. The middle-order Long Range has the same battery and with one less motor is rated for 441 miles – we suspect that will be the big seller, and rightly so. Even if it does make do with… 402bhp and 0-62mph in 4.9 seconds. Yeah, you'll cope. The Standard Range gets a 75kWh (73.5kWh usable) battery, with less sophisticated LFP chemistry (the others get NCM cells that allow for 396kW charging) that peaks at a mere 153kW. That one's still capable of 304 miles, and with 291bhp acceleration is far more sensible. Highlights from the range the cheapest 553kW Performance 100kWh 5dr Auto 0-62 CO2 BHP MPG Price £N/A
Auto Car
a day ago
- Automotive
- Auto Car
Have your say on the future of Autocar
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The Standard
2 days ago
- Automotive
- The Standard
Heavy storms in northern Vietnam leave 1 dead, as Wipha weakens into a tropical depression
A car moves on a road as Tropical Storm Wipha approaches, in Quang Ninh province, Vietnam, July 22, 2025. REUTERS/Thinh Nguyen
