Lacquer Peel

Fucking twinport piece of shite.
 
This Astra and the Omega I had in 2016 have cemented my stance that AVAS.

There are some Americans in here now. 

There's a nice quiet pub that I come to regularly, about half a mile away is a family campsite which is closed over winter... Until now. 
Now the place is full of fucking amateur drinkers, kids and fannies that put bunting all over their mazda bongos. It's as if these people haven't left their house for 6 months and the concept of a pub meal and a pint is just completely alien. For example the couple next to me have just moved their table so it completely blocks the door out of the kitchen... 

The Czechs (and I suspect Eastern Europeans in general) have a much better way of working though possibly not as safe for the workforce but I'm sure it's okay if you're paying attention.
They will just close one section of line at a time and only on one side. And the App shows you exactly where it is.
So I just found this one on the app.

So it says there is a closure between the two places above that I'm not going to type out because it would take about half an hour. So then you swipe left for this. This shows live running, if it's late the actual times appear in a separate column. But you can see where closure is.

But unlike here it's not a complete closure. Like I say, it will only be on one side, so at worst you have to wait while a train coming the other way clears the line, then there will probably be a speed restriction past the works. Usually, at most , it will be about a 15 minute delay and the live portal above will tell you how late it is once it has passed that section. You might be lucky and go straight on to the single section and just lose a couple of minutes in the speed restriction.
But as you say, not a rail replacement bus in sight.
 
Another useful feature of the app is the train formation. Useful if you are a crank, and of no use to 99.9% of the general public but I'm glad it is there. Because you can tell if the train is loco hauled or a multiple unit. This is loco hauled.

But still not as good as the Hungarian Railways app which tells you the exact loco or unit on each train so you can find all the old stuff.

Found this whilst changing one of the the injector seals.
Arses. 

Inspired by @loserone’s comprehensive photo spam on this thread a long time ago, here’s what came up when I found an automated Sunrise and Sunset album on my iPhone. Look away if you don’t like rough, French content.

Lovely little trip out this evening in the petit red pocket rocket 🚀 to see the sunset up at Tommen Y Mur near Trawsfynydd North Wales. Thanks to @mat_the_cat for the suggestion and fixing someone else's bodge on the throttle cable 🤨. It is far more enjoyable to drive now 🤪

Another moon shot. This was shot at midnight using a long exposure, hence why the clouds are streaking across the sky. It was taken in the village of Frant in 1987.

My first car, pic taken at Bull Island, Dublin in July 2001:

 

Oh, and then same car, a mile or two up the road about ten years later.

2007, somewhere near the Solent.  Ancient digital camera!

Got loads of these, night shift and travelling at funny times of the day!

After a MUCH better day I am back home. I will post the full story on @LightBulbFun thread to keep it tidy, which is where any updates will also be posted to save some of searching for the latest.
Sufficient to say it was great to meet @red5 and some of his students. The Disco covered 890 miles in 2 days, towing, and never missed a beat!

I used to like you, man.
Used to.

Vans are definitely the best vehicles to drive anywhere in, as other van and lorry drivers let you out, and everyone else gives you space. It also helps to have giant mirrors and a better view ahead.
My Trafic has only 115bhp to carry a tonne and a half plus camper conversion, but 290nm of torque. It will sit at 75mph in cruise at around 2000rpm and is probably the best motorway car in the fleet.
I do also enjoy losing people on twisty roads in it, you can see the union flag brake lighted Mini drivers puffing up to explode from rage.

I'd say 100-150bhp is about right. 0-60 in 10 secs or less is a must. A comfortable cruise speed of 80mph+ is also handy.
The Dolly has 57bhp, or 60bhp per ton. Tops out at 85mph.
The Acclaim has 70bhp, or 79bhp per ton. Tops out at 95mph.
The 740 has 115bhp, or 82bhp per ton. Tops out at 110mph
The works Dispatch van has 90bhp, or 53bhp per ton. Tops out at 90mph.
Only the Volvo and van feel at home cruising on the motorway, mostly due to longer gearing. The Dolly and Acclaim will quite happily cruise at 70-75mph but are screaming away at 4,000rpm+ and realistically are more suited to being with the lorries in lane 1, at which point you may as well be on the A roads.
When you're stuck behind somebody doing 45mph along a motorway slip road before they boot it up to 95mph and dive straight into lane 3 you're the one who ends up dying when a lorry eviscerates your mid century shitbox or have to try and merge into motorway traffic from a dead stop with a 0-60 time of 20 seconds.
You could probably get away with 45bhp on A roads as people are so poor at driving you're lucky to be going over 45mph anyway.
There was some annoying bird in a Bini following me in the Dolly the other week glued right up my arse who was clearly desperate to pass (doing the overtaking weave constantly) despite there being plenty of other cars in front of me anyway. I found it very satisfying to lose them completely on the twisty bits and by the time they'd gotten to a straight and gunned it I'd already be caught up to the traffic in front and they'd have nowhere to overtake to. They were properly going mental. I later had a similar instance with a guy in a Golf GTD but he waited till we entered a brief 40mph zone going through a cluster of houses to pass me and vanish off into the distance in a black cloud.
I also think road presence has a big effect. The van is the least powerful vehicle on fleet in real terms but generates far less agro, presumably because people are less inclined to fuck with you.

Round my way, near Falkirk, people drive like arrogant swines.
I'm not exaggerating when I say that the only car that easily gets a regular car the fuck away from my tail is the Saab. That has 220bhp and an adequate 360nm of torque. I think 0-60 is somewhere around just below 7 seconds.  I really have to gun it as well although it is immensely satisfying to see these arseholes floundering behind in their Mokkas and 316ds.
The A4 with about 140bhp also has plenty of torque to keep other drivers away as do the 75 and A8 but you have to work them.
My preferred option is just to take my foot off the accelerator. If they are so close that I can't even see their headlights in my mirror then I might as well be going slow when they inevitably smash into me when I have to brake sharply to avoid something.
So I'd say anything above 150bhp if sufficient for today's roads filled with showers of bastards.

2CVs are fine on A and B roads where you can maintain momentum by scaring the bejeezus out of passengers and following cars when you tip it into bends without slowing, and even motorways are a cinch if you can find a helpful Volvo estate to tag along behind and let it pull you along at 70-75mph  but they're a bit of a PITA in city driving where the constant stop/start flat out acceleration from rest to 30 is tiring from a concentration point of view, although the car probably doesn't object.

Back in the day I regularly drove 45-55bhp cars on motorways with no bother, 1100cc Renault 5, Mk1 903cc Panda and did London and back a couple of times in my base 1.2 Mk1 Clio which would sit at 80 quite happily. My old boss did 35k miles a year in an E reg non turbo XUD BX estate (65bhp IIRC?) and at least half of those miles would have been flat out at 90+.

 

Back in the mid '90s I was on a trip to Italy and bought a car magazine.  On the back page was an advert for the Porsche 911 (993), which mentioned that when cruising at the 130km/h Autostrada speed limit in 6th gear, the engine was making exactly 37bhp.

Corsa D 1.0.  Just saying.

Indeed.  I have done NSL A-road overtakes in a Ligier Ambra, a Dodge 50-series camper and an LDV Convoy with a NA Peugeot diesel.  Anything is possible given a long enough straight...

I spent most of my time driving a 59bhp 205 diesel on the wrong side of the road just trying to get past arseholes. No need for anything more powerful as most people drive everywhere at 40 anyway.

I can definitely overtake safely in the express, it just requires planning.