The new news 24 thread

[DVee8]

@gm, I'll have a look when I'm out with Adam.  Give me a shout if you need someone to stand and laugh, encourage you to spend more money on some other 4 wheeled tat...  

[Saabnut]

9 hours ago, wuvvum said:

It's that time of year again when I have an internal debate about which car to drive down to my parents' in Somerset for Christmas. 

Moar stuff

AS is slipping! The obvious answer is to go out and buy another more suitable* vehicle for the journey.

[95 quid Peugeot]

12 hours ago, wuvvum said:

It's that time of year again when I have an internal debate about which car to drive down to my parents' in Somerset for Christmas.  The cheapest option would be to take the 107 (and cheapness is an important consideration as I didn't get any overtime pay in my December pay packet - partly my fault for procrastinating about submitting my hours and partly the company's fault for moving the deadline for submission without telling anyone).  It's perfectly capable of doing the distance - I've done FOD and back in it in a day, and that's about the same distance in total - and since fitting the Osram Nightbreaker bulbs and polishing the headlights at the weekend I can now actually vaguely see where I'm going at night, but it's a bit noisy at speed, and also it looks like it might be breezy over the weekend and the 107 doesn't like windy conditions very much.

The other option is the Rover 75.  That's more comfortable than the 107 and a lot quieter, with a much better stereo.  It also has cruise control, and being an automatic it'd be much more relaxing in the likely event that I get stuck in traffic.  On the flip side it uses 25% more fuel than the Pug and with diesel being 15% more expensive that makes quite a difference to fuel costs on a 500-mile round trip.  It's also a lot bigger, which is a consideration as parking is likely to be fairly tight on Christmas day.

Left field choice is the Toyota - that's on a par with the Rover comfort-wise, although it doesn't have cruise control and it's manual so traffic is more of a chore.  It does slightly less than the Rover mpg-wise but that's largely offset by the lower cost of petrol, although I'm not 100% comfortable about running it on E10 so I'd be putting in additive which raises the cost a bit.  The other argument in the Toyota's favour is that it's a family heirloom and Christmas day is going to be the biggest gathering of my mum's side of the family since before the pandemic.

Of course I could always go completely daft and take the Innocenti, although I'd be unable to walk properly after 7 hours in that.

Train Wanker and beer it down

[DVee8]

9 hours ago, gm said:

i’m just in from a late one at work, spotted this on vaguely near the roundabout just up from my house. considering it’s a 40 zone and the ice has completely cleared, he must have been pissed or half asleep to get that far into the field

i stopped to check there wasn’t anyone injured but, on closer inspection, this hadn’t just happened - big red police aware sticker on the boot lid !

@DVee8 you’ll probably pass this on your way to tomorrows driving lesson, the next roundabout up towards waldridge from ours.

 

then i noticed coolant flavoured steam coming from the binis front end  job for tomorrow then 

There was a recovery truck, when we passed. The truck may have its work cut out recovering this Ben thinks it is a Merc EQC.

 

[gm]

that looks like he’s trying to pull it out forwards - i bet there is some weight in those mercs, hope he has a strong rope 

[bigfella2]

2 hours ago, gm said:

that looks like he’s trying to pull it out forwards - i bet there is some weight in those mercs, hope he has a strong rope 

If its an eqc there is probably about three tonne there. I wonder if the owner wasn't used to over 400bhp?

Some of these electric cars are probably a bit too quick for inexperienced drivers especially at this time of year.

[RoverFolkUs]

16 hours ago, wuvvum said:

It's that time of year again when I have an internal debate about which car to drive down to my parents' in Somerset for Christmas.  The cheapest option would be to take the 107 (and cheapness is an important consideration as I didn't get any overtime pay in my December pay packet - partly my fault for procrastinating about submitting my hours and partly the company's fault for moving the deadline for submission without telling anyone).  It's perfectly capable of doing the distance - I've done FOD and back in it in a day, and that's about the same distance in total - and since fitting the Osram Nightbreaker bulbs and polishing the headlights at the weekend I can now actually vaguely see where I'm going at night, but it's a bit noisy at speed, and also it looks like it might be breezy over the weekend and the 107 doesn't like windy conditions very much.

The other option is the Rover 75.  That's more comfortable than the 107 and a lot quieter, with a much better stereo.  It also has cruise control, and being an automatic it'd be much more relaxing in the likely event that I get stuck in traffic.  On the flip side it uses 25% more fuel than the Pug and with diesel being 15% more expensive that makes quite a difference to fuel costs on a 500-mile round trip.  It's also a lot bigger, which is a consideration as parking is likely to be fairly tight on Christmas day.

Left field choice is the Toyota - that's on a par with the Rover comfort-wise, although it doesn't have cruise control and it's manual so traffic is more of a chore.  It does slightly less than the Rover mpg-wise but that's largely offset by the lower cost of petrol, although I'm not 100% comfortable about running it on E10 so I'd be putting in additive which raises the cost a bit.  The other argument in the Toyota's favour is that it's a family heirloom and Christmas day is going to be the biggest gathering of my mum's side of the family since before the pandemic.

Of course I could always go completely daft and take the Innocenti, although I'd be unable to walk properly after 7 hours in that.

75 all day every day for me, despite the fuel costs. Do understand the savings of using the 107 tho but if I had a wafty barge then what better use for it than a 500 mile trip. 

Honestly, 500 miles in a 107 would break me. But maybe that's just me 🤣

[New POD]

On 19/12/2022 at 12:43, barefoot said:

A tale of xmas grump.

As seems to becoming the norm, our local garage had no E5 so I bobbed up to EMA to brim the tank. Whilst I was stood at the pump another car pulled up, a twenty something lad got out & clattered something against the side of the Scirocco. It's a bit scruffy as you know, so I wasn't really bothered but then he, his partner & a child were all unloaded onto the forecourt by an older bloke ready to walk the couple of hundred yards over to the terminal. If lad hadn't clattered my car, there is a very good chance that I would have shouted, and told him to get back in because they'd soon be facing a hefty fine for alighting there.

But I never... I just wished him 'a good holiday'. 

Twat.

I did quite a bit of Contract work at Rolls Royce in Derby over the last few years. 

During one contract I became friends with 3 contractors who flew in from Belfast to East Midlands every Monday.  

They had a car parked in Castle Donnington in the Street, and would get a bus from the Airport to the car.  They'd drop it back in the Street on a Thursday evening, catch a bus to the airport and leave the car over the weekend. Over Christmas they left it for 10 days once.  They parked facing downhill. 

[barefoot]

I know the very hill. It's always packed with long term parkers. As a resident it's easy to spot the cars dumped by holidaymakers and Downloaders.

[Pat Earrings]

Bluebird won’t be ready till the new year as it’s a dash out job for the matrix. It’ll be worth it as it’ll return with a fully recored matrix and heater and new thermostat so at least the cooling system gets a welcome renewal. 
 

in other news I’ve just purchased this stereo for it. Fully working and with a code, seems about period correct I’d say. Not too much either 

[Fumbler]

2 minutes ago, Pat Earrings said:

Bluebird won’t be ready till the new year as it’s a dash out job for the matrix. It’ll be worth it as it’ll return with a fully recored matrix and heater and new thermostat so at least the cooling system gets a welcome renewal. 
 

in other news I’ve just purchased this stereo for it. Fully working and with a code, seems about period correct I’d say. Not too much either 

They're alright but I got fed up having to constantly retune it. Then again, if you're only going to listen to cassettes, they're fine. No Dolby though.

[Pat Earrings]

5 minutes ago, Fumbler said:

They're alright but I got fed up having to constantly retune it. Then again, if you're only going to listen to cassettes, they're fine. No Dolby though.

It’s literally just to maintain the period look tbh. I probably will get a shitty cassette Bluetooth adapter if I get really bored.

[Fumbler]

1 minute ago, Pat Earrings said:

It’s literally just to maintain the period look tbh. I probably will get a shitty cassette Bluetooth adapter if I get really bored.

Ah, perfect use for one then!

[Ghosty]

Sorted the W124's missing dash lights (and RH head/taillamps!), it was just one of those funny old continental fuses having given up. I did have a suspicion the cold had got to it, they're all a bit furry. 

[EightMegs]

19 hours ago, Ghosty said:

Official advice for a Carina E (that's right innit?) is to use E5. 
I would, it gives slightly better MPG for a mild difference in cost, and the cars seem to like it more  - and the bigger the engine, the more appreciable the performance drop is for E10 in my experience. My 520i hated the stuff, for one, it made it properly slow. I'd be interested to see how it affected my 300E, but considering the relative similarity of the injection system to the 520, I'm fairly sure it'd just run like it was down a significant amount of power. 

The fact the only engines listed as being compatible are ones not shared with the Carina E would imply as much. I wonder what they changed when they went over to the AZ engine from the A and S in older cars.

[Ghosty]

2 minutes ago, EightMegs said:

The fact the only engines listed as being compatible are ones not shared with the Carina E would imply as much. I wonder what they changed when they went over to the AZ engine from the A and S in older cars.

That says the AZ isn't E10 compliant, not that it is! (or am I misreading?)

[EightMegs]

6 minutes ago, Ghosty said:

That says the AZ isn't E10 compliant, not that it is! 

Whoops, I got mixed up! In that case, 4A-F powered Avensis... Avensiii must be E10 compatible! Might make them a good source for E10 compatible plumbing for older cars.

[brownnova]

20 hours ago, wuvvum said:

It's that time of year again when I have an internal debate about which car to drive down to my parents' in Somerset for Christmas. 

75 or Carina… inside a 107 is no way to spend the festive period. 

[brownnova]

Took the XC90 to the nearest Volvo Indy for some work and these were in the showroom… 

I really wanted to have a proper poke, but considering I’d arrived to pick my car up at 16.58 and their close time is 17.00 I thought I might be taking the piss a bit! 

[GMcD]

When I was 15 I couldn't walk to school without hearing some wee bam in his Nova, Astra or Cavalier with a cherry bomb fly past. I shouldn't have, but I always liked the sound.

My turn:

I've still got a mid silencer in place and another small mid box (from the Mx-5) directly behind the Kraken exhaust to keep the noise levels sensible.

Wee bit more footering required, but at least the exhaust isn't rattling on the boot floor unlike before. 

I've still got a full standard exhaust in the rafters, so can put back to normal if it does my head in.

[JMotor]

That sounds fine without being in your face. 

Remember the day of the Rage rocket launcher back boxes or the completely straight through exhausts. Awful! 

[richardmorris]

1 hour ago, brownnova said:

Took the XC90 to the nearest Volvo Indy for some work and these were in the showroom… 

I really wanted to have a proper poke, but considering I’d arrived to pick my car up at 16.58 and their close time is 17.00 I thought I might be taking the piss a bit! 

Ooh, an independent with a showroom!

[JMotor]

If I'm flamed tae fuck for this so be it. 

The painted bits on the dash were a little beaten on the Altezza. So I've put one Slap sticker to begin with. Want another to cover the rest. 

It's kinda period correct as lads and lassies in Japan did and still do it to theirs. 

Have also been busy with the Nexia. 

I had P40'd the new arch section. Have been knocking it down to get a shape back in. So far it's actually coming along really well. Much happiness! Skim of filler will true it up. 

[Bren]

56 minutes ago, GMcD said:

When I was 15 I couldn't walk to school without hearing some wee bam in his Nova, Astra or Cavalier with a cherry bomb fly past. I shouldn't have, but I always liked the sound.

My turn:

I've still got a mid silencer in place and another small mid box (from the Mx-5) directly behind the Kraken exhaust to keep the noise levels sensible.

Wee bit more footering required, but at least the exhaust isn't rattling on the boot floor unlike before. 

I've still got a full standard exhaust in the rafters, so can put back to normal if it does my head in.

When I had my mk 2 It was either peco or Jetex.

[Ghosty]

3 hours ago, JMotor said:

The painted bits on the dash were a little beaten on the Altezza. So I've put one Slap sticker to begin with. Want another to cover the rest. 

It's kinda period correct as lads and lassies in Japan did and still do it to theirs. 

dash slap OK, IMO. My daily EF is only the same, I take no shame as it's tidy but not perfect. 

[mat777]

Bought a trailer yesterday, it came with added shite points:

 

Retrieving it however, didn't *entirely* go to plan.....

 

Probably didn't help that it had a ton of crated-up Derwent engine on the back of it with no facility to offload without getting to terra firma first.....

 

 

[Joey spud]

I needed a cheap run around for a 20 minute commute and after briefly being tempted by the dark side (Fiat Panda) i saw sense and tracked down a 1.3 Yaris.

It has a whisper quiet,non rattly engine,non rusty nether regions,toasty hot heater and icy cold air con but best of all it did well over 50 mpg on the brisk drive back from the Midlands to Kent.

If you get a good one of these on your driveway life instantly becomes way less stressey.

[barefoot]

Good to see that the nights are beginning to draw out a bit now…

[dome]

4 hours ago, mat777 said:

Bought a trailer yesterday, it came with added shite points:

 

Retrieving it however, didn't *entirely* go to plan.....

 

Probably didn't help that it had a ton of crated-up Derwent engine on the back of it with no facility to offload without getting to terra firma first.....

 

 

What's the Derwent going in👀

[High Jetter]

Mrs says: Christmas will be boring. I CBA.