The new news 24 thread

[richardmorris]

@Yoss

except that the a3 m25 junction was also undergoing closures. Timing eh!

[Yoss]

3 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

@Yoss

except that the a3 m25 junction was also undergoing closures. Timing eh!

Ah. Not good. It's almost as if they did that deliberately just to annoy people. 

[bramz7]

This is my new everyday car, the 147 I alluded to on my MiTo sale thread. 

First time I've ever had a diesel 147, and the first time I've ever had a 147 with two keys which is why my first one went sour! 

It drives really well. The JTD 120 (8v?) is such a good engine even at advancing age. I think the previous owner kept on top of the important stuff so it feels good for 142k. Obviously some Alfa foibles remain, the door glass rattles for example and both sills are like this:

The tyres are good on tread but quite terrible. I often wondered what tyres created bearing noise and it's these ones. Yuck. 

The interior is fairly good. I don't like the leather seats but they're ok on a shorter run. The ABS light is on but the cruise still works, which is very welcome.

It's only a stop gap, I'm planning on getting a newer (or new) car by the end of the year. 

[wuvvum]

Bloody good engine that, much more solid than the 16v.  Glow plugs are a bit of a twat though if memory serves.

[richardmorris]

6 hours ago, Yoss said:

Ah. Not good. It's almost as if they did that deliberately just to annoy people. 

 

[brownnova]

Only 222 miles until a great milestone for the 9000… 

With both the 9-3 and the XC90 playing up and trust only beginning to build in the TransSport the faithful long standing fleet member that is the Saab 9000 has taken on daily duties again over the last few weeks taking my 250 mile a week commute in its stride… until today when the key fob decided to pack up and nearly left me stranded at work as it’s required to disarm the immobiliser. Thankfully pulling the fob apart and poking bits with a biro managed to get it beeping and home was achieved. Having put it all together again it appears now to be working adequately… but tomorrow is a 12 hour day with a governors meeting… I think I’ll borrow the wife’s modern! 

[richardmorris]

3 minutes ago, brownnova said:

Only 222 miles until a great milestone for the 9000… 

With both the 9-3 and the XC90 playing up and trust only beginning to build in the TransSport the faithful long standing fleet member that is the Saab 9000 has taken on daily duties again over the last few weeks taking my 250 mile a week commute in its stride… until today when the key fob decided to pack up and nearly left me stranded at work as it’s required to disarm the immobiliser. Thankfully pulling the fob apart and poking bits with a biro managed to get it beeping and home was achieved. Having put it all together again it appears now to be working adequately… but tomorrow is a 12 hour day with a governors meeting… I think I’ll borrow the wife’s modern! 

So you’re not planning an overnight trip to coventry and back?

[richardmorris]

On 11/07/2025 at 23:34, Joey spud said:

While waiting for a new screen to be fitted to my phone earlier I popped into a close by micro pub I've always wanted to visit called the 10.50 from Victoria which is situated in a railway arch near to Strood station and I guess is actually under the London Victoria line.

Two tasty locally produced amber IPA's were enjoyed in the baking hot sunshine before having to leave and collect my phone.

Best of all when venturing back from the toilet I spotted a lovely metallic green P5B resting up in the shade of an adjacent arch 

All told I was really impressed by the decent beer the architecture and the friendly clientele that I'll have to suffer going into town more often to pay them further visits.

My CAMRA colleague has been there ( he says). They did a tour of Kent microbreweries last spring. He doesn’t remember a p5b though.

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, richardmorris said:

My CAMRA colleague has been there ( he says). They did a tour of Kent microbreweries last spring. He doesn’t remember a p5b though.

Even in that colour?

[SiC]

As per my Z4 thread, last weekend I took a visit to Powderham Castle classic car and steam show. Not a bad show but certainly not the Glastonbury of car shows they made it out to be! Second time I've been and tbh it was similar to as it was the 2 years or so I went last. 

I didn't think I took many photos but apparently I did. Over 100 here so it might make your connection creak a bit! No particular order as my phone seems to upload photos randomly and I'm not going to organise that many photos!

[dave j]

10 hours ago, SiC said:

As per my Z4 thread, last weekend I took a visit to Powderham Castle classic car and steam show. Not a bad show but certainly not the Glastonbury of car shows they made it out to be! Second time I've been and tbh it was similar to as it was the 2 years or so I went last. 

I didn't think I took many photos but apparently I did. Over 100 here so it might make your connection creak a bit! No particular order as my phone seems to upload photos randomly and I'm not going to organise that many photos!

Liked for the random cat picture part way through! I've never made it up to Powderham yet, maybe next year as I would like to go and see what it's like

[artdjones]

I'm going to pick this up tonight, for use as a work car.

An automatic 1.5DCi. It's exactly 10 years old, so just slipping from the moderns to the main board.

[wuvvum]

It's also an automatic Renault, so would fit nicely into the Low Cost Big Liability thread.

[comfortablynumb]

That Scotland or bust seven is magnificent @SiC😁

[wuvvum]

Tatra 613 for me.

[artdjones]

6 hours ago, wuvvum said:

It's also an automatic Renault, so would fit nicely into the Low Cost Big Liability thread.

Not at all, the EDC box is the equivalent of a DSG on a VW. They are made by Getrag.  Lots go for big mileages, there's one up on Done Deal at present with 220k miles, and one at 240k. The box itself rarely seems to go wrong, although the dual clutch is an expensive item, €1200 for parts at least.

[wuvvum]

Isn't it basically a rebadged Ford Powershift?

[Imhotep]

Jaguar finally being a proper Jaguar. Always said I wanted a V4 I suppose. 
 

[wesacosa]

Some highlights from the vehicle enthusiast day at my workplace today 

The 911 is the first RHD 911 imported in to the uk I think, and is the ex Vic Elford rallycross car

The Supervan is the original one which has just been fully restored after someone from the original project tracked down its remains and fully rebuilt it

There was a nice Testerossa too and some other nice sporty cars but not very AS

 

 

[Tickman]

24 minutes ago, wesacosa said:

Some highlights from the vehicle enthusiast day at my workplace today 

Some workplace!

[comfortablynumb]

Always loved that supervan.

The original and best 👍

[Lacquer Peel]

22 hours ago, brownnova said:

Only 222 miles until a great milestone for the 9000… 

With both the 9-3 and the XC90 playing up and trust only beginning to build in the TransSport the faithful long standing fleet member that is the Saab 9000 has taken on daily duties again over the last few weeks taking my 250 mile a week commute in its stride… until today when the key fob decided to pack up and nearly left me stranded at work as it’s required to disarm the immobiliser. Thankfully pulling the fob apart and poking bits with a biro managed to get it beeping and home was achieved. Having put it all together again it appears now to be working adequately… but tomorrow is a 12 hour day with a governors meeting… I think I’ll borrow the wife’s modern! 

It looks a lot cooler on an analogue cluster I have to say. 

[High Jetter]

Caravelle still looking stylish! Anyone else remember Renault TV?

[wesacosa]

1 hour ago, comfortablynumb said:

Always loved that supervan.

The original and best 👍

I was lucky enough to see all 5 at Goodwood 

I actually played a very very tiny part in the Supervan 4 story (the first electric one) and drove the van it was built from

 

[Brigsy]

Love the supervan/supervan 2. Had supervan 2 matchbox toy when i was a kid.

 

Dropped my spare compomotive mo6 off to be refurbed by Temas Wheel Corrections onFriday, and got some pics through today when finished.

Quite a tale behind these wheels. Compomotive made a few custom sets for the pre production megane 225 for testing when a company called Ricardo developed the 225, they were sold off after the 225's development was finished and renault used speedline wheels instead. I was told by compomotive they were made by them in 2001.

I bought a nice set of 6 in 2020 for my Kangoo, and started looking for another pair to make 2x sets. They are et66 18x8 5x108 so perfect fit, but odd offset makes them rocking horse shit to find.

One came from ebay on a random spot (actually couldnt believe id found one) put feelers out on megane forums and one was loated deep in Scotland, 6 mile away from John o Groats and colection only. I drove 16hour round trip to collect it in the blue clio van doing nc500 in the process. 

Epic road trip.

That was 2021 and as im a bit of a wheel hoarder stuck them in the garage with a view to refurb. 

Last week finally pulled finger out and took them to Temas. The ebay wheel was basically rough as old boots and had some metal filler on it for some unkonwn reason. I actually was unsure if it could be made decent but has turned out real nice.

Before

During

Done. Went for stealth silver in a matt finishas i already have a set in anthracite, and a set in white.

Pretty excited to pick them up. Set of michelin ps4s to fit for road use.

[Popsicle]

As mentioned in the grumpy thread last week, the couriering Caddy decided to no longer want conditioned air. I was treated to a burning smell as I got to the end of the M4 around Hammersmith, the aircon compressor had seized up, I suppose 419k miles is a reasonable innings. With me being a fat sweaty mess this wasn't acceptable. The van didn't seem to like it either as the odometer starting fainting in the heat.

Spoke with my regular garage, they said pop it round Monday and I'll get it back same day - they're brilliant lads and I must admit to being very grateful of how they fit me in at short notice.

So van dropped off at the garage, Saturday I let all my customers know that I'm only available in the Passat on Monday. Gets a job from Barnsley to Hertford, nice one, remind customer of not being in the van, no probs he says, just a box of LED lights to deliver, happy days.

He kinda forgot to mention the six 3 metre chrome poles that also needed delivering! Luckily the mighty Passat just managed to swallow the load.

Mrs P and daughter number 1 picked the van up in the afternoon for me as I was still pissing about on the A1 going to Hertford, £350 lighter, but one new shiny compressor and a full quota of refrigerant.

I was booked for a little job out of Birmingham up to Manchester this morning. I was looking forward to beautiful cool conditioned air on my travels.

And it pissed it down pretty much all the time and never got warm enough to need the aircon, FML 🤣.

At least its all good to go for the next heatwave.

[SiC]

38 minutes ago, Popsicle said:

And it pissed it down pretty much all the time and never got warm enough to need the aircon, FML 🤣.

At least its all good to go for the next heatwave.

Aircon also dries the air and keeps the glass mist free in humid environments.

I find HVAC in most modern cars don't really work properly unless the Aircon is working - especially climate control systems. 

[Erebus]

39 minutes ago, Popsicle said:

As mentioned in the grumpy thread last week, the couriering Caddy decided to no longer want conditioned air. I was treated to a burning smell as I got to the end of the M4 around Hammersmith, the aircon compressor had seized up, I suppose 419k miles is a reasonable innings. With me being a fat sweaty mess this wasn't acceptable. The van didn't seem to like it either as the odometer starting fainting in the heat.

Spoke with my regular garage, they said pop it round Monday and I'll get it back same day - they're brilliant lads and I must admit to being very grateful of how they fit me in at short notice.

So van dropped off at the garage, Saturday I let all my customers know that I'm only available in the Passat on Monday. Gets a job from Barnsley to Hertford, nice one, remind customer of not being in the van, no probs he says, just a box of LED lights to deliver, happy days.

He kinda forgot to mention the six 3 metre chrome poles that also needed delivering! Luckily the mighty Passat just managed to swallow the load.

Mrs P and daughter number 1 picked the van up in the afternoon for me as I was still pissing about on the A1 going to Hertford, £350 lighter, but one new shiny compressor and a full quota of refrigerant.

I was booked for a little job out of Birmingham up to Manchester this morning. I was looking forward to beautiful cool conditioned air on my travels.

And it pissed it down pretty much all the time and never got warm enough to need the aircon, FML 🤣.

At least its all good to go for the next heatwave.

It'll be warm again tomorrow and you'll be glad you had it done

[Erebus]

1 hour ago, Brigsy said:

Love the supervan/supervan 2. Had supervan 2 matchbox toy when i was a kid.

 

Dropped my spare compomotive mo6 off to be refurbed by Temas Wheel Corrections onFriday, and got some pics through today when finished.

Quite a tale behind these wheels. Compomotive made a few custom sets for the pre production megane 225 for testing when a company called Ricardo developed the 225, they were sold off after the 225's development was finished and renault used speedline wheels instead. I was told by compomotive they were made by them in 2001.

I bought a nice set of 6 in 2020 for my Kangoo, and started looking for another pair to make 2x sets. They are et66 18x8 5x108 so perfect fit, but odd offset makes them rocking horse shit to find.

One came from ebay on a random spot (actually couldnt believe id found one) put feelers out on megane forums and one was loated deep in Scotland, 6 mile away from John o Groats and colection only. I drove 16hour round trip to collect it in the blue clio van doing nc500 in the process. 

Epic road trip.

That was 2021 and as im a bit of a wheel hoarder stuck them in the garage with a view to refurb. 

Last week finally pulled finger out and took them to Temas. The ebay wheel was basically rough as old boots and had some metal filler on it for some unkonwn reason. I actually was unsure if it could be made decent but has turned out real nice.

Before

During

Done. Went for stealth silver in a matt finishas i already have a set in anthracite, and a set in white.

Pretty excited to pick them up. Set of michelin ps4s to fit for road use.

Gorgeous wheels and love the colour

[flat4alfa]

On 14/07/2025 at 13:49, bramz7 said:

This is my new everyday car, the 147 I alluded to on my MiTo sale thread. 

First time I've ever had a diesel 147, and the first time I've ever had a 147 with two keys which is why my first one went sour! 

It drives really well. The JTD 120 (8v?) is such a good engine even at advancing age. I think the previous owner kept on top of the important stuff so it feels good for 142k. Obviously some Alfa foibles remain, the door glass rattles for example and both sills are like this:

The tyres are good on tread but quite terrible. I often wondered what tyres created bearing noise and it's these ones. Yuck. 

The interior is fairly good. I don't like the leather seats but they're ok on a shorter run. The ABS light is on but the cruise still works, which is very welcome.

It's only a stop gap, I'm planning on getting a newer (or new) car by the end of the year. 

It’ll start and run and get you where you need to be for years. The glow plug light just teases and probably didn’t know what it was meant to be doing anyway. The ABS light is common and just down to grubby connection.

The oil level never moves, unlike the petroleums

Apart from that, you could* do a plate spacing fiddle and pretend you are the captain of a culinary beef stock empire

Drive and enjoy and forget about DNA selectivo