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One thing that really annoys me is that it seems to be impossible to tell anyone else these days that you are actually a good driver. There aren't many things in life I consider myself quite good at but driving is one of them. Everybody just laughs though as, obviously, there is nobody on the planet that could ever be considered a good driver.
Fair enough, I'll leave you to enjoy your 20mph drive along the A68 last weekend and wear your brakes out every time there is a crest or bend, Ill be home and asleep waaaaaaaaaaaay before you.
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My previous car, it wasn't a 4x4 but a little technique goes a long way. Oh and winter tyres, they help too.
So what is I_ache's motor?
I hardly use my car not that I live with trails on the doorstep or on the way for someone else to pick me up to Tweed. That bit wasn't intentional but would be madness not to.
We only drive to the park and ride most mornings. Saves 20 mins on the journey to work over a ten minute stroll to catch a later bus. Annoyed I do this, but MsJimmy would most likely do it even if I walked so... A kid due In June might change things.
Ford Focus ST Estate.
I_aches ford is awesome. They are brining out a diesel version this year. I think I'm probably going to get one.
But yes u have a few other cars a beat up 12 yo focus estate and a couple of works vans. The problem with the Porsche is it does the normal driving mode so well I find it hard to drive anything else. But I've put 3000 miles on it in February so I need to start driving something else.
It averages 30mpg usually but that was just on that one run across dartmoor
In the berlingo club. It sits on the drive all week as we both cycle to work, but when it gets used it swallows stuff in the way a berlingo does, we sleep in it and all sorts.
Crikey I didn't expect such a response about my car. Yes it is a Focus ST Estate. I think it's great but the traction from standing isn't great and I would like something rwd next. I have put about 9000 miles on it since i got it in July and that's with a couple of months not driving it thanks to an operation on my left ankle.
In my eyes the running costs are reasonable, my insurance is only £300, tax is £18 a month and it returns around 28mpg when having fun where you can but not hammering it all the time.
FWIW it is the ST-3 so has the full leather interior including a Recaro rear bench, xenon's, auto lights and wipers, climate control, premium sony stereo and a couple of other options. Not bad for a Ford.
Yep of course I do, until the point someone brings out a bike capable of carrying 4 blokes and kit,to London and back to Leeds, dry and warm,ready to work and then drive home again, in a day.
Sorry no pictures of a mud splattered 4X4. Can't see the point of taking pics of my dirty Volvo estate, but it's no less of a work horse for that.
Bus, office, bedroom, skip, van, taxi, workshop,disco, occasional nice car.
Mine gets used generally only at weekends, to pick up a mate to go to the pub, or other leisure activity. Today I went to visit a friend to drop off a birthday card and pressy, and I'll be picking her up to go for a drink and bite to eat on Tuesday.
She lives around ten miles away in a village with no public transport at weekends, and two buses on weekdays.
I walk or ride to work.
Could I do without the car? No, there's no practical way to get anywhere other than cities by public transport in North Wilts; there's little public transport other than to major towns at weekends.
Or any other time, for that matter...
I use my zafira
Yesterday it drove me, wife n kids to my parents for a day
Today it drove me and my bike to a dh race in Hampshire
No pictures I'm afraid but its a very useful tool indeed
I_Ache
In my eyes the running costs are reasonable, my insurance is only £300, tax is £18 a month and it returns around 28mpg when having fun where you can but not hammering it all the time.
So, what sort of mpg does it get when you're thrashing it and what's it like cruising?
I use mine "properly" occasionally. Not much would do 220kph with 2 people, 4 bikes, ten cases of wine and three weeks' stuff in it. Or cruise the autoroute at 130kph and 45mpg for 9 hours and still leave you feeling fresh.
But most of the other 11 months it's a bit of overkill...
This one goes sideways round roundabouts
[url= https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7311/9398922849_15a918aa44_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7311/9398922849_15a918aa44_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/fjxWiX ]DSCF0361[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/7614571@N05/ ]thisisnotaspoon[/url], on Flickr
This one moves s***
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So I can spend my weekends doing stuff like this
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Tinas what's the boat?
I miss dinghy sailing terribly, waiting for kids to get big enough to take them out.
It's a Blaze, I usually sail it with the big HALO rig but 30knt+ gusts today meant the 'normal' sail* got an outing.
Not sure why my spray top always inflates though?
*It's still big, 50% bigger than a Laser.
Ah didn't recognise it. I sailed an early one back in the late 90s. I thought it was great but budget pushed me into a Laser in the end.
jimjam
So, what sort of mpg does it get when you're thrashing it and what's it like cruising?
Under have acceleration the instant mpg readout goes down to about 4, obvious you can't do that all the time but when really pressing on down a twisty road with lots of breaking/accelerating it probably gets 15-18. On a nice flowy road it's more like 24 as it holds its speed in the corners well. On a recent 300m motorway journey I got 39 which could have been higher if I didn't just want to get home or had cruise control.
Tell me about your Legacy, what sort of power does it have?
They've gone through 3 sails iterations since then, they made a slightly smaller semi-soft Sobstad to replace the original fully battened one to allow some more control and called it the Blaze-x (the x got dropped again once all the 'Blaze' were converted tot he new rig), then North made a white cross cut one, and the new(er) red North's are brilliant.
Gone round in a circle though, the new HALO sail is both fully battened and bigger than the original Blaze!
Not much more expensive than a good club level laser now, boats start at £1300 for something basic, probably £2000 to get something competitive.
I_AcheTell me about your Legacy, what sort of power does it have?
Stock it's got 280bhp (Japanese GT300 rule so might be more like 300 at the crank) , and that's the tune it's in at the minute. Has a boost controller and gauge as well as a second ecu so could go to about 340bhp/300lbs ft but I just had the engine rebuilt along with a new clutch and flywheel so I don't need any extra grief.
MPG...er. Probably goes into single figures when provoked. Driving like a saint it'll get about 29/30mpg but a smallish tank makes it feel worse than it is. Or so I keep telling myself.
Kia Sorrento. 6 of the 7 seats in use today with grand kids. Mon - Fri MrsTs commuter. I get it for night shifts and biking trips. Bought to tow 6 berth caravan.
Similar mpg to the Porsche but not as much fun 🙄
Tell me about it, I only get 300 miles out of a tank in normal conditions.
It must be good getting off the line with 280bhp and 4wd. I can spin the wheels in 3rd at 70mph when the turbo kicks in properly. With the winters I have on at the moment it will spin up in 4th without even trying.
I_Ache - MemberTell me about it, I only get 300 miles out of a tank in normal conditions.
That makes me feel slightly less guilty about mine thanks 🙂
I don't really bother with full bore launches etc. Too much stress on the drivetrain. Primary turbo comes in at 2000 rpm so theres a big gob of torque as you roll away. I generally find myself bimbling about like most of the pensioner who seem to drive old Legacys, save the odd occasion.
Those of you who only use your car from time to time could join a car club... If there's not one near you (www.carplus.org.uk has a map) easycarclub.com is cool - rent out your little used vehicle or borrow someone else's. Like airbnb but for cars.
engineeringcowboy - MemberI_aches ford is awesome. They are brining out a diesel version this year. I think I'm probably going to get one.
Me too, just not for about 8 years 😆
(secretly would like for someone to rearend the mondeo and write it off so I can buy the scrap off the insurance and fit the 2.2 motor into a mk1 focus estate.)
That would be pretty cool.
I once contemplated transplanting a 2.0 petrol engine and electrics from a mk1 Mondeo into my XR3i when the engine blew up. Sadly I didn't have the funds or skill.
EDIT - argh, Flickr links!
Have three cars but mostly cycle.. the L200 I probably do 2k per year and just use if I need to move heavy stuff such as caravan, big boat, logs etc. A Little soft top for the missus which did 90 (yes 90) miles in a whole year and a ford focus estate for pulling the little boat. Which does max 3-4k per year.
Focus is by far the best car imho.
mine has done 6000 miles in two months of commuting ,taking kids to school etc .As my other half lives 50 miles away and we are between house moves.It is going to do 700 a week for the commute and school run until A levels finish so probably another 6000 in the next 2 months !!
Is this a picture thread? 🙂 Mine taken for a weekend spin a couple of months ago:
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I have a thoroughly boring TDCi C-Max. It sits on the drive apart from the 2 days a week when my wife works. She commutes in it 20 miles each way, and uses it through the day for community visits.
It get used on weekends to cart family of 4 about the country, often doing 500-1000 miles over a weekend, often loaded with roofbox and tow-bar bike rack.
It gets used alright. Bigger car would perhaps be nicer, mainly due to ease of loading it up instead of the jigsaw puzzle of fitting everything in. But a bigger car would be more expensive...
Wife uses hers for work a lot (company car). Very rarely use them for non work. I drove in today just to keep the battery topped up!
We use ours for all sorts other than transport.
Hauling big kit to places-
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I use mine for work- hauling home soil samples from across the country. Not often now as we have a work van and I cycle to work at least half the time, so I'm not a complete STW heathen.
They get abused-
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Most importantly, enjoying ourselves-
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Berlingo, yes, commute, bike carrier, motorbike transport (you can get a trials bike, 2 bikes and a surfboard in), changing room, house moves, wall removal (took dads wall down the dump), allotment ute, fence panel carrier
My 2007 focus is basically a van a lot of the time, in the week I have to use it for work, travelling around building sites, to the tune of about 1000 miles a month at the moment, probably another 500-600 miles on top of that for personal stuff, at the weekends lugging the bike about, parts and kit for my other hobby (rallying), and building and farm kit etc. My record in this one so far is 6 rims with forestry tyres on, and 4 bare rims.
My old 2003 focus was much abused, even more than the current one, with the seats flat and parcel shelf out it's amazing what you can fit in one.
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