Are we really still viewing cars as an entertainment platform?

Yes, why wouldn’t we? At the end of a long day it’s just as rewarding for me to tinker with my old car as it is to tinker with my bikes.

Thanks Happybiker! That’s great – which exact rack have you got? Is it fine for these new fangled long/low bikes? I’ve got a lovely Thule Euro LED something or other that is rendered almost useless for modern geo bike..

I need to work out how to tell my wife I could have had the towbar on my car all along.. and not got hers covered in mud every other weekend.. 😬

I’ve got a Buzz Rack Runner 3, it’s fine with older style bikes but more than 2 Boost axled bikes causes some scuffing and it’s only just wide enough for my long bike (1260mm WB). Mind you, the wheels stick out either side of the car when I look in my mirrors…
I think there are better options for bigger, modern bikes now, most probably Thule.

Thanks for the info Happybiker. I thought that may be the case. I think mine was one of the better ones at the time and cost about 350-400 but the new versions from Thule seem to be around the 500+ quid mark..

But us foreigners would rather you left your RHD heavy metal monsters at home and hired a LHD Clio locally

After they have flown in to your local airport I presume.

I used to have a 330d touring , which was replaced as a company car by 330i petrol.
The 330d was 6 cylinders and a stonking engine in terms of power deliver and flexibility. The 330i, on paper, gives around the same power, and is lighter. The torque is obviously much less. It is also now 2 litre turbo fro engine efficiency.
It’s a bit rubbish, TBH, and has bugger all low down power … 🙁

It’s the last of the N/A 3.0 straight sixes and it sounds magical. ❤️
It’ll do over 30mpg on the motorway occasionally so it’s cheap to run for 20k miles a year. It’s going into semi retirement and I plan to half it’s mileage.

That’s nearly £4k in fuel – when a relatively normal car (not a crrappy eco box) could halve that!

I’ve had a few BMW sixes, petrol and diesel, and that straight six has always been an utter joy to use, regardless of its capacity, forced induction or fuel type. Silky smooth, fantastic genuine noise, and let’s be fair, it’s just better than a feeble everyman four-banger. It just made you feel better than the guy in the 318i or the 520d. And I’m still not convinced about downsizing other than a way for corporations to screw their figures.my Mrs last car had a nat-asp 1.6 four pot. New car, exactly the same, but has a 1.0 3 cyl turbo. Currently is returning 5-6mpg less on the same runs as the old 1.6, and costs £120 more to tax… 🤔

I digress… The straight sixes always felt a bit special. A bit exotic. I suppose they’ll disappear altogether eventually. Sad times.

That’s nearly £4k in fuel – when a relatively normal car (not a crrappy eco box) could halve that!

Yes but he already owns it (and likes it). There’s more to driving than MPG 🙂

It just made you feel better than the guy in the 318i or the 520d

I was with you until this. I don’t feel any better than anyone else because I drive a car with a straight 6 Diesel engine??

I sold my 3.0l flat 6 subaru with AWD a couple weeks ago, brilliant engine and with 55/45 rear biased permanent AWD the traction it had was awesome. Pretty quick too at around 7 seconds 0-60, in the dry, or the wet.

Unfortunately, sub-25mpg just wasn’t doable for the 15k miles a year I’m now looking at doing, so I’m picking up my new car on Thursday – a Skoda Superb 2.0tdi 150, top of the range model, slower (but not that much, more torque – 250lbft vs 220lbft) but double the mpg and loads more comfort with all the toys: electronic suspension, adaptive cruise control, lane assist, uprated stereo etc. Just the job for wafting up the motorway for a few days away in the mountains. Going from a 2006 car to a 2017 will be nice too, maybe in a few years I’ll look at the 272ps version (basically a golf R in a massive and comfortable estate body) which will do 0-60 in 5ish seconds…

‘Tis a sad time, the days of more-than-four-cylinder engines are definitely limited. I decided <span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>to scratch an itch before it became an impossibility: a proper(ish) big-capacity V8. Well aware it’s rather polluting and (relatively) terrible on fuel, but for a last hurrah I may as well do it properly. Better buying an existing/used vehicle than introducing a new car to the road. 4K miles annually but I do more than that by pedal-power.</span>

2012 MINI swapped to a 2005 400bhp “Vauxhall”.

Most new cars do little for me.

That’s nearly £4k in fuel – when a relatively normal car (not a crrappy eco box) could halve that!

Yes that’s not too bad for 12 month’s commuting, is it? I guess the small premium over something dull is worth it for making those miles more enjoyable.
As I said, its going into semi retirement for a year or so until it’s replaced by a van. I’ll still have something fun, if a little characterless, to enjoy on non-bike/surf days.

I’ve still go something ‘fun’ for the summer days when I’m not on a pedal powered bike…

A 140bhp 1000cc Motorbike. Which ironically, gets better mpg than my old Subaru, at 35mpg average and 45mpg sat on the motorway!

Riding that for an hour or 2 gives me enough thrills to last a while! No car this side of £50k, even £100k will beat the acceleration from a big litre motorbike.