Float a Mersey Trout in there and see how they like it.

Sounds a great plan, recruit a couple of mates and it could end up looking like a Canadian logging farm!

You’re all wrong, this is where it’s at with vans ;)

Why not just combine both and you can do away with the car to get you there?

Never understood the obsession with new or nearly new cars and fixation with saving on mpg. Depreciation is by far the biggest cost with any car and the depreciation on the car the OP is describing will probably be in the region of £2k for the first year he owns it.

Depreciation on an older Golf Gti or Octavia VRS will be less than half of that, with the additional fuel, servicing, tax and insurance probably adding around another £5-600 over the OP’s original choices based on 8-9k mileage.

So if he bought the older Gti/VRS then its probably a saving of around £500/yr over buying a nearly new and mediocre Eurobox.

Know which route I’d go but I guess some people just want to get from A-B (rather than enjoy getting from A-B), in which case the OP would probably be perfectly happy with any of the original cars suggested. Just trying to throw in another point of view that’s all.

So after years of driving diesels my commute has now dropped to just over 8k miles a year.

My budget is around 8 thousand, 9 at a real push.

Only one option really, don’t put up with mediocrity, you only live once and all that ;)

Clicky

Tiny bit more on insurance, fuel and servicing sure, but you’ll not have a big wedge of depreciation to worry about and you’ll actually enjoy driving the thing!

That’s a fallacious argument – you’re in front of them going through the restriction, so slowing them down even if you’re going a different way afterwards.

No the people queuing on the left and merging early have chosen to slow themselves down.

One fundamental issue here is that whilst it is correct and recommended behaviour to merge in turn at the point one lane ends, and that this should happen with two equal queues, if you insist on doing this even in situations (as in the majority of cases) where a longer queue leading up to the obstruction has no impact on any other junctions, then you are getting in front of drivers who might be incorrect, but were still waiting before you, have been waiting longer, and will have to wait longer because you’ve got in front of them.

No, again by merging too early and not in accordance with the HC, these drivers have taken it upon themselves to delay their own journeys. If they are at all concerned about not waiting longer then they have the option to use the right hand lane and merge at the obstruction.

But how close to the merging point do you get before you change lanes?

Err, right at the point the lanes merge, it’s not rocket science – see Highway Code.

It goes against the grain, in this country’s at least, sense of fairness and politeness.

Really? Which grain is that? Would you consider following the Highway Code to be against the grain? Where it it polite to double the length of the queue by staying left blocking all the side roads in the process?

In situations like the A61 where most of the queuing is done by the same people most days, unwritten rules seem to develop as everyone knows the situation ahead.

Do they? I’d expect people to follow the Highway Code, not some obscure and unwritten rule dreamed up by people who think they know better? “After you, no after you, no please after you, no I insist after you”, really, are you sure? no, don’t think I could, after you? . . . . meanwhile the whole system shudders to a halt 8O

Equally invariably, you’d get people who would hop onto the hard shoulder of the slip road to leg it round the two queues of traffic on the slip road waiting to join the motorway. Used to do my nut in, can’t see it as anything but pushing in, gaining themselves maybe ten or twenty seconds at the expense (albeit very slight expense, but that’s not the point!) of everyone else queuing.

If they’re using the hard shoulder then that’s not really on, but if they can do this without using the hard shoulder then fair enough I’d say.

Some people just can’t merge and try to merge at the earliest point on the sliproad at the slowest speed possible. Generally this results in them and everyone else grinding to a halt, rather than using your brain and using the full length of the sliproad if needbe as intended, matching your speed and position to slot into a gap at the appropriate place with ease.

Don’t see why I or others should be delayed by these numpties who cause un-necessary delays for everyone else. Probably better to get past them quickly on the sliproad rather than sit behind them for miles once on the motorway as they refuse to use their mirrors or budge from the middle lane.

I guess that this thread is an easy way to separate those drivers who know the highway code and are confident behind the wheel from those that are not. Judging by the large number of people queuing in the left hand lane in these sort of situations I’d say that the majority on the road could do with some more training and education.

Bring in mandatory retests and driver education every 5-10 years or so I’d say. Focus drivers attention at this stage on the most common problems (tailgating, lane discipline, observation, appropriate speed for conditions, etc).

At the very least, if these drivers were better educated, this would stop them getting their knickers in a twist every time they observe someone else doing something that they themselves should actually have been doing according to the highway code but didn’t because they couldn’t be bothered to make the effort to learn it themselves.

You can use the same situation at some roundabouts here. Queuing traffic half a mile long in the left hand lane waiting to go straight on. Very little in the right hand lane waiting to go right. So drive straight up the empty right hand lane past all the queuing traffic, do a full lap of the roundabout and ‘hey presto’ 5 mins saved from the journey :)

it’s making me chuckle with the “incorrectly queue in the left lane crowd” (accidentally) praising Audi drivers.

Haha, I’m an Audi driver and yes I always drive straight up to the front of the merging traffic in the empty right hand lane. Not only am I following what the Highway Code says to do but I’m also passing all the clueless chumps queuing for miles on the left at the same time. Double benefit – what’s not to like :)

Funny thing is you normally end up with aggro from some muppet, either half driving into the right hand lane to try and block your progress, or deliberately trying not letting you merge in turn at the other end.

This is easily solved though as I’ve an old car (far less to loose) and I’m as stubborn as an ox.

This was mine in the garage the other week receiving a full strip down to see why it wasn’t making the manufacturers claimed mpg figures.

Put it this way, my friends new VW has spent more time in the garage last year sorting various warranty issues than my 13yr old car which went just twice.

Ah the extrapolate on incident to help sure up my position….

Nope, several more examples where that came from, recalls, warranty issues, etc. A new car is no guarantee of trouble free motoring.

If you’re buying a 3 year old car often all this sort of stuff will have been sorted.

anything slightly older with a few miles on the clock and people believe that it’ll automatically rape your wallet. They then go and PCP a new / nearly new car and get raped on depreciation and finance costs.

This exactly, or they try and justify it by saying the newer car will do an extra 10mpg so will be more economical, but spend £££££ thousands just to save a few mpg.

Older cars providing you buy well are normally no less reliable than a new car. Okay they may need a few £100 more in tlc each year but that cost pales into insignificance when compared to costs of lease, finance, depreciation on a new car.

Put it this way, my friends new VW has spent more time in the garage last year sorting various warranty issues than my 13yr old car which went just twice. He also found out in the process just how expensive main dealer service costs are, but being a lease car he’s obliged to use them.

I’d rather buy something that’s super nice, super fast and super special/unusual, but that’s around 8-10 years old and at on near the bottom of it’s depreciation curve.

Takes a bit of hunting round to find a good one sure, but I love the challenge of this. Current car is one of only 400 of it’s type registered in the UK.

Couldn’t think of anything worse than spending a shed load of cash or monthly lease just to have a new (but bland) car that you see everyday on the road.

When you flex down, imagine that there is a pole fixed to the heel edge of the board and your back is pressed flat against it and you’re sliding up and down against the pole, keeping your whole back (and shoulders) in contact.

Sounds like most lapdancers would make fantastic snowboarders :wink:

I rode a Slayblade for three years (until it got nicked), and loved that board. Great in all situations, off piste and on piste. The only places it fell down were in the park and when trying to butter etc. It’s just too stiff for that, but then it’s not what the board is designed for. It’s designed as a hard all mountain charger and this is where it excels.

It’s super quick, super stable at speed and pretty easy to get onto the rails carving – although there are better carving boards out there. OP if you were riding mostly in the park, or a complete beginner then yes the Slayblade would be the wrong board for you, but it does sound ideal for the sort of riding you’re doing so trust me it’s probably not the board. Wide does make a slight difference – I’m a 10.5 shoe size and went for a standard board, but I’m on the limit here really, any bigger and I’d be on a wide board.

Trust me it’s the board.

Nothing to do with the board – the Slayblade, due to the flat base profile is a pretty forgiving ride for a stiff charging board.

Don’t worry about it OP, hard packed pistes are always the most difficult to master but it will come with practice. At first you’ll feel you want to be on one edge or the other, but after a few weeks of practice you’ll be relaxed enough to flat base almost everywhere. It’s all about developing the feel for doing this so that you can relax. It will take time on the board though, but keep doing it and it will eventually come.

As a technique hint for now, when you’re linking turns, whilst you’re riding heel edge really sit down into the turn, arse out low over the back of the board. When you’re toe side, stand up tall and push your pelvis out forward. Doing this as an excersise (so you’re bobbing up and down through the turns) will really help improve your on piste riding until you get to the point where you don’t even think about it any more.

The actual overtake was one of the safest I’ve seen these days, plenty of room, nothing oncoming. Nothing like the usual idiots who squeeze past with inches to spare.

The poor lady’s only error (apart from overtaking and daring to hold up someone who more than likely has issues) is that maybe she didn’t know the road and didn’t see or know that there was traffic/sign/bridge ahead until she’d virtually completed the overtake.

What else should she have done at this point to avoid the wrath of angry man?

Hate to think what would happen to the motorist who actually put DezB in a properly dangerous situation rather than just one of mild inconvenience. I’d imagine it’d be something like Michael Douglas in the film Falling Down!

You’re doing it again. Rammed?? By a 23cm bike tyre? You’re madder than me.

Unfortunately, the intended crack in the bumper didn’t happen

Forget what you’d previously posted?

DezB, this might be useful?

Over and out.

Agreed but she started it with the dumb overtake and it was best avoided by her obeying the highway code

So anyone who makes a small mistake like this deserves to be verbally abused and rammed from behind do they? :roll:

Ha! Still going on. Funny stuff. Thanks Junky for taking my (the cyclist’s) side against the, what was the word? Cocks.

Here’s a prime example of someone WITHOUT A **** CLUE!!
thank goodness for the rest of our safety you’re conducting your bully boy behaviour on a bicycle and not in a 4×4 or something bigger.

I mean, really? Your comprehension skills and grasp of logic need some work before you go making your comments public, they really do.

DezB, nice to see you use this sort of language and bullying on a public forum too? You’re a pretty nice guy aren’t you?

Anyway, if the lady in question had had the good fortune been driving a Golf R (or similarly powerful car) she’d have overtaken and been safely past the angry little chip on shoulder man cyclist well before the pinch point.

Normally I’d stick up for the cyclist in most situations but I’m sorry DezB, riding and dishing out of abuse like you did in that video is what gives all us cyclists a bad name with many drivers, making the roads not safer, but more dangerous for all of us cyclists.

The overtake looked fair enough to me, plenty of room given. Okay so the driver made a slight mistake in not spotting the constriction and traffic ahead until the overtake was in progress – but it was hardly a near miss now was it, hardly deliberate? And yet you still think it’s your duty to bully and verbally abuse her in the process?

What do you think she thinks about cyclists now? What has she told her friends and family? How had their perception of cyclists in general now changed because of your behaviour?

Sorry, don’t like to critisize but feel it’s justified in this case. You were not in danger, merely inconvenienced. I’m just glad it wasn’t my elderly mother in the car you rode in to and thank goodness for the rest of our safety you’re conducting your bully boy behaviour on a bicycle and not in a 4×4 or something bigger.

We also know someone in his seventies who regularly mountainbikes,although at the moment he’s out in the alps (again) for 3 months living out of his van & skiing!Legend & inspiration!

Good old Eric!

Who’s Eric? What’s his secret?

Lots of chat about monetary cost but not a thought about the environmental cost. It should be part of the equation, especially for those of you who plan on/have procreated.

Running an older gas guzzling V8 that’s already been manufactured is probably a whole load more friendly to the environment than placing an order for a new eco or hybrid car. Most of the CO2 and environmental damages associated by a car in its lifetime comes during the manufacture stage.

Anyway back to the OP, an A3 V6 is a good competent and swift car but hardly an exciting one. Having said that I’m sure you’ll enjoy it coming from a van. If I was in the market for a sub £10k fun car that I could also use every day then you shouldn’t rule out the following:

E46 M3 (RWD, fantastic chassis)
Renaultsport Clio 200 (amazing grip, handling, revvy engine)
Renaultsport Megane 225/250 (bigger than clio, with added turbo punch and a LSD)
Fiat Coupe 20VT (bags of Italian character 5cyl burble – massive turbo shove)
Audi S3, 8L (one of the best drivers Audi’s – better than TT)
MK 5 Golf Gti (does everything well)
Nissan 350Z (RWD fun and nice V6)
BMW 130i (RWD, pace and practicality)

Loads more but you get the idea. All the above have bags more character than a V6 A3 and if you like driving you won’t get bored of them.

Oh god no. This thread is going to get spammed to death.

Sorry :wink:

If you want to invest relatively safely, invest in safe stocks with large companies operating in markets where there’s sustained long term growth potential and protection from recessions. Prepared to investing these companies over the long term.

If you want to gamble then buy some hight risk shares from a company you’d not previously heard of with the promise of high returns. Then either:

A: Get wildly excited as shares increase in value drastically ahead of anticipated glowing press announcement. Shall I sell yet? No they’re still climbing and the announcement is tomorrow, should make even more, best hang on until tomorrow. Okay so press announcement is not as favourable as expected but still good, right? Another announcement due next week. Whoah, suddenly shares not climbing but in free fall. Should I sell? Perhaps not, as not making as much as they were worth yesterday. Obviously a temporary glitch. They should go back up next week shouldn’t they? Oh damn, shares dipped below the value I paid for them, don’t want to sell at a loss, should have sold yesterday but surely they’ll go up right? Oh bugger, 6 months on and they’re now worth 10% of what I paid for them, should have sold them a few months ago at a slight loss! Still they’re cheap now right, can only go back up. Lets buy some more to cover the first loss when they go back up. Oh bugger, 6 months on they’ve dropped again :(

or B:

Great, these shares have real potential and the XYZ market is just about to take off in a big way. Hang on a minute why are they going down? That’s strange, must be a temporary blip. Oh, no they’re still going down, don’t want to sell at a loss though. Damn they’re now only worth half what I paid for them. What to do, sell or sit it out I the hope that these go back up again. They must go up again surely? Should I buy more at this cheap price? :(

How about just asking for a good old fashioned discount for the trouble. If this isn’t forthcoming, just cancel the sale.

Agreed with the above, and a frozen shoulder can often develop as a result of or alongside another injury (e.g. labral tear etc). Best get it checked out properly.

Make sure it’s a specialist shoulder physio, or a very senior physio that comes from recommendation. I tried a couple before finding a good one. The NHS specialist was awesome, and then found an awesome private physio afterwards to continue when required. I’d still get a consultant referral in place now if I were you. Even if you don’t thing you need it right now, you’re still in the system and not then waiting 6-8 weeks for a first appointment.

If it is a frozen shoulder, expect it to get worse before it gets better, and hydrodilatation or similar might just be whats needed ho help get things moving again – I found the physio before hydrodilatation wasn’t doing a great deal, but afterwards, with the kickstart that hydrodilatation provided, it was a godsend and really helped get things back on track.

Whereabouts are you, I might be able to recommend someone?

I’ve had a full on Frozen Shoulder, clinically diagnosed by one of the UK’s leading shoulder consultants and then treated with a combined NHS/private approach. It’s a bloody painful and debilitating condition that gets gradually worse before it gets gradually better.

For me a Hydrodilatation helped massively to free up the shoulder, followed then by intensive physio with a specialist shoulder physio. After 2 hard years the shoulder is now back to 100% strength, 100% mobility and totally pain free.

Disagree with Ampthill slightly (in relation to my case) as physio was exactly what my shoulder needed and without it I’d have been left with restricted movement and a poorly functioning shoulder joint and surrounding muscles (the restricted movement of the shoulder over time can lead to muscle wastage and compensation in the effected shoulder and this is where physio really helps reverse this). Pick your physio though – some are amazing, some are next to useless. I was recommended a fantastic specialist shoulder physio by my consultant.

Get it properly seen to by a specialist as they’ll be able to diagnose and let you know whether it is just a frozen shoulder or combined with something else, e.g. labaral tear, roter cuff injury, impingement etc. Expect to be referred for an MRI scan as part of the process.

If it is frozen shoulder be prepared for a long haul but despite how it feels now, it will get better – provided you put the effort in. In my case I’m 100% better but I did stick to my physio religiously.

Unless you really need the extra space, I’d go 1 series and go for the 118d. Both the 3 and the 1 are similar to drive but the 1 feels just that little bit more nimble and chuck able than the 3. With the 3 then you’d need to go for the 320d as a minimum as the 118 in the heavier 3 will feel a little under powered. Budget for an extra set of wheels and winter tyres for use between Dec to Feb and you’ll be unstoppable in the snow.

Quick question though, why a 1 year old car? There are now plenty of low mileage 2-3yr old 1 and 3 series coming up for good prices these days as the many lease/hire deals taken up over the last few years come to an end. You’ll save a stack of cash going this route and in reality a 2-3 year old car is going to be no less reliable than a 1yr old car. It’ll be barely run in!

Great thread. I remember a quote from somewhere which read something like:

“the greatest freedom a man can have is to be in control of his own destiny”

I remember reading that a few years back and then 6 months later quit work and went self employed as a freelancer, performing the same job but working less days and earning more money than I was in my old role, with none of the stress or corporate BS and ladder climbing that comes with being employed in a big company.

Don’t regret it for a second and I still see my old work colleagues from time to time, stressed, tired and going through the motions of the 9-5 grind.

Now I’m self employed there’s a different kind of pressure, there’s more choices in life, a pressure to use time in a more productive and fulfilling way, working hard when I have to and taking time off whenever I can. It’s a nicer kind of pressure to have though as it’s all self-inflicted. If I decide to work hard and put in extra hours then I’ll get paid very nicely for that. If I take some days off at short notice to go biking then I’ll just go without having to okay it with the boss first.

Cadair Idris has everything you require, looks and feels like a proper mountain, spectacular views, challenging but not too committing, never as busy as the Lakes or main parts of Snowdonia. Coniston Old Man would come a close second. Forget Ben Nevis for now, the tourist route is little more than a soul less slog up a zig zag scree path for the main part and could easily demotivate a newcomer.

When you’re learning look for consistent wind conditions (not too gusty). XC Weather or Windguru are good sources, check out the average wind and the gust strength and the closer together the two numbers are the better.

2-3m kite sounds about fine for learning, wouldn’t go any bigger than that. If you progress on to larger kites then although the power they generate is much larger, the good news is that they’ll be more docile too so easier to control and generally more stable. Modern 5 line kites, and the newer generation 4 line kites offer impressive levels of de-power if you should need it.

Kitesurfing (in water), provided you’ve been trained in self rescue, water pack down and don’t go out in un-favourable conditions is also generally much more forgiving than using power kites on land since if it all goes wrong you’ll hopefully end up with nothing worse than a good old dunking. A sandy beach landing is generally far less forgiving.

Whats wrong with just Freeview and riding your bike more? Don’t understand?

I love their old cars, and I still like their big sporty estates but I don’t think I could buy one. When I was in the market for a fast estate I looked at a few nice ones, the wife liked them, but for some reason I couldn’t bring myself to buy one.

And why not? Old RS2’s, RS4’s and now the RS6 are starting to appreciate in value at the moment. The B5 RS4 seemed to reach the bottom of it’s depreciation curve around a year or so ago. As a regular looker at the ads on Pistonheads then good ones now seem to be fetching £1-1.5k more than they were 6 months ago.

Yes they’re thirsty on fuel, cost quite a bit more to maintain than the average car but if you do average miles then these costs can balance out when compared to the depreciation of a boggo new car? Even with an older RS car you’d have to be seriously unlucky to match the first years depreciation on a brand new Mondeo diesel. And which would you rather drive day to day?

Not Italian or Curry but the Xmas Markets are on at the moment so could be worth a visit, especially Albert Square. In Spinning Fields then Thaikhun is pretty good.

HERE’s where it’s at . . . . back in the day! Anything newer is surplus to requirements :wink:

In all my years of riding bikes I’ve never ‘played’ with a car driver and come off second best

Well good for you but I hope you stay alive. It’s thanks to reckless motor bike riders who keep killing themselves that most of the good driving roads in the peaks are now limited to 50mph with average speed cameras everywhere. Effectively it’s spoiled the road for people like me who like a good swift drive but without going mental.

So Daveky you’ve ordered a Golf R to hand other drivers their arse’s?

I’m an advocate of fast cars, swift driving, making progress, having fun and driving as quickly as conditions will allow (with a good margin for error or other drivers error) but I can’t condone racing on a public road. Along with the biker above it’s this sort of behaviour that gives a bad name for all people who often drive quicker than the posted limit and could eventually lead to speed limits being reduced for all of us once the PC and Health and Safety brigade get their teeth into the problem.