We have a small primary school that has a small cut through to the street that the school is on from our cul-de-sac. Every morning we have hundreds of cars descend into our street so parent’s and carers can drop their kids off. Now I know some parents continue on to work but most drive back home on the estate. The worst is when the grandparents descend 1hr before the school releases the kids so they can get the best parking spot! FFS. I have parked my car across the road blocking them all in when my drive has been blocked by the inconsiderate barstools. An abandoned car across the exit soon gets them moving.

As said earlier those flexi pipes are really poor. Make a solid one up, it’ll do a much better job. They are prone to damage and getting objects stuck in the pleats.

People keep talking themselves into needing a SUV/MPV to suit there so called needs. We were lucky if we got to sit in a seat with a seat belt when we were kids. It was cool to ride in the boot with the spare wheel and a bag full of spares and tools. We managed for years without SUV’s and MPV’s. Get a nice big estate. They handle better, they are more comfortable, cheaper, have more useable storage, more economic. They’re just better in every way. Did I mention it’s easier to put the bikes on the roof.

I’ll leave this here.

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Continental Winter Contact TS860 (Winter Tyre) are supposed to be nearly as good as an all season all year round but superb in the winter. I can’t be arsed to change tyres so I leave my Hankook full winters on and drive accordingly in warmer weather. Wear is quite good, had them on a year and the fronts are down a little but the backs are barely touched. Next tyres will be all season with a snow bias.

5-10 a year amateurs. Plus the 100 + they kill that you don’t see. Ours would bring in several a week in the summer. They liked to strip them in the bathroom, considerate really as it was easy to clean the blood and feathers up. Barstools.

I have to agree after having 2 black and white killing machines for the best part of 15 yrs. Garden birds, pigeons, Koi Carp, mice, voles, moles and a neighbours domestic rabbit! Nothing was safe. Sorry but there is no way you can just keep a cat in your garden, that is wishful thinking. We will never have another cat. Some are obviously worse than others. If I had a farm and I wanted to keep vermin down there is nothing better.

Keep an eye on the power steering. The filter blocks in the reservoir and the rack can run dry. A fix was to rip the filter out.

You can let selected contacts track you via find my iPhone. This is ideal if your riding alone.

You no longer have to pay the breakdown company and claim it back. Auto aid now cover the recovery, you only pay your years membership. Stipulations are car is serviced and within a set age.

To be fair I know we are talking about bean to cup but a burr grinder and stove top espresso maker will make a much superior cup of coffee every time.
Just saying!

I tend these days to ride about 30 miles 2-3 times a week. Mainly a mixture of bridleways, cycleways, a bit of 3 ply tarmac and the odd sneaky footpath. I’m not a fast rider but I can usually outlast other riders in my peer group. I let them blast off then I reel them in if the rides long enough, if not they can get the cake and coffee in. It’s a win win! Now’t wrong with bimbling along, Ive been doing that for the last 20 yrs.

We have the Magnifica at work. It’s OK but you need to heat the milk and the cup or it will be cold before you drink it. Also at full strength it’s still not that strong in my opinion. If you look at the grounds they are still quite coarse. It is cheap though and as others have said it goes on and on.

They were probably the least problematic car Landrover produced. Common faults on these are the steering racks lunching themselves due to blocked filters in the reservoirs and window regulators. Plenty of spares availability. Much better than the FL1 it replaced.

“Did you deliver Tofu in it?”
You’ve lost me there P-Jay?

I’d take an MR2 over a MX5. But I’d be happy with either. I have been looking at a Midas kit car restoration!

Wish I still had mine.
A high revving 1.6 Twincam. Rear wheel drive with LSD no power anything. If I could afford one I’d buy one tomorrow. Good ones upward of 12k these days.

Momentum is the most basic standard fuel that is allowed to be sold with the addition of bio ethanol as an octane booster. Shell V power relies on much higher quality base fuels with detergents and lubricants to protect and help clean your fuel system. If your leasing and worried about fuel costs I wouldn’t bother. You need to run the car on it for a while to notice a difference. The biggest difference is when you go back and put a normal supermarket fuel back in.

I think you now need to spend 8-12K on a newer low mileage car. I handed back my emissions screwed 64 plate Yeti that had 42k on it after 3.5 years and bought a 2.5 year old 2015 Seat Leon ST FR 184 with 17K on the clock still in warranty for £11k. The balloon payment to buy the Yeti was 11k. A newer non affected diesel with 25k less mileage and warranty. It was a no brainer.

The idea is to burn body fat for energy not process carbs for energy. Only problem is it takes me a few miles to get going but once the process has started I can fuel myself much longer over a ride than if I carb up. You will find that you require much less fluid over a ride as one of the requirements of hydrating when carbed up is so your body can process the carbs. One of the by products of burning fat for fuel is water.

For breakfast it’s mainly porridge that’s a mix of bran, oats, pumpkin, chia and sunflower seeds with a few strawberries and blueberries. It’s slow release energy that keeps me going until lunchtime. If not porridge a 3 egg omelette.

At that mileage if it’s direct injection (ie it doesn’t have the fifth injector in the inlet manifold) they can coke up the inlet ports/cylinder head pretty badly due to the EGR system.

You don’t need high levels of any one food group. There is no magic solution. Plenty of fruit and veg, a bit of protein and some healthy fats. Reduce the processed element of your diet as much as is possible including refined carbs. Loose weight, stay healthy, live longer maybe!

I’ve been doing a moderate Keto diet for 4 yrs approx. Mainly to keep a genetic predisposition for type 2 diabetes at bay. It has been refined over the years to try and get a balance between providing energy for my rides and controlling blood sugar levels. Not an easy balance. Loosing the weight is the easy bit. In the main it’s a lot of veg with the exception of potatoes, lean meat and fish and some dairy, mainly eggs with a bit of Greek yogurt. I don’t eat white carbs at all as a general rule of thumb. It kind of works but can get a bit tedious at times. You can loose weight scarily quickly. I lost 5 stone in a matter of months. Finding a balance to maintain it is the hard bit.

Beaten to it above!
Really though sticks and stones and all that!

Agree switch to Sorrento but try and get up the hill a bit away from the main road through. It’s a great base for Vesuvius, Naples and surrounding towns. Herculaneum is amazing much better than Pompeii. Hire a car if your brave and tour the coastal villages. We loved Amalfi and Minouri. The food is amazing. Sorrento is quite a chill place at night. Looking out over the Bay of Naples at night with a limoncello.

You are looking at this problem in the wrong way. Sounds to me like your treating the symptoms (keep replacing the cars) rather than finding a cure (changing jobs were she isn’t so tired or can commute by public transport.) Living in Surrey is no excuse either. Sooner or later someone is going to get hurt and you’ll be as much to blame. On a lighter note Zafira’s are cheap as chips and reasonably reliable. Unfortunately they don’t bounce very well.

From experience with a Mondeo that did exactly the same thing as yours. It was the injectors. They couldn’t provide enough fuel under load and the management system would trip into limp mode to prevent the engine running lean. Just make sure it’s the turbo.

Oh damn crap news. Followed his fight and was inspired by his attitude. As people have said one of the good ones!

I thought the default mid life crisis car was a Spec B Legacy estate with a set of roof bars and bike rack. If I was going group B it would be a 6R4 or 20V UR Quattro, lottery win pending.

A friend has a turbo diesel giuletta and the car hasn’t been right since he bought it. Dealers are hopeless, turbo failed replaced under warranty, still doesn’t work properly so just waiting to hand it back. Pretty car though!

Agree it’s a car only a mother could love, but Mrs Inbred likes it. Let’s just say they have a look that doesn’t seem to date compared to other makes. A friend has a 2005 and if you put a private reg on it you wouldn’t be able to tell the age. Residuals also very good compared to other makes.

Pretty much in the same dilemma when I got my ESP. You can get a superb Far Eastern guitar that will genuinely knock a Gibson into a cocked hat quality wise. If I had my time again I would buy second hand. Probably an American made Fender Strat. I would never buy new or buy blind again. I love the ESP Gibbo copy but it’s mega heavy and meaty and I guess I just prefer the single coil tones of a strat.

My wife has just handed her lease Fabia back and got a 63 plate Mini Cooper Countryman 1.6 petrol auto. It has a proper torque converter 6 speed box. It’s not quick like an S but it is nippy. It’s fun to drive but the biggest surprise is the quality. It’s built like a bloody tank. It’s 6 yrs old and it looks brand new. Not a squeak or rattle. Worth a look me thinks.

Can’t get smoother than a triple distilled Irish. Writers Tears from M&S is very good.

You peasant! 15 minutes you say?

I wouldn’t worry. We have done this many times. The cats will soon show the dog who is boss. One bit of advice would be to get a stair gate that will limit the dogs access to parts of the house, so the Cats can feel a bit safer initially.

What’s Strava?

I mainly ride a 100mm 29er hardtail set up with fast rolling tyres. Bit of bridleway, cycleway, three ply tarmac mixed with a bit of singletrack and the odd cheeky bit of footpath. Love getting out to ride moorland single track and trails but they are few and far between these days. Take a 27.5 hardtail to Hamsterley with my Son when he needs a lift to ride Descend apparently black and red routes are lame! Think my next bike will be a light weight 29er full sus xc. More comfort means more riding. As I get older I like comfort. Have looked at getting a gravel bike but I can’t justify it yet.

Scotch Corner A66.