Ohh but that would be the obvious (and sensible) choice! I can’t help thinking that roof racks look a bit odd on them ..

Nope, the 3 series coupe 8-/

If any of your running involves firm surfaces or road at all then I would seriously consider going to a proper running shop, getting your gait looked at and proper shoes fitted.

I’ve only been running (very on/off) once every week or so for a year but proper shoes made a huge difference.

I understand that if you’re running more proper off-road then the gait thing is less of an issue as your feet rarely land square on the ground.

As an aside, those of you who run out in the countryside, what the flip do you do with your car keys?! With my old banger I could just tie the key onto my shoes laces but the new car has an electronic wotsit doofrey key..

Living in Sheffield (at about 700 feet up) and owning a RWD car, I’m particularly looking forward to the snow 8O

ir_bandito

Unfortunately if I fit non run-flat tyres to my car it will no longer be covered by it’s warranty! I’ve been quoted wibble about how the suspension is designed only to work with the firmer sidewalls of run-flat tyres etc.

Autoexpress I think it was, did a test where they fitted standard tyres to a car that should use run-flats and it apparently increased the stopping distance by 4 metres or something or other… *shrugs*

..going off at a slight tangent..

Has anyone had any experience of “all season” tyres?

The reason I ask is that at approaching £200 each for winter tyres for my car (run flats :-/ ), an all-year option seems a more attractive proposition!

Oh, and to the guy who said I could ride the 6 miles from her work to mine..

..well I could but as odd as it sounds I don’t want to end up doing too much exercise during the week as I play five a side football and run during my lunch breaks. Previously when cycling to work I would feel really quite bad struggling up the monster hill on the way home, having cycled in and played football/ran in the day also.

I’d also probably need to get a .. r**d bike :O

“Could you both bike it ?
Get an old moped each…?

40mins 1st & 2nd gear…

Thats my idea of hell. “

Well I can (and did) cycle to work no problem. However for my wife it’s a bit more difficult in that a) she’s no cyclist! and b) she’s a teacher and often has very heavy bags full of marking to carry about

I’m really, really not enjoying getting to work at the moment :-(

My wife used to get the bus but it involved getting one into town and another back out of town. Her total journey to work took 1.5 hours whereas it’s 20 mins in the car!

I started driving her to work to make her life a bit easier! I could get a bus from her work to town but that’d take 50 mins also and probably not be any cheaper :-/

..oh and int total, I drive 25 miles a day fetching/retrieving the wife on my way from/ to work. About 12 miles of this is at a crawl, the rest reasonable 25mph town driving.

It’s getting very expensive :-/

At the risk of turning into my father and discussing this in too great a depth; so far the car seems happy to average over 40mpg on long runs which seems pretty good.

I absolutely hate being stuck in traffic in the mornings, watching the cyclists wizz by :-(

Well I used to cycle to work but have recently started driving the wife to work (who can’t drive) which then means I have a long trip into town for my work.

I could cycle from her work to mine but it’s six miles up one b@stard of a hill from the lowest to the highest point in Sheffield or thereabouts. It’s also a horrible route.

My new car (4.5 yrs old is saying 26mpg ish. I’m just wondering if this is vaguely normal..

l_Ache – yes the seats do both fold down (unlike in the saloon). The boot is as big as that on the saloon so pretty sizeable.

I’ve yet to try putting a bike in it but will give it a go (as soon as the wife isn’t looking) and let you know! I’m sure at least one bike would fit in no problem..

The wife’s parent’s live 50 miles away so unfortunately the bus isn’t an option…

The Lancias are flippin lovely. My uncle had one as I recall.. he always seemed very impatient driving it when I was a child..

Going off a slight tangent due to the guy above having his car keyed..

What the flip can you do to prevent ****’s doing that? I’m totally paranoid about driving our new car to my wife’s parent’s house as they live in a slightly dodgy estate. I’m convinced that some little **** head will do something to it if we stay overnight :-/

.. Oh and I work in IT too, but ride an Intense. How many ticks do I get?

I’ve just replaced the M reg (1995) Astra 1.4 merit with the below.

I’ve yet to figure out where the bike goes :-/

Yep, you could be right!

Thanks Kryton, I’ve yet to figure out where the bike goes :-S

re praticality, it’s pretty good in that unlike the saloon, it has folding rear seats. Also, the front seats fold all the way forward so installing a baby/ baby seat, for example, is supposed to be not too tricky..

Duplicate gratuitous photo

Gratuitous photo??

Hmm well okay… If you insist ..

Well I was travelling back from Norfolk on the A1 on Sunday and I was most perturbed to find I had a Honda on my tail and a Ford weaving about in front of me.

I’m supposed to be the n0b head, surely?

Well, for those interested, I bought the car.

Although I have by no means been driving in a “spirited” manner I can definetly feel the change to RWD though.

The car has a lovely feel coming out of corners/roundabouts. I am however, quite thankful of the myriad traction control type things it has!

+1 for Boardman and VooDoo.

I’ve had one of each on a C2W schemes and they’ve both been excellent value for money and a cracking ride (I also ride peaks quite a bit )

Ooh yeah I remember that vid!

It must be hard being the lesser Martin. I wonder what he’s doing now?

Tomorrow, hopefully tomorrow! :D

That reminds me, whatever happened to the “other martyn” he used to ride with?

Martyn Hawes is it? They used to do lots of shoots together for MBUK years ago as I recall..?

I saw the runners but tbh I’d be a bit surprised if it was just a training exercise as there were a huge amount of people/resources.

Hopefully that’s what it was though!

^^ What they said.

Goldwave is also an easy to use and free audio file editor that’ll let you have a play with compression..

Yep I’ve done that now Hora. Mind you I still have to wait for the V5 gubbins to be sorted out before I can buy it (assuming I’m going to)…

Not yet! I’m definitely thinking about it though! I just need to sort an insurance quote which is tricky at the moment as the car is in between registration plates (it had a private plate on it which isn’t included in the sale).

I guess it depends on the support if any, that you need?

I over-pronate and have found Asics Trabuco’s very good indeed for a mixture of road and off road running.

Thanks all, well as I say the lower milage, older one has now been sold.

The other one I test drove at lunch and may consider thinking about getting it, maybe, subject to wifely discussions etc.

So, a mixed message about economy and bike racks then really!

timc – I think it’s pre-facelift but I’m not entirely sure

Tempting Kryton but no ta. Having two Bimmers is just plain greedy! :D

:-)

Yes you’re right of course but unfortunately there’s no-one I know who has one for sale!

I thought you got a new one anyway? I remember you muttering something about it feeling the same as the old one?

Kryton, I think I’ll work on convinving Mrs RRR that I can fold down the seats and stuff it in the back.

Rather oddly, last night when we were looking around it was I that had to pursuade her to at least consider looking at the saloon and estate versions for the additional praticality. However, presuambly because she likes the colour (no, really) she said didn’t see the point and we should test the E92. Odd.

That body bag thingy looks like a good idea if I don’t get a rack.

Well, one of my questions has been answered for me in that the older/lower milage car has now been sold!

I’ve just come back from a brief test drive and it feels lovely (but then again a tractor would feel lovely after my current car).

As for whoever asked about tyres – it has Dunlop’s on the back and Hankook’s on the front. All in very goood nick. Tbh the car should generally be in good shape as it’s a BMW approved thingy wotsit car (and has the year’s unlimited milage warranty).

Ah yes but most of the massive depreciation has already happened for the ones I’m looking at.. slows down quite a bit from now on it seems!

What makes you think my current M reg Astra isn’t the Ultimate Driving Machine?

Hi Kryton, indeed I have.

Will buying a BMW make me an instant c*** on the roads? :/