Your fleet running reports

[Mito Man]

What model is that then? Looks expensive

560XP, it's mechanically the same as my old 555 apart from a remap and a K&N style air intake so worst case scenario I can still scavenge the old one for parts.

[mik]

What model is that then? Looks expensive

560XP, it's mechanically the same as my old 555 apart from a remap and a K&N style air intake so worst case scenario I can still scavenge the old one for parts.

Nice. 18” bar?

I thought you were a Stihl chainsaw-er.

[Mito Man]

560XP, it's mechanically the same as my old 555 apart from a remap and a K&N style air intake so worst case scenario I can still scavenge the old one for parts.

Nice. 18” bar?

I thought you were a Stihl chainsaw-er.
[/quote]

Yes, I‘ll probably fit a 20” when it wears out though.
I’m not brand loyal at all, can’t go wrong with either. I’d love a Stihl MS500i as it’s the best chainsaw in the world but they cost a pretty penny and have been sold out for a solid year!

[Matty]

Up GTi flew through the MOT, and is now on 35k miles. Like a stuck record I know, but still amazes me how unbelievably great (and cheap) this little car has been. With 50-60mpg it's also showing it's worth with the petrol increases.

A few changes afoot - I'm losing the BBS wheels and refitting the 17" OEM, hoping moving to 205 PS5's will still retain the decent ride quality. I'm still planning to fit some KW suspension too...but with the recent pocket squeeze, I might hold on that for now.

In other news, I've also owned the 4C for 1 year now to the day a few upgrades being fitted Thurs, so looking forward to that Insurance renewal was £500, so not too bad there either.

[speedingfine]

Keeping schtum about upgrades til there done Matty?

[Sundayjumper]

I scored a nice little Soundsteam amp on eBay for £25. Old school Class A from back when they built these things properly

I think it’ll work well in the van to run the front speakers.

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[Matty]

Keeping schtum about upgrades til there done Matty?

Don't like to play all my cards at once

Having a valved exhaust fitted, so I don't have to keep annoying the neighbours, it also removes the motorway drone.
Also fitting rear spacers. 4C's have oddly narrow, inboard rear wheels, especially as I've got the Alfaworks handling kit which has pushed the fronts out a little, so it just looks off.

Service is due soon, though. I'm not sure whether to go a bit more (280bhp, and upgrade the suspension) but I've got itchy feet and would quite like an Exige Roadster.

[speedingfine]

Shhhurely the Alfa is a keeper for the time being, just from how much it'll appreciate over the next few years

Exhaust

[drcarlos]

I scored a nice little Soundsteam amp on eBay for £25. Old school Class A from back when they built these things properly

I think it’ll work well in the van to run the front speakers.


231C63BB-F5EC-48DA-A615-2DD7A7CBB498.jpeg

That's really nice. I have a few modern stereos with Class-D amps in them and a JVC that is chunkier and kicks out more heat, but it's so much nicer sounding (even made the shitty speakers in the combo sound good) and the Alpine V12 amps in the TVR are lovely sounding too. I appreciate Class-D for the weight saving (especially in the disco kit) but old Class-A sounds so much sweeter and more full.
I might have to pick up a small 4 ch of something similar for the L200.

[Sundayjumper]

I appreciate Class-D for the weight saving (especially in the disco kit) but old Class-A sounds so much sweeter and more full.

It's quite a relief to hear someone say that ! I see all the modern Class D stuff getting great reviews but they always seem somehow lacking when I hear them. I was starting to worry I was DIW. My hearing is certainly getting worse so it was quite possible.

I roughly bodged the Soundstream into place yesterday and it's exactly as you said. It just sounds nice.

[Jimexpl]

I appreciate Class-D for the weight saving (especially in the disco kit) but old Class-A sounds so much sweeter and more full.

It's quite a relief to hear someone say that ! I see all the modern Class D stuff getting great reviews but they always seem somehow lacking when I hear them. I was starting to worry I was DIW. My hearing is certainly getting worse so it was quite possible.

I roughly bodged the Soundstream into place yesterday and it's exactly as you said. It just sounds nice.

It's the same in the residential world. I find that Class D amplifiers can work well when paired with a speaker specificaly designed for it, or in high-end active speakers, but otherwise class A or the expensive A/B hybrids always sound better to my ears.

[Hates_]

Had a cracking track day at Hethel on Saturday. Just mindblowing how much faster I was after a tuition session. I thought my brakes were fading before realising I was going just that much faster. No photography was allowed except the welcome centre, where I got to get up close to this beauty.

[Gwaredd]

Transit:
Since the weldathon during the first lockdown, the first 2 MOTs have shown no advisories whatsoever. Which was nice. What wasn't so nice was the fact they picked up on the timing chain rattle that has plaugued this van for the last 15 years. It would only rattle on startup for the first 10 seconds and then settle ( a known fault that should have been recalled, but was missed) but after 21 years and nearly 100,000 miles (99,891 to be exact), I thought I'd better address it before it exploded. And to be fair, it was getting worse.

£240.00 for the kit, which included the chain, cam and fuel pump gears, crankshaft sprocket, guides, updated tensioner and all gaskets. So not too bad. Job in itself was OK once everything was lined up and locked in place, although I did have a small heart attack when I when to start it afterwards, only for it to spin over lifelessly. Small mercy, I'd forgotten to put the crank position sensor back in as you use that hole to lock the flywheel. Try agin. Nope. Bigger heart attack. WTF had I done wrong? Had to be timing. After tripple checking it was all good, I was stumped. Then, for no reason other than I was looking at it at the time, I pressed the fuel filter primer pump a few times only to see diesel pissing out from underneath the pump. Hmmm...

Turns out, when I swung the fuel pipes out the way to gain access to a bolt, this loosened an already (unbeknown to me) loose banjo bolt to the pump which allowed air in, and fuel out. With it nipped up, the old girl sprung straight into life and sounded as sweet as a nut. I then went inside and changed my underpants.

It's par for the course in fixing your own shit I suppose!

[Beany]

MOT - failed as expected, but only on a broken rear spring (unexpected) and that sticking caliper (expected)

So sent me bro a shopping list for hte parts, £240 all in if I want to get them for the weekend and get them installed on Sunday, retest on Monday.

So far he hasn't read his messages so I suspect I'll be collecting them Monday, and if that's the case, might as well wait till Tuesday when I'm paid.

HO HUM

[Simon]

Drove up to ExCel London yesterday for Infosec and a bit of stand duty. Obviously drove because of the train strike. Left home early and got to Excel in 65 minutes. The petrol motor returned 49.2mpg, which is by far the best I've had out of it. Eco mode most of the way and no Distronic cruise used as that seems to lock out use of glide mode for some reason. 65mph on the motorway and speed limits through town.

[V8Granite]

A time for dents….

While I was away, my bike stand fell onto the boot of the Merc and put 3 decent dents into it, it’s getting a respray I know but it’s now looking awful for me to want to drive it.

Someone has bumped into the front wing of the ML, then caused a scratch the full length of the car. My thinking is woman’s oversized bag as the dent is noticeable but the scratch should polish out.

Ho hum.

Dave!

[drcarlos]

Drove up to ExCel London yesterday for Infosec and a bit of stand duty. Obviously drove because of the train strike. Left home early and got to Excel in 65 minutes. The petrol motor returned 49.2mpg, which is by far the best I've had out of it. Eco mode most of the way and no Distronic cruise used as that seems to lock out use of glide mode for some reason. 65mph on the motorway and speed limits through town.

Only the boys Corsa is ULEZ compliant so I took the train in which was fairly normal apart from someone deciding to end it all via train in the evening so caused a pretty major delay coming home, which was no fault of the rail company. Elizabeth line is certainly less oppressive than the Northern line and isn't sticky with muck yet so was a pleasant enough experience. First time in London in about 2.5 years, I don't miss it.

On the car front the L200 is booked in for a service (including tappet adjustment) next week along with an AC regas (still working but a bit weak) and a remap which should see 210bhp, 460NM (from 175/400) of torque but more importantly a 10% increase in MPG.

[davecG60]

All these updates that I keep reading and I never have anything to add about our Polo.

Currently on 27k (65 plate). Fitted 2 new Hankook All seasons in November 21 and they do the job for us. I know they may not be the most "Evo" of tyre but they provide the reassurance of being able to cope okish with most situations. Minor service last month and also serviced the DSG whilst at it. All work done my mate who has his own garage. Known him 30 odd years so the cars never go anywhere else really.

Every few months we do a 300 mile round trip to see our son at Uni but apart from communting that is all the Polo does. Mrs has just changed her job to one in the same village so the old 15 mile commute has reduced to 2 miles total

Insurance is approx £250 on a limited mileage policy with all medical stuff informed and on a long run it does approx 42 mpg (!!) or about 350 miles per tankful of Super UL / Normal UL.

It is pretty quick but after having the old Leon estate we have realised we really do need the space that brought. Weekly shop for our family of 4 means boot full and 3 bags on the back seat. Seriously thought about renting a van to pick up our son from uni as I knew we'd run out of space! As it was ( & with some amazing packing skillz from me ) we did it - but stress I didn't need. Which I guess means when next year we'll be looking at something else to replace it with, Probably along the lines of 530d est / 330d est / 350 estate with the possibility of a clio 182 for me and a cheap runaround for driving lesson duties ( 107 etc )

It's all pretty boring living with the Polo I guess, don't do many miles but ( apart from the solid ride ) it adapts to most situations the best it can.

[Matty]

Had a cracking track day at Hethel on Saturday. Just mindblowing how much faster I was after a tuition session. I thought my brakes were fading before realising I was going just that much faster. No photography was allowed except the welcome centre, where I got to get up close to this beauty.

I'm still not convinced over the bonnet - otherwise it looks (in the pictures) to be a great looking car. Shame about the massive waiting list, but also interested to see how the 4cyl gets viewed...I'd struggle to look past the V6 myself.

[Mito Man]

I’m guessing the pre-production prototypes had quite a leaky front boot so they just decided to stick a rubber door seal inside the panel gaps

Will look quite weird on a white car.