Your fleet running reports

[V8Granite]

A brand new set of Mud Terrain tyres and Tungsten Carbide snow studs for me. Can’t be too careful.

Dave!

[McSwede]

A brand new set of Mud Terrain tyres and Tungsten Carbide snow studs for me. Can’t be too careful.

Dave!

That's all well and good but you don't live in Smugsville like Rich B

[Swervin_Mervin]

I live in the south. No need for any special tyres.

I live in the north amd no need for winter tyres! Binned em off years ago. Only ever had summer tyres on my 330 and no issues in 8yrs.

[Gwaredd]

I guess I don't drive hard enough to induce understeer on the road any more. Certainly wouldn't be comfortable going any quicker.

[integrale_evo]

I have used all season tyres to good effect in the past, both getting up snow bound country lanes, and chasing Nic’s 135i and Ste’s Honda Elise around wales. However in good weather they are a compromise, and in bad weather they’re not as good as a proper winter tyre.

We have PS4 on both the daily drivers which are brilliant most of the time, but for a couple of months when the roads are stupidly slimey then a proper winters make more sense even in fairly flat and sheltered East anglia.

I have a 30 mile each way cross country commute, and one of those journeys is either at 5am or 10pm. My mrs works nights at a hospital and also does a college run three times a week. If we lived somewhere more urban or used well gritted main routes during the day then I probably wouldn’t bother.

Another reason I would rather have a proper set of winter tyres on a separate set of wheels is so I could swap them over if anything particularly nasty was forecast. As it happens I’ve just swapped mine on an incredibly mild December week

During the one snowy morning last week the merc was worse than useless, it would just site at idle in drive merrily spinning both its rear wheels on a mild incline. Hopefully winter tyres will prevent any future earache should the same happen again.

[Jobbo]

I live in the south. No need for any special tyres.

Your cars don't have enough torque, you mean.

[mik]

I live in the south. No need for any special tyres.

Your cars don't have enough torque, you mean.

Oooooh

[Maurice]

I live in the south. No need for any special tyres.

Your cars don't have enough torque, you mean.

Rotatiown3d.

[Rich B]

Eugh, I didn't realise your 350 was a dirty diesel! All this time I thought you had a nice petrol one!

[Jobbo]

Didn't even exist in the UK in petrol form, Rich. DYELC?

[V8Granite]

Mr Flew has been busy....





Dave!

[JonMad]

Yeti. MOT. Flying colours etc.

Fabia:


Might just keep it as a spare in case/until I irrevocably trash the one that’s on there. Will need cutting to fit over the welded on brackets for the spots.

[Sundayjumper]

Win ! That’s the way to do low cost motorsport.

[Nic]

Mr Flew has been busy....





Dave!

What are you having done Dave?

[V8Granite]

Full suspension overhaul, any rust dealt with and new suspension pipe work etc. It’s then going for a full respray in the new year.

Should be like new but I want the interior to keep its Patina.

I’m liking your new 320, they’ve aged amazingly well.

Dave!

[Nic]

Full suspension overhaul, any rust dealt with and new suspension pipe work etc. It’s then going for a full respray in the new year.

Should be like new but I want the interior to keep its Patina.

I’m liking your new 320, they’ve aged amazingly well.

Dave!

Flew does amazing work, really stands the test of time, paint on the Golf still looks amazing after almost a decade.

320 is a great 2 metre car but on close inspection needs lots of little jobs done on it but I got it very cheap so it’s worth spending on. There’s some rust issues underneath, battery tray needs replacing, corroded fuel line and it needs an engine wiring harness. I’ve always wanted one, it’s pretty much the perfect retirement car for me.

[V8Granite]

They are just particularly elegant cars with enough of a turn of pace to be fun. Also they put you in a chilled out mood when mooching along. Will be great in the spring and summer

I’ve waited a while for Save to do the work, knowing anything he finds, be it rust or broken parts will have a properly engineered solution means a lot when spending so much money.

Dave!

[integrale_evo]

Because the merc ( proper petrol engined one ) has a broken rear spring I decided I’d better fit the eibach springs I bought a couple of years ago

Did the fronts today because I can get away with doing them first as a slight nose down stance wouldn’t look as daft as a bottom dragging one if I started at the back. Our garage had warned that it wasn’t a very nice job, and he was correct, the springs are massive with a huge amount of preload which took a lot of compressing and still struggled to get the top mounts back on.

Thankfully all the fasteners and fittings are typically German so spun off easily despite being 15 years old

[V8Granite]

Did they have a small rubber section at the top of the spring ? If they do then Merc generally sell different thickness ones for £10 each or so for some extra lowering, squaring the stance up etc.

Dave!

[integrale_evo]

Not on the springs, just rubber bits in the mounts, didn’t try and take them out and haven’t looked to see if you can get different ones. Will get them all on and see how it sits.

I know Bmw sell a range of different pads, especially for the rear to compensate for different equipment levels and fine tune the geometry.