Your fleet running reports

[Jobbo]

Further Volvo update. I was the first car behind a highways officer who stopped all southbound traffic because of somebody on the hard shoulder of the other carriageway. Being first away once they let us pass, it would have been rude not to enjoy the empty M5 for 5 or 6 miles.



I didn’t think I’d ever bother finding out if the speed limiter works. It’s a little relaxed but you can feel it cut the power.

Which direction were you going? We’re heading south on the M5 and saw a rolling road block heading north. Currently sat at the services near Strensham.

It was southbound around Worcester; there must have been a similar rolling roadblock going north. I think you were just ahead of the block I followed.

[NotoriousREV]

We didn’t see what it was all for, but we did see a deer next to the motorway so wondered if there were others about. Not sure if they count as “Pedestrians” which is what the matrix signs were saying.

[GG.]

We didn’t see what it was all for, but we did see a deer next to the motorway so wondered if there were others about. Not sure if they count as “Pedestrians” which is what the matrix signs were saying.

We'll they're on foot and not motorised I guess

Sounds about as accurate as anything else on those signs!

[Mito Man]

The debris on road signs which go on for a couple of junctions always get me. They’re vague to the point of useless.

[Simon]

Have just spent 5 hours on the South's motorways I was just gonna post about this very thing.

Useful signs spotted on matrix boards today.

2 sets of 'Reports of Debris' (accompanying low speed limit, no debris spotted, no motorway wombles spotted either)
Hours of 'Queue Caution/Congestion caution' (sitting stationary in queues when you see this)
1 'Pedestrian in carriageway' (no pedestrian spotted)
And absolutely 0 of 'queue is x miles long', 'x many minutes of delay', 'please use x/y/z alternative routes.

They're fucking awful. Just awful. That and the associated 40/60/40/50/60/40/70/60/40/70 speed limit nonsense. I swear the traffic is worse since wombles and variable speed limits both came into effect on the motorways.

[NotoriousREV]

M56 East -> M6 South -> M5 South to Weston-Super-Mare.

35+ miles of 50mph roadworks on the M6, a set of 30mph roadworks on the M5. What a fucking joke.

[DeskJockey]

M56 East -> M6 South -> M5 South to Weston-Super-Mare.

35+ miles of 50mph roadworks on the M6, a set of 30mph roadworks on the M5. What a fucking joke.

In contrast, driving just shy of 2k miles in France and there was one slowdown significant enough to be felt (it wasn't even on the Paris ring road). Roads were smooth too. Being back on the M25 was rather jarring.

[Sundayjumper]

Well, if we’re swapping exciting motorway stories today, we drove from home to Lancaster and had a pretty uneventful journey. Several stretches of 50mph roadworks on the M6 but never came to a standstill unlike previous years.

B625787E-A67F-4A29-A945-63760A08C15F.jpeg (74.39 KiB) Viewed 3120 times

It was just over 50mpg when we rolled into Lancaster but traffic chaos dragged it down by the time we got to the hotel

[Sundayjumper]

And FWIW, The Golden Ball is a lovely “proper” pub and has very nice accommodation.

[Sundayjumper]

Evo: the thrill of nearly 50mpg, and a nice quiet pub.

[scotta]

Bought a Bluetooth obd tool and BimmerCode fo the bmw.

Bit of tinkering tonight and I’ve enabled the enhanced Bluetooth features to play music. From what I can tell that was a factory option that cost extra but the hardware was already there for it. So bit of a result.

Tinkered with some other stuff as well
Enabled the radio off when you open the door. Previously it stayed on while you got out and unloaded until you locked the car or pressed the start button twice
Enabled the boot closure from the footwell button previously it would only open it
Mirror fold with one press of he lock button - required hold previously
Enabled drl options in the menu to allow it to be disabled
Enabled audible lock and unlock alerts
Changed phone ring to to the handset ringtone
Enabled one touch boot close from the key remote
Disabled front fogs on main beam
Enabled digital MPH display in the trip computer dash display
Enabled headlights on unlock when auto lights are selected - previously was only sidelights.

Few other options to tinker with as well that I need to work out what they mean.

[mik]

So after Mudge announced he had ordered a 2bular cat-back system for his car, he spurred me into ordering something I’d considered for some time.... the arse.

The oem exhaust on the Evora is a little muted, but I think that suits the less-box-of-frogs-than-an-Exige character. It apparently flows well though.

So I concentrated on the other end instead. The oem Toyota manifolds are pretty pony and have a thin-cell cat per bank. They are apparently the most restrictive elements within the system, and they certainly look like that would be the case....



So I went for replacement 2bular manifolds mit 200-cell sports cat instead.



Various things got in the way of fitting, but they are now on. Thank you Craig Moncrieff (Lotus Indie).

Aurals
Louder, but nothing like the increase Mudge got from the cat-back. Which is ideal.
Tone is deeper throughout the Rev-range, and it turns bassy-howl in the mid-range to bassy-scream (is that even possible) at the top end. Engine sound smoother too.
Notable increase in crackles on the over-run too.

Goes
The ecu in these cars is a smarty pants and will self-adjust over the next few hundred miles. At which point the output should be closer to a later Evora400 than it is to the std car. Still early days then. As importantly - breathing improvements always come into greater effect at the upper end of the Rev range. The ‘charged V6 is a supremely flexible power plant and has shove “everywhere”. It would be very unfair to suggest the oem car gets breathless at the top end - it doesn’t - but you can feel the shove starting to fade slightly at the upper end, and more than once I have wondered if I should have just changed up around 6.5krpm rather than brushing the 7.2krpm limiter. With the new setup the car still picks up its skirts in the mid-range, but then keeps pulling hard until stutter stops play. And it definitely feels stronger than it did. Which is exactly what I was looking for.

Happy so far.

Pointless vids to be pointless. You’ll need speakers or headphones for this....

This one taken when I got the car. Got a grump from the security dude.


And this one taken the other week with new bits on. Louder setup causes the mic to drop its gain levels on this vid as I get properly stomped on the throttle, so volume comparisons are pointless. I am posting more to show off that I managed to get a completely different security dude at almost exactly the same spot 2 and a bit years later. this one was less grumpy though - even though I had to do 2 runs as miller jr jr 4ucked up filming of the first. And I didn’t b0llox the 1st to 2nd change the first time round. Mumble grumble.

[Marv]

Nice little squeal of the tyres on the launch with your new fannymold..must mean you've at least gained 100BHP

Look forward to hearing it in real life...they both sound the same to me through my tinny laptop speakers!

[scotta]

So after Mudge announced he had ordered a 2bular cat-back system for his car, he spurred me into ordering something I’d considered for some time.... the arse.

The oem exhaust on the Evora is a little muted, but I think that suits the less-box-of-frogs-than-an-Exige character. It apparently flows well though.

So I concentrated on the other end instead. The oem Toyota manifolds are pretty pony and have a thin-cell cat per bank. They are apparently the most restrictive elements within the system, and they certainly look like that would be the case....



So I went for replacement 2bular manifolds mit 200-cell sports cat instead.



Various things got in the way of fitting, but they are now on. Thank you Craig Moncrieff (Lotus Indie).

Aurals
Louder, but nothing like the increase Mudge got from the cat-back. Which is ideal.
Tone is deeper throughout the Rev-range, and it turns bassy-howl in the mid-range to bassy-scream (is that even possible) at the top end. Engine sound smoother too.
Notable increase in crackles on the over-run too.

Goes
The ecu in these cars is a smarty pants and will self-adjust over the next few hundred miles. At which point the output should be closer to a later Evora400 than it is to the std car. Still early days then. As importantly - breathing improvements always come into greater effect at the upper end of the Rev range. The ‘charged V6 is a supremely flexible power plant and has shove “everywhere”. It would be very unfair to suggest the oem car gets breathless at the top end - it doesn’t - but you can feel the shove starting to fade slightly at the upper end, and more than once I have wondered if I should have just changed up around 6.5krpm rather than brushing the 7.2krpm limiter. With the new setup the car still picks up its skirts in the mid-range, but then keeps pulling hard until stutter stops play. And it definitely feels stronger than it did. Which is exactly what I was looking for.

Happy so far.

Pointless vids to be pointless. You’ll need speakers or headphones for this....

This one taken when I got the car. Got a grump from the security dude.


And this one taken the other week with new bits on. Louder setup causes the mic to drop its gain levels on this vid as I get properly stomped on the throttle, so volume comparisons are pointless. I am posting more to show off that I managed to get a completely different security dude at almost exactly the same spot 2 and a bit years later. this one was less grumpy though - even though I had to do 2 runs as miller jr jr 4ucked up filming of the first. And I didn’t b0llox the 1st to 2nd change the first time round. Mumble grumble.

It’s been emotional but got there eventually.

[dan]

That sounds spot on Mik

[Matty]

They both sound great. Latter with the mods sounds higher-pitched and raspier - must be a manifold thing (technical term) 'cause I noticed similar in the Alfa GTA circles when they had manifold work, it used to lose the gruffness and give a cleaner, raspier note instead.

You said the output is now "closer to Evora 400" - that's big gains over 345bhp standard?

[mik]

It is raspier and has more of a howl, but the vid only captures the bassier tone at the start - before the mic gain cuts. In reality it is bassy turning baritone with a concurrent howl.

[Coaster1]

Ha ha Mik, you’re gonna get an ASBO with all these antics

[Foz]

LMAO at the security guard(s)



At my end the 996 is about to start the mini resto, identifying the squeaky front NS, new discs pads, fluid and lines all round, caliper rebuild and painting, small oil leak investigated- appears to be a hose or a jubilee clip, and to sort a wonky exhaust tip.

I will attack a few rust spots over the winter.


The ML has thrown up another ABS sensor error- which actually causes the car to break all by itself and bang on the ABS which has spooked wifey big time, the cars over 8 years old now and we are now seriously looking at replacing it with something else.

[Zonda_]

iDrive went down yesterday, came back on after a couple of minutes but looks like more electrical issues to come.