OV9

Mito Man wrote: Sun Apr 14, 2019 10:14 pm All nice stuff here

Nice updates all around

@Maurice, I like the contrast so it’s a ‘no’ from me for black wheels.

Clio passed another mot albeit with a requirement for new boots. Will be up for sells soon as its surplus to requirements with 2 kids.

Xc90 continues to work without fuss or care being given to it.

RANGE Rover continues to haemorrhage money. . Inspection b recently, new pads on the front. Drivers door lock has stopped operating on central locking so that needs swapping out.

Needs new tyres so that's a very quick 900 quid.

Despite this and it being nicknamed the small car in our household (boot is tiny compared to volvo) I love it.

It's old, a bit rusty in places, does sub 20mpg round town but every time you get behind the wheel it just feels right.

mik wrote: Sun Apr 14, 2019 10:06 pm

Nic wrote: Sun Apr 14, 2019 8:49 pm

mik wrote: Sun Apr 14, 2019 7:59 pm (Edit : @mudge )

Yep - looks shit as usual. I do approve of the tippex idea though.

What tippex do you use Mik? Asking for a friend.

Unbranded - bought off the bay. Has lasted very well though.

Thanks! Guess we know what’s going to happen next week...

I think you mean "guess we know what your friend will be doing next week"?

Removed the spots off the front of the Fabia as whilst they look very #ralllycar I don't need them on there for the autosolo in a couple of weeks.
Need to look at the horn not working (apparently it was), but that's not an urgent one.

Seat needs to be repositioned rearward as being too close my elbows are hitting the door at the moment.
Might also try and take the tank guard off next weekend to save weight.

First strenuous test run.


It's surprisingly agricultural sounding. Amazing what a bit of sound deadening does for you really.
The wheels look like they're off an old Audi or something. Neighbour's brother reckons a 90s Passat.

JLv3.0 wrote: Mon Apr 15, 2019 7:00 am I think you mean "guess we know what your friend will be doing next week"?

Oh yeah, that

Coaster1 wrote: Mon Apr 15, 2019 5:41 am @Maurice, I like the contrast so it’s a ‘no’ from me for black wheels.

+1. Not a fan of black wheels.

Touareg update - the front suspension seems to slowly sink if it's not used for a week or so. Not down to the stops, but it's noticable that it pumps itself up by an in inch or two after starting the engine. Hopefully just a dodgy hose somewhere.

In dull news, my tyre inflator has died so I've ordered a Ring RAC830. Old one was a Ring something-or-other and had lasted quite well. New one looks a lot more substantial.

Maurice wrote: Sun Apr 14, 2019 7:26 pm
The diamond cuts were an option when the V6 was first launched, however they are of notoriously bad quality, so much so that Lotus stopped offering them fairly shortly afterwards. I'm now stuck with the conundrum of whether to keep them as is, or get them refurbed in a different shade. Current thinking is gloss black a la Mik's Evora, plus now that I'm running Michelins, I can dig out the Tippex. No doubt I'll pontificate what to go for, for some time yet.

Some photos below because I'm an absolute tart.

Looks fantastic.

However, that's the rub with diamond cut wheels. Have they started with the rot yet? It's easy to say "keep it as it is because it looks great", but you can only refurb that way so many times, and I gather it generally comes back fairly quickly once you've had it.

I think I'd be tempted to go with a dark anthracite, maybe with a flake to keep the wheel design accentuated.

JonMad wrote: Mon Apr 15, 2019 8:33 am First strenuous test run.

So what was it like apart from noisy ?? I'm slightly jealous of your other wheels (the Compomotives), I'd love some for mine but for some reason they seem to be very rare in BMW fitment.

JonMad wrote: Mon Apr 15, 2019 8:33 am The wheels look like they're off an old Audi or something. Neighbour's brother reckons a 90s Passat.

They're mk4 Golf GTI alloys without the centre cap (the non-turbo GTI):



Took the Volvo up a green lane near me at the weekend because I couldn't wait to buy something more appropriate. Surprised the Shogun driver who I caught up halfway up the hill. Since he was in low range I kept stopping and letting him go ahead, because I couldn't easily go slower than 3-4mph at tickover in 1st.

Other than the very road-biased P-Zeroes and the fact that it's a bit too leased to scratch the paintwork up, it's a very able off-roader. The ground clearance is a real surprise. My wife still wants a Grand Vitara, and I don't object to that but it's going to need a lift to achieve the same ground clearance as the Volvo.

Sundayjumper wrote: Mon Apr 15, 2019 11:08 am

JonMad wrote: Mon Apr 15, 2019 8:33 am First strenuous test run.

So what was it like apart from noisy ?? I'm slightly jealous of your other wheels (the Compomotives), I'd love some for mine but for some reason they seem to be very rare in BMW fitment.

Yeah, I'm not sure how rare those wheels are. PCD 5x100 I think. Looks to be a common size but maybe not in 14" https://www.carlsalter.com/wheel_fitments_by_pcd.html

Tesco was only a mile away from home, through my village, so not much time so far in the car. The gearshift seems pretty precise. The clutch is quite high. Feels like you need to rev it, but then I've been used to turbo motors recently.

Jobbo wrote: Mon Apr 15, 2019 12:05 pm

JonMad wrote: Mon Apr 15, 2019 8:33 am The wheels look like they're off an old Audi or something. Neighbour's brother reckons a 90s Passat.

They're mk4 Golf GTI alloys without the centre cap (the non-turbo GTI):

Ah, thanks!

The Golf had a line of what looks like a line of dead pixels on the centre screen this morning. I'm hoping that turning it off and on again will clear it, but otherwise it'll need to go into the dealer. It's not particularly annoying but they keep reminding me the lease is ending soon (6 months) and everything is supposed to work properly.

It's looking like the A2's battery has had it. It's the original so can't complain (even if it's a bit sad), seventeen years isn't bad.

Had a really good run out in the 530e today which gave me a chance to see what it's like with little or no electricity in it.

I did 300 miles from Northallerton - Leeds - Warrington - Derby then home all at sensible speeds and wafting along the mainly motorway & dual carriage way journey. It managed a whopping 36mpg the little electricity it regenerates is used up in town or getting rolling. It really is rather pathetic and certainly not an eco car. It confirmed my previous thoughts that this is a legal tax avoidance scheme for people like me and a handy way of BMW reducing its net CO2 figures. It's a bit rubbish really.

NotoriousREV wrote: Mon Apr 15, 2019 12:16 pm The Golf had a line of what looks like a line of dead pixels on the centre screen this morning. I'm hoping that turning it off and on again will clear it, but otherwise it'll need to go into the dealer. It's not particularly annoying but they keep reminding me the lease is ending soon (6 months) and everything is supposed to work properly.

It was fine tonight. No sign of any dead pixels. Weird.

Forum opinion does not favour gloss black. This has been duly noted.

Chap on the Lotus forums has clearly found himself with the same conundrum and went to the trouble of plastidipping the wheels on each side different shade, simply to try and aid his decision.





Granted they aren’t the same wheels, but anthracite is looking pretty

I usually hate black wheels, but I actually think black would look best on that.

Try gold.

Black chrome/smoke chrome?