Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Guilty as charged, MC Hammer!

Looks great in the flesh! Spent a while explaining to Mrs Hammer exactly why I was taking a picture of a random car... ‘So based on the paint colour you think it belongs to someone you don’t know on the bicycle forum based in London?!’

Turbo and downpipe are still off but here’s what the tips will look like. 3” straight through all the way from the turbo with a single hotdog resonator out to twin 3” shotgun tips. Because NW6 isn’t loud enough these days.

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So I'll be able to hear you starting the thing up from the other side of the park then.

Spotted the WRX up on stands today. Guess you must have been hidden under it.

And just as weirdly, Mrs B is somewhat chuffed to have her toy recognised by a random person she doesn't know. Immediately after that, I got a bollocking for not cleaning it this week....

Some little cuntheads...

Shit dude that is bad news. I'm sure the LA won't care about what you have in there.

Hah!

they are quite strict about it. they don't want the meth labs or the builders yards.

it was bound to happen. the car is under a cover, even when we are working on it, but it is pretty much on show to anyone driving past.

just need to check the insurance.

Replace the door yourselves, with a high security one, paint it the same colour as the others, deny all knowledge if ever asked?

hmm Merc E63 estate, just a measely £460 a year fully comp street parking ..... another tick in the box ..... now if only one was close by for me to test drive.........

Also, my car is at the workshop at the moment. If you can move stuff then you are welcome to stash it in my garage whilst the LA guys are round

thanks dude. it is locked, it is just a bit wonky.

i think i should be able to convince them it is a working car (?!). i'll just have to leave the cover on

Wish I was in position to justify this to myself but I could never make the fuel consumption add up in my current circumstances.

I'm currently trying to decide what to replace my Discovery 3 with and an S212 E-Class is top of my list but there seems to be a big discrepancy in claimed MPG vs real world MPG (Honest John/ MB forums) so I'm struggling to decide on a variant...

Anyone have an opinion to chime in with? It'll be a diesel and I have a weighting towards 6-cylinders. Haven't ruled out an S204 C-Class or possibly an E91 330d/335d or F10 530d/535d either.

Its only doing 6000 a year as i work from home mainly - hence fuel consumption wont be too bad.....if i go that route!

Not sure any real world MPG can be believed these days..... I really like the C-class as an estate and my head says the C350 with AMG SPORT pack ticks a lot of boxes, esp. the fuel economy but the heart always moves me to petrol !

Yes! Just keep a grand spare around every service was the advice given.

Considering leasing a family car. Something cheap that ticks the following boxes. Fun to drive, economical and cheap.

Hit me with some suggestions. If it was circa £200 personal lease I reckon it's a no brainer

Crap. Berlingo passed its MOT without remarks. It might actually be immortal. Had just found a perfect replacement:

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Haven't checked the deals, but the 125bhp 1.0l turbo focus?

Guessing you're not going to be driving fast with family in tow, so solo it should be plenty nippy.

Everyone always references Focuses's handling and in life you usually have more fun ragging a small engine hard. Given it's would be a lease you can give zero fucks about how you treat it too.

A colleague just leased a Leon Cupra that's pretty rude. Not much room in the back apparently, so it depends how big your kids are / how much you care.

edit:

a quick look shows the

Ford Focus 1.0 EcoBoost 125 Zetec Navigation
Monthly price £177.35
Initial payment: £1,596.15

or the less economical:

Ford Focus 1.5 EcoBoost 182 ST-Line X
Monthly price £241.31
Contract length: 4 years
Max miles/year: 8,000 miles
Initial payment: £2,171.77

1l in a focus sized car...feels wrong and we owned a 1.1 tipo DGT.

This weekend I worked on my new car, using someone else 4 post lift and tools. Impact wrenches have really come on since I last used them. It was a nice, I have forgotten how nice it can be.

Also had so much time free helped friends work on their cars.

That's amazing...

That 1.5 ecovoost focus could be the sweet spot. Will shop around. Also been looking at 150 bhp 1.5 golfs.

I currently want a newish Transit van. They're all rear wheel drive here and can come with the quite spectacular 3.5lt twin turbo ecoboost. Frequently described as more boost than eco.

I can get a second row of seats, some cabinets, a pull down bed and a full size motorcycle in the back of the short wheelbase version. Sounds like a weapon. 300hp and 400 torques, which seems generous for a van.

Ford should make a factory Supervan with the Raptor version of the Ecoboost.
Imagine, a 500hp Trannie could happen. Who wouldn't want one of those?

That would be dope.

I can get a second row of seats, some cabinets, a pull down bed and a full size motorcycle in the back of the short wheelbase version.

Not sure how well this would go down with the other half but have been thinking about something like this more and more recently. Would be great for driving down to the Black Forest and wheeling the bike out for some fun.