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

Depending on where you are...

I've used these people who were very good and less than main dealer cost:

https://gttowing.co.uk/towbar-fitting-page-39/

was good to spot a little brother when in Hove on Saturday.

Same guy had a Ford Galaxie 500 parked up in his drive. (partly in shot)

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Having really bad brake fade with the OEM pads on my 190 at the moment, does anyone have a recommendation for pads which won’t cook after 10 minutes of hard driving?
Am swapping the discs out for some drilled Brembo numbers but thought I may aswell get decent pads at the same time.

Very nice, but not a patch on yours

The Fiat must be less than half the length of a Galaxie. I saw one the other day too.


And a nice old Dodge

But the best car of the week, in fact without a doubt the coolest car I've seen all year, is this. I've never seen one in the flesh before, off the scale cool . Alfa Romeo Montreal.

Brembo most likely do an OEM replacement? Otherwise EBC Yellowstuff are supposed to be good fast road pads.

That Montreal is superb in gold! They're such an underappreciated car!

Thanks, there is a Brembo option but from last experience they weren’t an awful lot better then OEM. Wondering if anyone has experience with the Yellowstuff as a friend tells me they were a bit shite until warmed up and I unfortunately still have to use this daily. Am I looking for too much in a pad which is decent while cold but also can take a battering?

Greenstuff (lighter vehicles) and Redstuff (heavier vehicles) are supposed to be less aggressive and more daily focussed than Yellowstuff.

The Montreal is stunning!

Alfa related a SZ Zegato passed me sounding wonderful on the M4 about 10min ago.
It was dreamy

No idea, am amazed what dent people can do, might be worthwhile to speak to your local second hand car dealer and see if he has a dent guy to come and do the new arrivals.

Did you buy the oe pads from Merc parts department, or elsewhere? Recently been using Valeo, Ate or ferrodo from reputable sources and making sure that the pads are real and not copies/fakes.

Also depends as some cars need the ECU updating.

How much is the tow bar by itself?

oh man that Montreal is incredible. amazing spot. very special.

ha. cheers dude. just always a nice surprise to see another in the wild

Wonder if it is 4 126's to a galaxy?

Had Pagid pads on when I bought it and swapped recently (6/700 miles ago) for some genuine Merc ones which have been cooking after 10/15 minutes of reasonably colorful driving. The Pagids weren’t so awful but still faded quite suddenly.

Just seen your edit... got the merc pads from a legit garage who specialize in older mercs so would expect them to be genuine

If you need a starter or alternator repaired or rebuilt I recommend Unistart as they just did the Micra alternator while I waited. One of the bearings weren't smooth so that was causing the issue. Odd thing is that on the car the alternator felt fine but off the car you could feel something not right.

Oh well £75 later new bearings and brushes and a check. Unfortunly as it was a ecu mated/controlled alternator it was the easiest way to get the car running noise free and trustworthy again.

So its turned into a bit of a minefield of randomness. I have 2014 Golf Mk7 (pretty standard, nothing fancy)

For a detachable tow bar with car specific electrics

VW dealer - £735 all in
Essex Towing - £515 + plus some VW bumper trim piece, £100 circa = £615, plus a few trips to collect part and leave car in Essex.
GT Towing (Recommended by someone here) - £962 all in

I think I might just go with the VW dealer to avoid the hassle of saving £100.

No idea how much the actual towbar costs, maybe like £300? Most people claim its a 3 hour job.

GT Towing are very good, I've used them a few times for trailer hire. Very kind and helpful.

However, if the dealer is £200 cheaper just go there.

Looked on the witter tow bar site and there are a couple of tow bars, one that needs the bumper cut and one that doesn't.
https://www.towbars-uk.co.uk/shop/towbars/volkswagen/volkswagen-golf-7-hatch-2012-fixed-flange-towbar/
https://www.towbars-uk.co.uk/shop/towbars/volkswagen/volkswagen-golf-7-hatch-2012-swan-neck-towbar/ or this one that needs a bumper cut.

I’ve never had much luck with EBC, I’d personally look at Ferrodo DS2500 or DSuno

Having really bad brake fade with the OEM pads on my 190 at the moment, does anyone have a recommendation for pads which won’t cook after 10 minutes of hard driving?

Am swapping the discs out for some drilled Brembo numbers but thought I may aswell get decent pads at the same time.

When was the fluid last changed?

Polishes up well. Those Imprezza wheels look great on it.

I had to put a near-full tank of fuel in the spec b this week. Previous refill was 4 weeks ago-ish. Trip computer said 163m for my full tank and 18.6mpg. All London driving and most of it off peak like Sundays when it's normally quieter on the roads.

Will have a hunt for some of those, the DSuno seem to get reasonably good reviews apart from the dust which doesn’t bother me so will give them a crack.
@paininthe fluid changed along with the pads and brake lines around 7/800 miles a go and levels look okay. I’m sure it’s a heat issue in the pads/discs as by the time I stopped today there was smoke pouring off them and smelt very burnt.