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

Thanks for that.

If you had 4-5k for an estate what would you be looking at?

Want some good mpg and low tax ideally. That money seems to just about get you a more modern 1.6 diesel, are they totally awful?

That Perana Capri is great. Not in that league but I did spot a nice BMW 2002 today.


And can't say I'm a fan of the pop art, if that's what it is, or if its finished or still a work in progress, but the Fiat 850 Sport underneath all that is a cool little thing.

Nice 2002 spot.

If you like art cars, a lot of that germinated in the 90s in Texas - I had friends who had art cars and this place is just down the road from my parent's place.

https://artcarmuseum.com/gallery/artcar-gallery/

In normal times they do an annual parade too. It's pretty spectacular.

Woah yeah some of them are pretty amazing, part John Lennon, part Burning Man.

The Fiat is an 850 sport coupe.

Not sure I am a fan, but then could be a good way to hide rusty panels.

That 2002 and 850 looked every bit as loved as the race capri. Even more so.

Nice spots. Idly found myself looking at an 850 coupe the other day.

The emphasis on idle.

Ford Focus 1.6 TDCI Zetec probably the sensible pick of the bunch. Some slightly higher mileage Peugeot 508s under 5k if you need more space, 2.0 pulls nicely and they tend to be high spec. I did about 2,000 miles in one in Spain a number of years back and couldn't fault it, great for just wafting along, massive boot and huge fuel tank, very frugal.

I bought a Volvo V70 with about 140k miles on the clock about a year ago for £2200, it's been great for what I need. It averages about 35mpg, mostly stop start commuter miles. Definitely not the most exciting car in the world but it's comfortable, reliable and practical. £4-5k would get you one with less miles I'm sure.

I've been really impressed with Carbon Collective, Gtechniq, and Stjärnagloss products.

I don't think they're available on Amazon though, so I'd go with Meguiars Ultimate.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Meguiars-G180124EU-Ultimate-Wheel-Cleaner/dp/B06WP6PY68/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=wheel+cleaner&qid=1617267210&sr=8-5

Thanks for that.

There's a really nice 2.4L, petrol, burgundy, 05, V70 about a quarter of a mile from my house. I am pretty sure it's lived there from new. I pass it most days on walkies with the dags. It has barely moved in the last year and definitely static for the last 6 months. It is like new but going a bit green in the shady areas. I've checked the MOT history and the most recent mileage was 32k. I put a letter through the front door expressing my interest should the chap ever wish to sell and he did ring me back and said not quite yet. What does the team think a reasonable offer should be as I don't want to insult him if it happens?

Lovely looking car. Out of thin air price, £4k?

That's the kind of money I'm thinking. If it happens I will go to £5k, I think and if he wants less than four that would be wrong.

£5K is a very strong price for one of these!

Low mileage, but these tanks will go to infinity if looked after. A friend has just bought a very similar V70 with 100K on the clock for £1.2K.

Looks like there's no other option than the Syvecs S7Plus for the project, which is going to sting quite a lot.

I've just discovered I have Trilock (three pin) security wheel nuts and no key.

Is removing them DIYable, or something a garage would do without too much fuss?

Yes, quite easy.

Thanks. Care to elaborate?

Looks like my options are hammering on a 12 sided socket, using a left hand thready thing, or boshing on a non-matching key.

If you call them then they may be able to recommend a garage that has a master key/all of the possible keys, which would make removal straightforward.

I've done the socket thing, and welded nuts to them. It's a pain in the arse in my opinion. Looks like you can get replacement keys pretty easily/cheapily

Might be worth trying a local tyre shop. They may have brass sockets which are hammered on. £15 last time I had to get this done. You will need a new stud afterwards.

What's the system BoM have used for Binky? Is that an option?

Also, how far can you go with standard management? Keeping that might be popular with potential customers.

It's a Link G4+ Fury ECU apparently....

The Motronic 5.2.2 in the first gen 996 doesn't have a barometric sensor, so Alpha-N would be, erm, interesting - unless you lived in the Netherlands I suppose.

However, the later cars were ME7.2 (e-gas 996.1) and ME7.8 (996.2), and both of these do have a barometric sensor on the mainboard, so it might be possible to simply map these. That's certainly our hope.

Binky is on (IIRC, this may be wrong) Emerald, which our engine designer doesn't know, whereas he's very familiar with Syvecs/Life Racing.