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

I've had a Halfords socket set for 20 years, it's fine.

i guess if it has a lifetime guarantee then its much the same.

i see they have gone for a snap-on style/shape handle on the ratchets.

a mechanic local to me wears one of these 9ct gold bad boys with snap-on printed on it.

That set has a lifetime guarantee, which removes worries about durability.

£98.99 with the 10% buy online discount, I have reserved one to collect from the shop.

Snap on are a credit company, not a tool co. Halfords Pro are as good as tools get.

speed wrench

on the topic of spanner love, i found these a couple of years ago at a flea market. i love their sleekness and ratchet capabilities. usa made.

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There's no faulting the snap on quality, but like BQ said, the pros buy it because you get it on credit. 16 yr old apprentices get talked into buying £5k sets that they pay off £20/week for life. The 2 main benefits other than that are that the snap on guy comes to your shop, probably the most often out of all of the suppliers, and replaces your tools, no questions asked, and that snap on tools barely depreciate. You can sell them on for 75% of what you bought them for, and considering you've paid for them so slowly, it's almost like a mini retirement. Sell them off at the end of your career and make a huge wedge.

I haven't broken a halford pro tool yet, they're lifetime guarantee too, and you get some serious bargains in the sales.

Used mine today, quality seems very nice.

Both ballasts on the NDS were dead, I now have mis-matched lights- but crucially I have both headlights.

I'll pick up some fresh ballasts tomorrow.

Anyone know if it is the bulb or the ballast that defines the wattage of the system?

Spot the difference

It's the bulb that does the colour.

Different 'K' values, I think 6000K is 'normal'

I'm wondering as I have two working ballasts- but one is from the high beam and was attached to a 55w bulb.

If it is the bulb that sets the wattage then I can re-use the ballast with the 35w bulb, is my thinking.

Did these come with HIDs or is that an aftermarket conversion?
Are the latter legal?

The Panzerwagen performed absolutely faultlessly over the holidays, staying at a rock solid 82 degrees no matter what the traffic conditions, and keeping me comfortable and ache free over a couple of hundred of miles of driving. Hell, it even got over 20mpg, so I treated it to a tankful of Super Unleaded, and it really seems to have made it zingy-er. (The computer senses the octane and adjusts the ignition timing accordingly. It is v clever)

I accidentally bought it a 7 seat conversion on EBay. It will help the resale value.

Aftermarket, and ish- it passed it's last two MOT's with them fitted, but that is not to say that another MOT test station might take a different view.

Makes a massive difference in the "seeing where you are going" department.

The dipped beam on my Benz are crap, but I don't think I'll go for HIDs. Just changing to a different make of ordinary halogen bulb should make a difference. Auto Express probably did a comparison test recently. They often do.

Been babysitting the Porsche over Christmas. Does better mileage than the MX5...

Hah! Mine gets a consistent 380 miles per tank at the moment.

Petrol seems to have got a lot cheaper, which is helpful

Still can't get more than 240 miles from a tank on any of my cars. #heavyrightfoot

I got 305 once. Usually it's 230 or less.

I get over 400 to a tank on a 25yr old car!

Is Derv no?

Well, yeah. My 306 got the same cruising about 90/100 to London and back. I was quite impressed considering that it doesn't actually go much faster than that

I'm going to bet your tank is not 70 litres

It is. I think the 306 was only 60L