GMB

I've had a few dents put in various cars by careless parkers over the years but the best one was while I was in the car waiting in a supermarket car park, which was on a slope. Two old ladies parked next to me about 3 feet away, but I thought that the door might just about hit my car if it was opened carelessly. I considered moving my car but thought I should not be paranoid. Anyway, the other car passenger door was flung open and let go, under gravity and a bit of a push from the old lady it put an almighty crease in my door. She looked at me and said: Oops, sorry, with a smile. I know there is not a lot you can do and it is just bad luck but after fuming for a while I lost it and flung my door at great speed into the side of their car and said Oops, sorry. I still regret it and know I was wrong and will go to hell. The only other time, to cut a long story short, was when the passengers of the offending car threatened to call the police just because I had him by the throat. Call the nurse for my meds please.

They must be good... The Gendarmes bought 20 of them to replace their megane RS pursuit cars. £50K each brand new. Les 26 Alpine commandées pour la gendarmerie nationale seront produites à Dieppe. - Photo Paris-Normandie La rumeur était insistante. Et si les prochaines voitures rapides d’intervention de la gendarmerie nationale étaient des Alpine ? Le ministère de l’Intérieur a mis fin au suspense mercredi 13 octobre 2021 : 26 Alpine A110 Pure ont été commandées et seront affectées à des missions de sécurité routière et de police judiciaire sur autoroute, raconte La Voix du Nord. Deux d’entre elles sont dédiées à la formation en intervention rapide. Équipées chez Durisotti à Sallaumines Dans sa première finition, celle commandée par la gendarmerie, l’A110 est proposée au catalogue à 48.666 euros hors taxes (58 400 euros TTC). Comme toutes les Alpine, elles seront fabriquées dans l’usine Renault de Dieppe (Seine-Maritime) mais leurs équipements spécifiques seront installés par le carrossier Durisotti à Sallaumines, près de Lens. Par le passé, Alpine a déjà fourni des berlinettes A110 et des A310 à la gendarmerie. Les Alpine succéderont aux Renault Mégane RS restantes mises en service à partir de 2010 et qui devaient être remplacées par des Leon de chez Cupra (l’ancienne branche sportive de Seat) dont les livraisons ont été interrompues après que ce choix a fait polémique. L’A110 Pure est le modèle d’accès à Alpine avec un moteur 1,8turbo de 252ch. C’est une propulsion, tout en alu, qui se distingue par son poids plume (autour d’une tonne). Ce qui en fait une auto performante, agile et terriblement plaisante à conduire pour un prix « client » de 58400€ hors options.

If Lexus can't provide you with a suitable car then I think the nearest match would be Jaguar, with lots of models and engines. All they need is a picnic table so that you will be comfortable sitting at the side of the road waiting for the AA or RAC.

Don't get me started. As an OAP myself I used to enjoy some nice fine wines but now its not Puligny Montrachet .. it's Macon Villages!!!😪

Hi Phil How we get to CERN and the Hadron collider from a 200t sounds like more than a magnum has hit the spot. Anyway who can afford good Burgundy nowadays. 🍷

Hi FYI SVP 3db increase is a doubling of the sound level ( logarithmic relationship ). Google the 3db law. Fortunately the human ear can tolerate vast changes in sound levels - up to a point.

Lesson number one. The government don't care about you. They just want to use you. #2 The banks are not your friends. They just want to use you. Frank Zappa told us so! This has always been the case. The car industry was to some extent protected in the past because it maintained UK jobs and therefore UK taxpayers. Now we have almost no car industry so the government just want to profit from the use of cars. Cut to the chase - you are only here to provide revenue for the government and its mates. BTW Linas you must admit the 200t is "special" in the sense that the French use the word. I must remember not to post comments after a few glasses of wine. I'll get me coat.

BTW talking about having two brains in the car, the gearbox brain is definitely the BOSS.

I must be one of the few people that actually like the 200t. It reminds me of my old 1981 Audi 200t but a lot less brutal and less likely to chuck you down the road and kill you. It looks nice with the twin exhausts -but doesn't make much noise. This is a good or bad thing depending if you like sporty noises or quiet refinement. It can go quite quick depending what mood the car is in. It has a mind of its own believe me. ( Probably two minds actually, one in the engine and one in the gearbox, and I don't think they like each other very much ) It is not economical to run but it does have character ( another word for quirky ). It is at its best on motorways and faster roads, both for economy and performance. It is nice to drive and very comfortable - suspension, handling etc. Big plus - It has no CVT but has the same 8 speed auto as on the IsF. ( Mind you, sometimes it can't make its mind up what gear it prefers and likes to sit in 4th or 5th if you have been driving briskly. ) There aren't many about, especially "F-sports" because they were a bit pricey new. Ideally the 350 would be the one but Lexus did not think we deserved them. Bad points - Er .... I like it's unusualness so I can't think of any.

Reminds me of the Ducati Owners club motto: "Ducati - teaching you to be a mechanic one breakdown at a time."

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I had a 1976 Rover P6 V8 with dunlop denovo runflats. They were very expensive, a bugger to balance and cost a fortune. If you got a puncture and run it flat then the canisters inside the rim were trashed and the whole thing had to be replaced except the actual rim of course. Having said that they actually looked good and had quite a low profile for the 70's era. Tech note: The Rover rotted away and became an orange pile of ferrous ( or is it ferric? ) oxide on the road and the engine was prone to overheating but it was good for 120mph - just keep an eye on the temp gauge.

Hi Malc - I like the sarcasm. What a lovely thought, that the government are taxing us for our benefit. Maybe if you were one of their mates you might get some return on the investment, but the money is not going to the NHS or any other organisation that benefits the general public. Don't get me started I could go on forever ..........

Our lexus dealer gave us a 100% electric thing maybe a UX? After 20 minutes I was bored stiff with it. The heater was useless ( it was December ). Glad I don't have one. What a joy to get back in a proper car that has a character - the IsF. On the issue of rip-off fuel prices don't forget the government duty and tax take on every litre. As of today they have only given back 5p duty, most of which was nicked by the petrol companies. They need to halve the VAT and they will still be making a mint. Between the fuel companies and the Gov't we are all being taken for an expensive ride. Why do we put up with this. The French would be burning tyres and toll booths by now.

I just paid £630 road tax and only do about 2K "leisure" miles per year in the IsF. Fortunately we have our "everyday" car, an IS200t. This is the one that bugs me on costs. I just topped up with V power ( for the turbo's sake ) and paid £1.98 per litre AND it only does 26.5mpg; that's only 3 or 4 mpg better than the IsF. It all works out at about 40pence per mile just for fuel and tax and Insurance. I have considered a SORN for the IsF because I think that once the dust settles and we go all electric then these cars will become more desirable after a brief panic drop in assumed value. Who knows? Look at he price of old Dodge Chargers and Challengers, you couldn't give them away at one time. I still want one though🤪 1969 DODGE CHARGER RT 440 AUTOMATIC FOR SALE £118,271 AS STATED 1969

I had it delivered and got a local exhaust specialist to install it. He said it was a good fit to the original mountings and no problems £150.

I have the Hayward and Scott catback exhaust system on my IsF. It passed the MOT emissions and noise checks with no problems. The minimal drone is not too intrusive and is worth putting up with for the glorious orchestra that comes with a bit of throttle, turning into a racing howl at higher revs. The sound is not as harsh as the nasty Mercedes/Range rover/Mustang V8s with loud exhausts. It is just a super classic V8 rumble and more pleasing to the ear.

BTW 1/5 per gallon. That's about tuppence a litre

Does anyone remember Cleveland Discol with added alcohol ( 10% ? ) for cooler running and better performance - so they said. Even dragsters used ethanol based fuels they said. All those years ago people (of the "informed" variety) were warning against it for various reasons. Don't ask which ones because I don't know. BTW I just checked my 200t abysmal fuel consumption. The computer says a measly 28.5mpg on mixed, mostly urban use. I did a manual check and confirmed 26.5. Not very good when the IsF on similar journeys gets 23.5. However, on short runs the IsF drops dramatically to below 20. I always use Vpower as I used to work for Shell and I know the extent to which they "doctored" the fuel in order to keep the engine clean and efficient. The 200t seems to benefit and run quieter and quicker than when I bought it.

Doh! Volvo.... not Volve! It could have been worse 😉

Oops something went horribly wrong on that post. I was trying to say... The Volvo is going as a trade in for a Civic type R GT...... Don't ask! The only problem with the Volve was the main dealers.

Just think yourself lucky you don't have a Volvo T5. New plugs at 2 year service despite the mileage being 7K. Resulting in a bill for £700. Needless to say the Volvo is going as

Herbie is right. From my school days electricity will always take the path of least resistance so if you connect to the body or the terminal it is the same result. It is as if you were connected to the same point i.e. resistance being negligible. Any other sensitive components that may or may not be monitoring the electrics should have or normally have protection built-in to counter adverse situations. It is unlikely that you will get anything more than about 13.5v (within the tolerances) but you could get less or a short, and that would trip the charger. Basically it is a can of worms.

Interesting article in Car and Driver magazine explains it for those who are interested in mechanical trivia. https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15107374/this-is-why-various-engine-types-sound-so-different-feature/

Yes, you need a naturally aspirated straight 6, V6 or V8 for the orchestral sounds à la IsF. Or even a two stroke triple such as the old Kawasaki 500 and 750. I had an Austin Healey sprite Mk 111 1098 in the 60's and people said they could always hear me coming because it sounded like a farting pig arriving. I think they were talking about the car? They were right, even rotten old Morris Minors had a horrible rasp on the overrun. The sound from the 200t exhaust sounds like someone designed an industrial air extraction unit with no musical qualities whatsoever, but at least I can't hear it.