Best smoker barges 1-5 large [Vol 10]

[phil_cardiff]

W00DY said:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

Manual estate with 272hp from an NA 3.0 for a 0-60 of 6.5 and a 47.1 extra urban mpg figure. Appealing.

That's the 3.0 that was less reliable than its predecessor iirc.

[Fox-]

Geekman said:

And how on earth is it up to £820 already? Surely that would need huge amounts of money spending on it to put right, and apart from the wheels I wouldn't have thought it would have many valuable spares.

£940 now!

And there was me thinking my rust free but 207k mile and frankly excellent condition 530i Sport was worthless!

[W00DY]

Fox- said:

Geekman said:

And how on earth is it up to £820 already? Surely that would need huge amounts of money spending on it to put right, and apart from the wheels I wouldn't have thought it would have many valuable spares.

£940 now!

And there was me thinking my rust free but 207k mile and frankly excellent condition 530i Sport was worthless!

More than my very tidy, well specced 528i with 108k on cost a couple of months back. I'm glad I buck the trend and prefer early cars,

[SpeckledJim]

W00DY said:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

There's almost nothing in that picture that is a sensible or coherent or pleasant shape. Other than 'wilful discordance', what on earth were they thinking?

And if any single element does seem briefly to make sense, they put something next to it that makes it all jarr again.

Horrid. Just horrid. I'm feeling discombobulated looking at a jpeg, I'd have shell-shock after 200 miles in that.

Like sitting in a kaleidoscope.

[harrykul]

0a said:

The further you travel for a car, the better it will turn out to be. Never buy anything from remotely nearby. Rule of barging.

I went to Hamburg. Twice. I hope that the rule holds up for me!

[derin100]

0a said:

bob-lad said:

0a said:

Just booked a B and B 3 mins up the road from the walled garden

I make my own way but do like applecross

Excellent. Enjoy. Better safe than sorry.

And on that subject, there are what seem to be 100 miles of average speed cameras heading into Inverness. Properly tedious

Indeed, I used to go via Inverness, stay a night in a nice hotel and spend lots of money. I have not done so after they introduced the average speed cameras.

I think these average speed cameras are actually dangerous. I don't do a huge amount of motorway driving but last weekend my wife and I went in convoy down to Hertfordshire on a long stretch of the M1 to take my daughter to Uni. For mile after mile that motorway is currently set at an average of 50 mph. It was very busy with traffic but it was just possible to travel at around 50 mph. That meant that all three lanes were trying moving at roughly around the same speed including huge articulated lorries, in the middle lane which looked to be set on cruise control, easily within their normal speed capabilities and often all over the rear bumpers cars.

The cars have to hold back for fear of getting 'done' by those average speed cameras or because the cars in front of them were also having to stick to the same 50 mph rather than simply (and safely) pulling away to give distance between them and the lorry that was bearing down upon them.

This went on for mile upon mile upon mile...easily over 25 miles...and it made for quite stressful and tiring driving. I don't know what you guys reckon but even though I think I'm a pretty 'confident' driver I actually found it quite disconcerting to be hemmed in for many miles, either with a huge artic bearing down on me from behind or right alongside completely obscuring my view of anything going on the road to the left of me.

Maybe, if they limit cars to 50 mph over certain stages of motorway, there should be an even lower limit for large HGVs and restrict them to the inside lane or something?

[Bonefish Blues]

I avoid that stretch whenever I can. It's horrible, isn't it.

[bristolracer]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2002-Jaguar-XJ-3-6-XJ8-S...

Colour is a bit Marmite
Lot of motor for not a lot of cash

[derin100]

Bonefish Blues said:

I avoid that stretch whenever I can. It's horrible, isn't it.

Yes, I haven't been on the M1 for years but that was horrible!

By the time we'd gone there and back our total journey had been only about 320 miles which isn't a huge distance but it felt like it was so much further. I felt really knackered.

[bob-lad]

derin100 said:

I think these average speed cameras are actually dangerous. I don't do a huge amount of motorway driving but last weekend my wife and I went in convoy down to Hertfordshire on a long stretch of the M1 to take my daughter to Uni. For mile after mile that motorway is currently set at an average of 50 mph. It was very busy with traffic but it was just possible to travel at around 50 mph. That meant that all three lanes were trying moving at roughly around the same speed including huge articulated lorries, in the middle lane which looked to be set on cruise control, easily within their normal speed capabilities and often all over the rear bumpers cars.

The cars have to hold back for fear of getting 'done' by those average speed cameras or because the cars in front of them were also having to stick to the same 50 mph rather than simply (and safely) pulling away to give distance between them and the lorry that was bearing down upon them.

This went on for mile upon mile upon mile...easily over 25 miles...and it made for quite stressful and tiring driving. I don't know what you guys reckon but even though I think I'm a pretty 'confident' driver I actually found it quite disconcerting to be hemmed in for many miles, either with a huge artic bearing down on me from behind or right alongside completely obscuring my view of anything going on the road to the left of me.

Maybe, if they limit cars to 50 mph over certain stages of motorway, there should be an even lower limit for large HGVs and restrict them to the inside lane or something?

There were a couple of lorries, I think "Shirley's of Nuneaton" or something, that were carving the traffic up and "playing" together. Sitting mere cm from the bumper of the car in front then changing lane to prevent anyone from passing them. Terrible driving.

The A9 cameras are sort of supposed to allow cars & lorries to move at different speeds, but it isn't helped by morons in cars. It's a 60mph road, but there are signs stating "trial 50 limit for over 7.5T". So you get cretins in cars trundling at 50mph because they are too stupid to read the signs. And once you're in a queue behind these folk (and there are many) no one can overtake. And because they are cretins and not concentrating, their speed dwindles to 40mph or less.

You would be able to overtake the odd lorry as when if people drove correctly. But they don't, so you can't


I hate to say it but Clarkson is correct. Snipers on bridges, that's what we need

Snipers on bridges.

[bob-lad]

bristolracer said:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2002-Jaguar-XJ-3-6-XJ8-S...

Colour is a bit Marmite
Lot of motor for not a lot of cash

That steering wheel looks like it's done a lot more miles.

[Riley Blue]

Bonefish Blues said:

I avoid that stretch whenever I can. It's horrible, isn't it.

Thank goodness my days of regular M1 travel are over but even now I'll happily make a 50 mile diversion to avoid that section - even in my A8 (to add a little 'barginess' to the discussion). How people put up with it day in, day out in tiny st boxes is beyond me, I'd rather travel by train.

[Lowtimer]

SpeckledJim said:

There's almost nothing in that picture that is a sensible or coherent or pleasant shape. Other than 'wilful discordance', what on earth were they thinking?

And if any single element does seem briefly to make sense, they put something next to it that makes it all jarr again.

Horrid. Just horrid. I'm feeling discombobulated looking at a jpeg, I'd have shell-shock after 200 miles in that.

Like sitting in a kaleidoscope.

Yes, me too. Long ago it became clear to me that if and when I ever have to move on reluctantly from the E39 generation of 5-series, skipping a generation to go straight to the F10 is the likely path. My local BMW indy who himself always runs a 5-series as his own personal wheels, has always been very denigratory about the E60 generation, not just as a thing to drive and live with, but as a piece of machinery to work on - he and his merry men don't even like working on them much. He does like the F10 though, and reckons they are a ar higher quality piece of kit, a perception which has held up now that the early ones are well out of warranty and he has some six year olds with 200K+ on them under his care.

[E24man]

Lowtimer said:

SpeckledJim said:

There's almost nothing in that picture that is a sensible or coherent or pleasant shape. Other than 'wilful discordance', what on earth were they thinking?

And if any single element does seem briefly to make sense, they put something next to it that makes it all jarr again.

Horrid. Just horrid. I'm feeling discombobulated looking at a jpeg, I'd have shell-shock after 200 miles in that.

Like sitting in a kaleidoscope.

Yes, me too. Long ago it became clear to me that if and when I ever have to move on reluctantly from the E39 generation of 5-series, skipping a generation to go straight to the F10 is the likely path. My local BMW indy who himself always runs a 5-series as his own personal wheels, has always been very denigratory about the E60 generation, not just as a thing to drive and live with, but as a piece of machinery to work on - he and his merry men don't even like working on them much. He does like the F10 though, and reckons they are a ar higher quality piece of kit, a perception which has held up now that the early ones are well out of warranty and he has some six year olds with 200K+ on them under his care.

I have to concur. Even as a long time Munich fan I have found the E60-anything generation slab-sided on the outside and a gargantuan fk-up on the inside; I have even passed up on the Alpina's of this generation as I knew I would end up hating the car and I might fall out of love with the marque.

[JF87]

Riley Blue said:

Bonefish Blues said:

I avoid that stretch whenever I can. It's horrible, isn't it.

Thank goodness my days of regular M1 travel are over but even now I'll happily make a 50 mile diversion to avoid that section - even in my A8 (to add a little 'barginess' to the discussion). How people put up with it day in, day out in tiny st boxes is beyond me, I'd rather travel by train.

I drove down that appalling stretch in a Tesla Model S last week. Good opportunity to put the autopilot through its paces at least.

[The Don of Croy]

Where's the threadist who wanted room for surfboards? I present;



Just 56k from new and currently in budget.

OK - so it looks like the bd lovechild of a hearse and a Silver Cross pram, but it does offer some flexibility on what you can carry...

[davamer23]

bob-lad said:

That steering wheel looks like it's done a lot more miles.

I either can't fully read the reg properly or the plate has been changed but I can't find it on Mot history page to verify miles.

[r129sl]

derin100 said:

0a said:

bob-lad said:

0a said:

Just booked a B and B 3 mins up the road from the walled garden

I make my own way but do like applecross

Excellent. Enjoy. Better safe than sorry.

And on that subject, there are what seem to be 100 miles of average speed cameras heading into Inverness. Properly tedious

Indeed, I used to go via Inverness, stay a night in a nice hotel and spend lots of money. I have not done so after they introduced the average speed cameras.

I think these average speed cameras are actually dangerous. I don't do a huge amount of motorway driving but last weekend my wife and I went in convoy down to Hertfordshire on a long stretch of the M1 to take my daughter to Uni. For mile after mile that motorway is currently set at an average of 50 mph. It was very busy with traffic but it was just possible to travel at around 50 mph. That meant that all three lanes were trying moving at roughly around the same speed including huge articulated lorries, in the middle lane which looked to be set on cruise control, easily within their normal speed capabilities and often all over the rear bumpers cars.

The cars have to hold back for fear of getting 'done' by those average speed cameras or because the cars in front of them were also having to stick to the same 50 mph rather than simply (and safely) pulling away to give distance between them and the lorry that was bearing down upon them.

This went on for mile upon mile upon mile...easily over 25 miles...and it made for quite stressful and tiring driving. I don't know what you guys reckon but even though I think I'm a pretty 'confident' driver I actually found it quite disconcerting to be hemmed in for many miles, either with a huge artic bearing down on me from behind or right alongside completely obscuring my view of anything going on the road to the left of me.

Maybe, if they limit cars to 50 mph over certain stages of motorway, there should be an even lower limit for large HGVs and restrict them to the inside lane or something?

I feel like the only person in the world who thinks the A9 is better and faster since the speed cameras came in. They are only on the single carriageway stretches. There is much less bunching because lorries are going 50 not 40. The fixed cameras have gone, so a quick burst up to 90 to overtake is possible. The Ralia Café is in the middle of one of the longest stretches and since we always stop there, the limit on that stretch is essentially unenforced. The sectors are so long that during day time conditions it would be almost impossible to average much more than 67mph. There is much less police enforcement now.

The west coast route, by contrast, offers occasional fabulous scenery with a lot of dreary and slow bits. Tyndrum to Glencoe is stunning, obviously. But Glencoe to Invergarry is hideous, busy and slow.

Edit: the main downside of the A9 speed cameras is that it would render almost impossible my plan to beat the Lands End to John O'Groats record without breaking proper laws. Or using a foreign registered car. (The plan is to leave Lands End at about 9pm on a summer Saturday, travel the M6-M74-M73-M80-M9 very fast during the hours of darkness, the A9 during the dawn and early daylight of Sunday morning in something like an E350d with an 80litre tank. The record is 11hrs 14mins by motorcycle and 12hrs 30 by car.)

Edited by r129sl on Friday 30th September 11:04

[SpeckledJim]

r129sl said:

...without breaking proper laws...

You exude a professional delicacy that I suspect is deliberate.

[SpeckledJim]

Is it about 909 miles? So an average speed of 72mph.

I think you'll have to be doing 130 on the motorway sections to achieve something like that.