Best smoker barges 1-5 large [Vol 13]

[JOB2.5-16]

ian316 said:

Well knowing where JOB lives if he turns left out of his place in winter that's a recommendation

Every morning...

[r129sl]

I'm looking forward to testing the CrossClimates fitted to my E430 come the snow. However, the Continental winter tyres on my 190 and w124 have been superb, and less than £50 each:

[Geekman]

I was having a discussion with a few people on another forum about all season tyres: I fitted a set of Continental Cross Contacts to my shed as they were ridiculously cheap, and I'm incredibly impressed with them. Most people disagreed with me and said that they were simply compromised in all conditions (jack of all trades, master of none, etc) which logically, makes sense, but that hasn't been my experience at all. I drive on a lot of dirt tracks and muddy tarmac and their grip is better than anything else I've tried, including all the fancy premium summer ones, and they seem totally uncompromised on the road in any conditions. I can imagine they might not be as good as a Michelin PS4 flat out on a dry, twisty road but as my shed takes 60 profiles anyway, it's never going to be the last word in sportiness.

[Prinny]

Calling the Northern Barge threadists...

Ian316 suggested Jedburgh, but we’ve not done anything since by way of confirmation. It’s been a long time since I was in the area, so can’t suggest a good meeting spot on my own. (I know Ian said somewhere near the abbey). Suggestions?

https://doodle.com/poll/4d2k8p6gga9ytgv6

Please pick your preferred date & sign up ,etc...

[mondayo]

Stedman said:

No, they were st when new too!

I had P6000 on my V70 too, they were fine when dry and warm, utter gash the rest of the time. Changed them for some Hankooks which were better in every way, and cheaper too!

[ATM]

r129sl said:

The 190 definitely takes 185/65 R 15 size tyres. I'd fit Cross Climates, too. I can't see the point of ultra high performance tyres on anything that is not an ultra high performance car. If I were on a budget, I'd have a look at Fulda or Barum, especially the latter, each is owned by a premium manufacturers and they are essentially second-tier brands from first-tier makers. Or look at Kumho and Uniroyal.

These look very good value: https://www.camskill.co.uk/m138b0s7990p148744/Cont...

https://www.camskill.co.uk/m138b0s7990p132336/Pire...

https://www.camskill.co.uk/m138b0s7990p132569/Kumh...

Don't forget to check the speed (load) rating. Some of these are 92 and some are 88. The lower rating tyres are generally softer and lighter which means quieter and smoother and just nicer - on a barge.

[mondayo]

Geekman said:

I was having a discussion with a few people on another forum about all season tyres: I fitted a set of Continental Cross Contacts to my shed as they were ridiculously cheap, and I'm incredibly impressed with them. Most people disagreed with me and said that they were simply compromised in all conditions (jack of all trades, master of none, etc) which logically, makes sense, but that hasn't been my experience at all. I drive on a lot of dirt tracks and muddy tarmac and their grip is better than anything else I've tried, including all the fancy premium summer ones, and they seem totally uncompromised on the road in any conditions. I can imagine they might not be as good as a Michelin PS4 flat out on a dry, twisty road but as my shed takes 60 profiles anyway, it's never going to be the last word in sportiness.

I'm not sure you can get any variety of "cross" tyre for the E55. I got some PS4'S for the rears (off ebay) in the summer. They're brilliant.

Currently looking at a very cheap Forester as my winter tyres option......

[Lowtimer]

Another word for CrossClimates, which have been excellent throughout the last 15 months on my BMW E39, in 225/55 R16. My policy now is that anything except the Porsche which comes up for new tyres will get CrossClimates.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

mondayo said:

Currently looking at a very cheap Forester as my winter tyres option......

Leaving aside the discussion about tyres, this comment is the true 'thread-way'!

[r129sl]

Prinny said:

Calling the Northern Barge threadists...

Ian316 suggested Jedburgh, but we’ve not done anything since by way of confirmation. It’s been a long time since I was in the area, so can’t suggest a good meeting spot on my own. (I know Ian said somewhere near the abbey). Suggestions?

https://doodle.com/poll/4d2k8p6gga9ytgv6

Please pick your preferred date & sign up ,etc...

Jedburgh is a good idea. We can refine the precise location later. I have signed up for both days.

[ian316]

r129sl said:

Prinny said:

Calling the Northern Barge threadists...

Ian316 suggested Jedburgh, but we’ve not done anything since by way of confirmation. It’s been a long time since I was in the area, so can’t suggest a good meeting spot on my own. (I know Ian said somewhere near the abbey). Suggestions?

https://doodle.com/poll/4d2k8p6gga9ytgv6

Please pick your preferred date & sign up ,etc...

Jedburgh is a good idea. We can refine the precise location later. I have signed up for both days.

Well after suggesting Jedburg, Mrs316 reminded me we'll be in Egypt so i'll be having a barge spotting day out in Cairo on the 27th

[mondayo]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

Leaving aside the discussion about tyres, this comment is the true 'thread-way'!

There's a 03 plate Forester on Facebook, it's the turbo model, in silver but has leather and is auto, so that meets my basic criteria.
It's on 197k miles but has a good MOT history and current one runs till August.
As it's a fair way away (Canvey Island) and £650 it's going to be a single fare ticket and buying blind.
What could go wrong?

On a slightly related note, what's my best option insurance wise? When I ran the mx5 I ran it on classic insurance but not sure how to run a second car, I'm with Adrian Flux on the E55.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

mondayo said:

On a slightly related note, what's my best option insurance wise? When I ran the mx5 I ran it on classic insurance but not sure how to run a second car, I'm with Adrian Flux on the E55.

Either see if you can add it, or simply start a new policy (pay attention to how many times you 'use' your NCB though). It depends on age and location, but I've found a new policy often to be really cheap. One of the few advantages of aging!

[anonymous-user]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

mondayo said:

On a slightly related note, what's my best option insurance wise? When I ran the mx5 I ran it on classic insurance but not sure how to run a second car, I'm with Adrian Flux on the E55.

Either see if you can add it, or simply start a new policy (pay attention to how many times you 'use' your NCB though). It depends on age and location, but I've found a new policy often to be really cheap. One of the few advantages of aging!

I went through all the hoops of talking to "specialist" insurers about mirroring NCB and so on when I bought this X350. In the end the cheapest by hundreds of pounds was a zero NCB new policy through Admiral. £270 for the year with 8k miles and SD&P+C.

If I agreed to put a second car on when the insurance was up in July and finish both policies next December it went down to £200 on the Jaguar and £100 odd for the few months on the other car! I didn't because I doubt I'll have the other one past July and couldn't be bothered arguing with them about that when the time came.

[ATM]

dme123 said:

CharlesdeGaulle said:

mondayo said:

On a slightly related note, what's my best option insurance wise? When I ran the mx5 I ran it on classic insurance but not sure how to run a second car, I'm with Adrian Flux on the E55.

Either see if you can add it, or simply start a new policy (pay attention to how many times you 'use' your NCB though). It depends on age and location, but I've found a new policy often to be really cheap. One of the few advantages of aging!

I went through all the hoops of talking to "specialist" insurers about mirroring NCB and so on when I bought this X350. In the end the cheapest by hundreds of pounds was a zero NCB new policy through Admiral. £270 for the year with 8k miles and SD&P+C.

If I agreed to put a second car on when the insurance was up in July and finish both policies next December it went down to £200 on the Jaguar and £100 odd for the few months on the other car! I didn't because I doubt I'll have the other one past July and couldn't be bothered arguing with them about that when the time came.

I have a mini fleet policy via a specialist broker which means I can add extra cars whenever. It works out cheaper than having a separate policy for each car. There is a PH post about just this here

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[Prinny]

ian316 said:

Well after suggesting Jedburg, Mrs316 reminded me we'll be in Egypt so i'll be having a barge spotting day out in Cairo on the 27th

Hahaha... that’s going to be as easy as 123. Shame you won’t be able to make it, I’ve been in touch with Kevin, he’s going to be gutted when you’re not there.

[Krikkit]

Prinny said:

ian316 said:

Well after suggesting Jedburg, Mrs316 reminded me we'll be in Egypt so i'll be having a barge spotting day out in Cairo on the 27th

Hahaha... that’s going to be as easy as 123. Shame you won’t be able to make it, I’ve been in touch with Kevin, he’s going to be gutted when you’re not there.

Disappointingly the wife has booked a full social calendar without consultation between xmas and 2019, so I'm out for barging

ATM said:

I have a mini fleet policy via a specialist broker which means I can add extra cars whenever. It works out cheaper than having a separate policy for each car. There is a PH post about just this here

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Is that with Paceward then? That could be very useful for threadists.

[ian316]

Prinny said:

Hahaha... that’s going to be as easy as 123. Shame you won’t be able to make it, I’ve been in touch with Kevin, he’s going to be gutted when you’re not there.

Don't be too sure about Kevin

[Motorrad]

mondayo said:

There's a 03 plate Forester on Facebook, it's the turbo model, in silver but has leather and is auto, so that meets my basic criteria.
It's on 197k miles but has a good MOT history and current one runs till August.
As it's a fair way away (Canvey Island) and £650 it's going to be a single fare ticket and buying blind.
What could go wrong?

On a slightly related note, what's my best option insurance wise? When I ran the mx5 I ran it on classic insurance but not sure how to run a second car, I'm with Adrian Flux on the E55.

Regarding the Forester it's pretty much throw away money but I'd still want to know when the belts were last done as you don't want it to let you down at the worst possible moment.
The autobox makes the already terrible fuel economy worse and removes part of what makes these appealing to me, they're fun to drive. I think they're great cars being more or less an Impreza on stilts.

Here's another one which might be closer to you It also has the benefit of suede rather than plastic leather.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/51-Subaru-Forester-2-0-...

[trooperiziz]

Motorrad said:

Regarding the Forester it's pretty much throw away money but I'd still want to know when the belts were last done as you don't want it to let you down at the worst possible moment.
The autobox makes the already terrible fuel economy worse and removes part of what makes these appealing to me, they're fun to drive. I think they're great cars being more or less an Impreza on stilts.

Here's another one which might be closer to you It also has the benefit of suede rather than plastic leather.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/51-Subaru-Forester-2-0-...

I had an Outback for a few years (it might even have been a thread purchase from back in the day). Lovely thing to mooch about in, however it drank like a fish and any sub £2k Subaru is pretty much throwaway if it breaks, as parts can be hard to find and ridiculously expensive.

I'd have another though, it never actually let me down.