Best smoker barges 1-5 large [Vol 15]

[nobrakes]

Bonefish Blues said:

Towing eye in situ. Brilliant

Maybe that was for pulling another car out of a ditch. But then again...

[nobrakes]

Krikkit said:

nobrakes said:

I wouldn’t.

Find an E320 cdi estate in budget. I’m biased though.

Oh dear, what happened to yours? I know harrykul fell foul of his diesel one's foibles...

My E320 derv is still going well. I can still recall the add for the equivalent petrol one and being under the spell of the general public consensus at the time to go derv. Still, it’s a solid motor and shifts well for an old bus.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

olly755 said:

SlowV6 said:

Re: digital clock. In 1989 when the first LS400 appeared it mattered not that you had spent £40k in 1989 money to worship at the new Church of the Giant Toyota, you still got the same digital clock with the two little stalks as the 1.0 Starlet.

They’ve come a long way in 30 years. My new, shiny, and recently facelifted Toyota now has a BLUE one, akin to a Sony Digicube circa 1980.

My 2002 Lexus LS430 has the little green digital clock. It doesn't have the 'Starlet-stalks' but it is still slightly incongruous, not least as it is the only green lighting amongst the sea of amber in the rest of the car. It is very easy to see the time at a glance though!

[CharlesdeGaulle]

0a said:

CharlesdeGaulle said:

bolidemichael said:

I have perused and rationalised, for the benefit of this thread:

I wish you were Santa and in charge of my Christmas present list.


ETA - ignore the others please Santa, the Double Six is mine.

Has CDG been a good boy this year? If not, it's a leased Vauxhall diesel for you.

I have been far from good, with the battle scars, bills (and persistent rash) to prove it, but by God no-one deserves that, no matter what the crime.





P.S Apols for successive posts, I'm blaming the time difference and catching-up. Loving Ross's new user name from the new chap, great work.

[Fatlad1973]

I watched a Top Gear special last night: driving from Venice to Pau, including Italian Lakes and some Alp action. Made me think of a bit of a tour and the sort of car I'd enjoy it in (money aside a DB9 Volante seems ideal). Which in turn got me back to the 'Thread Share Club' idea (which would lack a DB9 but still be A Good Idea). Insurance seems the PITA for this, but this from Admiral might be useful:

https://www.admiral.com/car-insurance/car-sharing

Also, got me back into the the 'dream 3 car garage for £X' game. Our real 3 car mix is the W124 260E, w212 E350CDi and the wife's L322 FFRR 3.6 TDV8. That doesn't seem like a dream mix.

Which would you swap and what for?

[tobinen]

Happy birthday to Bruno Sacco - 86 today

[SlowV6]

Tangentially - I would like to justify my recent presence on this thread. Whilst currently sans barge I have previously barge'd and plan to again. My target is a facelift LS430, unless someone like Ross ends up despairingly throwing a 460 at me.

My barge was quite a rare one actually. A Honda Accord 3.0V6 coupe, which cost me the princely sum of £1250 in late 2011. I had it 3 yrs. 200BHP with a 4 speed slushmatic and made in the U.S.A.



My review from the time:
https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/owner-reviews/honda/a...

Please allow me to remain. This is by far my favourite thread on PH.

Edited by SlowV6 on Tuesday 12th November 10:14

[rider73]

all this lexus talk got me researching

so the LS600h is AWD right?!?!

hmmm moving up my barge list ;-)

[rider73]

not sure i want to post this here cos i want to buy it right now

BMW E36 3 SERIES 328 MANUAL TOURING – M SPORT FACTORY OPTIONS - £4,995

https://oldcolonelcars.co.uk/listing/bmw-e36-3-ser...

[Macron]

rider73 said:

not sure i want to post this here cos i want to buy it right now

BMW E36 3 SERIES 328 MANUAL TOURING – M SPORT FACTORY OPTIONS - £4,995

https://oldcolonelcars.co.uk/listing/bmw-e36-3-ser...

Showing I lack even 15 year-old bum fluff BMW knowledge, is this actually a Sport, or has it had a few Sport (and other random) bits thrown on? I can't see a particularly happy marriage between those side skirts and rear apron.

Given the seller has a propensity to mark everything up by about 2,000,000,000%, if it was a "real" one I'd be expecting a bigger price.

Happy to be corrected!

[Krikkit]

Macron said:

rider73 said:

not sure i want to post this here cos i want to buy it right now

BMW E36 3 SERIES 328 MANUAL TOURING – M SPORT FACTORY OPTIONS - £4,995

https://oldcolonelcars.co.uk/listing/bmw-e36-3-ser...

Showing I lack even 15 year-old bum fluff BMW knowledge, is this actually a Sport, or has it had a few Sport (and other random) bits thrown on? I can't see a particularly happy marriage between those side skirts and rear apron.

Given the seller has a propensity to mark everything up by about 2,000,000,000%, if it was a "real" one I'd be expecting a bigger price.

Happy to be corrected!

I think that's original, not the nicest bodykit to be honest, I'd be tempted to take the skirts off if it was mine.

Possibly a bit harsh with the price assessment - they're top money cars, but look very well sorted indeed. I'm sure a threadist has bought from him and been very impressed.

I would suggest, however, that a Sport-equipped 3-series won't be a barge. Maybe half credit at best as the ride quality will be decent, but too sporty for our traditional fare.

[Phil Dicky]

rider73 said:

all this lexus talk got me researching

so the LS600h is AWD right?!?!

hmmm moving up my barge list ;-)

Ooh...didn't know that

[bolidemichael]

Krikkit said:

Macron said:

rider73 said:

not sure i want to post this here cos i want to buy it right now

BMW E36 3 SERIES 328 MANUAL TOURING – M SPORT FACTORY OPTIONS - £4,995

https://oldcolonelcars.co.uk/listing/bmw-e36-3-ser...

Showing I lack even 15 year-old bum fluff BMW knowledge, is this actually a Sport, or has it had a few Sport (and other random) bits thrown on? I can't see a particularly happy marriage between those side skirts and rear apron.

Given the seller has a propensity to mark everything up by about 2,000,000,000%, if it was a "real" one I'd be expecting a bigger price.

Happy to be corrected!

I think that's original, not the nicest bodykit to be honest, I'd be tempted to take the skirts off if it was mine.

Possibly a bit harsh with the price assessment - they're top money cars, but look very well sorted indeed. I'm sure a threadist has bought from him and been very impressed.

I would suggest, however, that a Sport-equipped 3-series won't be a barge. Maybe half credit at best as the ride quality will be decent, but too sporty for our traditional fare.

Agreed. Not a barge, but aged and scrubs up well, so merits an honorable mention.

[Krikkit]

As a brief aside, I really like the colonel's new website, very pleasing.

[TommoAE86]

forzaminardi said:

The only thing that annoyed me was the so-called manual mode on the gearbox - the flappy paddles don't actually change gear, they simply change up or down what counts as top gear, which I can see absolutely no rationale for. Other than that, I can't fault it; on balance it was probably the best car I had in terms of zero problems and value for money, but it'll not make your heart beat faster.

I'm finding there are subtle differences between the Lexus' and the Crown despite it being a GS350/450h underneath, but this one seems very odd - my triptronic does the same regarding the highest gear, but if I push to go down a cog as long as it won't go to the red line it is obedient.

[4941cc]

Macron said:

rider73 said:

not sure i want to post this here cos i want to buy it right now

BMW E36 3 SERIES 328 MANUAL TOURING – M SPORT FACTORY OPTIONS - £4,995

https://oldcolonelcars.co.uk/listing/bmw-e36-3-ser...

Showing I lack even 15 year-old bum fluff BMW knowledge, is this actually a Sport, or has it had a few Sport (and other random) bits thrown on? I can't see a particularly happy marriage between those side skirts and rear apron.

The blurb is right, BMW never built a 328i Sport Touring, there was a 323i Sport Touring though.

This one has been fitted with an M3 saloon's bodykit and godawful stzer-wheels. It's a bitsa.

[rider73]

4941cc said:

Macron said:

rider73 said:

not sure i want to post this here cos i want to buy it right now

BMW E36 3 SERIES 328 MANUAL TOURING – M SPORT FACTORY OPTIONS - £4,995

https://oldcolonelcars.co.uk/listing/bmw-e36-3-ser...

Showing I lack even 15 year-old bum fluff BMW knowledge, is this actually a Sport, or has it had a few Sport (and other random) bits thrown on? I can't see a particularly happy marriage between those side skirts and rear apron.

The blurb is right, BMW never built a 328i Sport Touring, there was a 323i Sport Touring though.

This one has been fitted with an M3 saloon's bodykit and godawful stzer-wheels. It's a bitsa.

thanks for the info! i noted the rear toweye cover being a different shade of silver, and a strange discolour to one of the doors - but i still really like it - although now with tapered enthusiam of getting out to see it

[Speed addicted]

Phil Dicky said:

rider73 said:

all this lexus talk got me researching

so the LS600h is AWD right?!?!

hmmm moving up my barge list ;-)

Ooh...didn't know that

A bit of googling suggests that it’s a mechanical 4wd system 40/60 front/rear.
I initially thought it powered the rear wheels with the engine and the fronts with the battery but that doesn’t appear to be the case.

So they’re similar on fuel to (big) diesels, similar on power to petrols and have better reliability records than the usual brands.

Some have the rear relaxation package with recliners (I would avoid it as I’m never in the back (sober anyway) and would get jealous.

[wjwren]

The 600h is a bit dull. I had an IS200d a while back. That was a bag of nails. The dashboard used to creak when it got hot as the brackets expanded with the heat. Ud be driving along and hear this bang as the dashboard expanded. First time i heard it i thought someone had thrown a brick at the car, it was quite loud. Apparently they all do that. DPF issues. Flywheel. AC compressor broke.
Saying all that im now off to research 600H!

[SlowV6]

The cheapest LS600h on AutoTrader is still £3k above thread max, so we have a while to wait!

E65Ross (TyrannosauRoss Lex) may also become enraged If he discovers someone on here gets one with the ottoman toting RSR pack.