vrsfab

Yeah, Buxton to Macclesfield A537

I was thinking of organising a repeat of the C&F meets from 2004 / 2005. Date is looking like Saturday 29th November If anyone is interested, please see thread in North west section for details and to register interest. Cheers, Richard

As per title really. Any interest in a repeat of a C & F meet like Rob and myself used to organise back in 2004 and 2005 when my MK1 Fabia VRS was brand new :-) The format used to be meet for coffee at the Cat then off for an organised route with a pub lunch in the middle and another thrash finishing at the Cat again for another coffee. I don't think the optional post meet run to Shifty's chippy in Blackpool will be on offer this time. Late November was the usual time when roads are quieter as the Peak District does get busy in summer. Date will provisionally be Saturday 28th November. Register your interest below and if numbers are high enough I will organise something. Cheers, Rich.

I think that would work if you had a long enough bolt.

I think sir you will find you are wrong in your assumption. BMW's are driven by people like me, who work hard, save their money and buy one because they can afford one. The main downside of BMW ownership is having to put up with the crap that jealous t*ssers like you keep throwing my way. I bet you even key them just to look hard in front of your Corsa driving mates. Mods please feel free to ban me.

I need to get my alloys refurbed, has anyone got a set of vRS alloys they can lend me for a week or two while mine get refinished. I can leave a cash deposit and repay the favour with a crate or two of beer. I'm in Nottingham, so Notts or Derbyshire area would be great. Alternatively I could always buy a scruffy set if anyone local has some.

16mm.

Chaps, this doesn't look too promising so I think I'm going to bow out, sorry.

The C&F opens at 11am so we could have a coffee, I can then make up a bit of a run down to MB for an hour or so, chips, then another hour or so and back to the C&F. Scenery stops, thrashing and chatting can be adjusted to suit what people want to do.

I'm up for it. I could lead a bit of a drive with some interesting roads and a bit of nice scenery, potentially even a blast through a 300 metre railway tunnel. Maybe fish and chips at Matlock Bath might work for a cheapish food idea or the Manifold Inn near Hartington. It should be workable as long as numbers don't get mad.

There you go........ http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/92625-fabia-wishbone-bush-replacement-diy-guide/

Really well thanks. I was preheating for just over an hour most days using a cheapo mechanical time switch. We had 5 or 6 really cold mornings at -8deg C and the engine was warm enough not to need the glow plugs. The heater was blowing warm air at startup which made defrosting really quick and the cabin is noticably warm when you get in after scraping. When preheating the car reaches normal temp after 3 miles on a 30mph crawl to work but would take 7 or 8 miles without the heater. I think it's been worth it if only for the safety and comfort aspect on those dangerous snowy and icy mornings.

Hi Chris, We toured Scotland in June last year and just chanced on Lochcarron. It was one of the most tranquil places I've been to, gorgeous scenery with the Loch itslef and surounding mountains. It's very remote but does have a pub and Spar shop that has a couple of fuel pumps outside. The locals seemed friendly but they were taking my money at the time . If getting away from it all is what you are after then I think it would be great, but if you need someone to entertain you then it would probably be a little bit too quiet.

Andy have you thought about a BMW Z3, ok not as tough looking as a Z4 but far better looking than anything Japanese for the same money. You would be in good 2.8 teritory with your budget and the build quality is light years ahead of the MX or MR. Just think - 200 hp, bags of torque, silky 6 cylinder vanos power and lots of sideways action on the throttle. I did vote for the MR2 if you're going Japanese.

Bit of a bump...... It seems that the Cat and Fiddle will have average speed cameras installed by easter next year, better get up there and enjoy it while we can. :(

Good find Dougal, any brave volunteers to give them a try?

That's just how it's supposed to fit. I would think being a couple of mm forward should be ok

So folks - should they be banned from the Cat and Fiddle or not?

They do run a lot of rear camber anyway and are prone to wearing the inside edges first as most of them have somewhere around 255 tyres on the rear, our Z4 is within tolerance but displays the same wear.

No, what he was saying is that an unusually high number of motorcycles come to grief on this stretch of road, a disproportionally high number compared to most other roads.

Absolutely agree with you on the last sentence, but what I'm asking on the C&F is why so many bikers fall foul of the road, is it a driver training issue that needs to be looked at before you get to Blades, Hyabusas,R1's and the like. On the OP it's the fact that the road is deemed safe statistically untill you put bikes back into the equation that led me to ask - should they be banned from that road.

Lance, Not a hate campaign, from me at least, just a request for your opinion as to the answer to the problem. I forgot to mention that on todays run I didn't see any bikers doing anything daft but the local police force thinks there is a problem and so goes into overkill up there. Sorry mate no offence intended and we have got a BMW Z4 so you can get me back later;)

I can see what you're saying and yes maybe that's right but what I was hoping for was a run peaking at 70ish on the straights and enjoying threading a few bends together. On the twisty sections it would be hard for most cars to exceed the speed limit by a huge amount but still loads of bikers seem to get into difficulties.

Got up earlyish this morning with the intention of having a quick blast over a few of my favourite roads in derbyshire. As a few of you know I am involved in either organising or helping Yashicamat organise the C&F runs, so I was heading out through Cromford on the A5012 (known locally as Via-Gellia) onto the A515 (Ashbourne to Buxton) then across the Staffordshire Moorlands and onto the A537 (Cat & Fiddle), some of the best local roads but also some of the UK's most notorious for accidents. As I left Cromford the road climbs and winds through a steep sided valley, it is quite a difficult road to drive quickly and a bit of local knowledge makes it much easier. On a long straight towards the top with no side roads or junctions I notice a white van tucked in on the grass verge which turns out to be an unmarked camera van with a couple of police motorcycles, now this spot has been on my Talex for years but this year it has had a van nearly every time I go past it. I carried on to the A537 and pass an umarked BMW on the climb out of Buxton and then just before the C&F pub is another camera van. By now it's pretty obvious that driving in a spirited manor is not going to be a good idea, so I leave the main road and take a scenic potter home on country lanes feeling a bit dissapointed. What I'm about to say was sparked by watching a "police, camera, crash" style program that are so popular these days. Let's take the A537 as an example of the problem, it is a nice road to drive, wide, in good condition, hilly, with loads of bends that tighten as you get into them, in summary - enjoyable to those of us that like using our performance cars. The TV prog went on about how it was in the top few of the most dangerous roads in the UK and went on to justify the reducing of the speed limit to 50, the use of camera vans and unmarked cars/bikes to slow things down. Then came the "Eureka moment" for me when the traffic cop says "if you take motorcycles out of the statistics, it is one of the safest". For me this says it all - if the motorcyclists can't ride in a manor where they can stay in control of their machines, then ban motorcycles from that road instead of totally over policing the entire area and making it a nightmare for those of us that have enough self control to drive in a manor suitable for the conditions. I have had motorcycles when I was younger (I'm 41 now) and enjoyed them, so I'm not anti-motorcycle but what does p!ss me off is the war against speed anytime and anywhere that has been sparked on the A537 for example, by the actions of a particular group of road users. Discuss...................

Off topic but had to say - great user name