ColinD

Hi all, I've been kicking this around for a while, forgot to update you. 🤔. TL;DR; I'm aiming to offset our communities impact on the planet at https://ecologi.com/briskoda To that end, I personally do stuff, but I'm looking at the community, our impact, principally in delivering the community to you. I invite you to read on for yourself too. I had a few options, like a co2 neutral data center etc... That maywell happen when I can find one I think is a good match. In the short term though, I'm planting trees and buying co2 offset on behalf the forum. Which is essentially guesstimating how many tonnes of CO2 we burn for the servers/laptops to provide the forum. I've hooked up with Ecologi , if you signup to offset your personal CO2/trees, the planet gets bonus trees. CO2 The co2 is fairly easy, I'm covering it in excess this year. I'm also lumping in any miles I do for briskoda, which is nada so far this year. The assumption for our servers/network is roughly 430kWh per month in electricity. There is more in the whole chain, but it's almost impossible to calculate. This is about 754 miles driving for an average family car, or 300 ish kgs of CO2. I can only offset in tonnes, and the minimum is two tonnes. So this is easy, we're offsetting 2 tonnes per month. This I believe covers the pico/milliseconds of energy use over the millions of devices brisky data passes over to reach your eyes. Trees Trees, quite a few need to be planted for all the paper we've all used over the years. So inline with the overall goal of 1%, this roughly equates to 100 trees on top of the CO2 offset per month. Your own tree Each month from April 2021 we'll 'gift' a tree to a member. These are trees in the uk, with a what three word reference. You can save that and watch it grow from space I guess... in theory you can even go and give it a hug. Each month from the contributors to this topic/purchasers of tree clumps via our shop, all become eligible for each month. So buy once, your in the pot till I get bored, or the whole planet is a forest, in which case I'll be long gone, and so will you, mother nature 1, human 0. Month Winner April 2021 TBD The Future? There are some personal goals, I have quite a polluting hobby, driving lots of miles to climb a bit of rock. I'll be covering those of personally. Looking forwards for the community, there is much I think I can and we can do. I'm going to sit down one day and try to figure out the total since 2002... bit of fag packet maths required and it will have to be an overestimation too, especially for the miles driven for briskoda fun and business. So here's where your input comes in , thanks for reading this far too. Before I go much further, any other suggestions or schemes, maybe closer to home? I did email a few uk projects but no response, or not deep enough pockets, which brought my sad face on. If you want to add a tree or too, you can. Either under your own account, or add to the briskoda plantation/co2. : https://ecologi.com/briskoda and finally, they do have a uk tree planting scheme... which is what I was waiting for, although a tree is a tree. Thoughts? Each month I' also purchasing a UK tree planting slot. These are given initially to tree planters and other special awards. When exhausted or a spare slot, they will be awarded to a random member of freedom each month. This is what we have done so far: format is: WHO -> link to tree/post-> what3words location you can look back in a year, 5, 10, 20 or pass to your grandchildren to see how it's doing. @BJB540-> https://ecologi.com/briskoda?treeId=6080475053e8e226f71f21eb -> https://what3words.com/spared.regal.doctors @Rustynuts-> https://ecologi.com/briskoda?treeId=60a7d44a0c5596478194a5b1 -> https://what3words.com/storage.brush.inventors @Gaz-> https://ecologi.com/briskoda?treeId=60d0b2cd0cb1ce427218a024 -> https://what3words.com/roofed.shampoos.prowling @FUBAR-> https://ecologi.com/briskoda?treeId=60f83fc8cfbe27191bf1ed25 -> https://what3words.com/adapt.retaliate.firepower @MikeTheThinker-> https://ecologi.com/briskoda?treeId=61211e4b8774f7eb663e0de7 -> https://what3words.com/distract.somewhere.remove @varaderoguy-> https://ecologi.com/briskoda?treeId=6149fcc5a5e9e4e00ee6e530 -> https://what3words.com/distract.somewhere.remove 'fraggles' -> https://ecologi.com/briskoda?treeId=617189c50888826a11b8ba20 -> https://what3words.com/foster.flippers.slogged @AnnoyingPentium https://ecologi.com/briskoda?treeId=61c203560bf34f7ecd599690 -> https://what3words.com/harmonica.replenish.unrealistic @Auric Goldfinger https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/499434-auric-andy-goldfinger/?do=findComment&comment=5619560 -> https://what3words.com/crown.bravo.minivans

I was prepared to go to superskoda for some 'oem' wheels, the casseopias. I'm pretty useless at this stuff, picking what might look 'right'. I did email a few uk skoda part shops for wheel prices, but after a fortnight, no joy, no reply; I am accounting for xmas. So then I thought to look at generics. There are of course hundreds... and about half the price, all the way up to and beyond OEM options. What from this lot do you reckon would look 'ok' on a silver sportline plus? https://www.wheelbasealloys.com/alloy-wheels/skoda/superb/b8/18-inch I was thinking just black, for ease, there are a few 'cut' half black/silver options. The initial plan is to run as just winters, but actually if the right look can be had, why not all year and treat as disposable. Leaving the original ones in mint condition. I'm pretty much picking anything black, this would be for a brilliant silver sportline, so lots of silver and black on show already... or I think the first one is slightly more in keeping, what do you gurus think?

Hi all, not mad keen into cycling, so not going to spend weeks reading up on chainsets! ( They all say that right ) I'm after ( I think ) a new bike to get me out the door and up a few trails/bridleways. My use case is probably more road, peak so hills (strines etc), tracks, like made trails, scottish estate tracks, occasionally grass, mud. Possibly weekend tour, again scotland remote long walkins that can be biked. I presently have a marin california which was gifted to me by someone shorter, flatty handlebars, pedals etc... I'm not certain it's the right size for me, getting that checked soon-ish. Of course if it's 'ok' I'll likely persevere... or not now the worm is in my head. I'm not into mad fast downhill, i.e. body armour. But I might tackle some of the trails, like the mountain bike founders of old more than a full suspension thing. I want the bike to try and get some cardio, and avoid running, because knees. I'm after one bike in the garage/car! I've been advised a 'grit' bike might be a good call, but then also just a hardtail mtn bike. I intend to gift the marin as it was gifted to me. Finally, there is a new-ish 'trek' shop near us in sheffield. Now some nice kit in there! Including a thing called a checkpoint ALR5. Now my gut says own brand shop, must be something about them, but also must be a good wedge of profit too! Which leads me to, are these like the mclaren/porsche etc of the bike world and is there actually something representing far better value? Like an alpkit sonder camino. Welcome thought and advice for use cases outlined above Budget wise, as much as I baulk at the 1700figure, I'd hope not to spend more for a few years (It's not a mainline hobby (yet))

Imagine if you just wrote your car off, or your lease is coming to an end. You've been a happy; or not, Skoda owner for months or years, maybe even a decade or more. Which marque/model brochure are you reaching for? I'm interested to see what peoples instinct is or what they see as a option to SKODA. So what do you see as the biggest threat, or the most likely to get you behind the wheel of a different marque?

Laharts Skoda, formerly Ryan Motor Power, Clonmel, Co Tipperary. Service Sales Laharts Skoda Clonmel, Powerstown, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary / Tel: 052 6180323 / Fax: 052 6180561 thx: mac11irl

Please consider reading this, buyer or seller. For some it contains obvious information, for others it could be the difference between being paid or not! http://www.vstag.co.uk/vehicle-buying-and-selling-advice

An Introduction to Rallying The World Rally Championship is one of the most breathtaking spectacles on earth. It’s all about men and machinery conquering the most challenging conditions that nature can throw at them. It takes place on snow, mud, and sand The unexpected is always around the corner. A number of global car manufacturers currently compete in World Rallying. Among these prestigious elite is Skoda Auto, represented by its best-selling Octavia. However, Skoda Octavia WRC car with its special modifications is very much different from the car you could see on the roads. What is a World Rally Car? World Rally Cars are based on production models, but are highly tuned and modified to make them capable of tackling every condition under the sun. As well as being reliable, the cars have to be exceedingly fast. World Rally Cars accelerate from 0-100 kilometres per hour at about the same speed as the fastest road-going motorbikes. They are capable of topping 220 kilometres per hour flat out, but can stop in less time than it takes to say Mlada Boleslav – the town in the Czech Republic where the Skoda team are based. All World Rally Cars are turbo-charged for extra power and have four-wheel-drive for maximum traction. There are strict rules limiting the amount of tuning that teams can carry out on their cars. A standard air restrictor into the engine means that all World Rally Cars put out approximately 300 horsepower. It’s up to each individual team to decide how to use all that power to their greatest advantage. One way to make the car faster is to make it lighter. A World Rally Car’s interior is stripped out to include only the bare essentials, and lightweight materials are used wherever possible. But there is a minimum weight limit of 1230 kilograms, and cars can be randomly weighed at any point during a rally. If a car is found to be underweight, then it will be disqualified. What is a rally? Unlike racing, where drivers compete against each other on a track, a rally is primarily a race against the clock. Every car competing on a rally has to follow a prescribed route over three days, normally totalling about 1500 kilometres. There is an overnight halt at rally headquarters each day. The route is divided into a number of special stages (normally around 20) interspersed with road sections that link them all together. The drivers have to drive as quickly as possible through the special stages. They set off one by one, normally at two-minute intervals. The driver who is fastest wins the stage. All the times from every stage are added up as the rally progresses. The driver who has the lowest total time at the finish is the winner. On the road sections that link the stages the drivers do not drive at competitive speeds, as they are on normal public roads. But there are still target times within which drivers have to complete the road sections. These are normally quite generous – but a problem on a road section can still put a driver out of a rally. Timing is a key element of the sport. If a driver arrives late or early at a time control (located at the start and finish of each stage), then the crew are handed a time penalty. The demands of rallying put a lot of strain on the cars, but they can only receive attention from mechanics in the service area. This is the equivalent of the pit lane at a racing circuit. The cars go to the service area three of four times a day, and they are only allowed to remain there for 20 minutes without incurring time penalties. There is a longer service, of 45 minutes, at the end of the day. What happens in the service area? Cars normally change their tyres and refuel at the service area. But if there is a mechanical problem to be fixed, or accident damage to repair, then a team’s service area becomes a hectic place! It’s possible for a well-trained team of mechanics to change an entire gearbox in less than 15 minutes. Rallying is truly a team sport: the mechanics can be just as crucial to obtaining a top result as the driver. It helps for a driver to have some mechanical knowledge. Outside the service area, only he and the co-driver are allowed to work on the car if necessary – using only tools and spares that are carried in the car. The role of the co-driver A competing rally crew consists of a driver and co-driver. The driver’s job is to drive the car, whereas the co-driver’s job is to prepare and read out pace notes. These are notes that describe the road ahead to the driver, telling him which corners and other hazards are coming up. The notes are prepared during the pre-rally reconnaissance, which takes place a couple of days before the rally starts. To complete the reconnaissance, drivers drive over the entire rally route slowly. They then describe the road to the co-drivers, who write the notes down. Other than during the reconnaissance, competing crews are not allowed to look at the roads to be used on the rally before the start. But the co-drivers’ role goes way beyond that of simply being the driver’s secretary. Ask Skoda’s Paavo Lukander, who has been co-driver to Toni Gardemeister since the young Finn started rallying. “Making sure the pace notes are right is very important, but there are lots of other things to worry about as well!” says Lukander. “Co-drivers are also time-keepers, and we have to make sure that the car arrives at every time control when it should do – neither early nor late. “I’m also the link between the driver and the team, and am in regular contact with them on the road sections over the radio. I have to be a strategist when Toni and myself decide which tactics we are going to use. And it’s important to be a good psychologist too – you have to be able to judge the mood of your driver and cheer him up when he’s depressed, or tell him to slow down if he’s taking too many risks. To be a good co-driver, you have to be very organised and efficient. You also have to be quite fit, as the sport involves lots of late nights and early mornings!” Who else is in the team? Most rally teams bring about 50 people to each rally. Every one has a clearly defined role, from the team boss – who takes all the major decisions – to the team chef, who is responsible for making sure nobody goes hungry! About nine mechanics work on each car, overseen by a chief mechanic. Certain mechanics and engineers have specific responsibilities. One technician will be in charge of tyres for example. Škoda use Michelin tyres, but it is up to the drivers – helped by the technicians – to choose the most appropriate tyres for each group of stages. The tyre choice often hinges on information provided by the gravel crews. The gravel crews drive through each stage a couple of hours before the competing cars. Their job is to check that the pace-notes completed during the reconnaissance are still relevant. They will often make last minute changes to the pace notes in order to point out new hazards (such as standing water) that might have appeared since the reconnaissance.