Lady Elanore

So, it turns out that if you remove fuse 15 the car is a little bit more throaty https://flic.kr/p/2pztgsg

Primacys, yes, that the evil little rubberbands. They sell these things as saving a fair bit of mpg saving over a standard tyre, but neglect to tell you that the tyre itself contributes relatively little to the cars overall mpg figure, hence a moderate saving in tyre derived mpg figures, is bugger all in overall mpg terms.

I should say, I worry that my 3008 PHEV won't ever wear it tyres out. They are bloody awful. The economy saving with these 'Eco' tyres is minimum, but the reduction in grip and enjoyment from them is immense 😞

My M4 did like to wear down its rear tyres a little, but I did a fair bit of motorway driving in it, so it helped to reduce the wear rate out overall. Plus the car had nearly 50/50 weight balance and that probably helped wear the tyres out at roughly the same rate, well obviously the rears went first). My M3 which was 4x4 was wearing its tyres out pretty slowly to be honest. That was a heavy car with a decent dollop of power/torque, so I assume it fed power around the 4 tyres relatively evenly in normal circumstances and it also had the 50/50 weight distribution thing to help. Come to think of it, I used to get through front tyres on cars like my old Strada 130TC Abarth well within 12,000 miles. Which, when you consider the car only had 130bhp and weighed about the same as a packet of Rich Tea biscuits, is interesting. When I look back, FWD cars seem to chew through tyres (at least the fronts) at the fastest rate, RWD was better overall and the 4x4s were probably the best. A lot of those cars had moderately performance related tyres too (P6 Pirelli's on the Strada) and at least 6 of my 4x4s were of a permanent type (Scooby's, proper Quattro etc), rather than a Haldex/FWD type, so that may well have helped??

A colleague of mine bought a Taycan as it was 2 years old and had suffered huge deprecation. As long as he keeps it for several years I'm sure he will be OK, although one day, a new battery (fitted) is going to cost him or someone, £50,000 according to Porsche. I think he is already beginning to wince at the insurance and reduced range in the cold weather. It is a lot of car for the money, the interior is stunning, but he might be caught in a bit of a trap now.

Harry's latest video is interesting. He mentions that the dealers don't want second-hand EVs as they interfere with them shifting and hitting their targets of selling new EVs. It's a video explaining why he has gone back to diesel, but it isn't a slagging off of EVs as a car (he embraces tech), but more the complications and issues of the whole EV scene. It's a little bit of an eye-opener.

The XJ has been a timeless masterpiece in design. Possibly the most beautifully proportioned and styled saloon of all time (imho of course)

Mmmmm Jaaaaag

Bit of a special episode this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rXTGHaHamM

I've hired the Canon 300mm F2.8 II from Calumet and it's a great deal. Pick the lens up on Friday and return it Monday morning, total cost including insurance that Calumet sort is around £60 (not hired for a couple of years so it may have gone up a little). Still great value for 2.5 days on a lens that cost around £6k when new

Is that the Sigma? I had an early Tamron version of that length (150-600mm), but sold it in the end as it was a bit too much for me. I don't do birds or wildlife. Bet you will have a lot of fun with it I feel moon photos (the lunar type) coming very shortly

I wanna be in the gang 😞

Not me, honest It feels funny really, we were once part of that 'cabal', but now we're so much on the outside looking in, it hits me every now and then, how isolated we are.

I see that two of the 11 partners are BMW and Audi, who probably know a lot about the batteries they use and probably don't need a passport at all. Makes me think they are trying to put a differentiator into worldwide Battery production and possibly have more say when none EU EVs are imported.

I was thinking that I may buy a (for sake of argument) Chinese car and it may have some sort of specification deviation from the norm, so if the EU are keeping tabs on cars build and quality of components, they may also have a minimum spec for those car's batteries and I could fall foul of their regs if I took a car abroad. Perhaps I'm jumping a couple of stages ahead of the Passport's intent, but I'm suspicious of things like this, as I can see it as a way for import duties etc, to go up on cars (probably from China) into the EU. The next step would be a surcharge to take your vehicle into the EU if it didn't meet EU regs. We might adopt a very subtly different spec on UK cars and then fall foul of EU requirements? I agree, I should have stated all that paranoia in the previous post.

This is interesting. It won't affect me as I've taken the step to stop working abroad (it's too much hassle wince 'B' day - not the toilet support system thingy), so it's likely that even if I go full electric one day, I would hire abroad anyway, or better still, hire a big V8 https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/electric-cars/battery-passports

We don't have any of that naff sunny weather here, it's good old British weather or nothing for us diehards.

I don't know why you don't move back to the UK with all that never-ending rubbish weather you get down there.

Found this in the Westmorland gazette Finally, two Panda 4x4s set out from Kathmandu to drive through the Himalayas to the Mount Everest advance base camp, sited at an altitude of 5,200 metres. This was the first time that a small off-road vehicle achieved this goal, a feat made all the more remarkable by the absence of any modification to the standard Panda 4x4, except minor engine control unit adaptations appropriate for the quality of local fuel.

The car might have had a mod to run on low quality fuel (I remember that being an issue) but I doubt they could do much else apart from beef up the underside and equip the car with sensible editions for an expedition. It's a very basic car I've driven the original and it is genuinely surprising off-road. There is no centre diff, so it's 4wd can only be engaged on truly loose surface, much like an old school off-roader. Brilliant (and light), little car.

BMW M cars quoted power (at least once they adopted turbos) was based on hot external temperatures and reasonable altitude (I can't remember what that was, but pretty sure it was at least 2,000m). The idea being that it was most likely the minimum power the engine would produce. Possibly, it's why it has often been said of these turbo motors, that they produce bigger horses than some other makes

I knew that really, but just wanted to drop a vote of confidence for the ICE, gently, into the mix.

Didn't Fiat have a couple of Pandas make it up to base camp on Everest (over 5000m) ?

Ah, so can Colin not do some of his magic and give you your username back (assuming you want it, of course)?

I'm confused...I occasionally go through periods of work when I don't access Brisky for 1-3 weeks and this year I had a family mater that took me away from the site quite a bit. I noticed ken didn't seem to be posting and remember checking his personal page, but didn't see a change of name. I assumed he had a row with someone and had taken a self-imposed time out. Have I missed something?