Having owned two Skoda Estelles back in the day, I well remember all the jokes - very embarrassing driving past a senior / upper school in Essex back in the late Eighties just as the kids were leaving the school. I still recall the mass shouting of SKODA!!!! accompanied by finger pointing and laughing.

My first job was working for Hewlett Packard, based at one of their offices in Berkshire - I wrote a software database for helping collate data for the field engineers - named Soft Key Operated Data Accessor :-)

On 14/05/2026 at 20:54, TheITGuy said:

I wouldn't necessary agree that all people that buy Audis are wallies - I bought a brand new Octavia in November 2017 and traded it in for a 2016 Audi A4 saloon in 2019. Why? I got fed up with the poor build quality and the distinct impression it had been built down to a price. The Audi cost £16K from an Audi dealer, had done just over 8K miles and has now covered 104K miles and still drives the same as when I bought it. I doubt the Octavia would have been the same.

I remember that it used to be BMW drivers that were the wallies; the name was earned because of their attitude towards other road users and the general lack of use of their indicators, but these days it seems to be Audi drivers that have taken that slot over.

Sorry you had a bad experience with your Octavia, but there are rogue cars in makes, you were just unlucky.

12 hours ago, Graham Butcher said:

I remember that it used to be BMW drivers that were the wallies; the name was earned because of their attitude towards other road users and the general lack of use of their indicators, but these days it seems to be Audi drivers that have taken that slot over.

Sorry you had a bad experience with your Octavia, but there are rogue cars in makes, you were just unlucky.

Loved the Octavias, mk 1 and mk 2 VRSs, petrol of course. Hatchbacks.

Best Octavia, surprisingly, I had, was a 1.8 TSI L&K. Supposedly 160 hp but if it was only that I am a Dutch man. Yes the VRSs would show 150 mph on the speedo and still be pulling and most seen on the 1.8 TSI was 135 and still pulling. It was its power delivery. Rev'd to 7k, short stroke EA888 engine. Better mpg and range than the VRSs. 0-60 in 7.5s so not super quick but not bad. All the L&K niceties. Family car but nice place to be. Got a VRSs spoiler from CZ but it was easier then to import as UK was still in the EU.

Not as quick accelerating as our Mini Cooper EV but about three times the range.

Edited 16 May16 May by lol-lol

Now if they would make an electric Octavia estate..... that would be my sweet spot.

3 hours ago, Luckypants said:

Now if they would make an electric Octavia estate..... that would be my sweet spot.

^^^ With genuine, all-weather 300+ mile range.

Edited 16 May16 May by Warrior193
correction

21 hours ago, Graham Butcher said:

I remember that it used to be BMW drivers that were the wallies; the name was earned because of their attitude towards other road users and the general lack of use of their indicators, but these days it seems to be Audi drivers that have taken that slot over.

Sorry you had a bad experience with your Octavia, but there are rogue cars in makes, you were just unlucky.

Hi Graham, I think part of the problem is that the Octavia replaced a 2015 Superb estate (and that replaced a 2011 Superb estate) and I was expecting similar build quality and refinement, just in a smaller package. The car had a sunroof which rattled from almost day one, which multiple trips to a dealer to resolve did nothing (other than to get silicon spray over the seats and trim where they have sprayed the stuff through the open sunroof from above). There was a resonance at a specific engine speed which another dealer tried in vain to fix (full marks though for their peristence). I also found the ride a bit crashy, thanks to the torsion beam rear suspension and being one of the early generation of 1.5 TSI petrol engines with a manual gearbox, suffered with the famous kangerooing issue and loss of power delivery. I don't recall any warranty issues with either of the Superbs.

15 minutes ago, TheITGuy said:

Hi Graham, I think part of the problem is that the Octavia replaced a 2015 Superb estate (and that replaced a 2011 Superb estate) and I was expecting similar build quality and refinement, just in a smaller package.

Hmm, yes, that could well be it. I've had Superbs ever since 2013 right up to 2025, and they have all been rock solid with no dramas. I'd still have one now if I didn't have issues with getting in and out of them, and I find that SUVs are easier at my age.

As some look enviously at the EV Salary sacrifice scheme the is a new scheme to even things up................

The Police Offices / Station was moved out of Forfar to beside the Council HQ that they are trying to sell and the Public Charging hub. This is the first time i have seen a Police EV charging on the 50 kW chargers that seldom give that Max output. 2 Officers in the car while charging. What a total P!th take and waste of time. At least they can sit looking at a couple of nice cars.

23 minutes ago, Evolution13 said:

The Police Offices / Station was moved out of Forfar to beside the Council HQ that they are trying to sell and the Public Charging hub. This is the first time i have seen a Police EV charging on the 50 kW chargers that seldom give that Max output. 2 Officers in the car while charging. What a total P!th take and waste of time. At least they can sit looking at a couple of nice cars.

Love the way the MG's parked - not!

On 16/05/2026 at 15:01, Warrior193 said:

^^^ With genuine, all-weather 300+ mile range.

250 will be fine. My ID.3 seems to have genuine 350 mile range in current weather (not had it in winter yet) and I hardly seem to charge it. I barely think about public charging now - it'll be a shock when we go on holiday 😁

What an amazing weekend of motorsport just gone. MotoGP, glad to see Alex M and Zarco up and about after their terrible crashes, WSB and BSB on too.

I gather there was some ball sports on too. Also there was Formula e in Monaco so I post a few videos about these electric cars so fossil fuellers can see how things are changing.......

Edited 18 May18 May by lol-lol

@Warrior193 3rd time there with dogs and the other cars are parked all days. So doors can be opened and then i am away. No point me in a bay if someone parks next to me and i could not get back in the car. Only the EV charging bays are wide.

Finally managed to see the Tesla Cybertruck for real.🤔

7 minutes ago, moley said:

Finally managed to see the Tesla Cybertruck for real.🤔

Aren't skips usually painted yellow?

Lots of people are just not wanting Wind or Solar Electricity messing up where they live, they want it to them from other places as if by magic.

Edited 18 May18 May by Evolution13

On 18/05/2026 at 21:02, Evolution13 said:

Lots of people are just not wanting Wind or Solar Electricity messing up where they live, they want it to them from other places as if by magic.

Presumably this is why the sea routes have been planned. No where more than a few miles for the sea in the UK.

Cables can be buried, they are in Snowdonia for the near 2 GW cable connecting Dinorwig to the Grid.

Loving the sun shine and electricity being sold at nidge over 10 p per KWh this afternoon.

@lol-lol Subsea Planned for a long time now. Years behind the Wind Farms going live. When 75% of something not being used is still to be paid for that is just as the UK Government do things. They will pay for 100% of something not being used and maybe pay 150% or more for it, Ferries as examples, accommodation barges, etc etc. PS. Are you just ignoring the fact that the Sub Sea Interconnectors are planned, actually being built. Finished and hit land and buried to the Substation sites, But there are NIMBY,s who do not want the Cables coming to their 'No place is far from the Sea' in the UK. Many not bothered if it lands someplace else though.. Hence my post you are replying to. The Cables land near Carnoustie, already come across the land (UNDERGROUND) to Tealing where there is a Big Substation already, just not the Very very Big Substation needed, or the Pylons to transmit the electricity to England. Similar issues at many coastal sites around Scotland and RoUK where the cables come ashore.

Edited 23 May23 May by Evolution13

Windfarm developers are not allowed to use pylons or other means to carry cables above ground. The cables are buried from offshore to the grid connection point.

It doesn’t take long for the ground to return to its original condition and then there are very few signs that they’re there.

Carnoustie to Tealing is healed. Tealing Substation has been where it is for years. That was a huge pig farm there after having been an aerodrome. Kintore is huge and getting bigger and has been where it is for 90 years. The objections are now the huge pylons running from North to South and South of Scotland from the Substations, and Substation to Substation. ............. People used to object to Pig Farms.

Edited 26 May26 May by Evolution13

New Apple, I mean Ferrari EV.

Looks better in red than the dreadful light blue, colour borrowed from the Renault 4 looks like.

Amazing performance, nice interior but the outside, OMG. Very low Cd I gather but at what cost ?

Ferrari stock value dropped $3B.

Perhaps I can get an early discount on one ?

Edited 26 May26 May by lol-lol

^^^ Love it, and if i had a spare 1/2 half a million i would not buy one, nor even 1/4 of a million if they ever get that cheep. A car looking just the same and with a 2 litre petrol engine would great.,

Edited 26 May26 May by Evolution13

Have to say .. I'm not convinced on the looks but then Ferrari have gone a bit weird recently like BMW did when Bangle was in charge of design...

On 18/05/2026 at 13:39, Evolution13 said:

The Police Offices / Station was moved out of Forfar to beside the Council HQ that they are trying to sell and the Public Charging hub. This is the first time i have seen a Police EV charging on the 50 kW chargers that seldom give that Max output. 2 Officers in the car while charging. What a total P!th take and waste of time. At least they can sit looking at a couple of nice cars.

Essex police now have some EV cars and I've seen them sitting in them charging at my local filling station, which has 4 public chargers. A few times they have had to just sit there and watch their colleagues respond to 999 calls in ICE cars because, presumably, they didn't have enough charge in the battery?