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Post by MartinT on Aug 28, 2024 18:30:08 GMT
Oh, if you're talking about Musk, he comes across as an unbalanced loon.
Got to give it to him for SpaceX, though. He has achieved what NASA couldn't on its own, and which Boeing consumately failed at: accurate, reusable and reliable space transportation at large scale. Their development of rapid trial-and-error is inspired and has got them to a level previously thought unimaginable in such a short time frame.
Shame, then, that he's such a dickhead.
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Post by Slinger on Aug 28, 2024 20:27:31 GMT
Oh, if you're talking about Musk, he comes across as an unbalanced loon. Got to give it to him for SpaceX, though. He has achieved what NASA couldn't on its own, and which Boeing consumately failed at: accurate, reusable and reliable space transportation at large scale. Their development of rapid trial-and-error is inspired and has got them to a level previously thought unimaginable in such a short time frame. Shame, then, that he's such a dickhead. It seems the latest issue of Private Eye has come to much the same conclusion.   |
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Post by MartinT on Sept 5, 2024 7:31:05 GMT
I'm at Protyre this morning, getting some new tyres after ordering them online yesterday and their site crashing. Another company that's just suffered a cyber attack.
Luckily I had proof of payment on my Amex app and they managed to extract a fragment of my order to continue with. They are fighting a broken system with a big queue of customers outside. And it's raining!
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Post by MikeMusic on Sept 5, 2024 9:00:37 GMT
Are cyber attacks becoming more common ?
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Post by Slinger on Sept 16, 2024 15:37:36 GMT
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Post by MartinT on Sept 16, 2024 16:31:51 GMT
I'll be at Abbey Motorsport tomorrow, having had my entire exhaust manifold and overpipe removed last time for sending away to repair a crack in the pipe. Additionally, it needed a replacement O2 sensor. None of it sounds much, and the crack repair was done under warranty, but it has been a bit of a pain driving the BRZ in 'check engine' mode and therefore having to be gentle with it.
As Abbey said, I am pushing some of these motorsport parts beyond their expected mileage because such cars are usually caned on the racetrack so little gets to age to any extent. The fact I use my modified car as a high mileage daily is quite unusual. That made me smile a bit - pushing the envelope in an unusual direction.
Hopefully, all will be happy again with the car tomorrow.
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Post by MikeMusic on Sept 16, 2024 17:43:01 GMT
Supposed to be shot by now or wrapped around a part of a race track  |
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Post by MartinT on Sept 17, 2024 13:41:55 GMT
All done, driving beautifully again. 126,500 miles and counting 🙂
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Post by Eduardo Wobblechops on Sept 25, 2024 14:20:35 GMT
Picking this up on Saturday, one of the few rear wheel drive saloons around if you're not going German. Bit of a left field choice but I fancied something different, and you see very few of these around. 3.3 V6 with 365bhp and 510nm of torque. 0-60 of 4.7 secs, so should be brisk enough. :-) Specced up to the eyeballs, everything comes as standard, if you were ordering a new one there was only one option to tick- paint colour. The only thing I can think of that it doesn't have is soft close doors, and it was never offered with those.   |
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Post by MartinT on Sept 25, 2024 14:23:40 GMT
Kia Stinger? Very nice choice, Ali, and by all accounts a nice drive.
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Post by Eduardo Wobblechops on Sept 25, 2024 14:38:57 GMT
Yes a Stinger, generally very positive reviews from what I've seen in my research. Remember seeing one for the first time when they first came out, didn't have a clue what it was but I thought it was a great looking car. They should have sold a lot more, but people in the UK are badge snobs..
I was (very) tempted by a GR Yaris, no doubt would be an absolute hoot to drive on the twisties, but given I spend most of my time on the motorway, I decided to be a little more sensible. :-)
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Post by MartinT on Sept 25, 2024 15:01:03 GMT
I was (very) tempted by a GR Yaris It could have made the ideal successor to my BRZ. However, the GR Yaris looks like a dog, in my opinion. |
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Post by Eduardo Wobblechops on Sept 25, 2024 16:25:31 GMT
I don’t mind the looks tbh, though agree it’s not the prettiest of cars. Would love to have a go in one.
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Post by julesd68 on Sept 29, 2024 20:10:15 GMT
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Post by MartinT on Sept 29, 2024 21:05:40 GMT
Yes, that does interest me greatly. I've already been thinking about a personal import of a BRZ as a future plan, but it could possibly wait for the 2025 model. The thing is, I'm more attracted to the 2024 with its 2.4l flat-four engine and supercharging it here in the UK, like my 2017 BRZ. A hybrid made with the 3-cylinder 1.6l turbo Toyota engine (they call it 4-cylinder, but the GR Yaris has a 3-pot) is less attractive to me as a powerplant. Also to consider is I prefer a BRZ to a GR86, for the Subaru badge, but that would need to be personally imported from Japan. Problems, problems  |
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Post by MartinT on Sept 30, 2024 14:10:37 GMT
I've been recommended a Japanese import company called Torque GT and their website has an impressive stock of cars. Just on a whim - but it may come to reality - I've made an enquiry on importing a new or nearly-new Subaru BRZ tS 2024 (the STI model) in white. Goodness knows what it might cost for the car + shipping + UK regs adaptation + MOT/registration and allowing for possible supercharging later. Budget would be no more than £50k which is what I was looking at for the cheapest used Lexus LC-500. Fallbacks would be a used Toyota GR86 (rare) or aforesaid Lexus LC-500 (even rarer). It's fun being retired. www.torque-gt.co.uk/ |
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Post by MartinT on Sept 30, 2024 15:38:31 GMT
In other news, my old Android 9 head unit was becoming slow and always requires wi-fi hotspot. So I bought another Eonon, this one with Android 13, Android Auto and Bluetooth internet connection. The price? A ridiculously low £117.  |
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Post by MartinT on Oct 2, 2024 19:03:06 GMT
I'm still researching possible replacements for my current BRZ. If only I liked the Toyota Supra, all my problems would be solved.
However, this Toyota-BMW mashup (more BMW than Toyota) is poor eye candy compared with the BRZ old and new, has a BMW engine (very un-Japanese) and is too smooth and too heavy to be a proper sports car. Been there, done that with my previous 335d M-Sport Coupe. There's also the GR Yaris, but good grief it's ugly.
Meanwhile, I'm making enquiries about which Subaru BRZ models I could possibly import. It seems that the tS and STI are out as they don't have a 'TDN' number, which is required to register them in the UK. However, the 'R' and 'S' variant seem to be ok. I'm not too worried about spec as I'll happily modify it to preference once here. I'm thinking hard and will make a decision soon.
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Post by MikeMusic on Oct 2, 2024 19:55:18 GMT
Do imports carry a higher insurance premium ?
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Post by MartinT on Oct 2, 2024 20:33:01 GMT
Do imports carry a higher insurance premium ? I've researched duty + VAT but not insurance yet. I doubt it's much of a premium if at all as there are a lot of Japanese imports around - you can usually tell from the square-ish number plates. |
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