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P5YcHoM4N
S3 licensed
Quote from Tinytacohead :What is "green laning"? So far that one catastrophic failure is the only time I've had a real problem with a hobby/DD mix, and it was a freak occurrence that had nothing to do with how the car was treated. (at least not while I owned the engine) That said, I wasn't talking about a highly tuned track car as a DD or anything either. You've gotta choose wisely if you want to try going down that road & yes, it may bite you in the @ss.

And insurance does rape me, a little bit, but I've rarely got all three insured @ once either. Not being a young punk in the insurance co's eyes helps as well, haha.

Green laning is a hobby of driving 4x4s down unpaved roads around the UK. I think it is called trailing in the US. Some are very gentle dirt tracks others are vehicle breakers. After moving from the middle of nowhere it is the only offroad action my truck sees these days.

I'm a dirty old man to the insurers but they still like to stick it balls deep.
P5YcHoM4N
S3 licensed
Quote from matijapkc :Why don't you get a small loan and buy a car? If the fuel bills are gonna be so much lower, it'll pay off in a few months or so.

I am trying to avoid taking out loans to buy vehicles, the company I work for is still on shaky ground so I'm not completely confident I'll have a job for long enough to service any loan.

Quote from Tinytacohead :Not necessarily/that's an area hatchbacks excel at. Before my first 2.5L swap into the MX-3 died, (loose conrod endcap = bad choice of used engines), that's how I rolled - hobby/daily in one. I had a really fun, zippy car that could do it all & achieve 35mpg+ if I stuck to cruise control etc. Then that engine kicked the bucket while loping down the interstate one day & I had to get a replacement, while I revived her. Now look @ my sig.. :cookiemon Before long I'll likely return to one car, as it'd be nice to spread the money I do have around to other areas.

The main thing is time to fix it after you break it. Whenever I go green laning I live in fear of breaking something and then having to get to work on the Monday. Last time something broke I had to get a rental car as the garage I used didn't have a courtesy car ready.

Quite a collection you have there. Insurance would rape me if I had that many vehicles.
P5YcHoM4N
S3 licensed
Quote from BigPeBe :Well, each to their own I guess. The car I'm currently driving to work requires me to wear ear protection.
Altho winter is coming and I have to prepare my more boring car for the daily commute.

I kinda understand why you swapped, maybe I wouldn't done it, but I also wouldn't have the "hobby car" and daily driver combined in one car.

It is a costly mistake to have a hobby car and daily driver as one vehicle. When I finally get to save some money I'll get a new daily driver so I can save my truck for special events. My monthly fuel bills are killer. D:
P5YcHoM4N
S3 licensed
Quote from KiRmelius :I have replaced clutch on MK2 golf a couple of times, and it's easy to do it without removing the front. The engine and gearbox on MK3 is very similar I guess. The tricky part is to put it back in, quite difficult to put the shaft in the clutch disc when you have no lift and do it by hand.

The was I was taught to do it was place the gearbox on your legs, so you can heave it into place and hold it there with your knees taking the bulk of the weight and use your hands to jiggle it into place. Isn't for everyone as it can hurt if the gearbox slips, but when you don't have access to ramps and lifts, you do what you gotta do.
P5YcHoM4N
S3 licensed
Quote from Tomba(FIN) :How does it make me a bad mechanic to give me a lot more space to work on and makes the job a lot easier? Front comes off in two minutes, now why I wouldn't take it off to make the work more comfortable?

By bad mechanic I was really referring to those who get paid for their time as you have increased the time required for this job by doing it that way. It is work you don't need to do? I used to work under trolley jacks and axle stands and never needed to remove the front of a Golf or the engine to change the clutch. You've given yourself way more work than you needed to do an easy job.

But I suppose a Golf on axle stands with the gearbox dragged out from under it doesn't look as good on a forum. Since you have the front off you might as well do a full service and give the engine bay a good clean down and repaint.
P5YcHoM4N
S3 licensed
Quote from Migz :I had my clutch changed on my Mk3 Golf a few months ago which involved taking the gearbox completely out. Sat there and watched it be done and the front end never came off, nor did the engine. And it was done in 4 hours too.

Could be because you don't have to take the front off, only bad mechanics do that. All it takes is a bit of intelligent thinking to manoeuvre the gearbox out of the sub frame. It does requite some upper body strength though as you can't get away with using lifts.

Pop the CVs, drop the box, change clutch, manhandle box into place and return CVs. All you need is a standard toolbox and an engine bar (one of these).
P5YcHoM4N
S3 licensed
Yay, I am now awesome like Jak, behold! Completely safe and legal driving. If only the other road users were as considerate. I was concerned when I came across a school bus that had left it's lane and was now in mine.

* Tbh, it isn't anything special, just my normal drive to and from work, I stripped all audio because I couldn't be bothered to find some copyright free tunage.
P5YcHoM4N
S3 licensed
Quote from Tinytacohead :(off-topic, but hey, so's the rest of this thread.. lol) Was visiting my cousin in CO somewhat recently, (who's about 1600 miles west of me), & encountered my first roundabout ever @ midnight after having driven 17 hours straight. End result was cop lights, haha. Thankfully dude was understanding/didn't ticket me for going around it bassackwards.

Easy rule to remember. RIGHT of way. Always give way to the guy on the right. IMHO, that should've changed to Left in left hand drive market, but as I understand it, you still give way to cars on the right.

Roundabouts are, apparently, the source of the British sense of humour. So you're welcome world.
P5YcHoM4N
S3 licensed
Quote from [RCG]Boosted :ah the lower lip is missing...thats it.
couldnt tell

That isn't through choice. He crashed on a roundabout.
Last edited by P5YcHoM4N, .
P5YcHoM4N
S3 licensed
Quote from Tinytacohead :What's sad is the average peeps who do slam their car to such a level, actually think they've increased handling. Put them in any type of competition and they'd see otherwise. (not to mention the typically worsened handling in adverse weather conditions I mentioned eons ago) Now, that doesn't necessarily refer to lil ginho here, as he's already stated he could care less about handling, but it usually seems to be the case. So sad!

Duh, because racecar r low. Racecar r fast. So low = fast.

Kids seem to forget racecars live on race tracks and are beyond useless on the road.
P5YcHoM4N
S3 licensed
Quote from G!NhO :Yeah like driving on a highway is hard with little ground clearence.

You sound like the sort of person who knows they have ruined their car and running a better setup (airbags) would be so much nicer, but can't admit it and/or can't afford it. Handling is a BS excuse because we all know a car that low doesn't handle anyway.
P5YcHoM4N
S3 licensed
Quote from BlueFlame :Since when are airbags proper suspension?

How isn't running airbags proper suspension? It is more suspension than running so low you're permanently on bumpstops.

Just ignore the EAS error bit. *whistles innocently*
P5YcHoM4N
S3 licensed

I'd buy that car.
P5YcHoM4N
S3 licensed
Quote from G!NhO :


I quite enjoy my airbags thank you very much. I can slam it on the bump stops or rise up enough to drive over a smart car. All you can do is rip open your sump and ruin your chassis.
P5YcHoM4N
S3 licensed
Quote from nikopdr :How original.

It all depends on the driver. Some of them don't have the balls to drive a lowered car normal speeds on anywhere, which i think is retarded. It's actually so easy to drive a ridiculously low car I can't really find any problems with it, keeping up with other traffic and going over speedbumps.

I imagine it all depends how little you car about the underside of your vehicle. The kid in that video is a hazard to other road users as he needed guiding down a small slope. Sure I don't get the appeal of slammed vehicles, but if you're going to do it, do it properly. Get airbags. It is the only way to do it.

Quote from Töki (HUN) :Look how careful that bastard is @ 0:54, he even needs help @ 1:29 haha. Freakin' unfortunate idiot.

Him trying to enter a carpark at the end just shows you what a pointless vehicle he has created. I do enjoy that he has the lovely neck snapping pillows on his seats though. Enjoy that when someone inevitably rear end hims.
P5YcHoM4N
S3 licensed
I had to fill my truck. 95 litres of derv at 143.9p/l means I have 136.71 less in my wallet.

It was quite funny though, I walked in to pay and like everyone I have no idea how much fuel I put in, I just run it until it clicks then go pay. The woman behind the counter was "are you sure it is that pump?" because it was a fair few pounds more than I normally put in (45-50 a week). T'was all "yeah, that sounds right" the young lass, maybe 16-17 on the other till was all "dafuq!?!?" at the thought of someone putting in that much fuel. Especially as I shaved so look about 14 myself.

The joys of running a big vehicle.
P5YcHoM4N
S3 licensed
Quote from Töki (HUN) :Low enough E36 for G!NhO

Where it says TLRD, that is a typo, it should read TURD.

Anyone who lowers a vehicle stupidly low but only have one ride setting, stupidly low are stupid cheap bastards who should hand over their car keys. If you want to go that low run airbags. That way you can have the looks but not be seen by everyone as a cheap bastard and become a hazard to all road users as you come to a halt to drive over some gravel.
P5YcHoM4N
S3 licensed
Quote from lukelfs :Insuring a van at 18 will probably be impossible, my friend tried on a 1.3 escort van and it was over £2,000 lol

1.3 means going back into the 80s and a petrol, what do you expect? It needs to be relatively new. The newer the cheaper.
P5YcHoM4N
S3 licensed
Get an Escort Van, 1.8N/A, with no no claims to my name I got mine insured for a nudge over £500 full comp on commercial insurance. Insurers don't rip off commercial vehicles as much as they do private ones. Even if you insure said vehicle for domestic and pleasure use only. Make sense? Not a bit of it, but at the time I was looking at various estate cars and would have to add at least 1,200 on my bill.

The main reason vans are so cheap is lack of seats. Apparently the less seats you have the less risk of being in an accident. Sounded like BS to me as a 2 seater sports car would cost the earth. But heyho.

Plus pimped out vans are cool, everyone in college loved my van.
P5YcHoM4N
S3 licensed
Quote from thisnameistaken :I am not interested in attempting to decorate my car to try to make myself more attractive to other men, like - say - Jakg does.

Harsh, yet mostly amusing.

Quote from thisnameistaken :It's probably because I have an adequately proportioned penis.

Wish I knew what that was like. Why do you think I own a Range Rover? I've got a cock like a horsefly.
P5YcHoM4N
S3 licensed
Quote from robt :Get an old classic, or something a bit unusual, that drops insurance price most times.... something like an old vauxhall omega or ford capri or a series 1/2 land rover. Think out of the box!

My capri was £1500 to insure the first year of driving, cost me £750 to buy. 2.0 2 door classic sports car for your budget aint bad.

A lot of classic insurance won't touch anyone under 25. Landies cost a shit tonne to insure for young people too, it is not uncommon to see 5k banded about. Some of the lads who come on the owners forum (18/19) have been getting quotes upwards of 15k. Insurers don't seem keen to have young folks in Landies.

But that all said, when I was 21 I got a quote for a Defender 110 of £900 with The AA, which was a lot less than anything else I'd come across. About 1,800 cheaper than a Ford Mondeo. But things have changed since then.

[edit: Although Fifth Gear did a segment on cars for 18 year olds some years ago and they came up with things like the Capri 1.6 Laser and a Mk2 Golf as they could be purchased and insured for less than 2.5k. Again this was before massive price increases for youths so probably isn't possible now.]
Last edited by P5YcHoM4N, .
P5YcHoM4N
S3 licensed
Quote from mr_x :I add to the Focus vote.

I have a 2003 (03 plate) 1.6l LX Focus, just hit 76,000 and only thing that's gone wrong in my 5 years of having it was an exhaust manifold and the speed sensor.

Next year my girlfriend will be getting my Focus and I shall be replacing it with a slightly newer Focus.

People give Ford a hard time, and I have no idea why - my dad had many Mondeos from early 90s to mid 00s as company cars, all of them over 100,000 miles over 3 years and none of them ever had a major problem that I can remember.

The biggest killer of all of the Fords I've worked on has been rust. But in recent years they've got on top of it. Ford now has a 13 year corrosion guarantee on their vehicles.

The only mechanical problems I've come across was due to not servicing them. The turbo on a turbo diesel Focus failing because the oil was 40k old.

Although the Mk3 Mondeo has a rear subframe bush problem, it is no uncommon for them to fail and until recently (about 3 years ago) you couldn't get the bush on its own, it had to come with a new subframe. At about £1,200 a pop you can see why many people chose to bin their cars. But the bush is available for about £25 (not genuine Ford though, they still only sell it as a subframe last time I looked into it), bit of a shit to fit, but otherwise a better option.
P5YcHoM4N
S3 licensed
Quote from Robilon :its funny how you can guess the age of a person by looking at his desk

This is very true. Anyone over 20 has a nice solid desk. Anyone under 20 has one of those silly workstation bedroom jobbies with the sliding keyboard tray.

Not sure how any could cope with a daft workstation though.
P5YcHoM4N
S3 licensed
Quote from Crashgate3 :I can definitely vouch for old Focuses (mine's a 1.8L estate)

13 years, 104,000 miles and still going strong. As of 2 years ago (the last time I had the situation and the balls to try) it'd still do 120mph with three people in it.

Although that should be a good thing your Focus should have a lot more trouble free years left in it to be classed as reliable. At least 200k. I've got a 13 year old 180,000 miles P38, regarded as one of the most unreliable vehicles on the face of the earth. Other than wear and tear items, glow plugs and alternator needed replacing 5k ago which isn't bad for original parts, I haven't had a single problem with it. Tell a lie, the battery in the key fob died so I had to resync the key and I hit a pheasant breaking a headlight, but otherwise not a problem.

Although it could just be I have one of the few that were built properly. But I've no doubt cursed it now as I said something similar when I hit 175k, the same day my alternator died. Although I do make a point of watching any oil leaks. If they stop I know I need to refill.
P5YcHoM4N
S3 licensed
Quote from mblixt :you just need to change to the original wheel when you go to the MoT and just change it back when you get home. i don't know how grumpy the people at the MoT is in britain, but i just put on an empty shell when my car has to go the MoT then change back when i get home

Until recently, they only ever checked for a light on your dash. Now they have to test if you have an airbag fitted. Although I'm not really sure how they plan on doing this in the small time frame they are given to carry out an MoT Test, diagnostic equipment could only tell them so much. This rules are being rolled out over all of the EU.

Yes you can switch the wheel over, but if you're unlucky enough to get a random stop by the 5-0, depending on the mood of a traffic cop (and how well they understand the law, most don't) they could declare your car illegal on the spot. You'd then have to pay a garage for the wheel to be refitted and for them to fill in paperwork stating the wheel is now legal. Most will charge you through the arse for this service.

A lad I know from college got caught out and the garage he used charged him £150 an hour in labour and an admin fee of £100 to fill out the paper work. That was the best offer he was given of all the local garages.

But it is a risk you have to take for that race car look.
FGED GREDG RDFGDR GSFDG