Hobby

Catalan...? ;)

We bought a 2001 Fabia Estate 1.9TDi new (the only car we've ever bought new!), and that was full of VAG parts. At that time Audi were the posh versions, VW the middle ones, Skoda the cheaper VWs (the Fabia was slightly cheaper and better equipped than the Polo estate which was around back then) and Seat the pretty and sporty ones. I don't think much has changed since then! Skoda and Seat always seemed to get the latest engines and gearboxes a year or two after VW/Audi models. The 1.0l turbo in our Octavia is pure VW, though interestingly the current Octavia actually came out before its Golf Mk8 clone, both being large spacious cars, unlike, for some reason, the Leon estate. (We have a simple test to see how big a car is, J's wheelchair is folded down (but still with it's footrests on and the handles left up) and placed in the boot, that gives a good idea of boot (and thus car) size. The Mk7 Golf and older Octavia could take it with space to spare, the Leon struggled.)

They must have run it again in the 60s as I can remember it too and I was only born in '57!

The ones I know of are the VAG 2.0l and 1.9l TDis in the likes of Superbs, Passat, etc. I haven't asked them all, obviously, but the ones I've spoken too seem to have had few, if any, issues. The fact that they are using them should tell you something, a taxi/minicab owner wouldn't buy an unreliable car, would they!

The fact that loads of 4 cylinder cars do 200k+ as taxis (mainly diesels!) would seem to disprove that theory.

We had an 07 Fabia estate with the 1.4 TDi three cylinder and you could definitely hear it, though it was very smooth, our current Octavia has a three cylinder 1.0 turbo charged petrol engine and is a lovely drive. I think three cylinder engines have come a long way from their early days.

That could apply to just about every top driver over the years.

https://www.facebook.com/lollipopmancomics/videos/336885658535668/?flite=scwspnss

Been using VAG cars since 2001 (six so far, averaging 12/14k pa), only one "limp home" mode incident during that time, and even then a switch off and back on cleared it, other than that they've been very reliable... Perhaps shows the dangers of making assumptions based on the experience of one car, or based on forums where people have an axe to grind... Looking at the surveys the top rated cars are around 92/93%, even the lower rated come in at 83% so, with only a 10% difference the chances are even if you bought a lower rated car it would still be ultra reliable...

Well done England's women's team, now all we need is the men to step up to the mark!

I take it that's the new version (we have it over here in the UK), Mike? Not the version I used to see when I was a kid! Best "move" is Denton (Inspector Frost) which was based around the Oxfordshire-ish area and filmed in Yorkshire! Some Network SE trains and then a West Yorkshire liveried Pacer in another episode!

Maybe they could (just about!) fit an oval of track in a 10x12 if there was nothing else in there, but my point stands that the lower middle classes and working classes wouldn't have had a room to spare. I feel you are over-egging the situation somewhat, there may have been some requests but they weren't typical of the majority, it was a mainly well-off person's hobby, and they had the room to accommodate it and, just as importantly, the leisure time to indulge in it.

Only problem is that C4 would snap him up as a pundit, so we'd get even more of his drivel than we do now...

Perhaps best to, really! ;) The argument was that it was forced on them, and the set-up was not quite how the Rover engineers wanted it and they changed it considerably from the BMW cars that used it. If there was one thing the Rover (and AR) engineers were good at, it was adapting other manufacturer's suspensions to suit their requirements, they'd been at it with Hondas since the early 80s! So much so that Honda actually learned how to set up a car for European tastes from the AR engineers... Full story of the 75 here on AROnline: https://www.aronline.co.uk/cars/rover/75/

I do wonder if it's more to do with who is doing the speaking, the above strikes me as coming from the mouth of someone in the upper middle/upper classes of that period where rooms 20ft+ long would not be uncommon for people in those classes. Once the middle classes got involved, and later the working classes, 10/12ft rooms were more the norm. If you look at suburban houses of the mid 20s onwards only the large rooms were bigger than 12ft and even then they'd be the main living space and not a space for the model railway. Hence H0 and 00's appearance in the 30's. TT's continued popularity in the old Eastern Bloc countries is as much to do as the space available as price, the Communist built flats that abound weren't all that big inside. Luckily N never took off over there so TT continued to be the main scale below H0, perhaps the reduction to N wasn't thought worth it? (To turn the discussion on it's head!!) :)

The Rover 800 "fastback" was a good car, certainly worthy of the badge. The trouble is tat the old Rovers were all executive size models, but they used the Rover badge at the end because it was known as a quality product and so found its way onto cars like the Metro which didn't really suit it. The '88 on Rover 200s certainly had more quality than the SD1s, though!

I'd get your magnifying glasses out for Z and T then! ;)

That started life in the Zeuke/BTTB days, though probably nothing left of the original these days! Have a look at the 1979 catalogue in this link, page 8!! ;) https://www.ttnut.com/viewtopic.php?t=3667&p=49893

I think you both need to look at the other threads which have photos of N and TT side by side, there is substantial difference, I can assure you. Whilst I've only handled Continental TT stock (as there isn't any British as yet!), I have handled similar N and TT buildings and can assure you that they are not "close", for example the difference is much greater than that between H0 and 00, and even they can easily be told apart. In fact if anything the scale is "close"(-er) to 3mm rather than N, in the same way you can mix H0 and 00 but it still look different but be acceptable. I've said before that I see it's market as being people who don't like the small, fiddly, size of N but haven't the space for 00, for them (me!) that will work.

Oh dear here we go again... The realistic amongst us have accepted long ago that there will be some compromises, but other than to finescale modellers, it won't matter as it won't be noticeable from normal viewing distances. Can we have the patience to wait until they produce something and then discuss the merits of it rather than have this totally pointless discussion every few pages?!!!

Think you'll find sub 9secs is normal for the VW 2.0l TDi powered estates, Jim, my last Golf could do it and the Octavia, both of which are not much smaller than the Superb.

You must be pretty weak if you had to "physically fight it", I've had lane assist on my last two cars and it's never been that strong, it "tugs" on the steering wheel but is easy enough to over-ride! If you indicate (full indication, not just the flick version which just flashes your indicators three times) lane assist won't even try to stop you.

This is Phil's post which if I'm reading it right was looking at a person from one era driving a car from a previous era, different from driving one from the same era (otherwise everything would count, Sweeney, Professionals, etc., etc.). "Watching 'Murder in Provence' on Sunday night I see that the hero drives a CLASSIC Citroen DS. The fourth* fictional TV detective to drive a classic car AFAIK unless anyone can name any more? *Columbo, Peugeot, Bergerac, Triumph Roadster and Morse, MK II Jaguar."

Morse appeared in 1987, nearly 20 years after the jag went out of production. Fred's jag was current to the era of Endevour (1960s).

That makes the TT look positively large! :)