Hobby

Mmm, isn't it quiet on here! So, just to liven things up... We got our letter from Motability telling us the three years are up and it's time to change cars. The Octavia Estate with the 1.0l engine/DSG gearbox has been quite a revelation, smooth and quiet and using Fuelly to get an accurate MPG reading averaged just under 49mpg over 27k miles with a total fuel bill of around £3700. Considering it's lugging round a large car that's not bad going. It's a mild hybrid (hence it can be mentioned on here!) and the stop start works well. Lowest mpg I've seen was in the early 40s when around town and best on the German autobahns going at a steady 110kph Just under 70mph) when we saw mid 60s. But as I said it's now time to change and as neither the Golf or Octavia estates are on the scheme it's off to pastures new. First of all I'll lay down our requirements: 1. Must be on the Motability Scheme! 2. Maximum advance payment of £5k, but preferably below £3k. 3. Large boot, 550l is a round minimum, preferably it should hold SWMBO's folding wheelchair without any extra folding (legs or handles) and all the other gear we have to take away with us on holidays. Bonus of that is that it neatly tallies with carting the layouts around as well, which take up similar room! 4. Not too bothered on fuel, though I'd prefer PHEV, FHEV or EV rather than a mild hybrid as I'd like to get better mpg than at present. So, after a gruelling few hours trawling through the Motability's search car function I've narrowed it down to these cars: Skoda Enyaq and Karoq (smaller boot but has removeable rear seats like the old Yeti and Roomster) VW ID4 and 5 Peugeot 308 Estate in 1.2l Mild Hybrid (yes, I know!) and PHEV versions Vauxhall Astra Estate in Mild Hybrid mode (the PHEV is a ridiculous £7500 AP) Dacia Jogger Estate (not seen yet, so could be deleted quickly!) Suzuki Swace or Toyota Corrolla (same car, Suzuki being cheaper) I've looked at, and done, the "wheelchair boot test" on all (and several others) but the Dacia/Astra/308, hence the shortness of the list. This is where I need your help, folks, as I have no experience of EV running costs. I'm not interested in tax, servicing, etc., Motability pay them, just the cost of fuel, i.e. electricity! I'm with Octopus and as some of you are aware I have solar panels as well, though no battery, so: 1. What are the costs for a typical 7 or 9 hour overnight charge using Octopus's overnight charging rate (charging to 80% and 100% respectively)? (I'll have a suitable charging station fitted by Motability). I'd expect a charge like that to last at least a week, possible two, if I'm just staying local. 2. More importantly what are the costs of a motorway fast charge of say, 35 minutes, to take it up to 80%? The Enyaq, is for the time being on the back burner as they've deleted the 85 and only left the 60 which doesn't have a very decent range, but it's sibling, the ID4/5 are still there so it's them I'm looking at. Thanks for looking and hope to hear some real world costings!

Based on that they are a year or two ahead. Three locos within first year. If they do get the 50 and HST out this year they'll still be ahead by a year. It's the internet that's the difference, back then there was nowhere for modellers to vent their frustration other than the magazines which probably wouldn't have bothered printing the letter but just told them to be patient!! Such is progress... Or not... 😉

Thanks, Neil, that's why i said what I did!

As it's a Hornby model which Arnold will be marketing in European liveries it's not surprising that they wouldn't pre-empt any Hornby announcement which as we know has been put back to April. I'd expect any announcement on the Arnold version to come at the same time as the Hornby one.

You've got Mk1s, repaint them in teak and run them, it worked OK when I was a kid! 🤣😉🙄 Otherwise be patient, I haven't even got my Stanier coaches yet!

The extra value at the end was due to the fall of the wall and people from Eastern Europe buying them back because they were cheaper over here. They did rust, like most cars, but I think the metal was thicker than Western cars?

Real things were going for big money after the fall of the wall.

I'll admit to having had issues finding the mags, but that was due to me not being signed in. Open website, click on "Community" and "TT120 Members" section on the dropdown menu, sign in, and there they are!

So did I! But surprisingly it's a genuine model, there are some still around if you do a web search! Only for dry climates though!! ;)

This came up on my FB page, I note they were an Aussy variation, ever seen one @monkeysarefun? https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fyyi2oxah49c41.jpg

That's a bit posh! Where does it lead to?

Previous links on this thread show that his comments were justified and his comments did not relate just to this one but the many others. They clearly show that there are issues in the "rail safety regime", a phrase which goes beyond just the rail industry itself and includes road users and politicians that need addressing urgently.

Quite. He's also a member of the TrackSAFE Foundation which I suspect is another reason they quoted him: https://tracksafefoundation.com.au/activity/level-crossing-safety/

That's pointless nick-picking, he represents rail staff. The point I was making, and his, I suspect, is that, unlike the UK where rail/road crossings are very strictly controlled, even foot and farm crossings, it would seem, from previous examples seen on this thread, things aren't as well controlled in Australia, nor, come to that, in the USA. Yes the road user is more often to blame, but the whole set-up, with ungated crossings, etc., is also an issue. I suspect that his comment was that the railways could do more to protect his Union's members.

That statement was from a senior rail union official, so it's aimed at the railway I'd have thought.

I accept what you say in the first paragraph to some extent, but, as an example, compare and contrast interviews with Horner and Wolff. Wolff always seems to come across as reasonable and thoughtful, even when his driver has been done down, Horner though is a constant moaner, and I'm not talking about prepared interviews but the ones we've seen live after the races which show the true side of a person. Can you really imagine Horner as being as restrained as Wolff was after the debacle in 2021, I certainly can't. I feel you are trying to defend the impossible.

I see Horner got a CBE for outstanding moaning throughout the season... Or was it for something else?! ;) At least Ron's knighthood was justified...

From what I remember they used to be at the cheaper end of the market at one point, certainly compared to Faller! I used them a lot in my early days of H0e as they made several scale models of various 750mm gauge station, in fact they still do but the prices have gone through the roof...

Whilst they may be non Hornby (I don't know?) I suspect they only print what they are told and don't make stuff up, perhaps they were told something and it went to "print" and timescales have lapsed in the meantime, though with a digital only I'd have thought that deadlines could be quite tight. Mine were ok Steve.

OK! Top of the Brocken in April 2001, the only time I've been over to Germany when it was snowing!

20/21 71 matches 21/22 62 22/23 65 Looks like 55 this season. Only played 41 in 2002/3, no cup runs!! ;) https://www.worldfootball.net/teams/manchester-city/21/ https://www.worldfootball.net/teams/sheffield-united/21/ I suppose it depends on how far a team gets in the various cups and how many "extra" tournaments there are. It's also worth bearing in mind the number of international matches there are as well, as mentioned by someone else, for a top team those matches will affect them more than the lower teams as a larger percentage of the squad will be called up for international duty. When the managers of the top teams complain it isn't just about the matches their teams are playing but all the extras, isn't there some more extra matches planned for international tournaments this year as well? To be fair I think they've got a valid point, the players are played large sums by their club to play for the club and are expected to risk injury and health in an international that is often pointless but puts at risk the domestic campaign. It's all about money, though, those extra matches fetch in money for the governing bodies but not necessarily for the club and certainly the opposite for the fan. Just like F1!

Fine, I didn't like the three speed autos in my P6 and Maestro, that didn't make them a poor gearbox, it was just personal preference, just because they are "bosses" doesn't make their views any more valid than mine! I can understand your personal preference and longing for what's gone, but I try not to let that colour my views on anything new (or not so new, they've been around 20 years now), if it works and makes things easier then I'll try it. It's interesting reading your's and Katy's responses as it seems neither of you have driven a car with a VAG DSG but are taking secondhand experiences to form a view of them. That's all well and good if the "sample" is large enough but not fair otherwise. I've driven them for 9 years now, around 120k miles so know them quite well. They have their foibles, as does every gearbox and I've experienced what Katy described in her last post, though I've had that issue with other auto gearboxes and even more so when I've made a mess of a gear change in a manual! However other than that odd time they've been just fine. Perhaps the old adage, "don't criticise something until you've tried it" springs to mind! One key thing is what you want from your driving experience, personally these days I'm more relaxed when driving so an auto suits me just fine, if I wanted to have a race and get more "involved" then perhaps a manual may be better!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct-shift_gearbox As you don't like anything else modern when it comes to cars, Alastair, I'd say "No!", you wouldn't like it!! ;) Thanks, for the clarification, MJI, so for 99.9% of owners there wouldn't be an issue! Re towing with them this thread on a caravan forum is quite useful as there's more than one version and it seems only one is to be avoided: https://www.caravantalk.co.uk/community/topic/134123-vw-dsg-auto-and-towing/

I thought that there's a limit to squad size no matter how "big" they are?

I think most of us could kill any gearbox in 5 mins if we wanted to, but what's the point. In normal use they are as reliable as any other, I have known taxi ones that were still going after 250k so not sure what point you are trying to make. https://www.carbuyer.co.uk/car-buying/167114/what-is-a-dsg-gearbox-should-i-buy-a-car-with-one#:~:text=Are DSG gearboxes reliable%3F,in older higher-mileage vehicles.