I'm also on 18s. I wouldn't go so far as Magic Carpet. There's a some jiggle over poor surfaces but it's never uncomfortable and rarely crashy. Once you're on a decent road it's smooth and very pleasant albeit with a fair amount of roll noticeable at low speeds (roundabouts, junctions etc) which is where you get the sensation that you're actually driving a big heavy car. But if you're trying to nip about like a 205 you're in the wrong vehicle.
I got The Duchess because I wanted something that would survive commuting over horrible B roads without breaking bits like the BMWs we had before. She copes with unacceptable potholes very well indeed. You notice the big ones, but you don't lose a wheel or find your rear shocks poking through the boot carpet.
Grip is surprisingly good and braking is excellent with the right tyres. There is no tramlining and no hint of death wobble.
I have standard airsprings, stock Boge black shocks. EBC grooved/dimpled front disks and EBC Green 9000 (I think) SUV series pads. Michelin Cross Climate 2 tyres in standard size.
She arrived with a nasty unpredictable front end that felt like a cross between tramlining, an extreme reaction to off camber corners and a hatred of driving downhill. After many bits and bobs were changed, it's all nice and predictable now.
or not need a fuel pump!
Very very neat, I'm impressed and if I wasn't running on LPG I'd be jealous!
Jetwashed it yesterday, noticed the rear bumper trim bits were bulging out with mud so I pulled them off and jetwashed them clean again.
It seems that the metalwork underneath is red, which was unexpected. Is that normal or have I bought a convincin respray?
The top bolts are missing (possibly because the rear mudflaps have ripped off) so one of them flapped loose on the way to work today, which was worrying until I worked it out.
Did that guy just slap his watermark on pics he pulled from the forums?
E46 Touring has the battery in the RH of the boot, with a vent.
useless fact #2134
I'll check and drop you a message :)
Thanks!
Toc-H :)
I could do with some better reversing lights. The Gangsta tint on the rear windows doesn't help at all!
Well, it's about time I came over for an LPG service on the P38 if you want to hook up diagnostics to it while I'm there - no worries.
How are you fixed?
A lazy wind, as they say round here...
I bought a pair of trousers online from Germany 10 days ago. They arrived three days later with no extra charges to pay. I was fully expecting to experience yet another horror story of delays and import duties but it seems that trade can be done. I think the difference is that the company in question (Hirmer) is used to dealing worldwide already so they just moved the UK from their EU process to their RoW process and carried on as normal.
Filled it with LPG and drove it back home.
Even with the school run and working at work maybe 50% of the time, the fleet are doing almost no miles these days. I'm glad none of them are on finance! I'd be pissed if I was paying £450 a month to polish a car.
Gilbertd wrote:
Morat wrote:
A Tesla S in some forms can do 0-60 in 1.9 seconds 200mph and manage a range of over 350 miles (at motorway speeds of course) then recharge in 20 minutes while I have a piss and a pie. I can't really argue against that anymore - even if it costs £85k.
But can it tow a 3.5 tonne trailer?
No, but I can't imagine there are many 200mph trailers around either ;)
It's not that far away. The Sweet Lord Elon (our Musk and Saviour) has decreed that Teslas will be able to act as demand smoothing energy banks while plugged in. They do have what I believe scientists refer to as "Ferkin HUGE" batteries so once there are tens of thousands of them hooked up to the grid overnight they could make quite a difference if they're not going anywhere the next day.
I'm very disappointed with the LPG situation in the UK. It had the potential to be a very swift way to reduce emissions but I think the bottom line is that it came before people really cared. By the time people DID care, the fun tech was electric and honestly - looking at the latest crop of cars - they're really very fancy indeed now. A Tesla S in some forms can do 0-60 in 1.9 seconds 200mph and manage a range of over 350 miles (at motorway speeds of course) then recharge in 20 minutes while I have a piss and a pie. I can't really argue against that anymore - even if it costs £85k.
ooh, more second hand cars in the UK - Goody!! :)
Ultimately, putting a hole in your roof is a bloody silly idea for a car - especially one with excellent HEVAC - but it was a bit of a fashion item back in the day.
Welcome Jeremy :)
I don't know if my P38 is a forever car but I've thoroughly enjoyed it so far!
Marshall8hp wrote:
Hence my comment. StrangeRover is getting 14mpg on the road, I’m getting 21mpg, I.e. 50% better economy.
I’m not saying running costs are less on petrol, we all know they are not. But I’m not sure they are as great a saving as some feel they are. What would you consider a reasonable time to depreciate the LPG installation cost, as that should be taken into account. Say £500 year over 4 years for a good multipoint system?
We are pretty used to fitting and running LPG here. You have to appreciate that Australia probably has the highest density of LPG cars in the world, against the number in the total fleet. It has been a common fuel here for 50 years and every service station carries LPG, or at least it is rare to find one that doesn’t. If you have LPG fitted to your vehicle in NSW, then your annual Pink Slip inspection (what you would call MOT) can only be done by a specialist LPG MOT station as the whole LPG system is gone through annually as part of the vehicle safety check.
50% better economy but the fuel costs in the UK are generally double for Petrol over LPG so it's well worth it over here. It sounds like your government didn't like losing the revenue!
The installation on The Duchess cost £1500. From my figures in my earlier post I'm saving 12.9 pence per mile (@64ppl for LPG which is the national average) so that paid back in 11,627 miles.
I normally fill up at ASDA which is currently 52.7ppl in York so it was actually a bit quicker for me.
Almost.. but that doesn't account for the fact that you'd burn about 10% less petrol if you were using it.