Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

True. It’s so they can be all like ‘I don’t drive a Ford like normal folks, therefore I al better than all of yous’

With regards to the RollsRoyce question, given how much they charge for their cars, I expect them to be able to chemically alter the weather do so you don’t have to bother with things like umbrellas


If they could do that, they wouldn't need to build cars.
 
They can. The Russians did something similar a while back so that it wouldn’t rain in the winter olympics. It probably fucks with our already iffy climate, but hey, rubles

 
The Russians might be able to do that, Rolls Royce can't.
 
Changing the weather to make it snow? if you haven't seen Snowpiercer... then I've just spoiled part of the plot for you. :p
 
So, getting up early to drop the Alltrack of at the dealer for the key programming again. This is the second try. Last time they had received a dead key from VW Parts so they had to reschedule.

Wonder if I'll get a loaner and what kind. Last time they got me a Q5 PHEV which was unexpected since I told them nicely that "anything with wheels will do". Secretly hoping for an EV of course. The Q5 was given to me with an empty traction battery which was a bit weird considering it had a big sticker on the dashboard telling me in no uncertain words that they wanted it back with a full tank.

"What's the most popular car among VW owners?" "The courtesy car."
 
The Q5 was given to me with an empty traction battery which was a bit weird considering it had a big sticker on the dashboard telling me in no uncertain words that they wanted it back with a full tank.
Well… the battery ain’t the tank, right? :D

PHEVs are mostly a sham anyway… over here they’re mainly used to halve the tax company car drivers need to pay (BEV 25%) and are more often than not returned to the dealer after the 2yr lease with the charging cable still in its shrink wrap ?‍♂️
 
RE cloth vs leather vs vegan leather/leatherette - I'd rather either a nice cloth or a nice feeling leatherette over leather. The latter just ages poorly in most used cars at the price points I'm looking at, wheras cloth or leatherette tends to hold up better.
 
Modern leather is shite. It just falls to bits and it feels like vinyl.

Cloth is where it's at, there's a reason that, in the early days of the automobile, the chauffeur got leather and the wealthy occupants got sumptuous cloth.

Granted, a lot of this is because cars are a billion times cheaper and "premium" leather interiors can now be had in mid spec cars, so obviously it's going to be cheap...
 
I like half leather if it's available, it wears better than cloth on the bolsters but cloth wears better for the faces of the seats. When I was looking at Smarts back in 2018 the cloth seat bolsters always had tears in them (mine included) and it was the same for any mid-2000s MR2s with cloth.

Smarts with leather looked awful, it had stretched and gone really baggy. The Elan M100s I looked with leather had the same issue, where the half-leather seated versions looked perfect. Picking an MX-5 with leather was a definite compromise but they didn't sell nice models with cloth in this country. They're pretty nice or they will be when the leather shine stuff the dealer put on them wears off.

I really didn't like the 'vegan leather' in the Tesla, I found it very sweaty as it couldn't breathe. It basically felt like vinyl.
 
Part leather in Volvos ages horribly, it's always some vinyl that cracks and ages the car badly. Same generation cars with leather age far better, my 180k mile one is in very decent condition inside (except for the strangely ravaged plastic trim that's had all the clips broken)
 
That's a shame, I've always fancied a V50 Sport with half-leather if such a thing existed.

I defend the XS Disco 1 seats as some of the best half-leather seats around:

Landrover-Discovery-1-seats-half-leather-LR-logo.jpg


I kept all the LR logo cloth from the old set I had in Keely, not sure what to do with it.

Edit: Also I found a suspicious familiar Tesla for sale online. Insane price considering they haven't even cleaned the interior glass properly.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202111049212361
 
While I would also prefer a really nice high-performance fabric over vinyl and the super shitty bottom-of-the-barrel leather...that's, IMO, *not* what we get in cars any more with modern cloths. I'd take the fabric in my 2001 Mercury Cougar over what is in my girlfriend's 2015 eGolf, any day of the week. The cloth upholstery in any newer-than-2010-ish car has just seemed like it would show every tiny spec of dirt, "catch" easily on anything with the slightest splinter or burr, and stain suuuuper easily.
 
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The bobtail is was 31 years old this year, should I come up and fog my way around Glasgow with its lack of any emissions or noise suppression in the exhaust? Sometimes I really wonder how it remains legal.

Pretty sure Leicester will get a ULEZ soon and my office will be bang in the centre. Seems like the Mazda will be compliant though.
 
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The bobtail is was 31 years old this year, should I come up and fog my way around Glasgow with its lack of any emissions or noise suppression in the exhaust?
By all means, there were a couple of fuckbois on quads with no silencers running around the town centre during summer. Pretty sure my ears are still bleeding. The Landy can't be any worse!
 
Anyone else noticed that taillights on german premium cars are turning purple? I mean they’re definitely still red but with some purple in it. I noticed it first on a recent model Panamera a couple years back. Today I saw a fairly recent Audi estate of some denomination, probably around 2018 or so.
 
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