CarMadMike

On 7/30/2023 at 6:43 PM, GTAMADDOG said:

I haven't posted here in ages... and neither has anyone else apparently. Looks like most people moved on (until Solar Crown, maybe?) as nowhere apart from the TDU section seems to get many posts now. Anywho and way, just dropping in for a car update - possibly a long post once I get going.

Finally bought something 'new' in March. The E46 330d made it to 200,000 miles without any real complaint, then back in January (Friday 13th no less!) when it was booked in for its MOT, the rear brake line that runs across the back of the car decided to rupture on the drive while the car sat overnight. Got in the car the morning of the MOT... Hmmm, the brake pedal doesn't feel the same as it did yesterday and why is my foot now sinking to the floor. Poked my head under the rear wheel to be greeted with brake fluid all over the suspension components - great timing! MOT cancelled. Ended up ripping the old brake line out and fitting a new one with new flexi hoses to both rear wheels with the car on axle stands on my dad's drive (he's got more/better tools than me). Cleaned up the rear half of the car and applied rust converter and then Lanoguard to nearly everything. This was done over the course of a month and a half when we both had a tiny bit of spare time here and there. Still haven't got it re-MOTd just yet because...

Early to mid-March I bought something I'd been looking out for, for ages. Another old BMW... an E92 335d. The M57 has been such a good engine in the 330d and obviously 46 x 2 = 92, so why not? Plus, quite frankly, I would be paranoid as hell if I bought a 330d with the N57 (timing chain snapping main bearing spinner) which is what you end up with if you buy a 325/330d built after mid-2008.

2009 BMW 335d M Sport Highline. Space grey with coral red leather. CIC Navigation and BMW retrofit kit for the audio system installed by the previous owner so it has an Alpine amplifier and upgraded speakers (and tweeters), oh and the A/C works which is also a bonus over the E46. It had some Triangle tyres put on the rear prior to sale which is a bit disappointing as it did has Pilot Sport 4S tyres all round, but those are now only on the front. The Triangles are getting interesting now because even in the dry I can feel the DSC fighting to put the power down in 3rd - they'll be getting replaced with a pair of 4S's or Eagle Asymmetric 6s before winter, I'm not an advocate of cheap tyres, but the Triangles were brand new and we were getting towards Spring/Summer, so I've ran them for a bit. Apparently, it had £900 of suspension and brakes just before I bought it, but I think all of that £900 went in to a set of Brembo discs and pads because both front shocks are.. not good and will be replaced very shortly.

The E46 isn't going anywhere as quite honestly it is worth next to nothing with 207k on the clock and crusty rear aches (common E46 thing), plus my plan has always been to keep it and have something else to take the bulk of the miles. Every time I sit in the E46 I can't help but feel much, much more at home even though I haven't driven it properly for nearly 8 months.

Very nice spec E92, and there are still a few of us lurking (albeit no one would recognise me, I can't for the life of me remember why my username is Microphone & not CarMadMike).

I need to take some new pics of my current car, I've had a fair few different ones since I last posted here. 

I really enjoyed this season. However I'm not too sad to see the format end as we know, as the trio are still sticking together and are going to focus on what they do best.

Wow Diablo, I knew you were old, but retirement?! :cheeky:

I have to say a big thanks for everything you've done for this place and for me over the years Andy, this place became a refuge for many of us when either the offline world was getting too much or simply too boring. I know how much time, effort and money you've put into this place and I hope you enjoy having the weight of this place lifted off of your shoulders. Make sure to keep in touch!

I agree with you Diablo, that Japan episode of TG was one of the best episodes in the history of TG I think. It struck the balance between car nerd / entertainment absolutely perfectly.

Congrats Ryan! That sounds fantastic :)

No, I don't have much spare time at the moment.... is it worth me wasting what little time I have watching S02E01 or nah? :hmmm: I was hoping it would be good.

Is it as good as bad TG? or as bad as bad TGT?

Congratulations to Hammy on that 4th Championship, the start to this year's Driver's champ was good but ever since Singapore Vettel seemed to lose traction in the competition. Baku being a race he'll want to forget for the foreseeable future.

Hoping Red Bull will be in a position to fight at the front next year, having Verstappen and Ricciardo in contention for the driver's title would be amazing. Will be interesting to see where McLaren end up in the grid too.

Hey Piotr! Welcome to TDUCK :D :hiya:

Good race, and I'm glad Max won it. Really good to see him have some good fortune after how crap this season has turned out to be for him.

The Vettel/Stroll post-race incident was rather bizarre :hmmm: But I've been wondering for a while how we don't have more post-race bumps considering how no one seems to be watching where they're going.

Happy Birthday loz! :birthday:

And :lol: Very appropriate gif usage, D.

Trailer is nothing too special, but i’m still looking forward to this game.

It’s usually easier to see the graphics improvements between GTA games, the improvements over the original RDR aren’t that obvious just yet.

I understand you might think others are being 'haters' and wanting to overly punish vettel for his behaviour, and you're probably right to some extent but you're also being too forgiving at the same time.

Max, Kimi & Alonso are huge fan favourites, tens/hundreds of thousands of SGD will have been spent by spectators in the stands wanting to see them race. Vettel's aggression/ego got in the way of that and they won't be getting that money back.

If this was an isolated incident then I'd be more willing to just drop it but it isn't, and it won't be the last incident because he got away with it. Labeling this as a racing incident sets a dangerous precedent.

No one was at fault :fp: Vettel couldn't have known kimi had such a good start, he was ahead of max so it was standard racing for him to cover his line, it was just a mess and no one was to blame, of course the ferrari haters (hamilton fanboys) will have a blast of a time blaming Vettel which is happening on every social media post :rolleyes:

:lol: Oh dear.

I'm not asking for either Ferrari driver to be whipped in public or banned from a race, but surely you've seen people get punished for much less? :fp:

Causing a collision is enough for a punishment for any other team than Ferrari. The Ferraris caused that collision did they not? Max was an innocent dutchman in a Ferrari sandwich.

You're the one bringing up haters and fanboys here, can you not see how hilarious that is given the situation? Vettel ended his own race, Max's race, Raikkonen's race & Alonso's race. But nah, racing incident isn't it. I can see why some would split the blame between Vettel and Kimi but splitting the blame does not mean they're innocent. If I were max or Alonso i'd be asking questions as to the credibility of the FIA and the rest of the sport at the moment tbh.

Mercedes got very very lucky today. Good driving from Hamilton.

Pretty interesting race, it lasted slightly too long though.

FIA :shrug: Lap one was a racing incident? Really? :lol: So far up Vettel's/Ferrari's backside it's unreal.

Thanks!

Test drove a fair few vehicles, but the Mercedes always felt the most special to be behind the wheel of even though the interior is a bit old now compared to an Audi A3 for example. That steering wheel just felt & looked the best.

Will be good to finally drive a car with apple carplay too.

Love the BMW 2 series on the outside but BMW interiors (other than the new 5/7 series) are just awful aesthetically.

May or may not have treated myself to a new car :ytwh: Not sure when it's being delivered, but hopefully sooner rather than later before there are too many 67 plate cars on the road.

Should look identical to this, will post pics when it arrives.

It sounds as if Red Bull are going to announce they're splitting from Renault at the end of the year.....?

Where does this leave them, I know they wanted Toro Rosso to go with Honda engines and give Honda time to make the engines work, but are they going to actually risk the senior Red Bull team on Honda engines too?

The Renault engine hasn't been very reliable either but if reliability has fractured their relationship with Renault, how will they last with Honda? :shrug:

Are they going to try and make their own engine? Are they going to try and get a Mercedes or Ferrari engine? It's a bit confusing.

Two bits of news:

- Rumours are gaining traction that Porsche is looking to buy Red Bull's F1 team with the intention of keeping Horner/the team but supplying a works engine for Red Bull for the engine rule changes in 2021 onwards.

- McLaren appear to be dropping Honda in favour of Renault power. It appears to be that Honda will be pushed out the McLaren deal and get into bed with Toro Rosso instead, so they'll remain in the sport.

If the first rumour happens, how will that affect the second rumour? God knows. :shrug: It all seems a bit complicated atm.

It isn't necessarily my cup of tea but judging by the choice of videos you all post, you should watch this tour of Grid Life to see all the drift builds:

That's what I wanted to hear :D

Any plans to modify it at all?

It has a lot of potential and it does seem to be like they've put a lot of effort into it, this isn't a half arsed attempt at a sports car....... but really, those pictures? They're absolutely awful and do nothing to sell the car. The photos i've seen online of the car in a more natural setting make it look so much better, which makes me wonder why TVR distributed them awful pictures the other day.

Love the alloys, love the side exhausts, can't wait to see it on TG / TGT :)

The Mercedes-AMG Project One has arrived:

Images from Jalopnik

• 1.6 litre V6
  
• 4 electric motors
  
• 1000hp+
  
• €2.275 million price tag
  
• 50,000rpm front axle, jesus
  

It's fair to say that the engineers appear to have won the argument against the designers, this thing looks purposeful rather than beautiful. Can't wait for it to start making its way around reviewers / TV shows / the press.

The ultimate Ikea car, please tell me you've filled it with flatpack furniture at least once?

New Conti GT configurator is up, I've config'd this to be an ultimate daily driver, quite tame on the outside but bolder on the inside: