Rabbers

If that was intended as a compliment I sincerely thank you. I ask no more of the LOC than a space in which to keep my English from going rusty. As regards HMG Westminster, to judge by what I occasionally see on TV before quickly switching channels, it has become the perfect place to unlearn the language.

Never occurs with mine, which I leave permanently turned on and which function as they should solely in accordance with the proximity settings. Does the sensitivity of yours need adjusting (if possible)?

Alas, Phil, time and tide have so seriously diminished any experience-based ability I once possessed to analyse the contents of your pic that I now find silence on such matters to be my best policy.

Upon re-perusing this ever-expanding thread I noticed that the cigars shown at the foot of the cutter in the photo are specimens of the “toscani” described in my post(s) above. It will be readily seen how, when the cigars are cut in two, each of the resulting halves taper to a form reminiscent of a classic pharmaceutical product. To judge by their colour, and unless I am mistaken, the cigars are the “stravecchio” (i.e. extra-mature) version, which has the virtue of emitting a slightly less mephitic odour than the younger and more raw equivalent that I hoped would make me give up smoking. I also note from the band on the single other cigar that the photo originates from the house of Savinelli, purveyors of smokers’ requisites to the international carriage trade, which I seriously doubt would allow a lesser variety of “toscano” than “stravecchio” anywhere close to its premises.

A couple of times when I thought it not worthwhile to store them over the summer, I have continued to run winter tyres for a few weeks into increasingly warm weather in order to squeeze an extra few km out of them and correspondingly spare my summer tyres. I had the strong impression they were wearing more quickly than before, not that I kept them long enough for this to become measurable. Of course they were already worn to a stage not far short of terminal and, as such, not comparable in terms of feel with the sluggishness I am today experiencing with fairly new tyres with deep treads. This I squarely attribute to high daytime ambient/road surface temperatures given that the early morning ride is satisfactory. I am not unduly concerned by the situation, merely irritated because I might have avoided it by not changing so soon.

It nowadays applies to the whole country, dates having formerly been variable region-to-region. I believe some local authorities can apply their own regulations, which may be stricter or more lenient.

I know what you mean but no, my allusion was specifically to suppositories of the bullet-shaped variety, and the comparison was with a particularly cheap and malodorous form of Italian cheroot called “Toscani”, manufactured and marketed by the State Tobacco Monopoly, I suspect without scrupulous quality controls. I smoked these for a brief period in the hope that their disgusting flavour and aroma would help to make me give up smoking altogether. The comparison with camel suppositories was made by a colleague of mine who had been stationed in various Middle Eastern countries and therefore claimed some expertise on the subject. He said my office smelled like a camel farm, a claim I was unable to contradict.

I looked at a second-hand SC430 here in Italy in 2008 or 2009 and, if I remember right, it was a 2006 model. My recollections are vague but I am sure of the following: * It had an automatic gearbox * It did not have run-flats, which were an optional not recommended by the dealer because they gave a bad ride * Nor did it have a spare tyre, but only a repair kit housed together with other tools in a dedicated compartment under the boot mat. I think it was the same as in Lexiguy’s photos * It certainly had SatNav

I have heard that the thighs in question are more likely to be so tough and wrinkled that you can strike a match for your cigar on them.

Without knowing how accurate the analogy might be, I once heard the odour of a popular brand of cheroots described as resembling that of camel suppositories, and I have imagined ever since that a remedy for tobacco-related smells in cars could well be found among tent-dwellers such as the Bedouin.

Sounds like an exceptionally quaint place with considerable tourist appeal. PS. Still not sure of the relevance of this thread in a car forum. Something to do with the absence of cigar lighters on modern cars?

If you want a Che Guevara image, go for cigars, if Bogart is your man, go for cigarettes. If you want the latter to stick to your lower lip, roll your own.

The 2022 NX will be unveiled in both the 350 hybrid and 450 plug-in versions at Italian dealerships on Saturday 30/Sunday 31 October, and probably made available for test drives the following week or the next. The event is by invitation, though I can't imagine walk-in prospective customers being turned away.

Lest they be considered malfunctions, Lexus provides a list of "Sounds and vibrations specific to a hybrid vehicle" in its owners' manuals (see, for example, pp.64-5, Hybrid system features, of the 2019 English-language RC300h manual). The only sound I immediately recognised from the list and still find vaguely disturbing when I remain in the car or its vicinity after switching off is what Lexus calls "a soft clunk from the hybrid battery under the rear seats". As for the others, I have either so thoroughly assimilated them as to no longer notice or maybe never heard them in the first place. As far as I am concerned, silence is one of the main virtues of a Lexus, so much so that I unselfishly share my bliss with third parties (not that they know it) by going into EV stealth mode in order not to disturb their slumber in the night or early morning, or offend their auditory sensibilities in underground car-parks. On the other hand, my admiration is somewhat lessened by Lexus' manifest belief that excessive silence either dangerously anaesthetises the driver or generally makes for too tame a driving experience. That Lexus should consequently seek to remedy these perceived shortcomings by equipping cars with a piece of acoustic bling like the ASC is, in my view, something of a let-down. Fortunately, though, it can be turned off.

That’s exactly right. Also in Switzerland, possibly Germany itself, and Denmark, the latter in my own direct experience.

I changed to winter tyres on 13 October, a little earlier than usual this year. This was because I like to get the change over and done with, winter tyres being mandatory by law here in Italy from 15 October to 15 April, with sanctions for non-compliance waived until 15 November, thus creating a one-month window for motorists to come in line. Although I have always chosen to fit winters around this time of year even before they became mandatory, I am starting to believe it would be better to wait a while longer in future. In the twelve days since the change, mid-morning/afternoon temperatures have crept up from around 8-9°C/13-15°C to 10-12°C/17-20°C yesterday, with the result that the ride on my Pirelli SottoZero's feels decidedly "stickier", acceleration is slower, and the car feels generally heavier. My fuel consumption is up, and presumably the tyres have been wearing faster than they should. While I don't doubt that the mandatory dates were established with the best interests of the motoring population at heart and objectively based on historical weather records, I really can't remember when I last saw snow or ice in October and April. I think that the dates should probably be extended by a month into November and shortened to March at the other end, and I'll probably do that next year.

I have had similar punctures close to the sidewall plugged, with the plugs claimed to be permanent. Even so I preferred to consider the repairs to be provisional pending the availability of a new tyre (or pair thereof). But, as others have said, you seriously need to change the tyre in any case.

Interesting name. More likely inspired, I think, by Naples, Florida (💰🏖) than Napoli, Italia (🗻) …

Congratulations. That’s a rare colour, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it.

Substitute “not been driven like a maniac” for “driven like an old man” and I would agree. Was the 364 miles you saw in the ES your first tankful? If it was, I think you’ll see a much higher figure with the next, assuming it will be a full brim-to-brim comparison and not a partial topping up.

Fair enough. Personally I find such figures boring only if I can’t influence them.

Today I actually left my car alone, and I suspect it was grateful.

You are far likelier to see the reflected glow in wet or damp or murky conditions than in normal daylight - or so has been my experience in the IS and the RC.

Rather than simply looking at mpg (or kml) averages, and assuming your driving mix doesn't vary so much that the figures from one tankful to the next are not comparable, it is more fun to monitor your fuel consumption by noting increases or decreases in your full-tank range forecasts in respect of the last, perhaps with a view to setting yourself new targets. On longer drives, in particular, I enjoy comparing decreases in my remaining range with the actual distances travelled between signposts. If the latter are higher than the former I know I am driving economically without particularly trying. After a lot of attempts when I drove an IS300h, I finally managed, without becoming too obsessive about it, to regularly see the magic figure of 1000km mentioned by Thackeray as my forecast full-tank range, and I would thereafter aim, usually successfully, to keep the total of the km Travelled + km Remaining Range within that figure as the tank gradually emptied (see IS300h Forum, Tank Range Targets, Feb 8, 2015, and Tank Range-Congratulations to Myself, May 22, 2015). When I got my first RC300h in 2016, I was therefore disappointed (and have remained so ever since) at being unable to get a better forecast range than 950km, which I have managed only once, 870-900km being my usual. The RC's shortfall in respect of the IS is almost directly proportionate to the cars' weights. I thought the full-range forecasts recorded by NX owners in this thread surprisingly low until I looked up the tank capacity, which is substantially smaller at 56 litres v. the IS and RC's 66 litres.

You don’t necessarily have to believe advertising claims, Malc. Personally, I‘ve always been a sucker for good advertising and promotional copy, so much so that I’ll buy one product instead of another for no other reason. Of course, I speak not of purchases that require a bit of in-depth analysis like car insurance but mainly of products you pick off a shelf.