dutchie01

20. I dont have time for all these vids.

i feel no urge to watch this one...

Living in The Netherlands i find it special to see that part of the negativity towards BEVs in the UK is the current lack of charging infrastructure. Time and again this comes back in posts that it wont be possible to charge here or drive there. The current situation in Holland will allow me to drive an electric car almost alike a fossil one. With 80.000 charging points in the country ( public ones so without home charging) There is one available everywhere. I could charge at my office, my customers, petrolstations, parking garages, airports, city centres, supermarkets and so on. I could even drive one without beeing able to home charge! The charging network is expanding at an enormous rate to 1.7 million in 2030, so 9 years time. 20% of new car sales are currently BEV. This is reality and not a future prediction. What about the UK?

Likely to be a stock car which is now sold and registered?

Could well be that after Lexus most car interiors are inferior? In case of the Audi Q4 i only saw and felt hard plastics ( bottom of a coca cola bottle hard), panelgaps and even cloth seats. No leather or luxury to be seen. Very disappointing for a car of this price and it seems they have been cost cutting on the interior which normally is their USP. The digital dash was there but to me it seemed an overkill of options, functions of which most will never be used ( by me).

I am confused. This morning i had an Audi Q4 etron out for a testdrive and i found it a big disappointment. Cheap interior and not Audi like buildquality at all. The silent drive combined with the torque is wonderful but you can get that in any BEV. Living in the Netherlands charging is no problem. I can charge at home and the vast majority of petrolstations have high power chargers, alike hotels offices etc. Already here 20% of all new cars sold are BEV. I asked myself how Audi can differentiate itself from VW, Skoda and Seat that have EXACTLY thesame chassis/drivetrain? This will be a challenge for all manufacturers i guess. BMW well known for their revving and singing 6 cylinders? Mercedes AMG with the big 6.3ltr 8 pots? Will this all feel thesame? How can you inject your company character/dna in an electric motor? At the moment the attention is on range and charging but what about the engine characteristics as we know with fossil cars? I am now eying the new facelifted ES300h... Time will tell

I still find this forum reasonably well mannered. Just have a look at BMW or VOLVO forums that have a way more aggressive attitude. Also the depth of knowledge of most members here is impressive and outshines all other forums. ( the Volvo one is really depressing and utterly boring as the mods suppress any lively discussion). I like the open debate on all topics from our cars to the future of the automotive world and fuels, always something to learn. Only wanted to say it is not all bad, is it?

I personally do not have the knowledge to judge on this topic but the below article might be interesting? https://insideevs.com/news/508443/vw-herbert-diess-hydrogen-cars/

https://carbuzz.com/news/lexus-interface-is-the-next-generation-of-infotainment

Sorry John but you brought up the lighthouse!

Dont phone thats how we did it in the old days. Send a mail and wait for their written response

Banks, Insurance Companies and the Tax Office are not your friend and you certainly dont want you as your enemy. They are all friendly as long as the money goes in one direction, theirs. If you report a substantial claim the first thing that ll happen is for them to see if they can prevent paying and the bigger the sum the more rigurous their handling will be. Handling of a 5k claim will be swift and easy but now try getting 100k or more you could be in for a surprise. On the topic of wintertyres Germany is interesting. Officially by law not mandatory but your insurer will not pay anything if you get into an accident on slippery winter roads and have no winters!

I dont want to know how many horses there were in the 30ś and 40ś before the motorcar took over. Cities were overcrowded for sure with all problems connected to a horse in general like out of control handling, no abs or crumplezone and pretty bad brakes. Biggest downturn however is the never ending pile of manure that, you guessed it, produces methane gas which apparently contributes heavily to the climate crisis. I guess we are doomed!

I was not referring to google maos but paper like the michelin guide?

It is no secret that the Lexus Navigation units are not the most user friendly. With the holidays here i was wondering if we use them or not. I always used them with exception of course of routes i knew and, International trips. I used to go north of spain regularly ( pre covid) and always used the old school map on the lap. It creates more situational awareness you know the area where you drive in. I know some use their phones as well. Thoughts?

Nothing new Mincey. Been around since the motorcar was invented i guess. Young men and cars. In my days it was exhaust tips ( or full exhaust like the pic) and antennas, a dark strip on the frontscreen blocking the sun, Mudflaps and of course noise noise. We drove twinstroke motorcycles in the days with a 3 in 1 expansion exhaust with the silencers/dampers removed! The noise was deafening. Yamaha RD350 Kawasaki 750 and so on. Thinking back its baffling this was allowed no police at all... Like you i hate the blurb/crackles/pops or what they are called but i guess its a generation thing? ( like to have a quiet breakfast and silent glass of wine in the garden now oh dear its almost bedtime)

Just out of curiosity, suppose you changed from RF to non RF did not inform your insurance and cause a pretty big accident of lets say 100k damage plus your own car write off. Your fault no debate possible. What would the insurer do? will they investigate and say hang on look at the tyres you changed spec did not inform us so according to our rules we will not pay for your damage?

Talking about yourself now Linas? You seem to issues with anybody having a different opinion than the self proclaimed truth definitions statistics and facts from yourself. Combine that with an aggressive attitude and voila! There you have it. I read a lot of your posts and sometimes they are very informative and entertaining certainly full of knowledge. But sometimes i get the idea you are having a debating-match and winning seems to be the holy grail. anyway, have a good weekend im signing off!

Time for some relaxation. I owned both an IS250 and 300H and drove well over 100k km with them so can well compare. before that several Saabs (including a tuned 2 ltr) and in between BMW320i and after Volvo's XC40 and now V60T5. Let me start by saying that in my opinion all figures for acceleration of 0 -100km or weight are pointless just like the official fuel consumption. For me it is about how a car feels in handling, cornering, braking. For the engine its about how the power develops and is sent to the wheels, the torque at low or high revs, does the power translate in acceleration or does it get lost due to bad chassis etc. As we are talking about the 300Hybrid with CVT box i can clearly state that that combination worked well for me. It offered a sublimely comfortable ride, from standstill low end torque from the battery and the engine taking over smoothles as well. In town the CVT is a dream, never gearhunting, never in wrong gear love it. A small blip of the throttle and its sailing to the next traffic light. Most spectacular was the fuelconsumption in town or B roads that is not much different than highway although different people will have different drivingstyles/consumption. Mine was first batch and there was an issue with drivetrain vibrations when the engine kicks in and out on the highway but this was resolved by the dealer. Other than that both Lexuses were rock solid, not even a lightbulb going wrong. I loved the styling of both, the interior, the materials and build quality and especially the feeling the cars give you by driving something special and exclusive. From all the above cars i liked the 300H the most. Was it the fastest? no that was the Saab but that car was a challenge to keep on the road so bad was the chassis. Was it the most practical? no that is the current V70 being an estate, did it on paper have the most powerful engine? no that is the current V70 although it just feels slower to drive. I would choose the IS any day of the week. In today's traffic with congestion, speed traps and slow moving lorries all over the place i just don't see how you can use more power, the IS was adequate + for me and even if i would have a 700 horsepower Mclaren i would be in the same traffic jam. Pointless. Its a shame that new revamped IS models are not coming this side ( am told its about crash/safety standards so i expect they will be killed off in the states soon as well) as i would definitely go for one. Sum it up, for me the IS300H was a great and enjoyable car and i am sure it will be good second hand buy. However buy from a dealer with as much warranty as possible and do the hybrid check. If its not your cup of tea, fine just buy something else, no stress.

Well..that seems to be an international problem and definately not UK only

Wow Kevin you really found a way to dispose of your money, respect! With so many premium cars over the years i wonder which car stuck, touched your heart. Some you forget the moment you sell them but other ones stay with you. Is it the first like with so many of us?

Had to look this one up John. Seems a child of a Skoda GT Coupe, Triumph Spitfire and a Citroen!

Well Paul i guess we all share that feeling. O i wish is still had my little Alfa GT junior. bloodred and full of problems but at 19 it sure did increase my popularity with the girls! And it revved to the red line in a way you don't see at today's cars. Shame i couldn't jack it up anymore as rust did its work!

Love those cars brings back memories of times forgotten. The Cortina was my first car ( and already pretty old when i bought it). Of course i immediately took it on a trip to the French Riviera with a friend and on-wards to Lorett de Mar in Spain. At 18 this was a dream come true, freedom, our own road movie full of adventures i still remember 4 decades later. The Cortina did not miss a beat but we had to remove our suitcases from the trunk to the rear seats otherwise the car would not steer well.. Front wheels hardly touching the ground! Seeing all the pics in this thread makes me wander off to the past. most cars i know well and i would like to have a go in them again. Like many said in here they are important to keep on the road as once they were roaming the streets. If i see a pic from the past from a high-street somewhere i immediately look for the cars which makes models etc. Apart from the buildings they defined the city architecture of those days. By the way PSA did produce some excellent cars that 30 40 years on still drive happily in France. the 205/6, 405, 504 the R4 and even the 2CV still go strong. Calling these cars not classic enough as they are mass produced and not exotic enough is just snobbish.

Linas!! Your dreamcar is currently in the works undergoing final testing ! Tadaaaa!! https://www.autoevolution.com/news/possible-lexus-uc-sports-car-rendering-is-both-unnerving-and-somewhat-realistic-164235.html#agal_1 ( if you ask politely they might even make a hydrogen version for you only?)