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Mondrian

Gruppe IB
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Everything posted by Mondrian

  1. I do have a set of refurbished genuine 996 02 18 x 8 black wheels with new tyres if you haven't replaced these already.
  2. Did you give them permission for commercial use of the photograph of your car without asking for anything (prints) in return?
  3. No kitchen sink as it uses too much water and need to keep weights down to a minimum so I use a pressure spray bottle. I use the fridge set up in my Hilux for desert safaris and it worked well for my week long trip.
  4. I have a 25L compressor type with dual voltage ie car & mains and dual purpose fridge or freezer and min voltage protection for battery so you'll never flatten your battery as it will shut down the fridge. You can plug it in to mains to reach operating temp then switch to battery when driving. Mate has an 18L one which fits in nicely behind front seats but out of stock when I wanted to buy one. I also have 15L cool box which gives me the option of using the fridge as a freezer where I place a couple of dry ice blocks. I then use the cool box as fridge with a couple of ice blocks and rotate the ice blocks between freezer and cool box when spent. This comes in handy on longer trips.
  5. Looks like you're enjoying some breathtaking scenery in your land yacht too. BTW which engine do you have in yours, think the 1UZ engines had 260 up to 97 and then 290 from 97 onwards.
  6. I haven't followed this race or F1 (much) for that matter but found this article rather balanced and explained things pretty good from both sides of the coin, in particular the decision making process masi had to go through (on a time budget) in order to achieve a racing finish. I think it's a case of damned if he did and damned if he didn't. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2021/dec/13/fia-indecision-brings-a-confusing-end-for-f1-fans-who-deserve-better?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
  7. I don't think @johndglynn really knows, it's a bit like asking Boris how many kids he has.
  8. Can't see EV's being used for proper offroad stuff anytime soon mainly due to range, also most prefer less electronics for variety of reasons such as repairs in remote area. Rivian claim a range of 314 miles based on 21 inch wheels dropping down by 15% to 267 for 20 , neither of which is suitable for offroad. 17 and 15 inch are the popular choices so if we use the same yardstick range could drop well below 200 miles. Mine has a range of 400 miles and was recommended to carry an extra 100L ie over 500 miles of reserve fuel for a 5 day camping/safari trip. Diesels have a range of 600 miles. Of course all above figures are based on optimal consumption, you carry more weight and push the engine a lot more as well as drop tire pressure down to around 20 psi for gravel or 10 psi for sand, sometimes even less ... so range will drop down, dramatically so. EV's will be ok for urban use or day trips where there are plenty of charging stations but it will be a long while before we see them out in the wild.
  9. I think both 7th & 8th gen are around 5.3m but I don't actually feel the size even driving it around town and in small streets however my daily is 4.9m, your LS400 must be around 5m @World Citizen
  10. If you don't mind the looks (post 2016 ie 8th gen are prettier) I would buy a low mileage 7th gen circa 10 yr old model that hasn't been abused as mechanically there isn't much difference to the 8th gen. I got a 2009 model with 150k km (90k miles) and is in very good condition. It's so well made that it feels like a 3-5 yr old car and would have no hesitation on taking it on a 2000 mile safari. I look forward to driving it for a few years and putting on a few hundred thousand kms, apparently engines & major drive gear are good for 400 - 500k kms. Had a quick look on autotrader in NZ and something like mine would be around NZ$22k which is roughly £11k, don't think you get it much cheaper in UK.
  11. Pickup is a great idea and seemingly perfect to explore and take advantage of the terrain NZ has to offer. Reasonably priced, reliable and highly customizable so you could just buy a basic one and take it in any direction you want. Besides you probably have a lot of stuff to shift to & from the lug cabin.
  12. I broke my prop shaft on first day of Sand dune training but it wasn't the cars fault. I had a full service including new clutch and seal, apparently the mechanic hadn't tightened one of the U bracket bolts properly which snapped on a steep climb resulting in a busted propshaft/UJ. I had already done around 150 motorway miles and 60 miles on a dirt track as well as a morning navigating dunes before the bolt snapped. One of the instructors dropped the propshaft and drove it to base camp with some fancy driving on front wheel drive. I managed to navigate my way through smaller dunes and get on the dirt road, heading back home the following morning. None of the guys there had ever seen or heard of a snapped propshaft on a hilux and they've been doing crazy stuff for 20 years or so. Garage did accept responsibility of sorts and repaired free of charge. I tested it the following week doing a 3 day advanced course, ie bigger dunes and drops and no issues. Fraser Island is famous for car accidents resulting in injuries and fatalities due to 4x4 drivers driving carelessly on unfamiliar terrain. Apparently 90% of incidents occur at high tide or dusk as washouts are often deep and hard to see so when you hit them at speed your car doesn't stand a chance. This results in nose diving into the opposite bank which will generally see damage to front axle/suspension. I suspect your hire car had been involved in such accident at some stage and wasn't repaired properly.
  13. Having spent a couple of weekends away mastering the art of climbing up and down sand dunes in the Hilux and chatting to guides & instructors who have been doing it for a couple of decades it seems that the weapon of choice is Hilux due to its reliability, handling, relative simplicity and availability of parts in more remote areas. It was a bit of surprise as I thought Landcruisers are the firm favourite but apparently they are over hyped. Modern driving aids make them too complicated and troublesome which could be a huge liability in middle of nowhere, they do offer more comfort specially for rear passengers. Y60 Nissan patrol/Safari is also a good alternative but getting a bit old now.
  14. Lots of folk prefer the clean lines afforded by wiper delete.
  15. I was drooling over this 2009 2.7 petrol Hilux so ended up buying it primarily for desert safaris. Unfortunately no charging stations in desert so EV won't work. It has lots of decorative off road bits but they are more suitable for showing off in town and country that proper offroad which is good sign as it means the car has had a lush life.
  16. Interesting article on development of 928 using Audi Coupe S as test mule. I came across it while looking for info on Audi 100 S/GT. https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/car-design/a27007948/porsche-928-development-mules-audi-100-coupe/
  17. Good on you Ian, Lake Como in October sounds nice. I'm in.
  18. Talk to Haith, aka @Busybee think he's pretty much covered most roads in wales. Went on a day trip in Wales with him and a few other guys last year and really enjoyed it, he seems to know all the roads like back of his hand.
  19. I went for sport pre-muffler and M&K silencer. It's much lighter than stock or H&S that I was going to fit. I really like the sound as its raspy and not loud for normal driving. Sounds pretty much like the one in this clip. https://mkexhaust.com/single-inlet-single-outlet/
  20. Now that's a proper hot rod, how about some engine pics.
  21. That was the scene at Heathrow T3 on Thursday August 26th @ 11:50 AM. As for PCR tests, it is a well know fact that you can get them without doing the test, I know a few who have done so and I was offered one while abroad. My wife was told to self isolate earlier in summer after 5 days from her arrival because someone on her flight had tested positive on their day 2 test eventhough she has tested negative and was double jabbed. As for masks, how do you eat or drink with your mask on a long haul flight? My point is that one should be aware of the considerable risks when travelling and not to be fooled by the false sense of safety. Indeed Covid is here to stay.
  22. And then after you do the tests you get into a long haul flight with over a couple of hundred other passengers with no social distancing all eating a meal or having a drink when not wearing a questionable mask in an incorrect way. After which you walk into the passport control at heathrow and cue with thousands of others from all over the world for a few hours with no social distancing because there are only 5 immigration officers manning the 30 desks .... which makes me wonder why they have so many immigration desks as I have never seen them used beyond 25% capacity. I am surprised there hasn't been a heathrow variant yet 😂
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