Richard Bernau

Quick update. No matter when or where, a euro roadtrip is always a worthwhile thing to do. In my case I changed plans a fair bit based on the weather. Snow fell down to 1300m in the northern alps and I had rain and clouds the whole time with temps no more than about 8-9 degrees. Sixt rentals also gave me a non-sports car. Can't really complain as it was an 850i with 523hp, so it had its merits - it just wasn't a sports car. It was Panamera Turbo esque, right down to bloated size and 4wd. 240kph top speed as it was on speed restricted winters. So rather than worry too much about driving roads, I just drove where I felt like driving. Pick the little white roads on Google maps and you can't go too far wrong. It also meant that Germany was a better bet than the Alps in many respects as there are so many ways of getting across country in Germany, whereas the Alps often present only one solution. I also drank more German beer, had more good food and spent more time in the sauna than I would have expected. And got to tick off skinny dipping in freezing Lake Constance. Somewhat surprised my Anglo Saxon self with the last one - but when in Germany... So no excuse for not getting into the euro road trip thing. If I can do it all the way from New Zealand, then really no excuse.

Can't beat it! Fingers crossed the weather is decent for when I am there in 2 weeks.

Officially the least interesting posting on IB... Working through minor issues. The old Paj has got new tyres, new shocks, a thermostat, radiator, RH headlight and gearbox mounts/crossmember. We have green Raptor coated all the champagne coloured cladding and painted the bonnet. I deleted the EGR system in order to gain approx one million horsepower. I replaced the stereo with a bluetooth Nakamichi yesterday and that got the 4 front speakers working. Today will see new dash speakers installed. If you are going to go slow, you may as well have good sounds. This thing is about 100 times easier to work on than a 911. Everything comes undone without breaking for a start. I know this is the commentators curse, but it is amazing how tough these are. The radiator was so clogged that there was almost no heating because no coolant flowing. It still ran despite almost zero cooling and survived two trips that included decent hills. I have some more maintenance to do (eg., diff fluids) and need to paint roof and wheels.

I am doing it - last week of September. Something like half of Felix's list as I only have 5 nights and I am planning a little more time relaxing in the pools and saunas.

Hoping Audi TT/BMWZ4 from Sixt Premium in Frankfurt

I might be in the Alps last week of Sept. In a rental car. Fingers crossed I can squeeze something in while on a business trip. Glad the hotels I found were up to expectation.

Guess I am not on here as often as I once was... Yes, its a 930S clutch. Should have ample clamping force for any nat aspirated engine given the tq of a 930S. Any stronger clutch is going to be even heavier and more on/off. Clutch and LW pressure plate came from Patrick Motorsport in the US and this was the recommendation from them. Install was by Steve Winter at JAZ. Steve uses 996TT Sachs clutches (can modify them) as a G50 upgrade now - I had one in the turbo. That may be another option. I think any hydraulic G50 variant has a high chance of working.

You're a madman!

Can I be bold and suggest one more thing that will make a surprising difference to driving? You may have carpets yet to install in which case its of less benefit, but if you have a piece of alley plate cut to fit just behind the pedals and extending about 10-12 inches back, then glue rubber on top, you have a tidy, non-slip platform for your feet that raises your heels just a fraction to make the pedals all feel more normal. You just bolt the panel thru the floor to secure. Daisy (my old car) has this and it really does make a difference. If you decide no carpets, then it also avoids that dangerous heel skid moment on wet days when your shoe skids at the precise moment you are going for a pedal - BTDT.

He is in Auckland near the top of the North Island and I am in Christchurch in the middle of the South Island. You could almost drive it in a day, like 16 hours including a 3 hour ferry trip, c.1100km. Sailing is very much his numero uno pastime. OME is for 50mm lifted and is made by Monroe. Getting Monroe Adventurers fitted next week.

Yes, needs new front shocks. Rears are only a few years old. Rest of the bushings look fairly good - which is a surprise. Apart from one side of the rear ARB drop links.

This week I have mainly been buying a car. It survived its first 500km road trip to get home. Drives just like a Defender but cost 10% of a Defender. Given 10 years in Japan before NZ it’s really clean underneath. Plenty of cosmetic wear and tear, so nothing to be precious about. Turns out my mate Hamish bought a gen 1 Pajero this weekend as well. Something in the water. Now we will be inspired by the Mohenic cars and we can get to work with a little pimping and hot ridding ready for off road, dirt roads etc.

Must be a week for buying cars… Nice car!

Last I heard, Redish were not doing subframe work at the moment, but agreed they would be first choice. There are many others though with experience. You could try Darragh at everythingm3s who is leading the way with SMG to manual conversions among other things..

I have non-adjustable V1s, which I was happy with in UK/EU. Firm, but damping is night and day better than OE stuff. Much more affordable than V3s, or look at the ST range which is exactly the same without the stainless body and is made by KW.