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Post by chipbutty on Jun 8, 2023 14:40:01 GMT
Most criticism is focused on the " debunked " Volvo study - yet Volvo would have had absolutely zero reason to use incorrect assumptions or data in that study as they are " nuts deep " in the drive for electrification and Polar bear snuggling. Assumptions can and do get revised, but the Volvo study clearly highlighted two key elements that I don't think have changed much:
1) Production of BEV produces far more C02 than standard ICE
2) Once built, your EV is only as green as the electricity you charge it with.
The debunking from man in job that is " completely dependent on climate change not being a truck full of fairy horsehit " doesn't mention any useful facts for rebuttal - example, he states the Volvo study was debunked, but by whom, on what rationale and assumption set and by how much ? Fuck knows.
Such articles are quickly filed under " no detail - assume bollocks "
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Post by chipbutty on Jun 8, 2023 13:08:54 GMT
Putin is China’s pet.
China is hoovering up Russian oil and gas on the cheap and the sanctions on Russia are now largely pointless as China supplies everything (cars, etc, etc).
So this will go on as long as China decides it wants to - then when the music stops it will just help itself to whatever is left in Russian territories.
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Post by chipbutty on May 24, 2023 20:39:36 GMT
Whilst it is not as wilfully ugly as the i7, it’s still an unpleasant looking thing with another challenging face.
The detailing around the front (grille, lower bumper and lights) is very poor.
Not unexpected but disappointing all the same.
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Post by chipbutty on May 18, 2023 8:41:04 GMT
Berlin is awesome - I was there for the 2017 Marathon (not running, but everyone else I was with did run).
Amazing place - we stayed at the Raddison with the monster fish tank (that burst a few months ago). Given I was chief roving Marathon support, I saw a vast amount of the city on foot as well as all the touristy bits on the other days.
Did you go to the Ritter Sport shop ? - Oh my christ, I don't how I got out of there without 50 kilos of Rittery goodness.
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Post by chipbutty on May 17, 2023 16:19:47 GMT
From a financial perspective - the brand is in rude health. I wonder if seeing how many billions of Euros you can stuff down each other's lederhosen ever gets boring. This is the same argument used when Arsenal targeted consistent top 4 whilst funding the new stadium and again this season, despite the end of season collapse. I don't do football so I need a whoosh parrot. If you mean that there is a potential fiscal lag by continued devaluation and uglification of the offerings - you may have a point....but: - M division still seem to knock out class leading machines in each of their core categories (the CS models in particular are like 4 wheeled second comings of Christ). - Many of the models have been swamp donkeys for a while now and the money keeps rolling in.
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Post by chipbutty on May 17, 2023 13:08:18 GMT
From a financial perspective - the brand is in rude health. I wonder if seeing how many billions of Euros you can stuff down each other's lederhosen ever gets boring.
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Post by chipbutty on May 17, 2023 8:03:21 GMT
I think it’s going to be exciting to see how electric vehicles develop over the years - there is a huge amount to like about them (quietness, mind altering acceleration, new levels of road holding, different styling, etc) and if we can get to the stage where battery and renewable energy tech means they are lighter, more efficient and I can charge one from my own solar array and mini windmill - then I am even more on board. The whisper quiet powertrain and infinitely variable torque mapping possibilities will mean I can select exactly what noise I want my EV to make and I think Toyota are already working on a manual gearbox that in conjunction with the appropriate software will mimic any powertrain combination you can think of.
However - what I am absolutely not on board with is the level of restriction that will likely go hand in glove with future EVs. Any type of speed restriction or speed monitoring is just not acceptable, neither is a suite of safety systems that can’t be disabled (lane keep assist, autonomous only cruise, etc). I will resist for as long as is possible.
As regards autonomous driving - either the car does it all itself and all I have to concern myself with is watching youtube or reading a magazine - or I do the driving and Hal 9000 can fuck off. The complete and utter pointlessness of the current autonomous solutions that demand you are paying attention at all times is beyond ridicule (and rather scary if you read the Pistonheads article where a BMW had a meltdown and decided to stop in the fast lane and shut the engine off).
What will determine your ability to resist the above for as long as possible depends on Government policy - will the Labour/Limp Dick powershare in perpetuity want to tax my V8 into the ground or physically stop me from using it at all in 10 years time ? God only knows.
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Post by chipbutty on May 5, 2023 10:17:52 GMT
Insurance was a pain as well - the usual suspects (fiesta and co) are actually expensive because all the younglings buy them and wrap them around trees.
Also considered leasing as you used to be able to get Aygos and C1s for £99 a month - those days were long gone last year, but not sure now. If you have a kid who is good at looking after their stuff, it's an option maybe worth a 20 minute internet snuffle.
Skoda Citigo was better value than the UP - found a nice one that wasn't much older than the Aygo, but it was basic and wimmin logic then got involved so I just bowed out.
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Post by chipbutty on May 5, 2023 7:35:25 GMT
Went through this process in Dec and the outcome was an Aygo. Started with the thought of a £1500 snotter, but it’s hard work to find anything vaguely suitable - so the budget creeps up and you then end up wondering why an 8 year old fiesta is nearly 8 grand. This is a 2020 car, the high spec one which came from a Toyota dealer with 25k miles - it was £9750 from memory and it’s up to it’s unmentionables in warranty. I suggested a new Dacia Sandero as they are usefully bigger than an Aygo and spectacular VFM, but as I wasn’t paying - Toyota it is.
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Post by chipbutty on Apr 15, 2023 8:36:30 GMT
F-Types are great value used particularly if you pay attention to the spec. 75 edition cars are loaded, but then so are the earlier black edition cars which are filtering through. Jaguar ex management cars are full kitchen sink spec. There are two points of vital importance as regards facelift v8 models: 1) As soon as you get one, you need to remove fuse 15 which controls the active exhaust. The valves are spring loaded and their default fail safe position is open and they are electronically controlled when the engine is on. Without the fuse, the 3500 rpm restriction is removed and they sound absolutely filthy at all rpm. 2) The P450 is just a restricted P575, so if you are so inclined you can pay paramount performance £599 and they remap the P450 to 600 bhp and 550 lbs ft paramount-performance.com/jaguar-f-type-p450-tuning-and-remapping.html#tab-title-descriptionThe P575 (R) has different suspension and steering calibration as well as running wider wheels and tyres (305 back, 265 front compared to 295 back, 255 front on the P450) plus a few other trinkets that mark it out as an R. If you are a lunatic and want rear wheel drive, then you need a P450, but if it’s an all weather car, RWD quickly gets on your tits. Besides the AWD system is rear wheel biased on demand anyway so it still does monster skids if you want it to whilst firing off the line in the wet when required. For context, Car and Driver ran the numbers on a RWD P450 convertible and a P575 Coupe. The R was 0.5 seconds quicker to 60 and 1.3 seconds quicker to 100 and 3.9 seconds quicker to 150 mph
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Post by chipbutty on Apr 3, 2023 19:10:55 GMT
My friend arranged a surprise Bukkake party for his wife
Everybody came, you should have seen her face
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Post by chipbutty on Mar 31, 2023 12:24:16 GMT
It’s going to be interesting to see where the tipping point is for the “ lower volume, higher price “ model that the premium OEMs are pushing towards. Clearly those volume led opportunity sales will drop off as the mega finance deals will never be repeated (remember when you could get an M4 for £6k and £600 a month ?), but nobody likes paying 25% - 40% more than they did previously for what is a very similar machine (regardless of their disposable income).
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Post by chipbutty on Mar 31, 2023 10:32:08 GMT
£97k for a base 911...Jaysus.
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Post by chipbutty on Mar 21, 2023 14:01:03 GMT
Yup - just like the £600k Cossie, what on earth do you do with it ? because you can't drive it unless you are happy to wave goodbye to a couple of hundred grand.
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Post by chipbutty on Mar 17, 2023 21:06:33 GMT
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Post by chipbutty on Mar 15, 2023 10:20:38 GMT
. I agree it cannot continue for ever, but if we limit immigration too much, our services will suffer even more than they are already. Key distinction: The issue is not about refusing all immigration, it's about appropriately controlling illegal immigration and ensuring that the legal channels support the right balance of skills and talents into the country. I don't believe the illegal channels to the UK are made up of fully qualified doctors, nurses and care home assistants.
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Post by chipbutty on Mar 14, 2023 13:58:35 GMT
Currently my mum is still waiting for a hip replacement operation and is in so much pain that she is on a revolving cycle of powerful pain killers whilst remaining barely mobile. If we can’t look after the people who already live here, why on earth would we make the problem worse by adding more dependents to any already “ stretched past the point of acceptability “ public services network ? I sympathise with your mum's situation but isn't part of the problem simply that there aren't enough people kicking around to do the relatively low paid jobs that facilitate speedier care? In this particular instance, the cause of the problems with healthcare availability (of which there are many) are irrelevant. There is finite level of service (based on funding and available heads) and bringing in additional dependents is going to further degrade the delivery for all. Aside from the volume of additional patients, incremental spending to house and feed these people means even less money to secure more staff or to make available to offer wage increases for nurses and doctors. Tough choices have to be made, but thankfully the overpaid and undertaxed football prat is full of great ideas and insights.
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Post by chipbutty on Mar 11, 2023 10:48:53 GMT
If the UK is short of a million homes, where are the people who don’t have those homes living now ?
Currently my mum is still waiting for a hip replacement operation and is in so much pain that she is on a revolving cycle of powerful pain killers whilst remaining barely mobile. If we can’t look after the people who already live here, why on earth would we make the problem worse by adding more dependents to any already “ stretched past the point of acceptability “ public services network ?
Ol’ jug ears needs to STFU and pay his taxes, I seem to recall his name was mentioned in the paradise papers leak a while back, so he has form for looking to minimise his tax burden whilst continually twating on about nasty tories. Where does he think all the money comes from to fund everything ?
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Post by chipbutty on Mar 2, 2023 12:20:36 GMT
Not sure what deals are hot at the moment - but a decent spec Kodiaq on a 3 year, 10k per annum personal lease (with 3 months deposit) looks like this after a 5 min search.
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Post by chipbutty on Mar 1, 2023 20:23:43 GMT
Good luck getting one! I'm now 15 months into a wait for an Octavia and no sign yet of a build date let alone delivery. Skoda have 32 Octavia estates available immediately, 4 of which are vRS models
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Post by chipbutty on Mar 1, 2023 12:54:23 GMT
For a reliable and pleasant family truckster - I'd be looking at Skoda.
A Kodiaq or Superb estate - but if the Superb is too big, then an Octavia VRS estate.
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Post by chipbutty on Mar 1, 2023 9:23:44 GMT
I don't understand the attraction of these cars at all. Given the price paid, I assume it will never be driven and just be on display in a collection - which is fine, but you could do a ground up restoration for a 3rd of the price paid if you just want something pretty and perfect to show your mates.
If it does get driven, I suspect it will be the greatest anti-climax ever - " hmm, it just drives like a moderately quick old Sierra...wow...look at these plastics......ooh, steering column shake....etc.. "
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Post by chipbutty on Feb 15, 2023 12:29:17 GMT
I think the latest is PZ4 - this is what won the Evo tyre test in 2021 (and assume came 3rd in Dec last year).
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Post by chipbutty on Feb 11, 2023 9:57:24 GMT
It's not just me then - I also have P Zeros on the F-Type and it's been twerking like a mo fo recently on dry but cool roads. Tread is down to 4mm and it's like they've just gone off. I thought it might be all the salt that hasn't been washed off (which definitely makes the roads greasier when dry), but the last P450 was just the same as well when the tyres got to 4mm.
I always thought P Zeros were not particularly good tyres, but I looked at the 2022 Evo tyre test and they came third, beating the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S
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Post by chipbutty on Oct 19, 2022 15:40:32 GMT
How much do you think there is to chase ? and what would you propose to do when all of the energy companies turn round to you and say they can’t meet any of the C02 reduction targets because they do not have the funding to invest in the necessary new technologies and infrastructure ? One way or another - “ we “ are going to be paying for this shit.
Before doing anything, the logical individual would need the appropriate level of spend and activity detail in order to ascertain:
• Where all the money spent and where it is collected • For every major spend channel, how efficiently is the money used and what spend activities are of questionable added value. • What are the key future deliverables and supporting costs to secure energy and food self-sufficiency, economic stability, maintenance of law and order and provision of healthcare ?
Unfortunately - the effort and cost you would have to expend in order to identify the truth would consume many years and many, many millions, by which time its election time again. This is why I assume most policies are based off fag packet maths and “ tailored “ data - which is why they are usually bollocks.
Either by accident or by design, vast swathes of the populations of the West are dependent on their Governments for some form of financial assistance (i.e - they take out more than they contribute) and you could argue to the end of time as to whether this is representative of a fundamentally broken distribution of wealth, or reflective of an excessive level of entitlement.
It’s near impossible to take away what has now become the expectation and it’s clear that no party has the appetite to balance the books as the actions required to do so are completely unpalatable - therefore the likely outcome is that each country will waddle on until the trouser elastic snaps and everyone’s fat spotty arse is on show.
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Post by chipbutty on Oct 14, 2022 18:36:35 GMT
Exactly this….
Anyone who thinks Sir Kneels Alot and Space Cadet Rayner are going to make the slightest difference is deluded. Taxes and borrowing will go up, services won’t get any better and we will be knee deep in woke bollocks
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Post by chipbutty on Oct 14, 2022 18:21:04 GMT
The most important question of all…….what the bloody hell am I going to drive after 2023 I am not sure what market would exist for an electric sports car, that class of car and the sporting GT are in decline (as far as volumes go), so I think the business case struggles. As regards the 75, I note with “ Daily Mail sad face “ that the P450 comes with the least attractive F-type wheel design that they have then decided to paint black…..
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BMW XM
Sept 30, 2022 11:25:04 GMT
Post by chipbutty on Sept 30, 2022 11:25:04 GMT
BMW made £13.5 billion in the 1st half of 2022 (double same period in the prior year).
So it's not obvious they are struggling to shift the new range of swamp donkeys.
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Post by chipbutty on Sept 24, 2022 14:22:58 GMT
Team Truss are taking a gamble but they don’t appear to have any other choice. Even if they put tax up to 70 % it won’t be enough to fill the budget void (and it would cripple spending) and austerity is never going to happen in any meaningful way under any party. Growth is the only option and you do that by putting more money back in people’s pockets and giving them more reason to work.
The banker’s bonus cap lift and top rate tax reduction has people wound up over the wrong aspect (imo). Even with the small reductions granted, bankie bonuses will still be taxed at close to 50% when you include NI.
What’s better for HMRC, 53% of 2 times salary or 48% of 5 times salary.
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Post by chipbutty on Sept 10, 2022 17:12:46 GMT
Very smart, do the R designs have the leather wrapped dash and door tops like the Inscriptions?
With Lizzie’s price cap, has your BIL worked out the likely mpg equivalence from a charge ?
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