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Post by Eff One on Jan 8, 2019 10:34:36 GMT
The local Ford dealer bought my Fiesta ST for £9k cash at 3.5 years old, 24k miles - just under 50% of its original list price, which I thought was very reasonable. They stickered it at an equally reasonable £11k.
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Post by Eff One on Nov 22, 2018 13:24:58 GMT
Kubica is the same age as Lewis! And you could hardly argue that F2 drivers aren't making the step up - Norris, Russell, Giovinazzi and possibly Albon will all debut in 2019.
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Post by Eff One on Nov 22, 2018 12:40:08 GMT
When they ran all four drivers over the Abu Dhabi GP weekend and subsequent test last year and crunched all the numbers, Stroll was the slowest of the four and Massa the fastest. Dropping Massa had nothing to do with speed and everything to do with funding. I'm glad that Stroll Snr stepped in to save Force India, but nobody outside the Stroll camp wants Lance in that (or any) seat.
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Post by Eff One on Nov 21, 2018 16:55:00 GMT
I don't think anyone at Williams would argue that the 2018 car is anything other than terrible. They've apparently got on top of the reasons now, here's hoping that they give RK and George Russell something to work with.
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Post by Eff One on Nov 21, 2018 11:31:15 GMT
I hope he does well, but there was a Matt Prior endpiece in Autocar recently where he had asked Mark Webber how he thought he'd have fared now, and Webber reckoned he'd be a second slower, purely due to the aging of the eye. Kubica must be a similar age, I'd have thought.
No, Kubica turns 34 next month - exactly a month older than Hamilton. Webber is 42.
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Post by Eff One on Nov 21, 2018 11:18:55 GMT
Great news, albeit an unbearably shit website. I loathe ones that spend an age jiggling about as the load their ads etc, shifting what you are trying to read from pillar to post. I always depart rather than wait. Ah - yes, I'm a subscriber so don't see any of that. I usually link to the Beeb on here, but the story hasn't appeared there yet. Incredible feelgood story though. Whether he can perform at the level he did eight years ago remains to be seen, but there's nobody more single-minded about making a racing car go quickly. This is interesting from Mark Hughes: www.motorsportmagazine.com/news/f1/robert-kubica-secures-f1-comeback-williams
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Post by Eff One on Nov 21, 2018 10:47:52 GMT
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Post by Eff One on Nov 6, 2018 11:45:54 GMT
I'm motivated by stats and food, mostly. I run a 5km loop three times a week, trying always to improve my time if the conditions allow. I used to do some light weight training as well, but my core strength is currently maintained by 13kg of wriggly toddler.
Also, I see a lot of fat, criminally unfit 40-somethings and am determined not to become one of them.
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Post by Eff One on Nov 2, 2018 11:41:19 GMT
Never had it but would be slightly concerned that it might change the feel of the steering.
Heated seats, however, are ace and yet another reason why I miss my beloved Fiesta ST.
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Post by Eff One on Nov 2, 2018 11:37:39 GMT
Whereas I've just got the Focus back expecting a bill of £250 for a 5 year service and MOT, and been stung for nearly £700. The front pads and discs were completely shot and bizarrely, the horn had failed.
They did have a very nice '17 plate 5 door Fiesta ST3 in the proper blue - very rare, and the first one I've seen. I miss my ST...
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Post by Eff One on Oct 25, 2018 14:28:18 GMT
Red Bull are trying to pry Albon out of his FE contract apparently.
Brendon Hartley is a lot better than the results show and deserves another season in my opinion.
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Post by Eff One on Oct 23, 2018 10:19:26 GMT
I had everything crossed for the last ten laps. It was a great win, beautifully judged both by Kimi himself and (for once) the Ferrari pitwall. Verstappen was mighty; very disappointed for Danny Ric. On a weekend where the Mercs were vulnerable, he should have been on the podium.
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Post by Eff One on Oct 12, 2018 10:02:16 GMT
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Post by Eff One on Oct 9, 2018 9:42:51 GMT
The worst I have ever seen - by far - is M1NGE on a Nissan GTR.
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Post by Eff One on Oct 8, 2018 11:05:15 GMT
Not much wrong with Bottas, I think Hamilton is simply in the sort of form where any teammate would look ordinary. I find him hard to like, but his driving is sensational. Good as Ocon is - and it's a travesty that he's without a drive for 2019 - I doubt that replacing Bottas with him would improve matters for Merc right now.
I do think Vettel's going to come under pressure soon and rightly so. He isn't paid squillions to make silly lunges into non-existent gaps. And what on earth is going on at Ferrari? Some crazy decision making over the past couple of races.
I was hoping to see Toro Rosso do well in the race after a great qualy. No doubting Gasly's star quality but Brendan Hartley is no mug, and a hell of a lot better than the results show. It was disappointing to see them both slip back in the race.
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Post by Eff One on Sept 27, 2018 11:35:17 GMT
You sort of lost me at 'Bentayga'. If there's ever been a stupider name for a car I'm struggling to bring it to mind.
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Post by Eff One on Sept 26, 2018 11:26:40 GMT
Just back from nine days in the Costa Brava, for which we rented a 'Seat Leon or equivalent' from Enterprise at Barcelona Airport.
I wish it had been a Seat Leon.
The last Citroen I drove was a C1 in 2009, in Provence. That remains the worst car I've ever encountered. The current C3 is vastly better built, the interior actually not a bad place to sit. Most of the controls had a pleasant soft-touch feel to them, and the seats were comfortable enough. It swallowed two adults, a toddler and our gear without a problem. The aircon, though, was poor. It was unseasonably hot for late September, but hardly Death Valley.
I can also report that the seat fabrics and plastics are fairly easy to scrub vomit out of.
Which brings me to the chassis and drivetrain. I'm beginning to wonder if there were several things wrong with this car, because it was so unutterably awful to drive that I can't imagine any competent engineer signing off on it. The engine was a normally aspirated petrol which combined a hoarseness and reluctance to rev with no discernible power and a weird, intermittent hesitation at a motorway cruise. I thought perhaps it was something to do with the cruise control, but disabling that completely made no difference. The gearchange and clutch were somehow muddy, vague, and notchy all at the same time, the throw so long that fifth was practically in my wife's lap.
The steering wheel was better than some, but zero feel and inconsistent weighting (varying from light to disconnected) made it very difficult to place the car accurately. As did the suspension. It rode well enough but had all the body control of a tub of jelly.
Which is at least partly to blame for an unfortunate incident on the road to Tossa de Mar. My daughter had been sick the night before after a touch of heat stroke, but had recovered overnight; by the following afternoon she was still fragile but happy enough and her appetite was returning. She'd been fine for an hour or so in the car, but started to look green around the gills as soon as I turned off the main drag; the road to the coast is an epic mix of short straights and hairpins, and the C3 dealt with them the way it dealt with all corners: by lurching drunkenly from one to the next. Having never been car sick in our lives, both wifey and I felt instantly queasy. I've never missed my Fiesta ST more.
I was taking it very easy, with a train of traffic behind me, but we'd gone less than two miles when my wife shrieked at me to stop - just as my daughter tossed her cookies all over the rear.
Not fun.
The journey to the airport three days later started with a return trip up that same road; so worried were we about a repeat performance that we stopped halfway for a breather. By that time we were facing the prospect of missing our flight, as Google Maps' travel time ballooned from 1 hour 20 minutes to 2 hours plus. But we made it, just, and bade a not-so-fond farewell to the C3. Never again.
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Post by Eff One on Sept 11, 2018 13:59:09 GMT
I'm delighted - though a little surprised - that he's sticking around. Fred Vasseur knows how to run a racing team, and Sauber are a proper no-bullshit outfit with some very good ex-Ferrari technical bods and an up to date Ferrari engine. They've made a big step forward this year and have all the pieces in place to do the same again in 2019.
It remains to be seen which Kimi they'll get, but I'm hopeful that they'll be able to get the best out of him.
And I hope Leclerc destroys Vettel.
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Post by Eff One on Sept 11, 2018 8:45:12 GMT
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Post by Eff One on Sept 4, 2018 8:47:57 GMT
My reaction to Kimi taking pole was very similar to Ben Edwards on C4. Great to see him finally get it together after so many missed opportunities, and under huge pressure too. It was a lovely lap, certainly aided by the tow, but Vettel was visibly scruffier and had their track positions been reversed it would have been mighty close.
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Post by Eff One on Aug 28, 2018 13:13:38 GMT
Always a joy to watch the cars at Spa, but this race was consigned to mediocrity by the first corner shunt which took out the weekend's fastest car/driver combination (Raikkonen) the sport's best overtaker (Ricciardo) and the midfield's most exciting talent (Leclerc).
Great to see Force India back in giant slaying mode, though.
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Post by Eff One on Aug 15, 2018 9:09:34 GMT
Sad to see him go, but not surprised; it's been painful watching him waste his talent at Mclaren. I'm not a fan of the political bullshit or his penchant for tearing teams in two. But when it comes to dragging everything out of the car - any car - on every corner of every lap, he remains the best of his generation.
I'd guess that Sainz will take his seat, and that Red Bull will promote Gasly to replace Ricciardo.
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Post by Eff One on Jul 17, 2018 10:54:55 GMT
I like this. But there was a metallic blue Vantage GT8 rumbling around Winchester over the weekend - the most delicious thing I've seen on four wheels in a long time.
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Post by Eff One on Jul 17, 2018 10:39:36 GMT
My point about the pricing was that model for model it's gone up by at least 10% with no change in spec - in fact the ST-2's has got worse. Obviously nobody should be paying list, Drivethedeal are already offering at least £2500 off (£16500 for a bog standard red ST-1, £19300 for a 5 door ST-2 with the performance pack).
I've been in an ST-line and it does feel a little bigger inside. Minor controls are a little more tactile too. The massive screen looks ridiculous though, as if someone's shoehorned a 60" tv into a bedsit.
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Post by Eff One on Jul 16, 2018 15:13:38 GMT
Yes, typical poor editing by Autocar's web editors.
Spec for spec it's got very expensive, too. When I bought mine (ST-2 in blue) for £14k in 2015 I could have had a new one for £15.5k (list price in the high £17k range). A new ST-2 in blue is now over £21k list and no longer has part leather or heated seats - both of which used to be standard.
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Post by Eff One on Jul 16, 2018 13:36:20 GMT
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Post by Eff One on Jul 10, 2018 10:37:23 GMT
Wow. Different world. I'm currently celebrating the fact that my 11 year old Focus is more or less clean inside and out, and no longer smells faintly of toddler vomit. If the air conditioning worked, I'd be in actual utopia.
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Post by Eff One on Jul 9, 2018 12:25:05 GMT
Brilliant race. I was all ready to lambast Hamilton for suggesting that Ferrari have been deliberately punting the Mercs off - but he's since apologised for being a dick. Hopefully his boss will follow suit.
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Post by Eff One on Jul 5, 2018 11:01:00 GMT
Like this.
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Post by Eff One on Jul 5, 2018 10:54:17 GMT
Sadly, my Fiesta ST went in April after two and a half mostly glorious years. Sold mainly to fund my novel writing habit (unnecessarily as it turned out). I still miss it - best all rounder I've ever owned.
Since then I've been lumbering around in an automatic Daewoo Nubira borrowed from my parents. It's an utterly joyless thing - like driving a park bench. Driven as if one's own testicles nestled beneath the throttle pedal, it manages 25mpg. Its only saving grace is excellent air conditioning.
Our 2007 Focus has passed 100k. Though mechanically okay, it's getting tatty and the air conditioning has sprung a leak.
So we were overdue a fleet upgrade - which has come in the form of a 2013/63 Focus Zetec with the 125 Ecoboost engine. First car I've bought privately in years so I'm a touch nervy about it. But it looks fresh with 60k on the clock and feels reassuringly solid. Full main dealer history with receipts, etc. Having had my eye on a couple of comparable cars at independent dealers for around £7k, I paid £5350. Provided it doesn't turn out to be a dog, am pretty happy with that.
I've driven a Mk3 Focus TDCi and an ST, but never one of these dinky little 1 litre turbos. It's eerily quiet and deceptively swift, although the throttle response is a bit soft. The steering is a bit light for my taste but there's a touch of feel and it's very easy to place the car. Unlike the Fiesta (any Fiesta, not just the ST) the chassis doesn't invite you to play, but it does that Ford thing - firm but supple, front and rear working in harmony. It's pre-facelift so the dash is a bit of a mess, but that's never bothered me. The important bits fall easily to hand and it's a comfortable place to sit.
Tempted to go and try a new Fiesta ST, though...
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