Show Us Your Motors!

I do like that Z4, looks really sleek.

Quick snap I took at Curborough yesterday, quality has been butchered a little (a lot!) :(

d91fd61cd0.jpg

Tale of the tape?
 
So, gave her a quick wash today, some tyre shine, and some back to black. First halfway decent pics (well, still phone pics) of it since the colour change on the wheels.







I still realise that many of you out there will still hate such a vehicle, and that's fine. I like it enough that it replaced my 530d as the daily driver, allowing me to get something a bit fruitier by way of the Edition 30. So I would say that is high enough praise, that it replaced my, owned from new, 2013 BMW 530d... I'm not saying it's a better car than the 530d here though, more that it fits MY needs better than the 530d.
 
Nothing wrong with the vehicle, those wheels really don't suit it at all though IMO, particularly with that ride height.
 
I still realise that many of you out there will still hate such a vehicle, and that's fine. I like it enough that it replaced my 530d as the daily driver, allowing me to get something a bit fruitier by way of the Edition 30. So I would say that is high enough praise, that it replaced my, owned from new, 2013 BMW 530d... I'm not saying it's a better car than the 530d here though, more that it fits MY needs better than the 530d.

Nothing to do with money then?
 
Nothing wrong with the vehicle, those wheels really don't suit it at all though IMO, particularly with that ride height.

Well, yeah, I take the point regarding the ride height. If a spring snaps or something, I'll probably lower it a bit then, but until then, it definitely drives better on the bigger wheels. Although that may well have something to do with the Rainsports' soft sidewalls on the 16's.

Nothing to do with money then?

What isn't to do with money?

But the original plan was to buy a DB9, not a Golf GTI. However, redundancies at work just now meant it might not be a good look for me to show up in a DB9 when others are losing their jobs. It certainly wasn't a case of no longer being able to afford such a car.
 
For me it's not the wheels but the obviously incorrect tyre profile which makes it look bad. They should be 215/55-17 or 215/60-16 on the 1.8T but yours look like they are 35-40 profile at best. Am I close, what size are they?
 
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Not sure they are obviously incorrect.

They are 235/40/18, and it's a 2.0 TDI. So they are only ~2% out (for speedo accuracy purposes), but the other way to what you are suggesting, as they should have a 55 profile on a 16", or 45 profile on a 17". But they need to be 235, as 225's are difficult, if not impossible, to get with the proper load rating.

225/45 R17 94W (front/rear)

195/60 R16 99H (front/rear)

205/55 R16 98H (front/rear)

215/55 R16 95H (front/rear)
 
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But the original plan was to buy a DB9, not a Golf GTI. However, redundancies at work just now meant it might not be a good look for me to show up in a DB9 when others are losing their jobs. It certainly wasn't a case of no longer being able to afford such a car.

Genuine question (as I've heard this before), when people are being made redundant at work, and assuming your job is safe, what real difference does it make to your colleagues? They should be the people not buying cars.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be heartless. And I get that, if you're in a management position, that could certainly twist the knife somewhat. Just wanted to gather thoughts on this whilst not detracting from the thread.

I can appreciate it's a balancing act. But, if you've worked hard to get to your position and salary and can afford to buy the car you want, why let that stop you? Unless you're worried someone is going to damage it out of spite?
 
Genuine question (as I've heard this before), when people are being made redundant at work, and assuming your job is safe, what real difference does it make to your colleagues? They should be the people not buying cars.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be heartless. And I get that, if you're in a management position, that could certainly twist the knife somewhat. Just wanted to gather thoughts on this whilst not detracting from the thread.

I can appreciate it's a balancing act. But, if you've worked hard to get to your position and salary and can afford to buy the car you want, why let that stop you? Unless you're worried someone is going to damage it out of spite?

General staff dont think that hard about things. Obviously if a workforce of people, particularly those with families to support are laid off then you shouldnt arrive at work soon after with an Aston, regardless of how hard you've worked for it(assuming the op is in mid-senior management). Its bad taste and they will resent you.
 
Genuine question (as I've heard this before), when people are being made redundant at work, and assuming your job is safe, what real difference does it make to your colleagues? They should be the people not buying cars.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be heartless. And I get that, if you're in a management position, that could certainly twist the knife somewhat. Just wanted to gather thoughts on this whilst not detracting from the thread.

I can appreciate it's a balancing act. But, if you've worked hard to get to your position and salary and can afford to buy the car you want, why let that stop you? Unless you're worried someone is going to damage it out of spite?

Basically this below.

General staff dont think that hard about things. Obviously if a workforce of people, particularly those with families to support are laid off then you shouldnt arrive at work soon after with an Aston, regardless of how hard you've worked for it(assuming the op is in mid-senior management). Its bad taste and they will resent you.

But I am not in a management position. I'm in a senior field position. But none the less, it's still poor form to be rocking up in such a car when people are losing their jobs. There will be time to get one later, and in the meantime, I can enjoy having something cheap and tuneable anyway, so it doesn't really matter to me. The Edition 30 is an itch I've always had since they were new, so this was a decent enough excuse to scratch that itch, while waiting on things settling.

I wasn't worried about it getting damaged in spite though.
 
Why not just admit that it's about money. Nobody buys that you would rather have a crap entry level hate-box over a premium exec car, nor that anyone in the market for d DB9 would buy a VW Golf instead, for the benefit of some work colleagues.
 
I'm struggling to understand how you could prefer the SEAT to an F10 530d (a car that can hold its own against almost any other). I'm sure it's cheaper to own and possibly more practical in some ways, but other than that...?

I'm sure you've been asked this before. :p

As for DB9's, they may be affordable for many people, but running them is not.
 
Who mentioned Seats? :p

I can imagine the Golf to be more fun, especially with a 300HP map. The F10 is a big lump, no matter how great the dynamics may be.
 
I'm struggling to understand how you could prefer the SEAT to an F10 530d (a car that can hold its own against almost any other). I'm sure it's cheaper to own and possibly more practical in some ways, but other than that...?

I'm sure you've been asked this before. :p

As for DB9's, they may be affordable for many people, but running them is not.

It is perfectly natural to VT a car you can't afford have parked on your driveway because you can't pay the excess mileage charges on prefer driving a 10yo moon-mileage van over.


The decision between a DB9 and a Golf GTI is also a regular everyday choice as the two are natural competitors.


I don't get what all the fuss is about tbh!
 
It is perfectly natural to VT a car you can't afford have parked on your driveway because you can't pay the excess mileage charges on prefer driving a 10yo moon-mileage van over.


The decision between a DB9 and a Golf GTI is also a regular everyday choice as the two are natural competitors.


I don't get what all the fuss is about tbh!

This.

It's painfully clear for everybody to see the reason for the change from the F10 to the old Seat van thing and a 10 year old hot hatch - it's nothing to be ashamed of.

"I no longer wanted to spend as much money on cars as I was."
"I needed to save money so have changed cars to something cheaper."
"I didn't want to continue with monthly finance payments so I've bought a cheaper car outright"

Rather than

"Although nearly everybody in the world considers the F10 530d to be one of the best cars currently available I've decided an old Seat that was originally designed in 1996 is actually 100x better."
 
To be fair, I don't need to justify my car choices to anyone. But this was relatively simple.

The Alhambra, I get it why many of you would be confused there. I would have been also. But it is really simple. I too preferred driving the 530d. But it simply wasn't getting used as much. The kids MUCH preferred being driven in the Alhambra. If we had to drive anywhere, that is the car they ALWAYS asked for. ALWAYS. It also is a LOT bigger than the 5 series, so was handier on longer trips / Ikea / Costco runs.

How many people out there would seriously keep a diesel estate, that is depreciating at £500+ per month, to just sit on the drive rarely getting used? It's NOT that I prefer the driving dynamics of the Seat, or that it is faster, or more economical, as it is none of that. It is that it fits my needs, at the moment, better than the 5 series, and as such, was getting used MUCH more.

As for the DB9 vs Golf GTI. Again, whilst I don't NEED to justify the decision, it too is simple. A DB9 just now is not the right time in my industries current climate. And I have ALWAYS fancied an Edition 30 to get decent power out of one. I could have went for an S3, yes. I could have went for a Golf R. But I didn't really like the S3 as much, and the Golf R I wouldn't have been able to tune really if I'd gotten one. I didn't set out to look for an Edition 30 BTW, just one appeared local to me, at the right price, at the right time. It's been a decade or so since I've done anything more than a remap to a car, and so I am actually enjoying the fact that I can do something different with a car again.

This is nothing I haven't said before. But it's funny how this forum just assumes it's purely financial choices at every turn. Sure, money is a factor in getting rid of the 5 series. It's not that I couldn't afford to keep it. It's that I dont see the point in paying that level of depreciation for a car, albeit a fantastic car, that simply no longer gets used for much more than the occasional commute and taking the wife for dinner. It's simply not special enough for that level of depreciation vs use. Whereas a DB9 would have been. Had it not been for the current climate. And a car I had always wanted, came up for sale, locally.
 
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