Leaderboard

Fun trip out today, more here:

Keep the bikes - just hang them from the rafters!

Last year the wife needed a new car to go back and forth from work (20km daily for 5 days/week), plus bringing the kids around. She wanted something small. Since 2 years ago we installed a photovoltaic system on our sunroof, I thought why not? Here in south Italy the energy production from the sun is very good. So after looking around we bought a Dacia Spring, very cheap and small city car, but very functional (5 doors, enough internal space to carry 4 adults, and a reasonably sized boot). 45 electric hp, 27kwh battery, 200km range. So far, we are very happy with the car. That said, I do believe electric motors are the future for mobility, but not batteries, at least not how they are right now. I do see hydrogen as future, but current technology is still far from mass usage. Surely, we need some technology breakthroughs in terms of energy storage and transportation.

I firmly believe hydrogen is the future... I also know, through a very good friend who happens to be a patrol for a well know roadside breakdown firm, even properly working EV's can be the antithesis of "green", over and above the green benefits once the rare earth minerals and production polution debt has been cleared. It is now a common occurrece to be called to EV's that have gone flat. Fair enough, we all make mistakes, BUT... to get enough charge (10% I think is the accepted minimum) to the EV from the patrol van usually requires more than 30 mins at the roadside, with the diesel van pegged to 2000rpm for the duration. And towing them is out. Not enough "tow capable" patrols, not by a long chalk, and SUV's generally need a "wheels off the floor" tow, so that means a full recovery. There's even fewer chances of that. This website has a somewhat mixed mesage but the bottom line is towing an EV should probably be avoided https://blog.atseuromaster.co.uk/ev-hybrid/can-you-tow-an-electric-car Now, back to the plot... Twice recently, to get enough charge into a big SUV took TWO vans 40 mins. The patrol then must follow the EV to the nearest charging point. Not too bad here in the (fresh cloud of recently generated diesel) smoke, but the record for finding a working charger was currently stands at the 7th time of asking. I have no problem with trying to find solutions to the climate issues we are clearly facing. I struggle to get on-board with EV's being the answer.

It was Daddy daycare day today (and tomorrow), so I opted to take Lorna to the Exmoor Pony Centre at Dulverton, in the Westfield of course! Took us about 1.5 hours to get there, mostly good roads but definitely not ideal in a Westfield on the last stretch down to the centre! Pony petting and souvenir shopping done, we headed on a 45 minute trek up over the moor, by way of Simonsbath and a bit more wild pony spotting, to Lynmouth. After a drive down to the bottom of the Esplanade and back, we found a space by the river to park up, stretch our legs and have lunch. This was followed by a cream tea for me and massive ice cream for Lorna which she valiantly defeated, although the last part exploded on her, requiring an emergency baby wipe or two from a kindly passing mother to clear up the mess! We had plenty of interest and nice comments about the car which was nice. We had a quick trip up and down the funicular railway, spectacular views at the top, then headed for home. The climb up Countisbury hill is one I don’t think I will tire of; beautiful views though it pays not to get distracted given the precipitous drop and lack of any fence or wall! From then on I confess it became a bit of a slog. Slow traffic most of the 2 hour journey home with only the occasional bit of fun. I think I nearly broke Lorna; she was very tired from all the fresh air and Westfield bumpiness but remained in good humour throughout. The car had a good wash down and dry off before being popped into its Carcoon. 145.1 miles, great fun and we will both sleep soundly tonight, one of us dreaming of ponies…. 😊 Longleat tomorrow, don’t think I’ll take the Westie there! 🦁🐅🐺😬😬😱😱🤣🤣

With heavy hearts but sensible heads, we are selling our treasured Westfield widebody. While we are full-time travelling in our 4x4 expedition camper, our wee Westy sits in storage, which really isn't fair on her - or us! Perhaps we may get another one down the line when we re-establish roots somewhere, as it will be sadly missed. The car is very much set up for touring and club runs, which makes it perfect for doing just that, or a blank canvas for the very catching upgrade-itis. 1999 SEiW, factory built on what everyone has decided is a ZEi chassis - there are type-approval (T-A) clues such as towing rings front and rear etc. The bodywork was/is not ZEi though, as it left the factory with cycle wing fenders etc, rather than T-A clamshells and bodywork. Perhaps the chassis was left over from Westfield's type approval foray. The car is pretty much as it was in 1999, and has a very classy look, especially in it's reasonably rare all-black gelcoat. The first three owners made no modifications or upgrades that I know of. Since we have owned it, we swapped out the T-A underslung exhaust for a 5" factory stainless side exhaust, tossed the messy factory air intake and put in a neater K&N arrangement, and made several tweeks, additions and tidy-ups about the car (including sound deadening and high stop light). We bought the car in Northern Ireland from a police driving instructor, and it retains the NI number plates which are neither Q or age-dated, which makes it a little different from the masses. From memory, the car currently has 19K miles on the clock (defo under 20K) and we've done about 7K of that. We have also replaced the front brake calipers, and fitted braided brake lines and Mintex pads. The first owner, when commissioning the factory-build, ticked every option. The car came (and comes with) with the V8 bonnet, ducted nose cone, full chrome front suspension and headlights, polished windscreen uprights, stainless steel wiper arms, contoured dash, full carpets (that haven't faded like they usually do), locking boot lid, toasty heater, full hood and bubble doors, perspex wind deflectors, tonneau cover, spare wheel, and a Westfield fleecy indoors dust cover. There is also the removable steering wheel boss - unsure if that was factory or a previous owner. It has the original retractable seatbelts, and the original seats show no nicks, frays or fading. The engine is the standard 1800cc Zetec silver top crate engine, fitted with the standard single throttle body EFI and ECU. The only improvements being the exhaust, air filter, and plug leads. She's no neck-snapper, but is regardless very spritely, and civilised and classy with it. Tyres are Uniroyal Rainsort-3 205/50-15 (on 15x7 alloys) with at least 3/4 tread depth, if not 7/8. The spare fitted by us is a 165/70-14 and minilight-type alloy from a Ford Ka Sport (keeps the same dia/circ), to save some weight, to better the departure angle, and retain it's touring look with the tyre on the back. The original 5th alloy comes with the car also, which is handy if one of the others gets pot-holed. The car is in honest, better than age-related condition, but has a couple wee blemishes as you might expect for a 24 year old car. Probably the worst is some spiderwebbing out from the mounting bolts of the cycle wings. The car is currently sorned and MOT is expired, and it's dry-stored. It will be sold with a new MOT. Due to the car being currently tucked away in storage, the photos below aren't the most recent, but please trust that the car is in the same condition as when the photos were taken, the car was also cleaned and polished before stored with it's dust cover on at the end of May. Price = £9250 SOLD SOLD SOLD

Nick Algar will be taking over as Comp Sec and already has a good programme of events for next year and we have an awards dinner on 27th Jan 2024

Got outside and some dron shots of my Aerorace , from my perspective it was quicker but.. for excuse must add that this twisty karting part of this exact track (Tor Kielce ) is reeealy slippery asphalt (Sorry for adnotation "Lotus" , those type of cars are not popular here)

The Toylander finally has a new stablemate! Its only taken 7 years to get to this point. I think I need to thin out the family's bicycle collection though.