Damn.

This is England, I rather think you are forgetting that!

What on earth are "Dubbed" tyres, never heard of such things?

All summer long I have to listen to enviro-nazis talking about how it's my fault the the global warming is happening...then in the winter, my 300 hp all wheel drive van, with snow tires comes along and they're stuck in a ditch...and I'm thinking:
"Well, you shouldn't litter! Those compact cars are recyclable. How much gas did you waste trying to get out of that snowbank? I'd love to help you out, but my car should be banned, so I'll respect your principals on this one? What'd you do to piss off mother nature?"

call me petty.
(anybody who knows me, knows I would say those things...as I pull them out...lol)

Well in the UK I doubt I'd pull anyone out as the moment they see any damage they'll claim on their insurance who will then come after me and my insurance. It happens so sadly I usually drive on by.

Mike

Tyres with small steel dubs (a houndred per wheel). Wonderful to grip on icy roads. However, due to environmental problems (creating tar dust on dry roads, and extra wear on the tarmac), we are encouraged to switch to dub-free tyres. And believe me, the special soft-rubbered winter tyres provide exceptional good grip on slippery roads.

Well my version of carbon off-setting is our 'planet destroying gas guzzling' (according to my neighbour who is Head of Communications at FirstBus - whose VW Estate uses almost as much fuel) Mercedes-Benz ML 320 CDI Sport and a Smart City Coupe. The Smart uses half the amount of fuel as the Merc, but the Merc costs more than ten times the amount in Road Tax. Another example of Gordon Brown's class war

Some self-syled eco-warrior took a a key or something to one side of the Mercedes in a supermarket car park and I noticed that every 4x4 had been vandalised, maybe £30k of damage in total.

If I passed him or her in a snowdrift I'd push them further in!

And to think of the chemicals and energy involved to repair all that damage. They really don't think their "arguments" through

I've had comments about the size of my car, until I point out that in the summer I get about 120miles per litre of petrol. The rest is recyled vegetable oil which was destined for landfill. But these eco warriors just look at the size and make presumptions. Try towing a caravan with a Smart car!!! I bet they all fly when they go on holiday.

Doing my bit with a low emission TDCI Fiesta, £35.00 per year road tax, and it's economy is 52MPG, and it performs like a petrol car, luvvly jubbly!

I've seen a caravan towing a Smart, well a Winnebago actually.

The Mercedes, its a diesel, has averaged according to its computer 30.1 mpg since new which isn't bad at all considering 130mph and 0-60 in 8 secs potential and 5 meters long and goodness knows how much it weighs. And before anyone asks no, it doesn't fit in the garage.

I particularly like how the grill looks like razor wire.

Father Ted, Dont you worry about engine wear?

You don't have a truly "green" car until you've rescued one from a scrapyard and rebuilt it using the parts of around a dozen others (not to mention hundreds of hours of labour and gallons of blood / sweat / tears). I shouldn't have to pay any road tax - due to my recycling efforts the Government should pay me...

[IMG]http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd37/hefty1969/006qees/IMGP5216.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd37/hefty1969/006qees/IMGP5218.jpg[/IMG]

PS. She loves scampering in the snow! Forget your flabby 4x4's and school run MPV's and get a Swedish car with a set of TOYO Proxes - you'll never look back!

Just like " Wheeler Dealers ", Hefty. Looking at that wonderful job you have done, Ed probably has found his master.

Martin.

Though knocked by many, I have a Jeep 4x4, went out in the heavy snow today with it to take pics. Will post them in later. Came across many stranded normal cars. No one knocked mine today though.

Thanks Martin! I used to love Wheeler Dealers and I quite fancy (re)building a Porsche 924 next - this was my second "Project Saab 900" (not including the mint low mileage example sat in the garage) so I need a different challenge.

Hows this one then? I could have any car i liked and not pay any road tax at all (if I could afford it).
With my war disability pension i am car tax exempt.
But they dont give me that much so I am just stuck with my Suzuki Ignis,£25 a month fuel bill the only bit i like.
But I can still dream

You sure are a handy chap, Hefty, I wish you lived next door to me Nice job on the Saab

I am somewhat fortunate, as the company I work for supplies me with a new vehicle every 3 years and they pay all the fuel, insurance and maintenance costs. I haven't payed for fuel in 6 years.

What baffles me though is they always buy the biggest gas guzzler on the market I asked them if I can have a small 4 cylinder utility truck with a LPG conversion which will carry my bike and other riding equipment, I was denied because they didn't think driving a utility truck fitted the company image

Erm?? No!
If you mean wear due to the veggie oil, the diesel engine was invented to run on veggie oil ( well peanut oil anyway ). Diesel fuel got it's name from the engine, not the other way around.

New diesels aren't happy with veggie oil because of the high pressures the fuel is pumped at, but mine is 14 years old with a traditional style injection system.

Does that make me almost as green as Hefty, as mine was rescued from Japan when it reached the end of its life there?

BTW, nice looking car Hefty, ( or, on this forum should that be; nice photographs of your car )