Today I have been mostly...

[PeterNem]

... polishing my car.

It's been a couple of months since it's had a good clean - I tend not to bother cleaning it as often in the summer as in the winter, as other than the stupid number of exploded insects I seem to hoover up and get stuck to the front bumper, it doesn't get too dirty.

Speaking of insects, they took some bloody getting off, so I had to have the whole aresenal at my disposal:

http://www.nemeiksas.com/forums/files/carclean1_171.jpg

Gave the engine bay a quick dust and wipe down while I was at it:

http://www.nemeiksas.com/forums/files/carclean2_914.jpg

Wehey, looking pretty clean:

http://www.nemeiksas.com/forums/files/carclean3_646.jpg

Been a while since I could see any decent reflections in it!:

http://www.nemeiksas.com/forums/files/carclean4_714.jpg

I didn't quite put as much effort in as I planned, and didn't get round to cleaning inside at all (that's tomorrow's job). My excuse is sorting a few stone chips and the damn insects took bloody ages - I always have a problem with that but I guess it can't be helped if I insist at driving at warp 9 on the motorway.

(edit: I've just had the idea that I shoul dhave taken some before photos... you could hardly read my number plate for the bugs - ah well, too late now!)

[Will]

Looking good! :)

Need some better alloys though ;) Oh and lower it too! :p

How are you enjoying that lovely duratec? I certainly loved mine :)

[PeterNem]

I agree about the alloys and lowering... unfortauntely at the moment money is a little tight.... My last income was from a student loan payment in April, and that dried up June time... I've been living on Overdraft and credit cards since!

Thankfully it's only a couple of weeks until I start work and a nice healthy starting bonus should all but clear my cards and overdraft.

Once I'm debt free though, I'm unsure if I want to spend any money on this car, or thing about getting something a little more powerful.

The 2.5 is a nice step up from the 2.0, but I still find myself wishing for a little more. I wish I had held fire now and waited until I could afford an ST220.

I think though my next car will be something from a different manufacturer - even though the Mk3 is a quite different car to the Mk2, it still feels amazingly similar and I sometimes forget I've only had this car since December last year, it seems like a lot longer!

If I do swap for something else it'll probably be next summer, but it'll need to be a similar size as I'm always moving about and not being able to fit all my stuff in my car would annoy me, plus I'll probably use it for work a bit.

I'm thinking of doing a Fox and becoming a 5-series fanboy.

[Will]

Nothing wrong with the 540, M5 (not the new one, but the previous one E39 I think?) or maybe the 530... otherwise it's just another BMW - though they can be very luxurious they don't set me on fire I must say.,

[PeterNem]

If I did get one I'd definately be after one of the larger engined models, otherwise it's just another little step and I'll get bored of it a little too quick. Not sure I could stretch to the costs of owning an M5, but a 540 sport would be nice ;)

[Will]

As long as it's not an automatic ;) :D

[Desmo]

Nowt wrong with the auto's matey :)
I actually quite like it and would deffo look at getting an auto for my next car, as long as it has some kind of steptronic with it.
But then, maybe that's just another sign of getting old, lol.

[Will]

I've driven dozens of autos - and yes it's easy lazy driving and if you have a powerful car it's not a problem. I just don't like them at all. I like being in control of the gears/clutch at all times. I'd hate an automatic motorbike even more. I'm a control freak I guess :p

[PeterNem]

I've only ever driven one auto and that was attached to a lazy pushrod 3.5 V6 engine in a hirecar in the states. The box was actually surprisingly quick and smooth shifting, and had manual override. It was ideal for long journeys on dead straight US interstates and the stop-start suburban routes with traffic lights on major intersections every couple of fhundred yards.

However, despite seeing the positive sides, I think that unless I was living right in the middle of a busy city and had to regularly drive in town, I'd not want an autobox myself.

[Flibster]

Nice to see you're keeping a local company in profit. ;)

Autoglym is just round the corner from me. Yay for free samples. :party1:

Looks nice and shiny too. Really should do my Renault again while the weather is ok. Need to get some swirl marks out. :(

Simon/~Flibster