My parents had to fit locks to their windows for the insurance, and their insurance wouldn’t cover stuff if the house was left unlocked. They live in rural England- the crime level is very low. But the insurance required locks. Who the fuck knows why- I’ve broken into the house on more than one occasion when I’ve got…

I’m guessing something to do with the door mechanism? 

I think a lot of it is down to people really not giving a shit. I don’t think many people think much about it- they’re aware of the GM/Ford/Chrysler brands being ‘American’*, that reliable family cars are often Japanese and that expensive luxury cars are often German, but that’s probably about it. Hyundai as a name…

This is the fancy ‘launch edition’ car. It’s not the mass-market version. Same as with Tesla. The cheap version will come later, and without the early-adopter tax. The ‘normal’ version, the mid range car with the mid range battery, will about €10k less than the launch edition.

The system in my 3-cyl econobox is seamless, as it was in my previous 4-cyl econobox 🤷‍♂️ (both small displacement VW turbo engines, a 1.0 and a 1.2)

Let’s not forget the Fiat 500 has been around for a LONG time. It launched in Europe in 2007. 

Well aren’t you a sanctimonious twerp. 

6'2 and had a Skoda Citigo once as a courtesy car from the garage while mine was in for a service. Plenty of space, although there wasn’t much room behind me!

Boeing genuinely used this solution on the early 747s. They had an oscillation problem that was solved by putting a slug of depleted uranium in the outboard engines as a tuned mass damper. 

Totally agree. Although I would say that the Skoda lineup would be an interesting one to see in the US market. They have a decent lineup of small (by US standards) crossovers that are very much aimed at the comfortable and practical side of the market, not the sporty end. And the reliability is excellent. Add a proper…

This is pretty common across Europe in various different models of van. My local police force use a lot of Ford Transit Custom vans, with a similar interior by the looks of things. 

Here in the UK the police like Skoda Octavia VRS as an undercover car, often in black. It looks like a completely normal car that nobody would look twice at, but actually has a fair bit of go in a very practical bodyshell.

Good luck finding one that isn’t 90% rust. Those plastic arch extensions trap water and gunk and then the whole car rots. And Ford of the ‘90s didn’t have the best reputation when it comes to rust...

The Tipo is sold in Europe, just mainly as a hatchback and estate.

My 20 mile commute used to be 5 miles of stop/start traffic, then 15 miles of 70mph motorway. It’s now 5 miles of smooth 40-50mph then 15 miles of 70mph. I got 57 mpg driving home today! (47 mpg US)

Huh. I thought it just had a regular liftback hatch, that opens like the Superb furthest from the camera in my pic above.

Same here. My MPG has noticeably improved!

Did it? I thought the Mk.2 Toledo was just a normal sedan version of the Leon hatch, think Jetta to the Golf. 

Apart from the year of birth thing- I think I’m an e-Golf. I had coffee, born in April, although how you make an 8-cylinder electric motor I’m not sure. Maybe 8 sets of windings? I’m 28, so naming it after a sport works. Not sure about the fun to drive aspect, but by all accounts the normal Golf is pretty good for an…

Which BMW copied from the Mk.2 Skoda Superb, which even though it’s not a pretty car, is absolutely gorgeous compared to the 5GT.