The (sort of...) Jap scrap (sort of...) sensible turnip garage

Phil_D

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Phil_D
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svensktoppen said:
Been flat out enjoying the last days of freedom, garden leave rocks 😁 Amazing how busy you get when not working 😇

Went on a roadtrip with Emma, the wee Volvo. A week in the civilised bit of Sweden down south. Then two days and 1000 miles up to the other nice bit in the far north, past the Arctic circle. Across from there to Narvik and Lofoten in Norway, and then just over a week down the length of Norway. It was ... quite epic! A few highlights below, more here:

www.flickr.com

Sweden Norway 2022

Trip up through Sweden to Abisko, and down through Norway.
www.flickr.com www.flickr.com

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That looks absolutely fantastic, want to do that..
 

svensktoppen

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Phil_D said:
That looks absolutely fantastic, want to do that..
Click to expand...
Do it. It's a long drive, but what a drive 😁 You can get to some really good bits of Norway without going over the top as it were. Save a couple thousand miles. But the northernmost bits are truly spectacular.
 

Phil_D

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Cheers Sven, will give you a shout about it.. When do you think is the best time to go ?
 

svensktoppen

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Definitely summer, June through August. Some places get very busy with tourists but still plenty of quiet spots away from the hoards. The main European holiday season in August probably the busiest.

April/May can be fun on some of the high roads, the road cut through deep snow with tall walls either side. At that time of year you get some warm days but still plenty of snow around. The Norwegians call them "Orange days" as the done thing to do is head out on skis with a pack full of Oranges and chocolate, lol. But the roads will be hit and miss and some may still be closed.

Winter gets very messy on the road, and most of the high roads closed completely, or for bad weather.

Up north the season is shorter but the days longer in summer. And midnight sun and all that.
 

svensktoppen

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Wee red has been stretching her legs a bit of late. Went to Sweden to look in the old folks, but unfortunately the weather was too horrible for any decent pictures.

She got a run to Yorkshire as well last weekend, she absolutely loves it there. Got a brilliant autumn day on the Saturday.

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Couple of ridiculously wet weeks in England in between. It really wasn't the nicest trip ever, lol. But turns out she does paddle steamer duties just fine 😇

Also turns out that 255-wide tyres can get a bit... interesting... through deep standing water... But no bother, keep the foot in and it's all fine 😅 🤫

Oh, and the new intake is fantastic!
 

svensktoppen

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Oh and this arrived in the post! Rumour has it a fair few people are cutting back now so he's letting anyone in 😅

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To be honest I'm not sure. Not being local I won't get any use of the facilities, and I'm not really into the rubbing shoulders bit. The Fellowship gives most of the benefits for quite a bit less.

It is kind of cool though 😁
 

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Have to say I'm seriously impressed by these PS4S tyres. They're immense on warm dry roads, of course. But even in conditions like the above they're hugely impressive. Not a patch on a proper winter tyre, obviously. But for 255 wide summer performance tyres they're very good even in cold wet and slush.
 

G24NTR

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svensktoppen said:
Have to say I'm seriously impressed by these PS4S tyres. They're immense on warm dry roads, of course. But even in conditions like the above they're hugely impressive. Not a patch on a proper winter tyre, obviously. But for 255 wide summer performance tyres they're very good even in cold wet and slush.
Click to expand...

TBH I don't really get the hype with them, in summer yes they are ok, but not in winter. Though they've been heat cycled a few times so perhaps why I'm experiencing less than stellar performance.

I found the PS4 better for my driving style in both summer and winter. Also tried out Rainsport 5 recently on my old 2 series and wet performance I've been really impressed with. Conti Sport Contact 7 are next on the list.
 

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Honey, please don't be mad!

Had been thinking about getting something sensible and comfortable for the English motorways and general runabout duties. So...I ended up buying another old Volvo 🙈 It makes total sense, in some universe somewhere 😅

Meet Olive, a 1997 auto 850R in the metallic green:

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Came with the most comprehensive service history I have ever seen. Twenty two years, with the same owner, at the same Volvo dealer in Kendal. Receipts for everything down to light bulbs, all from that same dealer. She's not perfect, an honest 25 year old car that has been used but looked after. Completely standard, never messed with, absolutely everything works. Not flawless but solid and the colour is lovely.

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The auto is old-school, which is very relaxing when floating around. But the box also has a sport mode - yay! - that really sharpens things up, holding gears all the way and unlocking the full performance. Proper Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. These cars are absolutely hilarious to drive when you open the taps. They go like no antique wardrobe on wheels has any right to go. Or ability to deal with to be perfectly honest, cough. But they just leave you with a huge smile every single time, and that's what matters 😎

There is a fair bit of cleaning to do, but first off she's away for a good service and general seeing to. Happily there doesn't appear to be any structural issues underneath. Just a fair bit of surface rust, as you would expect on a car that's been used in the UK for 25 years. Will be cleaning that up and getting it all re-sealed over summer.

Did get a few jobs done myself first. Had a leftover strut brace lying around that was a perfect fit here, so that went in. See, I knew there was a rational reason for buying this car 😅

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For some reason the passenger side mirror had flat glass, which was totally doing my head in. Had a spare mirror lying around, so swapped to the wide angle glass from that. A bit fiddly but got there without breaking anything.

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The driver side screen wash nozzle was completely blocked. Full of black gunge all the way back up the hose to the t-junction. No idea where that came from. Rinsed it all out well with Lazer which unblocked the hose, and then pulled out two new nozzles from the spare parts bin. They are a later version as well, with spray nozzles instead of two jets.

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So that's it, and thanks for reading this far 😎
 

svensktoppen

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They're amazing cruisers even 25 years on so definitely ticked that 😅

Old school vacuum and basic analogue electronics cruise control still works too! Who needs tons of lasers and radar and lidar and IR cameras and a car full of super computers just to follow traffic, lol 😇
 
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