New addition to my garage Options

[Aircooled]

Totally wish winters didn't suck so much. Back in the 90s we used to get fairly decent snowfalls....

[speedyK]

We had lovely spring weather here yesterday, so I took the chance to do my standard "dandelion" shots

First, the Clio RS in the afternoon sun










The weather forecast is not good for the next few days, so I got some shots of the Matra too in the evening sun. Not quite as bright...

New floormats

[Synesthesia]

The seats in the Matra look like sofas.

[speedyK]

Yeah, the french take on luxury was buttoned velour in the 2.2 litre version of the Murena.

The 1.6 litre had a houndstooth pattern – like sitting on a jacket

[OHirtenfelder]

I'm so jealous of you Speedy. You live in such a beautiful place! And you have so many awesome cars, too

[speedyK]

I know that I am rather lucky

[shandyman5]

I know that I am rather lucky

Great picture speedy! By the way, I have to PM you again soon in response to your last message a few months ago, time is getting close for me to head over there!

I am trying to work on an evening picture in my garage where it looks like a dark cave setting and all you see are the LED's and fog lights of the Porsche and new Mustang... A sort of tiger in the cave, prowl type pose.

[speedyK]

A sort of tiger in the cave, prowl type pose.

Sounds cool. I was aiming for something like that with this shot, but didn't have the idea of a night shot.


But I love night shots too

[speedyK]

Yesterday, I change the Smart over to its summer tyres, then took off the hardtop and stored it away.




And, as the weather was nice, I treated myself to a little drive with the electric soft top retracted. Bliss!












It's such a delight to drive this little car – there is no other car that gives me more pleasure under normal, flitting-about road conditions. If it got written-off, I'd go straight out and buy the best Brabus Xclusive I could find, as there is still nothing else that could replace it.

[OHirtenfelder]

Awesome! Looks like fun.

[350Z]

Did you have the roof leak issue on the smart?

[speedyK]

No serious leaks – just the odd dribble down the inside of the window if I jet-wash it. Certainly no worse than on other European targas I've owned (Triumph TR4A IRS Surrey Top, Fiat X1/9 1500, Lancia Beta Spider, Opel Speedster, Lotus Exige) – but none were bad. The only absolutely 100% water-tight one was the Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo 2+2 – no surprises there then!


But the Smart system is superb, allowing opening or closing even at three-figure speeds

[350Z]

Good to hear, I have seen some VERY bad cases of it.

[speedyK]

I've now got the OZ Alleggerita HLT rims with new Conti summer tyres on the Clio RS. They are soooo light – a whole armful of nothingness when you lift one up

[clarkma5]

Very nice but I gotta admit I'm pretty disappointed with Continentals at this point. They're lightweight but they're soft in the sidewall and don't seem to have compounds that stand up to the heat of really heavy driving or track work. For ages and ages I've said that with tires it's more about comparing models than brands, but the farther along I get the more I'm just impressed with how Michelin makes tires.

[speedyK]

I chose Conti because they did best in the tests – but I've heard people complain about soft sidewalls on Contis before – particular in relation to the Matra Murena (which uses 60-series tyres and the choice is limited).

If they brake better in the dry and wet and don't aquaplane so readily compared to other tyres, then I can probably live with them if they are a little soft.

[clarkma5]

I've also been disappointed with the aquaplaning of my Contis compared to my Michelins...wet grip is fine if there isn't standing water but I'll swear my Continental ContiExtremeContact DWs get squirrelly with full tread where my Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2s on the wear bars would glide serenely through.

Those are ContiSportContact 3s I take it?

[speedyK]

Yep, ContiSportContact 3

Test results

Review

Apparently, the ContiSport Contact 5 is not so good:

Rounding out the top 6 is the Continental Sport Contact 5. This result will disappoint Continental, as the Sport Contact 3 was nearly exclusively a test winner

>More here>

I have used Michelin, Pirelli, Dunlop, Bridgestone and Yokohama as well as Continental (summer and winter tyres). I tend to go with what the latest tests say about the size I want – and that changes each year, though Conti have been on a run the last few years. Looks like that might be coming to an end...

[speedyK]

My car fleet is going to go up from 8 to 9 soon – though a couple are due to be sold (I've only got garaging for 7).

It was the right time to buy this new one. – for various reasons.

I'm not saying what it is yet (but you won't like it anyway). My family were all for it though and are pleasesd that I'm buying a white one.

In case you think it's a Fiat 500 or similar, perhaps I should say that it has 20" rims and all mod cons – including 4wd.

[Bjorn]

PDK 991 C4s?