RockandorRoll

Love the Renaults, but if i had my time again id look at the Corolla just from a service and support point of view. Renault Australia are useless. Plus the aftermarket is bigger as a result of global market for the Toyota.

Some more info on this popped up in my YouTube feed Cool to see a China based view and i like the summary 'as desperate, stop gap products go, the EZ6 is a pretty good one"

The a290 is only getting the Megane E powertrain, so best case would be mid 6's. Then there is the R5 Turbo which has also been announced for Aus, people are estimating $200k price tag though. I dont think ill be giving Ateco that business

Ateco is a big problem for Renault Australia. That arrangement just does not work in Renault globals favour. Terrible service centres, staff dont know anything, no local parts. I get the feeling that they just want to off load it so they can focus on RAM. They have no idea what they are doing Would be the only thing stopping me from looking at the A290 if at arrives

Ah, the first comment on the Autogefuhl video suggested this was exactly the same as the Changan Shenlan SL03 with different badges. It does look slightly different after googling the Shenlan which was launched a few years ago. Seems there have been some more comments added since i first watched that video backing up your comments. Im familiar with platform and engine sharing across brands, hell my Renault Clio was a tarted up Pulsar. But from reading the Mazda video comments, i had the impression this has gone much deeper into a 'sourced' arrangement than a JV. Perhaps that is not the case.

Reading the comments on the launch video for this was interesting. It was the first time I have considered that brands could 'source' cars in the same way that other industries do. Badge engineering has been around for a long time, but actually working with a supplier, taking their car and badging it up under a new brand is something i hadnt considered. I wonder how much of an option this actually could be. Chinese brands have an image problem, Existing brands have a technology/investment problem. It would make sense to partner up and rebadge existing product. Works perfectly for smaller brands like Mazda

Not in Adelaide unfortunately. We did go see Kip Moore a few weeks back when he came through. That was a hell of a show.

Getting into as much Red Dirt Country as i can, what a terrific niche Loving this album at the moment as a representative of the genre Give "No one else like me" a spin,

Pretty keen on the Polestar 2 as my next car. Tesla Model 3 makes more sense, but I like the driver focused interior of the P2. Would love the Performance Pack, but it just doesn't make sense financially. Big brakes are cool and all, but not sure it's worth 10K. Or I be boring, keep my hot hatch and buy a hybrid SUV for daily duties...

No mention of Perfohub, mechanical LSD or hydraulic bump stops so not sure its in the same league. But i only watched Petrol Peds launch video, others may have mentioned they these are included The E Diff might do some magic but i don't think there is a motor on each hub like other 'EV Hot Hatches'

Im not sure Golf R owners would want that, especially if they rip out seats, sound deadening, tech to make it lighter. These are all the things that make the Golf R what it is. Limited production run like the Morizo Corolla, or Type R S, or Trophy-R, maybe. Then the die hards could get it, but I'm not sure a diehard Golf R owner exists.

I wondered if that news would be picked up by anyone here. As a Finn owner of many years, i still love them and can't see myself parting with them. Sad to see the company go, I would have loved to move up the range someday. I've tried many brands, B&W, VAF, Focal, Lenehan Audio, Monitor Audio. Verity just did everything right for me.

Not at all. I think Harry Metcalfe just went through the same thing. Different costs, but some of the arguments are the same.

Really good follow up to a lot of the comments in this discussion. The breadcrumbing and incremental top up discussion starts at 16m mark

The part I found most interesting with the EV comparison was the cost difference. I didnt know that the public chargers were so expensive! Whether the charging time could be quicker or not wasn't so much an issue, as I also thought it was silly charging to 100%, everyone knows that's not optimum when on the road. I think you know that there will be extra time, just need to optimise for that. But the cost was really surprising. Paul has said it previously in shorts, that the Electricity price is only going up, while at least with Petrol there is some reprieve. All prices rise over time, but the cynic in me cant help but think there is government interference in the electricity pricing, trying to claw back the losses from petrol tax income. EVs make the most sense to me as something that does the daily routine and then gets charged up using the battery power at home after it has been collected by your solar system during the day.

Hi All Does anyone know what the difference is between the Luxman L550A ii and the L550AX ii What does the X add, Im assuming its the Lecua tech? Is that a big upgrade?

I like the Seal, could see myself getting into one of those. Wish people would stop calling that rear trim a diffuser though, its just a trim piece that doesnt go under the car at all and would provide no downforce. Polestar 2 also looks good, but at nearly $100k for the one with Ohlins and Brembos (or Akebono these days) its a tough upsell form the Seal.

I've been on the annual renewal for Roon for a few years now, (more than enough to cover the initial Lifetime membership fee) but find i just don't use it in comparison to just using my phone to cast Qobuz to my Wiim Pro. 90% of my music library is on Qobuz, the other 10% is when i pull out the CD or Vinyl. I dont think i'll renew Roon this year. Not saying this is a bad buy from Harman, just wondering if Roon themselves saw a decline and jumped at the first offer. I assume this is what every start up wants, build the product to a point they can sell to someone who is going to do the work, then they retire.

8 month old was flicking through the records this morning and found this one.

Im in the same boat with the skin cancers on the face Grumpy. Had 2 cut out already (BCC & SCC), too many years avoiding sunscreen has caught up with me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obi1I3IsGY8&list=WL&index=8

Just caught up on this whole story. Good to hear you are on the mend Grumpy!

Thats a much better price for the Golf GTi, starts looking like a good daily at that price.

From memory RenaultSport is the same, France, Germany, Australia, Japan. We do love our hot hatches. I think even at $120k+ AUD, The Golf R 333 would have found buyers here.

Was this German market only? The straight currency conversion to AUD doesn't mean much here. They are trying to make it special, i can appreciate that. The Golf R is extremely common these days, something rare is a good way to go.