GTAm

Agreed.

Thanks for the inputs guys. Will give you some feed back on the Avons in a few days/weeks.

Ah one of those ladies There were many people who offered to import a set but I really did not want to wait for the budget - chances are that everything will go up . And last morning's tyre damage prompted me to conclude purchase right away.

Turanza is terrible from my previous experience. Potenza is good. 37k a tyre. Thought about it but 20k extra for the 4 tyres

Used a set on my previous 156. Very good indeed. Not available.

Hi Don, Got the Avons yesterday as I kerbed the right front Dunlop accidentally while parking and the sidewall split. Avons are UK sourced according to the vendor cannot find a "Made in.........." tag anywhere though. Dunlop Sport Maxx was not available and anyway they are way beyond my budget. For that price I would go for Michelin Pilot Sports or Pirelli P-Zeros. They are about double the price of the tyres I purchased. They are high performance tyres that are really too good for the speeds we are able to drive at in SL, not to mention the some of the rutty roads we have to drive on. Just to give you the price differences the Avons were 32k a piece wile the Sport Maxx/Pilot Sport/P-Zeros would cost between 55 to 70k a piece. There was Michelin Premacy for 56k each. Still too much for me. Yes front end tyre wear is an issue on the 159. But the Goodyears lasted a lot longer than the Dunlops. They were used in UK already when the car arrived and I used them here for over a year. I had to replace them because the inner edges were gone as the camber was a very aggressively negative. Since then I have reduced the camber. However the Dunlops wasted in 10 months flat! And I felt the reduced grip almost immediately when I replaced. Can't blame the car for that can I? Engine is 2.2 JTS.

I think it was a bit of a show on RBR's part. Probably trying to get Ferrari excited and into a chase and busting their tyres. Alo seldom falls for such. That said Vettel need not have pushed so hard in the closing laps given the lead he had. I was thinking that someone would try a 3 stopper with the supersofts for the last stint. Might have been able to get close to qualifying times which were 2-3 secs quicker than the latter race pace. That was the only way Ferrari would have been able to challenge the bulls. But they played it safe.

Coming back after a near death experience isn't easy I suppose. He probably had internal conflicts about if it is worth the risk on one hand and on the other this is his chosen career, and it's too early to retire. Each time he was doing 200km/h and saw some debris on the road it must have reminded him of what happened. Not easy for "normal" people. I guess he's finally been able to overcome that fear.

I think it will be on Entrepot basis. The goods only come as far as our port. It does not have to enter the country. Then it is classified as exports. I know a bit about this type of trade because I did one some years ago. Not cars though.

Massa seemed to have more pace than Alo most of the time during the race. I guess his 2013 seat will now be confirmed. Vettel's pace was amazing.

None of the above. This instead - http://www.autolanka.com/ad.asp?ID=80413 It's sold but since it's still featured in AL classified..........

Hi Guys, I'm about to replace the front set on my Alfa 159, size - 225/55/17 (the correct size is 225/50/17 but there aren't any in that size) I've narrowed down to Avon W 101 XLs (if I recall right). They have a better speed rating than Pirelli P7's I was also considering and are sligntly cheaper. The car originally had Goodyear Eagle F1's which were fabulous. I had to change the fronts last year due to excessive negative camber (I failed to check) eating the inner sides and went with Dunlop SP Sport (cheapest option) which are near bald almost before a year!!! It's unbelievable how fast they've wasted. And the grip level was nowhere near the Goodyears. This is the first time I'm trying out Avon. I know it's new to SL but was just wondering if anyone had any info or experience before I part with the money. (Goodyear's aren't available and I can't afford Michelin Pilot Sport and Pirelli P Zeros which are about double the price). I've given up reading internet reviews because you get good and bad reviews for any brand and tyre model. So it is really not helpful. Considering that it's budget time next month I'm thinking of buying 4 and stocking 2 for later. Thanks in advance.

I expect Ferrari to have the pace to challenge for a win in the race. Looks like the small changes have worked well for qualifying. They are bring bigger changes for India. All in all looks set to be an exciting race.

It's quite amazing how low you could buy Euro cars because most others are scared of them. I once bought a one owner company director used Opel Omega for 560k. Absolute minter. Loved it and while I was using it got an offer for 680k a couple of months later and sold it. Regretted it as it was a great drivers car and what a lot of car for the money? I then bought a Peugeot 605 another minter one owner car. Got it for 650k. Awful to drive after the Omega sold it for 890k!!!

Yes. I think it is a great price if only those need replacement. What else can you buy for 600k these days?

Sounds like a great deal for 600k. It's a lot of car for the money. It's spacious and very comfy. If it's in good shape and you want to use it for a while then go ahead. Find a Volvo specialist and see that parts are available and things should be ok.

Finding a CRX 1 would be quite hard eh MasterDon?

D*MO's applied for an assembly license as recently as last year. Nothing has happened so far.

The values are less and so the Commissions are less when just the chassis and engines are imported.

True true. It's been on the cards. I think Diesel price is on target for increase from the IMF as it's subsidized. Typical. They make all the increases this month and then announce a budget in November that is soooooo people friendly and nothing goes up!

A bit of controversy here as I thought it was a given that everyone knows this. All are Chinese made and nothing is "assembled" here according to what I've heard (and seen). The cars come with body protective stickers, minus fluids and wheels off. Assembly amounts to removing stickers, filling up fluids, fitting wheels, oh and pasting the badges in place. The Sssangyongs have leather done here if opted. All this hardly gets close to 35% local content to qualify for even partial duty free status. Unfair advantage as "you know who" are now supposedly the major shareholders. The person who created the enterprise no longer has a say. They get to sell Diesel SUVs lower than competitors petrol ones. All other importers need to establish LCs for permit holders but they have them in stock at bonded warehouses in the port - quicker delivery.They have the whole country fooled. Why else has no one seen this state of the art factory? Should not this have been a show piece of the miracle of Asia? I think I better stop now as I see a couple of white vans outside.

Hi Chamath, interesting subject. I would go for the Corti as 504 are too much in demand to get a good one at a great price. The Mk3 Corti can be made to look cool. The challenge is to enhance it tastefully and not go over the top and make it an eyesore. Looking at the pics you posted I think you're on the right track. 800k is a decent amount for a project like this. But let me warn you things often take longer to achieve that we think it will take. And there are many pitfalls that you need to try and avoid. The main thing to remember when buying a not very rare old car like a Mk3 Corti is the body condition. The better it is, the more you will save cash for mechanical and cosmetic mods. So treat this as the most critical consideration. The body should be as original as possible. Avoid cars with lots of filler or rust. Take a guy who can tap around the car and creep underneath and knows what to look for. The second most important area to beware of is the Interior. On a car of this age it will be mostly plastic and can easily get destroyed. But if you can't find one with an original interior (use this as a bargaining tool), and since you want to go the "tuned" route you might be able to turn out a tasteful custom interior. The key word again is "tasteful". You also need to find a good tinker, a good painter and a good upholsterer if you want to get the look right. So beware they are a rare breed in Sri Lanka, especially tinkers. Finally in my view there is not much point in pimping up a car only to look fast if actually it is 1.3L underneath. Even 1.6 Corti's were yawningly slow. So as stage two have an idea to upgrade the performance of the car. Other cars you may want to consider are Escorts Mk 1 and 2 which will offer more performance and agility than the Corti owing to their lighter weight and have many performance enhancing parts in the UK. However if you like the US muscle car look of the Mk3 Corti go for it! Good luck!

Oops another fuel hike expected I guess Peri.....

The end of an era........again!

I can believe the story about the electrics on the Panda. I see many with their tail-lamps not working or the reverse lamps on when the car is going forward.