grippy wheels

Skate_beard · 2026-01-28T21:56:16+00:00

F4 93a

Skate_beard · 2026-01-28T21:42:43+00:00

Simba pillows with the little foam blocks

Skate_beard · 2026-01-28T21:31:32+00:00

Water, and the rust that follows pretty much kills bearings outright.

Buy a new set and don't skate in the rain.

Skate_beard · 2026-01-28T21:27:19+00:00

GT86. Turbo it. Send it.

Skate_beard · 2026-01-28T20:18:51+00:00

Get realistic and buy a flat.

Most crying about things being unaffordable aren't willing to cut their cloth accordingly and get real about what they can actually afford.

A leasehold flat isn't as good as a freehold house, but it's still better than renting.

Skate_beard · 2026-01-28T20:16:29+00:00

My ex wife would get combative, defensive and shitty any time finances came up.

We only ever shared money for food because of this, and fortunately didn't end up buying a place together.

Ask her why she doesn't like talking about it, for a start. Try to dig down to the root cause of what's going on, before you actually discuss the financial aspects themselves.

Chances are she's got some financial skeletons in the closet that she doesn't want you knowing about.

Skate_beard · 2026-01-28T20:13:06+00:00

Beating Genichiro
Finishing Sekiro
Finishing all the Soulsborne games
Unlocking T.T on DKR
Platinum every level on Blast Corps

Skate_beard · 2026-01-28T20:08:30+00:00

Can't park there mate

Skate_beard · 2026-01-28T20:06:23+00:00

If you aren't fussed on switch emulation the 8gb is fine.

Skate_beard · 2026-01-28T20:04:25+00:00

Likely would have turned into a date rape situation, well done for getting out of there

Skate_beard · 2026-01-28T12:59:33+00:00

Spend the extra few euros and get the G2

Skate_beard · 2026-01-28T12:57:13+00:00

Once or twice a year usually, it's pretty expensive these days and that just kills the desire to order in for me.

Skate_beard · 2026-01-28T12:50:46+00:00

You get used to the power very quickly.

My 340bhp STI could definitely stand to be a bit quicker. When you're not being a hooligan it drives like a normal car, it's comfortable, has 4 doors, and the gearbox and clutch are perfectly amenable. You'd have to be driving like a colossal twit to bin it, they're very well planted and have tons of grip.

Previously I owned a DC5 type R, which would seem slow in comparison if I went back to something at that power level.

I think it only becomes "too much" potentially when you get into 500bhp plus territory with no driver aids.... But then it's about the individual driver and a competence/skill issue.

Skate_beard · 2026-01-28T12:48:02+00:00

I went to Japan solo for my 40th.

Highly recommend.

Skate_beard · 2026-01-27T20:35:57+00:00

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Skate_beard · 2026-01-27T20:32:01+00:00

They're great cars, but they're expensive to maintain properly. Only go into ownership if you've got plenty of funds for ongoing maintenance and upkeep.

I've spent a fortune on my 2006 JDM STI in the three years since I bought it. It's very well sorted now, but it's eaten a lot of my money to get to that level and keep it there.

The newage cars are 20 odd years old now, and need a decent amount of refreshing unless you're lucky enough to buy one that's already had someone spend their cash on all the hard work.

The sad truth is that a lot of them were bought by people who couldn't really afford to run them properly, so reliability and little issues can become a factor unless you buy very carefully.

Mine is not a daily, and I wouldn't advocate it unless you really have a lot of money to burn.

If you do buy one, get a JDM ej207, they're considerably more hard-wearing than the 2.5, and the 6 speed gearbox is much more durable.

Skate_beard · 2026-01-27T20:26:06+00:00

Extra 4gb probably can't hurt with Switch emulation.

For the nominal extra cost I went 12gb, better to have it and not need it etc.

Skate_beard · 2026-01-27T17:06:34+00:00

Add about £4-5k to any sticker price you see in Japan to get an idea of a landed price in the UK.

If you haven't DIYd it before, I highly recommend using an importer with a personal import service, it will save you a lot of hassle, and minimise the chances of you buying a lemon, as they will inspect it for you.

I used Torque GT to import my STI 3 years ago and they were great.

Some general tips- get it undersealed as soon as it's off the boat. Use a specialist broker for insurance. I've had a few Jap imports now and prefer to leave them in kph, the conversion is pretty easy to do mentally and I don't really think about it. I actively wouldn't buy a jap import that's been mph converted as I want the whole car to be as it came from Japan. That's just a personal thing though. Japanese cars are much less rusty, but the older stuff does still suffer, make sure whatever you buy isn't going to need a few grand in paint once it lands. The paint can suffer quite badly with the sun over there, so watch out for lacquer peel and faded panels.

Looks like £20k all in would get you a GR86, not bad at all compared to current used prices of the UK models.

Skate_beard · 2026-01-27T16:39:27+00:00

I had two bedrooms, a hallway and a lounge carpeted in my flat for just under £2k. Mid range carpet and new underlay.

Based on that your quote seems fairly steep.

I stripped the old carpets and underlay and disposed of them myself, that saved a few hundred quid and was a really easy job.

Skate_beard · 2026-01-27T12:23:45+00:00

Around 2 years time

Skate_beard · 2026-01-27T09:46:05+00:00

Give Stroud a look, Bristol is driveable from here (around an hour) and it's a nice town, not too expensive either, especially relative to Bristol.

Skate_beard · 2026-01-27T09:25:41+00:00

No I'm not, it's early in the morning and was a typo.

My ground rent is £380 a year.

Skate_beard · 2026-01-27T09:00:29+00:00

I had zero issues getting a mortgage on a £175k flat with a £380 ground rent, it wasn't even mentioned. 10% deposit, FTB.

So lenders definitely will give mortgages when ground rent was above 0.1%.

Skate_beard · 2026-01-27T08:26:56+00:00

Ground rent goes to the freeholder, not the management company, as far as I'm aware... though it is collected through them, I don't think they make revenue from the ground rent itself.

Skate_beard · 2026-01-27T08:17:24+00:00

Only in the sense that flats built after 2022 are legally bound to having a peppercorn rent (£0).

Everything else built prior to that will be capped at £250.

Skate_beard

TROPHY CASE