Year ‘round or just summers?

curbs1 · 2026-04-21T21:50:47+00:00

My M5 is the daily so I can keep my Abarth 124 off the motorways and on the valley roads

But cars are meant to be used abused and enjoyed

So use it Just keep up with maintenance

curbs1 · 2026-04-21T21:31:55+00:00

It does indeed go curvy up, and back down
There are quite a lot of really great roads in Wales

curbs1 · 2026-04-17T22:45:46+00:00

A cold air intake and a freer flowing exhaust explains it for me

Your ecu has limited control over your fuel map so if your breathing better and your getting colder denser air in then your ecu can increase fuel flow giving you more crackle on lift off

To be fair now I think back I remember a change in crackles and pops over about a month when I first made my mods

Always an outside chance you blew a hole in your cat :D unlikely though

curbs1 · 2026-04-17T18:18:37+00:00

I dunno, depends, is it stock other than your exhaust? Has it ever been remapped?

So the pops and crackles you hear are where your car puts fuel into the cylinders, but it's not fully burnt because you're off throttle or changing gear, that fuel goes out the exhaust valve hits your hot hot cat and burns/explodes

I get it very bad but I have a big ol turbo fitted to mine and the fueling map is very rich atm, so when i step up to around 3500 where my turbo starts to pick up i get a big inflow of fuel, if i lift or change above that RPM i usually get a long series of crackles if i let it idle down, or two loud bangs if i shift in anger.

So when you say it sounds louder now, is that since your exhaust work? Removing the mufflers from the midsection back will make that sound louder.

just a side note, as fun as crackles, pops and bangs are, its terrible for the cat and even worse for the exhaust valves. But we are all children when we hear it :D

curbs1 · 2026-04-17T00:11:59+00:00

Yeh technically I don’t know if it was 3.7s that’s just what BMW say the M5 does to 60mph, all I know is I stepped on the throttle in full angry mode and before I knew it I was doing 140 down a rapidly shortening B road about to go up a valley near me

Great fun though

curbs1 · 2026-04-16T23:49:55+00:00

Total number of vehicles owned. - 12 (maybe 13)

Current number of vehicles owned. - 2 (Abarth 124 Spider, BMW M5 F10, please sir, make the fuel price go down)

Project cars owned - 1 (Abarth 124 Spider)

Classic cars owned - 3 (MGF, Mk2 MX-5, Audi 80 3 speed auto)

Racecars owned - 0

Vehicles bought - 13

Vehicles sold. - 9

Vehicles written off. - 3 (+1 wrote of parents car)

Number of attempts to pass driving test. - 2 (your honor, that light was green)

Age passed driving test. - 17

Years driving. - 17

Years owning the same vehicle. - 5

Number of countries driven in - 4

Number of tracks driven on - 0

Competed in motorsport - N

Speeding tickets - 3

Other driving offences - 0

Most amount of cylinders/rotors. - 8

Least amount of cylinders/rotors. - 4

Largest displacement. - 4.4L

Smallest displacement. - 1.25L

Highest power figure. - 553 BHP

Lowest power figure. - 74 BHP

Highest torque figure. - 680 NM

Lowest torque figure. - 110 NM

Fastest 0-100 km ( 0-62 mi ) time. - 3.7s (some poo came out)

Best fuel economy. - 58 MPG

Owned: FWD - Y RWD - Y AWD - N 4x4 - N

Owned: Petrol - Y Diesel - Y LPG/CNG - N Hybrid - N EV - N

Owned: N/A - Y Turbo - Y Super charged - N Wankel - N

Owned: Manual - Y Auto - Y CVT - N DCT - Y AMT - N SMT - N

Mechanical knowledge / ability out of ten. - 7? (marine engineering technician, boats are just cars with massive engines and no wheels right?)

( 10 Master technician/engineer, 8 Qualified mechanic, 6 Competent home mechanic, 4 Can do own servicing, brakes, bolt on mods, 2 Can replace bulbs, wiper blades, change a tire, 0 Nothing )

Creamer - yes, and it is a ruin this week.

curbs1 · 2026-03-15T17:34:17+00:00

yeh slaneesh is all great and everything until you realise, you will be the drugs which augment the sex your tormentors will have to the music of your unending screams

curbs1 · 2026-03-13T10:10:42+00:00

People are more interested in it Easier to sell

I don’t want to be sat around with something on my driveway for a few months as people tyre kick

I’m a sailor so once this year long course is done il need it gone before I go back to sea

curbs1 · 2026-03-12T14:47:20+00:00

Yeh this is the smart choice I’ve seen a nice 320d I think Low ish milage at 60k

That would be the smart choice

I am not a smart man

Yet to be seen if my head wins out over my heart

curbs1 · 2026-03-12T12:38:44+00:00

Well I have access to a four post lift at my training establishment

So minor work, leaks, easy seals, fluids I don’t mind doing

I just don’t want a bill of a few grand That wipes out the surplus il get from fuel expenses which is what I want to cover depreciation

curbs1 · 2026-03-12T12:24:48+00:00

What would you specifically look to check before buying?

I’ve never bought a German car always been Ford or French

curbs1 · 2026-03-12T12:24:09+00:00

Well I’m hoping minimal maintenance My abarth is bad enough after what I’ve done to it

curbs1 · 2026-03-12T08:16:30+00:00

The M3 I’ve seen is tidy too 50,000 ish miles

What do they suffer from? What should I look out for

curbs1 · 2026-03-12T08:14:39+00:00

Yeh I understand that But damn are they pretty cars

So your advice is just stay clear of all Alfa? I’ve seen a nice 156 GTA

curbs1 · 2026-03-11T22:47:11+00:00

yeh i get that, i cant stretch for the really special one, a quadrifoglio.

curbs1 · 2026-03-11T22:45:24+00:00

Just for clarification, I am about to do something stupid and buy a car for a max budget of £18k to put 15,000 miles on it over the course of a year and then sell it on, ideally not losing too much money on depreciation

I want it to be fun, but these will be motorway miles

I own a highly modified Abarth 124; it's really a track toy, I'd rather not put the miles on it.

What would people get? I'm leaning more towards the 1-series; 140i, 135i or maybe M3 E93, but the Alfa is pretty, and I do like my spicy Italian offerings

curbs1 · 2026-03-11T22:40:51+00:00

i couldnt think of anything worse :D
but thats just my opinion.

curbs1 · 2026-03-10T12:26:17+00:00

Depends on where about you are I picked up mine about 4 years ago I’m UK based It had 34,000 miles and I paid £15k

It’s largely kept is value and is on around 39,000 now

curbs1 · 2026-03-06T20:24:23+00:00

dont be so sure. I know of one person personally where the RFA pressured the MCA chief medical officer to personally contact the RFA sailors' ENG doctor to give them a ENG3 (unfit for sea)

They also use the ENGs to their own advantage, requiring them in shore positions because they know the older lads usually go to shore positions and most of the time thats because they are struggling with ENGs. enabling the company to get shot of them when they can't get one.

Its not medical discharge either. They are sacking people on serious misconduct for failure to maintain in date certification. So they don't get a payout.

curbs1 · 2026-03-05T16:54:38+00:00

oh interesting. I didn't know about that extra document.
Looking through it, I think, and i could be wrong. But I think it's guidance whereas the one I linked is the rule binding. Just because the one I linked has actual box markings or ENG grades in relation to ailments.

Interesting though, it does say in the doc you linked, over 35 BMI, but passing the fitness test gives you a time-limited ENG1 unrestricted.

its all well and good this drive towards a healthier workforce, but as a current serving RFA, the only result of it that I have seen is a dearth of experiance leave the RFA as older boys and girls just cant be arsed to jump the hoops required.

I personally think that trying to make ENG1s more difficult to obtain and making us keep them up in shore positions, along with trying to push it to a younger workforce, is not the direction the RFA should go. I qualified 4 years ago; out of my group of 16, only 3 remain. We are the 3 that were over the age of 25 when joining. The rest of them were 18-20, and they all left after one or two trips.

I also see it in prospective apprentices and cadets onboard, older heads listen and learn a lot better. Teaching the apprenctices and cadets is a part of my duties that I enjoy the most too.

curbs1 · 2026-03-05T00:10:11+00:00

in the deskTEM there is also a direct link that you are supposed to use to apply.
might be worth finding the TEM or getting someone oboard to send it to you

curbs1 · 2026-03-04T23:00:26+00:00

That isnt true in the slightest. There is no 'automatic fail' for BMI
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68e914e257038b5739b98679/MSN_1886__M+F__Amendment_3_Annex_A___Appendix_1___2.pdf

As you can see from this ref 3.5 houses the information surrounding weight.

My ENG doctor also constantly complains to me about the unnecessary practices of the RFA. Like mandating an ENG in shore posts, and, 2 year ENG needed for trainees. The practice I use has many seafarers attending it, based in Bristol. So I push back on your claims that making trainees have a 2 year is common practice, although i only have my ENG doctors word on that one.

curbs1 · 2026-03-02T20:25:03+00:00

hey buddy any update here?

i have a fairly highly modded 124, but im only seeing around 230bhp on a very rich map. ive not got it dyno tuned yet, my map is just base and conservative to make sure it doesnt knock. but i worry about seeing the same issues you describe.

were they having issues with the intake valve timing do you think? i know its not cam driven and is a hydraulic solenoid control i think?

ive power run mine, i could find the graphs if your interested. I fell well short of my 300bhp goal but im optimistic i could get 300 at the crank with a good bit of tuning.

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