Suspension sinks on Sundays! C5 X7 that works hard + 206 GTi HDi (and 406 Coupe and 306 HDi). - MattBLancs

[mickthemaverick]

Magic We share engines now Matt

Personally I think you'd be better off if you had one each!!

Well done Matt, I'll look forward to the tales to come

[MattBLancs]

...Am I correct that an 8'x4' is still too big to fit within even a C8?

I don't think a C8 would fit that size. In fact the only thing I can think of designed to carry that size board is a Transit van. That's what they were designed for.

Ah yes, I remember a Top Gear feature on the Transit (guessing 50? years anniversary of thier creation) and was mentioned that holding 8x4 was part of the design brief. Thought was a tall order for a C8 but sometimes hard to judge what fits what

Magic We share engines now Matt

Ha ha, yes we do! DV6 buddies!

I trust you negotiated a big discount for the wheels and tyres

To be honest, he'd knocked it down from £2995 to £2495 a few days ago, thought that was fair so did not haggle at all.

My spare is a space saver and blown up to a ridiculous pressure...

The one on the 206 is 60 psi from memory, would guess this is similar. Tyre looks pretty old, may seek out a full size wheel perhaps - imagine the clearance underneath takes a full size wheel otherwise where are you expecting to put the flat one which necessitates the space saver use?? Intriguing to see how it's fixed in place - there's no simple "wire rack" like under a 306 / 206!

Jealous of your electric pan roof blind... Mine are manual... Still, mine's a posh van and yours is a posh car so I'd expect yours to have the best kit

Interesting, didn't realise they did the big glass roof either anything other than electric blinds! My dad had a Grand Picasso / Space Tourer and the electric blind in that (which was a new car) was about as "unrefined" when operating as my C5, so the very quiet movement of the 308 was a surprise! (Another C5 project perhaps involving grease nipples may be in the pipeline!)

Oh that's a weirdness about the 308: the roof blind switch is...

... Next to the handbrake! (It's next to the front cabin lights on the C5 which seems eminently sensible)

[Rp0thejester]

I will say my favourite thing about the C8 is when I go to work in it. Get there early and all 6ft 2 of me sleeps in the back fully stretched without touching the driver's seat. I don't miss the van days. I do find that modern vehicles are way bigger than they need to be! I parked next to a Toyota Auris I believe, in the car park, was roughly the same size as mine!!!! Interesting that you're going for full boards and then add a foot on top of are you gunna cut them down to 5 and 4s?

[mickthemaverick]

I'd buy 6x3s which will go in the car and then make 9x6 panels with 3 boards, 2 vert and one across the top.

[Rp0thejester]

Now that makes sense

[MattBLancs]

I will say my favourite thing about the C8 is when I go to work in it. Get there early and all 6ft 2 of me sleeps in the back fully stretched without touching the driver's seat. I don't miss the van days. I do find that modern vehicles are way bigger than they need to be! I parked next to a Toyota Auris I believe, in the car park, was roughly the same size as mine!!!!

I agree, cars seem to be growing year on year. But not always to the benefit of interior space either! Had an Insignia Estate hire car a few years back - external dimensions were chuffing massive, but interior, in particular the boot appeared to have nothing over the Astra Estate hire cars I was normally provided with.

Nissan Qashqui was the most surprising, again big externally but really small inside! To the extent I can't understand why you'd buy one!

Interesting that you're going for full boards and then add a foot on top of are you gunna cut them down to 5 and 4s?

Sorry, think I've talked a bit garbled and confused matters! This was what was used on "our house" and is template for the "project house" next door:
Internal walls = used full sheet 2700x1200 boards
Ceilings= used 2400x1200 boards
External walls = used 2400x1200 insulated plasterboard (couldn't find 2700 insulated boards)

I'd buy 6x3s which will go in the car and then make 9x6 panels with 3 boards, 2 vert and one across the top.

From memory 1800x900 boards will go in the back of the 306 with the rear seats down, but did not use more than a couple of them on "our house" as local sources it was near enough same price for an 1800x900 as it was for a 2400x1200!
Anyway, getting boards that will fit in the car turns the big trailer into just a garden ornament, so one justified the other!

[Rp0thejester]

So you need to swallow your pride and admit you own a big planter on wheels, just like an original owner of an early Skoda would admit to owning a skip.

[MattBLancs]

So you need to swallow your pride and admit you own a big planter on wheels, just like an original owner of an early Skoda would admit to owning a skip.

Absolutely, and indeed: never!

In fairness the big trailer had spent an indeterminate amount of time in a farmers field (to the extent the floor it came with remained in the field when the chassis/frame was dragged out by tractor!) Before I bought it, so it's already had a go at being "purely decorative" !

I've put it back to work - keen to see how it tows behind the 308 - though Sarah had said she's not keen on having a go at that as yet!
She also previously said of both the Coupe and the C5 "far to big, not driving that!!" and subsequently has had need to do so (and has accomplished it with aplomb in both cases) so she's got form for severely under estimating her abilities!

[MattBLancs]

Big trailer in "as bought" condition:

[Rp0thejester]

Well that's not a skip on wheels...it has A wheel. It's a flat tippers dream load it up and drive off, rubbish stays where it is

[CitroJim]

My space saver is 60 psi but because of where it lives I have no choice... Still, a space saver is still a big improvement over the can of foam and a little 12v compressor some moderns come with...

Oh that's a weirdness about the 308: the roof blind switch is...

... Next to the handbrake! (It's next to the front cabin lights on the C5 which seems eminently sensible)

Ahh, yes, Never in the original design brief so plonk it wherever a blindfolded person happens to stick a pin... Late Xantia suffered from some weird component locations in a similar vein... The autobox ECU and Activa accumulator under the battery tray for one. Items beautifully hidden in one of the most corrosive atmospheres on a car...

I will say my favourite thing about the C8 is when I go to work in it. Get there early and all 6ft 2 of me sleeps in the back fully stretched without touching the driver's seat.

I reckon I could sleep in my posh van too Always a good thing to be able to do...

I've been shocked at how pokey some moderns are inside... My posh van is a veritable Tardis...

I find some moderns with pokey dark interiors unsettling due to my claustrophobic tendencies... I do like a greenhouse on wheels - which my Tardis is and one thing I always loved about the Xantia and XM, especially when they had sunroofs... Likewise my AX has nice big windows and a sunroof so that feels nice and light and airy inside...

Daughter's Clio is like being down a coal mine...

[MattBLancs]

Don't have the claustrophobic issue thankfully, but with you completely on dark interiors.

I was really taken with the lighter interior on the red 308 SW ( viewtopic.php?p=784768#p784768 )

I'd have liked my C5 to have the lighter interior (Think Marc's example was the lighter version?) But couldn't find what I wanted (exclusive spec, manual, not a 1.6 HDi in such a big car) in anything but drab interior and exterior colour combinations!

[MattBLancs]

Oh! Those wheels!

1 front right

2 back right

3 close up, corrosion spread under the paint too

4 rear left

5 front left

[myglaren]

[MattBLancs]

Dark green would definitely brighten up the exterior!