Life's a beach

So it was Lewy's, my other half, birthday this week, Saturday saw a trip to Bath, a wine tasting session, wander around the Christmas market and a fabulous Thai meal to finish. I think she looks happy.

Sunday saw a drive out which ended at one of her favourite kind of places.....a beach.

This particular one was at Weston Super Mare.

Gave me a chance to snap a couple of shots of Dave.

The journey home was scenic to say the least, drove through some amazing countryside and ended up on a couple of country lanes that were nothing more than farm tracks. Lots of fun.

Road trip

There are 239 miles to Anglesey, we have a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses.......its time for Race of Remembrance.

Something special for Dacia owners

This weekend has seen the launch of a new Dacia owners website. Hosted by Dacia owners for Dacia owners.

I'm am very proud to have been invited to be involved with this project from the start and am looking forward to the exciting times ahead.

As the site develops we are hoping to hold a number of events throughout the country and have the 'go to' forums for both current and future owners, and of course any motoring fans.

Although we are UK based we welcome members from around the world and would love to see some of Dave's fans join in with the fun.

So what's the name I hear you say?

www.daciaworld.co.uk

48,000 mile service

And so that time comes again, when Dave makes his drive north to Banbury to visit Jaybee Motors, having covered 48,000 miles the next service was due, as ever I was greated by Hayley with a morning smile as I checked Dave in.

'Any problems?' she asked.

I had noticed a small area of dried oil residue around one of the air ducts so asked if they could check it out for me.

And my courtesy car this time.....a Stepway Ambiance tce 90.

So now a quick review of it.

First impressions, damn seat has no height adjustment and the mirrors have wiggle sticks not motors, the latter is an inconvenience the former was one of the main reasons I bought the Laurete.

How did it drive? Well I'm confused on this one, the change light came on at about 2200rpm, and the specs say peak torque at 2250 rpm, however the turbo didn't really come into it's own until above 2600.

And while talking about the turbo OMG the lag!!!! Horrible!!! Maybe I'm spoilt by the torque of the diesel but this little thing felt sluggish and unresponsive at low speeds.

Having said that once I was on the dual carraigeway and able to stretch it's legs it got to and cruised at NSL +10%+2 quite happily and felt it could have carried on without much effort.

I was equally impressed by the economy and covered the 100 miles from dealer to home, to work, back to home and back to dealer using less than 2 gallons of petrol.

While at work I recieved a call from the service manager to say it appeared a seal was leaking slightly on the breather pipe and a new pipe and seal were ordered.

I had heard many reports of people suffering delays waiting for parts to arrive, for me this was not the case and the new pipe arrived at Jaybee by 0830 the following morning, meaning I was back in Dave by 9 and all under warranty.

Once again brilliant service by Jaybee and I'd like to say thank you to Darren and the team at Banbury.

Dacia Day 2016

So an early start to head up the M1 to Bruntingthorpe, satnav said 90 minutes so an easy run.....except the satnav doesn't know about the bloody average speed camera roadworks most of the way north of the A43.

Arrived at Bruntingthorpe and realised I didn't have any cash, how far out of the way is that place! Hoped that I could find a petrol station with a cash point, after driving around numerous villages and towns with no joy I asked a local, about 10 miles down there in Market Harborough!!! or the village shop does cashback if you spend a fiver, sorted.

So back to the testing ground, now nearly 45 minutes after the agreed meeting time, driving in I noticed lots of Dacia banners, my favourite was 'Beware Penguins Ahead....................Only Kidding', not sure why but it did make me chuckle (Oh and it was STILL there after I left).

So I'm expecting the crowd from Dacia Forum to be all set up and waiting for me but no I was the only one there!

Pulled up outside the main building for a quick photo or two before finding where we were supposed to be setting up.

The gang finally turned up and we set up.

Well what a brilliant day, lots to see and do. Test drives, Twizzys, off roading, the Rugby Dusters and the aircraft museum.

We think there were over 300 Dacias there on the day and many with multiple occupants meant there were loads of people about, also meant queues for the test drives, off roading and Twizzys. I'd originally booked to test drive a 4x4 Duster, but thought as there were so many people wanting to drive them I'd let someone else take my slot.

Also lots of visitors to the forum stand kept us all busy, chatting about the mods to Dave, Geriants Stepway and Stus Duster. The day flew by and we had a fantastic time.

When everyone started drifting off at the end of the day it gave us chance to try out a few things, I had wanted to take Dave around the test track but was told due to insurance issues I couldn't, however I could take one of Dacia's Stepways around, I asked instead if I could try the Duster 4x4.

So i was given the instructions, filter out using the coned lane, 5 laps, maximum speed 50 mph (cough). So off I went, the Duster drove brilliantly, love the six speed box, not sure if the brakes were power assisted or just new compared to Dave as the first time I hit them the car stopped on a sixpence. Back to the test drive, second lap, time to see how the body roll compared to Dave, a nice wide track so 75 through a couple of the sweeping turns felt stable despite the roll. Chucking it through the twisty turns showed how well it handled and I could hear the tyres protesting slightly. That six speed box meant three digits were attainable on the long runway. Would need to get used to the gearing though compared to Dave as I changed down a couple of times at slightly too higher speeds to benefit. So overall I'm impressed with it, but Dave won't be leaving for a long time.

Did I mention Twizzys earlier......for those that don't know they are Renault's two seater electric town car.

 Now the Twizzys were being test driven around a small go-gart circuit, I had a quick go first thing before the show opened but the track was wet following a heavy shower and although fun, I wanted to try them in the dry. Come the end of the day however, despite various recharges most of them were flat.....except the little yellow Jolyon Palmer Renault Racing liveried one.

So four laps later, using the rumble strips and as much of the track that there was, oh and lifting a wheel a few times I returned to the pits. We're still not sure if the burning smell was the tyres or the electric motor!

So after a fabulous day, everyone went home, but before I left I did what Dave does best and got him into some great photo locations.

So all in all a brilliant day out, any of your Dacia owners who missed out, make sure you get along to the 2017 event (s) and finally a massive THANK YOU to Dacia UK for organising things.

A bit more from France

Been a busy few days here in France, lots of visits to the beach and enjoying the great weather.

I am amazed how many Dacias there are in the area. The most popular appears to be the Duster and have seen a handful every day while we are out and about. We've seen a few Stepways and the odd Sandero, but also have seen lots of older style Dacias wearing the old badge.

Caught one of Dave's French cousins as they drove past.

The beaches have been amazing, the tide goes out so far leaving huge bays.

Dave got photobombed by another cousin.

Dave has done a great job with the bikes on the back.

And we visited some great places, this was Château de la Hunaudaye

And finally one without Dave, just to show you some of the fabulous beaches we have found.

Dave's escapade française

So it's that time of the year, time for Dave's summer holiday. So where to this year? After the last 2 years in Mumbles it was time for something different so Dave is off to the home of his French cousins. So loaded up with bikes and all the other kit we headed off, the first problem the M25, delayed for over 90 minutes and therefore missed our booked crossing time.

Thankfully the system at Le Shuttle meant we just got on the next train, phew!

After arriving in Calais we hit the A16 and spent a steady three hours before we got to our overnight stop in Caen. A great stop over and dog friendly, it's the third time we have stayed at a Campanile and have always thought them great value.

They appears to have been alot of talk about the lack of fuel in France due to industrial action, however we were able to top Dave up no worries in Caen.

Next part of the journey was going to be via the Normandy beaches, but we decided instead to visit Bayeux and see the tapestry which we both thought was amazing. Back on the road again and we crossed an amazing bridge near Le Havre.

So onto our final destination, a beautiful farm apartment near Dinan.

Looking forward to the rest of the weeks adventures.

Time for a brake break

So in a couple of weeks time Dave will be taking us off to France for a holiday, we have booked a lovely cottage on a working farm near Pluduno in Cotes-d'Armor. So stay tuned for lots of French adventures.

So having got an advisory at the last service that I would need pads and discs at the next service and having covered 6,000 miles since the service I thought I would check the pads. I found them a little low and although should be good for a few thousand more miles I decided to get the brakes sorted before we went away.

So a quick call to Dacia and a quote of £270 inc VAT fitted, I checked the labour time and was quoted 1.2 hours.

For many years prior to getting Dave I used a small garage in New Yatt called Storm Autos, run by a couple of cracking guys who always provided excellent service. So having checked my warranty I found that I could get them to carry out work on Dave as long as OE spec parts are fitted and they are VAT registered. Storm also told me if I wanted to source my own parts they are happy to fit them.

Thanks to a previous thread on DaciaForum I sourced a set of TRW OE Spec front vented discs for £15 the pair, I contacted my local autofactors and paid £27 for a set of TRW OE pads.

So off to Storm we went this morning, up went Dave on the 2 poster (also gave me my first chance to have a proper look underneath him) and 45 minutes later, new pads and discs fitted (Remember Dacia stated 1.2 hours).

After a bit of a natter about Dave, his plate, the EU referendum and a cup of tea I was back on my way home. And the charge £50 including VAT.

So that makes a total cost of £92, a massive saving over Dacia's £270!

Thanks guys.

Dave having a splash and a belated birthday present

Bank Holiday weekend saw us driving upto the Lake District after a quick overnight stop in Ironbridge.

When we arrived Saturday the weather was stunning and the lakes looked as beautiful as ever.

But in true Bank Holiday style it wasn't going to last and the following morning's dog walk was a little damp!

However the area still looked magnificent despite the weather.

All that rain did give me a chance for a little play though.

We also clocked up another milestone.

Back to the belated birthday, Dave was 2 years old at the beginning of the month.

So I bought him a little treat. I love these.

Bike, sprouts and coffee

Been a while Dave fans, sorry peeps it's been very quiet in Daveland, so here's a quick 'so far' in 2016.

Firstly a belated happy new year to you all.

For me my new years resolution was to get back out my bike a bit more and back on my diet and exercise, so a pretty standard new years resolution that lots of people make. Unfortunately my old bike was getting a little long in the tooth, so it was time to treat myself with some of my Christmas money to a new one.

My first new bike in quite a few years, great specification, rides a dream and looks good. The first ride was as you can see was a bit muddy, but the bike coped well, better than I did, when I ended up having an off and landed in swampy mud, I looked like a hippo wallowing in it!

The bike fits well on the rack, despite having large 27.5 inch wheels. It was definitely a great idea having the towbar fitted to Dave and the Mont Blanc bike carrier is brilliant.

January saw Dave hitting the 36,000 mile mark

22 months of happy motoring, no major issues (touch wood) and as much fun to drive today as it was on day one, infact probably better as the engine loosens up.

So Dave took another trip to Kaybee Motors in Banbury, once again absolutely brilliant customer service and I would highly recommend them, worth the 30 minute drive from home, despite having a more local dealer.

As always I got a courtesy car, I was early enough to have a choice, Jaybee are a Dacia, Renault and Fiat dealership and I've previously had a Clio and a Twingo from them. On this occasion I decided to try something else and as lots of people seem to rave about them I chose the Fiat 500.

The phrase a sprout squeezed into a pea pod comes to mind, but I was pleasantly surprised, quite nippy from the 1250cc petrol engine, but you had to keep the revs quite high, it was great to get Dave back and that 1.5dCi torque.

Finally on the drive back home we stopped for a quick break, a great little layby stop with a lovely fresh coffee.

Very quirky 3 wheeler coffee van and sit around the fire drinking it. On the subject of quirky how about this for an ingenious idea. A couple of old steel wheels welded together, a hole cut in the and the cut out steel used for feet, bloody clever.......now where's but welder.