Nicebiscuit

I think in Apples case they've deliberately disallowed competing nav apps on CarPlay thus far. So that's CarPlay out as I might as well use a 1952 AA road atlas as rely on Apple Maps. Thus can't be bothered with all singing all dancing phone integration. Bluetooth phone and iPod integration will do, and I'll go with 'native' nav, either the Sony/TomTom solution or that Alpine

I like the Panda/500. Had an Abarth but was too much engine for the chassis, though it looked fabulous. Liked the twin air though - suited the car better. Characterful engine. Never had an Alfa, though if I'd gone down the saloon route I was sorely tempted by a late 159 ti with the 1750tbi engine... Gorgeous looking thing. Wandering off topic, but thought it a real shame they canned the proposed Alfa spin off of the latest MX5. It's a lovely car, but would be lovelier still with Alfa styling and interior, and there was talk of the engines being Alfa as well...

Late spider. Nice. What's the other one? Brera?

I have to say, I was absolutely fine in my BMW too (company motor so changing tyres not an option) - as you say, doesn't matter which end is driven if you're on a constant throttle. But still love winter rubber as its magical. I enjoy the annual trip skiing which always involves 20-30km on snow over an Alpine pass. No bother... Biggest risk on winter tyres? I've fallen flat on my arse twice in icy car parks getting out of the car, because driving on it, it wasn't slippy...

Hate mixed messages - I'd ring service manager back and get him to put what your wife was told in context...

I like TomTom too but doesn't work via Apple CarPlay apparently (don't know about Andriod). Sony do some decent head units with integrated TomTom. I quite like the look of those at the moment. My 'must have' list is DAB and Nav...

...so why not combine them? Um - this is why...

Did you fit the HU yourself?

Hmmm... I think I have a plan then... Head unit first and we'll see - I can do that bit myself. If it's still lacking I'll get someone with a bit of expertise to set about the amp and speakers...

I kind of like it, because I can see what they were going for, and it actually looks very well executed, but at the end of the day it is still very very wrong. And Lauren - no need to bring the Arna into this.... Try this instead - Japanese engineering, Italian styling. Works better that way round...

Oh I haven't turned everything off yet. Want to avoid the death spiral for a bit... But sport mode does give a fair bit of leeway... As for Willtl - sorry - being a bit tongue in cheek! With all the aids switched on its quite benign - and even in sport mode it's fine for a driver of very modest abilities (I.e. Me) but it's cool that Toyota do leave the decision in the drivers hands... Grip levels are deliberately low, but if you find you don't get on with that grippier tyres are available... Don't worry - you'll love it. I've still got a big stupid grin...

That's interesting... So if one were to install a new head unit, using the usual aftermarket adapter harnesses, presumably you'd still get the benefit of the stock amp. Is it a speaker level one driven off the speaker outputs from the head? My upgraded system in my old BMW was similar. Standard head - outboard speaker level input amp and extra speakers. That was pretty good. I'll say again, though hardly audiophile, the standard set up isn't bad for a stock set up - had far worse. I'm just after more functionality really...

Yes, a s/h Cayman would have been a very tempting proposition for me too if I hadn't needed occasional rear seats. That and the Boxster make the 911 seem a bit of an unnecessary luxury now. Mind you I prefer the Toyota running costs :-)

I'd budget for at least an external amp. I think the reason for my increasing disappointment with the last couple of units I bought (on cheap cars sopurely to get iPod functionality rather than sq) was that the integrated amps in the head units are a bit of an afterthought and I think they expect you to use the pre outs into something meatier. Put it this way the '50x4 mosfet' power stage in the Pioneer head I have in the Citroen isn't a patch on the same rated unit I had in a Skoda Fabia ten years ago...

That's poor, and to be honest dealerships of any brand are a fairly mixed bag. I'd probably go so far as to say that these days I select the brand based on knowing a decent local dealership or specialist rather than the other way around. Thus rather arbitrarily where I live based on personal experience and that of friends I get to choose from BMW, Jag, Ford, Saab, Toyota or Peugeot. But not any of the VAG brands, Vauxhall or Alfa... Something about the market is dysfunctional though, because I don't notice the poor dealerships going out of business...

Every car can't be perfect. My colleague had an Alfa that was in and out the garage every week. A second one had an Alfa that performed faultlessly. It's always pot luck. The real test is the service the dealers offer. There shouldn't have been an issue getting a loan car that's for sure. No point getting too cross about it though - could be worse - mine ended up in the body shop after a week having the rear wing pulled out because some daft pillock drove into me... [emoji1]. I'd trade for a couple of warning lights... [emoji6] Hopefully this will get sorted and then it'll be plain sailing...

That does sound lovely. Remember that sound from the Yorkshire forests in the late eighties very early in the morning...

911? They were a decent rally car back in the day on the right rubber. Weight over the driven wheels (unlike the 86) so decent traction. My old 1966 beetle was epic fun in the snow [emoji41]

Mine will get winter tyres. Makes all the difference on a cold slippery road. Once you' re tried them you'll never go back...

I don't find the sound quality too bad on the stock unit (bearing in mind the road noise it having to fight against) but the UI is awful. To get back to Radio 4 from my iPod takes scrolling through options that don't exist (whilst staring at the unit and running over innocent cyclists). It's got to go! I may try Alpine. Have been a Pioneer fan for years, but the last couple I've fitted have been a little disappointing - or perhaps just not to my taste...

That's the conclusion I've come to. Especially given that an aftermarket unit shouldn't look 'too' aftermarket in the Toyota dash, I reckon it'll be money better spent to simply get a decent double din dab/nav device installed along with whatever aerials etc are needed. For what it's worth I have one of the small external magnetic DAB aerials on my Citroen, and whilst it's not exactly pretty, it works superbly. Supposed to be better than stuck on windscreen ones...

Well I tried Google and apparently a 546B is a photographic tripod. I can see how that could cause braking issues if wedged under a wheelarch. You don't know any photographers with a grudge do you?

would 21611 make more sense as a code? Just wondering if 546B is the hexadecimal code - would translate as 21611 in decimal...

Just pot luck. My Abarth 500 was lunching it's gearbox after 10000 miles... But then my 6 year old Citroen has done 70k miles and needed precisely nothing but diesel and the occasional oil change. And we all know French cars are crap... ;-) In some ways the downsides of buying new is that you have to sort the warranty niggles... Hope you get it sorted quickly.

Sounds sensible to me. You lot might all be The Stig, but I can see plenty of potential for wrapping this car round a tree with 200bhp. With 300bhp I probably shouldn't be allowed out without police motorcycle outriders... :-D