Steve Q

Updated list :) so who's bought there tickets yet?

Welcome to the forum John :) great audi you have there! What mods have you done to it? And yes, we'd be more than happy to have your car on the display! Il add you to the list. Cheers steve

Welcome to the forum and great looking a7 you have there! :)

Day 3 Today was more unusual as we spared the car and took the train to Disney Land Paris for the day. I appreciate this isn't everyone's cup of tea so stay tuned tomorrow as we're planning to go to Spa race circuit! This meant a very early start as It took us 3 hours travelling on 3 trains and a taxi each way but was so worth it! Just like the uk the train system in France and Belgium is very busy and on parts of France they use double decker trains to cater for the volume of people. Despite the train network being busy all the trains were on time. Disney Land Paris is a great theme park and isn't just geared towards children. Some of the rollercoasters and other rides would be unsuitable for little ones. But just like most theme parks the queues are long but luckily fast passes are available on the more popular rides. If you are limited for time in the park, then the rides I'd strongly recommend are: Main park hyperspace mountain rollercoaster, star tours (Star Wars), buzz lightyear lazer blast, phantom manor, big thunder mountain rollercoaster, pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana jones temple of peril rollercoaster, studio park Rock and roller rollercoaster, vehicle stunt show, the twilight zone tower of terror (massive drop tower), studio tram tour. After we had finished the rides we got dinner at planet Hollywood before heading back on the train system home.

Thanks Dan :D i know! But to be fair the roads a good and fairly direct. Where do you drive to do that mileage in one day?! Il deffo keep you all updated :) haha! It's hard to tell the ages of people on forums! Cheers :)

Welcome to the forum Tony! Glad your pleased with your a4 and the 3.0tdi is a good engine :) hope you didn't have too long a wait to collect her! :) when you get a chance, by all means show us some pics of your new pride and joy. When your not too busy enjoying driving her that is! :) cheers steve

Day 2 So until 2:30pm we were trapped at our accommodation due to a marathon taking place in Brussels! The marathon was the Belgium equivalent to the London marathon. And as such thousands of people took part! The morning wasn't wasted as we decided to have a BBQ for lunch as the weather is gorgeous here. It's reaching mid to high 30s (degrees) each day! We finally left at 2:30 and decided to travel the 1:40 minutes to Yepre. Yepre saw a lot of the fighting during WW1 and was completely rebuilt to its 14th century design after the war. This has allowed the town to keep a true Belgium feel with cobbled streets and Gothic architecture. As well as the traditional chocolate shops and bars. We also visited the Menin Gate, a war memorial built to show the names of the missing servicemen and women from WW1. We then also visited Yepres war cemetery which was a somber experience. Yepre is a town well worth visiting and not far from the French border. Parking was straightforward and thankfully we did not need to pay. Stay tuned for day 3. However, I must warn you as there won't be any driving involved as my siblings and I are going to Disney land Paris by Eurostar. We are big kids really. My sister and I are in our 20s and my brother is in his teens! There are still plenty of adult rides i.e. Rollercoasters there! Oh and by the way, the a6 has just clocked over 322,000 miles!!

Thanks Piotr :)

this topic is about my road trip to Belgium including the pre planning. Research is key when driving in Europe as rules and regulations change from country to country. Things you'll need before you go: 1. European breakdown cover - I have found there are too types of cover available. 1. Covers you for recovery like your normal cover. This cost approx £37 for my 5 day trip. 2. Cover that will cover the cost of your repair bills. This cover cost £54 for my 5 day trip. The prices are from the AA of which I am a member. Just be mindful that with the break down cover they only cover you up to the cost of the vehicle. So if you have an old Audi like me you could be at risk of having to fork out extra. 2. Inform your insurance company - I had to pay £17 extra to cover my car for the trip. Again there are 2 options available and are charable regardless of what uk cover you have. 1. 3rd party cover. 2. Fully comprehensive. 3. European kit - for driving in France it is compulsory to have a breatherlizer, warning triangle, GB sticker, a high vid jacket for every occupant, headlight converter stickers. 4. Check French toll roads - 76% of the roads are tolled in France and for which you will need a transponder which you have to pay for from the toll road company managing the roads your travelling on. You also set up an account with them. However the main road to Belgium the a16 is not tolled. 5. Check to see if the EU country you are visiting has any Low Emissions Zones. France requires you to have a sticker when traveling in Paris for example. Belgium hasn't brought any emissions rules into effect yet but will do as of 2018. 6. Don't forget to pay for the Dartford crossing. The crossing consists of a suspension bridge heading towards Dover and a tunnel coming away from Dover. If you have never used the crossing before you can pay before or up to 24 hours after you have made the crossing. Now the trip! Day one: leicester-Dover Calais-Brussels the run from Leicester to Dover was straightforward with no hiccups or traffic delays. But we did leave in plenty of time to avoid most of the bank holiday traffic. We arrived in plenty of time for our P&O ferry and it was a good job we did as it took over an hour to get through boarder control & check in. However I think this was down to Volume of bank holiday traffic. The port has a reasonable terminal with facilities consisting of a Burger King, WH Smith's, Costa and toilets. If you have forgotten any key European items you can get them in smiths. We boarded the ferry which was straightforward and made our way on to the passenger areas. We had decided to go with a premium ticket which proved well worth the extra money. We got free drinks and snacks (fruit, biscuits, crisps, tea, coffee, soft drinks etc) as well as a free glass of champagne on arrival. Papers are also free. The key benefit of premium however is the extra space (far less people) and plenty of seating including private outside space. I would strongly recommend the premium to anyone. It was superb and had a waiter service! Disembarkation was again quick and road signs were easy to follow. We picked up the 16 for Brussels and set into a comfortable cruise. In France the speed limits can change quite often on the motorway so keep an eye out. Oh and obviously they are in kph! We also stopped for fuel in France which thankfully is similar to the U.K. The difference being is that a pre payment system is used. For this you can either put your card in the machine at the start or ask the cashier how much fuel you would like. We encountered heavy traffic near to Ghent and Bruges due to the lanes merging from 3 to 2. But after we got through, we had a clear run to Brussels. Driving in Brussels is entertaining to say the least. Partly as there are hardly any road signs (this is not an exaggeration!). Brussels has its m25 equivalent which is a tunnel system that runs under the city and only pops to the surface for exits. We got lost at this point and came off to find somewhere to park to recalculate our route. The traffic in Brussels is like London. There's a lot of it!! For example a 5 mile drive in Brussels took us 25 minutes. But there are the added risks of trams. Traffic lights only change from red to green and there are hardly any speed limit signs. We finally reached our destination at 6:30pm Belgium time after travelling 12 hours. Total miles covered (including being lost) was 335 miles. Here are some pics. I hope iv not bored you all to death! But stay tuned for the rest of the trip :)

Stuck my stickers on yesterday after cleaning the a6 for the road trip! Iv fitted on to each rear side window and one on the boot :) personally I didn't find the stickers too bad. They peeled off nicely and the lettering all stayed intact. This is unlike other long stickers iv had previously. Cheers steve

Lovely looking a7! :) you don't see that colour too often :)

Welcome to the forum! :) lovely looking a3 by the way! :) youll find the members on here a friendly bunch :) cheers steve

Quality name! ;)

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with them. But glad they sorted it. It's amazing how your experience of a dealership can be effected by one person.

Good point Darren :) ill point out to others it wasn't edited due to swearing or anything offensive :)

As the title says really. An apprentice has committed suicide after alleged ongoing bullying at Reading Audi. Here is the article. And the alleged bullying was appalling! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/24/teenage-audi-mechanic-committed-suicide-colleagues-set-fire/ The question you have to ask your self is if this behaviour is common place then how is this going to affect the quality of the work being carried out on customers cars?! Id love to see their vehicle return rate figures due to incorrect or inadequate work being carried out! Sorry for the rant but I felt it had to be shared with fellow members.

Good good! :)

Good article Trevor :)

The Quattro is beautiful! :) wevd got a couple of shows coming up. You'd be more than welcome to display your Quattro with us on the club stand! We'd love to display it! :) check out the events page for more info ;) cheers steve :)

Italian job and gone in 60 seconds are good shouts! :)

Welcome to the forum :) youll find the members on here are a friendly bunch :) thats a lot of miles! If they're looked after they'll keep going :) My a6 has done 321,000. The Quattro sounds interesting! You got any pics? Cheers steve

Lol :D

Welcome to the forum Cliff :) youll find the members on here are a friendly bunch :) the black edition is a lovely spec for the a3! cheers steve

Welcome to the forum Gez :) youll find the members on here are a friendly bunch and will help where they can :) cheers steve

Couldn't agree more! It's all about getting more and more money out of the hard working motorist!