Don’t PANIC!!! 75-80% of the braking is regenerative! Just a little assistance with frictional braking for EV’s
Cos that’s about all you ever got from drums. Mind you would poor brakes deter the tailgating? You know who you are froggy! 
That got me reminiscing about how undaunted by any mechanical challenge I was in my youf. When the TTS blew up I was living in flat with, it seemed like, about forty others in Herne Hill. The TTS was parked outside on the road and when the engine started to make a load clanking noise I decided to strip it down on the curb.
Official workshop manuals cost a fortune in those days but I think I had a Haynes NSU 1000 manual. Wonderful manuals which were written by blokes who bought the subject car, stripped it down and then rebuilt again without using any of the expensive special tool suggested by the manufacturers. An adjustable spanner, a bent screwdriver, a lump hammer and a Haynes manual was all that was needed for even the most complex endeavour (though a socket set and a torque wrench did help).
I took off the carbs and found that one of the screws that held the butterfly to the spindle had dissapeared. So I took off the head and there it was, imbedded in the top of one of the pistons. I levered it out, checked the valves weren’t bent and put the whole thing back together, with Loctite on all the butterfly screws 
It was a lovey, elegant, tough air cooled SOHC engine with which I never had a problem again.
Sometime later I’d decamped to South Kensington and when wandering past the local VW showroom I spotted the newly announced Golf. I popped in for look and under the bonnet I confirmed my suspicion that in the Audi/NSU - VW marriage, Audi/NSU had brought the design expertise and VW the financial clout. IMO everything that VAG is today was based on the genius of that original Golf.
Do you remember having to check drum brakes after going through deep puddles, to dry them out 
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I can remember trying to adjust the fucking things every weekend so you at least had half a chance of stopping!
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I’m waiting to see what Renault’s revised Lada Niva looks like.
Call me old fashioned but
I find a lot of cars very unattractive these days - Nissan Duke, various Lexus, Rangrover Evoque to name but a few.
I can’t understand the whole SUV thing either. Heavier cars with poorer emissions and lower mpg.
For me the ideal car is something like the BMW Touring Estate.
A BMW 530D estate has always appealed - but can’t afford one anymore.
Yes me too, look like Matchbox Hotwheels.
No specific prob with SUV’s though provided they are practical. The Renault Scenic was infinitely more practical than the Nissan qashqai but I really needed the ground clearance. Doesn’t weigh much different with similar mpg as its the same engine.
I have a Tiguan which is ideal for hauling stuff around, including my trailer, without being too big. I can’t understand 2WD SUVs or SUV coupés? The Duke is a love it or hate shape. I hate it but my sister loves hers.
Ok to be a pedant its Juke!
2 wheel drive is all I need with a couple of smow tires for winter. Why waste fuel and transmission on trips to supermarkets?
I don’t like the appearance but had one as a hire car from Bergerac Airport a couple of years ago and it was good fun to drive.
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You’re right. I was confused with Puke 
I agree about 4WD being unnecessary most of the time. When I lived in Grenoble I thought I’d need chains to get up Alpe d’Huez and Les Deux Alpes every weekend but my French pals laughed at the idea. We drove up and down every winter with no 2WD, no chains, no snow tyres and no problems.
On the other hand we got stuck in our house here ten years ago. We couldn’t get a front or a rear wheel drive car up the hill to our gate. So I traded my wife’s Golf GTD in for a Tiguan with the same 170BHP engine.
It served us well and the easy option was to just trade if for the new Tiguan three years ago. Our current one is quick, 240BHP, but they have tweaked the 4WD so the bias is to the front. It’s more FWD than AWD.
Surprisingly small inside I thought. Though now that my sister’s kiddies have flown the coop she’s only her four dogs to accommodate.
I’ve had French cars from the Renault 5 GT Turbo through the Clio Williams, RS 172, RS 182 up to the RS 250. I even had an RS 133 as a supermarket runabout to keep the miles off my Porsche.
I think each looked better than the predecessor. I know each was built better, and performed better.
I’d swap idiosyncrasy for build quality, performance, and handling any day.
I love the R5 electric. If the production car looks anything like the concept, I wouldn’t hesitate.
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