119, 000 iShifting miles

It's time for another AB service. That's an oil change, an oil filter change and a general look over the car.

I decided it was time to change the auxiliary drive belt too.  I've been expecting it to be changed at the last two services but my trusty garage said it was okay. This time though I decided,  rightly or wrongly,  that nearly 120, 000 miles of driving a water pump,  alternator and, at least once a week, the air conditioner compressor was enough to expect from a belt.  It was changed at a cost of £50 and it's nice to see a lovely black belt in place of a dirty grey one.

So with a new belt and new wiper blades front and back Shifty is almost ready for another winter.

I say almost because it's almost time to replace some tyres. The Yokohama BluEarth AE01 running on the back wheels are getting down toward 3mm thread depth. Although in the UK 1.5mm is the legal minimum, wet weather grip reduces and stopping distance increases as tread depth drops below 3mm. The BluEarth's have performed well and have driven nearly 40,000 miles. So really excellent performance.

We're planning to get the Dunlop SP FastResponse tyres we've got on the front wheels put to the back. Contrary to the name which suggest a sporty tyre with the typical trade-offs of noise and increased fuel consumption, the FastResponses are excellent tyres in terms of wet grip, low rolling resistance and are 68dB for noise so pretty quiet. They also seem to be wearing well.

So what to get for the fronts? We're swithering whether to go for Yokohama BluEarths or try the new Dunlop SP BluResponse. Like the SportResponses, the BluResponses have better grip than the Yokohama tyres and are quieter. We'll see when the time comes.

Car is still performing well when it comes to fuel efficiency. I use the 'B' trip memory to keep track of the overall MPG figure. Over the past 7,000 miles plus Shifty has managed a super 62MPG (imperial) figure. Well done!