after 7 years the gti has gone.

replaced by a 2015 renault megane rs265 in liquid yellow.

195kw/360nm, fwd, mechanical lsd. manual gearbox.

last of the old school hot hatches.

How is it on those wet Manawatu roads?

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

a bit hesitant to punt it hard on the current tyres, a mix of worn potenzas and crappy laufenns.

got some trick michelins on the way...

it was an epic drive home, the not-wonderful auckland traffic and getting caught in the storm with everything - heavy rain, wind, thunder and an awesome lightning storm.

Nice!.. cool machines .. though the colour looks more Dijon Mustard in the photo's than liquid yellow 

Never play Leapfrog with a Unicorn.

brighter and more pearlescent than the dull, karitane yellow of my old subaru sti.

not as easy colour to capture in a photo though.

i have very fond memories of my renault experience. i had a 25 v6 monaco, white with black interior. i had it for 8yrs - the longest i have owned a vehicle. she spoke to me when i had forgotten to do something. passengers who forgot their seatbelts were also reminded and it made them all smile. a lovely cruising vehicle but very nimble too. clocked up about 100,000kms. went to a loving home when i decided i wanted an extra pedal.

there were however, some interesting "quirks" with the electronics which i believe were/are typical of most french cars.

did it have the multi-component philips stereo ?
philips made great sounding car stereos back in the day.

yes it most assuredly did. sliding controls and 4 6" philips speakers and a couple of tweeters. the sound was great. also helped cover a squeak or 2. no cd, just tape and radio. my1990 after all.