Hi good people

Havent been on here for ages but tell you my story..

A couple of years ago I clipped my near side alloys on a kerb after a bus thundered down on the other side.

It was really bugging me but not enough to get the alloys redone, just a couple of dings.
This summer I took my mum for a Sunday dinner and we drove through the village to the coast.
This massive farm plough wider than the narrow lane came and I slowed and tried to get on the grass..
No good both wheels were kerbed FURBAR.
These things happen for a reason, at first I was furious and was going to sue the farmer. But then I thought of the stress it would cause mum.
So I found a great alloy wheel restorer locally and they did for 85 a corner cash 170 all in. Perfect job
Now I dont have to worry about little imperfections and scrapes as long as I avoid narrow country lanes with my old red Barchetta XKR 🥰🥰

I drive like an old woman to avoid kerbs 🤣🤣😇😇🥰🥰

 

Sorry to hear that.
Guess there’s an upside to our not so quaint wide roads on this side of the pond.

 

I grew up in the rural USA and am currently living in the rural UK.

I sympathize with farmers, I used to be one, but I also sure wish the roads were wider. At least most roads here are hard surface versus gravel, even if the tarmac may not be that good.

I think the general problem is that British vehicles, both farm and cars, have followed the global trend of getting bigger over the years but infrastructure has not. In the neighborhood where I live, everyone has a garage but no one uses them because they were built decades ago and modern cars won't fit.

 

So long that you've lost your way. This is the X150 forum for the 2006 - 2014 model, not the X100 forum for the earlier 1998-2005 model.

Not only are road vehicles getting bigger but so are tractors. I grew up on a farm and learned to drive on a 1949 Ferguson TE20 which was no bigger than a Land Rover Series One. Modern tractors are so huge they have ladders on the side to reach the cab!

I'm not a wheel kerber but have had a couple bent from potholes. I used The Wheel Specialist just down the road from you in Durham. Straightened and refinished to match perfectly.


YES - the John Deere Sales Department will be enjoying spectacular bonuses.

For years it was all red Massey Ferguson and white David Brown tractors. Now the fields and surrounding roads are all full of John Deere green and yellow.

Graham

 

Round here too! The 'garages' for the homes in my street were seemingly built for Morris Minors.

 

Yes thanks for the replies...
the X100 (sorry GGG)... 1998 XKR is not wide or tall...

But it is long, the wb is quite long and around tight LH turns you have to be careful not to kerb them

Thanks for all the replies. I guess I will keep the XKR off narrow twisty roads, it was never designed for that..

There is a nice country road in the North East called the "Beehive Road" it runs between the coast and a village called Earsdon ... north of Newcastle .

It is a favourite road for bikers, narrow and twisty..

I remember when my mum bought her Golf TDI in 2004... I took it along that road and maxed it...
the chassis and the handling and the steering and beaking and short wheel base was just a joy.
The front wheel drive gave so much point to point in the tight bends
Then when I got the XKR in 2009, took it along that road and it had 370bhp as opposed to the 130bhp of the Golf.
It was like... well it was like trying to wrestle a cow up a narrow staircase.
The twisty B road is not the natural habitat of the Jag

 

I agree...
My XKR has been kept in the garage overnight for 10 years now, otherwise I would not have kept it...

For me it is not so much about the width of the car... more my expanding waistline, struggling to get in and out.