[Anjenha]

We all have them, those first few things you do without fail everytime you get into the car...

Mine and Charlotte's is as follows,

-Jump in and start her up straight away So I can open the drivers window and shut the door (My roof is tightly fitting and we need to adjust the windows, got told off by hubby for just switching the ignition on )
-Turn on the demisters and get the windscreen/Wing Mirrors warmed up and demisted/de dewed
-Scrabble around in my bag for my stereo face and ipod, connect the buggers up, and find something that fits my current mood. Put the face case in the glovebox. Shut the glovebox, try and shut the glovebox again....manage it on the third go.
-Pop my hand bag on the shelf behind the passenger seat
-Slap on my seat belt, give the steering wheel a little rub with my left thumb...and off we go!

It seems kind of basic broken down this way, except the weird thumb thing.

Anyone else want to share?

 

[yeroulfella]

We all have them, those first few things you do without fail everytime you get into the car...

Mine and Charlotte's is as follows,

-Jump in and start her up straight away So I can open the drivers window and shut the door (My roof is tightly fitting and we need to adjust the windows, got told off by hubby for just switching the ignition on )
-Turn on the demisters and get the windscreen/Wing Mirrors warmed up and demisted/de dewed
-Scrabble around in my bag for my stereo face and ipod, connect the buggers up, and find something that fits my current mood. Put the face case in the glovebox. Shut the glovebox, try and shut the glovebox again....manage it on the third go.
-Pop my hand bag on the shelf behind the passenger seat
-Slap on my seat belt, give the steering wheel a little rub with my left thumb...and off we go!

It seems kind of basic broken down this way, except the weird thumb thing.

Anyone else want to share?

Only one ritual, get in and pray that the darn thing will start!!

 

[Dawsub]

Mine is Jump in ,start the car , look at the fuel gauge , Groan then head off to the petrol station, empty my wallet in said petrol station,Drive around gleefully wherever im goin ,then park the GTV up in my garage and wait till i can afford more 99 octane :lol:

 

[Spyder84]

Get In, Start the lovely TS engine
Snap the face on the Alpine headunit, Maybe change the audio, depending on my mood
Crank up the volume

 

[Freds GTV 2001]

Step 1. Check car is still in the same place on the street and not stolen or gone missing.
Step 2. Admire how beautiful the car is in comparion to all the ugly cars around it.
Step 3. Get in the car undo the steering lock, check nothing is damaged from anyone breaking into the car.
Step 4. Start the engine and hope it doesnt complain or start coughing.
Step 5. Seatbelt and get comfortable.
Step 6. Let the car warm up as much as possible and drive slowly to start off with.
Step 7. Use some throttle and get pushed back in the seat and think "Holly Jesus" Its amazing how much Power the car has

 

[alfatastic]

1. Open garage
2. Move Fiat to in front of a neighbours garage (leave engine running)
3. lift bonnet and reconnect the battery and shut bonnet
4. get in GT and pump throttle pedal 5 or 6 times
5. pull choke cable out
6. turn key for a few seconds and hope it catches, (this all depends on when car was last used)
7. Assuming it starts. leave choke for the 20 secs and then push in slowly. Adjust hand throttle to increase revs slightly.
8. put in reverse and gently judge clutch and throttle to see if it will move with out stalling. If it does reverse out of drive, if not dip clutch and wait a few more seconds and try again.
9. leave car in front of another neighbours garage
10. put Fiat in my garage turn off and close garage.
11. return to Alfa, get in and close door firmly. Adjust hand throttle again to lower revs.
12. put on seat belt, adjusting if necessary (not inertia real)
13. reverse back and then engage 1st pull up to road look left and right and left again and leave the drive.
14. select 2nd and start grinning
15. reach main road and shove the hand throttle in so idle settles to lowest point.

16 check temp gauge is registering and then unleash hell (or whats left of the original 132 BHP) as I attempt to overtake some Sunday drive on the road to Fox house. Smile a bit more.:thumbs: Try radio, realise I forgot to raise the ariel so just wind window down a little more and listern to the Exhaust

 

[Prilliant]

****? Check!
Phone connected to bluetooth? Check!
Start engine. Heater on full blast. Check!
Retune stereo from Radio1 to Radio4. Check!

5 minutes later join traffic and realise I should've taken the bike.

 

[GTVDAN]

STEP 1 - Get in, key in ignition, wait for some of the lights in the dash to go off (bloke I bought it off said he always did this, rather than start her straight away, so I carried on the ritual) then start her up.

STEP 2 - Listen to the growl of the V6 through my custom twin exit and smile to myself as I just love that sound.

STEP 3 - Stereo on

STEP 4 - Open the drivers window a tiny bit then close it, as sometimes the top right of the window sticks out slightly when I close the door (opening and closing it sorts it out for some strange reason.

Although lately I changed this ritual to:

Step 1 - Open doors with remote locking

Step 2 - Curse out loud when I realise the car will not open due to the frost

Step 3 - Pour cold water on the drivers window and door lock, wait for a bit then unlock with the keys

Step 4 - get in and start her up, putting the heater on max making sure the temp gauge is on the highest setting

Step 5 - curse aloud again when I realise that the central locking has "un sync'd" itself from when I tried to open it in the first place

Step 6 - re-sync the cars central locking

Step 7 - try and drive in the ice and snow then almost wish you had a "normal car" when you realise that your wifes ford focus handles better in the conditions.

Step 8 - think about all the events above and talk yourself into selling up.

Step 9 - Drive her with no snow or ice and realise you cannot sell her afterall

 

[Kalel]

My daily ritual when driving the Alfa:

Activate garage. Cue hum of door panels folding and lifting clear.

Remove car cover.

Insert square ignition key.

Press ignition start.

V6 rumbles and fires to life. Deep, menacing hum for ten seconds.

Door mirrors buzz and unfold from tucked in position.

Exit garage, down drive-way.

Press in-car garage door key on the way out.

 

[v6junky]

156:
Adjust seat if the missus was last to use it
Key to first position and check instruments
When dash switches off, foot on clutch and start her up
Seat belt, check, radio, check
Adjust heater/ac
Let it idle if its cold for about a minute or until the revs drop a bit
Drive off slowly until warm

164:
As above but with a stupid V6 grin on my face and not having to adjust the seat as my missus refuses to go near the car!!

 

[Starkers]

STEP 1 - Get in, key in ignition, wait for some of the lights in the dash to go off

Step 1 open the car put laptop case on passenger floor (if I'm going to work or going home), then as above, wait for the lights to go out, then start the car (she has always started on the first turn of the key)​

STEP 2 - Listen to the growl of the V6 through my custom

oh wait, no V6, err - listen out for any unusual noises that the engine might produce.

Step 3, drive off. If I'm leaving from home, then I turn left and freewheel down the hill, to leave the automatic choke (or injected equivalent) time to warm the car up slowly.

Step 4 Drive gingerly towards various sets of traffic lights, wondering if anyone will look at my car thinking "that's nice"

 

[msgtv]

1. open car and remove fan heater, place under car port.
2. return to car remove disklock
3. reverse off drive blind (must fix de-mister).
4. drop window 1" , light cigarette
5. pull up at end of the close and get drenched by water running off roof (it's ok it misses the cigarette)
6. drive to destination enjoying almost every minute of it.

 

[AlfaDrivingFan]

1. Open garage door
2. Unlock car and deactivate alarm / immobiliser
3. Open driver's door
4. Sit in car
5. Put key in ignition
6. Put seatbelt on.
7. Turn key and check all lights come on and go off
8. Start engine
9. Engage 1st gear
10. Slowly drive out of garage making sure not to bash mirrors.
11. Cuss and swear having realised I have to get out to close and lock garage.
12. Take seatbelt off.
13. Get out of car
14. Close and lock garage door
15. See steps 3,4,6 and 9.
16. Smile as I drive away

 

[Ian Lusso]

Mine's something like this:
156:
1. Open gate, unlock car, open boot from key fob and put laptop and lunch into boot.
2. Turn key, wait for TS clatter to stop:lol: (Not true! Mine's a lucky one!)
3. Reverse out. Wonder if the engine is running? It's too quiet in here? look at rev counter, needle is above zero so yes, the engine is on.
4. Drive to work, wondering why I'm enjoying my drive more than the unlucky souls in their Mondeos, Mazdas and Toyotas.
5. Acknowledge all the admiring glances along the way. (she's a pretty one!)
6. Get to work and have to ignore all the "So you came in with the wife's car today?" jests.
7. Do a good day's work, and look for GTV when I have to leave, then realise I came in with the 156. Really don't mind that, even though it's only a 2.0L

GTV:
1. Open gate, walk up to driver's door.
2. VERY IMPORTANT! Push unlock on key and immidiately press button on door to open. This works 99% of the time, without having to unlock the door with the key. Get it wrong, and it kinda spoils the rest of the drive, lol!
3. Reverse out, let car idle a few seconds while closing the gate.
4. Turn radio on, while waiting for engine to warm while driving off slowly.
5. See water temp in the right place and unleash the hooligan under the bonnet!
6. Smile all the way to work! (I leave early, especially to miss the traffic when I go in with the GTV. It's worth it
7. Sit at work, can't wait for the day to pass so I can drive my GTV home again

Alfetta:
1. Reconnect battery.
2. Hope and pray!
3. Turn the key, first look at all the lights on the dash and info display, then walk around car to see which bulb is not working and which plug under the bonnet is not plugged in.
4. Give up, everything's working but some red lights refuse to go out.
5. Start her up. What a noise! The Nord engine sounds amazing!
6. Warm her up (yes, the manual advises that!).
7. Get in and drive off.
8. Stop to see where the smell of oil/fuel/exhaust is coming from. Realise that's normal in the Alfetta!
9. Start grinning, blipping the throttle unnecessarily, chucking her through corners, braking late and generally being 18 again for a brief few moments!
10. Stop at filling station, refill tank.
11. Park back in the garage. Look at her waiting for the next trip. It may be weeks...

 

[Harbuzi]

1. Say little prayer that locks won't be frozen (this is seasonal )
2. Have an admiring glance and think how good looking she is.
3. Open door (unless locks have frozen in which case it's back in the house for water).
4. Start engine....listen to beatiful noise!
5. If going for a drive of longer than 20 or so miles...connect ipod to stereo.
6. Seatbelt on.
7. Drive off...waiting for engine to warm a bit...before giving it a push on the throttle (which always brings a smile to my face)

 

[Anjenha]

Step 1. Check car is still in the same place on the street and not stolen or gone missing.
Step 2. Admire how beautiful the car is in comparion to all the ugly cars around it.
Step 3. Get in the car undo the steering lock, check nothing is damaged from anyone breaking into the car.
Step 4. Start the engine and hope it doesnt complain or start coughing.
Step 5. Seatbelt and get comfortable.
Step 6. Let the car warm up as much as possible and drive slowly to start off with.
Step 7. Use some throttle and get pushed back in the seat and think "Holly Jesus" Its amazing how much Power the car has

Oh god, forgot about the whole - has anyone touched it - thing...I also regularly gaze out of the window at home if i think no-ones looking to check no-ones messing with it...pathetic right?

 

[Anjenha]

1. open car and remove fan heater, place under car port.
2. return to car remove disklock
3. reverse off drive blind (must fix de-mister).
4. drop window 1" , light cigarette
5. pull up at end of the close and get drenched by water running off roof (it's ok it misses the cigarette)
6. drive to destination enjoying almost every minute of it.

Oh My God...

You smoke in the car?!?!? You have a smoke out side the car while scraping of the ice/waiting for locks to unfreeze...surely!? :lol:
wouldnt smoke in the car even if I hadnt had a cigarette for days, cant stand that stale smoke smell.....

 

[Freds GTV 2001]

Oh god, forgot about the whole - has anyone touched it - thing...I also regularly gaze out of the window at home if i think no-ones looking to check no-ones messing with it...pathetic right?

Someone broke into the car before so Im always paranoid of it hapening again. Ive got it bristling with alarms and lights etc now.

 

[Skell18]

Walk up to car admiring just how good it looks.

Use fob to unlock, greeted by the familiar 2 beeps.

Get in and close door.

Click key out.

Start her up.

Open window, light cigarette.

Put driving gloves on and grasp wheel.

Remember not put seatbelt on so put belt on.

Grasp wheel with both hands doing a finger mexican wave.

Put into 1st, handbrake off and move off.

Reach an open road and floor it usually in time to a epic part of a song in a way that would win an oscar for cinematography if it was in a film

 

[msgtv]

Oh My God...

You smoke in the car?!?!? You have a smoke out side the car while scraping of the ice/waiting for locks to unfreeze...surely!? :lol:
wouldnt smoke in the car even if I hadnt had a cigarette for days, cant stand that stale smoke smell.....

I find the stale smoke smell compliments my body odour!