Newbie in Sweden

[thismustbeathursday]

Hello,

English Exile moved to Sweden, been driving a Megane for some time now over here.

Good bits:-
Open roads with not much traffic when you get out of the cities.
No issues starting it here, even when it gets down to -15 or so

Bad bits:-
I can change my winter wheels & tyres for the summer ones quicker than I can change a headlamp bulb (I am looking to buy a ferret and train it to help me next time a bulb needs changing)

Scary bits:-
Driving LHD car on the 'wrong' side of the road after 15 years of driving in UK/Ireland only (I've stopped opening the door when I try to change gear now )
Getting used to driving with a foot of snow on the ground and a couple of inches of ice on the road. (Not a problem now, but it was........)

To do list:-
Get some alloys for the summer tyres
Get a winter parking heater fitted so I'm not being so cruel to the car in winter (and more importantly so that I don't freeze my bits and pieces off on the way to work)
Satnav, Ipod connection etc.

Cheers

Thismustbeathursday

[misty2k]

Welcome Newbie,

The empty, open roads sound like fun.

What's a parking heater? Something that keeps the car warm while it's parked up?

Cheers,


Dee

P.S. "I never could get the hang of Thursdays."

[thismustbeathursday]

Hi Dee,

Lots of the cars in Sweden have mains powered engine water (or engine oil) heaters and a fan heater in the footwell.

You plug it in to the mains on a timer so that it's warm when you get to it in the morning, or you plug it into a socket at your parking place at work.

Takes the stress off a cold engine. It's not a big issue where I am but further north it's a godsend.

Open roads are nice, but there's a risk of hammering round a corner and finding a moose standing in the middle of the road.........

Cheers,
Alec

[Stranger]

Hello and welcome thismustbeathursday

I hope that when Bumpy gets here it is a Thursday or else you'll really confuse them with your username

[robznet]

Hi thismustbeathursday, welcome along.

Rob

[thismustbeathursday]

Stranger, Robznet,

Thanks for the welcome.

When I can find them I've got some pics of the car on spiked tyres out in the snow & ice

Inspired by Iceman I now have a Kenwood double din to 'drop' into it, too, as with the SatNav, the Phone holder, the PDA, the iPod and the BT I can't see through the windscreen any more! (maybe that's an exaggeration, but you get the point.)

Anyone know how to raise ferrets in Sweden?

//Alec

[robznet]

Ferrets in Sweden????

[thismustbeathursday]

Maybe I should bring some in next time I come home

I definitely need something as agile and flexible as a ferret to get in and change those headlamp bulbs.
My knuckles don't quite drag on the floor, but there's no way I can get in through the access holes to change bulbs without removing large amounts of skin from my arms in the process.

Apparently in Sweden I'm supposed to carry a spare bulb set and change by the side of the road. Not likely!!

PS I love my Megane, just wish I had smaller fingers

[wanda]

Hi there. Sounds just like Finland.

The funny thin is if I drive my car from England to there in winter I dont have to have winter tyres.

[thismustbeathursday]

Hi, Wanda,

I haven't quite worked the tyres thingy out. I can't drive in Germany on them, for example, or if I get the ferry back to blighty it's ok to drive on summer tyres. To me that's largely academic because I doubt I'd get as far as the border without crashing!

In the winter I drive like a granny on a Sunday afternoon compared to everyone else. Over here it's 'in the blood' but where there was any snow or lots of ice in UK, I'd just stay at home.............

I haven't been out to Finland yet. That's on the to do list.

//Alec

[wanda]

You should, we drive there once a year from England to Finland. Last year the little clio took us there through Sweden. If I knew you then I would have flashed. But its nice, driving on the left while the wheel is on the right, number plates looks way different to the Sweedes and Finns plus the best bit is parking without paying because "I didnt know".

[navid.v]

hi and welcome to MOC.

[thismustbeathursday]

Thanks all for making me feel wlecome.

Wanda - which way did you drive through Sweden to get to Finland? When I first mooted the move over here, the Newcastle - Göteborg ferry was still running, but I understand that's not been run for sometime?

I can easly get the ferry from Stockholm to Finland, but now I'm not sure if I wanted to drive back to blighty. At present I fly, but the Megane doesn't fit in as hand luggage....

[wanda]

Thanks all for making me feel wlecome.

Wanda - which way did you drive through Sweden to get to Finland? When I first mooted the move over here, the Newcastle - Göteborg ferry was still running, but I understand that's not been run for sometime?

I can easly get the ferry from Stockholm to Finland, but now I'm not sure if I wanted to drive back to blighty. At present I fly, but the Megane doesn't fit in as hand luggage....

We drove through France, Belgium, Germany, Netherland, Denmark, Norrkoping (I dont know the spelling) Stockholm slept after 22 hours of driving then next day drove to Oulu... was nice because the sun didnt set the whole journey. We were near the coast the whole time. Then lastly to Helsinki from Oulu.

Doing it again next month but this time through Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia

[Bumpy macaroon]

Hello and welcome thismustbeathursday

I hope that when Bumpy gets here it is a Thursday or else you'll really confuse them with your username

Well its Thursday and i'm still confused, how did you know it will be a Thursday? But I'am Bumpy and some say I taste a bit of coconuts