Winner

Hi All, this is my first post. Would appreciate some opinions and suggestions, thanks!
Current car: 2015 Seat Ibiza FR Black Edition (105HP), had 11,000 miles when new to me and now has 49,000 miles. Paid £9,000 for it, now worth £6,000. I can average 45mpg in this car which is an important factor Budget: maximum £14,000
Option 1: Toyota GT86 / Subaru BRZ In my head this is the car I've always wanted to get next: I get excited every time I see one. The two times I've test driven it's put a massive smile on my face. The big issue with buying one of these with my budget is that I'd be buying an older car with more miles for over double the value of my current car. The sensible me says that doesn't make sense; the petrol head says it would be worth it. Other issues would be the reduced fuel economy (~35mpg), less practical (carry my guitar in my car regularly), and issues with snow being RWD.
Option 2: Subaru Legacy wagon/estate I took a Subaru Outback for a test drive and absolutely loved it. Very comfortable, great engine note. Getting a Legacy would mean the same car but with less roll in the corners. I'd only be interested in the fourth generation (2003-2009). The big issue is that the majority of these in the used market are high mileage diesels (no thanks). I came across the import from Japan option where it's possible to get the GT Spec B (260hp with the 2.0T not available in the UK model). £7,500 would buy a well looked after example with about 50,000 miles on it. Obvious downsides are buying a car sight unseen, insurance (the only company that would quote me said £1200 first year until I had experience with so much power), 32mpg if I was lucky (not that you'd buy one of these for economy), and uncertainty of getting a knowledgeable person to repair it if something went wrong, and again buying a car for more money that's older with potentially more miles. Apart from the increased power and practicality compared to Option 1, it's also AWD
Option 3: Volvo V40 T3 R Design I was very impressed with this car when I test drove it. Impressive torque, incredibly comfortable, and I like that there's no touchscreen and more buttons. For my budget I can get a 2017 model with ~6000 miles on it. Obvious pros over the other options is that I'm getting a newer car with less miles. With 150hp it's the lowest of the three, but it's still a power upgrade over my current car and mpg is not sacrificed at an average of 42mpg. Logically it's the smart choice, but there's a niggle at the back of my mind and I'm as uncertain as ever. When I bought my current car I saw it and fell in love with, and it happened to be perfectly in my budget at the time. I think the big issue now is that my tastes have got more expensive but my budget can't accommodate it without having to get an older car with more miles. A worry that I'd have about the Volvo is that I don't know if it is special enough, especially compared to the other two options.
Thoughts/opinions/alternatives would be appreciated thanks!

If you're on this forum and you just won £3k on the radio, I just heard you announce you're a Tomorrowland attendee. Well done you jammy get, I been trying for months!! Enjoy your TL spends 👌 😂😫

The winner of the UK Manicure contest iiiiiis
AVOCH
for her nessie nails!
She wins all the things here.
PM me your address and I'll get it posted to you early next week. Congratulations!

Thank you to everyone who joined in with the competition it was great to get to know a few UK based faces and I hope you have fun (even if it was a bit of tricky theme!)
It was very hard to pick as you were all beautiful and imaginative!
The winner is... Grumpasaurussss^{I'll message you about your prize}
The winning look
and the flag it was based on

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After these last weeks I got to test some DD skills since I have all tech tree DDs researched.
If you don't want to read all that here I made a chart with the recommended skills and whatnot to save you time.
Here you can find it
Do note this is my personal take on the skills, I do encourage all discussion regarding these as I like to know the input of this community.
This is mostly for high tier DDs, counting from T7 and onward unless specified. With around 70 DDs you can use this as a metric on how much DDs will use these skills.
Key
Skill: Name of the skill
Desc: What it does
Aprox no of ships benefited: Number of high tier ships (T7 onward as before T7 it's very likely you don't have a captain with more than 10 pts)
Best winners: The ships most benefited (or only in some cases) from using this skill
Recommended: How much I recommend investing into this skill for a build
Note: My notes on the skills, again very subjective and based on my experience as a 58% WR DD
Tier 1 Skills
Skill: Grease the Gears
Desc: +15% main battery turrets traverse speed.
Aprox no of ships benefited: 12/70 [17%] (Counting T7 and above, more than 24 from T5 and below)
Best winners: Mid-tier Russian DDs, high tier french DDs
Recommended: 3/5 french DDs
Note: Not a bad skill and its unchanged but so little DDs benefit from this that it is mostly a dump for leftover points
Skill: Liquidator
Desc: +30% chance (multiplicative) of causing flooding
Aprox no of ships benefited: 12?/70 [17%]
Best winners: EU DDs, Kamikaze, Benham, Z-44
Recommended: 3/5?
Note: Same principle as above, not a bad skill considering the cost, however it only works if your torpedo dpm is fast enough.
Skill: Consumables Specialist
Desc:-10% cooldown time of:
Catapult Fighter
Spotting Aircraft
Main Battery Reload Booster
Torpedo Reload Booster
Defensive AA Fire.
Aprox no of ships benefited: 12/70 [17%]
Best winners: Pan EU DDs, french DDs
Recommended: 2/5
Note: A very niche skill which allows you to have your special consumables ready on demand, however the increase is so little that it's time you spend the extra time actually getting into position for using the consumables
Skill: Gun Feeder
Desc: -50% to reload time when the shell type is switched.
Aprox no of ships benefited: 2/70 [2%]
Best winners: Paolo Emilio and UU Kléber with the notable case of Okhotnik at low tier
Recommended: never on any DD, 5/5 on these DDs
Note: Why keep this skill in the DD tree if any DD barely uses it? DDs fire rate is so good that you can fire the salvo and then switch. DDs with large reloads that were not mentioned do not benefit from it because they will be firing mostly HE anyway (IJN torp DDs)
Skill: Incoming Fire Alert
Desc: Receive a warning of a salvo fired at your ship from a distance of more than 4.5 km.
Aprox no of ships benefited: 0/70 [0%]
Best winners: USSR DDs, french DDs
Recommended: 0/5
Note: Actually this skill is pretty useless, you are already on the move when spotted and any decent DD player knows you have to be evasive already, not wait for an alert to "dodge". Plus the UI gets really annoying every second with an "ALERT" rendering it useless
Skill: Preventive Maintenance
Desc: -30% to the risk of incapacitation of modules.
Aprox no of ships benefited: 70/70 [100%]
Best winners: Every single DD
Recommended: 5/5
Note: The only legit good skill, it monopolizes 1 point skill and is a must take. -30% of your engine and rudder going out, -30% of your gun and torps being disabled. It's always good.
Tier 2 Skills
Skill: Pyrotechnician
Desc: +1% chance of main and secondary HE shells causing a fire.
Aprox no of ships benefited: 12 [17%]
Best winners: French DDs, USSR DDs, IJN gunbotes
Recommended: 3/5
Note: Pretty decent skill, a must have for IJN DDs to offset the IFHE penalty, good the cost was reduced but so the bonus so it's questionable if you have better skills to invest into
Skill: Swift Fish
Desc: +5% torpedo speed.
Aprox no of ships benefited: 8/70 [11%]
Best winners: EU DDs, Pan Asia torps, Asashio
Recommended: 1/5
Note: This skill is complicated and worse than I thought. Basically no ship can achieve the old extra 5kts in any way possible. Plus this skill gets worse the slower your torps are and if we directly want to just check how much it reduces reaction time on Halland (fastest torps in game) it barely gives an extra 0.4s reduced on the reaction time. On Yueyang only 0.2s. Even with the upgrade you are looking at a max of 0.8s less reaction time and only on faster torps, on average you can just barely shave 0.5s. If you want percentages it's a bit more than -15% reaction time. It sounds good on paper but remember this is for already fast or stealthy torps only.
Skill: Consumables Enhancements
Desc: Longer action time of certain consumables.
Aprox no of ships benefited: 20 [28%]
Best winners: UK DDs, radar DDs, french DDs
Recommended: 4/5
Note: A very good skill to spend leftover points if you manage to still have some. Must have on radar DDs, it boosts the duration to almost 30s with the upgrade
Skill: Extra-Heavy AP Shells
Desc: +5% main battery AP shell damage.
Aprox no of ships benefited: 16 [28%]
Best winners: German DDs, maybe french DDs?
Recommended: 3/5
Note: Anther good skill for gunbotes though you might wanna think of using them on only cruiser fights, most DDs don't benefit much from this skill. Niche UK and IJN gunbotes will MELT other DDs though, but gimmicky. Maybe for leftover points.
Skill: Priority Target Desc: The detection indicator will show the number of enemies targeting you with main battery.
Aprox no of ships benefited: ?/70
Best winners: ?
Recommended: uhhh
Note: I don't wanna be controversial and I must say I NEVER used this skill on DDs, but I understand a lot of people use it so I'm not going to say anything other than the fact, it sucks it even on DDs costs 2 points. Turns a lot of 19pt captains into 21 for no reason.
Skill: Last Stand
Desc: As of Update 0.10.0, all ships retain 20% propulsion and 0% steering when the modules are incapacitated. Ships with Last Stand retain 50% of each.
Aprox no of ships benefited: 70/70 [100%]
Best winners: All DDs
Recommended: 5/5
Note: Another monopolized skill. It outclasses every other skill I mentioned and even if now all ships retain 20% of their engine power on DDs this still hurts them. 36kts become 8kts max speed, with LS you get 18kts it makes a huge difference and even with LS you can pop up smoke and not drift out of it. It is still too good specially in a class with low survability as DDs. Also imagine having 10s of rudder on a DD, ouch.
Tier 3 Skills
Skill: Main Battery and AA Specialist
Desc: -5% main battery reload time.
+10% continuous AA damage.
Aprox no of ships benefited: 20/70 [28%]
Best winners: French DDs, USSR DDs, EU gunbotes
Recommended: 3/5
Note: While a good skill no matter how much it got nerfed, you can get a better increase from AR. Still a must pick for gunbote builds even if the increase is half from another skill at 4pts. Very good on EU gunbote builds as it also boosts AA.
Skill: Fill the Tubes
Desc: -10% torpedo tubes reload time.
Aprox no of ships benefited: 17 [24%]
Best winners: IJN torp line, Benham, Somers
Recommended: 5/5
Note: The same one we know and love, not changed unlike BFT. Always a good pick on torpbotes
Skill: Adrenaline Rush
Desc: For each 1% HP lost:
-0.2% reload time of all armaments
+0.2% AA continuous damage
Aprox no of ships benefited: 70/70 [100%]
Best winners: Every DD though gunbotes a bit more
Recommended: 4/5
Note: The only reason that it isn't 5/5 is that on some specialized builds for utility you might won't get a big benefit from it as you won't be taking damage. Another monopolized skill that only increased the cost of most builds and by far the dumbest decision in this rework. Since DDs are still point hungry the only reason it is not recommended is just to wait till you get 21 points.
Skill: Inertia Fuse for HE Shells
Desc:+25% armor penetration of HE shells.
Base fire chance reduced by half.
Aprox no of ships benefited: 4/70 [5%]
Best winners: IJN gunbote line
Recommended: 5/5 on those ships 0/5 on everything else
Note: Left it only for those DDs nuff said. You can try and pick it up for other DDs but you won't pen any BBs with it, it's mostly for increased damage against cruisers. Not recommended, specially you HURT your damage output against BBs and the ocasional fire on DDs
Skill: Superintendent
Desc: +1 charge to all consumables mounted on a ship.
Aprox no of ships benefited: ?/70
Best winners: DDs with heal
Recommended: 5/5 on DDs with heal on everything else it depends
Note: It really depends on the DD you are playing and your own playstyle, on some it helps on some its a choice. It's unchanged so nothing different from before the rework
Skill: Survivability Expert
Desc: +350 ship HP for each ship tier.
Aprox no of ships benefited: 70/70
Best winners: All DDs
Recommended: 5/5
Note: Monopolized skill before then and now. It's almost 10% or more of HP for your DD it really makes a difference in surviving. Must take on every build.
Tier 4 Skills
Skill: Main Battery and AA Expert
Desc: 20% main battery range.
+15% flak damage.
Aprox no of ships benefited: 20/70 [28%]
Best winners: Gunbotes
Recommended: 5/5 on gunbotes, 0/5 on anything else
Note: Another niche skill but useful with the right build. Unchanged from before the rework.
Skill: Swift in Silence
Desc: +5% main battery reload time.
while undetected
+8% ship speed while activated.
Aprox no of ships benefited: 17/70 [24%]
Best winners: Torpedobotes
Recommended: 4/5
Note: It further emphatizes the role of torpedobotes. Broken at times but it offsets it by increasing the reload, wonder why a similar skill on BBs does not have such a drawback. Can also be good when you can negate the reload (with BFT maybe) making it good for relocating.
Skill: Radio Location
Desc: you know it
Aprox no of ships benefited: 21/70 [30%]
Best winners: Maybe hunter DDs and torpedobotes
Recommended: 2/5
Note: Another skill that is very dependant on the playstyle. It's good overall for hunting DDs and average on torpedo DDs
Skill: Fearless Brawler
Desc: +1 flak burst per salvo.
+5% detectability range of the ship.
When activated:
-10% main battery reload time.
Aprox no of ships benefited: 20/70
Best winners: Gunbotes
Recommended: 2/5
Note: It's a skill meant for farming and not actually brawling or contesting unless you can pull off a Kléber consistently not really recommended for actually winning games. Also pick this if you hate CVs.
Skill: Concealment Expert
Desc: -10% detectability range of the ship.
Aprox no of ships benefited: 60/70
Best winners: Any DD except USSR gunbotes
Recommended: 5/5
Note: Monopolized skill and still very strong on any DD build that isn't meant for farming. Must pick on any DD (unless you are running a farming build)
Skill: Dazzle
Desc: When activated:
+20% dispersion of enemy shells fired at your ship for 15 seconds.
Aprox no of ships benefited: 21/70 [30%]
Best winners: Hunting DDs and torpedobotes? maybe?
Recommended: 1/5
Note: Not recommended for gunboats at all. For ambushing DDs and torpedobotes maybe, it's enough time to get away from a radar if well positioned, however a good DD will avoid those situations already plus it's too expensive to compete with other good skills for torpedobotes. We saw LWM chart and this is mainly for supporting fire, too expensive for 4pts still.
Edit: Formating

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I have a spare drive hub
https://collectiveminds.ca/shop/allconsoles/drivehub/
Willing to random raffle it off to people in the uk. Mod I am happy to verify this post with pictures if needed.
UK ONLY raffle. Comment for entry to raffle. Will input all username that comment into a random generator to name the winner.
Winner will be drawn on Wednesday 27th Jan. 7pm UK GMT
/-Edits for spelling

USA - Joey was not my favourite but he grew on me towards the end. I aint mad about it. At first, I thought he was just going to be loud and obnoxious but as we got to know him, I started to believe he had a big heart beneath it.
Fan Favourite - Sammie. Happy about this.
UK S1 - Yesss! Exactly who I wanted. I thought Kate was very entertaining to watch, from the times she felt a little guilty, to her cackling away with zero remorse. In my opinion, she has been the best catfish to date. I do believe that the others must have all voted tactically for her to have won though, given she definitely wasn't the most popular.
Fan Favourite - Kate. I'm not surprised, but it would have been nice to see maybe Sian or Dan win some money. Not Freddie though, I found him annoying AF.
UK S2 - I really liked Paddy at first, but that opinion changed with the Circle of Trust. It got to a point where Sammie took it too far and came across as a bit of a psychopath. I think we saw some genuine guilt/remorse from Georgina, but not at all from Paddy.
Fan Favourite - Tim. I loved his character over all, but his concern over morality was a bit of a buzzkill at times. Of course people are going to lie and manipulate, but he took it very personally. That said, out of all of the finalists, I feel he was most deserving of fan favourite.