Bockaaarck

Never worry about asking these kind of questions Jimmy, it's exactly the kind of thing an owners forum is designed to answer. If you're not sure, you ask, seems reasonable enough to me

Defensive driving is indeed the key. I find it makes my driving experience so much more enjoyable / less stressful

Sorry, I am in 'Serious / Industrious' mode today, that unfortunately has limited bandwidth for humour awareness

This is the point I was trying to make Dan, clearly I failed to put that across. That because people do something all the time, like driving to work in the car, which is familiar and seemingly so very easy. That they have an over inflated expectation and understanding of their own ability. When compared to something which they are aware of, like world class and exceptional 'chefery', but which they don't do all the time and so therefore they have no expectation of ability or perceived 'entitlement' of how ably they should or can perform.

People sit at home in wonder and watch Heston Blumenthal create amazing dishes on tv. They know they might be able to make a good roast dinner, a decent curry or a number of meals but they also know they are not a Michelin star chef. They happily accept that there's a limit to their talents or experience and don't force their poor or risky cooking on others. How is it then, that this principle is reversed when they get behind the wheel of their Audi, Mondeo, BMW, Nissan? They may well have a simple, standard license to drive a car / van / motorcycle etc and yet they are convinced they are as capable and as able as Alonso, Schumacher, Hamilton, Loeb, Makinen, Kankkunen, Lotterer, McNish, Capello, Tarquini, Soper, Plato, Masuoka, Schlesser, Kleinschmidt, etc, etc, etc

Agree 100%, people need to just chill out. I drive 25-35,000 miles a year and very rarely (if ever, to be honest) get frustrated, angry or aggressive behind the wheel. It also has a massive negative impact on your decision making and therefore standard of driving.

You cheeky bu**er!

You should have said you were in these neck of the woods. Could have arranged to meet up. Bath only 8 mile from me. Would have been good to go for a scoot out wouldn't Dave. Maybe next time, you'll have to make a bit of time next time you're in Bath Andy

Have a great time in Bath Andy, hope you and your daughter enjoy the festival. I know there are a load of great authors around in town this weekend. I will keep my eyes open for the 'Wonder Volvo'

As everyone has said, sorry to hear about about your prang. Just pleased that you're ok and that nobody else was hurt

That is bloody fantastic!

Apologies to Dynamic Turtle for slightly hijacking your thread

Ok guys, thanks for the additional info, much appreciated. I'm very much a GT man, so if it's not pant explodingly quick next to other cars then that's not such a major issue. Man Maths says I would defo go for the 4.7 S and as late a car as I could. I'll do a bit more digging in to things re the Mag ride and I guess the next thing to do is get a test drive, when time commitments allow, so I can check out the handling etc Cheers

Mmm, I've not read anything which causes me major concern. I know some folks struggle with the interior, pedal spacing, the brakes being a little lackadaisical. Other than that and perhaps poor economy I'm not aware of any other major issues, but if you do know anything else docrwa then please share, id like to know as much as possible

I'm hoping to take an R8 on test in the next couple of weeks. Another car I'm tempted by is the Maserati Grantourismo, which are now at that £35-£40k mark

Stanley looks great, what a cracking car! Love the colour too

Top effort Chris, impressive amount of work getting those issues sorted

Happy birthday indeed, all the best to you

Now I rev match all the time Annie, it's just force of habit now. However I don't heal n toe all the time, only when 'making progress'

Nope, no reason to do it, especially in a modern car with synchromesh. I imagine all you would do if you consistently did this is to depress and use the clutch twice as much as you need to, potentially leading to risk of excess wear and tear

Congratulations Jud1, nice looking Zed and a fantastic colour, there aren't many 'chilli's ' around

Chris, sorry to hear about your circumstances, sounds like its been a tough period. I wish you all the best in working your way through things over the coming months. Remember, as and when you feel you need to, to turn to family, friends and others, even just for a chat over a mug tea or a natter on a forum

I had a look at the iphone 6 at the Apple store in Bath a couple of days ago. If I'm honest it felt cheap, I was rather underwhelmed.

Jeez, Citroen SM, fantastic car! Wonder if they want to sell it?

My mum had a Citroen GS Pallas, it was a great little car in terms of comfort and I remember it being a fun car. It was a bit underpowered though.