Bockaaarck

She's well used old boy, but needs a bit of a re-spray to be fair, bless the graceful old thing. Still, she's done 125,000 miles, still on the original clutch, starts regular as clockwork and can, when required, make fantastic progress. I do a fair amount of mileage and she doesn't complain. I bought her to drive though and that's what I do, its why she probably looks a little 'tired'. Garaging in town is pricey, we have one to keep the other transport in but I can't get the Zed in there as well unfortunately.

It looks amazing Chris, love the stickers. I bet it's a real blast to drive

SiriusProjects, first of all you were 100% right to post and ask the question / ask for help. If you're not sure if something's normal / wrong how else are you going to find out? The first I would ask is do you know when your Zed was last serviced? If it hasn't been done recently it might be worth getting it serviced. I'm sure you've thought of this already to be fair. I'm no mechanical whizz kid either so I find out a lot by asking these guys questions (some of the answers are on occasion helpful ). In all seriousness it does sound to me that possibly there could be an issue which might be resolved by a good service. However; it's also possible (bearing in mind I'm no mechanic) that there's possibly something air / fuel related which is making your Zed behave a bit 'odd'. I'd start with a good service and then move on from there my friend

Alfa Romeo 159 or the GT?

Many moons ago I did some Formula Ford with a view to getting a scholarship for a season, not sure I could even get in to one now Anyway Ian, you are going to absolutely love this, you will have a fantastic time my friend. Firstly, and this is going to sound really odd, but its important, make sure you are as comfortable in the seat as possible. They aren't going to mould you a seat for sure, but getting as comfortable as you can is crucial. Why you may ask, well if you don't feel comfortable that will impact your driving. You will be concentrating on slipping in the seat as you go through corners or nudging your elbows when you're trying to shift (if its manual) or you'll feel that your feet will slip or slide if you can't comfortably reach the pedals. All of that will take your attention away from being able to place the car where you want it to be and balance it through corners and changes in direction. It'll make it hard work, so get comfy is my first advice, as that will mean you can really get on with driving the car as smoothly and as quickly as possible. This is going to sound boring and blindingly obvious but smooth, smooth, smooth is the key. Smooth inputs in gear changes and especially steering input. The less aggresively you use the throttle, brakes and shift the less likely you are to make mistakes. Yes, you'll want to try and get some heat in the brakes and tyres on the first lap. Drive that at 70% and get used to the balance of the brakes, throttle and steering. Then you need to try and 'keep on it' and maintain consistent pace, as this will keep the brakes and tyres nicely warm, that'll help keep the car stable and allow you to enjoy the drive. The less input you make the smoother you will be, the faster you will go. Ease on the brakes once you get a bit of heat, ease on the throttle again once you get used to the balance. Try not to take chunks out of a corner, select your entry point and then turn and ease the steering through the corner. Thinking ahead will make a massive difference in terms of balancing the car and positioning it correctly. It will probably feel a bit alient, even though its effectively driving a car, and you do that all the time. Don't worry too much about trying to set a lap record or beating anybody elses time just enjoy it Ian, it will be a terrific day out.

Great news, well done junior, a whole new lease of life awaits!

Chris, that looks fantastic! I bet it's great fun and it looks like it will be amazing on track, brilliant.

Black 350Z parked on George Street, Polish plates, looking good. Great silver 350Z on London Road, looked like a full Nismo kit, have you a quick toot ( with my horn, I'm not talking about 'jazz woodbines' here). Then a lovely azure roadster near Sydney Gardens. All in the space of an hour between about 11:00 and 12:00. I was 'shedding' in my Seat today so you may of wondered why I was wavin and a beepin!

I think the Cayman / Cayman S is is an excellent car and bang for buck a fantastic choice. However; if can seriously get a decent, solid 997 within your budget. I would, on balance of ownership cost and what you get for money, it's got to be the 997.

Iceland is great, really liked Reykjavik, great city, great food, good beer, cracking atmosphere. I didn't think it was too expensive to be honest. I think the Blue Lagoon is a definite if you're going and perhaps an organised tour out to a volcano. People were very friendly when I was there 10 years ago. Mind you, I was only there for about 12 hours I think, flew out with a couple of 'mates' who's band were playing out there. Would love to go back there

Jeez! Really glad your better half is ok! Shame about the Zed but at least that can be replaced.

I guess some people just have a knack for it and are good at it, I'm sure we both have different talents You are both special in your own beautiful ways

Many happy returns all of you!

Good work Darren, the MOT pass is great news!

I drive with the TC on all the time. The only time I have had issues with the TC kicking in is when I was running the Birdgestone RE040's. I found it kicked in quite a bit when I was running those and the car was nervous. I never had any problems with TC when using the Falken 452's and I've had no problems when running the MPSS. I guess its down to preference in delivery and application of power to the road, road conditions and whether you want to 'free up' the car for a bit of spirited driving etc.

Intimidation, intentional or otherwise, of another motorist / cyclist / pedestrian is unforgivable. I do think a lot of people don't realise they are doing it. Which makes me wonder if they should receive further training or indeed a re-test because they are 'unaware' and I don't like driving on roads where people are unaware, because they make it more dangerous. People who do this intentionally however, are mouth breathing, selfish dolts of the highest order

twobears, you're not the only one. I'm forever finding people sat right up my chuff on motorways, A roads and B roads. They are fools and idiots and do not understand the responsibility associated with driving a car, I know that sounds a bit odd but it's true. On Monday I attended yet another driver awareness / driver improvement course. Why did I do that you may wonder. Well I drive 3000 miles a month, M/Ways, A and B roads, I drive a lot. The statistical assessment from the Police advanced driving instructor who was with on Monday was my driving habit (as in miles driven). Put me in a death risk group above that of professional deep see (mixed air and gas) diver. Because we all drive, we all think or people think driving is easy, a throw away habit. Now a lot of us cook and a lot of us cook well. But that doesn't mean I'm Michelle Roux Junior or Raymond Blanc or Heston Blumenthal. I'm not a Michelin Star chef, even though I can cook. The only issue is that over cooking the rice or burning the 'snorkers' on the BBQ is not the same as travelling at 40 mph in a 30 or using a mobile phone when driving. The risks and potential impact are incomparable. Yet everyone thinks that because the can cook beans on toast, they can drive like Fernando Alonso. Poor driving frustrates me, makes me angry and really pisses me off. Most of all however it saddens me, because the type of people who drive as you describe have no idea how bad they are and no idea how likely and how soon they will cause an accident that kills them or someone else. I sometimes wonder how on earth these types of people ever get a licence and wonder if theirs fell out of a cracker at Christmas, like a very poor joke and a magic curling fish thingy

......and the 240Z, you Wrong'n Dave!

Gunmetal with the polished lip / gunmetal all over FTW

2002 Seat Toledo 2.3 v5 (170 ps/bhp), it's a great little car and scoots along really well

Really good to see you've got a few things moving on this Darren, even if it's just for the MOT. I think it's going to be amazing when you're done.

Agree with Dips, the Pilot Sports were great, the MPSS are terrific

Terrific 240Z Darren, what a find! I will be very interested in watching the progress you make. Based on your previous effort, I'm sure it will be amazing.

Mmm not good at all, terrible tragedy, those poor people

That's a shame, great guitarist