JetSet

What's lurking in there?!?!? Sea monsters? You need to tell them! The worst danger would be a dislodged manhole cover, can do an horrendous amount of damage. Pete

Not really, if the car is designed for run flats then they're not a complete disaster but even then they still tramline quite badly. They maintain their integrity when punctured by having extremely rigid sidewalls so they give a really hard ride. I've also read that if you do get a puncture then it can be difficult to find someone to repair them. I would check though that having non run flats on would be a problem with the MOT and I certainly wouldn't put ordinary tyres on one set of axles and run flats on the other. Pete

I noticed he was driving a 4WD, the main problem is that these make the owners feel invincible and they take crazy chances. There was a similar accident yesterday in Wales involving a woman driver getting swept away in a Chelsea Tractor, she was very lucky to survive. Its the same in snow too, I've seen numerous 4WD's that have finished up in ditches. Pete

It looks like they wont even be there http://forum.planet-....php?f=3&t=5260 I'm hearing that the team has arrived in Brazil but that all staff are being made redundant on the 26th. I'm also reading that there's now a 40% chance of thunderstorms on Saturday. More persistent rain to arrive on Sunday morning, 80% possibility of rain during the race. Pete

Thanks for all your inputs . Fodder, I do have Renault Clio but am planning to hand responsibility for this to my daughter in February. I don't really need it any longer. DBlock, the car is 2006 dealer registered but remained unused until I bought it in February 2007. It languished on display inside a car showroom for 13 months, no idea why. The low mileage is mainly down to me being retired, it wouldn't really matter what car I had but on the odd occasion I do venture out I'd rather do it in a Zed than say a Focus . There's no real urgency to sell as there's no finance on either car and I can easily hang on till April/May before I make any decision. I'll keep you updated, we should know before Christmas. Pete

I'm hoping that it won't come to this but we may have to sell one of The Zeds early next year. Caroline's job is under severe threat and there's a possibility that she may lose her job as early as January and at 61 she probably won't look for another job. So it boils down to which one of the Zeds should we keep? Both have got 14k on the clock, mine is a pre facelift 55 reg and Caroline's is an 08 (313) roadster. I'm sort of leaning towards keeping mine as I've had it from new and know exactly how its been driven whereas The Roadster was bought second hand with 7.5k on the clock. On the other hand, the Roadster is 2 and half years newer and probably the better car. It's going to be a tough choice to make as I've become rather attached to both of them . Pete BTW, Caroline works for Careers Wales, which is funded by The Welsh Assembly as a Youth and Training employment advisor. It says a lot when in an area of very high youth unemployment that you get rid of the people who place them into jobs, .

Welcome . Pete

Says 2006 so it should be on a 55 plate . Pete

It's not really a mid life crises, more like a mid life opportunity. By the time you get to your 50's your mortgage will be paid and your kids will have grown up, time to enjoy yourself . Pete

The internet . Pete

Back to the race this weekend! Looking at the various weather forecasts it looks like a cold front will be passing through Sao Paulo on Saturday. This will bring heavy rain possibly as much as 3 inches from Saturday through to the middle of Sunday. Here's the forecast for the weekend from Weather Underground. Friday, dry all day with a possibility of showers in the evening, temperature around 35 degrees . Saturday, dry in the morning, 30% chance of showers during Qualy, temp around 28 degrees. Sunday, 60% chance of rain during the race, temperatures plunging to 19 degrees. Pete

you might want to check your running costs on that in comparison to other choices. +1 Over 24k it'll need 4 services . Parts and expendables like for example brakes are very expensive. I've seen some estimates of running costs on other forums and they are simply horrendous. Pete

I couldn't agree more and let's face it Alonso has previous on manipulating the results. What's shocked me more than anything is the complete lack of condemnation from the other teams. They will protest against the smallest of technical infringements on other teams cars yet say nothing about bending the grid. Sure, it's within the rules and it may well have kept the championship open but it's very poor for the image of the sport. Pete

I'm considering Netflix. I've looked on their site and it says I should be all right with my 2.5mb connection but I'm not too sure if this is fast enough. Anyone have any experience with a slowish connection? Pete

Welcome . Pete

I thought it was a fixed penalty in The States. I remember watching Robert Robinson (remember him?) getting pulled for speeding and he had to put the money in an envelope and pop it into a letterbox, could vary from state to state though. I wonder if they notify the DVLA?? Pete

Amazing fact......Sky reported during the race that this is the first time that Vettel, Hamilton and Alonso have been on the podium at the same time. Great drive by Hamilton yesterday but sadly I can't see him challenging next year. Pete

They can't access the police database, which includes personal details held by The DVLA and in any case I'm not sure that the DVLA will keep records of non convictions, obviously the police will though. Insurance companies have their own database which the police have access to for when they do roadside stops, etc. This database will also cover your insurance history and any other information (like declared convictions). When I changed over to Admiral they didn't ask me for proof of no claims so they probably checked it out on their database. http://www.inbrief.co.uk/police/police-national-computer.htm "There are several organisations with full access to the PNC including all territorial police forces of Great Britain, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, British Transport Police, Civil Nuclear Constabulary, Isle of Man Constabulary, States of Jersey Police, States of Guernsey Police Service, Serious Organised Crime Agency, Ministry of Defence Police, HM Revenue & Customs, The Security Service MI5, Secret Intelligence Service MI6, Government Communication Headquarters, Defence Intelligence Staff, Department for Work and Pensions, Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency and the Association of Chief Police Officers. There are a number of other organisations with restricted access. These include HM Court Service where Crown Courts use the PNC juror link to carry out criminal record checks on potential jury members. The Criminal Records Bureau use the PNC to carry out criminal record checks on individuals applying to work with children or other vulnerable people although concerns have been expressed that the indefinite retention of old convictions and cautions is unwarranted. Other organisations with restricted access include the Probation Service, the Royal Military Police, Royal Air Force Police, Royal Navy Police and Royal Marines Police." Pete

As much as it wrankles I have absolutely no doubt that if it had been any other team in the same situation they would have done the same........ Probably, although I'm not sure any team other than Ferrari would get away with it? In any case surely this would come under the rule of bringing the sport into disrepute. Pete

Anyone know what that exhaust is? Pete

Hannah, k = Miles, km = kilometres . Pete

What sort of mileage has it done? From previous posts I've read Zed clutches seem to start failing at around the 35k mark and most (but not all) will have replaced their clutch by 75k. Pete

I agree, the insurance companies will not have access to the records of who has been on an awareness course and who hasn't. AFAIK you can tell them what you want, they have no way of knowing or checking even if you have an accident. From the BBC report.... Pete

+1, one of the regular sites I visited, Trackmania.com got infected with one of those really nasty virus's that got past Avast (My database was a couple of months out of date ) and wasted a couple of days of my time cleaning up the mess it made. Caroline got a less nasty one on her laptop which I traced back to one of the Craft sites she was on most days. I have used Norton in the past but it proved to be a real memory hog and caused lots of false positives and was an absolute pig to integrate into my network. As far as Laptops go, I just get a new one every 3 years or so as eventually the battery, fans, power connector or in worst case scenario the backlight will fail. Pete

dont look too bad at all mate. Surprisingly, I have to agree, I like them. Pete