coldel

XFR just seems a bit too barge for me. I did read up on Z4M and they say you are better off with a 3.0 coupe which handles better and overall better package bizarrely

Well still looking. I have managed to convince the missus that 4 seats as a 'must have' just isn't going to work so have managed to scrub that from the list. I am thinking something like an SLK55, Z4 35i or a gen 1 Cayman. Something that will be good fun for 18 months or so then can sell on without too much value of the car lost. Was looking at E46 M3s but not sure on the auto boxes. They are still great looking cars though.

They will show through the paint too? if you want a quick and easy solution plast dip is an option and requires little skill to get right

I could be wrong as it’s been ten years since I did the same but the centre console has dimples which will be visible once wrapped - it won’t appear flat.

Check in with @Stutopia his wasnt FI but did a lot of work including headers - the chassis is meant to be excellent on them certainly more sporty than a Z chassis

Merry Christmas buddy and best wishes to everyone 👍

The thoughts didn't come into my mind because you asked the question, they have been there from the start of the conversation, which is why I made the opinion I did.

...but that didn't stop members of the public with no credentials in science, medicine or human biology having opinions on how vaccines work, did it?

Because that person may have watched tennis for decades, seen all the best players play, seen Djokovic lose points on his back hand down the line repeatedly, then made the observation. Steve's experience watching the game, comparing players, seeing their strengths and weaknesses, makes that observation as his opinion. Having watched my team West Ham I can tell you Masuaku cannot defend to a level that Cresswell can, in fact his defensive capabilities are well down on other players in the team and its his weak point despite being a defender. But his strength is going forwards and overlapping and providing that outlet. I can tell you Kane's finishing is better than Antonio's but Antonio's hold up play is much better than Kane's, so on and so forth. Would Djokovic react weird if Steve said that, yes of course because its totally out of context. If Djokovic had lost a lot of points on his back hand in that match would Steve not be able to identify that and have an opinion on it, of course he can.

So despite not being an elite footballer, a member of the general public cannot state what makes a great footballer? I think any genuine race fan knows Lewis is a more complete racer than Max, and where the advantages lie. Because they spend years watching it and see what sets racers apart. If you cannot see where Max's shortcomings in terms of race craft are, that's just a reflection of the limits of your understanding rather than any reflection of the population at large.

Yes missing the ceremony smacked of sour grapes, it was definitely a '**** you FIA' act which they should have rose above. I cannot believe you think Lewis is a cry baby, did you not see the end of the grand prix? Congratulated RB and Max, despite literally having it taken from him in the dying minutes took it on the chin. I think its clear if there are whingers of the paddock Mr Horner is right up there (and you see that in the Drive to Survive series on Amazon) - when it comes to the 'cry baby' antics as you put it, definitely RB are kings of the ring on that front deflecting their own failings the last 5-6 years in that way.

I think we can all give an opinion having watched enough of it. And that most of us who aren’t Max super fanboys align with pundits drivers and team owners in terms of how he drives, as I say only the most blinkered think he drives as aggressive as anyone else. …and yes Lewis and Toto should have gone to the awards.

I think he just needs to learn some proper race craft, he should have by now, if he can add that to his clear on track speed he should be unbeatable if RB can sort themselves out longer term. He does though strike me as someone who doesn't learn from his mistakes, there is something of a self entitlement to his driving. I do love an aggressive driver I think all race fans do, but not one that oversteps the mark by such a margin - to be honest when I look back at the season at his divebombing and see how Lewis evades contact you only have to be in some awe as to how good these drivers are to avoid being hit with everything going at such a pace, there is a lot more skill to getting out the way than the out of control overtake!

He didnt run off track to maintain place position, he ran off track to avoid a collision. Max was carrying too much speed into the corner to allow Lewis enough space to continue racing and understeering once again which can be seen with the extreme entry and exit angles. Max had a nose on him into the apex (because he was going too fast) and then couldn't maintain any sort of controlled line on the exit. Lewis had two choices, be hit or evade. Max only got the position by forcing Lewis off the track. In my mind, they gave the right outcome that you have gained an unfair advantage by forcing another car off track, so there was no advantage to give back.

The one in the last race was borderline. But those sort of things happen. It’s the other (at least 5 times this season) where he has dangerously gone into a corner and only the car in front giving up the place avoids a collision. He is out of control of the car heading into a corner with an opponent in front of him, that is unacceptable. And Masi did say that, but not about the overtake. Max has been penalised enough in his career, more so than most, because of his dangerous driving. If it’s in the rules then you wonder why the penalties keep coming … most on the grid know he is more dangerous than most anyone who says otherwise is completely blinkered.

Have to disagree with you on this one mate. Like Schumacher he has on a number of occasions crossed the line but in a different way. His 'divebombing' which is in effect a Max pass or both cars come together is unacceptable. So many occasions this season you can see him out of control of the car, understeering as he goes in too fast forcing the other car to take evasive action to avoid a collision. He is relatively young, but he has something like 150 grand prix under his belt, professional media training, and everything else that comes with being an elite sportsman. He isn't a kid who is still finding his feet any more. OK, F1 has to be more exciting I agree, but that needs to come from making the cars more competitive. Red Bull have a lot of resource to compete with Mercedes but have for quite a few seasons ballsed it up whether its engine choice or what not. Mercedes when they joined F1 did not have instant success they had to work at it, RB just havent done as good a job. Given that they have not done as well as they should have, its up to the FIA to even up the field. Not to the point that Williams can next season compete with Mercedes, but that the spend levels of the top teams comes down. There are plenty of elements of the race weekend that can be changed to make it more entertaining. The answer is not a rogue driver who will at some point soon T bone another car with a divebomb that the other driver cant get out the way of and we have something more significant to talk about.

Funny thing is Lewis has taken it pretty well and been dignified during it all even in the immediate aftermath when you know boot on the other foot Max would have been screaming spitting blood wanting to punch people and generally throwing every toy out the pram.

Rule 48.12 does clearly state 'any cars that have been lapped..." and the stewards rejection of the Merc protest accepted that rule 48.12 had only been partially applied. What they said was rule 48.13 if interpreted a certain way could in theory give Masi the power to bring in the safety car pretty much at his own discretion, which is what he did. What he couldn't do was only instruct some cars and not others to unlap as that contravenes 48.12. What is more disturbing is that Masi clearly did that for the excitement value, but ignored plenty of safety issues. There were marshalls still on the circuit at the time stood behind armcos and not behind the actual safety barriers when the race was under a green flag on the wihtdrawal of the safety car for example. I think the bottom line is, what an utter farce, and what a disappointing way to end a really good season. Masi made a pigs ear of it, FIA initially defended him but quickly realised it was indefensible. It was a mistake, and it changed the outcome of the drivers championship. Whether Lewis or Max deserved to win is irrelevant, what's significant is that the rules were changed mid race (rules which Masi himself clarified at the Eifel 2020 grand prix specifically saying that ALL lapped cars had to be waved by) by someone who in reality, doesn't have the power to do that.

Merc appeal withdrawn. Presumably based on the FIA holding their hands up and all but admitting they made a bad call and are going to address it.

Don't annoy the missus! https://twitter.com/susie_wolff/status/1471400042527346689?s=21 To be fair, she presents the issue fairly eloquently. Inventing rules on the fly is not in the spirit of the sport, or any sport. And this statement looks like the FIA are about to throw Masi under the bus https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/59675264

Yes lots of misconceptions, plenty of people that think it is going to be as loud as a V8, as nimble as an MX5, as fast as a modern hot hatch so on and so forth. They don't take into account the design is knocking on the door of 20 years old and that it is a GT car designed more for mile munching than tight B road bombing.

Yes there was certainly the option for Bottas to hit a wall or have an unknown problem and the car stop in the middle of the track. I think it seems the rumours doing the rounds are that Perez was running light so to be better able to hold Hamilton up. In actual fact the victim here isn't merc or Hamilton, its all the participants, due to a race control that put entertainment over sportsmanship. I think we all get that so many big sports are just commercial vehicles nowadays, but the sporting ethos has to remain at the heart of it. Race control deciding during a race that they can interpret one of their rules in whatever way they want to make it exciting is just fundamentally so wrong, on so many levels.

That is different to the issue at hand though, that the governing body of the sport decides it can just change the rules because at that moment it seemed the more 'exciting' way to do it. There has been tonnes of great racing this season, lets not forget that, it didn't need one lap at the end to make a dull season exciting. What happened was that they engineered an ending that wasn't sportsmanlike and ultimately decided the drivers title around a table of blokes in suits rather than on a track, to make it 'exciting'. If that's the case, then this needs to become WWE wrestling or something similar. Put on the show first, worry about the basic principles of sport second. They have talked about reversing the grid, and all sorts of more extreme things, then lets implement that. I think what may have happened, and lets hope it didn't, was that they realised that Hamilton was going to win it AGAIN whilst the race finished under a safety car. They probably felt that would not send the right message (despite the fact Hamilton drove a better race weekend overall) and decided that the safety car MUST come in before the end of the race. They realised that to make that happen the only solution was to invent a halfway house rule change.

Well that's the issue at hand, that the focus on the decision was all about attempting to make it look like the season had a finale for the two main actors of the show. They knew by letting all the lapped guys go through they couldn't have finished the race with a green flag lap. So 'Masi God Mode' was activated which the FIA feel is allowed which involves them moving the goalposts for the benefit of the watching TV audience rather than the benefit of sport. It's a shame as none of RB Merc Verstappen or Hamilton did anything wrong, after all the posturing by the FIA to tell the racers to have a clean race (and to be fair generally in the race they did and Hamilton drove away from Verstappen) the FIA actually were the ones that made the mistake.

Yes I think RB were already lining up their protests as when the race officials first said to leave the lapped drivers where they were the RB radio went wild. Yes another manufacturers championship, if anything, that's the problem in F1 not that Lewis specifically kept winning. To be honest so many Max 'fans' out there aren't fans of him, they just want to support whoever isn't Lewis 😄 where did all the LeClerc fans go from a few seasons back 😉 I think the rule book is fine, its the dumbass wielding it that needs sorting out !