brillomaster

Lots of great driving roads in south wales in the Brecons! Firstly, the B4560 from Beaufort to Llangynidr - road over the moors which is frequeny used in Chris Harris videos - theres a hairpin that features in nearly every one of his videos. Also in the same area the run up the hill from Llangattock is brilliant. Secondly, the A4059 running north from Hirwaun to the A470 - brilliant moorland road, can be very fast with well sighted sweepers. Doesnt really go anywhere either, so is good and quiet. Only thing is watch for sheep! so good needs to be ran in both directions! Finally from me, the A4069 from Llangadog to Brynamman - although this needs to be early in the morning as it will be heaving with caravans, and its a bit too narrow to overtake safely.

thats too bad wendy, will keep you posted on the next one!

great photos! nice to get out in the zed, feels like a little while since i've really driven anywhere as have been busy with the beemer of late. but thanks Wendy and Jaz making a memorable drive up there - hope you both enjoyed the B road blast. Drive home was also excellent, despite the two wrong turnings we eventually got on the right road! very much looking forward to the next zed, Ian if you could make it about 40miles away from Leamington spa that'd be perfect

my few tips: preparation: You'll need a long sleeve top and trousers, and a helmet (this can be hired on the day for ~£10) check tyre tread and pressures Check coolant level and oil level Check brake pads and discs for good function Whilst on track: be curteous to other drivers - follow overtaking rules use mirrors, and let the faster cars past Accept that you arent as fast as the slick shod caterham - focus on cars of a similar specification Keep an eye on the temperature gauge - normall only do 3-4 hot laps, and then do a full cool down lap using the brakes as little as possible. Driving: Brake in a straight line, get all the braking done before you turn in. Use the marker cones for turn in and clipping points be smooth with both steering and throttle inputs. Drive within your limits! Other than that, it's pretty straightforward! you'll be grinning like a loon all day

Hooray Britain!

nah alloys are too good... gives away it might be a quicker car than you're letting on. Tell you what, we've got a set of 15" BMW wheels you can have, for the true beater look

isnt this the throttle mapping being particularly retarded in the first 3 gears? mine takes a little while to respond when pulling away in first gear, thinking of a d1 throttle controller might be the answer.

jesus thats the peakiest torque curve i've ever seen! i'm sorry, but is that actually driveable on the road? in the space of 1000rpm the torque figure trebles bet your traction control has a hard time in the wet!

No can do the 17th unfortunately! have a prior engagement i cant get out of However, have you considered moving to Rockingham on the 18th? Full OPL, slightly cheaper for the day at £195 with free second drivers. Link here: http://store.rockingham.co.uk/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=130818

ps awesome photos! we're still leaning a fair bit through the corners, and its clear to see our front camber needs increasing. might have to put ARBs and camber kits on the front of ours! your porsche looks great

no mouth isnt necessarily a bad thing as mentioned, no problems with noise regs. but you cant argue with nearly 270bhp and 350 lbft of torque. how much can you get a 2002 330d for? we looked at 2001 E46 330cis, but they were a bit rich for us.

ethical? only loser i can think of is possibly tescos, or maybe the government. both have plenty of cash already anything i can do to get cheaper fuel i will do - unfortunately just filled up otherwise would be buying these of fleabay!

the guy i car share with has a cooper s - he normally thrapes the nuts of it, and seems fairly nippy! plus you are right, even the standard exhaust is hilariously burbly and pops all the time.

just drop the profile of the rears to 245/40 18s and that'll be fine - only 3mm less sidewall than the fronts running 225/45, so will look even. most staggered sizes have a lower profile at the back to compensate for a wider tyre but keep the side sidewall height as the front

i've checked and double checked, but cant see it anywhere... whats the mileage?

haha i reset at the top of a three mile downhill stretch in wales, after putting it in neutral... probably would have got even better if i'd have kept it in gear, but anyways... the mpg reading was maxed out at 99 for a good 10 minutes before dropping down again!

i also imagine the engine has got considerably less work to do getting up to temperature - and cold running a zed really blunts economy! also, heated rear screen and heated seats put more strain on the alternator - whereas ac is normally left on all year round.

240 miles for a tank isnt right... i dont fill up until i've done 400 miles, which is commuting 20 miles a day along the motorway to work. but even mixed driving i'd expect 350 miles from a tank.

i second the economy! this recent warm weather is doing brilliant things for the mpg, during this warm weather im averaging about 3-4 mpg higher than when its cold. Even when not driving like a jag owner im averaging 33mpg on the way to work, 4 months ago it was barely 28mpg wish it was this warm all the time!

PS this is what we looked a few days before you!

yeah was a good little track, how did you find a zed round there! i thought it was a bit of a handful in our beemer to be honest, quite tight with interesting corners!

Very much hope this goes through! its just up the road from where my girlfriends parents live, and it could certainly do with a bit of investment in the area and some new jobs. And the UK is lacking some decent purpose built tracks (ie ones that arent based on old airfields)

not for me thanks. putting a supercar's bumper on a sports car does not a supercar make.

another vote for nothing here. im quite tall so the rear view mirror is enough of an obstruction already, without having something dangling from it!

all 5 cars used tonight were hatchbacks! still, they're clearly spending the budget in other areas!