brillomaster

wow what a terrible system. so the DVLA can just sit on the paperwork for a few weeks if they want to, and keep the extra road tax even though you sent them the form promptly when you sold the car. how quickly do the DVLA sent you out a refund? As i'd be very tempted to tell the future owner, well, the DVLA haven't been arsed to sort the paperwork, so as far as they're concerned its still taxed. If the DVLA cant be bothered to process V5c forms promptly, and refuse to take any notice of the date of sale, then why on earth should a new buyer have to retax a car immediately as soon as they purchase it? what a joke, no wonder people have absolutely zero faith in the DVLA. As Will says, bunch of thieves.

yeah its pretty straightforward, it shouldn't have anything to do with when they receive the letter (which could easily be delayed) or when the process the paperwork (which could be weeks) a date of sale or transfer is the date. if that date was 30th November, you're due 3 months tax back, it should be so simple. Luck should have nothing to do with it!

welcome! I think a buddy club exhaust comes within your price range, if you're keeping the standard cats that'll be loud but not intolerable. if you're running decats however...

so thats where they all are! we only ever get guys driving clapped out old BMWs...

we usually use javelin trackdays http://www.javelintrackdays.co.uk/trackday/index.php very reasonably priced, but they do stack'em high, sell'em cheap... so can be quite busy. there are companies that have less entrants, but they cost more, your choice! we also use http://www.trackdays.co.uk/calendar/cars/ and also can get cheap days with http://www.msvtrackdays.com/car/calendar.aspx as well.

aye ebay is the place to go for cheap motors... theres quite a few MR2s on there for cheap as well if they're of any interest to you - bit smaller and lighter so cheaper to run and handle better than a beemer as standard, but have to watch out for mid engine handling traits and might lose out a bit on straights. but definitely scour ebay, there is the odd bargain to be had - one of the reasons ours was so cheap was because it was only half painted, but £15 in Halfords spray paint soon sorted that out to an acceptable level for a track car!

something like this is what you need http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2001-BMW-330-CI-3-0-SPORT-BLUE-FULL-MOT-98K-MILES-DRIVES-GREAT-NICE-CAR-/191480219258?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item2c951c467a cheap, likely because its got poverty spec cloth seats, and its a Cat C! but as long as it has working motor, gearbox and brakes that about all you need, anything else is surplus to requirements. then once you have car, you'll need brake pads +fluid (£180) decent tyres (£380) budget coilovers (£190) and harnesses (£40) and you're pretty much all set to have some fun!

welcome to the forum! high mileage isn't a particular problem on these cars, so just the usual things really... full service history including belts and spark plugs when required, and check for clutch condition if it hasn't already been replaced. other than that, happy zedding!

yeah seems a bit steep to me - we bought our 330ci for a third of that with similar mileage, no way the mods on that one are worth £2000.

standard check for clutch wear, on a dual carriageway or similar, put in a high gear (5th or 6th) and floor the throttle. if the revs shoot up, clutch is knackered!

can you get glossy wraps? im not normally a fan of wraps, but I think that's because they're nearly always a matte finish, which makes it obvious its a wrap. saying that, I think a dark red would look good on a 370z - there aren't many out there, so high likelihood it will be unique.

depends if you want any lairy power oversteer moments! but then again, im sure if you had a civic type R you could back it into corners with some trail braking, so either way you've got options! although I would say that if you can drive a moderately powerful RWD car on track, you'll have more confidence in the zed on the road - although the zeds grip levels will likely be a lot higher than a track car.

Down to 103.9 in leam! Which means super is now 108.9, bargain! 64 quid to fill up, happy days.

probably why its only at just over £500. if it stays that price it'll be a bargain, even if you only get half a dozen trackdays out of it before the engine goes bang. however, I often think that if an engine has made it to 189,000 without going bang, its probably made of quite stern stuff, so an extra 5k of track miles isn't likely to do much harm! as long as fluids are kept in check and its warmed up and cooled down properly, I cant see any reason why the engine would let go. Plus i'd much rather have nearly 190,000 miles on a pretty unstressed large capacity NA engine than on a smaller, high revving, high compression engine, or anything involving forced induction... very little to go wrong on a BMW straight 6

depends... if you want a custom colour that can only be achieved by a wrap, then you can just buy the cheapest standard colour car you can and wrap it - however if you want an actual painted finish, then you'll have to wait for a Le Mans blue car! How much is a respray? is that prohibitively expensive?

I think it depends on the track, and your definition of fun... somewhere like snetterton, Bedford, Silverstone, maybe even donington an MX5 would be monstered by an E36 which would have the advantage on long straights and long fast corners. However if you plan on going to Cadwell park, Blyton park or maybe even rockingham or oulton park, the nimbleness of an MX5 will be advantageous through the twisty stuff. Ideally, you'd try (or at least sit in) both, and decide which is for you. for me personally I like power down the straights and the occasional massive lairy slide through a corner when the back steps out, rather than go kart handling. Our mate has an MR2 which is good in its own way - brakes and corners like a demented terrier, but I wouldn't feel comfortable getting the back out. each to their own!

back on topic, why an MX5? yeah they're nimble and handle well, but add two burly blokes and that nimbleness will be lost - certainly an extra 200kgs won't do anything for the power to weight ratio either! unless you're particularly keen on an MX5 or particularly un-keen on a beemer, i'd be on the lookout for track prepared BMWs as well - something like this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-328i-MOT-Track-Car-Very-Quick-Schnitzer-Alloys-Bucket-Seats-Modified-Tuned-/231448125430?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item35e3621ff6

Welcome to the forum! in terms of differences in driving between a 276, 296 and 313, they'll be small. the chassis, suspension, brakes, wheel sizes are all the same across all models, the only real difference the engine, and where the redline is. I *think* the later cars had a updated gearbox, but still with the same ratios and final drive.

can you not just put some decent 0w-30 oil in, and then make sure you take it for a decent drive every weekend so the engine can get up to temperature and burn off any nasties that might have accumulated?

i do think plato quite likes being one of the old guard - he probably gets paid a small fortune for staying in btcc, a lot of people will be watching it because plato is in it. but yeah, if he moved to GT racing he'll have to build up a reputation all over again, and he might not be that good having raced fwd cars the last decade!

i had an mx5 and i'm 6 foot, although i took an inch or so of seat padding out so i sat lower in the standard seats. i'd probably mount a seat to the floor, but if you're buying with some mates you'll likely need the sliding rails, unless you're all the same height and proportions!

they do sound good.... but they're still mercs, and that for me still says 'old man automatic' rather than 'precision driving tool' which is the impression i get with BMW M cars. if i had to have one, it would be an older C63 amg with a proper sized na V8.

interesting may well have to do a go compare on one of these, I imagine its because they were previously only bought by older drivers who never crash, and so is considered very cheap. I imagine that a 350Z is becoming more of a risk than it was as younger drivers are now buying them and crashing more... my insurance has decreased by a bit, but not by as much as I would have hoped!

Mmmm cant offer any help on the spacers, but liking the look of the wheels on a Gunmetal zed, think that sits really nice as it is! also like the single exit exhaust, bet that's loud!

I am confused... how can the current champion NOT be driving on 2015? surely someone will snap him up and give him the sponsorship needed. and if foster is retiring, maybe collard and turkington and ebay will be doing something different, who knows? Interesting to see what plato gets up to, i'd quite like to see him move on from touring cars and do some GT racing, but he does seem to like the BTCC, been in it for the last 11 years on the trot now, plus 5 years before that.