Commander

I have been looking at getting some of these recently - might be a bit overkill for some people's needs, but looks decent. http://www.restorationramps.co.uk/

Yep - done it twice - went down it towards Trafoi in the rain at night, and back up the next day in snow. It's hairpin after hairpin, but the road's so narrow you can't really have much fun - there are loads of much better roads in the area though - just take a look on google maps... Or find my road-trip write-up for last year... It's on here somewhere!

For many, it's luck.. I skinted myself 4 years ago buying a 3 bed semi on my own for 190k. During the 3.5years that followed I met my girlfriend who had 20K in the bank and the value of my house went from 190 to 250k, with relatively little financial investment from me, just lots of graft... Now we're in a 390k house that's a bit rough around the edges, but with some more hard graft and some more good luck (sharesave scheme at work is about to mature with about 110% growth over 3 years), we'll be set to make a nice life for ourselves over the next few years, or we can keep up the hard work and a 500k house will probably be achievable. It's all a mix of luck, commitment, and an amount of 'you've got to be in it to win it'. You're young, with no kids, go take some calculated risks and see if they pay off... PS - Hi Sarnie, thanks for sorting our mortgage out!

Sounds like a pretty tough time mate, but chin up and it'll all come round in the end. I'd like to think that most companies have wised up and that pulling stunts like imposing formal disciplinary action for puny things to get rid of people doesn't work - there are loads of routes you can take if they actually do this - Citizens Advice, Employment Tribunals, Unions, etc. One of my mates has faced the redundancy axe FIVE times with the same company in about two years, he told me it's the not knowing that's the worst part and it was taking its toll on him, and his relationship with his Mrs and their kids. To take his mind off things he started pro-actively looking for jobs and seeing what else is out there, even looking at re-training to start another career as something else entirely... He said it felt like it gave him back some of the 'power', as it were, knowing that if the worst did happen, he had at least half an idea of what he'd do with himself. Not knowing is awful, but worrying about something you can't control is pointless and stressful. I know this is much easier said than anything else, but it's true... Worry about things you CAN influence, after all, the Risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the belief you can buy yourself the time to do it later is a dangerous risk. Failing that, go cycling, rock climbing, clean your car, see your mates (etc), do your best to take your mind off the whole situation and give your body time to relax. Or have a cuppa tea... tea solves a lot of problems for me.

Looks like you'd be hard pushed to make it worse; get some wet'n'dry and start rubbing?

I do mine under self-assessment online - doesn't take long - a month maybe? I've been doing it for a while now though so they just change my tax code instead these days.

I do this every year - it's the only thing that let's me drive the Zed as my daily really.

My mrs went to see a councillor - just talking about stuff did her the world of good after a couple of months - just got to let the process take its time, be honest, and open minded. Something like half the population suffer a mental health problem during their life so they will take you seriously.

I'm in IT - if you're a good salesman there is a LOT of money to be made. You don't need any IT skills either - just some general awareness and you'll be given training and supported by technical experts (like me). Your management skills will help you get promotion to team leader / middle-management roles after a few years.

Will it fit a HR? Is it any lighter than the standard one?

No worries, I started by writing 'RTFM' but I thought that was a little harsh - so I gave you a more polite response instead. Glad my response was spot on for you. X

Yes! I get this every time... iPhone 4S.

Use the search function - this has been covered before...

Engine: VQ35HR Age: 2007 / 70k Miles Mods: UpRev and HFCs (and a blowing exhaust ) Dyno'd @ Horsham Developments Before: 304bhp / 267ftlb After: 320bhp (+5.1%) / 285ftlb (+6.7%)

You mean Rik Mayall? And in case anybody doesn't know... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rik_Mayall RIP.

no idea, but turn the car on, put your finger over the hole and see what happens?

Do we have one? Thanks!

I guess that depends on the price! Can you send over some costs please? Cheers

Modded Defender 90 - it'd go anywhere - I'm nearly 6ft4 and even I had to climb 'up' to get to the driver's seat, and I still managed to fill it with water above my waistline driving it through a river one time... Didn't think it was that deep (famous last words, I know) so I ended up shoving my wallet and phone in my teeth to avoid the drenching.

Adjustable and stiffer, such as those from Whiteline... For a 350 HR, if it matters. And if you've got the drop-links and the bushes too - I'll take them as well please! Cheers, Richard

Ok, so the important things first... It was my first time at H-dev and it turns out that Jez does a half-decent cuppa tea and his dog is lovely. He did order drizzle for the afternoon instead of sunshine, but aside from I can't complain... Oh, don't use a post-code in a Tom Tom to get there - you'll end up in the wrong place. Take a map / use Google maps! My car's a 2007 HR with about 70k on the clock and the only mod is a cheap-ish pair of HFCs I got from zmanalex a few months ago when he was clearing out some stock; the exhaust and intakes are all OEM. Since fitting the cats a few weeks ago, the car had been driving funny - it wanted to stall a lot at slow speeds, the power delivery had become a bit lumpy and generally it wasn't as fun to drive... So Jez worked his magic. On the RR we saw 304BHP to start with (so, that's 304bhp estimated at the fly, based on the output measured at the wheels), and after about 10 runs over the the course of an hour, we ended on a safe 320BHP, which seems pretty decent to me. Torque had improved as well, but I can't remember the figures and I left the graphs in the car - I'll post them later. Gains are across the entire rev range, so it's not just peak-power / peak-torque that has improved, everything has increased from about 2500 rpm upwards. The drivability problems I had are also now fixed. In summary, an interesting afternoon out and my car is now fun to drive again which was the aim of the exercise for me... Cheers Jez!

You'll be alright - your biggest annoyance will be the knee pad on the left not really being in the right place for you, but it's not too bad really.

^^^ re-post

Are you sure it wasn't YOU who was on the wrong side?!

I'm 6ft 3-and-a-bit... The Zed isn't the roomiest car in the world for me, I have my seat all the way to the back and as low as it will go, but I can usually do a 200mile drive without getting too achy... especially if I put the (crap, compared to my old E90 Coupe) Heated Seats on. The pedal position is my biggest annoyance, the brake and clutch seem to have a very long range of movement... And I wish there was an accelerator-pedal foot rest. Who builds a GT car, puts cruise control in, and doesn't add a foot rest?! *grumble, grumble...*