steve_b

Val, just looked at the map and the ferry to St Malo or Caen may be better as it will be a long drive down. If you still go speedferries then my offer of a stop over still stands (near St. Omer), but its not a direct route, however would break the journey in half for those coming from up north. PS been on speed ferries with the Zed and my nose is longer then most, not really lower and it still fitted okay.

What about before/after the Silverstone gig in July. Can kill 2 birds with one stone.

Lotus boys are trying to get over 278 (that seems to what they have as the record) at Brands on 26 Jan. We need lots of support to beat them so get your name down.

Digsy theMinel Sarnie Choptop M13KYF trev-the-rev ian Lomoto beavis Woreod Liam Andy Steve B

LoT and autotrack have SPA booked out on the 6 and 7th of June. Ring open days are at http://www.nuerburgring.de/index.php?id=106&L=1#1312 and the 8/9/10 is booked for the 24hrs race.

If you are still using speed-ferries at Boulogne let me know. I could throw a free bar-b-q (you supply beer) as should be buying a house 30 mins from there. There would be a spare bedroom downstairs, up stairs is not done yet but has approx 400 sq/ft of open space (just boards but dry if its too wet for camping) there will be parking space and some space to put up a tent. Just offering as may be a good stop for those coming from up north and want a break before going onwards. Let me know the date you plan.

John, Do you know how many spaces P15 has left and is willing to allow us to come under our own banner. Does not need to be labelled as a National Meet but just a meet for both clubs to get lots of Zeds together. Steve

Just nicked this from another forum I am on and could not stop laughing. Very toilet humour and does not sound pleasant but see if you can resist laughing. PS It really was not me. Why never use your phone in a public toilet All in all, it hadn't been a good day. Bad traffic, a malfunctioning computer, incompetent co-workers and a sore back all made me a seething cauldron of rage. But more importantly for this story, it had been over forty-eight hours since I'd last taken a dump. I'd tried to jumpstart the process, beginning my day with a bowl of bowel-cleansing fibre cereal, following it with six cups of coffee at work, and adding a bean-laden lunch at Taco Bell. As I was returning home from work, my insides let me know with subtle rumbles and the emission of the occasional tiny fart that Big Things would be happening soon. Alas, I had to stop at the mall to go Christmas shopping. I completed this task, and as I was walking past the stores on my way back to the car, I noticed a large sale sign proclaiming, "Everything Must Go!" This was prophetic, for my colon informed me with a sudden violent cramp and a wet, squeaky fart that everything was indeed about to go. I hurried to the mall bathrooms. I surveyed the five stalls, which I have numbered 1 through 5 for your convenience: 1.Occupied. 2.Clean, but Bathroom Protocol forbids its use, as it's next to the occupied one. 3.Poo on seat. 4.Poo and toilet paper in bowl, unidentifiable liquid splattered on seat. 5.No toilet paper, no stall door, unidentifiable sticky object near base of toilet. Clearly, it had to be Stall #2. I trudged back, entered, dropped trou and sat down. I'm normally a fairly Shameful Sh1tter. I wasn't happy about being next to the occupied stall, but Big Things were afoot. I was just getting ready to bear down when all of a sudden the sweet sounds of Beethoven came from next door, followed by a fumbling, and then the sound of a voice answering the ringing phone. As usual for a cell phone conversation, the voice was exactly 8 dB louder than it needed to be. Out of Shameful habit, my sphincter slammed shut. The inane conversation went on and on. Mr. Sh1tter was blathering to Mrs. Sh1tter about the sh1tty day he had. I sat there, cramping and miserable, waiting for him to finish. As the loud conversation dragged on, I became angrier and angrier, thinking that I, too, had a crappy day, but I was too polite to yak about in public. My bowels let me know in no uncertain terms that if I didn't get crapping soon, my day would be getting even crappier. Finally my anger reached a point that overcame Shamefulness. I no longer cared. I gripped the toilet paper holder with one hand, braced my other hand against the side of the stall, and pushed with all my might. I was rewarded with a fart of colossal magnitude -- a cross between the sound of someone ripping a very wet bed sheet in half and of plywood being torn off a wall. The sound gradually transitioned into a heavily modulated low-RPM tone, not unlike someone firing up a Harley. I managed to hit the resonance frequency of the stall, and it shook gently. Once my ass cheeks stopped flapping in the breeze, three things became apparent: (1) The next-door conversation had ceased (2) my colon's continued seizing indicated that there was more to come (3) the bathroom was now beset by a horrible, eldritch stench. It was as if a gateway to Hell had been opened. The foul miasma quickly made its way under the stall and began choking my poop-mate. This initial "herald" fart had ended his conversation in mid-sentence. "Oh my God," I heard him utter, following it with suppressed sounds of choking, and then, "No, baby, that wasn't me (cough, gag), you could hear that (gag)??" Now there was no stopping me. I pushed for all I was worth. I could swear that in the resulting cacophony of rips, squirts, splashes, poots, and blasts, I was actually lifted slightly off the pot. The amount of stuff in me was incredible. It sprayed against the bowl with tremendous force. Later, in surveying the damage, I'd see that liquid poop had actually managed to ricochet out of the bowl and run down the side on to the floor. But for now, all I could do was hang on for the ride. Next door I could hear him fumbling with the paper dispenser as he desperately tried to finish his task. Little snatches of conversation made themselves heard over my anal symphony: "Gotta go... horrible... throw up... in my mouth... not... make it... tell the kids... love them... oh God..." followed by more sounds of suppressed gagging and retching. Alas, it is evidently difficult to hold one's phone and wipe one's bum at the same time. Just as my high-pressure abuse of the toilet was winding down, I heard a plop and splash from next door, followed by string of swear words and gags. My poop-mate had dropped his phone into the toilet. There was a lull in my production, and the restroom became deathly quiet. I could envision him standing there, wondering what to do. A final anal announcement came trumpeting from my behind, small chunks plopping noisily into the water. That must have been the last straw. I heard a flush, a fumbling with the lock, and then the stall door was thrown open. I heard him running out of the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. After a considerable amount of paperwork, I got up and surveyed the damage. I felt bad for the janitor who'd be forced to deal with this, but I knew that flushing was not an option. No toilet in the world could handle that unholy mess. Flushing would only lead to a floor flooded with filth. As I left, I glanced into the next-door stall. Nothing remained in the bowl. Had he flushed his phone, or had he plucked it out and left the bathroom with nasty unwashed hands? The world will never know. I exited the bathroom, momentarily proud and Shameless, looking around for a face glaring at me. But I saw no one. I suspect that somehow my supernatural elimination has managed to transfer my Shamefulness to my anonymous poop-mate. I think it'll be a long time before he can bring himself to poop in public -- and I doubt he'll ever again answer his cell phone in the loo. This, my friends, is why you should never talk on your phone in the toilet

Thanks we all agreed that blade is best

Congrat, sinbad you will love it. Last piece of advice, trackdays are more additive than "crack". ENJOY

In my opinion for a track car that can be used on the road, it would be 8k on old S1 elise, 10k on Honda supercharged fitted with warranty from engine fitter and you got a 700Kg car with 300 BHP, and they go rather quickly. PS I know of a few elises that done 100k, at my work 2 people use them for a daily "only" car they have, during summer month another 2 use them every day and there is one Exige used as a daily driver. Even at the Oxford 350z-uk meet on Saturday I found out a member on this site wife uses an elise as a daily drive for 80 miles each day. So they are not that bad.

Sorry but I am not really interested in going as a non-member of the OC when P15 actually contributed to threads on here months ago when I said it would be great to have a joint meet having people like Digsy's band play and Stephen G do a stand-up for both sides. Too me it seems we have been marginalised out of the meet. It was never meant to be a National meet for them, it was to compliment their National and be a way of building bridges. From what I read now it seems that these bridges are only getting built on one side. So, if it becomes a joint meet and we can represent the 350z-uk club then I am up for it, if I am to represent a non-paid member of the OC then I am not. Steve B

Stephen, Again the zed is a great car for what it is and I still cannot see anything that has its value for money. The JP Bedford thing is invalid as that decision could be have been made on commerical reason only. Why have JP just announced the entire Zed fleet being replaced by Jag XKR. Does that imply that a XKR is a better track car. If it was a track focused car why are RJN the only people in the UK that race then. Surely the pricing of the car should have attracted more interest. (I think drift is nothing to do with racing/track so exclude the D1GB stuff) I am sure your car spec is awesome and would love a go in it. Just thing there is better cars out there to do that work. THE main reason to post this is that I think anyone doing more than 3-4 track days a year would actually cause long term damage to their Zed. excessive break wear etc. If you do prep work like change pad/disk and inspect all relevant bits every week then not a problem as you will pick up something before it goes bang. PS if you want fun in a cheap track car, look at BMW shed racing or similar.

TheMinel SteveB

My point is not that the zed is a bad car, its just not track focused. Would love a radical, but next track car is likely to be a Honda supercharged or Audi conversion on the Elise. I love the zed, just want to put it straight that if people are looking for a "track" car try other things as a zed may disappoint. On the TG track Caterham would not leave a Zed as it seems to have very changes in direction, longer corners and seems a few straights. The hybusa Westfield that was against Sarnie was not stunningly quicker. Andy, do you go to tracks in the south as would like to see another zed go round. Was great Abingdon when there was 5-6 of them. This is what I really want........

For the first day on track I would recommend an airfield. Simply to get used to the different speed of everyone, you will be much quicker than some and other much quicker than you. It is quite frightening the first time someone comes wizzing past you. It is nothing like road driving where people will stick to white lines. Every car handles different therefore they all have a different racing line. Just try it once, typically £100 and you will be much safer the first time you are on track. If you have a look at the second link I posted, arnco hurts badly and there does not tend to be any on airfields, so make mistakes they you can get out of it easily.

I really like my zed as a daily drive, but honestly and I know many may not like it, the Zed is a pants track car. If long straights, then yes it will be okay, but I find straight very boring doing straights. It is majorly heavy on brakes and therefore you cannot carry speed into the corners I guarantee if anyone comes out of my Caterham and say, "hell that was boring" then I will eat my words. I was totally blown away by a M3 CSL and a Cayman S. Also any Elise with 160 BHP will give you a hard time, more and they will likely just leave you. I am far from a quick driver, but if someone want to go on a track day during spring/summer then let me know.

Brands is good, if you can get on a GP circuit day then really good but they are busy as they only run 4-6 a year.

Snetterton write up. Snetterton was the wartime base of the 96th US Air Force Bomber Group. The first race meeting here was held in 1951, arranged by the Aston Martin Owner's Club. The layout has changed a few times since then, the current circuit being just under 2 miles long. The Lotus F1 team used Snetterton as its local test track. The circuit has two of the longest straights in the UK and is therefore one of the fastest. Highlights of the racing calendar at Snetterton include visits from the British Touring Car Championship and British Superbikes. Snetterton is clearly signposted off the A11 between Thetford & Norwich. Russell and Sear corners both lead onto long straights and therefore have a significant effect on lap times. However Riches, Coram and the Esses are all quick, interesting bends. Being an airfield circuit there's no gradient at Snetterton, although the Bomb Hole has some camber than can catch out the unwary. Top tip: take a book for the straights, keep it tidy through Bomb Hole and build your speed up through Coram during the day (but don't outbreak yourself into Russell!). vid:Not of me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swrseT6rBzY and when it goes wrong

Will let you know what they are like as this will third will be third set. Do daily drive of 50 miles of A roads and random track days. Steve

The person working out the route needs to double check that no fallen tree etc as here in Oxford city lost of tree and debris about. I need to go to Tesco for car wash so could meet up there.

Will likely be at the Caterham Club camping again. Camping bleu Sud

Was at Brands during the summer and watched the Golf TDi beat the R32 in a VW race series. Was closer than the report says and the diesel out drove the R32. http://uk-mkivs.net/blogs/vw_racing_200 ... 2900_.aspx

Phil, How do they compare to the Nismo ones as that is what I run now.

Will be going to Le Mans but will hopefully have a place out in France by then so will have to pass. Also cannot take the Z as you cannot tow with it. Have a great time out there sound like a great meet. Steve