Ekona

I see someone else bought The Sun today then

I'd rather see a lightened version of the car than one with more power. Would be just as quick in a straight line and yet much faster through the corners and under braking, and really shouldn't be that hard to do: Non-adjustable buckets, swap the plastics and leather for carbon fibre, lose the stereo and make the a/c an option, remove the sound deadening, 18" lighter wheels, smaller battery... Get the weight down by a couple of hundred kilos and sell it for £35K-£40K and I reckon they'd have a decent seller on their hands, especially if done as a limited edition

Petrol in Europe is much the same price as it is here now so don't expect any bargains there, and if you're cruising at 70mph on a motorway then you might see 400 miles to a tank.

That's about as funny as rectal cancer.

Straight 6 I once got thumped by an old Citroen AX in a straight line when I had my VXR220. I've no idea what he was running as sadly there was no opportunity to pull over and chat, but I gave him a huge thumbs up as he went sailing past me. I've never understood why people take pleasure at beating a slower car or get angry at being beaten by a faster car, regardless of what it is. Every car has it's upsides and downsides, nothing does everything well so why not just simply enjoy owning/driving them and give a fellow enthusiast a courteous smile or nod next time? Not aiming that at anyone in particular, just an observation.

He loves them so I shan't be chasing you down any time soon, fear not! Seriously though, he thinks they're brilliant which is the main thing, but then he doesn't drive his car hard at all (literally just back and forth down the A120 to and from work) so I guess he'd appreciate the low noise and cash in his pocket more than anything.

They've done a good few hundred miles on them to and from Braintree to the airport so I should think they're scrubbed by now, but I'll give them a go in a few weeks and try again if you reckon the difference is that big.

VREDESTEIN ULTRAC SESSANTAS I've now had a chance to try these out, so here's my thoughts on them along with a comparison to the Michelin PS2s. Bear in mind that these weren't on my own car, so the comparison is between a fully-braced revup Roadster with PS2s and a stock HR coupe with the VUSeseseses (previously on RE050s which I'd also tried on road and track). Conditions were cold (3deg) and damp to dry roads. Initial impressions are quite favourable here, as the VUSs are certainly not a loud road tyre at all which makes for some pleasant cruising on motorways and the like as long as the roads are smooth. They were slightly less at home on rural B-roads, and they felt slightly jittery compared with the MPS2 which are very stable on all kinds of surface. That said, no-one really cares what tyres are like in a straight line on a motorway so I'll get to the fun bit I know the test roads very well so lack of knowledge wasn't a problem here, so I pulled away from a start fairly carefully considering it wasn't my car and I was on unfamiliar tyres, but still it's always a good idea to gauge early on what the grip levels are like so I gave it a bit of power to test and HOLY CRAPSICLES WTF BBQ the arse end was very willing to come round and stay round. I wasn't exactly ready for that but held it and carried on, having been given due warning quite dramatically. Truth be told though, that wasn't me being over heavy with the throttle nor the roads being particularly rubbish/cold/wet, I was to discover it's more a feature of the VUSs in so much as they don't have anywhere near as much grip as I'd hoped for. Now for some that may be a bad thing, and yet I'm not so convinced: The HR coupe wearing the VUS boots felt far more communicative than my Roadster in the MPS2, and once I got my head round the lack of grip I found the tyres an absolute delight and a hoot to drive on. The sidewalls are relatively soft (especially next to the MPS2) and as such they give you so much communication that you're never in a panic or a worry about what the car is going to do next, and it's very easy to get and hold an angle on the car at lower speeds than on the expensive Michelins which may not make for a faster drive over all, but it's possibly more fun. I do fear that the VUSs wouldn't stand up to a track session in the same way the MPS2s do, but you'd be having such a laugh with them on would you really care? For outright speed and grip there's no doubt in my mind that the MPS2s are still the best tyre I've yet to try on the Zed with the RE050s a very close second (what the MPS have over the 50s in the dry they lose out in the wet), but are they worth £300 more per set? If you want to go as fast as possible then yes, they are, but if you're after something that is still a decent tyre in the damp but waaaaaay more communicative then it's hard to see how you could go wrong with the VUSeseseses. They're far superior to the T1-Rs in every way for just a little more money, and are well worth considering. **EDIT** R888s are now the best tyre I've tried on the Zed, please see post on pg12 for details. Table updated to include the R888s. Specific marks Scroll within code box to view DRY GRIP R888 5 MPS2 4 VUS 3 RE050 3 T1-R 2 RE040 3 WET GRIP R888 4 (2 if torrential downpour and standing water) MPS2 5 VUS 3 RE050 5 T1-R 3 RE040 2 COMMUNICATION R888 4 MPS2 4 VUS 5 RE050 4 T1-R 2 RE040 2 NOISE R888 5 MPS2 4 VUS 4 RE050 4 T1-R 3 RE040 2 OVERALL R888 18/20 (16/20 in heavy rain) MPS2 17/20 RE050 16/20 VUS 15/20 T1-R 10/20 RE040 9/20 As always, YMMV and IMHO.

yeh it did, 1.4 secs quicker. Out of interest was the one they put on the track the import back in 2002? Shame it wasnt a UK car. Also 370z is 4.5 secs quicker which was a UK car. Big jump!! Different driver, different day, different weather... Top Gear laps count for nothing unless they're done on the same day head to head.

Exactly why it's one of my favourite tracks in the south, too. Who was the TDO on the day out of interest?

Track insurance isn't so much for your driving, it's in case of other people being complete idiots

If you don't have fishing wire to hand, then dental floss works just as well.

Still 97RON now.

Indeed, I'd rather be far more critical of someone doing 145mph on a "errm private road". Remember kids, fun is not a straight line.

If you only keep a car for a year, then you have to get an Elise/Exige/VX220. Nothing will ever come closer to driving perfection for the money, and it's an experience every one should have in their life. You can put TVRs in the same catagory really, but they're a bit more fragile than a Lotus.

You'll never replicate the 0-60 manufacturer times on a road car unless you drain it of almost every fluid it's got and are prepared to destroy the clutch and driveshafts. Unless of course it's a new fangled thing like the 997 Gen2 tubby with launch control you can actually use and stuff.

And will almost certainly play havoc with the traction/stability systems. Maybe not noticeable at first, but it'll almost certainly happen at some point. I'd run 40's as track tyres but not on the road.

Tyres the same size and same type? What make are they, as they may not like the cold too much? Tbh after a blowout your confidence is going to be shattered and quite understandably, so if everything is correct then I'd put it down to that. Get yourself on a driver training day to give yourself some confidence back.

It's only another £200, in the grand scheme of running the car over a year it's peanuts and it wouldn't bother me too much.

I wouldn't suggest anything, just leave it and let them sort it out. If the calipers need to come off then so be it, it's not an issue as long as they give you a courtesy car to run around in while it's off the road.

Find your damaged what?

You may only be kidding, but I bet that's exactly what it is. Rose tinted spectacles and all that, happens a lot when going back to an older car you remember.

They sound like they're being very reasonable so far, and accidents do happen so just let it play out and see what happens.

Just ring the phone number on the warranty documentation and start the process from there.

Stock UK backbox + aftermarket Y-pipe = 81dB at 4500rpm @ 0.5m from exhaust. As tested at Bedford on Saturday.