Ekona

Traction control works (in general) by sensing the level of grip at each corner, the theory being that if one corner loses grip then you're either driving like a tit or you're driving on something you shouldn't be, so it'll remove power from that corner to sort things out. I think the Zed works by simply cutting spark to the plugs so you get zero power to the back end. With brand-new and ultra-slippy (for the first thousand miles until the release agent has scrubbed off) Toyos on the back and Bridgestones on the front, worn or not, everytime you put your foot down even a fraction the rear is wanting to step out more than the front, whether you can feel it or not. The car reacts quicker than you, so kicks the TC in to sort you out.

Yup, using the very dated compact flash cards that no-one (save D-SLR owners) uses any more. SD card or USB slot would've made far more sense.

Nevermind that... Compact flash?! That's the cassette player format of the 00's! That said, there's an AUX IN on the other flavour of audio, so at least someone was listening.

Speedferries are definitely in administration now. Refund time methinks.

He's up in Derby with the IMOC/Le Mans crew that weekend so definitely can't make it. Bugger.

AVI are horrendously big files, convert to MP4 or even 3GP. Loads of free programs on the interweb that'll do it for you.

It'd need to be a numberplate 6ft wide by 5ft tall

But what if he'd only been there a few weeks, and the manager was just seeing how he'd do? He may not have had any real power and had been told to go and check with the manager every time, so you'd be criticising him for something that's not his fault. Confidence and trust is earned, and we all had to start somewhere.

Is it wrong that I'm almost disappointed that I'm not on there?

That's one of the ugliest cars I've seen for years. It makes the Daewoo Matiz seem like a stunning piece of art.

+millionty I'd never swap my MPS for anything else now, regardless of wear or cost. Like you say, they're the only thing keeping you on the black stuff so you want something really decent on there and seeing as how the MPS are better in the wet AND dry then the Falkens, I think you'd be mad to swap. Tbh if I were a bit closer I'd snatch your MPS off you in a shot.

Agreed, here's hoping he's back on his feet in no time.

I'd leave out the name and details of where and whom you bought your car off Rich, as it kills the tone of the letter completely and comes across as more 'ner ner ner' than an attempt to complain. In all honesty mate I'd leave out any details about the money side of it at all as every dealer in the world has different ideas of what stuff should sell as, and if you want to complain do it about the rubbish service on the first visit and the attitude of the manager on the second one. As for servicing, I go to Glyn Hopkin in Bishop's Stortford. Really friendly staff, and if you remove the useless bits of the service then they do charge you less but you still get the stamp in the book.

I think we're probably going to do P&O Dover to Calais. Works out at £79 (an extra tenner over what SF wanted) for very similar crossing times, so that seems a pretty good albeit obvious option for me.

Bugger, already booked my tickets with SpeedFerries for next year! Just had my confirmation via JustTickets about my grandstand seats as well so at least that's one less thing to worry about, but will have to sort the ferries out again now... Cheers for the heads up, Lexx.

Definitely not oiled, or at least it comes with such a fine spray on it you'd never notice (or coat the MAF). Tbh when mine goes (probably in about 15K miles) I'll replace it with an A'Pexi one regardless.

Popcharger is a dry filter as well Rich. I need to sort meself out either a chrome or carbon intake pipe for mine at some point. Maybe Santa will look after me this year...!

I found it slightly better than last week, but that's not saying a great deal. Will Young was a far better guest than Parky, but that 500 was more camp than Will in a row of pink tents owned by Dale Winton, SS or not. The ZR1, on the other hand... I'd love that. Beautiful car, and that engine!

That's more to do with the dual-mass flywheel I should imagine. Extra weight being transferred into extra motion so it's spins up even though the clutch is disengaged. I think. Could well be wrong, mind.

So you press a button, put the car into a special no-clutch mode and as soon as it detects you moving the gear knob it disengages the clutch for you and ignores whatever you're doing to the throttle pedal and sorts it out all by itself? Or do they mean you push a button and the MT becomes an auto? Or even as you engage the gear it sorts the clutch out for you (would mean that there must be some kind of mechanism that disengages the clutch cable) and again ignores the throttle input? None of that makes any sense to me at all, guess I'll have to wait and see when the car comes out.

Exactly, shame I had to find out the hard (and expensive!) way.

Nope, can't see how. Unless it's got some kind of semi-auto mode, then there's no way you could get a manual to rev-match. It's impossible without removing some kind of control away from the driver (either the clutch engagement or the throttle control).

Does the existing tiptronic 'box not rev-match then? Genuine question, never driven one so I have no idea but I'd be amazed if it didn't.

Doesn't work on UK BOSE cars.

I used one of those cassette things for about 23 mins until I got fed up with the ugly wires and the proper 1980's stylee tape hiss in the background. Suddenly I remembered exactly why I don't play my original 1988 Kylie tape anymore.