Ekona

I think when you try and combine a road and track car, you compromise both too much. Road cars can be fun on track, and track cars fun on the road, but ultimately you have to pick a direction and maximise the car for that. I get that not everyone has the cash to do that, and I feel fortunate that I have been, but if you can (even if the track car is worth 4p and all you've done is strip it) then you really should. All I did to my mx5 was strip it, add bucket seat & steering wheel & harness. No suspension mods, no power mods, just weight loss. Apart from the lack of power on a longer straight, it was a hooligan of a fun car. Sometimes just removing the weight and sitting in a tin can is all you need

You mean not giving a sh*t at all? Or enjoying a chance encounter with a fellow petrolhead?

Mk1 eyeball

On a non-serious note, I think you must be mad to be considering refunding your ex for nights out. Are you claiming back from her the time you treated her to a Maccy Ds? Same thing. On a serious note, I do think you need to speak to a professional. A different one.

Don't be a mug, push back!

I wouldn't be paying a penny towards nights out for a start, that's just utterly bonkers how she thinks she's due any of that cash back!

You need to see a solicitor before you get bent over.

I wouldn't track a WRX tbh, they're perhaps a little fragile and tbh not that involving when on the circuit. I've taken our STi out for a Spa day one year, and whilst competent in road form it would've needed a fair bit spending to get it track happy as they're not the lightest of things. Also, the first cars you always see parked up on a trackday after something's broken are a Noble and an Impreza... MX5 great fun but you'll get left for dead on the straights, that's one of the reasons I ultimately swapped mine for the MR2. Which I then strapped a dirty great turbo too as well (although not turbo'd in the vid above, I hasten to add).

Ros Ric Ves Hamilton to not finish, collision on the first couple of corners.

You don't need mass power in an MR2 to be hurrying other things along... Bloody slow, those Ferraris!

That's the best thing about a track one, the bodywork and interior can be battered to hell, and the roof can be held together with duct tape

As a fellow Lotus fan, I know exactly where you're coming from. And which is why you need to go buy yourself an MR2. Pick an early one up for £1200-£1500, strip everything out of it, put a decent seat in it with a pair of harnesses and you're done. It will give you 80% of the Lotus for 20% of the cost, and be considerably more reliable. For cheap MR fun, there's really no better place to look. You can easily disconnect the ABS and power steering too, if you want it to be even more Lotus-lite. Plus, performance bits are a lot cheaper too...

Some of the best drives I've ever had have been on Xmas day. One year I took the VXR on a stupid long drive and ended up on beach at night time, then there was last year when I managed to get from my house to the MIL in record time by discovering the A12 after Ipswich is a really fun road when it's empty... One year, I'll sack off the Xmas nonsense altogether and grab a hotel in the Lake District, then just spend the day hooning. Can't think of anything better tbh.

It's just another day. Get in the car, go for a blat on the emptiest roads you'll ever drive, come home and stick a game on, job done.

That's a really, really old tyre! Pilot Sport 1s haven't been produced in years.

I don't think there's much in it with any of the options available around that price point: It wouldn't surprise me at all if they were all made in the same factory. But yes, I agree that the HSDs shouldn't be written off either.

Not convinced I can sell the missus on that one

They might well be replacing the hubs a little more often, but they're probably comfortable using them from a safety POV. After all, you wouldn't want something to sheer off as you initiate a slide at 100mph. Now I want to run our Impreza in full on rally spec too

I ran them on the MR2, I run them on the BMW, I've tried them on Zeds. They're quality units for the money, with a good damping range and you can spec your own spring rates. I'd buy them again.

Spot-on sir Yeah, the gen1 Bose is utter shite You can make it better by padding around the subwoofer if you pull it out of the footwell, but it's a fudge at best. My mate had Bose in his 997.1 and it was crap compared with my 997.2 non-Bose. get used to replacing the condensers on a yearly basis, or even better fit a set of mesh over the fronts to protect them.

It is around that cost though: Hartech aren't cheap because they're the best, and you can save cash by only repairing affected cylinders (although I'd definitely do the lot!) etc. Depends who you use and what you want done. But I do take your point that for some people it's not a risk they want to take, which is absolutely fair enough.

Having seen the size of the spacers some of the pro guys used to drift with at Trax/Japfest this year, I'm not sure I'd be worried. They were on spacers around 100mm at least on some cars!

I think you could still exclude it, but allow for the law to let you sue for damages (which you currently can anyway). That way you'll still prop up the no-win-no-fee solicitors, and affordability won't be a barrier to justice.

New as in the 718? Great car, but I couldn't live with that noise when a 981.1 is available that's 98% as good but with a more characterful engine. I think if I did my research and inspection, then followed sensible warming up & cooling down methods properly, I could quite happily enjoy an M96/97 engined car without worry. Never having been in that position though, I couldn't say for sure. What I do know is that any engine from an expensive car has the ability to give you big bills, and odd noises never get any less worrying

:(