Ekona

That's why the two blokes are p*ssing up the rear of it.

FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUU *rages at txt-spk*

Yup, BBC commentary was annoying, but didn't ruin the spectacle. Trevor Nelson needs shooting though, as does Macca. Not 'Hey Jude' again, and certainly not when your voice is that shot. He's a legend, but he needs to move aside now. They had no choice. They are told what to do by their bosses, so you've completely missed the point on that one. What? Are you that misguided to actually believe that? Do you really think we'd have been better off just cancelling the Olympics simply because the country is a bit skint right now? Do you think that would have done us any favours? Yes, money is needed in the NHS, but the huge advert for it in the ceremony last night will do more good for it than chucking another £10M at it will right now. The NHS needs reforming, whether the current method is right or wrong is another debate that's not for this thread. Bad translation. He didn't mean working class in the way we do, he meant it as they're hard working. And they are, especially in an Olympic year. Not sure I'd want to be travelling all around the world having to schmooze everyone regardless of my own opinion for 12 hours a day when I get to 70. 24 channels actually, and they're syndicated to other TV networks around the world so will pay for themselves and then some. Personally I'd rather we used some of the technology available to make the games as viewable as possible to as many people as possible rather than just read about it in tomorrow's paper. The BBC have been significantly cut, it's why F1 has gone and why the website is now an unusable mess rather than the elegant design we used to have. Cutting doesn't always equal value for money, and £145 a year for everything the BBC gives us ad-free is peanuts. If you don't like it, don't pay the fee and just watch the catchup stuff. Coldel put it well too, especially about the money that this will bring to the country not only now, but for the future. Boris Johnson is basically spending the next two weeks in meeting after meeting trying to convince countries and companies alike to invest in London and the UK as a whole. I guess he's a waste of money, too? Not referring to G Man now, but it's p*ssed me off something chronic already how the left-wing fringes have seized upon the games this early to try and turn it into a political stunt (seen the NHS ad on Twitter yet?), instead of just enjoying it for what it is. The right haven't been great either, forgetting the huge part that Tony Blair and Tessa Jowell had in gaining support for our vote seven years ago. Put all that crap aside for a fortnight, forget the political point scoring, and let's just celebrate how bloody good this country can be.

Black cars FTW! Congrats on your purchase Sarah, glad it all worked out for you in the end

Sadly you're right, and whilst I know he's trying to fight it as best he can it was almost embarrassing to see a great man like him having a carer by his side pushing his arm up and telling him to wave For the sake of his legend, I hope he's not paraded in front of the world like that too many more times in his life.

Pedantism over what constitutes an empire aside, that was absolutely incredible. Beijing who? Oh, and as far as the language thing goes, have you lot never seen an Olympic ceremony before? It's always French first (as the official language), then English (because everyone speaks it), then the host language (which isn't needed tonight). Pfft, heathens.

Agreed. PS3s are okay, but not great. Didn't even realise they did the PS3 in Zed sizes!

Do you mean the Ultrac Sessanta, or another one? Vredestein don't make a tyre called the Ultra What tyres did you have on before?

And that's exactly why I hate the 452s but love the VUS: Progressiveness. There's loads with the VUS, which is why you forgive them not having a ton of grip. There's chuff all with the 452s, which combined with low grip levels and average wear rates make them a poor choice for a heavy sports coupe. Chuck 'em on something cheap by all means, but not on something decent. No offence Rich, and you know how I mean this to come out, but if you can't spin the wheels every time in your car on these tyres then you're really not trying hard enough. Aaron got these on his E36 M3 when he bought it, and hates them with a passion. Anyway, onto the 453s. Any one know the rating codes on these for wear etc compared with the 452?

I guess it depends on how you define less money. For me personally, if it's only another £100 I'd rather let someone else faff around for that, but if we were talking a £500 saving then I'd give it a punt myself. Each to their own, I know that people do get pleasure from building their own computers. I know I used to

I've traded cars to smaller dealers before, and they never got the tax. Ever. If I was selling privately then yes, I'd leave it on. But no-one in their right mind should or would ever leave the tax on a car you're chopping in.

Not in my opinion, and not a patch on what you could save 10 years ago. Too many companies out there now, and it's driven pre-built prices down a lot.

Bollocks. Tax is never included in a trade-in. Ever. The rest I'll give you, but unless you specifically state that the car must come in as-is then I say it's fair game as long as everything is of equal quality i.e. I wouldn't swap a set of immaculate wheels for a set of scuffed ones with dead rubber on them.

I wouldn't remotely bother building a PC these days. Not much saving to be had any more, and you lose the risk of something going belly-up during the buid or trying to hunt down the piece of kit that doesn't work and sending it back. I used to build my own about 10 years ago, with flashy lights and windows and everything, but nowadays I just want something that works.

Nope. You always, always keep the tax disc yourself. When I traded my Zed in, I stripped everything off the car after they'd seen it. Wheels, shiny bits, stereo, the lot.

Odd, the unwritten rule goes that insurers increase your premium by 20% for every 3 pts, but they only apply it once you hit 9 pts. Maybe they've changed that now.

Another good company is PC Specialist. Don't be put off by the rubbish name or by their rubbish adverts in the specialist press, I gave them a whirl and they were superb. Great prices, even better delivery times, and well packaged upon delivery too. As far as graphics cards go, just look at THG charts and you'll get an idea of how good stuff is relative to each other, then just pick one in your price range. I love my i7 with 12GB of RAM, but it doesn't get used for gaming at all and you'd be better off swapping CPU power for GPU power if it's a games machine. Don't get sucked in by pretty cases either, spend that extra money where it counts like RAM or a better PSU.

Frick

Yeah, I saw that over on PH. Did you see the episode?

Definitely 100% get decent ones if you're going to do it

Can't on the Porker, but I may give them a go on the MX-5 if I decide to move away from ultra cheapo rubber on it. Will probably need a new set after another trackday tbh I don't hate Falken tyres, and I don't even hate the 452s on the right application, I just don't feel they're a suitable tyre for a 1500kg 300bhp sports coupe. I've even used the MX-5 as an example of a car the 452 would be appropriate for in the past, long before I owned one. If the 453 is a significant improvement, then I'll be as happy as anyone.

It will remove the initial coat of dirt, but as you say you'll still need to TBM to do it properly. I have a very good snow foam lance (purchased from Tim @Envy, IIRC) and a good bottle of foam. I never use mine any more. Make of that what you will. Tbh I'd use it on a shed or a works vehicle and then use a mitt to scrub away at the foam, saving the need to wash properly afterwards, but never ever on a decent car.

If that video is representative of the actual product, then it's an absolute pile of sh*t.

You're putting weight at the worst possible place, so it will impact on your acceleration, your deceleration, and your handling. Whether you consider that a trade off worth having is up to the individual. If you've already got heavy wheels on your car (OEM 18s or aftermarket ones, anything other than the Rays or the very expensive wheels basically) then you'd probably not going to lose out that much. If you've spent hundreds of pounds on intake, exhaust and remaps to make your car go quicker, it would seem a bit daft to then add weight back in to make it slower. Each to their own.