Ekona

No, they really don't. Modern speakers are made to incredibly exacting standards using very accurate measurements to make sure when paired that they sound the same. The first time you put any power through them any incredibly minor changes are taken up. Pinched from a knowledgeable guy over on AVF: Sums it up pretty well. The reason that you're told to give it 30 hours or 100 hours is to allow your ears to get used to a totally different sound than you're used to, rather than just taking the whole lot back straight away and saying it's rubbish. It's a manufacturer customer relations ploy, not a technical/scientific one, because people are fickle things who get used to hearing stuff sound a particular way.

Notfub, Any reason the tweeters were moved from the doors to the a-pillars, and is there much change in the soundstage from doing so? I know that'll be hard to quantify given the gulf in quality between the two setups, but I'd still be interested in the difference. Btw, needing to break in speakers and amps is a myth, just crank and enjoy from day 1

Legal minimum is 1.6mm, although I would start thinking seriously about changing about 2mm at the very least on 050As as the grip drops off dramatically when these tyres start getting worn, more so than other tyres. You've got quite a difference between front and rear grip atm which is why the back feels a bit wandery: It's not that so much as you've got much less grip at the front so it's understeering, and even in a straight line that will lead to a numbness from the front. My advice would be to drop the front tyre pressure by 2psi to help load the tyres up a bit (so 33F 35R), see you how get on with that. The only other alternative really is to change the fronts, pop the cost on a credit card if you can't do it all in one go. After all, the tyres are the only thing keeping you in contact with the road so it's vital they're in good condition.

How recently? How many miles have you done? Did you get the alignment done at the same time? How worn are the fronts?

^^^ This.

It's a biography not an autobiography: The author and the publisher will get far more (if not all) than Bernie ever will. On a side note (and simply because you're not the first person to say that, so not picking on you personally!), if no-one likes Bernie that much then the answer is to stop watching F1 and stop supporting it in any way. Truth is that Bernie has done far more for the sport than people actually realise, which is why the book is so important to read.

BP is fine, it's what I run the 911 on and what I used to run the Zed on The additives make a hell of a difference. Due to a balls-up by one unnamed tuning company my old mk3 turbocharged MR2 was mapped for 100+ RON rather than the 97 I wanted. As such, I had to fill up every single time with a tank of the good stuff plus a bottle of the additive, and if I didn't do so it would pre-detonate all over the place. Scary stuff, but at least it gave me full confidence in the product. Millers is by the far the best bang for buck, £4.99 gets you one shot for a whole tank. Well worth keeping a bottle in the boot just in case.

Tyres weigh more than either wheel (12-13Kg) and make up the bulk of the inertia. The weight saving for wheel + tyre is only 12-15%. Front: 23Kg vs 20Kg Rear: 24Kg vs 21Kg Which is yet another reason to stick to 18" wheels, well said 12-15% is quite a lot, imagine trying to save 180-225kg from the main body of the car. In reality it would be worth even more than that given that it's unsprung mass too!

Anyone read 'No Angel', the biography of Bernie? If you haven't I suggest you do, as it will give you a whole different perspective on not only the man himself, but also of F1 in general and the history of where we are today. It also happens to be a really good read You'll see why the Sky deal isn't such a surprise after all. Put it this way, I'll have a lot more time for Bernie now and a lot less respect for some of the teams.

I'm a little confused by the text. Am I right in saying that the two rears have almost zero air in and one tyre is basically bald? And that you're only going to replace one tyre? Unless the other tyre is almost brand-new, you'll have to replace both tyres together and don't forget to match them to the front. I would avoid driving the car as much as possible (i.e. nowhere unless directly to the tyre fitment place) if the tyres are in that kind of state else you're asking for trouble, and certainly if you're having issues with the TCS. Also: Posing tart!

And in comparison, the stock 18's weight a whopping 25.56lbs each, which is a 7lb difference per corner of unsprung weight! It's a very noticeable difference, trust me. Your call will be slower in acceleration and won't corner or brake as well as it does with the Rays on.

It really wouldn't, trust me.

I wish we had a thread here that covered all this. I'd probably put it in the ICE section if it was me. Just a thought.

Commuting will surely be covered, business use (i.e. repping up and down the motorway) will be down to the individual insurer.

Autoglym Glass Polish

http://www.blackcircles.com/general/load-rating Either will be plenty.

Only at the front, the rears need 245/45/18. Putting the same size all round is a recipe for chronic oversteer and seriously not recommended

I'm going to have to go and drive a whole bunch of average cars to find the best, aren't I?

I've just been out in it again, in the pissing rain this time. And guess what? It's still sh*t! The windscreen wipers don't move nearly quick enough to shift the water needed, which means driving in a Florida summer storm is a case of looking at where the green stuff is either side of the road and using that as a guide, 'cos you sure as hell can't see where the road is!

Ooh good point, I just checked and they have so that explains that. Horrible systems. Ah but you'd expect nothing less from a Chevy I'd actually have preferred a genuinely rubbish car instead as at least you know it's going to be a bit poor and you can have some fun with that. This is a premium Ford product and it really shouldn't be this bad.

For years now whenever people have popped up on this (and other) forums inquiring about what sub-£5K runaround non-fun car they should get, I've always given the same answer: Get a Ford Focus. I owned a first generation car and it was worthy of all the praise it got from both press and public alike, as it did everything so brilliantly as well as being mechanically sound and (whisper it) bloody good fun to drive if the urge took you. The second-gen cars were equally as good, albeit a little uglier, but still the default family car to buy even ahead of it's premium rivals. The third generation is now out, and to my delight I was offered one as my current rental car out here in the US. My delight didn't last long. It's sh*t. Gone is the wonderful seating position and instead we have a hard fabric-covered lump that's offset to the steering and pedals, leading to an 80's-Italian-supercar-style slouch not suitable for distance driving. They've thrown out the delightfully simple and clear dials & controls and instead we now have the single-most confused dash layout ever, with various colours and tough plasticky buttons and the most retarded place for an intermittent rear wiper switch in the history of the entire world. Honestly, it's a complete mess, and Ford really need to get someone in to re-design their menu structure for the various displays as it's all over the place. I'd forgive this if it was a decent drive. It's not. It's a big ball of guff. Okay so it's the poverty spec 2L petrol mated to a slushbox, but Ford should still be capable of making something that could pull the skin off a rice pudding and that doesn't need seven attempts at finding the right ratio to be in. That said, it makes no difference what gear you're in as there is zero change in acceleration regardless. That's okay though because the fuel consumption is great, right? WRONG. 250 miles out of a 45L tank is shockingly bad, especially when 95% of the mileage I'm doing out here is highway stuff. That wonderfully direct steering has seemingly been replaced by a big marshmallow ball, although there's no torque steer at all: I'm putting this down to there BEING ALMOST NO POWER THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE. A bit of torque steer might be nice actually, at least I'd know that the front wheels are connected to the engine! It doesn't even ride well, it's all wishy-washy and jumpy where it shouldn't be and the tyre roar is awful. The remote control is proper pony. Two pushes to double lock the car is the norm, but why do I have to push the button with. Two. Huge. Gaps. Inbetween. Or else it doesn't register? My record so far is 14 presses for one double lock. Strangely this doesn't apply to the boot unlock, which flies open at the merest hint of having pushed the button twice. Anything good about it? Umm, I guess the brakes are okay. Ish. And the stereo has a surprising amount of bass, although you'll never find a volume that it's comfortable at (Volume level 4 is far too quiet and volume level 5 IS MILES TOO LOUD). I am now officially retiring my default response of "Get a Focus" now, or at least adding the get out clause of "As long as it's a mk1 or mk2". Ford, I am dissapoint.

This was my reason for going DSLR. Worst comes to the worst I've got a very expensive but very capable point and shoot camera, best case I've saved myself £400. If you like photography (or even just want to get into it, this was why I started down the route) and can afford it, then even the entry level Canon/Nikon/Sony is the place to start IMHO. Bodies are the cheap bit of any camera, it's the lenses that start to cost a bit!

No worries, just be really careful as the grip is significantly reduced between VUS and PS2, although there's more feel so that's the trade off. I love the VUS on the Zed but the M3 is another step up the performance ladder.

Why would you want less grip? Personally I wouldn't run cheapy tyres on an M3 anyway, but I'll spare srobrien my usual rant

What? Of course you would, once the shutter is going (and as long as the transfer speed of the memory card is of a sufficient speed) it can carry on all day if it likes, but the initial lag following the autofocus and processor think-time will still be there. If it does do instant-shot just like an SLR then that's great and is a real step forward, but I've never found a single camera that wasn't an SLR that did that. As Sparky said, even the Lumix range (which is superb for a compact) can't do that.