Chesterfield

Ah yes - sorry Steve, been busy with work and wedding arrangements havent sorted any of the pics on the camera since donnington Will sort them. Ive got several of the various Z's giving it full beans round the track

I cant get over Gordon Brown and his constant drivel about talking to suppliers about increasing production in order to releive the burden. Its not bloody supply thats causing the rising prices of oil anyway. Supply at present is resulting in excess oil, its speculators that have driven up the price this time round, and now ammount of pumping will resolve it. Gordon probably knows this, but his visits to suppliers (no doubt complete with well publicised press coverage of him donning a hard hat etc) will server to fob off people that he is actually trying to do something.

Look out for "de-restricted toll roads" being excluded. That covers the ring too. My understanding is that it is best to consider yourself NOT insured when driving round the Nurburgring.

1. H5 2. martinmac 3. Chesterfield

yeah yeah... The purchase of the house with the room for a toy fell through, so sadly had to put the plan on hold for a while until something else comes up. I dont think the planning authorities would allow another garage on the side of the existing house I dont think it will be long before Mrs Chesterfield finds something else that will suit though.

Depends what day it is, and what the weathers like - a trip over the cat and fiddle in the rain isnt much fun.

Could be pursuaded to make an evening drive over the hills for a coffee and doughnut.

Yup thats probably whats being done. Perhaps they could send a set to Littlemiss, after the abortion that has been made of her GT4 rims by a Nissan dealer?

Holy cow! Amazing that nobody was hurt. Thats a sizeable insurance claim there I would think.

There are indeed people that have noticed higher oil consumption on the 2006 engine. Some report up to half a litre every 1000 miles or so. Personally I find this excessive, and am shocked that Nissan never formaly acknowledged this, let alone provided a fix for 2006 model owners. Gives some indication of how valued we are. I think there has been one person that has had a replacement engine, but most seem to be told it is a "characteristic" of the engine. Round pistons in oval bores is the cause that some experts have pointed the finger at. It also seems pot luck whether any individual 06 engine suffers or not. The engine in mine only seems to use oil at what I would consider a normal level.

The angle you had me at meant I couldnt get the camera out buddy. Its nice down here at the bottom of the slope anyway - no worries about being image concious, no special dietary requirements. Sure, there is the shortened lifespan and the wear and tear on shock absorbers, but you get over that in time.

Jay - I used to be a regular at the gym 5 days a week 4 hours a time until a few years ago. Then it started with a single sugared, jam filled, soft doughy doughnut.... Slippery slope you've found there buddy. Ill see you at the bottom

We had two cars, a Seat Leon and Seat Altea serviced at the local Seat dealership a couple of months ago. The difference between the bills was £20, when inspected closer the difference was on the oil. The part numbers were exactly the same for both cars - not that I expected any different, as they have the same engine, chassis and everything else other than the body panels. The dealers first answer when I called was - they are different cars so thats why sir - obvously before I enlightened him that I knew a little about the cars in question. "So what it boils down to is that you charged me £20 more for oil in one vehicle because it has a bigger boot?" After some "errs" and "erms" they said that it was "menu pricing" set by Seat and thats how the prices were created. I instructed them that if they wanted to see any of our company vehicles again, they had better get someone from Seat to call me and explain why a bigger boot on the Altea warrants £20 more being charged for the same oil. I got a cheque for the £20 within a couple of days. They still wont see the cars again though because of their attitude. £220 for Oil, sump plug and filter.

Major activities for me this weekend. Im moving the Z from the right hand garage into the left hand one, and moving the Altea from the left hand one over to the right hand. It does involve moving a ladder which is on the floor and a couple of tins of paint though.

As above really, if you rev the engine high when its still relatively cold (not something I'd advise doing) the pressure wil nudge the far end of the scale. On idle, most seem to have the needle at anything from 30 to 14/15. Mine persoanly sits at around the 15-18 area on tickover. I look at it this way. This is the first car Ive owned with an oil pressure guage, before I just used to check tyhe dipstick every now and then and as long as it was clean and at the right level, that was all I had to worry about. Now with the addition of a guage its just another thing to be paranoid about. As long as it doesnt drop off either end of the scale, and the dipstick shows its got enough, that'll do for me.

Expect massive headlines on gas and electricity soon too. I wouldnt be shocked seeing domestic bills up 25% by the end of next month. Some commercials are already being hit by 40% this year alone compared to 2007.

Choptop does have some video footage, but its a little tricky to post - some people on the video may have been going a little quick on the private road you see... A little editing needed.

yup - but they are over 2300 pixels wide! What about a blue colour coded engine cover and some polished fluid reservoirs?

Needs a polished induction kit Rob.

Just got back myself after a 3.5 hour drive back. Great to meet up with lots of guys again fron the Z club and also other 350 owners. Some were getting right into doing a plenum spacer fitting at the show! Thats dedication for you. Got a few photos to post, but need a bit of a sleep now. Not as young as I used to be. Even Zedrush turned up! I almost fell over with the shock!

Happy Birthday buddy. Have a good un'

Dont know - depends on ho many bottles of pop I get through tonight. I reckon on getting there about 8 ish ?

Wrong way for me, Ill be in Swindon.

No late night for me at the hotel on Friday then! See you guys there bright and breezy

Fixed the link