ianphampton

Nurburgring is a nice run, ideal for a long weekend Germany is a great country, too, and if you have any spare time Koblenz on the Rhine is only about 50 miles east of the Ring

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Think it's a midlife crisis thing lol. Roadster it must be. +1 I'd not go back to a metal roof, after experiencing the joys of topless motoring . . . . but all my children describe my Zed as "Dad's midlife crisis car"

Depending on how 'blocky' the winter tyres are, you may get TCS issues - last winter I had a couple of occasions where I gave her some beanz in an overtaking mode and she paused (Yes - just what you want when you pull out to overtake, go large on the loud pedal and she hesitates! ) In the end it was diagnosed by Mark at Abbey that the blocks in the winter tyres moved under the exceptional load - turn the TCS off and had no more problems. Note - this is only on the winter tyres - which are Nankangs (Yes I know, some people don't like these 'Chinese Ditch Finders' but for normal winter wear in rain / snow etc they performed well, it was only on a couple of dry days when I felt able to push on a bit)

+1 my opinion, too You might want to consider remapping her again after you've done the plenum spacer and HFCs to make the most of these changes, too

I have a K2 system so not quite the same as the Op . . . however The sound is so nice I find myself accelerating off roundabouts, knowing I have to brake for the lights in 150 yards - but do it anyway just to hear the beautiful howl as the revs rise . . . and then there's the tunnels, you just have to give her some beans (with the window down) as you go through - So - I reckon it knocks 5 or 10% off your mpg but it's the oh-so-lovely sound that makes you do it! :-)

Damaged the flexibles on the Y pipe But it really just sounded awful - when you get this hard BANG right under your. . . . seat . . . . and it's the feeling of inflicting such pain on my poor girl

7/20 - but I'm an engineer, so I'm not into all this fuzzy stuff!

Looks great but you will have problems, especially on private estate speed bumps which tend to be steeper Plus - don't go to Northern Ireland as the roads are even worse than England - I bottomed out 4 times in a weekend in Norn Iron and I'm only lowered about 18mm If I had my time again I'd not drop her any

Abbey did my car with a remap after a couple of tweaks to the exhaust - and I felt the car to be MUCH more responsive. I seem to remember posting how she suddenly felt like she was supposed to be, able to breath and so much more alert. As NeilMH says, get your other mods done first, then the re-map will really capitalise on those. In terms of numbers, I got 19hp extra on the first remap after a stainless exhaust, but don't do it for the numbers, do it for the smile it'll put on your face and the sound as you accelerate off the roundabout. . . .

Had a very entertaining weekend in Germany, you'll guess where . . Ferry from Hull to Rotterdam, and it's only about 4 hours drive to the Nurburgring from there, especially on unlimited motorways. Just a passing comment - because the Germans all have good lane discipline, so go back into the inner lane after overtaking, there's less hold ups even on 2 lane motorways, than the stupid morons you get in the UK hogging the middle lane. (Ahem.. Rant over ) Anyway, lovey run down, weather was fantastic and the Eifel countryside ablaze with autumn colours, nice hotel, then. . . 2:30 on Friday, they opened the 'Ring for 'tourist rides'. I got in one gentle lap just feeling how the track was - got back and - it was closed! Took them over an hour to clear away the ruins of 2 bikes, no idea what happened to the riders, but the waiting queue just backed up, so when I got on again around 4pm the traffic was horrendous and the driving was not such fun. Then they closed it again for about 40 mins while they swept up a Golf. . . I let the traffic clear a bit but had my best round at about 6pm, but even then there was a section yellow flagged and about 3 cars off to one side. You're not supposed to take cameras so I was cautious and didn't film any of these, but decided to get there early (before the crush) on Saturday, and as this was my last lap (bought 4 laps for 95 Euro) I thought - "What can they do to me, but throw me off" so clipped the camera up after passing the start. It's not a great lap, and if you watch the video you'll see another section yellow flagged where a bright yellow Ferrari has spun off (I couldn't turn the camera but the car hasn't got anything in front of the front wheels!) All in all, great weekend. Now for the really sad bit, after talking about Nurburgring . . . drove back in one go, filled up at Aachen, then to Calais and tunnel home. Through Germany, all at about 95mph, then into Holland drop to 85 (130kph) and down to 80 in France (120kph) and over 417 miles I got 31.29 mpg. Obviously there just wasn't the accelleration / decelleration as it was high speed running, but still, I was impressed. The car ran like a dream, the whole way, only issue at all was the smell of hot brakes on the ring! I'd recommend it to anyone - but do try for an early circuit to avoid the traffic on the ring.

You can normally buy a CD manual for a few quid on fleabay - Haynes manuals are normally over £20 but I got a CD for about £2.99 and it's very useful as a reference guide

I think mine looks better lowered - but I wouldn't do it again as she bottoms out on road humps and even sometimes on catseyes (especially in Northern Ireland) unless you have the coilovers wound up to hard (at one time I only used the top 25% of the coilover settings for spirited driving or track - but in Norn Iron had to do something to compensate for the road surface after bottoming several times!) If I had my time again I'd leave her standard height to cope with the rubbish roads and road humps

When it's cold mine does this sometimes - especially if it's not been down in a while. It's definitely good to keep the joins lubricated (several people above showing where etc) I've always managed to overcome it, though, by opening it until it starts to complain a bit - close it halfway, open again, until it complains a bit - close to halfway - open again. After about 3 or 4 goes she'll get over the bit where it goes tight and tuck away. As I said - it's worse if you've not opened it in a while, so I try and open it every month even in the winter, though I don't do it at sub zero or anything. I've had my ragtop now for just over 3 years and I'd not go back to a metal roof, it's just soooo much nicer opening the lid on a clear day, and even if it's chilly - well, thats what they made leather jackets for, isn't it?

I painted mine with Hammerite Wire brushed, then cleaned with gunk, then warm water & fairy liquid, then cellulose thinnners It was a warm fine day and left to dry between each stage, then left overnight to dry so no dust stuck on Did it all without taking them off the car Not sure how many days you'll get now warm and fine - until springtime or unless you have a snug garage for the job

No, it's M10 x 1.25, which is Metric Fine (Not Metric Coarse)

Andy I guess there may be somewhere to let her go in the middle of the night? I was in Guernsey back in April and we heard a high revving engine around midnight on a couple of evenings - obviously not you if you've only got her recently but somebody somewhere was having a little blast and we both commented that I'd not want to own a Zed on the island! Oooh - and Welcome to the forum

How about: "I bought it second hand, the FSH and the test drive convinced me it was in good condition, and the bodywork was good with no scratches. Colour - I'm a bloke, as long as it's not pink - who gives a _ _ _ _"

Took my "Fairlady Z" off with warm water and dental floss, definitely NO HOLES Cleaned the glue off with celulose thinners (nail polish remover) but it is serious stuff especially on car paint so just wipe it (Don't let it soak) Left my Burger in the middle so don't know if there's holes behind that one Took about 5 minutes, that's all, no problems

I had a 3 litre A6 Quattro Avant around 2003 - 4, 235 bhp iirc It was faultless. My brother had a 540 BMW and the Audi was definitely better in pretty well every respect when we compared - I never managed to wrong foot the quattro - she always felt well planted and secure, and the power was always smooth, and with 3 litres to play with it went pretty well. Don't ask about the running costs as it was a comnpany car, though I seem to remember not getting much over 22 / 25 mpg. The tax on it as a company car was brutal, though. It was definitely the most civilised car I've had, great comfort (I had cream leather - and it was soft!) and great to drive. I had the all singing and dancing satnav, too, and that was great, but the cost to upgrade from UK to Europe as it was an Audi system was crazy. (But I just got the company to do it - it's just that I resented the cost) If you get Audi dealers to servicce it you'll need pretty deep pockets, though . . . .

Seems the consensus is - take the 3 points like a man and stop whining! Ah well, I was only hoping . . . All my points have come from silly "Not paying attention in 30 limits" - never got caught doing excessive Zed speeds! This make 3 times now, 1st was 39mph, then 41, now 37. Perhaps I'm just a very slow learner. Mind you, running on 9 points, I don't suppose the Zed will ever get out of 2nd any more. Look on the bright side - I'll get some great mpg figures!

Advice from the forum, please I had my photo taken by Mercia Police doing 37mph in a 30 limit. Now I know that's over the limit etc but I was one of a whole stream of traffic, all doing about the same. I have heard that " . .keeping up with the traffic flow" is the only excuse the courts would entertain - and was wondering if it was worth trying to defend this? I have 6 points already and would prefer not to just roll over - unless you tell me that people who have the nerve to query this in court get an automatic 6 points instead, or something. Thanks Ian

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+1 - same on mine, auto up on windows, but door mirrors fold only when I tell them to

Great Picture! I tried to take a shot like this but the hair on the back of my hands and the fact that my nose has extended out so I cant get the camera up to my eye stops me . . . . . . happens every time the moon looks like this . . .