James B

1. Is tyre roar on the motorway obtrusive and annoying? (I do 40 miles of motorway driving every day for work) No it's fine but I'd suggest a nice aftermarket exhaust. Scorpion do a nice one that makes a good noise when you drop it and floor it, but easy to live with for normal driving 2. Is the clutch weight too heavy in stop-start traffic? The later ones (past 06 I think) have lighter clutches. Mine is a 53 and I get knackered sitting in a 2 hr traffic jam. Having said that, anything that's not an auto in that kind of situation blows. 3. Is the Bose Stereo any good? Yes - when it works. Riddled with probs like left speakers cutting out, CD skipping. All the probs are esentially down the the CD mechanics which are supplied to Clarion. If it's an older car (over 2 yrs, which covers all 350's now) just make sure you try the stereo, including CD player, before you buy. If it's OK now it should be fine. 4. Are servicing costs reasonable? Depends where you go. Anyone down south is recommended to go to Abbey and I think in Leeds RS is highly recommended. Take it to a stealers and a) they won't have a clue what they're doing and they'll charge you the earth to **** it up. 5. Apart from tyres, what components regularly need replacing and what's the usual cost? Standard stuff. Clutches go so worth checking it for any slip, aftermarket brakes (particularly the fronts) can take a beating as shes a heavy girl, and the front bearings and wheel assembly can wear. 6. Is build quality good? (no rattles/squeaks?) Mate - it's a Nissan, not a Porche. Lot's of sqeeks and rattles, the interior is a bit plasticy (less sop on later modules / facelift versions), but it's a super drivers car and just unbelievable value for the price. Good luck!

Right to explain...... Few weeks ago I had a driving experience where I had a whizz in a few cars from a Gallardo to an Ariel Atom. Well, it got me to thinking about cars and while I adore my Zed (I still swoon when I look at it parked outside), driving the atom has turned me onto the idea of a more involved, raw driving experience. Which rbing me nicely onto the title. I think an Exige might be the way forward. Lightning quick, raw and well...... what more to add. So wanted to know who's driven an Exige, owned one. You're all helpful peeps so just an open invite for everyones thoughts.

were the discs new at the same time? Have you measured the thickness? IIRC they are 30mm new, and wear limit is 28mm. Thats the same disc, one pic the inside surface, the other pic is the outside surface. Both are worn, the inside surface very badly! I've had the same all EBC setup and it's been a nightmare. By all accounts it's more the poor quality of the discs over the pads, although I don't think you can rely on any EBC product. 'It's cheap @*!#' seems to be the consensus of anyone that's used it.

+1 I was mid gulp of sprite at my desk and some actually shot out my nose. FYI surprisingly painful!

HOW THE HELL IS A FISH FINGER THAT'S ONLY 60% FISH NOT RUBBISH?!

I'm sorry it's true. Every single woman I know can't drive for @*!#! My missus is fine going forward and is even quite spiritied, taking the apex where safe and giving the sport clio i good buzzing, however ask her to reverse this tiny car into anything less than a space fit for a cruise liner and damage is imminent. And she's the best female driver I know!......

Hey Tez, I'm 5,10, a goofy rider and an ex british instructor. You've been given some fairly sound advice from all the guys and particularly Watshot! Just to supplement with some of my own thoughts: 1) The manufacturing of ski clothes has really leapt forward in the past few years so you really don't need to spend a fortune to be covered. 10 yrs ago you could spend a small fortune on jacket and trousers and still need more layers than an onion to keep warm. these days you can go out and drop £200 on a jacket, £80 on trousers and be fine in a T-shirt in mid winter. 2) Boots are the most important as many have said. Watshots comparison to stiffness and suspension is pretty dead on. 3) If you're buying a board the same applies as to the above but is even more relevant. If you're a beginner (i.e scrape turns rather and full carving) there's no point in going out and buying a top freeride board. It will be too stiff, have a deep progressive sidecut and it will want to bite you. If anything jumping onto a board above yopur skill level is just going to make you progress slower and harm your confidence. My advice would be to find out if you are really at a stage when you are able to carve (if you're unsure get an instructor to tell you as so many people think they're carving when they're not). If you can then there's no harm is dropping some dosh (£300 ish on a board), if not I'd probably either rent or buy second hand board that more tuned to learning. It's not a crime to not be Shaun White first time - just don't kid yourself. Most resorts have good hire equiptment but some budget places such as Bulgaria and Andorra do keep their hire stuff a couple of seasons longer than they should and in these plaes it's best to opt for premium hire gear which typically just means it's this seasons. 4) Setup of the board is very important. I've seen so many times beginners going out with a duck stance setup. When I was teaching I spent more time with a screwdriver in my hand changing stupid beginner setups like this. As a gofy rider both feet should point forward, the back foot by approx 5 deg, the forward by 15deg Good luck, have fun!

Lol I don't trust myself with a polisher and I witnessed someone burn thru the paint to plastic while removing a scratch on someone elses car so with the wafer thin paint I think il leave it be for now Anyway this thread is about popping paint not swirls lol. I'm gonna ban u stew You've got no chance of burning the paint with a DA. I attacked mine with a DA for the first time few weeks ago and was so timid I kept it to speed 3 with Megs Ultimate Compound. Didn't get hot and didn't get rid of the swirls. DA's are designed to me clumbsy arse proof!

Decats will fail emissions and your car won't be road legal (only OK for track)! Just get HFC's and a remap. The BHP difference isn't going to be huge so why give yourself more work and headache than needed?!

Well the OP wanted a budget option... The budget options are EBC or APEC. Zmanalex says APEC discs are "not bad" viewtopic.php?f=59&t=43084&p=635371 but I don't know anyone with them fitted to a Z. I will need new discs soon and would also like to hear what is put there at different price points. I had a forum members Zed in for a brake upgrade yesterday. He went for DBA rotors front and rear with Ferodo DS 2500 pads. The stuff that I removed were Apec Pads and Apec rotors and they were compleely destroyed. The Zed is a heavy car and IMHO budget stuff just does not work and is totally false economy. Most of the budget stuff suffers from excessive run out. The installed runout of a rotor must not exceed 0.050mm. Excessive runout will result in DTV being worn into the rotor within as little as 1000 miles. DTV will cause pedal pulsating, steering shudder or vibration during braking. There are lots of people who do not understand brake component principles and are unable to take good advice on board and consequently end up paying twice when thay have to get the job done all over again. Alex I can testify to the truth this man speaks 100%. I've got EBC discs that were shaking my car to sh&t when I braked, after only 2000 miles. Had them skimmed and 1000 miles later the shudder is coming back. Trust me fella, stay well clear of EBC and other cheapy ones. You'll pay more in the long run and give yourself a headache for good measure. Buy cheap, pay twice!

What he said. Although if you're not intending to push it, just get some new OEM discs and uprate the pads and lines. OEM Discs are more expensive than anything on the market you nutter!

I'll be honest - I love the fast and furious cars, even with all the lairy colours and graphics. Trouble is I'm a white, pale, 30 yr old IT consultant. Not as I would like to believe a hardcore NOS fuelled streetracer. Still if I bought it I could make believe........

You're havin a bubble?!

My Dad is looking to sell his 07 Audi TT. It was hit when parked causing 2 rear panels needing to be replaced, which was claimed and done on insurance. It was all cosmetic and around £1500 to fix at an audi dealership. Does this make the car a CAT D?

Sure there must be a way to 'locate' a copy of the data DVD online somewhere.........

Given your job will have you away quite alot I'd say depreciation is as big a prob for you. In your position I'd go for an earlier model, in good nick with low mileage. At least that way it wi have lost most of it's value / taken the biggest depreciation hit already. Re the amount of running it needs. Think a couple of times a monto is recommended but I've not been in the situation personally.

Not so. Many employers would reject a cv from someone without a degree but with 15 years experience in the specific expertise but happily interview someone with a degree and 2 years experience. It's a bit of a nightmare unfortunately. I honestly cannot see that happening unless there were a situation that you would have expected them to be more senior. E.g I'm at a certain level in IT sales and if someone wanted to join our team but had 10 years more experience I would question why their career hasn't moved forward more.

F40 without a doubt. Just looking at that car takes me straight back to being 8 again and the first time I even cared about a car. Bought a die cast model about 10" long that year that I still have on my desk.........

She works 'there'

Funny (not haha) that you say that. My missus is a solicitor (went to exeter btw) and managed to get a training contract which, incidentally, there are twice as many people needing training contracts as their are available. She was telling me not long ago, that she later realised it's possible to do an ILEX (institute of legal exec's) then a top up to be able to become a fully qualified solicitor. In fact its far easier to get a legal temp job and do ILEX as an 'on the job training' and top up as you go. It's another perfect example of people getting herded into the university system despite the fact, in this type of scenario, it's flawed and for many leads to another dead end. What we need (refering back to my earlier rant) is a clear and organised methodology for people to train and improve themselves. If your wife wants to chat to my missus I'm sure I could set something up. Can't promise she'll be able to give you a magic answer but after being through it she may be able to shine a light and show a way through. PM me if you want.

Love it! There are some seriously gritty, genius types that come from top uni's but as you say there are plenty with their heads in the sky, thinking they're going to walk into a board level appointment, ages 23 because of where they went to uni. Got a guy that joined our software company in my team (sales consultants). He's got a 1st and a masters from Oxford, but after being here for 6 months hasn't closed a bean. Absolutely smashing guy and sure he could win a Nobel prize, but real life stuff....... Not so much!

Agree with Sarnie. There's a world of difference between the degree achieved at an ex poly and a 'red brick' university such as Cambridge, Oxford, Exeter, Durham etc. If you take Oxford or Cambridge for instance, these institutions typically require at least 3 A's at A level AND also require an interview and an additional exam (they consider A level's to be very easy to get an A in). The overall value of a degree is a far broader question. I'm of the opinion that so many go to univeristy, many degrees (and I speak of the lower uni's) become pointless and self defeating. The diverse and irrelevant topic's like 'ice cream & sports studies' blow my mind. Even one's like film studies. Unless you get into a redbrick or need to study in a subject that absolutely requires a degree, such as accountant, architect, doctor etc it's unnecessary. Even for some of those professions (accounting for instance) I think starting at the very bottom and training while you work is often a better route. Certainly a young school leaver joining a program with a company like PWC at 16 and working hard will probably end up a year ahead of those that go an do a degree, then post grad training. I think students need to be encouraged to think 'why' they want to go uni, what their goals are and what the best ways are to achieve those goals. Simply telling everyone they must go to uni, withour proper consideration, leads to masses of people leaving uni at 22-22, massively in debt, wet behind the ears and with no better idea of what they want to do with their lives (maybe even more confused) than when they went in. As a country I think we should invest more (and I mean ALOT more) in on the job training (with recognised vocational qualifications) and practical development. To put it into the frame I did an HND in Business at Demontfort, and while I know it hasn't done me any harm, I'm even more certain that either working harder and going to a redbrick or just getting my head down would have been a better life choice. Just my thoughts though.............

Think it's fecking pig ugly and you could by a prime example of a Ferarri f430 for the same money. Even suggesting the car is worth that is bonkers in my mind.

I'd walk, but thats just me. I don't think the price is that good either. I'd only pay £8k. Also, the warranty from any independent dealer isn't worth the paper it's printed on. Nothing wrong with buying from an independent, just go into it with your eyes open. You're better off buying a forum members zed as you can absolutely guarantee it's been loved like an only child! Good luck though.