350ash

I went but not in the zed. I spotted a few 350s over the weekend, the first one I spotted was at Dover on Thursday morning and having just seen your photos I think you might recognise it!

I'm travelling over tomorrow morning. Not taking the zed this year, six of us are going down in a hire car and an E36 M3 instead. Should be good!

I know exactly where you're coming from when you say the main car has to be 'odd'. When I sell my zed I'm going to get something cheaper and more practical whilst I buy a house (and save up for a Caterham ) and I've been saying for a while now that the car has to be 'interesting'. A Volvo V70R keeps coming back to the top of list and most people think I'm crazy for wanting an old Volvo but for me it has that 'odd' or 'interesting' trait I'm after.

Nice car! I reckon your shape XK looks a lot better than the newer shape currently on sale. Look after those wheels carefully because there's a car I see in the work carpark with them which haven't been looked after very well and they now look really crappy. whos owned by VW, as far as i am aware Jaguar land rover are owned by TATA the indian automotive company. That is what I thought until a BBC1 News article the other day said that it had been taken over by Volkswagen. I'm not sure what article you saw but TATA definitely own Jaguar Land Rover.

I also use AG Fast Glass and it works well for me. I spray, wipe with a microfibre cloth then give it another wipe over with a dry part of the microfibre and it leaves my glass smear free.

tmJak got his done: viewtopic.php?f=53&t=22863&hilit=centre+console+leather

They'll fit. The wheels you've got at the moment are 8" wide front and back but you stick need to put 225s on the front wheels and 245s on the rears which is the same as you'd put on Rays. It's also worth noting that although your current wheels are the same widths front and back the wheels are different - you can't fit a rear wheel on the front axle (something I found out too late when putting winter tyres onto a set of standard wheels and I couldn't get the wheels on the car )

- It should be pretty obvious what to do at the docks, just follow other cars and people in hi-vis vests pointing (important note though: if someone in a hi-vis is pointing at something blue and wavy it's probably some joker trying to get you to drive into the sea) - Driving on the wrong side of the road isn't too bad, you adjust pretty quickly. Toll booths are a pain if it's just you in the car but with a passenger you'll be fine. Passengers also come in handy if you're thinking of overtaking and can't see clearly around the vehicle in front. - No weird driving rules that I'm aware of except that on the autobahn's there are some magical signs (they look a bit like our "national speed limit applies" signs) which mean you have to put your foot down and keep accelerating until the car won't go any faster (assuming conditions, traffic levels etc are suitable). - If you can fit everything in the boot of the zed, take the zed. If you can't fit it all in, take less clothes and still go in the zed. - If you're planning on driving after dark you'll need to attach head-lamp adjuster stickers to your lights. WH Smiths, Halfords etc etc sell them, if you've forgotten to get any you should be able to get some on the ferry. - In France you need a hi-vis vest for everyone in the car and they need to be in the passenger area with you. - I think you need a warning triangle too, spare bulbs are recommended but not a legal requirement (I think). Have fun and be careful where you leave the car in France, in general the French can't park and they don't care at all about hitting other people's cars when they're parking.

A second buffing with a microfibre might do the trick. I use either Auto Glym Fast Glass or Dodo Juice Red Mist and with two buff offs the windows always come out well.

That 0-60 time seems a bit optimistic, whenever I've seen it quoted anywhere it varies from 5.9-6.1s. Also, if you want to be really sad you could memorise at what engine revs max power and torque arrive at: Max power of 276bhp at 6200rpm Max torque of 268 ft lbs at 4800rpm

Husky did you notice she's in Leamington Spa, that's not far from you

Heading out three times in one weekend is quite good going! Looks like some great scenery you've got up there, there aren't any proper hills anywhere near where I live.

You could always leave the bumpers off, it would go nicely with your weight saving scheme. The rear looks good, it's the only aftermarket rear bumper that I can think of that I really like the look of.

Black, bumpy ones... I'm new to all this bike stuff so I haven't paid any attention to what's on my bike. Guess I'll be finding out soon though when I go to buy a spare inner tube and a repair kit, at the moment I don't even know what size the wheels are.

I headed out again today, got 8 miles from home when I noticed the rear tyre seemed a bit flat, got off to check, pulled a twig/thorn out of the front tyre too and watched as both tyres went completely flat I didn't have a pump, puncture repair kit or a spare inner tube with me so it meant I had a long walk home. 2 hours and 8 miles later I made it back home, a bit annoying really!

I finally got round to having another go on a bike today. The plan was to head along a local canal and do around 10 miles or so, I ended up finding a cycle route and when I got back I was surprised to find I'd covered 14.5 miles. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it, I think the perfect weather helped somewhat, clear skies, warm and no wind. My bike hadn't turned a wheel in around 7 years, the chain is very rusty, it makes some dodgy noises and if you pedal really hard the chain starts skipping on the sprocket but it was nice getting on a bike more suited to more height. I reckon it won't be long till I head out again and next time I'm going to stretch the route a bit.

I understand your problem, I'm 6'3 and I only just fit. I think even just an extra half an inch would mean I wouldn't fit comfortably. It sounds like you've tried adjusting the seat as much as you can, I think that if at the moment you can drive without it being too uncomfortable then even a small gain, like having the non-electric seats, would be enough to allow you to fit comfortably.

As other people have mentioned, deionised water should dry without leaving a water mark but I don't know if the washer fluid added to the water will cause a watermark. A free source of deionised water is the collection tank on a tumble drier.

That's definitely the biggest perk of the job although I don't get to do it too often. The Full Fat model is my favourite too, so much better than the Sport if you ask me!

I spent yesterday driving 50 miles cross-country in an Evoque, then building and driving into a range of sand dunes in it, then 50 miles cross-country back to work. It's a hard job but someone's go to do it... The car was really good on the roads on the way there and back and also very effective in the sand too.

I've spent a while this evening looking through some of his videos, some pretty impressive stuff! I'm sure it can't take too long to get up to that standard, right...?

Yep, it's the same engine. I can't stand John Prescott but the rest of the episode was pretty good.

I'm going to try some easier stuff now, get used to cycling again and check I actually want to continue doing it then I'll look into getting a bike. Cheers for the link, I currently know next to nothing about bikes but the guys I went with know a fair bit so I'll be hassling them for tips when/if I decide to buy one.

8:41pm: 8:42pm: Ash turns up with a boot full of tools... oh well!

I had a go at mountain biking today for the first time ever, went to Cannock Chase with some friends and did The Monkey Trail. I found it very hard work, I've not cycled at all in about 7 years and I was on a borrowed bike that was too small and had some very dodgy V-brakes. At the end the other guys (all a lot more experienced) said that maybe it wasn't the best place for a complete novice. I can't say I enjoyed some of it but a couple of the big, more open, downhill stretches near the end were good. Managed to crash twice, the first was fine, the second ended up with my leg trapped in the bike and my right shin is now twice the size it was this morning. I can see myself getting into it though but I need some practice somewhere a bit easier and some better kit too. Don't think I'll be able to sit down for a week...