JetSet

Raikkonen fastest this morning, Vettel slowest . Once again you can throw a blanket over the 10 teams that are testing. This afternoon is the last day that the teams will get to run their cars before Australia, I wonder if one of the grandee teams will throw down the gauntlet! Pete

Todays testing times make some interesting reading. 1. Perez Sauber 1m22.094s 2. Button McLaren 1m22.103s +0.009 3. Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1m22.155s +0.061 4. Massa Ferrari 1m22.413s +0.319 5. Di Resta Force India 1m22.446s +0.352 6. Senna Williams 1m22.480s +0.386 7. Kovalainen Caterham 1m22.630s +0.536 8. Webber Red Bull 1m22.662s +0.568 9. Rosberg Mercedes 1m22.932s +0.838 10. Raikkonen Lotus 1m25.379s +3.285 Raikkonen had a steering problem but seeing that Grosjean was fastest yesterday this is starting to look like an incredibly competitive season. I think the big 4 teams will have a bit in hand but I'm expecting some very interesting racing. Can't wait for the real action to start Pete Pete

Its a bit like living in Wilsmlow then. Pete

Brilliant Pete

Welcome , 2 different facelifts, the 2006 one gave the car an extra 20 bhp, upgraded bi-xenon headlights and rear LED's, slightly different front bumper and an interior restyle. The extra 20 bhp is somewhat negated as the cars weighs in at an extra 80 kilos. The 2007 facelift version adds another 15 or so bhp, taking it to 310bhp and a taller engine that requires a bulge bonnet, plus a couple of very minor interior updates. There is also the limited edition GT4 either Ultra Yellow or Black, just 170 or so of them (2004-5) which have the extra 20 bhp and different wheels. Also, its worth mentioning that generally speaking the pre facelifts come in the lower tax bracket, while the facelifts almost without exception are in the higher bracket. There were also some changes in colours, the 2007 facelifts featured some new colours, namely Midnight Blue, Rosso Red, Pearl White and Temper Orange, all of which are pretty rare. Pete

Very nice Will Pete

Looks like a really nice car, Congrats Pete

I don't think any of the political parties have a great record of being motorist friendly. The question is, how are they going to raise revenue when the oil runs out? Pete

Had my RS Turbo chipped for £300, power increased from 130 bhp to 195 bhp. Collins Engineering who supplied and fitted the parts said they had a 225 bhp kit but that was pretty expensive as it included suspension and brake upgrades. Pete I got from 120bhp (stock) to 150bhp for about 10quid. That included buying a drill bit to drill the carb jets out to a bigger side to increase the fueling. To get from 150bhp to an approx 225bhp cost me £650 for hybrid turbo, £600 to have the head, carb, manifolds all gasflowed and ported out (17.5% more flow) and £600 for new uprated group N clutch. The Escort must have had a pretty strong engine as 225 was possible using the standard Turbo and engine internals. The main problem was that the drive shafts couldn't handle the power, and it torque steered like mad under hard acceleration. Not bad though, I had the car from new, had it chipped at 13k and sold it with 116k on the clock, still on the original turbo and exhaust Pete

Funnily enough I think that's the only bit of the car that looks better than The Zed, oh well Pete

Taller people are going to be at a higher risk of having back problems at some stage in their life, at least that's what the doctor told me . I have a non chronic back problem caused by having one leg 5/8" longer than the other . This causes a minor backache plus considerable stiffness after an hour or so of driving, it's something I've got used to as it first reared its ugly head when I was teenager. The worst types of car for me are things like the Ford Explorer I rented in the States (not my choice, it was all they had), not only did my back ache but my thigh muscles almost seized up. That said, I find The Zed to be very comfortable. The longest drive I've done in it was a 4 hour drive to Cardiff, just a little bit of stiffness, I've done that drive in The Clio about 10 times and I need a good 10 minutes of stretching exercises to get rid of the discomfort. Pete

Had my RS Turbo chipped for £300, power increased from 130 bhp to 195 bhp. Collins Engineering who supplied and fitted the parts said they had a 225 bhp kit but that was pretty expensive as it included suspension and brake upgrades. Pete

Sitting in a long queue of Zeds at Portmadoc on The Wales run, mine did this 4 or 5 times on tickover , never done it before or since. I looked it up here when I got home to find it was pretty common, even on low mileage Zeds. Pete

There's a Temper Orange one on there for 11.2k, not to everyone's taste but I like it . Just browsing through the Zeds I put them into order by price...the second most expensive 350 Zed is a 56 Coupe, I think the dealer is deluded if he thinks he's going to get £14.5k plus for it I think he must have picked up a 3 year old Glass's guide http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2006-Nissan-3 ... 075wt_1396 Pete

Very nice, they suit the Sunset really well Pete

They're the only set in the country apparently Car looks Pete

Caroline has got one too , funny you should mention the different sound, Will350Z had a drive of Caroline's car and commented how the exhaust note sounded throatier, I'd just put this down to less noise insulation Pete

Used to listen to The Friday Night Rock show with Tommy Vance , a proper DJ who never talked over the records. Pete

Well, the cost of the additive worked out at about £3 per litre, I worked for the company that supplied an early version to Shell, it actually cost us £2.20 a litre to produce it. However, the treatment level is fairly low so the profit that Shell is making is not that excessive, you're probably looking at somewhere around 2.0p worth per litre but bear in mind that Shell have to blend it and that'll take a fair bit of time and energy plus of course the R&D that went on before it came onto the market . Pete I'm not denying that but 99ron is 3-4p more where as vpower is 9-11p more expensive a litre. The tax is the real killer though Actually, that pricing was for "Shell Optimax" similar but not quite the same as VPower. Shell may very well make this themselves nowadays, they didn't have the facilities a few years ago. If they still buy it from the company I worked for then it'll have to be imported from Le Havre in France as The U.K plant closed down shortly after I left. From what I gleaned in my years of working for first Shell and then later a company called Lubrizol, the mark up is in the region of 30% on additives and chemicals but much smaller on refined products such as heavy fuel oil, bitumen, Avgas and Gas Oil. Pete

Well, the cost of the additive worked out at about £3 per litre, I worked for the company that supplied an early version to Shell, it actually cost us £2.20 a litre to produce it. However, the treatment level is fairly low so the profit that Shell is making is not that excessive, you're probably looking at somewhere around 2.0p worth per litre but bear in mind that Shell have to blend it and that'll take a fair bit of time and energy plus of course the R&D that went on before it came onto the market . Pete

Welcome Pete

Only one of them in The U.K http://howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/datsun_2000 This one looks like an import and I don't think they were ever sold in The U.K, in fact I don't think any Datsuns were sold here till 1970 or so. Pete

Yeah, I trapped my thumb some years ago in work, absolute agony, nail completely black. Took a trip down to the medical centre in work and the nurse drilled a hole in the nail the using a needle. She simply rotated the needle back and forth until the blood came out, easy peasy. I've used the same technique several times since then on blood blisters underneath the nail. Pete

Welcome Pete

Great photos . Is that a Datsun 2000 on The Zed stand? Pete