coldel

Any reason to be going for those vs the tried and tested options like Tein?

Im no expert but a quick google shows they will come on after an accident automatically, also that you cannot activate them whilst moving (so no more handbrake turns) and to be honest passenger sabotage can happen with handles not just the E button. There are others which will come on automatically whilst in Park on auto etc. It makes a lot of sense as you can link a lot of safety features to it. 

Its worth noting that ebrake stands for emergency brake in the US, not electronic hand brake - but as far as I can see from looking at 9:45 it looks like user error rather than tech fail?

Yes it is all part of forcing older cars off the road and owners into newer hybrids/EVs

Go here for your engine checker https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-e10-petrol

All I would say is read your policy front to back and understand exactly what you signed up for. If in there it states that Markerstudy will only use approved suppliers etc. regardless of what you think, you are bound by what you signed up for. That would be my start point, know your position with the insurance and who is responsible for what and take it from there. 

View out the window...so close to being allowed to road trip again can’t wait

Just a quick look on ebay shows CD01 starting at £500. I guess a couple of things going against you is that from what I have seen on here gearboxes very rarely need a complete replacement so buyers are going to be thin on the ground. Secondly anyone wanting a replacement is going to want to go for a CD09. I imagine the breakers you see on ebay sit on those gearboxes for months on end waiting to sell?

Browse to the Traders section of the forum and have a look at their websites, it will have parts that are commonly used on zeds and you can pick out brands that are around your price range (not spending huge amounts is hard to interpret as we all have a different view as to what a 'huge amount' is). Tyres everyone will say Michelins but they are pretty pricey. Same with brakes. And so on and so forth. 

My fav colour welcome along 

Got the tinkering itch. Ordered some crap carbon vinyl just to try it out on the spark plug cover, looks quite nice next to the genuine thing in the background. Will mull over what to do with that next. Also switched out the original rocker cover bolts which were rusty and crap with some shiny new ones. 
 

Urrrr it is! Or is it Johnny 5?

Looks pretty good actually. Not a far of the wheels (why do EVs have to TRY so hard to look like something from I Robot) - interesting effort on the ridged front grille on the bodywork. The Teslas are generally ugly as sin and the flat fronts look terrible so can see they are trying to break that up. Not sure why the piece of black plastic below that is so obvious, it looks like a giant webcam or something, could be more discreet. 

Still wouldn't ever buy one for that money, would need your head tested. Buy a Model 3 and and an Exige and have best of both worlds, shopping car and a proper driving car.

43 minutes ago, Stutopia said:

Plastic???? Think of the whales!

I actually was more concerned you would point out the insufficient clipping of the cable tie if I’m honest 

Whilst the boot was open I noticed that my gearbox breather mod was looking a bit sad. It was a cheap eBay filter so I had a look online and found an all plastic affair which seemed a better option. Replacement took 5 mins 

out with the old and in with the new 

1 hour ago, andy james said:

Patent pending I hope mate!

I should have bought them all off ebay and then relisted them after posting that up 

Latest mod might seem insignificant but it’s going to make a huge difference. The standard interior mirror is out of an Astra, and it’s huge, it’s overly large for the small windshield. The mount is unusual in that the ball joint goes into the top of the mirror not the back like most universal mirrors. After some trawling through loads of different of different mirrors on eBay I found one off a Smart Car that looks like it could fit. Got the mirror tried it and it’s just a tad too small to go over the ball mount, out came the dremel and a quick sand of the socket on the mirror and boom it popped right on! It looks miles better, it’s about half the width of the standard Astra one I took off.

I posted an update on FB as I asked the question a couple of days ago and no one could suggest a solution. It’s a frenzy, VX220 owners buying up smart car interior mirrors like crazy 

All I would say OP is think about how often you actually drive the car with your foot completely to the floor, or with the car in the peak power rev range. I am guessing, probably not a lot. So do you need that extra 10hp, is it going to make a huge difference to your daily driving?

What you are aiming for is a map with increased area under the curve and removal of troughs in the power build. Peak power numbers are not indicative of how fast your car will be post map so dont worry about all the claims of numbers like 30hp for a CAI it really is irrelevant on the road. I would rather have a lower peak bhp map that gives me a smoother and constant power build than one that is not so consistent and is focused on a peak number that is of only any use when willy waving down the pub (when we are allowed back in them of course !)

Haha that pizza box, a photoshop surely?

They are dumping the RAW images here https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/multimedia/raw-images/ you can filter by camera as well which is helpful for narrowing it down - we are taking live, high res photos of another planets surface and uploading them onto a website here on Earth, mind boggles. 

The idea of standing on another planet, is just monumental. It must be like how the pioneers hundreds of years ago felt when they found other countries. The other day they played back sounds they recorded of winds on Mars which was pretty cool.

Just post a pic of the car on your driveway with the mods on it with some text along the lines of 'my old car' and let the fervent FB mobs gather 

Lightweight sports cars  I have to say I love the look of the Mazda MX5 RF, it looks so good roof up or down. Only advice I would give is not to get hung up on the numbers around performance, in the real world there are margins in it (like the Elise 111R only slowly pulling away above) but obviously on track its a whole different ball game. But the best bits are those moments where being in a low slung open top lightweight revving car just trumps everything else. 

Of the above I would go with the NA power of the MX5. And that Ragazzon exhaust sounds utterly dire, sounds like a tractor! I much preferred the sound of the Elise ahead of it on the road. 

1 hour ago, hiphopopotamus said:

 

Afraid not - haven't quite decided what to do with the 924S yet - whether to keep it as a bit of a project (like your VX220 - amazing car and build btw, something to aspire to) or just to let it go to focus on the next beast (likely a 370z).

 

Would love to get into something like VX220 ownership (been daydreaming about an elise/exige/evora for years now), but think it'll have to come about somewhere down the line - ie when I have at least one practical/reliable car to live with daily! Plus on the VX220/elise front - I think it could be an MX5 Noddy moment all over again when i try to squeeze myself into one of those!

 

Cheers

Thanks for the compliments! VX220 ownership is not for the lighthearted, if you like a comfy seat, power steering and heating its not the car for you 

They just built the last ever Elise as Lotus cease production of the Evora, Elise and Exige - prices for used Lotus are only going to rise and drag the VX220 up with them, dont wait too long  and you would be surprised at the headroom in them, the seats are just a few inches higher than the cars floor and the fabric roof arcs over the car with a clever tension design. 

Apparently the pattern on the parachute of the lander if read as Binary Code says 'Dare Mighty Things' for the nerds out there!

OP, not you offering your Porsche in a PX for a VX220 on the FB pages per chance? Not that I am looking to move mine on at all given the amount of money spent on it, just out of curiosity really.

Could the seller not reconcile how an underbelly covered in rust is now completely advisory free