brillomaster

alternatively, anyone around the Bristol area? as one of the trackday organisers i use operate a lot of airfield days around Chippenham - and being airfield days they're very safe venues to drive.

Heres a long shot proposition... would anyone be interested in buying a cheap RWD car and do a couple of trackday/airfield days this year? I've been keen to get back on track for a couple of years now since my previous trackday partner moved up north... and i'm very keen to do the same thing again, but its no fun on your own. My current plan is a simple one... buy a BMW 328i for around £800, then go on half a dozen trackdays at around £100 - £120 a day. I'm based in the Midlands, so someone would need to be fairly close by to make it work. alternatively if anyone has a car they want to track, but want to share costs with someone, let me know. Feel free to drop me a PM if you're interested and want to know more.

depends... if im closing in on someone and the road is clear, no need to change gear at all, can just cruise past in 6th.... although for most overtakes i'd drop to 3rd for a quick one, or 4th for a slightly more relaxed overtake. I'd rarely use 2nd for an overtake as a) you'd need to change gear halfway through the move, and if the gap was so short that i needed the power of second to get past safely, i wouldnt consider it a safe enough gap to overtake in the first place. Normally i find mid range torque is plenty for most moves, rarely do i exceed 5500rpm even with spirited driving (although that may change when i get a new exhaust).

dunno, you try it, and report back to us? cant do any harm, exhaust works equally well with bungs in or out, cant see how half a bung would be any more detrimental than a full one? on a serious note, could always get an exhaust maker to weld in an inline silencer, and then can run without bungs.

haha touche!

well thats certainly yellow! only concern is the wheels - not the artwork, but the size... 17s on a mk1 MX5? definitely needs lowering, looks like a 4x4 with wheels that big!

hmm seeing it all worked out like that it isnt looking cheap! think i might leave you to it... but we need pics please!

hmm, so far, heineken, carlsberg export, banana milk and fanta... quite a random selection so far...

psssh, theres only so much crappy xmas tv one can watch... happy xmas zedders!

So as we all know, the xmas period is the time when everyone typically tries to get to everywhere else, making the motorways of the UK absolutely chockablock with estate cars overflowing with tasteless presents and vomiting children... however, for some of us it means that wonderful cross country journeys, and a good amount of driving! Normally we would drive down to my girlfriends parents in south wales in the GFs 1.1 206 - but since i also have to see friends in west wales, and then my dad in ludlow, before driving back to wales for new years, i have to take the zed! So the proposed route... Day 1, starting from near Ebbw Vale, take the B4560 over the brecons and then west on the A40 to Llandovery, and cut across the A482 to Lampeter. Day 2, back down the A482, then North East on the A483 and B4358 to Llandrindod Wells, then east on the A488 to Knighton, and onwards on the A4113 to Ludlow. Day 3, south on A49 to Leominster, then South west on the A44, A4112 and A438 to Talgarth, before cutting across the black mountains on the A479. http://goo.gl/maps/AkgNe Total distance, 221 miles of sheer Welsh driving road bliss Anyone else planning any good drives over the xmas period?

Crikey, Alison Hannigan is 38? she looks at least 10 years younger, she just doesnt seem to age! Denise Van Outen is approaching Cougarland as well, she's only 2 years away...

yeah i noticed that when coming from a seriously over assisted eco box... thought i had two flat tires, then i realised that thats how cars are supposed to feel, not finger twirling crud

well yeah pollyanna is 20 years younger, obviously shes going to be a bit perkier... but suzi is definitely rocking the over 40s brigade! and lets not forget VBH, who also turned 40 this year

good times - shame to loose jake, but good luck to him if he decides to move on. Suzi will be a decent replacement - one of the hottest 40 year olds and with a wealth of motorsport presenting experience, she'll be at home doing F1. Plus, im missing her since they butchered the gadget show and made it awful!

i've been working on my thumb strength to just lift the boot clear of the catch on the first press - can get it most of the time. and its only on really cold days or if there is ice on the boot lid that the gas struts dont work, so not that worried about it at the moment... do need to sort out my electric window though - when i can afford a new exhaust i will want to be able to get both windows down to fully appreciate the noise!

strange, my instructor taught me not to drop a car bonnet, as it could break the headlights... so i always lower it, and then press it firmly to click it. id be a tad worried about my safety if i was strong enough to dent the bonnet with my fingers. Same principle as with doors - I always wince when someone slams it unnecessarily, thats probably why my electric window no longer works. I'd much rather someone took two attempts to close it than slam it overly hard the first time.

hmmm, was thinking i need to expand the roadtrip... after wales for 3 nights, devon&cornwall for 4 nights and scotland for 6 nights, the natural progression is the continent!

jammy so and so! im hoping for company perks, but not in xmas... not a lot of motorsport goes on at the moment

im happy enough - new job pays two weeks earlier than old job, so feels like a bonus to me! other than that, not a lot - but still beats old job which has been all doom and gloom the last two years.

its a great shame, the impreza was an absolute icon of the late 90s, early 00s. Colin McRae and RIchard Burns did amazing things with them. Admittedly the new versions are a bit porky and humdrum hatchbacks, and the brand has been tarnished by boy racers with loud exhausts, but the basic premise cannot be bettered - good powered turbo motor, reliable and predictable AWD drivetrain, and a lightweight body. Obviously being Japanese they werent exactly a looker and the interiors were pretty woeful, but for circa £22k when they came out, nothing could touch if for cross country pace. It will be sadly missed, and good examples of the special editions will become icons in the future - was talking to bosses at Prodrive and certain special editions (like the RB320 and P1) were still changing hands for north of £15k, 10 years after they originally came out. RIP

if theres an 'inside' and an 'outside', and they're the right way round, i'd say thats fine! You cant have an inside and and outside AND a rotation direction, otherwise you'd need to sell tyres in pairs! They dont look particularly asymetric to me anyways...

will check my calendar... will probably stay over the saturday night, as my dad is close enough to stay there friday and sunday nights.

I had a 328i coupe... but had to sell up when my mate moved oop noorth. this was 2 years ago, been panging to get out on a track again ever since!

good stuff, minus 6 is a tricky temperature, might have been faster on snow tyres! Still looks awesome fun though! Come on Wasso, you know you wanna get Project BrilloWasso racing underway with an old beemer!

bah humbug... i dont bother much with christmas.... first rule with me is, if you dont tell me something i can get you, you arent getting anything. this year i have asked for beer, a pint glass, a calendar and a CD, but as been said before if i want anything i normally just go out and buy it myself. i just wish other people would take the same view, since we still have all of last years unwanted presents sitting in the bag they came home in. if in doubt, consumables. In my house we dont have room for any more stuff, anything we want we already have, so just go for beer for me and chocolates and wine for her and we're both sorted.