Stutopia

Salt-n-Pepa rule. I've got an original Vanilla Ice - To The Extreme, some might consider it embarrassing. I know he's awesome.

Word to your mother.

I thought I was ripped off at £15 a can!

Duly noted. Thanks.

Ultrac Sesstanas are being discontinued - although you can still get them, but as stock dwindles and you were unlucky enough to ruin a single tyre sometime down the line a direct replacement might become difficult, if not impossible, to source.

 

And yes, you have read lots of opinions about which tyres to use and MPSS seem to get the biggest thumbs up, particularly by those I know on here like to push their ZEDs to limits, which is alwaya a good indicator, for me. That said, many others, including myself, have found other brands up to the job for normal road use and spirited driving.

 

The more critcal factors from the years I have been reading members' findings, including some sad outcomes, is to have all 4 tyres the same; regularly check pressures and don't wait until you get down to the legal limit for replacements as the combination of + or - 300bhp/RWD/wet roads/and a leaden right foot will mean you will end up not facing the direction you had intended to travel.

Thanks for the info fellas, very useful. If the 91/95 is the load rating, is there a minimum load rating Zed tyres should have?

Also where do insurers stand on monkeying around with the tyres, is this the sort of thing they can hide behind at claim time?

I've read many threads in this section, the reviews of different tyres and the seemingly endless debate on mixing rubber .

Pre-Zed I was the bloke who bought the cheapest "brand" tyre for my car, I have now learnt this may not have been the correct approach. Sadly, with the huge amount of info I have read, I now know a lot more, but I have a bit of information overload and can't decide which tyres are appropriate to my specific needs. The rears are worn on my Zed, couple of mm to go.

I am hoping that by asking a couple of questions and then laying out a couple of my driving requirements, you knowledgable and experienced tyre buyers will shove me in the right direction, and I won't provoke too much controversial debate! I have Ray's on my Zed, she came with BS Potenza RE040s on the front and RE050s on the back and I intend to go same rubber all round.

(1) I believe the Nissan approved tyre should be (front) 225/45/18 Y and (rear) 245/45/18 Y - please can you advise if I am wrong? I don't want to deviate from the NIssan suggested sizes.

(2) When I browse tyres I note the dimensions and speed rating, but some also have figures like 91 or 95 before the speed letter, what is this? Also some even have letters after the speed, such as XL (extra large, like my value meal?) which bit is extra large? What difference does asymmetrical make? Why are some tyres re-inforced and others not?

(3) Up until a few days ago I never even considered winter/summer tyres. I appreciate that a compound with the ability to shift water and operate at a cold temperatures is important in winter, but is possible to get an "all weather" tyre that I can comfortably use all year round? Or does everyone simply change them? She doesn't go out if a flake of snow has fallen.

My tyre requirements are a tyre that

• copes well with the cold northern temperatures
  
• the cold northern incessant rain
  
• relatively hard wearing
  
• is good for short drives to work (so doesn't need much warm up time)
  
• no track use
  
• grippy but with a predictable drop off (so not something that hardly slides, then simply falls off the cliff edge and spins me round!)
  

I've been considering the following options but I'm very open to suggestion (however, I can't bring myself to go over £200 per tyre, preferably much less!) Falken FK453, Ultrac Sessanta, Continental Sport Contact 3, BS Potenza RE050, Pirelli P Zero for summer, and if I go winter, the Nokian WR A3.

As usual, any pointers would be greatly appreciated

Gave her a fast wash today, the gash weather and my schedule mean I've got a shed full of new detailing products to use and no opportunity to use them, so frustrated. Grrrrr. So I thought I'd give the freebie Quick External Detailer a go as I had 20 minutes before sundown. Really impressed with it, particularly given the fact it went straight on after a quick pressure wash at the garage and microfibre towel off, great reflective sheen to it and beautifully smooth finish (particularly on my freshly sprayed roof and passenger door).

Fully impressed by the QED.

However, the more I've cleaned her recently, the more I've noticed marks on the paint work. I knew about the stone chips on the front but I keep spotting little marks here and there on panels. Driving me nuts! It must have had an inch of product on it when I bought her last month as I'm sure I checked all these places before spending the money. Wish I could afford a full respray!

Total p!sser, I spent a fortune in these fees over many years renting. £200 sometimes, maybe they do a job check and credit search if it's your first go. We did credit searches and job checks when I was in finance, took 20 minutes max and £2 in costs, the other £198 is pure profiteering for filthy middle man agents.

Get your own back by insisting they come and fix every single tiny little thing you notice in the house.

It's fees like that which encourage some tenants to treat a place like sh!t, cos they feel they've been ripped off and just know they're going to lose a chunk of their bond for "professional cleaning".

I have just got the Sony Xperia Z and I have to say (never having owned a sony before) its an amazing bit of kit, Fast, simple, does everything i need it too and its waterproof to boot. Its a little on the large size but no more so than the new htc one or galaxy s4

They look really nice, always been impressed with Sony gear, from my MiniDisc player back in the day to my PS3, always stand up to extreme heavy use and look great.

I've never had an apple............never would have one! They are just a great advertising machine that has convinced people to buy one.

Android all the way for me. Plenty of music apps out there and easy to convert your itunes music to mp3. I have a Galaxy S3 and nexus tablet at the moment, love them both. As for music, I have a small but stylish phone dock and bluetooth speakers fo playing music, works brilliantly, and I'll be upgrading my bose sterio in the zed to play my music via bluetooth.

 

So easy to get music for free on the android......I can't think of one good reason to have a Iphone/Ipad/ipod!

I know we're all entitled to opinions and I am a biased apple user, but I take exception to the simple it's all in the marketing dismissive. Check Samsungs latest smartphone marketing budget against apple's, bare in mind Samsung is just one android phone manufacturer and doesn't include marketting spends by HTC, Google, et al. All in their marketing budgets swamp apples spend on adverts.

I've been with apple since the 90s, before it was for geek hipsters to jizz off over, they've made consistently quality products for years and years. Just cos everyone is on the apple band wagon right now, doesn't change the quality of what they have done, and continue to do. You can see from my previous that ill happily state there are other good phone manufacturers.

I own a iPhone 5, iPad, iPod and an iMac, so I'm not unbiased here. I like the fact that they all get on with one another very easily and I think the build quality of apple phones is superior. I prefer metal and glass, to plastic. However, I'm not one of these lunatics who thinks apple is perfect. The Nexus 4 is extremely impressive, I'd go for that if I ever changed teams. I'm sure the S4 will be great too, I've not heard many people complain about the top Samsungs. However, as an iPad owner I don't need/want a phone which is the size of a 7" tablet.

Rumours round the camp fire is apple have brought forward their next release due to the impending S4 launch and that google have a successor to the Nexus 4 in the pipeline. I don't usually advocate waiting, as there's always something new just around the corner, but if I was looking now with no prejudice against any manufacturer, I'd be tempted to hang on for a month or two. Then go SIM only and probably GIF GAF up or the One Plan on 3.

Curve ball. Some of the new top-end Nokias look quite interesting, very different to the rest. Shame it is dirty Windowz on them, Metro makes me nauseous.

That engine bay is sensational. I'm going to open the bonnet for the second time this weekend, it was filthy under their last time, I hope it'll be mysteriously clean this time, or I'll have to get cleaning.

Noob question alert. Why use the standard air box on the K&N? I thought (probably wrongly) the coney but on the end was the special part?

Yeah, thanks. I went on for a look but I've not found anything that matches the cranberry description. I notice they do custom client jobs, so it could be one of them. I won't rest until every room smells like the inside of my Zed! Apparently Waxybox rotate their scent every month or so and this one has been quite popular!

Very nice, it looks a lot like my 2500BT, but with much better brains inside. Really pleased with mine, even if the touch screen is a bit sluggish and not quite iPad standard. I'd be curious to know how you get on with the app radio feature, if you use that. I've not had much luck with mine with either iPhone 5 or iPad, but then again I didn't buy it for that feature.

Good luck with the fitting fun!

The last few weeks at work have been gruesome, endless, endless meetings and workshops, followed by more reviews and discussions. Omnishambles. I hate this sort of thing, I like actually doing things. Coincendentally, work has got particularly tiresome since I bought my first Zed. BUT, now when I'm in a meeting and want to tear out my own eyeballs and stuff them in my ears to block it all out, I just think about the drive home. Starting her up, hearing the growl, being pinned back in the seat and breezing past Fred & Mable in their Yaris, maybe blasting out some tunes on the way. The Zed has literally stopped me quitting my job, or beating someone about the face with a sticky USB keyboard and getting fired/sent down.

Just wanted to say it out loud. I love my Zed. It's great fun, twice every single day, and it's saved me from being unemployed and potless. Best purchase ever, and it's got me on here too, which is also great.

Rant over, thanks for listening.

It's restored my somewhat dented faith in humanity.

I emailed WB to find the scent, think I'm addicted to it, apparently it's Cranberry. Never would've guessed that. Just need to find it somewhere where I can score it.

That's ace, she's a keeper!

I too got the clear front reflectors without realising, just like the scorpion exhaust and Cosworth panel filter!

I wanted blue but tried to stay strong and get the right car, not the right colour, for my budget. I do like the GM, but it's just not blue.

 

Took me 6 months to find an Azure in 2009

That's commitment. I was too excited to buy and couldn't wait, plus I was bleeding £450 per month renting a Fiesta.

Just had a PM about some used facelift LEDs, so whoop whoop. I might turn this thread around yet!

I wanted blue but tried to stay strong and get the right car, not the right colour, for my budget. I do like the GM, but it's just not blue.

That blue is sensational SMD. After I remortgage for the PROPER lights, I may have to wrap her up in that colour.

It was late, I'd had a drink, I knew they weren't the prettiest but they gave me a smile and winked at me, seemed like a good idea at the time. Then I woke this morning up to the reality of the situation. Surely we've all been there and done something we're not proud of.

Please don't judge me until I finally get to see some other Zeds in the flesh!

Awesome "practical" car. You didn't fancy the Volvo instead?

Nice ass.

Whilst we're on ass lights...

 

http://item.mobilewe...2439&cmd=VIDESC

 

 

 

Ass lights?

 

That is the new plan.

Think they are all hideous. If you haven't got them already the best upgrade is the just the facelift LED's. Look so much better.