Stevew14

Porsche interiors do generally look a bit dull, but as others have mentioned the build quality is excellent and they wear very well. I had a 986 which was even more bland than the 9x7 series but it was never something that bothered me as it all just did what is was designed to do and nothing ever broke. I do agree that the more recent cars have definitely stepped up their game in terms of interior design, maybe this is the Audi/VW influence starting to come through.

A lot of years ago I used to work at a supermarket and had to open up every Sunday, normally this was a pretty dull affair with the usual bunch of people waiting to get in as soon as the shop opened. However once a year i really enjoyed this job as when the clocks went back you could guarantee that you would have a small group of people who had completely fogotten to adjust theirs and so would start waiting at about 8:45 (9:45 in their minds). Normally I would leave it until a few minutes after the hour so they were getting sufficiently annoyed and then go out to remind them that the shop didn't open until 10:00. This would then prompt them to tell me usually in a very indignent tone that it had gone past 10:00 which is when I would take great delight in reminding them that the clocks had gone back so it was only 9:00. I have never seen peoples faces change so quick from annoyance to aboslute embarassment, they would then normally go sit in there cars for an hour before sheepishly wandering in when the store did finally open.

I purchased an Azure 07 plate roadster recently, mine was the 300 version though with 16.5k on the clock FSH every year and 4 brand new MPSS tyres and I paid less than £10k. Think it seems a little pricey IMO for a 2006 model.

There are lots of good ones from the far east on E-Bay at very reasonable prices, I went for something like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/XML-T6-Waterproof-3-Mode-1200-Lumen-Cree-LED-Bike-Light-Lamp-Headlamp-Torch-/260887802708?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item3cbe1ff354#ht_4911wt_1055 Only difference is that I got one with the front anodised in red to match my bike. Used it all through winter and spring with no issues, only thing is that the alloy body can get a bit hot if it has been on for a while. The brightness is amazing (uses Cree LED's which are tiny but throw out an incredible amount of light) it lights up tracks very well, you just have to be careful on the road not to dazzle drivers but it has a dipped beam setting for that. There are even higher power versions available but these seem a little bit like overkill. I would also buy yourself a second battery pack, as it does give you a warning when power is running low but on full beam this can only be a few minutes. If you are buying from the far east you will also need a plug adaptor but even taking all this in to account you would only spend about £40. I run a Blackburn Mars 3.0 on the rear which again is plenty bright enough and has lots of settings, I think you can get these for about £15-20.

Boxster S / Cayman are fantastic IMO, handle superbly, steering feedback is excellent, enough power that you wouldn't feel like you were losing out but you might need to stretch you budget a bit to get something a bit newer / lower mileage as obviously prices are a bit more steep. RX8 again handles well but unless you are looking to go FI the lack of torque does start to annoy as you have to thrash it all the time to get a decent pace out of it. Speaking from experience they do depreciate fast (my wallet can testify to that) but that means they are a bargain at todays prices. Just make sure if you thinking about one that you get a compression test first, I believe that the facelifted version added a 3rd oil injector which was meant to help with the apex seal / tip wear. Wouldn't personally go down the FWD hot hatch route as I would see it as too much of a compromise. I really like the 350 but definitely has a different feel to the RX8 / Boxster which both felt a bit more nimble.

Payment sent, thanks.

I recently bought a Chipex kit to touch up some spots of road rash on the family car (S-Max), thought I might as well give it a go as IMO I find that the normal Halfords type touch up kits don't do a great job on lots of small chips (or take ages to do). Went for the largest size which was about £40 delivered, in hindsight didn't need anywhere near this much but the cost difference from smallest to largest wasn't much. When it arrived it had a little card inside offering a free kit if you sent them pre and post pictures, I must admit to being a little cynical as things are very rarely free. However I used the kit and sent off the pics, next day I get an E-Mail asking me what colour I would like (as you can select any colour not just the one you originally bought). Kit arrived today completely free and best of all they have sent another large size kit, so now I have one for the S-Max and one for the 350z (hopefully won't ever need it though). The kit itself was good for chips and slightly deeper scratches and the colour match was spot on, doesn't do much on lighter scratches as it needs some depth for the paint to sit in to but generally the lighter ones just polished out. I will try and stick some pre and post photos up later when I get home from work.

£195 with £350 excess in total, I'm 34 and was surprised how cheap it was. Had to double check it to make sure it was right.

As many have mentioned it will come down to personal opinion but having had used a few of these my view would be: Bridgestone RE040 - okay in the dry, not great in the wet and reasonable wear VUS - bit better dry grip than RE040's wet grip similarly bad in my opinion and awful wear rate, I got about 7k out of a set or rears and that wasn't going hard on them Bridgestone RE050 I think I had the A version - much better all around All of these were on an RX8 231 My 350z came with almost new Michelin Pilot Super Sports all around and I think they are great so far (not had chance to test them in the wet yet). Having test driven a very similar car (age/mileage) at a main dealer with Bridgestones on it didn't ride nearly as well which I can only put down to the tyres.

Nice,like the stealth black look, looks like you have done quite a few mods, really nice wheels (but I bet they are a pain to clean!)

Will do, sometimes get out that way with work, some nice roads providing they aren't too busy.

Nice one, might see you around as I work in Swindon, what colour and model have you got?

I am based just north of Swindon

Planning to change my air filter anyway and so I thought I might as well go for a bit of an upgrade. I know not to expect any type of real performance gain with just an upgraded panel filter but I have previously had K&N filters and been happy with them. In terms of the pre-oiled filter type (like K&N) do these work okay, I know on some cars you occasionally need to clean the MAF sensor to remove any trace oil to avoid problems (I had this on a previous Boxster S), so I was wondering if this is an issue on the 350z and is so is it easy to access. I know the Cosworth filter doesn't use oil so this is an option, but what are peoples views on the K&N and the Hawk filter (not keen on the Pipercross as haven't found these to be great quality in my own experience).

Hi everyone, Just wanted to say hello, I picked up my 07 plate Azure blue convertible a few days ago, just in time for the nice weather and have been enjoying it ever since. Managed to find a nice one locally with only 16500 miles on the clock (all genuine with yearly main dealer service), the information on this forum was really helpful so thank you already. Hopefully the picture has attached correctly, if not I will try again.