Chris`I

Pfff, looks like new! Should have seen out bikes this afternoon, they were much worse! Headed out for another go at QECP red run today, with new brakes for Amanda, we managed to get around the whole thing today! Was a big boggy/muddy in places, but nicely dry for a lot of it. Should be great little trail when its bone dry.

The first of what will be a few updates from Zedleys trip down sarf to Basingstoke... So today young Zedley came along to Jim (DoogyRevs) leaving do at the Grasshopper Here I was making sure Chris was washing his car properly. He didnt get the snow foam out as it was early and didnt want to annoy the neighbours. He did use th 2BM though, so I was happy. When we arrived at the Grasshopper I wanted a pic with the cars but it was soo windy and the cars so clean I kept slipping off, so I had to hold on to Pauls aerial. Met Jim to say goodbye, hopefully I will make it over to Canada some day to visit him Mr PotatoZed was so happy to see me he sat on me and we had a bit of an accident Then it was time for some food. Zedley is now waiting for an early morning phone call for his next adventure this week, then off to the Alps on Friday to meet Mr + Mrs (to be) AK350Z

How does "IT strategy/planning professional" actually equate to "Analyst-programmers; computer programmers; software engineers; systems analysts; systems designers" IT professional fine but dont tar us with the strategy/planning brush, thats here IT usually falls apart! I'm in the 80% pct in my group so I cant complain.

This and only this IMO is what I bash the public sector for. They do a grand job and should be paid more, but you cant have pensions that simply cant pay for themselves, its simple maths. Given the number of teachers that strike over this, I am quite shocked they are teaching our children. I dont tar them all with the same brush - Rich for instance see's the sence in it for example. But I have friends that are teachers and have only been for a few years and they get all high and mighty saying their hard earned pensions are being robbed. They arent, they are being safe guarded, if it wasnt cut back then when you came to retire the pot would be long gone then you'd have nothing! Better to have a sustainable but smaller pension than one that the current generation of retireees are going to drain dry long before you retire!

Surely an intake should not be hot, thats the point In all seriousness, I have the G3's purely because they were free with my exhaust at the time. What we did discover is that Stillen playing with the diameter tricks the engine into leaning out the mix nicely to give a good boost in power, similar to if you had UpRev. As such, when we UpRev'd mine we didnt see any real gains but I was having it done more to make sure what Stillen said was happening actually happens, and it appears it does. So if you fancy intakes, you can get the power hike you get from UpRev just by using the intakes. You dont however then have a custom map and most power like you'd get having Abbey et al tuning it.

Happy Birthday Lies, you were thinking isnt it lovely and quiet without Hugh

I get that too. Good this forum innit

Remember though Chris, you cant take more than 7 days without a "fit to work" note from the doctor, so if they do decide to take sick on holiday then they need to present you with one or you can issue them with a warning. Do it 3 times and they get themselves sacked. So it wont happen all too often I dont think. Also when they move on and want a reference, you will provide their sick record to the next employer of course What is crazy is where I used to work, the offshore guys were allocated sick days per year, something like 7 days. So they'd go on holiday and lowe and behold when you expect them back you get a call saying they are ill! We used to expect it so much than when planning projects we added extra days to their holiday to cover it. Still if they went over their allocated sick days they werent paid and were issued with a formal warning.

Not sure we can trust this character but somehow his name is in Gold. GLWS matey, I'd have been half tempted if I wasnt in the Alps riding that weekend or rather coming back from Alps!

One of these and it seems very well made for sub £60 compared to my S-Works XC lid which was over £100 with a lot less to it. Not too heavy either. Its only cos mean Andy threatened to throw me off a mountain, thought I better come prepared In seriousness its for if we go play on the DH runs, I dont want a silly off killing my S-Works helmet and FF seemed to be the way to gnar it up! Its like storm trooper lite

Crikey! Glad mine was a much more sedate affair on the Solent in a yacht!

Do it young man, you wont regret it! I must agree if you dont push it, you can crack on at a decent speed still but the drive can be fairly boring. So I can see where you were coming from. Being more planted than the 350z and more refined, you have to really get the old girl going to get the feel that you are really driving. It lets you cruise at really quite a quick speed and still be boring at times. But this is good when you are doing a big trip using it as a GT car. It was excellent when we went across France last year, great progress, but good comfort too. The 350z wouldnt have been as nice to be in during that trip.

IMO its impossible for Nissan to release the paint codes. Its at least a 3 stage paint, so they can give the code for each stage, but then how much do you lay down on each application to get the light that comes through to match the other wheels? In the Nissan factory this is no doubt all done by machines. The cynical side of me say that they take the normal silver wheels and just add a bit of grey/smoke over the top though, so you might be lucky to get somewhere that can take the normal silver wheel and add smoke over it, but I doubt it would work well as it would be over the normal clear coat. If the dealer wont give you a new wheel (thats what I'd push for) - get all 4 wheels done by Lepsons/S&P, they do great work and will be much better finish than the OEM Nissan ones.

Hence why I said they (dealer) should get him a brand spanking new one to match. I wasnt suggesting the Lepsons would do multistep, they will just do the usual 2 stage of paint and clear coat, but they do it very very well. Cant remember if mine went to Lepsons are S&P, but when I did finally curb them, it had the thickest clearcoat I have ever seen on them and it was solid!

Lepsons are good, but you'll have to get all 4 done and they wont be the same colour as OEM. OEM is a multistep paint, I dont think most dealers realise this. Only Nissan know how to paint it to get the exact match - and by that I mean Nissan JP, not UK. If you are happy with getting all 4 done, Lepsons will do a great job. Them or Spit and Polish, both very good. Can they not order you a whole new wheel from NMJP?

Am I really the only one here who doesn't pootle Only when I'm forced too, like driving to work in the centre of Reading. No point flooring it for all of 50ft to slam the brakes on. Now on the way home down the back roads - thats another matter

The 370z 7AT drives similarly to the Jag too. It knows you are pootling so why waste fuel? Unless you are a rude boy cruising to make as much noise as possible

We were there the other day, its where Amanda's brakes locked on New trail looks good though

Remember this is a big torquey engine, you really can drive it like a Diesel and it wont labour like a little 4 pot. Obviously if you are having to use the throttle a lot then 5th/6th isnt the right gear but for long runs where you can anticipate there not being much traffic, it will save you fuel. Anyway what do I know, the ECU does it for me

Whatever the autobox picks for me Think its usually 5th unless you start to accelerate then it drops a cog. In the manual 350 I had, if I was on the flat or slight down hill and not acclerating, I'd be in 5th but only when I new I was really just coasting along. If I knew I'd need some throttle, I'd be in 4th, or drop it into 4th.

Forgot to say previously that those ads are likely misleading too. Neither will have air on seats they only come on the roadster and don't think either of them has the OEM parking sensors. So buyer beware

Was only 60 quid so thought it was better to have one than not, especially as the LBS had it in stock and ready to go

I've been cutting up ruddy big rolls of old carpet to get them out of my mums loft Would have rather been out in the Zed!

Dont get a Stillen, its rubbish

Dont say that They're meant to be the same as their organics just with some kevlar for longer lasting performance. Sintered pads I could imagine destroying discs with their extra metal content and thats what I have in them atm. New mysterious box turned up in my living room today - again its Mr AKs fault