Ekona

It's only words on an internet forum by complete strangers though: I don't see how any grown adult could take such offense to that that they lash out. But yeah, I'm trying to separate the forum itself (which is amusing and entertaining enough) from the flyering and awarding certificates (which is childish in the extreme). One I can defend even if I don't always agree with it, but the latter is something that I can't see any fun in.

Let's make no mistake though: Whacking someone because they insulted your car is pretty pathetic. You have to have a really tiny penis to do that.

Since you do have that ghastly Ferrari logo, why not get something to at least tie in with it? Something like a sketch of a classic V8 or V12 engine, or perhaps the outline of the GTO done in a similar style as the 350Z-uk logo? Or of your personal favourite F-car? Or you could go really obscure and have the GPS co-ordinates of Maranello, that would be cool

But there are sites dedicated to many different things across the internet: Some might say that having a site dedicated to just one type of car is pointless It's about whatever brings people together as a community: If that's a 350Z, or God, or a hatred for chav cars, then that's okay. I'd bet my arse that the very vast majority of the posters on that website are as passionate about cars as we are, and know the difference between shiny tat and good aero, which is why they hate it when perfectly good cars get ruined. I agree that the certificates and flyers are asking for trouble and meaningless.

And yet, 99% of the cars they pick up on are utter chav-sheds and we'd all label them here as such. Yeah, perhaps flyering is a step too far and certainly I think the guy that got a clout was expecting it hence the lack of surprise/reaction, but if people will make their cars look so bloody horrendous then it's hardly surprising that people will take the p*ss. We do exactly the same here on the eBay cars thread, so it feels like there's a lot of stones being lobbed around glass houses with some of the comments in here.

And yeah, I know that no-one gets the Silly Hat Rule but me.

Silly Hat Rule.

I'm getting really bored of repeating myself about this, but for god's sake stop peddling that crap. You CANNOT fix the IMS issue unless you buy a car with either the Mezger engine, the DFi engine, or an earlier air-cooled engine in. End of. If the IMS fails, your bill will be around £5K AT LEAST. The engine essentially self-destructs. You may get away with a £5K bill, £7K is average, could be £10K easy. You can upgrade the IMS to a later Porsche design, but this does NOT guarantee that it won't fail. The same weakness IS STILL THERE. You can change the IMS to a third-party one, like the LNE IMS Retrofit, BUT EVEN THEY DO NOT GUARANTEE THAT IT WILL NOT FAIL. The parts alone are $649, plus you need the install kit which is $250, so that's $900. Make that £900 if you include shipping, VAT and import duty and you won't be far off. If you can do that yourself in your garage then you're a better mechanic than I. LNE suggest that it will take between 10-14 hours to replace the IMS bearing, so at £50p/h (I'm being generous with the labour cost), then that's another £500-£700 on top. Call that £1400 to £1600 then, and you STILL have the risk of IMS failure.* In short, there is absolutely no way to 100% ensure you do not get IMS failure with an M96/M97 engine, REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU DO. It irks me that I'm having to write so many capitals, but how often do I need to repeat this mate? You're a knowledgeable chap and have more than a passing idea on this subject, but handing out wrong advice could end up with someone getting burnt. LNE LMS 101 *You can of course do this during a clutch change and save some labour costs. Most people do.

Sweet jesus, that is one of the most biased articles I've ever read in my entire life, including anything from the Daily Mail. The fact that it's from the Independent makes it worse. No-one reading that who knew little about the case could have any doubt that the cops were in the wrong, and the family are clearly heroes. That's utterly disgusting reporting from a broadsheet, and the fact it's not even an opinion piece... Well, I'm actually lost for words. Appalling journalism, they should be ashamed.

Police believed he had a gun. They did not know what was thrown out of the window, if indeed they saw anything at first. They stop the man, who reaches or is holding a black device (I'm assuming the phone was black, if he was indeed holding one or anything). Split second decision by the officer to fire as he/she believed that it was a gun.* Should they have fired? Well no, as he wasn't holding a gun. Was it reasonable for them to have shot him as they believed he had a gun? Yes. Truth be told, if the daft arse hadn't decided to go and buy a gun that day, then he'd probably still be here now. If you don't want to find yourself on the wrong end of a bullet from a copper, DON'T BUY A FRIGGIN' GUN IN THE FIRST PLACE. *All guesswork on my part as the server with the jury's findings is being hammered and I can't get to the PDF.

The gun didn't need to have DNA or fingerprints on it to be the one that Duggan threw out of the window when the cops started closing in.

His family are acting like scum. I get they're angry, but why not throw a bit of blame at the one who was breaking the law by having a gun whilst being chased by armed police? Their reaction outside court was pathetic, and is doing their cause more harm than good. Justice is when it goes through the courts and a jury makes a decision based on the facts. They may not like the verdict, but it's the truth. Chanting and shouting abuse at the jury doing their civic duty marks them down as scum in my eyes.

S3's are very solid, and very quick. A little uninvolving though, but a great place to eat up the miles. Around town in the Scoob she'd see sub-20mpg. I was well into single figures on track!

She was seeing 23mpg out of it, and that's on long motorway commutes. I managed to eke 27mpg out of it on the way back from Spa last year, but that was a struggle! IMS failure is possible on every Boxster in your price range. Any 986 and 987.1 car has this estimated 5% risk of IMS and engine failure. If you have a slush fund of about £7K then they're a bargain, but if not it's a big risk.

If you're worried about reliability and possible costs don't look at Boxsters or M3s, as IMS and Vanos costs respectively will make your eyes water.

I totally agree the looks are down to the individual, each to their own and all that. The 2.5L blocks are not particularly strong, which is why the JDM cars kept the 2.0L engine. For that reason (as well as cost, tbh) we ended up with an '05 late blobeye STi PPP. The 2.0L is a more frenetic engine to work with, which we liked, and the engine and 'box are rock solid. Interior is of course sheddy at best, but again like the hatch the seats and driving position are immense. The later blobeye cars had the wider track and improved suspension of the 2.5L hawkeyes, which makes a hell of a lot of difference. I'd buy another one in a heartbeat, the only reason we got rid of ours was simply the running costs were excessive in fuel & insurance for what was essentially just a runabout for the missus.

We test drove a 330 when they first came out as a possible car for the other half. Horrid styling, horrid interior, but by god was the drive thrilling. Loads of power, excellent grip, and the adjustable power/throttle response control worked far better than I thought it would. Seats were dead comfy, and all in I'd say it was definitely a car that I'd be happy to own from a driving POV.

Okay, definitely Romanians then!

Probably Romanians.

Confidence, as in a complete lack of it. They went in as favourites, but look at Cook's eyes in the interviews before the 1st test: They're dead. There's no belief there at all, and you could see that as soon as the wickets started falling.

Quite right, it should do. I think I just wrote them as they came into my head, I would definitely put a Zed in a sportier league than an M5. Not sure I'm right to do so, mind, but that's how my brain is wired. Also, no FWD ever goes in the category of sports. I love hot hatches, but I'd rather a slower sports car than a fast scrabble-wagon.

R8 is a 911 rival, def nowhere near the supercars of the world. RS4 is the same level as the M3, so should be with that really. I'm no t sure where you'd put uber-barges like the RS6/M5/PannyTT though. For straightline pace they're up there with the GTR and 911TT, but no good through the corners. My own attempt at this: Hypercars: Huayra, 918, FLF, P1 Supercars: 911TT (only because of pace!), 12C, any Lambo or Ferrari High end sports: R8, 911, 8C, SLS (not sure on this one), GT-R, F-Type, 'Vette Sports saloon: M3/5/6, RS4/5/6 Sports: Boxster, 350/370, Impreza/Evo, anything else quick but no FWD Hot hatch: Clio/Megane RS, Corsa/Astra VXR, Fiesta/Focus ST/RS Everything else that doesn't appeal to me as a keen driver!

I'd agree with that, but why is the RS4 in there twice? No way I'd call an RS4 or 5 a high end sports, I'd plump the R8 in there for that along with the F-Type V8S.

But hey, what would I know? I only spent 12 months researching 911s before purchasing mine, and then another 3.5 years running one.

D911 are very competitive, for most parts. Compare them with Porscheparts if you like. I've bought from both, as well as direct from OPCs and local indies. I don't believe I ever said they were the cheapest, it was more to use as a guide. If you would like to be helpful enough to share a source that's as comprehensive and easy to browse as the D911 website, then that would be great: I'm sure a chump with too much money like myself would find it a valuable resource. Maybe I was overstating that there are no carry over parts from the earlier cars to the 996, but any parts there are are inconsequential and I've yet to come across any. However, if you'd like to produce a concise list of the interchangeable parts then feel free to share them. Bearing in mind that the 993 was essentially the same car as the original produced 50 years ago, the 996 is the same as the 997, and the 991 is only the third true 'new' 911 ever made. Look that up if you like. Also, try reading my posts correctly next time: RMS is a couple of hundred quid, as that's the Rear Main Seal between block and 'box. The IMS is the InterMediate Shaft, which connects the two halves of the engine together and it's the bearing on this that fails. That's what costs mega bucks if it does. You can change it to the later ones if you wish, but there's still no guarantee it will not fail due to the design. This is why Porsche engineered it out of the 9A1 engines, and why a gen2 is a safe bet long term.