Ekona

Depends on what you want from a car. I like my performance cars to feel alive, to give me as much feedback as possible. The Zed does that very well, as does the 911. The 4WD is just not quite as feelsome as the 2WD, but both are better than the Nissan IYSWIM. 4WD has bigger brakes too to account for the greater mass it's trying to stop, so they're more expensive to replace when the time comes. If all you want is a car that's easy to drive and not a handful, then there's cheaper options. With regards to snow driving, remember the 911 has all the weight over the driven wheels, and so grip isn't really a problem (witness me driving around the Pyranees in the snow in late May as proof that even the 2WD cars are fine!), but you'd still want a good set of winter tyres on there. I wouldn't drive a sports car in the snow unless I had no choice, a cheap FWD hatch on winters is a much better option.

Never driven a 996, but driven most variants of the 997. For your money it would be an incredibly leggy and sheddy non-S 997, I can only find one such vehicle on PH that's even close to that at £18K. I'd stick with a good 996 if it was me. Before thinking about 2WD over 4WD, go in eyes open with regards to cost. Both cars can suffer from RMS (negligable, can be sorted when you do the clutch) and IMS (critical, can lunch your engine) and if the latter fails you're looking at a bill of between £5K to £10K, depending on how much damage was done. A slush fund just in case is a must-have on these cars, unless you fancy the OPC warranty at £1K a year, but that's only available on vehicles up to 10 years old and they must remain standard. Personally I wouldn't bother on a car of that age & value. For me, I only ever wanted a 2WD as that's how I feel a 911 should be. Upon reflection, and driving a few more including 4WD, I'm glad I made that decision. The steering is not as pure on the 4WD variants, and feels heavy and stodgy at times in comparison. Still fantastic, but there's a noticeable difference. The car obviously weighs more too, due to the extra driveshafts. The 4WD has the wider body and wheels so tyres are a smidge pricier, but nothing I'd worry about and if you prefer the wider hips then that's cool. There's less room in the frunk in the 4WD. 2WD is quicker than 4WD like for like on driver and track, but I wouldn't worry about it either way. Still quick cars regardless. The way the 911 needs to be driven i.e. very slow in, then very fast out means that the 2WD is naturally bettter balanced, but the 4WD is a bit more forgiving if you get it wrong. I don't find it as enjoyable, but that's horses for courses. If going 996, get one without the sat nav or Bose. Both are terrible, and if you have them then it's a pain to upgrade as you have to fight the MOST system. Sports seats are a must on either car, the shoulder support is so worth it. A pre-inspection report is absolutely vital if not buying from OPC, but even then it should be done really. Mike at Sports and Classic, or the guys at JZM are the people to see for this. Hartech are the people to go to if you have any IMS questions.

We love doing the same thing at Costco, it's hysterical to watch the brainless zombies queue up instead of sitting in their cars. The best bit is that they then take 2 hours to do their shopping, by which time the checkout is solid anyway so they gain nothing. Me and Jo have taken to the habit of walking past them now moaning like zombies, which amuses us no end

Remember the scene in Beverly Hills Cop, with the bananas in the exhaust pipe? Veeeeeeery bad.

My thinking exactly. Worse possible thing you can do is drive it!

Fixed.

Sorry, the cats are blocked and you're still driving it? Please tell me I've read that wrong.

It was worth sitting through the dross for Mark Webber. That man is an absolute legend, and I can't wait to see him in sportscars next year

You can, but you'll need to adjust the wiring as the switches are in different places.

I'm guessing you hate your drivetrain more than your mate then

ROFL

I'm lost on that one mate, are you saying he should've got more than the 18mths originally? Or that the 3 years was not enough?

There's a reason the ITR in cheap and unloved. Still, as long as you're happy, then go for it. Deciding on a car without ever having driven it is a very brave move though.

MX5, Elise/Exige, Boxster, Cayman, Jag F type (Im guessing anyway), you could probably shoehorn the Caterfields into that category as well. Agree the Zed isnt one though, its too heavy for a start and probably a bit too soft with it Goddammit you copied exactly what I was going to say!

Sadly, yes. See Stuart Hall for proof.

Of course it's a BMW. It'll be a Z4M which somehow he'll convince us all was an absolute bargain but when you do the maths it will still have cost him more by swapping cars every 5 mins

Repmobile with a red badge. Integra Type R is where it's at

Hang on, I thought we were on about it looking like the GTR at the rear end because of the similarity from the rear 3/4 window back, and the roofline? Lights are irrelevant, they've been around on various marques for donkey's years.

Children can be the most irritating things ever to exist on the planet. If you didn't particularly want the child in the first place (no idea if that was the case here), then it's probably very easy to harbour resentment towards it. That's just a small step and a seriously troubled mind away from what we have in the case here.

The trouble we have now isn't the fact the limits are too high, it's that people simply don't care. How many of these people were caught fractionally over the limit, and how many miles over? I'm willing to be the latter exceeds the former by a significant amount. Amongst many communities in the country it's considered perfectly fine to drink drive, as there's no-one around to hit apart from yourself. Likewise I see many youngsters not giving a toss about this either, and they won't be a little over the limit but a good amount over. People getting caught the day after the night before by a sliver over doesn't bother me, it's the muppets who drink to oblivion but still drive anyway that I'd like to see targetted.

Not really. Coffee, Red Bull, prescription drugs, even like Benylin cough syrup would count. Pretty sure we've all driven under the influence if you counted things like that, although I doubt they used caffeine in their stats.

Heh, sod's law. I don't think you've got much cause to complain. They'll say that 0.5Mb out of a 3Mb max isn't that bad, and to be fair it's not (I used to get the same half meg from an 8Mb line, 'tis why i switched to Infinity the second it came out). It will all come down to the contract, and what it says about fair speed. What ISP and connection is the block WiFi using? Surely it's the same copper from BT, so you might just need a new master socket wiring in and a reset of the router and line, and away you go.

People, in general, are idiots. I prefer a bit of self-deprecating humour when it comes to stuff like that, hence referring to the VXR220 as a canoe, the 350Z as a Datsun, the 911 as a Beetle and the MX5 as the sheddy spawn of Satan. Get in there first, ruin the jokes for them, they've got nowhere to go then.

Good luck is all I'll say. Why did you not just pay £15 for the block wifi?

That looks 'shopped to me. The red car, anyway.