Ekona

I feel for them actually, it must be quite irritating having all these people moaning at you but knowing you don't have the budget to do anything about it. Okay, so they could've done more when they did have money, but that's another rant. There is only one group of people to blame for speed cameras, and that's those that speed. If no-one did (or at least did it in place where the authorities couldn't or wouldn't put a camera), then it would cost more to do than they would get in fines so it would be stopped dead. It's as simple as that. Every time you speed on a dull straight bit of road, you're encouraging them to place cameras.

A vicious one at that In my defence, it's only the terminally stupid and inept that I have no time for. I love everybody else

Now that's just crazy talk!

Trade in of £17k is fair, £1k to prep and £1k to haggle down on would leave a sale price of £20.5k on a £21.5k list price, so a profit of just £2.5k tops. Risky buying a ragtop in the winter, the dealer could have it on the forecourt until April and lose all profit in it.

Sorry, what I meant more was that if it was a paid-for forum then you could dish out free subs to those who submit a guide or other incentive like that. My idea of getting paid directly for it was just a blatant attempt at profiteering!

He's wrong. A car will always use less fuel in a higher gear at a given speed, that much is common sense. What will alter is that you won't be able to react as quick in the higher gear, but that's another debate on road prep entirely. Why would a car doing 60mph at 2k revs in 5th use more fuel than the same car at the same speed doing 3k revs?! Crazy. More revolutions = more throttle = more fuel.

You'd be surprised about Currys, I know I was. The guy who runs the department was head-hunted as he used to run his own specialist shop in London selling silly stuff to footballer with too much money, but he certainly knew his stuff and they did me a deal that I couldn't even beat on the internet. Rich, don't get set on anything in particular yet until you've heard it, regardless of looks or price. You'd be amazed at how quickly your head can be turned once you hear the difference in person.

Having done this myself in the last couple of years, here's what I've learnt from between my budget and Mark's budget (which, as you know, is significantly higher!): Whatever you intend on spending on the amp, spend at least double on your speakers. Amps have features that come and go and get better with technology, but a good speaker is a good speaker for many years. My speaker set cost me around £2K, but that's for 5 plus sub and they'll last me for many years. The AVR was £500, and whilst it's still very good there are extra bits I wish it now had (more HDMI inputs for one, more optical slots for another) but I can spend another £1K and get a waaaay better unit without having an AVR that's much better than the speakers. Room setup is everything. Until Mark's latest addition of a sub that's the size of a small car, I would say that my setup costing a tenth of his was better for playing movies as it's in a more compact room, filled of more general crap whereas his is a lovely great space. That said, his wees all over mine for playing music, so again it depends on what you're looking to specialise in. I went for movies on purpose as that's what I use it for more than anything. Go and play! Seriously, get down to Lakeside Currys and speak to the main guy there, I think his name is James if he still works there. They have loads of AVRs and speakers in stock, and you can pick and match them until you find a solution you like. Even if they're out of budget, it'll give you an idea of where best to spend your money. You can do the same at a Richer Sounds or a specialist, but basically you're looking for somewhere that has the most stuff in stock and setup. Don't be afraid to spend a few hours in there fiddling, I did at Best Buy before I walked across the road and purchased from Currys instead as they did me a better deal. For reference, I have a Pioneer VSX-920 (now superceded) as my AVR and Kef iQ-series speakers (90 front, 30 rear, 50 centre) with a Kef Kube2 sub. The Kef speakers are known for being a bit bright so you wouldn't want them with an AVR that did the same, however it so happens that I like my sounds like that so it's a combination that works well for me. Don't forget to add around £200 for cables, connectors and bits, depending on size of room. Having done the surround sound for tellies three times now, I wasted my money the first two times and should've done it properly in the first place. If you want someone to come shopping with you give me a shout, I'm due for an upgrade on my AVR at some point next year so I could do with looking myself.

I have a mechanical heart made of steel and filled full of oil, ain't no room for lovey-dovey emotions here!

I have a hell of a lot of sympathy for his family and friends, but for him? Come on, it's basic common sense not to try and cross a flooding ford in any kind of vehicle unless it's life and death.

That bloke that died under the bridge was a grade A idiot. There's a massive flood condition in your area, you can't have failed to miss this as even if you didn't see the news then you'd have seen all the rain, and then he decides to go and drive through a ford?!?! That's just utter stupidity, and whilst I feel for his family and friends I have no sympathy for him at all. Hope no-one on here gets affected by it too much, and please don't be like the guy above and stay safe

If people want to do them for others, then they should be encouraged to do so. Very few people can be bothered with doing so though, as it's time and effort that makes a job about 10x longer than it otherwise would be and that makes it a PITA. Everyone is as bad as everyone else in that respect, myself included. I agree with the idea, but there is absolutely nothing that can be done about it unless you offer people an incentive. On a free forum, that's spectacularly hard to do unless you can get folks to put their hands in their wallets. Hell, I'd put together a guide for something if people were willing to pay me for my time, but otherwise it's unlikely that I would ever bother. Not a helpful attitude, I know, but at least it's honest and one I would guess that a lot of people would subscribe to. There are some notable exceptions of people on here who are far more helpful than I, and there are some folks who help guiding in people in person as opposed to writing proper guides, which is equally commendable.

Blame the legislators for making all cars look the same, all down to pedestrian protection. Personally I reckon if people just looked both ways before crossing the road, that would probably be good enough.

Snow plough.

How does that help if you can't get into the boot though?

It's not going to look like that, folks. That's just a generic coupe robbing bits from the GT86 and the Infiniti stuff and cobbled together in 'artist impression' stylee.

TL;DR

That's an awful lot of extrapolation from some bloke showing him a picture of a new engine!

I have now contacted him to ask for Zedley's safe return, fingers crossed it won't be long now.

Harsh What did the police say when you called them?

100% her fault. Yes, he shouldn't have been on double yellows, but she was the only person who had control over the situation. It's as clear cut as they come, unfortunately for your step-mum.

Match whatever you've got on the rears, you don't really want to be mixing tyres on a new car and in the current conditions But yes, the VUS are significantly better than the 452 (which are now an outdated tyre) for not much more cash.

I would suggest that it could be cheaper to replace if there was a lovely crack in it, right in the driver's eyeline that could not be repaired IYSWIM. Then it would go via the insurer and you'd only pay your excess. £259 seems miles too cheap for a screen, but if it fits then it fits. Given the alternatives, I'd take a punt for that price.

He hasn't been on here in a month, and his inbox is full.

Silence. I couldn't live without silence. Sometimes it's just nice to sit in complete silence and let your mind wander. Quite handy when trying to sleep, too.