Ekona

WR1 would've been our choice too, just a fraction out of budget for a good one sadly. Definitely my favourite Scooby ever

We run an Impreza STi alongside my 911 & MX-5, Jo uses it as her daily driver doing a 60 miles commute every day. There are details elsewhere on here, but it's very much comparable to an Evo: Late blobeye model with DCCD (diff control), and with the PPP it's putting out over 320bhp. Suffice to say, it shifts. Pros: It shifts. Like really shifts. It rarely feels anything other than ballistic, and the amount of grip you can get out of it is staggering. It's not quicker than my 911, but by god does it feel like it is. The noise. That flat-four burble at idle is lush. An Evo just sounds like a very loud Golf GTi. Practicality. The boot is HUGE, and it'll fit four adults in comfort. It's not a big car though, smaller than a current Mondeo by some way. Handling. Beautiful, for a turbo nutter barge. You can feel the edge of grip wonderfully, and sliding it is a choice that you can make or you can exploit the 4x4 stuff for immense grip. Seats. I love the STi buckets more than I'd love my first born. Cons: Fuel. It is thirsty, and even on a motorway run she's lucky to see 24mpg out of it. In that sense it's comparable to a Zed, but when you nail it you can practically watch the gauge drop. Single figure MPG isn't even a challenge. Interior. Those plastics are awful, but so are all Jap plastics of that vintage, Zed included. These are worse than the 350 though. Image. Possibly, if you care about such a thing. There's a huge difference between a bloke driving one of these and a woman though, as Jo gets loads of very positive attention when she's driving it from both sexes. Against a Zed, it would be far quicker and it would feel far quicker. It takes more commitment to drive one on the ragged edge than it does a Zed, as you're relying on the 4WD and clever diff trickery to heave you out of a corner when you mash the pedal, and while I've never been caught out yet there's always that initial fear of "Have I pressed the pedal too early?" and worrying you're going to be chucked into a ditch. It's a good kind of fear though, and one which is replaced by adrenaline as soon as the tyres hook up and you're grabbing for 3rd gear. There's precious little finesse to be had from trying to balance the car on the throttle in the same way you can a Zed, but that's the nature of the elasticity of all turbo cars and it's the price you pay for that sheer grunt in the mid-range. The Impreza and the Evo are very similar, so much of what I've said above applies to both cars. The Evo does need servicing twice as often and is worse on fuel, however it's got a better image and is fractionally the quicker of the two if you're comparing like for like cars. You don't get that noise though! On a twisty road, and assuming equal driver talent relative to the cars, then an Impreza/Evo is going to leave a 350Z for dust, but if you're prepared to work the gearbox on the Zed then a decently drive one will keep an Evo honest. A lot of people (not specifically you Jinxy) these days seem to be afraid of banging into the limiter on the Zed, but it's what you have to do to make it really sing as a car. Mid range pull is acceptable for what it is, but if you really wind the neck out then it will respond and come alive. If you put a gun to my head and told me to have one or the other, then I would say the Impreza. I loved my Zed, but I enjoy my cars most when they feel a bit Jekyll and Hyde. The Zed is more composed, the Impreza more mental, and that's where my money would go.

It's the circuit. Not much can be done about that, sadly. They dump great tracks like Turkey and leave procession races like the Hungaroring on the calendar. I know it's because of the money, but still.

Beach volleyball was amazing, and we won! Slaughtering the Japs at the hockey too, so we're back on the swimming now. More gymnastics in 10 mins

I assume that comes as one piece? I had a similar design on my Zed one year for LM, wasn't too bad to fit but it was my first ever attempt at big stickering. Two people are a must, I agree.

I've been watching the gymnastics most of the day, aside from the fact I'm watching fit ladeez not wearing much it's been fascinating to watch. GB did much better than expected (sitting 2nd as I speak), but the USA are just miles ahead in terms of points and technique. Jo wants to watch the swimming later, but I may try and fit some more beach volleyball in after. Tried watching the judo yesterday, but it was terminally dull.

AD08 out of those lot, easy.

They'd look great in the entrance of a Nissan dealership Not on a car though, sorry. Great use of tech otherwise

That's why the two blokes are p*ssing up the rear of it.

FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUU *rages at txt-spk*

Yup, BBC commentary was annoying, but didn't ruin the spectacle. Trevor Nelson needs shooting though, as does Macca. Not 'Hey Jude' again, and certainly not when your voice is that shot. He's a legend, but he needs to move aside now. They had no choice. They are told what to do by their bosses, so you've completely missed the point on that one. What? Are you that misguided to actually believe that? Do you really think we'd have been better off just cancelling the Olympics simply because the country is a bit skint right now? Do you think that would have done us any favours? Yes, money is needed in the NHS, but the huge advert for it in the ceremony last night will do more good for it than chucking another £10M at it will right now. The NHS needs reforming, whether the current method is right or wrong is another debate that's not for this thread. Bad translation. He didn't mean working class in the way we do, he meant it as they're hard working. And they are, especially in an Olympic year. Not sure I'd want to be travelling all around the world having to schmooze everyone regardless of my own opinion for 12 hours a day when I get to 70. 24 channels actually, and they're syndicated to other TV networks around the world so will pay for themselves and then some. Personally I'd rather we used some of the technology available to make the games as viewable as possible to as many people as possible rather than just read about it in tomorrow's paper. The BBC have been significantly cut, it's why F1 has gone and why the website is now an unusable mess rather than the elegant design we used to have. Cutting doesn't always equal value for money, and £145 a year for everything the BBC gives us ad-free is peanuts. If you don't like it, don't pay the fee and just watch the catchup stuff. Coldel put it well too, especially about the money that this will bring to the country not only now, but for the future. Boris Johnson is basically spending the next two weeks in meeting after meeting trying to convince countries and companies alike to invest in London and the UK as a whole. I guess he's a waste of money, too? Not referring to G Man now, but it's p*ssed me off something chronic already how the left-wing fringes have seized upon the games this early to try and turn it into a political stunt (seen the NHS ad on Twitter yet?), instead of just enjoying it for what it is. The right haven't been great either, forgetting the huge part that Tony Blair and Tessa Jowell had in gaining support for our vote seven years ago. Put all that crap aside for a fortnight, forget the political point scoring, and let's just celebrate how bloody good this country can be.

Black cars FTW! Congrats on your purchase Sarah, glad it all worked out for you in the end

Sadly you're right, and whilst I know he's trying to fight it as best he can it was almost embarrassing to see a great man like him having a carer by his side pushing his arm up and telling him to wave For the sake of his legend, I hope he's not paraded in front of the world like that too many more times in his life.

Pedantism over what constitutes an empire aside, that was absolutely incredible. Beijing who? Oh, and as far as the language thing goes, have you lot never seen an Olympic ceremony before? It's always French first (as the official language), then English (because everyone speaks it), then the host language (which isn't needed tonight). Pfft, heathens.

Agreed. PS3s are okay, but not great. Didn't even realise they did the PS3 in Zed sizes!

Do you mean the Ultrac Sessanta, or another one? Vredestein don't make a tyre called the Ultra What tyres did you have on before?

And that's exactly why I hate the 452s but love the VUS: Progressiveness. There's loads with the VUS, which is why you forgive them not having a ton of grip. There's chuff all with the 452s, which combined with low grip levels and average wear rates make them a poor choice for a heavy sports coupe. Chuck 'em on something cheap by all means, but not on something decent. No offence Rich, and you know how I mean this to come out, but if you can't spin the wheels every time in your car on these tyres then you're really not trying hard enough. Aaron got these on his E36 M3 when he bought it, and hates them with a passion. Anyway, onto the 453s. Any one know the rating codes on these for wear etc compared with the 452?

I guess it depends on how you define less money. For me personally, if it's only another £100 I'd rather let someone else faff around for that, but if we were talking a £500 saving then I'd give it a punt myself. Each to their own, I know that people do get pleasure from building their own computers. I know I used to

I've traded cars to smaller dealers before, and they never got the tax. Ever. If I was selling privately then yes, I'd leave it on. But no-one in their right mind should or would ever leave the tax on a car you're chopping in.

Not in my opinion, and not a patch on what you could save 10 years ago. Too many companies out there now, and it's driven pre-built prices down a lot.

Bollocks. Tax is never included in a trade-in. Ever. The rest I'll give you, but unless you specifically state that the car must come in as-is then I say it's fair game as long as everything is of equal quality i.e. I wouldn't swap a set of immaculate wheels for a set of scuffed ones with dead rubber on them.

I wouldn't remotely bother building a PC these days. Not much saving to be had any more, and you lose the risk of something going belly-up during the buid or trying to hunt down the piece of kit that doesn't work and sending it back. I used to build my own about 10 years ago, with flashy lights and windows and everything, but nowadays I just want something that works.

Nope. You always, always keep the tax disc yourself. When I traded my Zed in, I stripped everything off the car after they'd seen it. Wheels, shiny bits, stereo, the lot.

Odd, the unwritten rule goes that insurers increase your premium by 20% for every 3 pts, but they only apply it once you hit 9 pts. Maybe they've changed that now.