Blair

That's interesting - the wife & I were wondering why we seemed to be the only Brits who weren't overly-impressed with Melbourne. Glad to know it's not just us! I thought it nice enough, but it didn't make me want to live there (unlike Sydney, and Byron).

Not bad thanks mate, got an awesome team over here but still trying to sort out a couple of years on "assignment" over there. No guarantees - it's a tough one to sort out - but still working on it! Should be in Melbourne around Australia Day next year though if you fancy a Coopers?!!?

Mate, your C is looking awesome. Are you still getting a lot of attention over there with it?

Sounds great mate, any chance of swapping lives for a couple of years or so? :D Still working on trying to get out there myself, not sure it's ever going to happen though...

You haven't seen the size of my current credit card bill mate! :) Still...going on hols to Oz, so can't complain :)

Awesome, awesome, awesome. If my numbers came up I'd be making an offer Jay couldn't refuse :)

*EDIT* Never mind...just realised I was replying to a much earlier post, and it no longer has relevence :)

Sounds like a recommendation to me - that's what I'm after - thanks! :)

Remove your spoiler for the trip and re-attach when you get to the 'ring :) Mine was on standard ride height, and that full-height spoiler was always catching on stuff!

Hmmm....I did a search, managed to exhume a thread about rally days. Don't think I found the thread you were talking about though. I don't suppose you're remember any of the keywords from the thread title would you? :)

As my birthday's coming up, my g/f is going to treat me to a half day rallying or off-roading. I'm just trying to get some recommendations - or equally useful, tips on places to avoid! I did an offroad day a few years back which was excellent, but I can't remember where it was! Cheers :)

In terms of the overall package, I've not seen a finer one. Just top-notch :-) Although I would definitely like a go in Mr Haywire's car :-)

You'd be surprised how accurate a good eye can be for camber settings, can't see how you could do tow in/out or alignment though :? That's the problem - if the toe and alignment were spot-on and you adjusted the camber alone, the toe and/or alignment would then be out. The only way you could ajust it without risking any knock-on effect would be if the steering arm joint was right in the centre of the wheel, ie. about where your wheel bearings are :)

I spotted a woman in her car (something fairly flash like a TT or a Merc) holding a mobile phone to her ear with her left hand and doing her hair with her right. Whilst doing about 40mph on a road out of town. Silly bint.

Sorry, but that made me laugh :) Good retort from the copper :) He's got a point though - just because there are people out there doing worse things than you, doesn't mean they should ignore what you're doing. Unlucky BigGrim. I think you're probably right in your assumption that you'll probably have to just take it on the chin. What's annoying really is that there are companies out there who are willing to take people's money to fit illegal modifications - because it's not them who have to tot up the points, and it's not them who spends the money on the mod then has to remove it, meaning it was a waste of cash...

There aren't enough splines on the steering column to get a really accurate straight-ahead setting - what these places SHOULD do is set the steering wheel straight then modify the geometry around that. I know of one VW specialist who shall remain nameless (this comes from a good friend of mine who used to work there) who used to do a quick job, checked by eye (not gauges!) and just take the steering wheel off and bolt it back on "straight"...

Cool vids! Like the Bathurst one - might have to plug in Forza on the X-Box when I get home and have a go myself :) As for the 4x4 - seriously impressive. I agree - probably Dubai. I remember seeing a feature on the guys out there a few years ago, there was a convoy of them all driving on 2 wheels. I remember the passengers leaning out of the window and striking lighters on the road surface. Mental.

Sounds like it'll make a very nice show car. Get a few show'n'shine awards with it and it'll prove that £7K was a good price to get it for :)

And what's with all the bullet-holes in the balcony? A bit rough round there? ;)

You get around 85mpg out of your Audi?!? ;)

Insurance, road tax, servicing costs, replacing worn parts and don't forget the big one - depreciation. This is the one most VR6 owners don't really need to be overly-concerned with, and one of the benefits :) That's why, when I chose my "sensible" car, I opted for something 3 years old - someone else has paid roughly half the depreciation on the car.

I should point out it has got better since I got put on a proper company car scheme - which I immediately opted out of, on the basis I'd rather pay deprecitation on a second hand car I liked than a tax burden on a brand new Astra or the like!

Mine used to be about 16p a mile plus 15 quid daily allowance. Not great.

If you get less than 40p a mile you can claim the difference in tax relief. So, if you get 10p a mile you get 30p a mile tax relief....so the taxman owes you the tax you'd have paid on that 30p. If you're paying 25% tax, that's 7.5p per mile in tax rebate you'll be owed.

Bah - I've just realised that in the last week some c**t has nicked my model Golf Mk1 GTI off my monitor at work :( Thankfully I have another kit sitting in a box at home waiting to be made...but what a scumbag.