Andy665

Mr Munyard - come up through Stourbridge and across country to Telford via Bridgnorth, some great little driving roads that are guaranteed to bring a smile to your face

Maybe because it would tread on the toes of the Quattroporte. Ferrari have only ever come close to a four door saloon once before with the Pinin of 1980

Ferrari have a long tradition of relatively pracical models within their range - 400 / 412 / 456 /612 etc so its merely continuing their tradition rather than trying to carve out a new niche for itself

No one expected Ferrari to produce a four wheel drive hatchback http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default ... ryId=23052

Mk6 is nice but over-priced. I have just gone from a Mk6 2.OTDi in GT spec - £22k to a Mondeo 2.0TDi Zetec, same power, virtually identical spec but the Mondeo is a whole size bigger and less than £20k. I want a comfortable, safe car (got the BMW and Alfa fopr fun) thats decent to drive and in terms of handling, steering feel, ride comfort the Mondeo has the Golf licked - the fact thats its hugely more practical and spacious and £2k cheaper makes me wonder why anyone would choose the Golf - its not even arguable on the basis of residuals anymore as the Mondeos higher depreciation is completely offset by the bigger discounts available at the front end

Had a couple of them so can give my thoughts. 1.6 is the sweeter but the 1.9 is the better all rounder, rear discs instead of drums, just watch out for the lift off oversteer, many a GTi has gone into the hedgerows backwards. Pretty corrosdion resistant and can be worked on at home. Avoid the last of the line cat equipped 1.9's, power went down from 130 to 115 and felt really strangled. Was looking at them again a couple of months ago and was shocked at the prices - they have doubled in price at least in the last twelve months so losing money is unlikely to be an issue. One last thing, try both PAS and non PAS equipped cars, I found non PAS to be too much like hard work but others prefer the slightly purer feel

I got a set of exchange injectors from JMR for my G60 - the new ones were recon items that were sonically cleaned and then flow matched so a completely balanced set was achieved - made a big difference

If I had 1.1M Euros to spend on a car I can think pf a whole host of things I'd buy before one that isn't road legal

That will be one of the track days that you get with the XX, as they are not road legalm they were sold with a complete package of exclusive track days - awesome sight and sound

Personally I think itys a much more interesting car to look at than the TT, much more flair in the design, when you see them side byu side there are far more differences than there are similarities In white with black roof and black 19 inch alloys they look absolutely stunning

If you want charisma you need to steer clear of the mainstream (and definitely German). I'd go real oddball / left field and consider: Alfa 166 Alfa GT Renault Avantime MK5 GTi as previously mentioned is over your budget

Just spent a couple of hours reading this - one hell of a project and he doesn't even know if he'll be able to get it registered http://www.s2forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26534

Damned expensive, I have used www.event-tyres.co.uk for the last few tyre changes and cannot fault them on price and quality of service

I was with Jim when we were talking to the owner of TCS, he admitted that he knew nothing about Corrados other then that they were an easy way to genertate an income, it was clear with some of the questions he was asking that he didn't have a clue, that obviously does not mean that he isn't worth buying a car from - just don't expect to be consulting an expert on the car

Jim - he was a very long serving and highly respected test driver for Toyota / Lexus - the heart attack he had was massive and resulted in instant death, don't know what happened to the occupants of the BMW 3 series that he collided with, that was a test car that was on its way to the Ring. 13th / 14th Jan - two days with the car then a month to write the material and a day to deliver it all to owners collectingtheir cars. Should be some interesting stuff to write about including how to prepare your car for the track - surely someone buying a £340k car will have someone that does that kind of thing for them Also been confirmed as the product writer for the new GS model due out in 2012, will start having access to development cars in mid 2011 :D I'm lucky to have a sideline that pays OK and is hugely enjoyable

I'd have picked the RS - the purest of them all in terms of fitness for purpose

Stretch - they lost their chief engineer, it transpired that he had a heart attack on his way back to the Lexus workshops a few kms from the Ring

No offence taken by the "c**t" - I'm taking it in the spirit that I hope it was meant in Not often I get the chance to work with something like the LFA - usually more humdrum stuff - nice that I was given first refusal to do the work - just waiting for confirmation on where I can see / drive the thing now - logic says it will be at the Ring

:D Just been requested to write and deliver some material for the Lexus LFA - of course this means that I need a day with the car to get to know it - been told it will have to be at the Ring Damn - just the kind of news I need before Christmas

Mercedes E500 Alfa SZ Porsche 993

The Lexus Hybrid Drive principle is better than the Honda Integrated Motor Assist principle in that electric power alone can be utilised, the problem is that it is only for a very short distance (2 miles) and at no more than 31mph. The Lexus hybrids use Atkinson cycle engines which focus on maximum fuel efficiency rather than maximum power. When the engine is running (always at speeds above 31mph) any surplus power generated is channelled back to the battery pack via the generator. The Prius for example produces 89bhp from its petrol engine, maximum power with battery pack engaged is 131bhp so it is first and foremost a petrol engined / driven vehicle. No manufacturer is close to producing an electric vehicle that uses an internal combustion engine to recharge the batteries. The belief was that the Chevrolet Volt / Vauxhall Ampera did exactly that until the day that GM released the details of its patents and it was revealed that it was more of a hybrid than a pure electric vehicle. Lithium ion is not the panacea to radically improved battery performance, lithium air is the next true advance but performance vs cost is likely to be once again a major stumbling block

I read some research that showed that, based on the UKs production of electricity, a pure electric car will produce emissions of circa 80g/km - still better than any petrol or hybrid vehicle but not significantly better I have driven a Nissan Leaf and have to admit I was impressed - pure electric vehicles do have a future but I can't see one being used as the only car in a household - the range is just too restrictive for many people. MY OH would be perfect for a pure EV but she loves a petrol engine far too much

I think Lotus have posted a profit only once in the last 10 years, it baffles me where Proton are getting the cash to bankroll what is probably the most anbitious expansion and upmarket push ever attempted in the motor industry.

Just wait until we have the new Elise, Esprit, Elan, Elite, Eterne coming on stream. Lotus are dead set on pushing themselves massively upmarket, even the Elise will be a 40k+ car - Dany Behr, CEO of Lotus is exFerrari and is surrounding himself with other ex Ferrari, Porsche etc people, he has even got Bob Lutz to join the board as an advisor. Very ambitious plans but I'm seriously worried about their ability to turn out sufficiently high quality products, at the price points they are aiming at buyers will demand more than engineering igenuity and purity

Its inappropriate speed that is the real problem - 30 above the limit in a 30 zone is infinitely more dangerous than 30 above the limit in a 70 zone. If we went down the route of limiting top speed to 100 then there could be a logical argument to lower them to 70, after all that is the legal limit - I'd much rather see far higher standards of driver education. Doing the miles I do its inconsiderate driving than winds me up much more than speeding, I also get more annoyed by speeding in urban areas than I do on the motorway / dual carriageways etc I'd like to see a fundamenatal shift in how we police the roads, far more police on the roads, pulling people over for a "chat", clamping down hard on reckless driving with impounding of cars, bigger fines, bans etc, I'd also like to see a grading system that means you have to pass more advanced tests in order to drive more powerful cars - people could then have their "super" licences revoked but still allow people to drive lower powered vehicles