StuartFZR400

just have a gander at the camber; ie the suspension shock bottom two bolts; you'll notice the hub/disc will tilt away from you (top to bottom) if those bolts are undone. But if you're asking the question, then I doubt you've got the kit to do it - its not just by eye. I'd pay someone 40 to laser-align it up for you; they might check toe etc then too. I presume your tyres have worn oddly - if so, you'll need new rubber on there, or prepare to put up with more odd steering.

You were indeed following (at safe dist) a silver C180 saloon - yawn! :camp:

nah John,Ive got P-zero's on my 993's 18 inch alloys and they came to £300-ish for the pair,supplied and fitted Wouldn't be surprised if there were Porsche special recommended tyres (as there is for the Z4) with thier own suffix number. I know someone with the boxter-s who insured his tyres because of the cost of them. More money than sense in my mind.

Z4 soft top - no comparison to the coupe M sport. Personally I think the Z4 coupe is a beautiful car, but unfortunately has the inherant issues of the rag-top. I've driven the 3.0 Z4 and its shocking in more ways than one; firstly the 3L engine doesnt seem to pull until you rev it hard. Secondly and more importantly the drive is removed, you cant feel the drive so well; its based on electronic steering - for which I find is very notchy. However I hear the true M (not the silly M-pack with sporty seats and lower suspension) has good old normal power steering and thus more involved. Thirdly the ride is poor for the road - prepare to be blitzed by a 350z and a TT; but on track it holds its own. The run flats - again poor for the road but better for the track; they're just more rigid - thus too rigid for the road. People have tried normal tyres and find better handling on the road; however, BMW and your insurance may walk away. Reversing - easy. Open the window and you can lean out and almost touch the rear bumper. The misty bit of glass back window is poor, but you know roughly the boot finishes not much far after that. Its a short car. 350z, decent car, but so many different years and engines. Bit big for my liking, its heavy. I'd rather a Boxter, regardless of looks. Obviously the middle porsche, Cayman?, is the best of boxter/911 worlds and highly regarded for being quick. Can you afford to trash one on the track? Yes, second hand car prices seem to be going up (I've seen TT's go up by 1.5k - not funny); could be two reasons - weather, and more importantly, have you looked at new car prices? For instance the 2 seater Lexus has gone up from 55k to 62k - but thats not as much as the pound has lost in the exchange - therefore they're actually discounting the car; much like BMW and Mercedes are doing now. Try buying the same car in Germany and prepare for a bank smashing shock!!!

Im of the same view, and was always scathing of anyone who made a claim. But now its happened to me for real; at first I was in denial and wanted to think I'd be ok and I would not be a sponge. However the injuries are real and I agree with the Butterfly dude, Im wanting whatever monies I can get for this daily pain. I think Josh has got this sorted. As for hitter her hard because she left the scene, does this not become a matter for the police? Its not a monetary item for josh to claim, its an infringement for the law and possibly a case for a ban for the woman. If she denies it, then what? I presume josh has to claim this loss though the council/highways/something-else?

Ok, this might be an insurance question, but I wanted to grab attention of more viewers and get thoughts on a post card. Mods feel free to move. My quandary is that Im off the road from an accident – where the third party admits 100 percent fault. I’m in a hire car, via a firm that deals with this (not insurance). The third party offer to pay one sum (very low), my representatives engineer say’s its worth say 500 more, and I say its worth 500 more than that still. It’s all so very messy further more. 1. If the third party went and bought me a car, then that’s easiest, but they don’t. 2. Instead they look at a book (Glass’ or something) and you have to argue this case, and find examples (I have). That sounds straight forward, but I see it as being more unfair, because my value is (say 1000) more than the third party and is actually conservative, I found examples far in excess of this, but I factored in a negotiating discount. Unfortunately the system seems more complex and maybe someone can tell me if it’s unfair. 3. The third party actually wanted to pay me a residual amount, as they assumed I would sell my scrapped car and get a value of X. So they only pay a remainder. This looks messy to me. They refused to substantiate this salvage value and do not provide a quotation. My representative disputes this value (I’ve not a clue) and states it should be more. Playing with figures, lets say the third party is going to pay 4k (I wanted 5k, my firm say 4.5), but they say the scrap is worth 1.8k, that means they only pay out 2.2k. Whereas my firm is saying that the scrap is only 1k and I should be paid 3k by the third party plus the 1k from a scrappy (and take battle for the missing 0.5k later). I refused the 2.2k because there was no gurantee that I would get 1.8k off the scrappy; no quote etc. So now this has gone on for 2 months, the third party then say we’ll re-look at the figures (in my mind restarting the process). They then say, no change to the figures, we only owe you 2.2k … but no cheque has arrived yet. Now they say they refuse to be liable for hire car costs for the last 2 months, because in theory they have been right all along. a) re-looking at it re-sets the clock for me in my mind b) there was no quote or certainty in scrap value and therefore the residual payment would’ve been not enough. c) they never sent a cheque, so I could never go buy a car. Therefore how can I be liable for 2 months of hire car?

I saw Jim on Tuesday night; say 6pmish, going down Red Lane... in his Merc estate. 8)

A little lazy, im not looking above; did you not already replace the front sensors? I though you got an error on those from VAGcom? Yeh, replace them, and be careful as said. Dont knock those little fella's heads, they're delicate. I found getting GSF cheapo ones were tricky to get into the location-hole; I had to squeeze them in tight - the gap to the rotor needs to be correct.

10 percent out? ... yeh, as if. Caught wind of a conversation the other day; Warwickshire are planning a zero tollerance with their lovely unmarked squad. A relative of mine was done for 32.7 in a 30 on the outskirts of London. 195/50 is smaller, you'll get an under reading if Im right. Correct way to check is to drive at a constant speed for 1 mile and time it (drive further for better accuracy, if you're able to sustain a constant speed). A slightly less accurate way is to use a sat-nav. All my bikes have had naff speedos and get worse the higher you go, exponentionally.

Perfect, those 195's look fine on the 7 wide rim. And the photo I sent you, the 205's looked chunky on the 7 wide rim; yet they work. From a practical point of view, you can clearly see 195 works; however, the numbers are below: Now I know you've made your decision, but for the benefit of any other new raddo folk: I'll say it once more; the speedo difference is tiny. 50 percent of 195 is 97.5mm 50 percent of 205 is 102mm Thats a whopping 5mm (0.5cm) difference in tyre wall height. Yes the diameter of the 195 ends up being less (actually 1cm in total), but its not biggie. Technically you'd need a 195/52/15 ... but they don't do a 52 percent sized tyre wall. Hence Im sure VW say that 195/50 is fine too. (forget about your rim width, its not related - rim width is concerned with the tyre being stretched or not). The ratio of 195/50 is fine.* Hence I was concentrating on the stretch factor of a 195 onto a 7 wide rim. Its a tiny stretch as said before; as you can see my 205's looked chunky. Not only that, but you will find different tyre manufacturers measure the width differently, and so line up a Michelin back to back with a Dunlop and you might find the Dunlop is narrower of a couple mm; no worry. ================================ * if or when you increase your rim diameter (not width), from 15 to 16 inch, then you have to reduce the tyre wall height if you keep the tyre width the same; for example a 205/50/15, going onto a 16 rim you'd need a 205/45/16 (thats 5 percent reduction on 205, which is 10mm on the tyre wall height; but look at your wheel and you can see tyre wall at the top and the bottom, so double that figure of 10 and you get 20mm reduction in tyre height, which is roughly counteracting the 1 inch wheel increase)

Chill out and blame your self, lol. Try reading all those links I gave you. Then you'll be well eqipped next time some idot tries to palm off some Nasty-Tyres off on to you. 195 versus 205.... like I said, wow all of 1cm difference. And you've got a wheel all of half an inch wider too. Its not going to make all that much difference. You know the speedo should be about right - so that just leaves the 'stretch'. If you find one of the old tyre size calculators, (eg the Bible), you'll see that if you change wheel sizes you actually change the speedo reading anyhow, as its millimeters difference. For instance, the well trusted tyres sizes in the wiki; try putting in 205/50 versus a 195/50 versus a 195/55 ; they all give tiny different speedo readings. Why? Because remember that the 50 stands for the side wall height, as a percentage - that is 50 percent of 205 which is 102.5 versus 50 percent of 195 which is 97.5. You're changing the diameter of the tyre here and thus the cirumference too (rolling radius). I think going by those tyre widths in the wiki, you could technically go up to a 215 wide tyre; but it'd look crazy. And you might need to drop to a 45 profile at that point; not sure, you'd have to calculate it. I cannot get onto the Tyre Bible site from work to check for you. And the lower limit of width recommended? Not sure; but certainly 205 works. So if you've got 195, a 1cm difference (at worst); that equates to a huge 5mm stretch to either side of the tyre... not so huge huh. In summary, yes the 195 might be a strech, hence I said I personally went for 205's on my 7j BBS. I personally do not like a strech for handling reasons - but most people like a stretch for the look. People go for a far bigger stretch that what you've bought - much bigger. Try finding some photos on here and you'll see what I mean. Rest easy and go get those 195's fitted*. Next time, dont dilly-dally over £5/tyre difference. * Im sure I said go to a trusted fitter, lol. Go somewhere decent. Look on forums etc for ideas. Roll up in person and ask. £15/corner isnt bad. The place I went, the guys donned white gloves and used rubber-end protected levers; not a single sign of a scratch on my wheels anywhere. Compare that to Britannia Tyres in Coventry and ouch, they're animals.

Transit Van ? :wink: Big, wallowy feel, park anywhere; 4 doors; room for junk; toys... optional, lol

try asking pianowire if those biggies fit within 16's - he def' has run 16's in his time. As for brands, try a search; people have different oppinions; I personally like Brembo discs, some dont. Most of us agree the VR discs seem to last. The vw pads are only ok. Personally I hate Pagid pads. Would be happy with greenstuff ebc; bearing in mind they dont last long, but hey, you want performance. Paint in B'ham - there must be loads. Sorry I cannot vouch for a good place in Brum. However I can tell you Ive had some shoddy jobs done in Coventry etc; paying low prices. Only when I took my car back tiem after time, one day - by sheer luck - they got it right, a deep glossy finish. Compared to a very expensive place on the outskirts of Coventry, where they do a showroom finish - they take of all mirrors, seals, etc, full proper job. Paints today are not solvent based and I understand they're harder to work. Get a good top laquer and you'll be ok. Possibly £1k for a blow over; 1.5k+ for a good job. I dont see why its so much, hence I shopped for cheap locally; you just might end up with a fight on yu hands; you'll be in a stronger position if you get a receipt, pay by card or cheque and dont dodge the vat.

Hi Can you let me know if this has been fixed/stopped mines doing the exact same but it gets worse and worse. Basically it pulls to the left slightly when driving and when the steering wheel is turned againt the natual left pull of the car there is a very loud squeak. as the the car pulls all the time and im constantly correcting this its constantly squeaking and really embarrasing as eveyone knows corrados get a lot of attention. Other things i have noticed with this - I was positive when the squeaking started it was on the opposite turn, i.e when i turned right it squeaked and now it doing this turning left. Also it doesnt do it on a inital drive when the car is cold, it tends to kick in once everything is warmed up. Can anyone give any advise/opinons on what to check, my thoughs on this are bearing, joints or wheel alignment (geometry) i dont think the brakes have any involvement? Thanks in advance Josh Josh First off most cars 'seem' to pull to the left - its really quite hard to find a road without camber on it - its needed for drainage or rain. Therefore you could be looking at either side of the car. The obvious check is to check which front wheel got hot; bear in mind that brakes always get too hot to touch, so you're looking for underiable heat in the wheel or somewhere. A crude way to check is to drive for a bit, when it squeeks or whines, get a mate to jump out and listen outside, on either side. This might save some time, because next you need to get your hands dirty. I wouldn't drive far on this; each tiem you heat your brakes up you could be boiling the brake fluid (even though design to work at high temps), and you're very likely to be boiling the grease inside the hub (even if it isnt broke -yet), it goes liquid and drains out, leaving you with metal on metal. Jack the car up and waggle the wheel as if you wanted to pull it off - there should be no clunking or play; play would mean bearings, clunk could be this too or the boot. Then whip off the wheel, and take off caliper; make sure pads are freely moving - first out of good habit, but secondly, if they're rusted into one place, its a sign the caliper piston has seized too. Also check for metal debris on the pads or disc, badly scratched etc; it maybe as simple as that - the pulling to the left maybe a myth/in-yu-head (unless its real bad) Now look at piston, it should be in good nick; pump the brake gently once and see the piston moves (maybe put bit of wood in there to stop piston coming out too far. Now push piston back in - should slide back with good effort, all the way back/flush. Search other threads how to do this and how to take caliper off and take good care of it. Might even be in the wiki. Next, hub/bearings... Thats phase 1. The squeaking sounds heat related, therefore metal and driven. The pulling could be related, or could be unrelated and tracking.

Yeh, tonnes of links, sorry. Look forward to feedback. Yep, 40 isnt bad (even if you add 40 for fitting all), and much better than the 160/corner i was paying for some michelin 245/40/17 SP1s. :gag:

Alex Did you read the wiki? Theres actually some good stuff there; and if you had time you'd find some interesting stuff in the Bible. Never had new tyres? Well enjoy; and having 4 the same makes a difference. Just remember most new tyres can feel odd and slippery; the massive deep treads can seem to make the blocks wobbly; depends on the tyre make and rubber solidity. You're pondering over Toys, then Proxis etc. If you read the sticky thread on tyres you'll get some feedback on tyre life and performance (for instance I got about 5 or 6k miles out of Toyos compared to 11k on the front with Uni). The Toyos Proxis tend to be sticky, but dont last long. The Uniroyal Rainsports last a little longer, but maybe not as solid - however do shift water easily (the Toyo PX4s look similar). Then theres Eagle F1's if they do your size - a great all rounder. Then you get into Conti, Michelin (SP'1 - not the 2's), Bridge' etc - these pricey boys tend to last longer, but also you'll find they have a stiffer side wall and general good construction, giving a stable ride. Enjoy your purchse and post on the Tyre sticky thread with feedback after a month or so. 8)

He did openly say any Japanese car. So... 2 door integra? or a Civic R? or a cheapo :luvlove: Jims right though; mercs can be cheap. You can alarm them. Simple. However, with age, any car, eletrics are about the biggest bug-bare of mine; i'd buy simple. Motors tend to last.

budget? There is a 4 door Civic Type R and other Tye Rs too.

This is fairly easy... go check the Wiki... HERE. There used to be tyre size calculators too, but I cannot get the links to work on my PC. If you go into the Tyre Bible at the bottom of the Wiki, there used to be a calculator in there. Yawn... Basically you just said you've got 195 versus 205 - thats a whopping 10mm, or also known as 1cm. It really is small beans and not a big worry. Both would work on the standard 6.5 wide wheel; but you've got some BMW's at 7 wide, and therefore I can tell you that 205 works perfectly well and 195 is the minimum I'd try. I wouldn't mix, but if you're forced to, then this 1cm difference is minimal. What tyres to buy; I'd consider matching the 3 tyres to your ok tyre. If the 4th tyre size is wrong, then replace all 4. If money wasn't an issue I'd go buy 4 new tyres for an even feel and SAFE ride. In summary I'd always keep my tyres the same - same size, same brand. Read the tyre bible and you'll see why; theres muff about slip angles etc, but in summary the handling will be sorted and even. For better handling, people look to stickier tyres, then stiffer-side-wall tyres, lower profiles (on bigger wheel dias).

Glad the calipers now work - see, I said to look at the piston. The internal gubbins really do rust up sometimes; the brake fluid could have been airated. ABS - hate this stuff. You've done the easy bit, replace the sensors. The only other bit is to ensure the ring is in perfect shape. Thereon its going to be an electrical issue with the ECU or something; pump etc. I'd be ***ered if I can remember the reading you should get off a multi-meter when spinning the wheel, but basically you've replaced the sensor, so you should get perfectly good readings; its further up the line IMO. Im surprised the VAGcom doesnt pick it up. Try tapping on the shoulder of the long-timers on here like Andy/Jim/Tempest/Henny/etc - mods.

Right, I doubt the ABS will do that. Make sure those slots in the abs-wheel are clear. I presumethe abs head/sensor is ok too; try not to knock it when taking stuff on/off. Im puzzled as to why the abs would be coming on during normal driving too; so indicates a problem. However, you mention under braking too; were you braking a little hard really, or was it close to winter and slippy? Are your tyres naff? Any locking up and the abs will kick in. You say the brakes seem to be binding, but you cannot source. Can you list what you checked? I'd go for: piston moves well and is not rusted; then calipers slide well on the pins into the carrier, checking the tiny rubber boots are not cracked; then ensure the pads are not sticking on, which can be cause by clogged or rusty surfaces on the caliper - see where the pads should slide on those flat spots, they need to be squeaky clean. Sounds like something has ceased. You also want equal pressure to both sides - i'll think of how to check that when time allows, or someone beats me to it; maybe an extra pair of eyes will help.

all i can see is a madly bid upon gt II, going for 1k. mad. All the rest are pie in the sky private ads. Its the same for TT's, privates are asking silly prices. Whereas go to a trade advert in auto trader and they're bottom, half of them there. Face it, the dealers got 6 year old celica going for 4k, a 5 year old RX8 going for 5 to 6k, he isnt going to flog an old scirocco in a hurry if he asks over 1k.

TBH I can't see this happening. New cars are getting ever cheaper and it's only the handful of truly mint cars that will show gains as their rarity increases. The average run-of-the-mill Corrado is just going to be another slightly ugly ageing coupe in most people's eyes. Less and less people want to run ever older cars, particularly one with the known foibles and part supply problems of this one.. ditto topic total rubbish - but funny !

Yeh Wendy, let me just reiterate, plod is using any type of bike he likes now, with no signs its a copper; they no longer have to wear white helmet, or high-vis or anything. Borrox to the old fuddy duddies, its all sorts of groups driving 45 everywhere. In the morning, my new journey takes me down many country lanes. The first is one where you take life OUT of your hands; many a bad driver doing about 50 around seriously sharp bends (which isabout on the limit IMO) but they're well over the white line. If I came fully committed we're in for a big bang. If I chose to drive badly and go over the lines on blind bends, it'd a very loud bang, and trip to A&E. I then pootle through villages with schools where the mummy MPV's need 3 foot space and know nothing of givign way when an obstruction is on their side. I then head into another National, where everyone does 30-50, some even down to 25. Its a taxing road, but 60 is commonly possible, just as long as you're prepared to slow for every single hazard, of which there are many. So what is 50 doing? I reckon its just a bigger book for them to throw at you if caught speeding. Its not going to help No-brainer doing 50 already, as he's going to get boyracer up his azz anyhow, not to mention late-mum-who-is-late-pickingup-the-kids. Its not gonig to stop the midnight boyracer who kills him self and mates while doing 90 plus in his half-cut Nova. If they're bothered, lets fit limiters to all cars, to about 40. Im sure death rates would significantly reduce, and it takes into account for all the half-awake people out there; bring on the automated cars; say goodbye to fun.

Yeh Gaydon was one place. Stratford to Oxford was another. Its this bunched up malarky that annoys me. Its so incredibly easy to get past on the bike, that its second nature to pop past. Get back in the car and Im cuckoo at how close people drive. Nobody in the que has a first thought of overtaking, yet hug the bumper of the car in front, all leading to a potential accident and pile up, but never heard of a pile up on an A road. Little do they realise that that short strech of straight was sufficient for a 200bhp to make a clean pass. :cuckoo: Im narked too; heres me minding my own business, getting left behind by moms who cane off in the suv in the 30, whereby i often catch up and then go to sleep in the national due to the snail pace. I always leave a large gap, even more than the 2 second rule, basically because it makes life so much more simple, as I know Im not getting past any time soon. Then you get back into town and Ive got those mums in 4x4's ready to mount me... and it happens, hence Im still without a car, for that very reason. Luckily still here today, as I was in a car and not on my bike. Wire, you're right; I wonder how many of these councils are made up of grandad volvo doing 45 everywhere they go. The thought patterns probably go...o0(There i was doing 45, watching out for bunny rabbits, when this loud car tore past. It was like the Back to Future car, yes that was it, it had flames coming out of it, burning up the street it was. Nearly pushed me off the road - toe-raggs the lot of em). Tell me this then; all those coppers and Advanced motorist instructors who abide to the limits, are now seeing new lower limits - how on earth can they educate us as to how the new limit is better, when only yesterday they'd condoned a quicker pace?