Claire G

Hey Sammy, we've missed you!

Living and working near Windsor, I can tell you the police presence is unbelievable. Traffic on Tuesday was a nightmare as armed police were searching vans etc. My husband was working until midnight last night and driving around Windsor the police were out stopping cars and getting the sniffer dogs out. Don't know what, if any, link there is between Iraq or Al-Quada. Maybe this is all cynical explotation to justify a war in Iraq or maybe there is a link. Bl**dy scary whichever way you look at it.

PeterB has recently attended a skid pan course and thoroughly rated it. I'm interested in doing a course and if anyone else is interested in a skid pan day, please post below so I can get an idea on numbers (and dates - when's best for you?) and contact them. It only works out about £60 per person at the place in Croydon (I think Thruxton do one too, again what's best for you all?) http://www.nationaldrivingcentre.co.uk/p3_skidpan.html Here's an excerpt from PeterB's post, take a look to get an idea of what's involved: _____________________ We drove a front drive Primera with ABS switched on and off and a rear drive Sierra without ABS. We had 30 mins in a classroom plus 90 or so in the cars. Cost was £120 for the two of us. Instructors were both ex-Police and the skidpan and training are apparently modelled on Hendon. Slipperiness comes from an oil/water mix and there are different road surfaces. The pan itself is quite small, but I never found this to be a problem and they made a fuss of it being purpose-built. The course covered various techniques, including: - thinking about “exit routes” (e.g. mounting a clear pavement) rather than just braking; - learning to feel when the back is going to let go; - correcting rear-wheel skids in both FWD and RWD cars; - taking effective lines into and out of corners to minimise chances of skid; - using ABS effectively to steer around an obstacle; - cadence breaking; - steering out of a locked-wheels skid by releasing break pedal. We learned a lot and had a good time. Even Mrs B, who was reluctant to go, has been telling all her friends about it.

I was thinking about doing a skid-pan course too after my little spin in the snow. I'll post the details in the events forum and see if we can get a group to go!

Perhaps if our road tax actually went on the roads, it would help improve things Yes, there's lots of traffic but we're driving some of the cleanest cars available now. How come I pay more road tax than someone with a knackered B reg Escort and a 1.2 engine - my car's cleaner, shouldn't it be efficiency?!?! Ah, sorry, bit off track. The congestion charge is a stupid idea as our glorious public transportation can't cope with the volume of people using it now. I hope on the first day of charges, everyone sticks to taking the tube. That'll sod up the system. Bah Humbug :arrrggg-matey:

Excellent Bet Zach likes it - it's not unlike his Cozy Coupe!!!

You should check your insurance. Most companies give you cover for windscreens and if you go through them it'll only cost £50 or so. My rear windscreen was replaced year before last and the only thing really to watch out for is that you don't drive it before the replacement guys tell you it'll be ready. Also, don't be surprised if it's marked Toyota!

Ah well, each to their own I suppose. At least we KNOW we are right

My car is the sapphire blue (the colour before the strathcaron blue) and has the black Exmoor interior. I liked the tan colour but with a husband, dog and then a baby, knew it would be difficult to maintain. Now, I actually prefer the black, it all looks really good with the dark blue. Where are you based, if you and your wife want to have a look at the car for yourselves, you'd be very welcome. Claire

It's a looker that's for sure !!! It looks good in the red

I can vouch for how nice this car is from what I saw of it at Brooklands :D

Can you guess just how excited I still am to have flown a helicopter. <---------------------------------------This much--------------------------------------------------------> Ooh, and seeing some good bands.... <--------------------------------------This much too----------------------------------------------------> And to have seen so many Lexus's's's's's in one place..... ok, you get the message

Did I mention that I happened to fly a helicopter today?!

What a great weekend I've had! Brooklands yesterday daytime, off to Wembley to see American Hi-Fi and Sum 41 last night, then I flew (in the loosest sense of the word) a helicopter today. Yippeeee, more weekends like this please

Nice to see some familiar faces and see some new ones too! First time I've been to Brooklands and I enjoyed it even if the museum was a little smaller than I thought it would be. I'm looking forward to seeing you all at Gaydon on 23rd March :D

Take her out for a test drive and show her the heated seats. That'll work everytime, - if she's anything like me, then being cold is the worst thing in the world!!!! That, along with the other gadgets should help win her if she's not particularly interested in the mechanical side of things. ;)

I'll be easy to spot - I'll be the one driving the blue IS200. That should help narrow things down. Errr, ok then, I'll be driving the blue IS and the beautifully colour co-ordinated blue pushchair ;)

Hi guys We've recently purchased a apartment in Brighton as an investment property. It is available to be rented for weekends (or weeks). I have attached a photo below. If you are interested I can let you stay dirt cheap until we get things set up with the tourist board. Book early as the penthouse, with it's amazing views of the local area, will be popular. Even if this is of no interest to you, take a look and let me know what you think. Cheers, Claire

Just a reminder that The Paddock area is reserved for our parking. ;) Yipee...look forward to seeing you all tomorrow :D

Glad you and your wife are ok Javaboss

The Primera is a good car - can be a bit of a rep mobile, but goes to show they must be quite reliable. If memory serves me right, I think a Primera won one the BTCC races a while back.

It gets my vote !

A standard set for my IS200 please :D Set of 2 x PIAA Silicone wipers (Standard) £27 IS200 (00-)1 x 18" & 1 x 20"

Thanks for the tip - I'll check the wheels straight afterwards! When I rang Lex I asked them to fit like for like - maybe they've changed their policy?