Jazzbass

Yeah, sorry mate. I know that sounded a bit strong. Having had two family members die from alcoholism and related disease and having a current member as an early alcoholic, I'm rather intolerant of the Kiwi drinking culture. I'm equally down on smoking, with too many family and friends having died as a result of that particular addiction.

American women!!!

WoW! If y'all have to go to that much trouble to have a drink, have you considered you might have a drinking problem? Are you seriously telling me you can't last through a day out without alcohol? This hits so close to home as I have a family member with a bad drinking problem and this sort of thing illustrates the lengths that alcoholics will go to to feed their addiction. Their ingenuity is impressive, but at the end of the day - what a waste of a life!

Looking on the plus side, at least we won't have to suffer seeing them being thrashed by the Ozzies in the finals!

I don't think you can blame one person. Our fielding in the past few games has been very average, to be kind. Any time a team consistently fumbles catches, they're on a hiding and that's us. Until we can improve that aspect, we're bound for the bottom of the heap, imo.

dum de dum! Jochen to the rescue.... ??

My last ex-Jpn E36 325 had them too. I thought it was cool. My NZ new E39 doesn't.

Hi Martyn, I wasn't trying to put you off at all, 'cos I'm currently in the same boat (considering what my next vehicle may be). I haven't seen or read about that doco, but a friend told me to watch it before considering any suv/4wd thingo. I didn't know that guy Matthew-Wilson would be involved, but you're right - if it isn't a Toyota, its crap ~ according to his mag.

I agree with the cat removal and replacing with a Coby. I did that on my 318 and my 325 and it made for a much nicer exhaust note. On my 528 I enjoy it being whisper quiet, so I'm staying stock.

Maybe we should all watch 8:30 TV3 This Thursday??

$20k - you could buy an almost new Toyota Echo .... with the change you could have that lobotomy so you didn't care you were driving a Toyota!

No orange lights, Allan? What's next ~ white dials? shudder.... I was wasting time looking round new car yards last week and some bloke was trying to sell me a Ford. I escaped by retching at the white dials ~ and no leather, of course.

You want small - has to be a 116i then!

I guess I'm just not the sort of person who feels the need to get every new thing which comes out, as soon as it comes out. XP does all I need for the present. Truth be told, DOS 3.11 did all I need back then...

I think pin 19 (don't hold me to that) is ground, so a paper clip is fine for length.

I LOVE the orange!! I even love the two little orange lights above the mirror.

LOL - just googled! Nope I never owned or drove an Allegro. However, I did have [shame mode] TWO Maxis.. [\shame mode]

Kewl!! I know you want one, Will!

http://www.channel4.com/4car/gl/gallery/gallery/458/1

100% agree. Thus there can never be a universal 'best' anything. For my 'best', speed and acceleration don't even rate in the top 10. For others, they are #1 and #2.

I was pleased to see that video on the news, proving conclusively that a blown tyre caused the crash. I was getting really sick of the do-gooders and kiljoys raving on about how people who drive fast without being experienced racing drivers deserve everything that happens to them. The vdo proved that it wouldn't have mattered who the driver was - a tyre gone at speed means its all over, rover!

Re the geriatrix ~ last night on the way home, I had a couple of old ladies in bowling attire in a new Honda (of course, what else would geriatrix drive?) 'merge' from a side road without even looking to the right - where I was coming from. Fortunately, experience has shown me that this is not uncommon, so I was (and always am) prepared for it and was able to prevent what could have been an unfortunate meeting of metals. When my father was teaching me to drive, he said "Treat every other driver on the road as if they're a complete idiot and drive accordingly". That's been good advice for me.

I'm always interested in the 'best' discussions, since I believe there is no such thing. What do you guys who claim model xxxx is the best base your claim on?

Thanks for the explanation, guys. No door handles etc - sounds a tad weird to me...

LOL - I couldn't find a short bit of wire, so just bent out a paper clip to short the pins. Works perfectly.