big den

Major rant alert Well there's another shafting from an energy supplier, LPG gas from Calor to be precise. It's probably no worse than the rip off price increases for mains gas & electricity but it doesn't make it any easier to take. Normally, when they raise the price per litre they justify it by relating it to the wholesale price of oil, etc. A letter arrived a couple of days ago headed "Price fixed for winter season". It's not until you get to the 3rd paragraph of the letter that they hit you with the 6.95 pence per litre rise effective October 1st which, just happens to coincide with the first winter LPG delivery. So, given that they normally justify price rises by relating it to the rise in oil prices, I though I'd phone them and ask how come if oil has dropped in price by ~33% they can justify this latest price rise - surely it should be coming down? Well fook me, what was the excuse this time - "we have to buy our gas so far in advance that we have bought stock at the higher price". I smell sh!te & a lot of it!!!! Funny how we hear often that the UK does not have enough storage capacity for oil & gas & that is how we are so vulnerable to price increases!! These people think they can tell us any old crap & we'll accept it. And of course in the UK we primarily do accept the constant rip off culture - petrol being another case in point i.e. oil down to $94 per barrell but petrol still at ~£1.10 per litre for Unleaded which is still a lot higher than we were paying when oil was at this price previously ~94p per litre I believe - do we do anything about NOOOOOOOOOoooooo, we take it. Anyway back on topic: Call finished with "I'm sorry there is nothing we can do about the price currently". My threat to seek an alternative supplier was treated with contempt cos they know full well the hassle of changing LPG suppliers with tank swaps etc. "we'll note your feedback on your file, sir" All I can say is Calor Rant over Den

If it's really bad (bottom of doors, etc) Mequiars Clay Bar is pretty good but then you're aswell doing the whole car. Thne of ocurse you need to polish & wax it again afterwards Den

FPMSL - oh ma sides!

Wonder if they were the same ones that looked as if they were using what appeared to be paper print out Gathering stickers i.e. inside the car without straight edges and looked faded. I was surprised to see folk not prepared to stay that little bit longer. We even did the extra lap of the track & joined the merge in traffic jam twice at the end

It wasnae just me that did that then!! Worse was that it was my wife's WRX we took & she was none to impressed that I nearly shunted someone - the look I got said it all! Made sure that it didn't happen again. Den

Well I informed my insurance company that I was putting FULL WRC replica graphics on the car. They noted it on the policy & said there was no issues - just the usual crap that if I have an accident they would repair the car to standard & would not replace any graphics damaged. I'm not saying you're wrong m8 but maybe we should get this clarified once & for all as it often comes up in threads - who would we ask? Mr Plod, DVLA, competition licencing, Association of Motor Insurers? Den

Stevie Fook it m8 - put it on a 0% Credit card and then worry about selling your's m8. You only live once. If only it was that easy eh? Den

TBH, I think insurance companies 'try it on' with your initial renewal quote, playing the % game where they hope a certain number of people will just accept the price without question. Both my wife & I are with A-Plan and they tried to take the p1$$ with both of us at renewal time - me last December & my wife in May this year. In both cases they had raised the price ~£100 so, I did a quick 'confused.com' & 'gocompare' search which brought back quotes almost half of the A-Plan prices. Quick phone call on each occasion got the 'oh, don't know how that happened. The renewals Team must have been mistaken'. Funnily enough with a bit of 'coaching' they beat the best price by £10 each time. Did whinge that they had to waive most of their fee but hey, life's a b!tch. So Stephen, defo worth a call m8 - even do a 'confused.com' to hopefully give yourself some ammo for negotiating. If they don't come down take one of the better quotes. Den

well, I thought this was funny and kind of summed up a couple of work related conversations I had today where people just didn't listen or attempt to understand what was being said Den

Premier Inn, Warmington, Banbury ------------------------------------------------ STi Pretender JamesM imy micra_wrc rallyfever colzo StrikE monty4 corsa playsatan empty_heed euan_r scouk cullenmin Mr and Mrs Zeolite sKunk & Bro marky.t.s slidscoob +mrs slidscoob Thefastone + perhaps the missus? s555cub bono270269 Richie JD & Trix NKWRX,Mrs NKWRX, NKWRX Jr JohnnyR6 mctwistuk+the missus Mic Midnight21 lusbot & miss lusbot SCOOBAY Bicester Cherwell Valley Travelodge M40 --------------------------------------------------- Big Gordon Terzo Neil Bogie The ex leper Lainey J10 DLY John Mac Kebab Nemesis Greegsy Scoob Fae Ork + 2 Bobby C MrToad + Son Danuleson crazy people that like to camp -------------------------------------------------- Squiggle Higgy Nanaki ur.a.bus s25yme srpmatt G.Mac (if I can get time off) Andy Mac (G.Mac's older and uglier brother (again if off work)) Little Green Goblin sammy the chamois and tommytcut.- the barbecue chef team wilky (This time I will not leave BBQ utensils in the boot of Subaru Uk's MDs spec D and get my baws kicked!) Joe G Oz *sti* (plus the better half Lynda) Best Western Wroxton House Hotel (Wroxton St Mary, Banbury) --------------------------------------------------- Frenchy Andy Fairlawns Guest House, Oxford Rd, Banbury ---------------------------------------------------- Gus the Bus GT Jcscoob and co xraydave + Mrs scoobykev Si's scoob Frank C + Gus134 Paul + Sandy The George,lower brailes Banbury --------------------------------------------------- scooby222 scooba whitey Traveling part of the way --------------------------------------------------- scoobysailor superstar_tradesman uplands, Upton nr Banbury --------------------------------------------------- razzle Holiday Inn Express Banbury --------------------------------------------------- Kecky Big Den & Mrs Big Den

Hmmnn - Pussy driving & tw@t, those two terms fit in well wi the tweed jacket look you took up recently ya dobber!! Den

That'll be to cover the increase in Road Tax plus an environmental tax (aka get it up the motorist) Bitter - not me!! Den

He even managed a couple of 'Scandinavian flicks' on a couple of the tighter corners - amazing stuff!!!

I'm liking the look with the Lamp pod on the rally cars but not sure if it would work on a road car. ie fitting, quick removal for summer/daylight and uprated battery/alternator considerations - maybe someone can comment? Anyway back on topic - to be honest I haven't seen that many Hawkeyes around with the SWRT graphics and I have kept mine on longer than I thought I might (10 months so far)........ but, I guess if you want a change John and not to put the same on the car again then it's your car m8 so you have to go with your instincts of what you can live with. Den

Did ye no have yer new Tweed Jacket on and luminous anorak?? Den

fpmsl! Oh ma sides! Den

The whole Road Tax thing is a bag o sh1rte IMHO. Not many of us do high mileage in our Scoobs but we are classed up beside the 'school run' 4x4's for Road Tax. There are loads of 'mondeo men' doing 60K+ miles per year and they (ok - their companies) won't be paying the higher band road tax - that's just not fair. Does not take a genius to work out who contributes the most C02 emmissions. Until the big car using Countries - USA, China (getting there) take the same type of action, the UK's efforts are gonna be like fartin against the wind. This is one argument for a road usage / mileage type charge INSTEAD of road tax. We also need a 'run over a green campaigner day' - bloody do gooding, veggie eating, tweed jacket wearing, peely wally gits!!! No offence to run of the mill veggies or council employees who wear tweed jackets as part of the expected council look, intended Another thing while I'm on the soap box: road tax is supposed to fund road repairs & maintenance, my ar$e. I've seen forest tracks after the Scottish Rally has been through them for a Rally stage in better condition than some roads in Stirlingshire & the Glasgow area. We just keep getting screwed in this Country!!!!! Den

If John has the same type of harnesses as I have i.e. removable if you want to use the rear seats, then they use the rear seat belt anchor points. I also had to replace the front seatbelt anchor bolts with eye bolts for anchoring the lap belt. Den

Another vote for Hypertech. Made a big difference to my Hawkeye Den

Hi I started a thread about 'fast road settings' the other week after having them changed @ Hypertech. Someone asked the same question about the settings and I said: "not 100% sure but I think the fast road was negative 1 degree on the front (however, they could only get mine to go negative 0.55 degrees - MY07 STI) but it has still made a difference." When I arrived @ Hypertech, I had -0.17 on the OSF and +0.2 on the NSF No wonder I was understeering on Right Hand bends!! http://forums.sidc.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=108867&st=0 - if you want to check it out Cheers Den

done aswell - thanks for the info

Hypertech are in Bonnybridge Tel. No. 01324 812212 Den

Wear on the outside edge was what I got on previous Sti's with the standard settings. You can also see a bit of 'feathering' across the tread. So this time I decided to get the geometry set-up with Fast Road settings. Not done a lot of miles so far but I can say it definitely seems to have cured my understeer and the car is cornering a lot better (not surprising really as I had slight negative camber on the OSF and positive camber on the NSF ) I understand that you may get some wear on the inside edge of the front tyres with the fast road settings though. not 100% sure but I think the fast road was negative 1 degree on the front (however, they could only get mine to go negative 0.55 degrees - MY07 STI) but it has still made a difference. No idea and apparently the tolerance on the 'standard' factory settings is quite wide aswell. You would probably be better waiting and getting the geometry done whe nyou get the springs fitted IMHO Cheers Den

I did a search for previous posts about the geometry before I eventually went to Hypertech. From what I read it seems that 'Fast Road' & 'Group N' settings may be the same or very close. The previous posts also commented that the Prodrive settings can give/enhance the tramlining effect on our wonderful UK roads and was perhaps more suited to track days. Early days but so far am liking the 'Fast Road' settings!! Den

No worries - it was £55 incl. the vat and took about 1.5 hours. I've not done that many miles since the settings were done but, I think it is definitely worth doing this to a standard car - my STi was still standard and I did not want to wear the outside of the front tyres like I have done with my last couple of STi's. I noticed an immediate difference - the car just feels more 'connected' to the road especially on the 'twisties.' There are other threads aswell where others have had this done and noticed the improvement. Den