bmwhere?

They would appear to be the correct items if you have an Japanese import. For a UK/Euro car, look under "2.0i WRX Turbo GDA/GGA 00 To 06 UK". Probably the same but better to be safe

MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

He's not the only moderator you know In the interest of humour I'll let this one go, but be warned

Its the future

Thanks for the welcome

..but they're a summer tyre! The V tread really helps with wet weather, but when it gets cold they're no better than any other summer tyre!

When I swap between the winter/summer tyres I always put the least worn tyres on the front. So I effectively rotate the tyres every six months or so!

Nothing on mine and nearly 2 years old now! I sometimes here the middle rear seatbelt rattling in the holder in the boot if I don't close the cover, but other than that, there is no major rattles.

I would never EVER mix tyres on an AWD car. As said above, always change tyres at least in pairs. Any difference in rolling diameter can upset the handling and also cause excess wear to the diffs. Also a difference between the front and rear axles can wear the centre diff, so ideally, you should always change all four tyres.

I have a set in my boot as its a legal requirement to carry chains on many of the mountain roads round here but up to now have never had to use them. In fact, in 10 years of living at the foot of the Alps, AWD and winter tyres have always been more than enough despite often heading up mountain passes to ski resorts in very heavy snow storms. So the various sets of chains and socks I've had over the years have generally been as much of a waste of money as the first aid kit and warning triangle I also have to carry! By all accounts, the older socks weren't up to much, but the latest generation are meant to be pretty good. They'll never be as good as a set of chains, but they're close enough to be worth while, and with lowered suspension and alloy wheels, they are much more friendly to your rims and body work than conventional chains. There are several brands of sock out there now, I have "Autosock", which are TÜV approved in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, which means they are accepted as a substitute for chains so that sorts out my legal obligation! If I ever actually have to use them, then I'll give you an update to their usefulness, however don't hold you're breath, it could well be another 10 years without needing them! IMHO, winter tyres are all you need!

I guessing a lot of people will have been convinced to give winter tyres a go this year!

I have Pirelli Sottozeros at the moment and have been very impressed by them. Very quiet and great feel from them in all conditions! Have previously driven Vredstein Wintrac's, Michelin Pilot Alpin's and Dunlop Winter Sport's. Vredsteins were excellent on a classic & RB5, wasn't overly impressed with the Michelin's on the 03 STi, Dunlops were a big improvement over the Michelin's.

Classics are generally better in the snow because they generally have thinner tyres! Tyres are the secret to traction in snow, thinner tyres on smaller rims are a big advantage. Add to that the rubber compound and tread pattern of winter tyres and you're laughing!

DCCD is definitely better in the snow and ice. If you have very little traction, then locking the centre diff really helps. Generally when there is low grip, being able to send more torque to the front makes a massive difference!

I have V rated Winter tyres (Currently Pirelli Sottozero). They're not as good on snow as a lower speed rated tyre, but given most of the winter is not on snow covered roads, I'd say overall they perform better on a Scooby. You really don't want to be running them over the summer. Probably best to swap them over around the end of March/beginning April. I've run various Winter tyres for the last 10 years, would never go back to driving summer tyres in the Winter. Just remember every tyre still has its limits. Just because they work much better in the snow, it doesn't make you invincible Good on you for changing now if only the rest of the UK would see the light

You know the steering wheel moves up and down right?

Lol, that's pretty bad! What I really don't get though, is why someone would use a limited edition WR1 as a donor car for such a project. There is nothing WR1 left about it apart from a dash of Ice Blue paint under the bonnet. If you're going to mod a car, mod a standard one, not a limited edition!

That is true at the moment because we don't currently have the renewable energy available in the production of new renewable sources. The more renewable energy sources we have online, then the less non renewable energy is used in the production and the saving margins increase exponentially!

Don't think that its just the UK that has green taxes! Sure the UK is pretty heavy on green taxes, but then they're pretty light in other areas! Here in Germany I'm paying around 45% income tax, and that's the basic rate for a single man, not a high earning tax bracket! Fuel tax and road tax are also escalating here, I'm just grateful they're still a bit cheaper than the UK, but in the end I'm probably paying more tax than I would in the UK! In the end, the government needs to balance the books, which means taxing the people. If they don't levy the green taxes, they'll be raising other taxes, however they do it, you're going to pay the same tax and you're not going to like it! As scoobnoob points out, saving energy and burning less fossil fuels is really not a bad thing and if green taxes can help to change peoples attitudes so they start saving energy or become more accepting of renewable energy, then surely indirect green taxes are a better way than direct income tax! If you want to save some tax, you can become more energy efficient and be much better off, otherwise you can keep consuming and pay the price! I don't see why people have to be on one side or the other. Personally I'm pretty sure that global warming is not or very little to do with us humans, although I'm not completely closed to the possibility although from what I can see, deforestation and methane production are the most likely causes and CO2 is largely irrelevant. One thing I'm certainly not against is being more energy efficient. I'm not prepared to give up my Scooby just yet and am willing to pay the price for keeping it, I do however compensate with saving energy in other areas of my life.

Why take a train or plane when you can drive there

We had a surprise 3" dump yesterday evening with a particularly slippery kind of snow! Was hilarious watching all the RWD BMW's still with summer tyres trying to get home

Make sure you find a desert island with a big enough hill to avoid the sea level rises

I don't use those crappy florescent ones that you can't dim! Halogen all the way, doesn't save quite as much energy, but still bright enough and no health issues and you can dim them!

That pretty much summarises my point of view, but I just got shot down for not being on the right "side"! Personally, I'm not on any side, I'll draw my own conclusions from the information available and my current thinking is inconclusive on either side of the argument! However in the lack of any decisive proof on either side, I would say its better to take the side of caution because if the pro-global warmers are right, then its going to be too late. What is clear is deforestation (not just the rainforest) is a really big problem and is really not good for the planet, the environment or the wildlife, yet seemingly nothing is being done about this massive problem while the governments of the world target the easy 'problems' such as cars which ultimately will make little difference, but at least they are seen to be doing something! Needless to say, I'll keep driving my 2.5l STi, but I'm happy to use energy saving light bulbs and actively boycott any products that I associate with deforestation!

Climate change is a really tough argument, but I have to agree we do seem to be being seriously mislead by the government and media while more serious climate issues are seemingly ignored. It is however important to keep a balanced view, rather than being extreme on either side. 1) There IS strong evidence to suggest that human activity is affecting the climate, be it in the current warming phase or the cooling phase seen in the 3rd quarter of the 20th century. 2) Saving energy and finding renewable sources of energy isn't necessarily a bad thing. We all consume way more energy than we really need to (particularly the Americans), so be it driving a more efficient car, using energy saving light bulbs, not leaving the TV in standby or building more energy efficient homes, we can all do our little bit for the planet and its all good. In this respect, current government policy is probably a good thing, although ultimately will have little effect in the grand scheme of things, although that doesn't mean we shouldn't do everything we can! 3) While its always been clear to me that the IPCC massage the data to suit their political goals, you also have to consider the people other side of the fence who have stolen these emails will also only be releasing snippets of the emails taken completely out of context in order to suit their anti-global warming objectives. Balance both sides of the argument and you'll probably find the truth is in the middle! 4) Electric vehicles or electric hybrid vehicles are really not the answer. The environmental cost of producing the batteries required is more damaging to the environment as a whole than the savings in CO2 they yeald! The best alternative fuel available is hydrogen and governments and car companies would be better off investing in hydrogen production technology than wasting their time on electric cars! 5) Any savings we can make in our own private lives are largely irrelevant in comparison with the much greater causes, such as deforestation and shipping, that are currently being largely ignored by the governments of the world. 6) Deforestation is probably the biggest issue in the global warming problem. Partly because the deforestation process itself is responsible for around 17% of the human produced CO2, 10% of which is from just burning the unwanted trees! On the flip side, we need the trees to soak up all the CO2, so be destroying the trees we're also reducing the planets ability to handle all that CO2, this is the real reason why CO2 levels are rising so rapidly! Some of the main causes of deforestation are soya production, bio fuels, beef farming and believe it or not, bottled water! So next time your chewing on your South American steak, or soya based Veggie Burger while sipping on some cheap Indonesian bottled water, or driving to the shops in your bio-diesel fuelled e-car, remember you're contributing to the biggest cause of global warming!