johns

Craig, where did you get your Nokians from, and how much ? Probably looking for a set myself this winter. John

The tyres won't fit on a classic Impreza, but the wheels will. If anyone doesn't want the tyres, then I can possibly do a deal to just buy the 4 tyres. I've already got two sets of wheels and don't have space for more. John

Our Scottish Elise friends have organised an Xmas karting event at Raceland on Saturday 17th December, at 3pm to which we are all invited It's a grand prix style event for 32 drivers. Cost is the usual £47.50 per driver. Deposits of £25 per driver are payable now (though it's easiest if you just pay the full amount) to confirm your place. Make cheques out to Stuart Pollock and send to: Stuart Pollock Unit 3 Abbotsford Rise Dedridge Livingston EH54 6QD You can contact Stuart by email on pollockprecision@aol.com for more details There's a planned sit-down meal afterwards at a nearby Chinese restaurant also that everyone (plus partners) are welcome to attend. Should be a great pre-Xmas afternoon out John PS Places are limited (only about 10 remaining at the moment) as some companies are using this as their Xmas afternoon out and have booked a few slots!.

Glad to hear you all enjoyed Sunday's run. I just wish I had the time to come along given that it's a relatively short drive for me to Glenshee etc. There are some really cracking roads up in the North West, basically from the North of Fort William you can't really go much wrong. I've got loads of routes worked out for this area from the Tour d'Ecosse runs we did from 98 to 01/02. There are a variety of routes possible which can all start in the same place, finish in the same place, but there are lots of options for those who want to do a longer/faster route, and options for those who want more photo/coffee stops etc. I'm more than happy to help out with runs in this area in any way I can, as I do know many of the roads very well One thing to be aware of though, is that from about June - August inclusive, you gets loads of tourists driving on the single track roads. Italian camper vans are the worst, as they nevr pull over to let you past, and you can spend 30 minutes or longer stuck in a slow moving queue behind a mobile chicane with no hope of getting past. We've found that it's best to plan a good long run outwith this time for this reason (it also misses the peak midgie season, and some of you will know that they are wild up there!!) Fuel isn't quite as bad a problem as you think. You can fuel up at Fort William (Esso SUL), and if you phone ahead, you can ensure that the Shell station in Ulllapool will have sufficient stocks of Optimax in for us. One year, we even managed to persuade the Shell station at Ballachullish to stock SUL especially for us. They cleaned out an existing tank, and filled it with SUL Did confuse some of the locals, who objected to paying 90p/litre for fuel from their "normal" pump, when NUL was about 75p/litre. John

Jools, fully understand your situation, and sorry to see you give up the slot. Will be great to see the cara again next year after the TLC Ken - welcome on board John

Hi Eddie, we have a new version of forum software coming in the next month or so, which will enable us to create sub-forums for each section. That way relevant topics can be created in the correct place to start with John

Sent you one by email. Got a few others in original high res (2Mb) format that I can also send if you want.

I think it's a superb looking car. Full credit to Dan for keeping the mods subtle and very effective. I've always been a big fan of the Terzo myself, and actually used to own this particular fine example for about the first 4 years of it's life Would love to see it again in the flesh at some point. John

It might carry on for an hour or two if it has a built in battery backup, but it will get progressivly quieter as it dies down. Might be worth disconnecting the battery, and then wrapping the alarm in a few towels to keep the noise levels to an acceptable level. John

bttt for an excellent and well run concept. Keep up the superb work guys. John

I'm wondering what effect only connecting those devices to the front wheels had on power readings ?

Interested

I was in AlanG's cvar when he had that moment . Much respect for Alan for trying to use all that power in the conditions, and excellent driving when it did get out of shape. Didn't look or feel as dramatic from inside the car - it all felt very controlled (and extremely fast and powerful!). John

Marc, yes tried Roti's, but not the doubles as there wasn't a stall nearby. Fed up of the food in TGIs - ate there most lunchtimes. Would love to see more of the Island, but not sure if I'll be back again... John

Some of the cars I saw were hilarious. Think of early 70s Japanese cars, which have done several hundred thousand miles, with chrome spinner wheels, huge exhaust (most looked home made), add on spoilers, DIY paint scheme, peeling window tints etc. Most cars seemed to be modified in some way or other. Driving - there are no observed speed limits or driving standards. Just choose whatever lane you like, and weave in and out of slower traffic to make progress, even if it means you end up a right turn only lane when going straight on at the lights. Pull out slowly into fast moving traffic without regard to whether the oncoming cars can stop quickly enough. We saw three tailgating accidents in one 20 minute taxi ride to the airport, so I guess most brakes aren't up to their drivers egos. Taxis - we were only using "proper" taxis, mostly older American cars. One was 28 years old and had done over 600k miles. You can imagine how well the suspension coped with the roads Food was good, weather was warm, rained every day though, most of the locals we met were very friendly. I was stuck in Port of Spain all the time though, so didn't get the chance to get out and view the rest of the Island.

Marc, didn't know you knew people out there, otherwise I would have been in touch. Back home safely now There have been about 320 murders this year according to the local newspapers, and monthly bombings in the past few months. Earthquakes were "interesting". It seems like the place has a lot of potential, but has lots of issues with politics, religion etc. They could also do with investing some of their income from Oil and Gas into better things such as roads etc. John

Complaining - it's not a place I would recommend anyone to go to. Tobago is apparently fantastic, but downtown Port of Spain is apparently on a par with parts of Nigeria for crime etc. Been here two weeks, and had 8 murders, 1 bomb attack and 3 earthquakes!

Just to let everyone know, I'm still out in Trinidad. Was due to fly home last night, but the airline canclled the flight 10 minutes before it was due to depart. Now got internet access again courtesy of the hotel, but still unable to read/reply to emails etc due to the settings on my works laptop... Will try to play catchup with everything that's been happening over the past few weeks later this week, so apologies if you have sent me an email but not had a reply yet! John

Interesting at the limits, not the most progressive tyre in the wet. In the dry, they grip very well and keep on gripping and are progressive at the limit. Almost the ideal dry weather tyre In the wet, they let go quite early, and aren't very progressive. I find that due to the firm sidewalls, the ABS also kicks in quite early over rough surfaces in the wet, particularly when cold. Not the best of tyres for the Scottish winter season. John

8th suits me just fine, assuming I can get off this Island on time!

I would do this no problem, but I'm on a red-eye flight on Sunday morning and away for a couple of weeks with work so it would be better iof someone else could take it up. John

We don't have a reserve list at the moment - still a few spaces left. We can offer you a full credit towards future events next year if it's easier, or you can sell your slot on the forums to someone else. Can't access my works email at the moment due to firewall issues. Cheers John

Jamie, I've got a set you could borow for a while. Could probably get them along to KH on Saturday if you wanted ? Need to contact Numptie who is looking after them for me until I clear some space in my garage John

There's two up for grabs in the competition at the insude back page of True Grip! Get your entries in quick!! John

Next Sunday event will probably be next year. Traditionally, we've tried to run events on a Saturday, as many people can't make a Sunday due to family commitments. Plus there's the problem of getting people out of their bed for an 8am arrival on a Sunday morning, which can be difficult if they have been out the night before John