johns

Non member have indeed completely sold out, and there's only a few members slots left John

Options 1 and 3 for me please, though I'll need to double check the diary for the 6th.

Jools, I've got some fine plastic polish that I used to remove very fine stonechips from my headlamps. Won't remove anything that's big enough to feel with your fingernail, but makes them look OK at anything but close inspection. I suppose you could try something more abrasive like rubbing compound to start with, and then use progressively finer polishes. I'll pop around to your house with the stuff I have at the weekend if you want ? John

I found them fantastic during the summer months, but changed them for F1s in November when the temps dropped and the roads got almost permanently wet. They have firm sidewalls, so give tremendous feedback to the driver - you know exactly what the tyres are doing. Levels of grip once they get warmed up are superb. On the roads you don't really need any more grip than they offer otherwise you are doing lunatic speeds around the corners. I found the wear on them OK. Mine are probably half worn after about 5k miles on them, but that did include a few track sessions. I'd probably expect to get about 12k miles out of a set, compared to say 14k for F1s or Toyos. There are a couple of downsides with them: 1) With the big tread blocks they are noisier than F1s, but not that much noisier than the OEM Bridgestones. 2) The ride is firmer with them due to the firm sidewalls 3) Again due to the firmer sidewalls, they do tramline a bit more on uneven surfaces, especailly under braking. 4) the ABS can kick in earlier on wet roads on broken/very uneven surfaces. At the end of the day, it's all a matter of compromise, and I'm more than happy to run my F1s during the winter months (would be ideal if I had winter tyres for the snow/ice), and the RE-070s during the summer months. That way I get the very best performance for the conditions, and am not running a compromise tyre for 6 months of the year. John

Go for it. You can always consider it a temporary refuge until something better comes up.

I'll be there as always Jools should be home , and will probably come along for the distribution of Millers Octane Booster etc. John

Jools will be collecting this order later today. Assume that everyone still wants their quoted amounts. John

Cal, if you have joined on-line, then you can sign up just now at the cheaper rates. We check the membership database a week or two before the event. Cheers John

Tea and buns as well Grant Keep up the excellent work. John

OK, date and costs confirmed as follows: SIDC members: £50 non-SIDC members : £57 Will be in the club shop soon. Please book up quickly, as demand for the first track event of the year is always high! John

Saturday 5th March from 1pm to 5pm (not an early start this time ). Costs not confirmed yet, as KH have substantially increased insurance premiums to pay this year, but hoping to be about £50 for SIDC members (special winter rates), and about £57 - £60 for non-members. Will hopefully be able to confirm the date and prices within the next couple of days, so keep your diary clear! Cheers John

I'm pleased to announce that we've had 3 acceptances for the role of Regional Organisers across Scotland, with another just waiting for a reply Del Robertson/SCOOBAY will be the Ayrshire Regional Organiser Scott Armour/Spooks will be the Edinburgh/Lothian Regional Organiser Jamie Wood/H1 5OOB will be the Central Scotland Regional Organiser. I'm sure you'll give them all a warm welcome to their new roles, and give them plenty of ideas for events to organise for the coming year(s). Looks like it's going to be a great year ahead John

I'm pleased to announce the Del/SCOOBAY has accepted the role of Ayrshire Regional Organiser John

100+ would be an instant ban of at least a month, and a hefty fine to go with it There's probably enough ambient light from streetlights etc for the car reg to appear clearly on the photograph. Even the cheapest of camcorders these days have a night setting which allows you to film in very poor light conditions.

Jamie, just waiting on dates from Knockhill, hoping to get a date in March booked up. We've also got the monthly Aberdeen meeting. Traditionally, we would have a Perth meet around the end of Jan (not done for the past few years). We tend not to plan too many events in the first two months of the year, as a) People are skint after Xmas/New Year etc The weather is very unpredictable, meaning people are reuluctant to travel long distances is the weather is going to be crap. ROs - we're discussing this at the moment, and should have everything finalised later this week John

Mental weather conditions! Glad everyone is OK offshore. John

Well done Cal. I've got some news for you. I used to see that car most days driving to and from work around the BoD/Dyce area. Always kept very clean, and always driven by a young lady, who I guess was the wife/girlfriend of the owner if he worked offshore (assuming she wasn't the owner). Looks like you could have a good buy there! Look forward to seeing you at lots of events from now on John

Iain, yes the headlights would fit, but it's not a direct swap, as there's some electrical work to be done. I think your headlights have one conector for the headlamp adjustment, and the STi ones have two. Nothing too difficult for an auto electrician, but it's not a straight forward plug and play replacement. Jools may be able to offer more info, as the headlamps he has just now (Prodrive UK300 ones) were designed for the standard bug-eye model. Cheers John

Yes it's on tonight. Hopefully see quite a few of you there Cheers John

Sorry, wasn't ignoring you, just waiting to hear back from KH. I have asked for a date in March, but the whole racing programme has been upset by the re-introduction of the F1 race at Silverstone, and hence they can't give me any confirmed dates at the moment, not even provisional ones! I'll let everyone know as soon as I hear back from them. I didn't want to say "Yes, we've booked a slot please come up", only for KH to say later it's a different date by which time people have booked accomodation etc. Cheers John

Just a reminder about the Aberdeen monthly meeting, which as usual takes place on the first Tuesday of every month at the Old Mill Inn near Peterculter on the South Deeside Road from 7:30pm onwards. All welcome, and hope to see a few of you there tonight. John

Stiks, I'd do one of the following: a) stick your two worn tyres on the rear, and even out the wear so you need to replace all 4 tyres at once. I'd still be tempted to buy the 4 new tyres just now though at a good price. buy the 4 new tyres, and fit them as a matched set, keeping the worn ones for track use etc. If I was to fit only two tyres, then I'd fit the newer ones to the rear of the car, as it would be potentially more dangerous to have sticky ones at the front, and less grippy ones at the rear, especially in the wet. I have heard of people having accidents in the situation where the front has a lot more grip in certain circumstances than the rear. John

These tyres will cost you £180 each inc VAT (but not delivery) from Powerstation! I know, because I phoned up to ask about buying a set.

Why not get a second hand seat from a breakers, and simply swap the covers over. They should all have zips in the headrest bit, and it's a relatively straight forward job to remove and then replace again. Probably cheaper (and better than parting with your car for a while) than getting it repaired. John

How about a half chewed toffee caramel sweet ? John PS That's what's brown and sticky, and not an offer for the tyres