Special K

Yep. IE = 'Interface Excrement". ' CHROME - "Catch Herpes? Rubbish! Oh! My (gonads) Exploded . ." Why are you defending the indefensible, Rob? It does NOT display what the old Forum showed. Because you've gone 64-bit interface/Windows10/whatever . . It is garbage. On my viewer (Firefox) It faces as a bulletin board. It is unrepresentative (look at Ian's links, all of which display perfectly on my viewer but our Forum doesn't - why?) Lose the Forum plot in favour of the savvy techies? Okay, it's up to you and the directors. Grumpy Old Git

I am impressed, Nige . . .. the Samsonas is as Adrian's, so no dramas there - are you doing your own gearbox mount, or buying in? But ... dry sumping? . . this is unknown territory. A huge (and unjustified) risk, in my opinion - you have no control over any element of the build and nothing is adjustable. There is no data on GT86 UK track/road use that qualifies this is safe - if it fails you don't just blow the engine, you WILL dump 7 litres of oil . . and with your current install program you will be scalded by seriously hot engine oil, lose control and cause a problem. I can see no clear idea from you on catch tank/oil-water separation in your installation and, having reviewed the weblinks you provided, I would have safety/practical issues on this. With respect to your efforts to date they have focussed on chassis issues - you are not an engine/trans/race development specialist and this, in my mind, is a mega -step too far . . Don't wanna curb your development ideas. But I could be the poor sod following you at TSS / Time Attack next year when you dump a shedload of oil when a hose blows at 12Bar . . and costs someone their life. Reflect, please . . this turns fun into fear. Spec K

Phones are a verbal interface, tablets are for curing infections, pc stands for 'political correctness', a phrase that has lost its purpose (rather like this Forum upgrade) If you like Facebook (a.k.a. washing your jockstrap in public) you'll love this new-look Forum. Needless to say, I don't - it is truncated and distilled down to an unrepresentative snapshot - like the front page of a newspaper with a big-breasted woman as its only 'gotcha' . . literally a mouth on display without teeth. What next? - will we be forced to adopt Twitterspeak ? Grumpy Old Git

You're savvy. Others are not, and I am numero uno of the 'clueless' pack. One of the worst 'forum' facepages on the net, in my opinion . . worse than the dark side (now) by a Wales/England score. Unfriendly in design, layout and displayed content. Spec K

Yes. And now I understand why . . Spec K

Rob - I tried to add the Autosport Show / Snetterton / other events to the Club Calendar and was refused permission.. is this a 'default' setting ? Should all events go through you? Spec K

Yes. But I don't use my full armoury on the road, as it frightens cattle and causes gerbils within a 2-mile radius to spontaneously abort . . It perplexes me that a carbon fibre boot kit is a magnet for every d*ckhead Golf GTI/BMW M to take it on. They cream past you doing 100mph on the motorway 'cos they wanna willy-wave. I snick it down into 4th at 77mph and boot it, I'm up their chuff in less than three seconds, flash my headlights, they boot it further, I snick into 5th and overtake on their inside doing 134mph. As I overtake I give it the ".. Bum's Rush.." - change back down to 4th and bullet it at 6800rpm - (.. NOT !..) Works on Ferraris. Astons. Lambos. Especially Maseratis (they *HATE* it) . . "They don't like it up 'em. Mr. Manwairing.." Take care back from the studio. May the force be with you. (Not on your tail) Spec K

One day a father, on his way home from work, remembered it was his daughter's birthday. He stops at a toy store and asked the sales person - " How much for one of those Barbies in the display window?" The saleseperson replies - " Which one do you mean, Sir? Work-Out Barbie is £19.95, Shopping Barbie is £19.95, Beach Barbie is £19.95, Disco Barbie is £19.95, Astronaut Barbie is £19.95, Skater Barbie is £19.95 and Divorced Barbie is £249.95 " The amazed father asks - "It's what? Why is the Divorced Barbie £249.95 and the others only £19.95 ?" The slightly miffed salesgirl rolls her eyes, sighs and answers - "Sir, Divorced Barbie comes with Ken's House, Ken's Truck, Ken's Fishing Boat, Ken's Furniture, Ken's Dog, Ken's Computer and one of Ken's Friends" Spec K

I will be there but cannot stay for lunch, alas . . if anyone wants a passenger experience in a 280bhp GT86 feels like we can give it a try . Spec K

My Dad, Eric, died at 6.00am this morning, aged 93. He was a skilled mechanic, having served an apprenticeship in my Grandad's garage (which was on the Army & Navy Roundabout, Chelmsford) and as a Chieftan tank fitter/instructor based at Cark-in-Carnforth in Cumbria during World War 2 - he taught the Prince of Wales (later King George) to drive. So, when I decided to buy a second-hand 750F car in 1969 I turned to him to prepare it for me - which he did with considerable skill, particularly when it came to polishing and porting the head (this was in the days when the sidevalve 750cc engine was being superceded by the 600cc Reliant alloy lump) I came second in class at the first Championship round - Cadwell Park - in April 1970. 31 May 1970 saw us (Dad, Mom, new missus and me) at Snetterton, which I won and set a new lap record. My Dad and me were over the moon, as you can appreciate, so we decided we would celebrate on the way home and we stopped at a highly prestigious hotel for dinner- The Bull at Long Melford. Us four greasy spoons in a sea of upper class tranquility . . . until we decided that, as a finale, Eric and I would enjoy crepe suzette, cooked at the tableside. With a little encouragement (err, a lot actually . .) the Maitre D'Hotel was exuberant with the brandy and, when he 'flamed' it the conflagration hit the ceiling, and set off the sprinklers... ... The restaurant guests got soaked, the hotel was evacuated . . . Eric and I couldn't stop laughing.... it still creases me up when I remember it now . . ... happy days . . Spec K

Always look on the bright side of life... FFS - would someone like to show me the portal..? If you wanna bet on a certainty it'll be one of my cats being run over tomorrow . . Spec K

This has been a 'septimana horribilis' . . . Following my Dad's death.... our freezer blew its fuse and we've lost the whole lot, we were so tied up with family stuff we didn't notice... then Mother-In-Law fell down at home on Wednesday and is now in Emeregency Care at Broomfield Hospital, not likely to be let out.. Hmmm. I think I'll forego tomorrow's sky-diving trip... Spec K

Thanks for indulging me in my moment of reminiscence . Yes, we were prepared for it, as he was diagnosed with mitral stenosis (failing heart) on top of his blindness, lung disfunction and failing kidneys three weeks ago and has been on an 18-hour daily oxygen regime since discharge (there's no way they will dream of a heart valve replacement at that age). His GP was ready to hook him up to the 'driver' of happy juice (morphine and valium - float away) three days ago but Eric told him to fsck off . . what a grumpy old sod . . Went over to his home today, saw Mum (Mags) and my two brother were there, Noel having flown in from Portugal this morning. Said my goodbyes just before the undertakers turned up. We've agreed that the funeral will be after next Saturday week (10th) as my daughter is getting married on that day. It's one of the reasons I didn't make Blyton on Sunday . . but I'm sure as hell gonna go for Cadwell. Spec K

Yes you can. And mine still passed the exhaust emission test, without front cats. However, this was a high-spec 200CEL version from Germany, dunno if a cheapo version will do the same . . Spec K

Nigel, when you say "... selling up..." you don't mean the whole project, do you? Spec K

Lee, that is a lot of damage. Are you 'hand on heart' that you didn't run over a tree stump at Croft... ??? Spec K

Comparing to the Michelins they wear faster, particularly on the front outer edges (as you would expect with fairly heavy track use). Undoubtedly they are a softer compound and I adjust tyre pressures for road or track. I've just changed to a particularly aggressive negative camber combination to mitigate understeer, which is now an issue with the power I'm producing and the rear wing downforce. My preferred solution (Seibon carbon fibre splitter) is no longer available and I don't want to play with rollbars. The few miles I've driven in the car ( 3.25neg front, 2neg rears) give an incredible 'pointy' feel to it. However, the downside is that wear rate will escalate - I can live with that, £500 to do 10k-12k miles is acceptable. Spec K

Dan - they are good, if you're happy with them stay with them. I've used F1 Eagles, Pilot Super Sports and Conti Contact 5's. In dry conditions they are barely discernible but in wet/superwet mode the Contac 5's are superb. (Admit, this is on 17" rims) Rob275 is trying the Dunlop Maxii I believe - I'm waiting for his feedback before my next purchase. Spec K

Hi Jay, good to hear from you.. I have a new box - built by SSP in the State and shipped over - it's the one in the car at present and is the one that Fensport are modifying. The previous box (that burned out at Woodbridge) is back with SSP. I also have a third autobox which I bought s/hand as a spare 12 months ago . . Spec K

Concurrence . . both hands on the wheels, irrespective of the vehicle, are for . . . err, steering? As with using a mobile phone - there will come a time when the touchy-feely brigade focus on pudding-stirrers and recognise your purity puts others at risk. . . it is only a matter of time before a manual gearchange will be accused of costing lives. I would not be surprised if the Glasgow bin lorry driver's defence does not claim that he was provided with an 'inferior vehicle'. Spec K

Why? Spec K

No - I don't think I stated the MX5 cannot be a 'competitive car' or 'enhanced'. Put a blonde wig on it (enhancement) and I'm sure it will appeal to someone . . I'm not into an argument, merely a discussion. The GT86 was unashamadly launched as a 'platform' for further enhancement. Now the Toyobaru brigade have everything from chrome bulbs to V8 engine conversions. Can the MX2/3/4/5 devotees claim the same in-depth interest and development? In three years the GT86/BRZ has developed 17,000 (my Google search) add-ons. The MX clones, in five years (my Google search) pumps to 12,000 hits. Please, Deacon - try it 'cos I'm useless at this stuff and my search parameters - (MX5 hairdresser car) - may have given misleading results . . Homework is for my grandchildren. They come to me for answers (except on internet stuff). And, if I don't know the answer then Pitman and Nige32 are unfailing . . Spec K

Nige - I think it was the Irish TWATBCS team - ".. Tosh worrying about the bonnet catch,Seamus.." ... but I could be wrong . . Spec K