Neimad

That's right, Optimax is being canned! But don't panic because it's being replaced by V-Power -- another Shell brand that's more commonly used in Europe. Rumour has it that they will be upping the octane level to 99, and most likely the price to boot. Details should be confirmed in the coming weeks when leaflets will start appearing in your local Shell station, so keep your eyes out!

Looks like you had a brilliant time. Lee's been telling me some of the things you all got up to -- sounds like it was nothing if not interesting! I hope Lenny got chance to tell some more of his stories too! And a couple of those photos look a bit 'crikey', Bazza ;) Apart from the all night drinking, I'm actually quite sad I missed out this time... I'll certainly be interested in joining you again next year -- hopefully in some German metal too :D

Taken when it was nice an warmed up. Its a bit quieter when its cold. The choking was Neimad, think the fumes got to him a bit. Its his own fault for not using zoom :) Now you tell me... :winky:

Next year? Hmmm... I'm listening... :D

What? Sorry I can't hear you... must be the sound of the two solid-state rocket motors strapped to the back of your car! :P If I were you and you're seriously interested in going twin exit, I'd reduce the size of each pipe. But then that's me...

Sorry... but there wern't any replies when I started mine... don't mean to step on anyones toes...

I don't believe there will be an Altezza this time round. Previously, Toyota had sold Lexus models in Japan under their own brand, leaving the Lexus brand for Europe and the USA. These days though, Lexus have enough brand image that Toyota didn't feel it necessary to market them as Toyotas in Japan, and hence all new Lexus are that and that alone -- they aren't sold under any other name or brand anywhere. At least that's what I believe to be the case... please correct me if I'm wrong.

Technically this is the second one I've purchased, although hopefully I might actually see this one... I won't go in to details, but the moral of the story is never to buy a car off the internet. The car is a new Mk5 VW Golf GTI, and as to it being fast; I'll just let Lee recite his favourite piece on how it's FWD and hence not a real car, and then leave him for dead at a set of traffic lights... :P

Thanks everyone... I was doing my best to try and forget about this one... the big 2-5, but it just wasn't going to happen. :) I have to say though; I don't feel particularly middle-aged yet, although maybe that's reserved for being 26, hey Lee :P

I'll have to sit this one out I'm afraid. I've got tickets to V and a number of other things to do around that week/end. Shame, would have been nice to go out again, even if just for the company and the laughs! Hope you all have a great time though, catch you next time...

And you were complaining that I didn't get enough pictures of your car?! Had a fantastic day, thanks to everyone -- especially the organisers, but also Lee for letting me drive his car for a few laps (hope there's no lasting damage!), Zee for taking me out in his car, and the weather for not putting on its normal Bank Holiday raincoat. Nice to meet some new (to me) faces, and some old ones too. Hope to see you again sometime... Damien

Hope you have a good one, Raz :)

You know, if you get two stickers every time you go, your car'll be covered in them in a few years time! :P Seriously though, looks good so far. Guess we'll have to see if they still look good when you're sitting in a gravel trap at Bruntingthorpe on Sunday... ;) if its in the gravel trap, then it won't be me thats put it there :winky: I never said it would be

You know, if you get two stickers every time you go, your car'll be covered in them in a few years time! :P Seriously though, looks good so far. Guess we'll have to see if they still look good when you're sitting in a gravel trap at Bruntingthorpe on Sunday... ;)

excellent i love the dialogue "its scarey" "fast car, fast car" "i cant overtake a motor bike" "one minute twelve fifty seven" one thing though ....why oh why did you miss out the karasoul , thats the best bit :o Okay, in my defense I had only just recovered my phone from the footwell (that's why the camera was so interested in his dashboard at a couple of points towards the end of the lap) and ... erm... I'm not good with numbers. One minute twelve fifty seven... I'll never live that down. Oh, and I managed to top it off a few days later by deleting his laptime from my mobile whilst we were sitting in the pub showing another friend the lap. D'oh!

I'm just going through the photos Lee and me took whilst over there... we've got a helluva lot -- some are absolutely cracking, some aren't -- they could have been very cool had they been in focus :( Just looking through the last day or so of images and this one leaped out at me... No doubt there'll be more to come... :)

It was a seriously quality weekend with some very memorable moments :) Thanks to everyone for making it such a good trip. It was great to meet you all and it turned out to be a highly entertaining, not to mention enjoyable road-trip. I honestly can't express my gratitude to you all enough, so I'll just say thanks again, and let's just hope I can make next year too ;) P.S. You got some seriously good photos there, Jason -- thanks for posting them!

Took me a while to understand this too, Neimad was telling me how it would work. Something about geting into a higher gear quicker, cutting down consumption. All I know is that the supercharger now has no affect on my fuel economy. ... Only just caught this :) It works because the charger is shoving more air into your engine lower down the rev range, so although the extra air requires extra fuel, you shouldn't need to hang on to the gear for anywhere near as long due to the improved torque output. Daily driving can be done inside 3.5k RPM whilst still making good progress, meaning less fuel would be expended than if you'd have changed up at 5-6k RPM. Superchargers are also generally less efficient further up the rev range too -- unless you opt for a bigger charger, which negates the low-down boost you'd normally get, and which on a car like the IS is far more useful since that's where its own torque curve is lacking.

The law states that speedometers should have a tolerence of between -0.0% and +10.0% I believe, so that means that no speedo should ever under-read, but they can over-read by up to ten percent. That doesn't mean they are designed to over-read (it's simply very expensive and requires constant re-calibration to ensure that a speedo is 100% accurate), nor does it mean that one reading 72mph at a true 70mph is any more or less fit for purpose than one reading 76mph -- quite the opposite, in fact.

Don't forget that the weather also affects fuel economy. For instance, high winds will cause more resistance and hence require more power to overcome. Also, cars tend to produce more power in a chilled environment (due to the air being more dense) which means that more fuel will be used -- at the height of summer, even with the aircon on full all the time you will still probably find you get better MPG than in the winter months.

After filling up yesterday and doing the calcuations I got 21.76MPG, 282 miles from 59litres. Not really bothering me as I only do about 40 miles a week in it. Are you using super/optimax? I think my mpg has actually improved probably because i dont have to rev it hard anymore. :winky: That's what I was telling him just the other day, but to be honest, I think he likes revving the nuts off it too damn much ;)

Apparently both of these problems can be cured by reducing presure on the loud pedal (a more than apt description too with your exhaust!) :P

You should be able to tell if it needs recharging if it's not blowing that cold even when it's set to the coldest setting. It should chill the air. Additionally, if you notice a bad odor coming from the aircon it's usually because it hasn't been on enough, in which case you need the whole system flushing.

Better than expected... :)

The usual recommendation seems to be along the lines of go easy for the first 1000km (~750-800 miles) and then slowly start increasing up to full power but always making sure that the oil has got up to temperature first. Of course, it's not all about the engine -- other components such as the brakes also need to bed-in on new cars, so there are many reasons why going easy is the sane choice. Alternatively, I've heard it suggested by a few people that only the first 100 miles are truly important, after which point, going easy can actually lead to problems and poor performance later down the line. The theory (as I understand it) goes that if you go very easy on the engine then the piston and cylinder surfaces end up all polished (which is apparently not necessarily good), and in some cases, piston rings don't seal correctly. Personally I don't know, but I'd probably do a bit of both -- go easy for the first 4-500 miles, then work your way up to 750-800 miles, always making sure that you never over rev the engine if it's cold, and that you don't labour the engine too much. If it's a turbo'd engine then you may also have to go easy on it on the way home too, as the turbo should generally be allowed to cool down before you turn the engine off as the oil pump would no longer be providing it with any lubrication. That said, most manufacturers are building in "turbo-timers" these days that keep the oil pump active for a few minutes after the engine goes off.