Curran

The boss has just got herself an Rx8 and as we use what ever car is ready to go I get to share the lexus and the rx8. Both very different cars but it makes a nice change. The lexus is so easy and unfussy smooth etc but the rx8 wheel spins in most gears has an orgasmic engine note and fun to drive. I try not to think about fuel as both cars are under 30mpg and comming from a 55mpg diesel its a bit of a shock. We like the rx8 and have were able to pick up a 04 with 9K on the clock for 16K with an additional 2 year extnded warrentee.

It wasn't UK servicemen in a landy it was a US PrivateSecurityCompany. There is a bigger video I think I saw on www.arsse.co.uk that shows the before and after the ambush and it wasn't squaddies ( unless we are so undersupplied we are using US kit etc and into black tshirts etc

I first looked at gps recievers some time ago (eg early 90's) . If I remember correctly the american gps system has 2 recivers or data streams a rough approximation data the "L" data or the like and the "P" data. the "P" data is encrypted and designed for the US military the other data is available to anyone. The "L" data is subject to Selective availability at the behest of what ever american operational requirements need it to be. from what I saw of this meant that sometimes the cordinates would float around a 100m2 point eg I set it up in the house with a pc data logging and recorded the nema data comming out of the beasty. The intersting thing is when I looked closely at the datasheets for the first gps recievers available at that time eg "rockwell navstar devices" the operational specs for performance basically stated it could predicit its position while travelling up to about 800mph with quite high turn rates. This helped form my understanding of the american gps system background eg designed to support cruise missiles and its requirement for nape of the earth flying. The interesting failing of the reciever was that its height calculation was guarrenteeded never to be better than within 200m odd no matter what the positianal accuracy. As part of the sales blurb to try and get us to design the reciever into a product there was a small statement about the usage and availability of the reciever along hte lines of Due to the cost of getting 22 odd satalites in the sky congress bent the american defense department over the table and extracted a promise that would be available to US civies till I think something like 2007 where upon all agreements would be off and then it was up to the DOD what signals would be available. Of course an entire industry has been setup around gps and I think further promises were extracted. I don't think any US based GPS system can be counted on as life critical eg airbourne or ship navigation because of the fact if your not connected to the US goverment the signal could be turned off. I think because of this and its military connection the EU decided it would launch its own gps system that would be open and something industry could use without fear of it being turned off.

I am guessing it would be around £200 there would be 5 sensors supplied ( eg one for the spare) and a box slightly larger than big mobile phone. the electronics in the "box" has the abiliy to be plugged into a USB port so if there was enough demand it could be made to data log etc. To fit the kit it bascially requires the tyres moved from the alloy a sensor and value stem fitted into the alloy, the tyre put back on etc then balanced etc. Some of these products just have a led to indicate a problem eg low pressure etc but since we are currently working with a nice graphic mobile phone type of display showing individual wheels temperatures and pressures would not be a problem.

I work for a company that specialises in setting up car plants to deal with tire pressure monitors sensors (TPMS). The market is mainly the american market since they have recently passed laws stating that all new cars after I think 2007 have to have tire pressure monitors fitted ( eg 20K deaths a year due to car role overs due to partially deflated tires etc) As a electronic engineer I am currently jumping through hoops designing a hand held tool to allow garages etc to deal with car fitted with these systems. From this work we are in a very good position to develope an in car aftermarket system using the main stream TPM Sensors. Currently the main manufacturers of the tpms do not produce after market kits ( apparantly not enough it it for them) and the only ones I have seen are chinese kits where they use their own designed sensors etc and are supposidly not up to the job according to some automotive profesionals ( US, Korean and German) I have spoken to eg wrong pressures etc and can and do mechanically fail if the car does more than about 80mph For the company I work for its a departure from what we normally do eg very high value systems but not huge numbers to low value items at huge numbers so there is a bit of internal discussion about it the effort is worth it etc. Basically a system has 5 sensors and a reciever which is battery powered and goes in the car cabin. If the tire suffer a pressure or temperature change ( both up and down ) the TPMS start to alarm ( eg send out more messages) and the reciever in the cabin will displays information and more often or not tries to draw the drivers attention to the fact something may be wrong with the tyre by giving off an audiable warning. Each sensor has a unique ID number so from this you can tell which wheel has the problem eg factory sets up the ECU in the US with the ID of the wheel on each corner ( it can make things interesting if you rotate the wheels as some cars need a trip to a suitable dealer to change the ECU settings others have a self learning capability) you can also get other information from the sensor like gas temperature in the wheel/tyre assembly , if the wheel is moving and the direction ( only on certain types of TPMS) the battery life the tpms has left. I have 2 cars with low profile tyres eg the RX8 and a lexus is200 and as a result of nearly damaging a alloy on the lexus due to a nail in the tyre I will get my cars sorted with this kit if we go ahead and design it. Would any one here be interested in this type of equipement ?

the boss has just treated herself to a RX8 ( she fancied a sports car but had her sensible knickers on when she bought it).

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/realwhda.html Saw this on a RX8 forum. shows a DIY job on alloy wheel and it seems to have covered the damage very well

visiting the honda garage nearby saw the business park and went looking for a look around this business park (which seems to be growing all the time), any way on my quick trip round I was amazed to see 2 is250 sat outside this unit. With out doubt lexus has a very popular choice of car in Barnsley

I think that some like me until recently haven't looked at new car costs and have a unrealistic veiw of where lexus may sit in the market. Wasn't it on top gear or fifth gear recently that quoted the top or the range tricked out modeo thingy costing £28K only a small diffenace to a fully tricked out IS250. A mazda rx8 fully tricked out is approx £27K. As for the wrong type of people getting a lexus, if like me you have a is200 and paid less for that, than a new rover 220 sdi in 97( 15K) it doesn't strike me that lexus are there competeting with the german mafia. The car is nice but it is a thirsty thing and anything to make peole look at a car rather than dismiss it as a below 30mpg guzzler is a good move.

there today for an interview without coffee came out and a RX 300 reg S I RGXX was parked next to my jallopy ( dark blue IS200) Where you there also for an interview without coffee (IEE Ceng thingy)

an electronic engineer designing equipement for car tire pressure monitors eg tpms. In the US soon all new cars have to have them fitted as standard and bearing that in mind I am now developing a handtool that can interogate each sensor and get the ID etc then pressure and temperateure of air in the tire. From this hand tool we have to morph it into something that can be sold as an aftermaret system. Fun to be had as I tend to visit a lot or car plants and developement centers.

Is this a london centric thing or does it happen else where ? I have never heard of anyone being carjacked in Yorkshire but I would not be surprised if it did happen. Neither my self or the wife take any precautions when in the car

http://videos.streetfire.net/Player.aspx?f...6DDC8974C5&p=50 didn't know an is could go or sound like this

In my youth I used to marshall at cadwell and on the way there with a group of friends on bikes one hit a car at speed. The car was flipped on its side and moved down the junction. the passenger door was crushed to the gear box tunnel. there was no glass left in the car at all. the diver of the car had been on the pop and driving without insurance and basically thought he could turn in accross the road before the bike could get to him ( boy was that a bad guess) . the rider and pillion went over the car and the rider broke both his arms above and below this elbows and broke loads or ribs as his girlfriend used him as an airbag. I would have thought the rider would have been peeled off the bike and thrown over it

If its wynyard off the a19, there are already cctvs in the area.

watching the goggle box the other night and a car advert comes on and the boss says something to the effect of "I like that car shall we get it on the deal they were offering" well we went for a test drive and it was quite a fun thing to drive and she gave it some real stick. To me the Rx8 is all noise and vibration with out a great deal of speed a bit like a bike eg you have to rev it to get it going. Driving home from the test drive in the IS we did a similar run in the IS eg motorway and fast around a big roundabout. The IS at 20mph faster on the motorway was unhurried calm and just did it with out fuss where as the rx8 felt like it was about to explode and going three times quicker than it really was. So it looks like the second car will be a RX8 for the boss , I must be loosing it or she has grown a set. Her reason is she allways wanted a sports car and if we don't do it now we never will Anybody have an constructive opinions about RX8 's ?

Any chance getting a meet sorted out to happen on a fire power demo day ? Thats certtainly a reason to drive down south and I am pretty sure the a lot of peeps would be interested Dan

Do they still do fire power demonstations at warminster. I went to 2 there and will allways remember the A10s flying what seemed to be over the audience then letting rip with the cannon they call a plane, most impressive. It allways amazed me to hear/feel the challanger main armment when it fired. but there again all these things make more noise than you would expect ex DWR

This friday I followed a blue IS200 (P5 XXX) from the BBIC ( huddersfield road) to sackup lane in Darton. Going past Shaws on huddersfield road a silver IS200(yr54 XXX) passed us heading in the oppostite direction. On thursday had a Black gs300 just in front. Earlier in the week seen a ls in Darton and a couple of Rx's near the chestnut tree on huddersfield road. Seen numerous silver and blaclk is200's plus a green one . CAn't even go for a pizzea without seeing one a sc at Denerios in mappawell Has Lexus now become the car of choice in the south Yorkshire ? I must have seen at least 10 or so in the last week so how many of you lurk on this website. I reckon we could arange a meet in Barnsley and have more cars present than the HK thread.

the wife studied french and russian at uni etc and worked in an enviroment where the use of the language is important ( eg researcher for pm's folder used in question time) and is allways giving me grief etc when she thinks I made a mistake. Anyway she likes thorntans "Alpini" chocolates and I got her a big box for a special occasion and we had some friends around to help celebrate and a similar conversation started. The high light was my wife declaring to all and sundary she like lots of Alpenis but the AL part was quite subdued, the silence was defeaning and the looks from friends was priceless. So I have a brillant tool now winding her up eg she like plenty of male chicken. Ah the english language a never ending source of fun

I have no problem with the oil companies and the prices they are currently charging but I do have a problem with the goverment tax added on to the price of fuel. THe goverment is morally weak and cowardly by hiding behind the cost of fuel and trying to blame the oil companies. Why didn't they just bump up direct taxation and leave the fuel costs alone. they did it because its seen as an easy way to fool the masses. the real question are you willing to see a increase in general taxation if they reduce the fuel duties and a possible welfare reform. I personally feel I have nothing to lose I feel I am in a position where I don't get any benefits as I like the rest of us work and have a few assets ( which the courts can use to penalise me with eg broke dolies in a rented accomodation don't have to worry about loosing anything) I reckon the goverment are taking maybe another £600 off me a year in tax through the fuel duties

Why not try this. carry on your education and join the TA when you old enough. This way you get funding for uni etc and you get a taster of what military life is all about. If after uni you still like it go for it full time ( lots of my friends did and are there still) Also be aware that women are only allowed to do certain jobs so "foot patrols" may not be an option Don't ever forget there is a lot of bordom eg "hurry up and wait". I would say as others do go for a job that has an element of skill in it eg logistics or medics . I was in an infantry battalion and I am afraid to say apart from the confidence part there was not much else I could say helped me get a job outside the army. Its a different approach and it may be a more suitable option for some.

look at thie way if a barrel of crude costs $60 and it contains 44 US gallons it works out at 36c a litre or roughly 20p a litre so allowing them another 15 to 20 odd pence for refining it, transporting, marketing etc hopefully it would end up at the pumps at below 40 p a litre. The delay for the fuel price change is the fact the oil companies have to keep I thought 6 weeks fuel reserves in the country and the fact the goverment demands a tax payment on it. Its the Tax thats taking the ***** not the oil prices at all but I have heard now that the goverment makes almost as much money from fuel tax as income tax, So unless your willing to see a doubling of income tax to make up the short fall (which you know the present goverment will never do as they have "not" increased the direct tax burden) and we are now so lucky to have cheaper car costs than ever before we should just accept it. I understand in the next month or maybe its even happened the 2p increase in fuel tax the gordon annonced in march will be applied. come the next budget we will see another 2 p a litre

Just had a week in north devon myself and I was amazed to see so many lexus about. On the 20th going down the m3 ended up following an is200 with a estate version about 2 cars behind in the slow lane and an Rx thingy next to me . Then couldn't go out on any day with out seeing at least one. Coming back home today on the bike ( wifes bring car back tomorrow) I suffered a puncture on the m1 had it plugged and ended up being limited to 50mph from newport pagnell to Barnsley and it seemed every 10 minutes or so a is200 would pass me. ( I was a very sad man and yep that was me with a red yamaha and day glo jacket and white helmet being passed by every tricked up corsa , saxo etc this afternoon) I am actually comming to the conclusion more women drive is200's then men. maybe I will have to get either an new is or a gs300 or a proper mans car

Thats what I was doing last saturday, I allways thought a GS 300 was out of hte question but do you go for a full loaded IS or a basic GS 300. This was in sheffield and while I was there I had a walk accross to the subaru dealership nearby, they only wanted £26K for a new sti TTRRXX-Z1RD nutter ***** thingy another pay £600 for a sat nav and there is another choice to make. Cars I hate them just endless money pits