UKPulse

Thanks for the feedback. Hmmmm, still quite skinny at 7" - I was hoping maybe they'd be 18x8, but then 18x7 must suit the RX better. Also I need an offset of at least 40, preferably 45 for fitting to the Soarer. Ah well, nice idea while it lasted - they suit the RX really well tho.

Are those the stock 18" alloys from the current RX300-SE/SE-L model? Any idea what the width and offset of those alloys are?

As Steve said, the top of the radiator may look like it's got lots of fine cracks in it in which case it may not last long - mine's just given up the ghost. Costs £400 for a new one from Toyota + 1 hours labour to fit, or SSS might sort you one for a couple of hundred (fitted).

I'm assuming that I'll lose my btopenworld.com email address when I migrate, but for the last 2 months I've been swapping all my mail to Orange so that I'm ISP independant. With Orange you can access your mail either via the web or a POP3/IMAP client such as Outlook. (Other mobile phone companies probably offer the same service). The comparisons on adslguide are a good pointer for relative performance, but are probably somewhat subjective as all you do is rate your ISP out of ten on three items. Like how do you rate 'speed' out of ten if you've nothing to compare it with?

Stock 17's on mine - and in less than a year, rotting nicely I might add

I have the old SpeedTouch USB modem (the 'frog') on one PC (and also for the laptop) and a PCI ADSL card on another PC, but symptoms are the same on both cards. Certainly could be a physical problem with the wire to the house, but BT swear blind there's nothing wrong. If/when I switch to Zen, I'll be looking to get the Netgear DG824M or D-Link DSL-604+ Wireless DSL router as Zen offer 8 static IPs (5 useable) with their package.

Ok, my reasoning is this - I pay £29.99 a month to BT for a 512K connection. Within any given 24hr period, the line will drop at least once, and very often 2 or 3 times (so much for an 'always on' connection). Browsing used to be quick, but now it's quite slow, comparable to what I used to get on ISDN or modem - the LOC forum home page takes a good 30-40 seconds to appear. I have given up ringing the helpdesk as the answer is always the same 1) There's nothing wrong, 2) I must have done something or 3) Power everything off then on again. They say they've tested my line and everything is normal. I happen to have a neighbour 4 doors down the road who used to be with BT but changed to Zen because of similar problems. He pays just over £24 and hasn't had a problem since switching. On some occassions I take my laptop down to his place & he lets me use his line when I can't connect from home! Never had a problem with his connection (and he always has lots of beer in the fridge)! :winky: Couple that with the fact that Zen seem to be well ahead of BT in the speed, reliability and service ratings, I'd be a fool not to give them a try. Yes I appreciate the local loop is on BT's wire, but there must be parts of the overall infrastructure that Zen do differently to get such good ratings. And if they go bust selling their 512K package at £24 rather than £29, and BT are the only ISP left, then (maybe) I'll consider changing back :P I've nothing against BT personally, and I'm sure they have many happy customers out there - I used to be one! This is just my personal experience.

Same story here. I've had BT "OpenWoe" DSL for a couple of years now. Initially the service was ok, but it's gone steadily downhill. Specifically - link speed has fallen thru the floor, reliability is now 50/50 at best and their helpdesk is a joke. As I have to work from home more these days, I need something reliable & in my experience BT just don't measure up. I'm switching to Zen who charge just £23.82 for their half meg offering, and will then probably upgrade to their 1Mb service, which is £34 (well, the company's paying for it)

Yup, there is a syndicate feature on the National Lottery web site here. And they say one in four jackpots is won by a syndicate....

Congrats on the purchase mate! You'll find the HIDs alone are worth it B) Yeah - someone else who's got a 'Tesco Astra' !! Mine's a '91 1.4L but it fits in the narrowest gaps and shrugs off careless mums & shopping trolleys - and all for not much more than the cost of having one dent knocked out of the IS! :P

Hehe, imagine how I feel when I clamber out of the TT and into the IS300 :winky: ...and then from that, into the trusty old Ashtray 1.4L

Bit of speed-reading in WHSmith I pick up the What Car? Used Car Price Guide & what do I see.... First up, the IS300 doesn't exist according to them, neither does the SC430 for that matter. Oh well, let's see what they say about the IS200. Clutch judder problems that elude fixing and lead to gearbox trouble. (Like it's supposed to be commonplace?) Corroding alloys although many replaced now. Reliability rating? They give it the same as a Ford Fiesta, and less than a Ford Focus !!! Well I'll be :tsktsk: Pah, what do they know....

If you really want it done, then RevTech in Milton Keynes can do it. Back in 2001, the previous owner of my Soarer had the kph to mph conversion done there (£150). Seems RevTech offered to adjust the odometer reading from it's Km total to the equivalent miles total at the same time, but the owner declined cos it would have cost him another £250!

That is one gorgeous car! The way the rear skirt curves around those stainless steel outlets.... mmmmm B) B) B)

Caught driving uninsured? Staple the offenders hands to their knees - that'll stop them doing it again!

I agree, most people won't need track day cover, but doing a track day is something I'd heartily recommend. Exploring the potential and limits of your car, and more to the point your own driving skills, in the safety of a track is an eye opening experience...!

Thanks for all your efforts Steve, Sarah's a nice lass isn't she :) She sorted me out insurance for the Soarer, and managed to get me the cheapest quote on the Astra too! If I didn't still qualify for an ex-staff discount on the insurance for the IS, I might have had all three with DIG! :P

I spotted that too! Two silver Lex's under a dusting of snow - the man has got taste and integrity, which is more than can be said for that :tsktsk: puppet Hutton and those stinking :tsktsk: :tsktsk: Whitehall :tsktsk: PS - Did you also see on Sky News the survey that says 84% of Brits trust what the BBC says, compared to just 16% who'd believe the government. Way to go! :D

Ouch! He was very lucky not to go thru the windscreen - must have done a 180° or been hit in the rear by something, to end up in the back...?

I've got the latest version of the DVD system, and the "shortest route no matter how bad the road" thing is still there! Near Billingshurst it took me off down a farm track - no kidding! This road was one car wide with grass up the middle and not even tarmac'd. Ended up driving thru a farm and a school - one very amused farmhand must have been p*ssing himself to see a shiny silver Lex emerge from this field...

Still a toasty 4°c down here in Sussex If it does snow, then the IS and the Soarer are staying put - I'll take the Astra!

PGR2 is the biz! Funny tho, the SC430 is the slowest car in it's class

Oh yes, absolutely it does happen. Just 2 weeks ago he was out on a Friday night cos the bosses wanted him doing (ahem) 'spot checks' for 3 hours, and to be fair amongst those that were stopped were 4 people who were over the drink limit :o But what he was driving at is that if he stopped someone and they had mildly tinted windows, he'd ignore it & he said his colleagues would most likely ignore it too ...that is, until some pencil-neck on the force decides it's time to order them to go out and target a few motorists for committing the henious crime of having light tints!

On the Audi A4 Cabriolet front, the other half finally got hers at the weekend, after a 9 month wait! Lovely looking car, and I'd say I almost prefer the interior to that of my IS. The seats are certainly more comfortable, with electronic adjustment for virtually every aspect, and 4 memory settings for the drivers side. On the down side - both headlamps and one of the rear lamps have got quite bad condensation in them, the drivers side door trim is coming off, and there's a nasty rattle/squeak from behind the sat nav screen! So, she's calling the dealer today....

My front tints are staying put! I've a mate on the force and he says he wouldn't even bother checking someone's tints unless they look ridiculously dark, like the blacked-out ones you see on these Max Power type motors. He says it's about discretion and that stopping an otherwise apparently law abiding driver simply because he has 'mildly tinted' windows, is a total waste of time.