Prawny Baby

Fair enough Ian, ill agree with all of that :P theres a time and a place for driving stupidly! my issue, still, is people who drive fast yet DONT know the limits.... you obviously do (i would think) having been on a track, so in a way, you have a massive advantage over 95% of people on the road.... u know whats VERY fast, and you know whats TOO fast.... in my opinion the first thing everyone should do when they pass theyre test is go up to an unused airfield, and absolutely thrash their car! just to find out what it can do, how fast it CAN turn, and at what point its going to break traction and stick you through a hedge backwards.... do it once-you wont do it again! sad thing is, people dont get to learn there cars, and dont know where to stop.... a 3 lads were killed near me a few months ago.... 1.2 clio, owner had had a bit to drink, asked one of his 3 mates to drive.... owner was egging him on to go quicker, he ran wide on a fast bend (doing about 85) as he got off the grass the front wheels ripped him across the carriage way, head on into a range rover. 3 of them died, one in the back lived, the two old people in the RR were unhurt, but now have to live with watching 3 kids die on the front of their car..... thats stupid.... so know your limits, think about whats comming the other way, and drive accordingly! for all those on here with a mini, come along to the miniworld action day at castle combe on the 24th of sept :P

who exactly are you talking about when you say racing on the roads? many people do drive stupidly fast, ill agree, but the stupid thing about it is, that most of them dont know just HOW fast tehy can go..... tehy dont know if there 2mph from the limit, or 20mph from the limit.... whether thats the limit of their capability or the physical limit of their car is unimportant.... if you know where your own limits are, and the limits of the car, then driving quickly, (with consideration to other traffic, and possible hazzards that could be ahead) whilst remaining well within those limits, is perfectly reasonable in my opinion.... i often have this arguement with my mum.... she going quickly is dangerous, but only because SHE cant do it.... as for synchros, as i said, its not a problem on modern cars, but look back 10 years or more at fords, and most things from the austin rover group, and there are BIG problems older escorts ALWAYS loose the 3rd gear synchro by about 60k, and you find me a mini box thats done more than 30k hard use without synchro problems going into 3rd gear.... if you dont drive quickly on the roads, whats the point in owning a GTI? John: yea, i use engine braking a lot.... if i dont need to slow down so much into a corner ill just double de-clutch down a gear and let the revs drop down to the desired speed for the corner.... doesnt do any real harm, although over revving it will never help. its FAR nicer to do with a close ratio gearset like mine, as the next gear above or below is always pretty close, i can happily stick the mini into 2nd at 70mph without worrying about it.... this thread is getting annoying....

i think edds summed it up perfectly.... one other thing ill add andyroo, think about it, whats the point in blipping the throttle while your foot is still on the clutch? that does absolutely nothing other than make a noise.... your foot has to be OFF the clutch when u blip it,and the gear lever in neutral, in order to spin up the first motion shaft to match with the speed of the gear your selecting.... (theyre all spinning all the time, its just which ones are engaged to the layshaft that determine the gear your in....) i also agree with edd that while your still braking your still under control, which is always a nice thing. without wanting to offend ANYONE, some people are drivers, and some people drive cars.... theres a massive difference EDIT: to some people, driving is a very convinient way of getting from A-B in a short time in relative comfort.... to me, its as much of an art form as any sport, like trials, or tennis, or even golf! its something you have strong points in, and bad points, and something i will always be trying to perfect, its not just about going fast, its about learning how to be safe, and use the road properly.... i CANT STAND people who cant use their cars properly, and retards who dont know when tehy should change gear.... its an art form.... perfect it!

im afraid, although i agree with everything else you say andy, im going to HAVE to TOTALLY 100% DISAGREE with that one.... i ALWAYS heel and toe in my mini.... ALWAYS. its NOTHING to do with going any faster, or smoother for that matter, (although it can be put to good use for both) i do it only to extend the working life of my incredibly expensive gearbox! gearboxes have synchros as we all know, and through use, synchros wear out.... by double de-clutching and using my foot across both pedals, i am able to blip the throttle ready for the next gear (say 3rd down to 2nd) while slowing down for the approaching corner, matching the revs in this way leaves the synchro with almost NO work to do to mesh 2nd gear, and thus doesnt wear it out! i can definately feel the difference, changing gear normally now feels slow and horrid, i havnt done a 'normal' change in my mini sinse the first week of my new engine with a bit of practise double de-clutching becomes second nature, and unless your driving a really modern car, it DOES extend the life of your box.... many people with escorts will know about dodgy 3rd gear synchros! bigmans is TERRIBLE, it grinds everytime u try for 3rd, unless you give it 4 hours to think about it! back to JC- i couldnt care less what anyone thinks, the man IS the closest living thing to GOD, he IS so cool because hes blatently not and he really doesnt give a shite! his use of the english language is amazing,the man is a legend!"

lets start a campaign!

i got CDDD (Y):D:D but who really cares? it was eough to get me into portsmouth dto do construction engineering.... now the really scary bit is leaving home to start a fresh.... good luck lads! and well done to all you buggers who did well!

im going to postsmouth, to do construction engineering management, which sounds pretty fun to me! who else is going to pompey?

a mate of mine seriously looked into getting a rallye a while back, and from what i can tell, the original version (the 100bhp 1.3) was a pretty awesome car! sure, it wouldnt have a hope in hell of keeping up with my mini, but 100bhp in a car that weight cant be laughed at! i really like rallyes! pug tried to do something retro, and pulled it off! its hardly an echo of the 205 T16 days, but its still a pretty funky motor! if you can afford to insure a rallye (around a grand for most youngsters) id get one! your gona make the saxo boys lok stupid...... EDIT: driving is a strange thing.... and experience plays a HUGE part in it! ive been driving for 9 years now, and YES, i do consider myself a good driver (ive got 36 trophies-from 3 years racing to prove it) but ive still got LOADS to learn! SURE, i can safely get my mini sliding sideways around a roundabout, and i can do a perfect J-turn on an unused strip of road.... but that doesnt make you a good driver being SAFE makes you a good driver. if your going to drive fast on public roads, the main thought in your mind should be: what if theres a car comming the other way, doing a simlilar speed to me? if you will still be safe in that situation, your not going TOO fast, if an oncomming car spells trouble, SLOW DOWN!-your pushing the limit. also-i fimrly believe the best thing any young person with a car can do, is take it up to an unused airfield, and totaly loose controll.... its only when you have pushed hard, found the limit, and then pushed acorss it, that you can truely know where the limit is.... until you have explored that point, and well and truely understand where is it, you have no right to push hard on public roads! doing so simply makes you a danger to public saftey! i know im not in much of a position to talk, ages 18, but i have done a LOT of driving, and owned many different cars. i will however admit, that my mini now is pushing my abilities-its just SO quick! sinse fitting my new engine ive had to learn a whole new style of driving, no more can i just floor or out of a bend-it just spins the wheels now! ive had to learn a new style, easing the power in until im at full throttle, pulling well past 70mph in 2nd gear! and its awesome! sorry for the awfully long post, but to sum it all up dont drive like a dick-until you have been somewhere private and TOTALLY lost contoll-you have NO idea where the limit is, and trying to find that limit on public roads is asking to be killed.... even then, know your capabilities, and DONT EVER push yourself to show off to mates!-i can scare my mates shitless without using even 70% of my driving ability-you MUST know whats safe, and you must know what your car is capable of-especially when it comes to how fast you can overtake another car-as that can be life or death if your still trying to pass someone by the time you reach a corner.... sorry for the randomness-and longness of my post, im slightly drunk! buts i mean every word od what ive said! even if some of it doesnt come across in the way its ment to.... and on another note, i noticed someone slagged of jeremy clarkson go home, you arab! JC is one of the greatest men that ever lived-FACT JC for PM!!!!

ooooooooooh by the looks of things, it wasnt exactly standard.... lets hope all those mods are declared, or his insurnace money is going to have a hard time buying a replacement.... good luck mate! thank god the theives were tasteless-took the civic-left the mini :P

8:43-results morning-eating breakfast, strangely ive not been nervous at all until now.... despite the fact that im sure ill get in to uni.... theres always that strong hint of last minute doubt.... so did you pass? did you fail? and has everyone eneded up where tehy wanted to be? who knows 75minutes to results.... good luck people!

out of all the cars mentioned so far, i cant see a SINGLE ONE of them even comming close to comparing to an audi A3 1.9TDI. my mums had one for 6 months now, and i can safely say, it is by FAR the best all round car ive ever had the joy of experiencing! ours is an R-reg 1998 1.9TDI sport SE, with air con, 12 cd changer, full Bose sound system, and full leather interior, and its incredible! its SUCH a nice car to drive, the handling is INCREDIBLE! the only things ive driven that compare to it handling wise, is a mini, and a pug 205 GTI, it really is light and nimble, unlike any other modern car! power wise the 110bhp version isnt by any means slow, as the picture below will tell you, it got to 129mph, with 5 people in the car, on the way to the bike show! sadly, the pic was taken at 123 when we were slowing down again. ecomony: even with me thrashing it on the back roads for 200 miles a few months ago, constantly in the top of the rev range, and generally thrashing it, it returned 48 mpg for me, driving around town my mum gets 52mpg average, and on a run to portsmouth uni it made over 56mpg cruising at a steady 90 most of the way, so its CERAINTLY very economical! cost: a mint model like ours will set you back around 4k with a reasonable mileage (sub 70k) if you go for something around an R-plate like ours with 90k+ then they can be picked up dead cheap the further north you go generally. a made of mines just got one, 99s-reg A3 1.9tdi, air con, everything electric, 96k (which is sodd all in a deisel!) cost him £3400 and its in mint condition! the best bit is insurance! 19 years old, 1 years NCB and pass pluss, costs him £950 to insure fully comp! i may go on and rant a bit, but i cant see any of the above cars comparing to an A3, its quite simply a class above all the rest! and lets face it, along side a focus, or infact, most other cars in the road, its fu<king gorgeous! at least think about it john.... why have a ford, when you can have an audi?

i think i had 7 or 9 hours of lessons, passed first time. but then again i have been driving sinse i was 10 :turned:" although in many ways, that was a bad thing! i covered all the manouvers in my first and 2nd lesson, and spent the next 5 trying to un learn the bad habits id picked up after 7 years of driving/racing minis! i also couldnt be bothered to wait for my test date, so got the first cancelation i could, and borrowed my girlfriends mums car. i was the only person in plymouth to take a test the day i passed, as all the others opted to cancel because it was snowing!!!

i originally got my setup from car audiosecurity, but sinse then, ive got my audio kit from caraudiodirect, and i have to say, the service is GREAT! also, if u sign up the the forum at www.minifinity.com you can get free postage, which can be worth upwards of £20!!!!

i wouldnt say that about the tyres rich..... id put a LOT of money on my mini being able to keep up with ANY sub 30k car (type R included) on a counrty lane, and 90% of sub 50k cars.... it genuinely is THAT good, nothing handles like a mini Rocktrials-welcome to the real world my friend, there is only one problem, your hooked now, once you pass your test, and take your mini out on your own for the first time, thats it, mini will be in your blood, and you wont escape it until the day you die! mine was ment to be a 400quid run around for 3 weeks.... ended up costing £1200 to buy, and total cost now is close to 7 grand! mind you, it does pull easily past 100mph in 3rd gear, and will go on to pass 130 in 4th.... so it aint exactly slow. glad you got a 1275, cant stand 998's, as lovely as tehy are, theyre just too slow to put up with! anyway, lovely looking mini mate, could do with some wheel spacers to fill out those W&P arches a touch.... (i think theyre W&P) playmini exhaust looks (and probably sounds) nice top job mate! *trundles off to the caraudio thread to reply....*

36.5'' on my t-rex, urban forks, echo stem, pazzaz bar, as low as possible!

if you hav to choose ad, id get a desktop mate! ive got both, and the desktop wins hands down! also, if you have a good desktop you wont need a mega laptop to run everything! im taking my home desktop and ive bought a laptop on ebay. ive got an IBM thinkpad X24, its seriously small, 12'' screen, docking bay, its a proper tiny laptop! but its pretty powerful, 512mb of ram, 30gb hard drive, 1.3 pentium centrino thing processor its a year old, comes with 1 years warranty, and only cost me £300!!!! its awesome get a desktop, and then a job and buy a 2nd hand laptop!

no coopers made in he 80's B) just lost of chavs painting the roof of their mayfair white! and chris (dirt biker) dont make youself look silly by suggesting you can change the cc of en engine by skimming the head u tool :P capacity is area of bore x stroke a 1275 has a 70.6mm bore and an 81.33mm stroke find the area of the bore and times it by 81.33 and you get 1275.... stop being a goon :P EDIT: i refuse to believe the new mini one D can be even remotely nippy..... 75bhp in a car that weighs close to double what my mini weighs.... simply CANT be nippy (Y) its less than 60bhp per ton (Y) how rude! back on the while diesel arguement.... i drive a 1.9tdi passat (02 reg) for work, its the 130bhp model, and it goes like shit! really impressive for what it it! diesel IS the way forward for an everday car now.... sure, if you want performance and tuneability get a pertol, but for commuting, diesel is the way! also.... theres a company in bristol who can chip a 130bhp audi 1.9tdi motor up to 200bhp (Y) which is SCARY!!!! costs a LOT, but must go like shit :)

well...... if your looking at this from a financial point of veiw, you have to think about what you could sell for most!!!! i vote goat. its more likely to get you to the market, and once there, its FAR more likely to sell!!!!

pretty harsh jack.... cant complain though i guess, it cost you £60 :)

the main problem with the evo mounts is vertical adjustment, as you are using the top hole from the evo mounts, you obviously cant move them up or down, and have to reply on angling the calliper, which will of course give uneven pad wear if you dont set them up straight.... as a temp though, tehy work just fine!

for the mileage, the price seems good, its obviously the 'best' colour :- the exhaust is only a good thing if its in a style you like. rust is an obvious issue, but you already know that.... something you probably HADNT thought of.... is its unfortunate age/engine setup.... being a K-reg car it will almost CERTAINLY have a cat, but its also got a carb ^_^ rover designed the single point injection system to help meet new emmisions regulations, as often, the carb/cat cars are VERY tricky at mot time. the main advantage of the injection system was the lambda sensor, which obviously monitors the emmisions and can weaken it off electronically to pass the mot. just something to note really.... although it shouldnt stop you buying the car. perhaps at MOT time whack in an AAA needle and lean it right off, then take it home, stick a BDA back in, richen it up, and fit a decat pipe! if its sound, get it!

doesnt look too good tuppers ^_^ its a pretty busy weekend!!!! thers nass, the hampshire comp, and the silverstone GP on all that same weekend..... bummer :- ill see you on saturday, but not july 10th

the A-panels arnt a big deal.... thats easy to sort out. as far as im concerned, the most important thing to look for is scuttle at the front screen, outer sills, if its good around the screen.... id go for it mate! sadly, i totally disagree with matt, good shells are around, but they are VERY rare. as a result, even the most utter crap is going for £400 plus around here..... sadly, it seems that if it has a logbook, its worth a fair price :- personally..... its not my kinda thing mate, its just a little too standard, and you know what im like! if i were you, id get together about £800ish, and get something thats been fiddled /looked after a bit which is going to need a bit less work. its that A-panel that puts me off somehow..... although replacing it isnt a problem at all, the fact that it IS so easy to replace, and instead they have bodged it with filler doesnt inspire me with confidence about the rest of the car!

hahahaha, what a joke that was, loads of crap in german, which i guessed totally, then a choice of twattish questions about morality, geography, tv, and some other random shit :'( finished it in 50mins and got 40mins sleep :blink: sorry for my utterly pointless thread.... i was just so bored waiting to go to the exam, as you obviously cant revise! AAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 physics tomorow.... theres one to genuinely worry about!

Right lads, many of us will be facing a very tough time in our lives today, in the next hour and a half, we will be taking a General studies A2 exam. i know this is far more serious than any other A-levels, like english, maths, or sciences, but i feel if we group together, and share our worries, we can do this! so, if anyone else like me is feeling terribly stressed out, about this, possibly the hardest exam we are likely to sit, please share your thoughts in here. any one who has already taken the dreaded general studies A-level, if you have tips on how we can manage to scrape a pass grade, please feel free to share your knowledge with us.... just remember, qualifications arnt everything, but without general studies, you are NOTHING!!!!! Good luck lads, we're all going to need it