God_speed

Nice pics and great bunch of GTRs Didn't realise you could just park on the straight?

And this is with Vettel's old chassis, Luscious Liz, the one that supposedly has 'something wrong' with it, right? Interesting insight Roy

Hope you all had a good run. Any pics?

Top Gear is the more entertaining show and, up till recently was the less-"forced" show but I'm finding season 15 of TG pretty ordinary, especially after such a long hiatus (of course they were doing a TG Live world tour; but the writers should be coming up with better stuff after so much time off). Def rate Tiff Needell as a driver and as a presenter he has his own unique style, which is a bit weird at first esp. with accent and whatever but you get used to it. And his powerslides that go on for several kilometres make up for any downsides

Will try and make it mate... will be spending some time with the family so may / may not. Think everyone will have a blast anyway!

Sounds like a good day out Sean, I like your new ride as well

No, not at all.

On the subject of ADM R32s, check out this one at Classic Throttle Shop (Nth Sydney), Was listed at $70K and has just been sold. http://www.classicthrottleshop.com.au/modernclassic22.html Good money.

Adding my 2c a bit late but like xALmoN I also recommend you consider a Clio... http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/privat...id=122B3A936F35 UPSIDES - An '02 Clio sport can be had for under $10K - 1035kg + 120kW = ~115kw per tonne - 0-100 in about 7, 7.3 sec - mine uses about 8.0 litres per hundred (premium unleaded) in city driving, up to 9.0 if driving hard or around 7.5 or less if babying it / highway driving - front and side airbags - immobiliser with computer chip in the key (good security) - puts many heavier cars to shame on the track - being so light, wear on bushes, tyres, brakes etc is lower than normal - nice std features - automatic xenons, leather/alcantara, rain sensing wipers, climate control, ABS with EBD, some (like mine) had dealer-fit electric sunroof - still rides well, so is not exhausting to drive - bit of a sleeper, but also looks nice and squat on the road - good support through online forums like ozrenaultsport (http://www.ozrenaultsport.com/) - so much fun! DOWNSIDES - People who know nothing about cars will think it's a girls car - French build quality - Driving position a little funny, but you get used to it... - Look for gearbox oil leaks, a common weak point on the car Good luck with the purchase!

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Interesting choice of cars. I picked the E46 M3. For mine it'd also have to be the proper manual and not the SMG. It's slightly unfair to compare the RS4 with the E46, as the E46 generation ended about the same time the RS4 came out and therefore is about half a generation behind; but you're right, in that the E92s are still priced too high. This means there'd be a few bargain E46 M3s around and I'd say there are also more to choose from than the RS4. I think you'd find the RS4 would drive "a level above" the 335i, as it's more of a proper sports car and a competitor to the M cars (I think an S4, or newer S5 - as opposed to RS4 - would be a better match for the 335i). As someone said already the 335i has an open diff and even stock standard they can tend to spin up the inside wheel rather easily, not to mention a tuned one. The 911 will probably hold its value the best out of the bunch as Porsches tend to do, but the 996 was slightly disappointing for Porsche enthusiasts when it arrived so probably won't have quite the strength in resale as the last of the air-cooled 911 (993) or the newer 997... Let us know how you go! Choose whichever one makes you the happiest.

That's right mate, there's a GoogleMaps link underneath the map in the first post which gives turn-by-turn directions and says the cruise part is 112km, from the start point at Penrith, to The Edge at Katoomba. The distance from Katoomba back home also needs to be considered. But we've already got people coming from interstate, so the distance shouldn't be a barrier! This is definitely something to look forward to, and we're expecting a great turnout.

Must've been closer to the P6 carpark where his car was parked

Yep. Agreed, it was a good race, the 70 laps went quickly. Pretty good result for the scuderia, been a while since they were on the podium this year right?

Webs hasn't done too badly overall. If it weren't for his 5-place demotion he would've been sitting pretty. Decent result today for him I think. Let's hope our other fellow Aussies can deliver an even better result in an hour's time... go the Socceroos!

Loved the Days of thunder reenactment between Massa and Liuzzi!

Felt like saying something similar but restrained myself. Until now I suppose it would have been more suspect if all would have gone according to plan and then Webber were to conveniently suffer a gearbox failure during the race.

They sound terrible - flat and boring. No doubt they're a force to be reckoned with though.

Just saw that Webber has to drop five places due to a last minute gearbox replacement??

Saw this. Means nothing now though does it. Backpedalling to try and save face, but the horse has already bolted. In any case, even a "neutral" stance doesn't cut it when – based on the facts the public have been given – an overwhelming majority of both the public and the F1 establishment believe Webber was not at fault. Guess we can't understimate the power of the European relationship that RBR's Austrian HQ shares with Vettel's German background and management. We can only hope that as MW himself said, he has been through darker days than this in the past and hope he will pull through. Even if he doesn't win the WDC I hope he whips Vettel in the driver's standings by year's end.

Nice find Roy. And I agree. The guy is so mature and professional, and sure, while he might not be the fastest driver out there, there is so much that a driver gives to his team other than just being super quick. The ability to fulfil *all* of his obligations as a team member and driver - that is what is of value, and Vettel's definitely got a long way to go there. Horner, Marko, and probably Dietrich behind the scenes - "disappointment" doesn't begin to describe it.

And turns around and calls them all a "pack of a***holes"

Nice work on sourcing those links Roy, they're a good read. Just feel totally disappointed and saddened for MW. Hope he can keep it together mentally and focus on what's important and not Vettel. But surely that must be so difficult when your own team seems to be against you. It's like some bad movie. I just hope the ending will be along the same lines - MW wins WDC, team has smiles all round, Horney and Helmet go up to embrace Webber, Webber punches both in the face and walks out to join another team. I noticed this also. They're like a bunch of f--king children. They wouldn't have the faintest idea what integrity is.

I'm surprised Horner actually allowed the team to fix Webber's car when he came in to the box - "Now Mark, see what you've done? Sebby's crying. You've made Seb cry. Say you're sorry to Seb for not getting out of his way. No nose cone for you!"

Some good lateral thinking there; except both drivers seem to indicate that they hadn't yet reached the braking point at the time they made contact. Long and short of it seems to me to be * SV has weeks of pent-up frustration from sitting in MW's shadow last 2 rounds... * MW didn't give SV much room to pass, but did give him SOME room. * MW not required to give SV room to pass - they are racing for position FFS, and with no team orders * SV realised he needed to pass MW on lap 40 as it was his last lap on the maximum power engine mapping before fuel conservation mode * SV had the pace out of turn 11 * SV begins to pass MW, has a brain snap and thinks "ok, I'm far enough ahead now, not 100% sure I'm clear of MW, in fact pretty sure I'm not clear at all, but MW better see me and move out of my way when I swing back over to the right to set myself up for turn 12 left hander." It made me think of how sometimes on the motorway or some multilane secondary road you'll sometimes be going at a decent pace when some idiot comes up beside you, and knows they are not yet far enough ahead but flings his car over into your lane anyway, knowing/expecting that you will react in time and have to brake and cede to him.