ScoobyChris

I thought that was a given Chris

Are you on LinkedIn? I get direct e-mails from people who are looking to fill roles and some of them can be positions which aren't advertised elsewhere. Recruiters are also invaluable, imho, and they do most of the leg work for you, although if you're a recent grad, you may find that applying directly to company Graduate Schemes is a better option. Happy to PM you some recruiter names if you're considering working in London... Chris

Presumably the clever is in the iPhone app and the dongle is just a standard OBDII reader with bluetooth? Chris

Not sure it will be on a diesel as they only measure smoke output. As above though, may be worth consulting someone in the know, or trying in the Fabia forum, before committing hard earned to it Chris

I think it's definitely worth getting a second opinion - most of the associates who I've coached have come to the training as thoughtful, enthusiastic drivers and usually it's just a case of overlaying a bit of structure to what they do. Hopefully the IAM/RoSPA question is answered in my previous reply The concept of defensive driving simply means driving such that you have as much control of a situation as possible. My understanding is there isn't a set syllabus for a defensive course, but most will draw from Roadcraft. The question about skid pans and track days is an interesting one and I would guess the answer is "it depends". The biggest problem when a loss-of-control scenario occurs is the space and time required to recover it and I've always found air field days where the speeds are more real-world (yes I know Ken you've only ever skidded at low speeds :p ) are great for feeling what happens approaching, at and beyond the limit of grip. The course I went on also improved how I steered and my understanding of grip and tyres which could be translated to my road driving -> http://www.donpalmer.co.uk/car-control.html Chris

My old Disco with "mud" tyres was very impressive offroad and it was funny being able to drive up inclines you couldn't walk up. Local Sainsbury weren't too pleased when we tried to stick the cars through the car wash after events though Chris

There are two main branches of advanced driving, that promoted by the DSA (via Daimond) and that promoted by the Police (Roadcraft). Diamond is really doing the stuff you were doing at DSA level with a lower tolerance for faults and the Roadcraft way is, imho, more advanced and forms the basis of the majority of "advanced" training and is the camp I sit in. The main route is to join either IAM (http://www.iam.org.uk/drivers/motorists-courses/advanced-driving/motorists-skill-for-life ) or RoADAR (http://www.roadar.org/drivers/index.htm ) and do their course which is based around Roadcraft and will involve a number of drives with a volunteer observer who will coach you to test standard. IAM is widely recognised but there is some debate how the grades compare to RoADAR which is perceived as more challenging (and requires a retest every 3 years to maintain membership). Cost-wise, IAM is £139 for the Skills For Life course and RoADAR is a bit less as you pay the local group fee which is usually around the 20 quid mark and then the test fee which I think was around 50 quid. Once you pass, you then pay ~20 quid to RoADAR national to be a member and this covers the cost of your retest every three years. I've done both courses and they were pretty similar so I'd be happy to recommend either but the key is to get a group and then observer which suits your way of learning and ask lots of questions if you don't understand/believe something - a good observer should be able to give you a satisfactory answer, or find someone who can, rather than just say "it's that way because it's what you have to do". Other routes to explore are through ADUK (http://www.advanced-driving.co.uk/forum/index.php ) who have an informal mentoring system as well as arranging driving days where you can get to drive with people from a wide range of backgrounds who can give you feedback on your driving. These tend to be the cheapest way into advanced driving and (imho ) the mentors are all pretty good and enthusiastic drivers too. If you're looking for more intense coaching, you can pay for time with RideDrive (http://www.ridedrive.co.uk/ ) or one of the HPC Gatekeepers (http://www.hpc.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&Itemid=64 ) which will probably set you back around £150 for a half day or £250 for a full day, although if you share the day with others (which I recommend from a learning point of view), the costs can be shared. The downside, however, is that it's the equivalent of having a university professor teaching GCSE level so you may find other routes represent better value for money to instil the foundations. There is also the self-study route watching the DVDs and reading the books recommended on here, but imho, having someone in the car to feedback how you are doing is invaluable and I would personally use these to reinforce rather than teach. Enjoy! Chris

We were impressed by http://www.burgermeester.eu/ which we were recommended. Not a huge choice of drinks (Coke or Coke ), but great, fresh tasty food, welcoming service and decent prices. Chris

I remember seeing them springing up over the last few years, but presumably it's similar to the ones at in-town supermarket car parks, etc. I seem to remember that you have to enter into a contract for it to be "enforcable" and so if you didn't see the signs, you could argue that no contract was entered. It is also down to the driver rather than the vehicle owner so it's up to the land owner to do the leg work to prove who was driving that day. Whether parking limits are a good thing or not is debatable - staying in a services more than 20 minutes is a struggle for me Chris

We went a couple of years back and stayed at the Mercure Hotel (http://www.mercure.com/gb/hotel-1032-mercure-hotel-amsterdam-arthur-frommer/index.shtml ) - we found it through booking.com and got some discount on the room rate, although I can't remember how much that was. Hotel was nice enough (although we didn't bother with the comically priced breakfast there) and location was central enough to be able to walk to the city centre and all the sights. Chris

It's funny - the interviews I've done best in are the ones I've done least preparation for and just gone in as I am (with a little reading up on the company) Saying that, if you know the name of the person interviewing you, have a look for them on LinkedIn and have a read of their profile I'd agree that it's worth preparing a couple of questions that usually round off the interview although try and make them a bit more thoughtful than "what's the office dress code", etc and maybe focus on how your career could progress with the company, how they see the company growing, etc. My preference is to not write them down so it appears that the questions have been raised as a result of the interview (eg, earlier you mentioned x, and I wondered....), rather than completely unrelated but YMMV and it very much depends if there's things you want answered or whether you are just trying to avoid an awkward silence . I'd also say that it's worth asking questions during the interview to demonstrate that you're listening to what is being said, and also understanding and demonstrating insight/lateral thinking - works well with techies who love to get into nuts and bolts stuff and being interactive rather than just answering questions asked allows your enthusiasm and knowledge to come through, but don't go overboard One of the toughest questions I had was during an afternoon-long interview where I was interviewed by 8 people, each having their own successive half hour slot (and agenda!), and the last person of the day started by saying "so you've had some time to chat to a number of people in the company, why don't you tell us back about what you've learned about our system, what we currently have in place, and what we'd be looking for you to do in the role?". Good luck - sounds like you have the right skills for the job, can dress smartly and be confident - I'm sure you'll be fine Chris

Do you have iDrive? Mine doesn't and there are 2 cupholders by the handbrake Chris

Reminds me of the last time I ventured into the Fabia 1 subforum Chris

I'm not sure this it true - I've driven a couple now and both were willing and free-revving, even outside the VTEC zone. 100kg lighter than the Octy and 30bhp down works out at about an 8bhp advantage for the Octavia so sounds like they're pretty evenly matched to me, unless there are corners IIRC, an F1 car develops an equally weedy 200lb-ft of torque, but it's not about the amount that the engine produces, it's about the gearing and the resulting torque at the road wheels. Chris

For the price of the dongle, plus the app, I think it's a no-brainer - the app is much more powerful, portable and user friendly than the code readers at the same end of the market. Chris

Might have misunderstood, but if you're only using the internet at home on wifi, the data allowance doesn't apply (it'll be invisible to the mobile network) - it's only for when you're out and about and using 3G. On 3G, 4Gb is a pretty generous amount and unless you're streaming movies, etc, you won't use anywhere near that. I leave my 3G on permanently and even with daily web browsing, light sat nav use and app updates, I rarely hit 500Mb each month. Chris

I'd definitely agree with this and cars these days can be too competent and flattering to the driver. it seems to be a trend that correlates with cars getting bigger wheels and fatter tyres, pushing the level of available grip higher and higher. I remember how silly you had to be in my old Scooby to break traction, even in the wet, and that was with good old-fashioned mechanical grip. Nowadays, there are also "driver aids" fitted too. Now I'd imagine it would take even more and then when it does let go you have to hope that you have enough time and space (and skill!) to recover it. A quick car is not necessarily a fun car Chris

The HTC Desire (HD) is a nice enough phone and will be a step up from what you have, but if you have a choice between that or a Galaxy S2 or Nexus 4, I'd be looking at the latter two as they are leaps and bounds ahead, imho. If you have big pockets (sizewise rather than money-wise) the Galaxy Note is also worth a look. Chris

Used to live in Twickenham and the best (read quickest) way to get there is by South West trains from Waterloo (the one to Reading has the fewest stops). Twickenham's in zone 5 so you can travel on PAYG Oyster or a regular day travelcard (children under 11 travel free IIRC). Stadium is a 5-10 minute walk from the station - you can't miss it Prices for hotels in Twickenham tend to go up in the rugby season and there isn't a huge choice, however they built a new Travelodge a couple of minutes walk from the station that may be worth a look. Another option would be to use laterooms.com or similar and see if there are any bargains in central London - I think you'll end up with more for your money and possibly a better location if you're looking to eat out, and see other touristy bits of London. Chris

Check the Fabia 1 forum - quite a few common problems that can be easily checked for Chris

I'm not really qualified to answer the question, but my experience of comparing 16's to 17's (years ago on the Scooby ) was that the 17's seemed to offer better levels of grip but at the sacrifice of ride comfort. I'd always put this down to the amount of sidewall available, although I can't remember if the tyres were similar load rating which may be a factor. I'd also guess the stiffness of the sidewall plays an role in the "responsiveness" of the tyre. Saying all that, my driving style has changed a bit since then and so you should probably take my findings with a pinch of salt Not strictly relevant, but I highly recommend having a look at some of these videos if you haven't seen them already, particularly the one about tyres and feedback: http://www.donpalmer.co.uk/videos.html Chris

May be different for different areas, but I get a lot of recruiters contacting me via LinkedIn (presumably my current job title/skills/interests are matching jobs they're looking to fill) and if they are aware you are job hunting, they will be your new best friend. Where I've sought them out directly in London, it's been a 5 minute call to talk about myself, the sort of roles I'd be interested in and salary expectations, e-mailed them a copy of my CV and then wait for job specs to arrive so you can discuss specifics. Most also have inside knowledge of the company/people they are recruiting for and will help prep you for the interview. One other thing to bear in mind is that the recruiter doesn't necessarily have your best interests at heart, so don't feel pressured into interviewing for / taking a role that you don't want to do ... Good luck Chris

That's not good news, but hopefully you can turn it into something positive. Wrt the car, it's worth being realistic in how much it's costing you to keep and how much you will lose if you sell it. If it's paid off in full then you only have to worry about the running costs and it may be that you choose to use the car less and get the bike out more ... at least in the short term. If you're looking to get into the IT industry, you may well need to move to where the work is, if you're not having any luck locally. I ended moving 100 miles when I started out! Not sure what field you're interested in, but in the software dev/qa/support sector most of the job adverts expect you to have relevant experience for the job you're applying for, yet most of them want graduates fresh out of Uni - a perfect catch 22 When I've been looking I found that having a few IT recruiters on hand to do the leg work in finding positions and getting me through the door was invaluable and, because they are on commission, they are also quite keen to provide feedback on your CV, where you need to fill in gaps in skills/experience and also about how interviews go. May be worth a try if you haven't already. As the saying goes, when one door closes, another door opens Chris

I don't think there is a "better" and it comes down to what is important to you. For me, economy was a factor but how it drove was a far bigger factor and the new breed of diesels give great, refined performance (similar in delivery to a decent 6-cylinder N/A petrol) while still returning decent economy when being driven enthusiastically. I couldn't say the same for the small TSI engines I have tried which were economical (in petrol terms!) when babied around, but got very thirsty when pushing on and also felt a bit underwhelming - although that is just my opinion I had considered going the LPG route on an older bigger engined car, but was put off by the hassle of finding a reputable company to do the conversion, sacrificing some boot space, and finding fuel stations which carried LPG (and had a working pump!), as well the other potential associated costs of running an older car, which could easily wipe out any savings made. I've been very happy with my decision, but YMMV Chris

There's a subtle distinction here. - It is not a legal requirement to carry your driving licence while driving - It is an offence to fail to present your driving licence to a police officer when requested As mdon says, it's at the discretion of the officer as to whether a "producer" is offered but most of the time it will be. As a slight aside, just carrying the photo card portion gives the police enough information to contact the DVLA and find how many points, etc you have and whether you are disqualified. Chris