Heebee

A class of quick learners, then

It doesn't matter how fast they make it, it will still look like an Allegro estate...

That's pretty much what they were bred to do! They are the one and only breed in a catagory known as 'Carriage Dogs': they were bred to accompany horse-drawn carriages. So not only did they have to have the stamina to keep up with a carriage, but they also had to be strong enough to defend the carriage against wolves/highwaymen/traffic wardens. They are great dogs, but when you understand why they were bred, you begin to realise why they need so much exercise. We've got a mongrel, but I'd really like a vizler or a basset hound one day. Vizlers look stunning, but Bassets have the best bark, ever.

The Britax ISOFIX seats can also be used with a seatbelt, in cars where no ISOFIX mountings are supplied. I'd be a little hesitant about buying a child seat online: it's a very good idea to check that it fits your car properly before you buy, and shops tend to have 'experts' to check this. Some councils also offer this service.

I already did! How about twin lights? Or perhaps 'always on' indicators, that allow rather more perspective and speed judgment than a single light? It has to be possible to make bikes more visible. I really don't think it is any consolation that someone takes responsibility for an accident, if you've been mushed. Prevention is better than the cure. I'm all for better driver training in general, but realistically, I don't see it having any impact on the number of bikers killed or seriously injured in the near future.

One other important issue: don't change to a forward-facing seat until the child can sit up and support its head without help. More advice here: http://www.mothercare.com/stry/makingasafechoice&layout=mainlayout

Can I recommend you go to Mothercare? They sell ISOFIX seats, to cover all ages and sizes. They are also well trained, and will check that the seat is right for your car. ISOFIX is far safer than a belt mounting: even the best fitting belt-mounted seat can sometimes twist out of position in an accident. The latest ISOFIX seats use a leg that props against the car floor, so rotation of the seat is impossible, and the seat shouldn't twist either because the ISOFIX mountings are rigid, and square to the seat. The ISOFIX seats available from Mothercare (Britax: there aren't many designs around at the moment!) fits the Fabia vRS. It's worth getting each seat checked with your car, though. Manufacturers don't actually make their own ISOFIX seats for their cars: some sell the Britax seat as an 'official' seat, but Mothercare is cheaper anyway. One other important issue: don't forget that there is a recommendation that babies don't spend more than 2 or 3 hours at a time in a child seat: they should lay flat when out of the car, so all-in-one systems aren't ideal. It's better to keep the child seat and pram separate.

I think something needs to be done to make bikes more visible. It's particularly easy to lose them at this time of year: a bike, with a single headlight, can disappear if there's a car behind it, and it's very hard to judge the speed of a single headlight. Perhaps twin lights would be easier to see? or a specific extra light, just for bikes? I'm surprised more bikers aren't wiped out at this time of year, particularly the commuters on the motorways, weaving in and out of lorries, vans and cars. I see a near-miss at least once a week on the motorways, normally from bikes in blindspots, where people aren't expecting to be undertaken.

Actually, it's more than likely it IS stainless as standard. Stainless is now used on, as far as I know, ALL standard exhaust systems. It's the only way to meet euro emission regs, on the life expectancy of the emission control systems (90% must be in reg, after 10 years or 100,000 miles). That doesn't mean they won't corrode a little, though.

I hear what you're saying, but there have been so many roads reclassified to much lower speeds locally, that it makes a mockery of the whole system. It certainly smacks of revenue generation when roads have their limit dropped by 20 mph overnight, and a load of scameras appear. Anyway, a limit is just that: just because a numpty isn't safe to drive at 60 in certain 60 limits, doesn't mean they have to: they can go slower! If they're that bad at driving, take their licence away. Why should everyone else have to suffer from artificially low limits, just because some people are inept? Surely the focus should be on travelling at a speed which is appropriate for the conditions, rather than making the whole country crawl around at an artificially low speed and punish anyone who needs to make progress? It's exactly this policy that breeds resentment.

A1's biggest problem is that it costs a minimum of £30 a month to see it on Sky. I think last season's F1 was OK: there were a few interesting races. However, the UK touring cars season was terrible, there just weren't enough makes in it to keep it interesting.

I've Snopsed it: http://www.snopes.com/history/american/gauge.htm

Get a BMW driver to show you how it's done.

ALL the parts? Why dont they start with a blank page, then? Oh, it's because Nissan put together a car with the specific intention that it could be tuned relatively easily, and spent a fortune doing this...

My physics teacher would have wept at that comment. The car with the lowest Cd would win that particular race...

Forgot to add: 0-60 favours petrol engines, because most are geared to hit 60 in second gear: most diesels will need to be in third or even fourth. However, in-gear times are normally more impressive in diesels, which is why they're often hard to find if a manufacturer is pushing a performance petrol-engined car. This all changes if the petrol engine has a turbo, though: the torque production changes significantly.