amateurstuntman

1. TommyT all of the above red 2. nitrovrs all of the above green 3. G60bron all of the above green if not red 4. vRS_Si - TIP (and possibly coolant) in black 5. DuffVRS2009 in blue if not red 6. Ninjavrs defo in green, if poss all off them 7. Piv34uk, Tip and turbo hoses (depends on cost) in Red 8. VRS Nick all of the above in red ( depends on cost ) 9. Jaymd - Coolant Hoses in Blue 10. Eire-Andy - Purple pokadot, if not green or red. 11.okenobi- green fulll set 12. countryboyhaha - full set in green. depends on cost 13. vrs-dan full set of green 14. (STEEVIE WONDER) - Set of BLUE for the coolant and heater matrix please!! 15. TommyT - Full Set - Dependent on price 16. mark r full set - dependant on price 17. Amateurstuntman - Full set - All black - Price dependant.

Well, I did wonder. The S3 one does look like an old chair leg though. Is the difference just cosmetic, show car stuff.

Are either of these lower strut braces worth the extra money? i.e. are they twice or three times better than the S3 (8N0 199 403 B) one? They look like they bolt on to a different part of the car, does that make a difference? £175 one: Awesome > Neuspeed Lower Strut Brace Billet Mk4 Golf etc £114 one: Awesome > Neuspeed Lower Strut Brace Polished Mk4 Golf etc Any ideas? Thank you for your help...

Just a guess based on the outcome of what she did, to be honest I can't imagine a reason to do what she did. That is a close as I could get to one. The thing I will change at that roundabout in future is the attitude of my car, I always drive up to it with my right side on the while line and then steer left a bit just before the roundabout. I am still in my lane but I don't have to steer as much to miss the island. In future I will stay parallel to the centre line and that will allow me to see farther into the lane to my right while I am stopped. On the original topic I went for a drive down to Bognor yesterday and because I was in convoy with the father-in-law's Omega estate we were driving a bit slower than the road could support. I got a tailgater and followed the advice from the thread, didn't try to speed up and when I got a bit of a straight I indicated and pulled in tight to the left and slowed right down. The guy got stuck behind the in-law though. On the way back I also got an opportunity to try your "triangle" overtake manoeuvre, it gave me a better view of the "landing" of the overtake, worked well with the vRS too, it goes like stink in second at 40. My wife hated it though, she didn't like driving in the "wrong" lane while we were checking it out.

Certainly does. Best thing really, if I was in charge of the calendar nothing would ever get done.

Good questions. "chassis language" she was committed to the turn as far as I could tell. I know she was looking into the road she started to turn into, that is something I always check, it's a great help. No indication while I was still looking at her, there has to be a point you are satisfied it is safe to move of and start paying attention to the road ahead. I got the "spidey sense" peripheral vision cold sweat thing, at that point I stood on the brake, instinct, not a considered thing. Possibly, I think it might be my British reserve but I never think to use the horn. If I had to guess which I don't like doing I would say she turned into the road with the intention of doing a "u" turn a bit further down the road, saw the centre reservation was blocked and did it a lot sooner than she intended. Found herself heading for me and went evasive in the same direction I was going. Meh, no real harm done. Just a scary one.

What about getting a 4x4 octy and locking up the haldex? Rip out the front wheel drive stuff and dress up the 4x4 to be like a vRS. Would that even work? I know someone who did something similar to a Cavalier turbo. *Bah, N7EJA types faster than me.*

I ride a bike into work. Nice Carrera from Halfords. I always top at red lights and I often get sworn at by other cyclists who can't get past me to run the red lights, to me that seems like total madness, they are red for a reason. What gets to me is the way motorists complain about having to drive near the curb because they get punctures in their (10mm at least) thick tyres then get all upset when we ride a foot or so out of the gutter to avoid getting punctures in our 1mm thick tyres. The way it seems to me, the motorists are usually angry because nobody likes to be shown up as a berk and not noticing a cyclist and then having to go evasive is a pretty stupid thing to have to do. I ride (or run) into work for the fitness and so that my wife and I can both work with only one car. It's a choice and it's my choice to make. I have had a few near misses but I knew that could happen and it was part of my decision. Still, I am at 3 near death experiences already this week and one near fight. It starts to wear a bit thin. You should have seen the look on the guy's face who stopped to have a go at me though. He pulled up to shout at me (for throwing myself under his wheels deliberately when he pulled out of a side road without looking, my fault obviously) then realised that the lycra wearing pansy in the puffa jacket was actually an 18 stone monster in a tight t-shirt with carbon-fibre knuckled gloves. he got back in his car without a word then shouted a load of sweary words out of his window at me as he drove off. I am into live and let live but I would rather have police on the roads who can spot poor driving (and cycling) than another thousand cameras who can only spot you if you are speeding.

Do you mean that I should have waited until she was definitely off the roundabout? I always do that, years of HGV driving have made me very careful at junctions and such. I only mentioned this case because although I do the above at every roundabout, in this case she was what I would call totally committed to her exit. She came off the main road indicating left in the left lane and entered the road. It is a tree lined avenue with a grass verge in between the two lanes. The grass ends 12 to 15 meters short of the roundabout leaving a gap that is marked out with solid white hatching. She then cut right, across the hatching and out in front of me as I pulled out. I was shocked, I'll tell you. I have done a poor drawing here, my route in blue, intended in blue dotted. Her route in red, -I cut her arrow short because it was making my drawing look a bit untidy- if she had been anywhere near the pink I wouldn't have pulled out, even if she was indicating left. The worst thing was that as I pulled out she was almost behind me and in my peripheral vision so as she came past me it was a shock. I don't mean to moan,I am just in a bit of a mood this week, I have been nearly killed 3 times this week riding my bike into work. On the same road no less. I have my high vis vest and all the required reflectors and such, I think I must just be invisible. I just get wound up with people using the excuse "I didn't see you".

I had a problem with the bulb not going out. I had to take out the stereo, remove the button, dismantle the button (a pain and it doesn't look like it's supposed to be done) and replace a spring that was 3-4 mm long, the bulb is tiny and I think the switch is only a couple of quid anyway. Might be easier just to replace it. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Skoda-Octavia-rear-window-demist-switch-breaking_W0QQitemZ160336383060QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item160336383060&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1683|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A1|294%3A50

True, true. The thing is there is a group of rules that some people remember and most don't. There are fewer still people actually drive to them. How many times have you and another driver both gone "round the flagpole" when you were both turning right? Or seen someone at a roundabout wait until their intended exit was clear before they got onto the roundabout. Or discovering their exit was blocked just continuing round the circle until it clears. I haven't, I see a lot of people drive onto it and stop. Blocking the whole roundabout, not just the exit they wanted to use. The thing is most people on the road are fisters, I was nearly taken out this evening by a teenage girl who indicated to come of a roundabout at the exit to the right of mine. She steered towards her exit so I pulled out, then she changed her mind, still indicating left and accelerated right at me. Then did an emergency stop on the roundabout, blocking the whole thing. I faeconated myself. So given that most of the drivers of the road ignore the rules you have to replace them with something that works, what about politeness? I mean, yes I may not be on the main road but all they would have to do is pull up 5 yards earlier and I could cross the carriageway and turn right. The amount of times I have been turning right and have stopped to wait for someone who was turning left or going straight on and they have just looked at me all confused. Just a little consideration and thought on the roads would be nice, we in Britain and specifically in Kent live in an area with some of the highest population and traffic densities in the world. With all the cars on the road the only way to get anywhere is to be polite and hope you get it back. Incidentally "right of way" isn't the correct term, one car would have priority over another...

Yeah, it's not pretty, it's handsome.

I'll see what the long haired colonel says, she runs the diary... Sounds good though, bit of a drive from here which isn't a bad thing. I used to live in Thatcham near there.

Yeah, I feel it. Chris described that teqhnique earlier: Sounds good, I have been reading some of your other threads, are you a roadcraft instructor or did I pick that up incorrectly? Perhaps I can come down for one of your courses? I used to spend a lot of time in the Andover area, mostly in tanks mind...

I'm going to employ your overtake technique from now Chris, see how it fits. I've come through the curtain of rain under an overpass on a dual carriageway in a storm to find a fridge-freezer lying on the road. Crapped myself, avoided it, (I was going slower than usual because of the reduced visibility) and pulled over as soon as I could to call the police. By the time I had got through to them some clown had already smashed into it at 85. Since then I have been really conscious of debris in the road, then a month ago I came off a roundabout in traffic in the right lane and kerbed my left front alloy and ruined the tyre on a chunk of concrete. Couldn't see it for the other cars and none of the other cars reacted to it so I can only assume they weren't even looking. I do find that I am a much better driver now that I am older, I used to be a total berk. I raced mountain bikes when I was younger and had no fear at all, then 12 years ago I was in a pretty horrific crash. When I got out of the hospital I found that not only was I frightened of going fast on the bike I was also much more frightened of all risk. I drove slower, couldn't compete on the bike any more and had to give up my job as a bouncer due to perceived risk. I have slowly got better at things like that but all my old friends from back then just call it "the fear" some of the others have it too. It's wierd. Driving lorries and riding a (road) bike to work have made me a methodical and observant driver but smooth and quick are things I aspire to.

I like it. I am not afraid to learn. like I said. Now that I have a more powerful car I am having to re-assess most of the things I do while driving. My old swift was fast but you really couldn't slow down or you'd never get back up to speed. The only other car I've had that was powerful was a modified range rover, bobbed, TVR engine and road tyres with stiffer springs. However the thing was still a death trap and I really tried to avoid overtaking. Good point, the sign wasn't mine and is not something I'd do, the indicating is something I picked up in India and although not "standard" the right indicate has prevented a crash at least once. The "lapping" is wrong and I put my hand up to that, it feels good though. Undertaking on a motorway however, I though was OK if the prevailing speed in the inside lane was faster than the prevailing speed in the outer lane. Say I am doing 70 in the leftmost available lane and some oxygen thief is doing 60-65 in the middle lane, I thought it was OK to forgo the hassle of going two lanes out then back in just to get round the mouth breather? Could be just another dangerously ill informed driver though...

I can get pretty stressed with people on the roads but oddly tailgating isn't one of the things that annoys me. I find that if someone does to me what I do to others I will do what I can to help them past. That is, I come up behind them while "making progress", allow myself to get closer to them whilst I am braking than I would normally then drop back enough that I have enough space to run up to a decent overtaking speed while still in the left lane. That way I minimise TED, I have always done this but now that I have a more powerful car I find that I don't need to leave a 3 second gap like I used to. If I notice that someone has done that to me and I know the road I will check ahead as if I was overtaking myself and give a single flash of the left indicator when I think it is safe for them to overtake. Likewise if they start an overtake move and I see a danger I will give them right indicator. People who tailgate either through ignorance or arrogance don't bother me either, I have many years of experience in military convoy driving and I will quite happily flick the mirror onto anti-dazzle and ignore them. Middle lane hoggers get undertaken, overtaken and cut really close or "lapped" depending on my mood. I find that as I have mellowed with age I hardly cut people close any more. An ex of mine really hated being tailgated, so much that she ended up making up a big cardboard sign that said "**** off tailgating ****", it sat on the parcel shelf and she could pull a bit of string to make it fill the rear window. It hardly ever worked though. What really grips my **** though are daydreaming idiots and inconsiderate drivers. If I am trying to turn right out of a side street and they are trying to turn right into it, where is the harm of letting me out? I'm not going to be in their way. It winds me up even more if they see me there when they arrive at the junction and still block me off. I was there first dammit. I nearly got killed the other day by a guy coming out of a petrol station, I was coming down the road, station on the left and he looked me in the eye before turning right into my path, it scared the hell out of my wife. People who are turning right but don't go all the way into the filter lane so others who are going straight on can't get past. Rrrrrrr. I hate inconsiderate drivers. Tailgaters? meh. If they are genuinely travelling at a higher average speed I'll get out of the way, if they are an idiot I'll ignore them.

Also good point. Perhaps I shouldn't have tried to defend him by saying he is an experienced journalist. That is like saying someone will make a good gynaecologist because they have years of experience as a rapist. All I can say is that for the tiny moment that I got to talk to him I thought he was knowledgeable and charismatic. I like him and I like the cars on their list of cars they all like (Subaru Forrester, Mondeo and Avantime), actually my dad had an Avantime and a Vel Satis, also a Citroen BX, a DX, an SD1 and a load of other bizzare but great pieces of mad design. I suppose there will always be a load of people who hate TG but when Clarkson cried after the 24hr race and there was a shot of Hammond and May smiling, I just thought "what a bunch of genuinely brilliant people".

It's only really the front of the MKII that isn't as nice, I wonder if you could put the bonnet, wings and front of a MKI onto a MKII? Probably not. Wrong generation, you see Boras with Golf front ends and such but they are the same generation. It would be cool though. Can you get a 4x4 DSG TFSI MKII? I don't think they do that configuration, nobody would buy the Audi if they did.

I had one of the 16v versions, it would spin up it's tyres in second. The key to it was that it had no weight in it at all. I bought it for £100 from a mate of mine when he was skint at the end of the month. Needless to say I got more for it when I sold it 2 years later. I have been running or riding my bike into work so when I got the vRS we sold my wife's ghastly 1.3 fiesta, the '97 transition model that was total dog toffee. She got surprised by the Octy, she is a good driver but smooth and economical, we had had the car a couple of weeks and she hadn't been above 3000rpm. We went to go onto the M20 and there was a small gap so she floored it. She got such a shock she let out a little scream. Brilliant.

I will probably be able to come along to this, I've put it on the calendar. It just depends if the long haired colonel can come up with something "better" for me to be doing...

I know the episode well and they said that they could do a massive weight loss programme but they then decided against it based on the fact that the point of the show was to see if they could make any car into an evo equivalent. The evo has carpets, sound deadening, electric windows etc. so if they ripped all that out they would fail. They only got away with pulling the seats out because they put 4 seats back in. I agree that they could have done better but that wasn't the point, on an earlier episode of TG they invited people with their own tuned cars to come along to the track "to illustrate that the manufacturers know best and there is no point in aftermarket tuning" and the home tuners kicked ***. In the "cocking around" sections of the show the scenarios are always set up so that the TG team fail, that's where the comedy lies. If they wanted to do it properly they would have chosen an equivalent saloon car like, for example, a vRS MK1 Octy. then they would have hammered the evo's time well within their 10K budget. They could have even bought a tired second hand evo and made it faster than it's new brother and kept to the budget. But doing things properly isn't entertaining. As for Clarkson not knowing what torque is, that is an on screen affectation. He is a motoring journalist with decades of experience, he really knows his stuff.

There's another 225hp '03 TT rack here: AUDI TT STEERING RACK 225BHP GENUINE on eBay, also, Audi, Car Parts, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 07-Jun-09 14:34:19 BST)

I think a MK2 with DSG, 4x4, a 2l TFSI and the bonnet, wings, bumper and headlights from a MK1 might be the perfect car but never mind, the MK1 is (to me) gorgeous.

My wife uses my car to go to work and I ride my bike. That means the only thing I ever do in my car is go out for fun, one of my drives takes me past a building that has a mirror front and I always slow down and look at the reflection of the car. I like to look at it out the window too, I think it looks sinister. I am probably going to have the windows tinted, remove the spoiler and rear washer arm. Then it will look smooth and sneaky too. I have been making a wish list / upgrade road map for what I plan to do and it is going to cost me a fortune. I don't care though, it is buying things a bit at a time so there are no huge expenditures and we don't owe any money on the car so it doesn't matter.