Tibbs

Thanks for that link Gizmo it looks relatively easy - you don't know by any chance where I can actually get a replacement screen from do you?

During some <ahem> 'spirited' driving, I went for 3rd, my hand slipped off the gearlever and punched the screen. Result - one smashed screen and a no touchscreen. I haven't had a go at taking it apart yet, but does anyone know where I can get a replacement screen? They seem pretty fragile, so has anyone done this before? It's something similar to this

I have a 140k mile Ex-Police Octy vRS Estate. Looks rough as old boots, but the day after I bought it it did 177bhp and a lovely shaped torque curve on the Rolling Road at AMD. Buying a Police Car can be a bit of a lottery - you know it's had a hard life, but it will be immaculately maintained mechanically speaking. Most Police Forces have an in-house shop that does all the work, and they know if they don't do a proper job they just get the car back to do again. The issues that mine had that needs (or needed) attention were general wear and tear: Rear Wheel Bearing Front steering Bush (or something) Slight Coolant Leak Aside from that, it drives beautifully and has been very efficient. It even survived 3 laps of the Nurburgring! If you can find out the reg of the car, and which police force it came from, you can always email them and ask for the service record. I got an Excel sheet with everything that was done to the car from when it was delivered. It had a full service every 10k miles.

Oh god, I just threw up in my mouth. - nuff said

I don't have a picture, but I can tell you what it will look like. It will look like every other car that some poor delusional has done this to - Utter ****.

Don't try to remember anything, there are way too many corners and if you haven't been there before the games etc. that have the track on don't show things like the massive gradient changes. You only learn the track after doing it, and unless you have the course notes or something to learn it would take you at least 50 laps to have it down well enough to be able to watch for traffic and drive the lap fast. I deliberately didn't do any research before I went, so I had a vague idea of the track shape, but nothing more. That meant I was in no danger of misremembering any part of the track, and overcooking anything. I strongly recommend taking your first lap very steadily. If you can't cope with people in slower cars overtaking you (it will happen a lot even on your 'fast' laps) then I recommend you don't go. If your ego can handle that, it's amazing! It also helps to have someone who knows the track well to give you directions and let you know where some of the slow corners are. One to be especially aware of is Adenauer Forst (I think) which is where I came close to the kerb on the second video (I say "I see what you mean") it's much, MUCH tighter than you think and comes to you almost totally blind. I was lucky in that I had Chicken with me on my laps who did an amazing job of keeping me on the black stuff. Don't let the videos put you off - I have no sense of my own (or anyone else's :p) mortality and am terminally stupid so I was spanking round the track trying to squeal the tyres at every opportunity. /edit The other important thing to remember is what I wrote above - get people to overtake you on YOUR terms. Indicate right and pull over to let people know it's safe to come by. The only vaguely hairy moments I had was from the Boxster and the Fabia that undertook me, and neither of them were really scary...

I was thinking about how to make a better film and being able to cut between 2 cameras would be great. Having it mounted low down would add to the sense of speed. I may also see if I can add some music to these ones as well - maybe the theme to Dukes of Hazzard?

TBH it's much better to back off and let people past on your terms - if you don't they'll only force their way past, and that's when accidents happen. There will always be someone faster than you on the the track - the important thing to do is to take your ego out and put it in the boot for the ride around. Even when I got overtaken by something ridiculous (which happened quite a lot), it didn't matter, I was on my lap, they were on theirs. I certainly would be reluctant to do a lap without someone else in the car to spot incoming traffic, and I must say Adam and Chicken and BCP did a sterling job letting me know what was coming.

Here's the other lap Pictures to follow when I can get Photobucket working...

Was tonnes of fun - my plan next time (after I get the coolant leak, bearings and battery sorted) is to cable tie a camera to the front valance somewhere - probably behind one of the removable vents - and another on a suction mount affair on the middle of the dash.

My writeup is going to go in here (together with pictures), but to keep you guys going here is a link to my 2nd ever Nurburgring lap. 3rd (slightly more aggressive) Lap to follow later on...

Just bear in mind that if you're already good at driving at a constant speed, cruise control will actually increase fuel consumption, because it's not as sensitive as a human being at controlling the throttle in small increments. That was on Top Gear once, so it has to be true! Having said that I'm looking at having it installed on mine - I often look down and find I'm driving faster than I thought I was.

Unfortunately Apple has a policy of liking their products to operate within a 'walled garden'. Everything is designed to work with another Apple product - your iPhone connects to iTunes installed on your MacBook which connects to your iPod etc etc. This has advantages in that it makes it easier to design and secure (the main reason why Macs are more stable), and also to make it relatively idiot proof. The issue comes when you need to use Apple products with other systems, it works almost by accident. Just try to use iTunes on Windows, or in this case, use iPhone over Bluetooth. Apple's implementation of Bluetooth is horribly crippled, because Bluetooth traditionally has access to parts of the phone that Apple doesn't want it to use. This means that you often get odd side effects and random problems, because it just isn't something they're worried about. TL;DR: Bluetooth won't work properly until Apple sorts out the implementation on the iPhone, which it won't do because then a non-Apple product has too much funtional control over the iPhone. I have an iPhone and love it, though some of its quirks drive me nuts, especially the need to use iTunes to add music to it. I still use it because it was the best designed 'non-business' smartphone. My upgrade is due soon, and I think I'll be looking around at other manufacturers.

My Mark I Octavia VRS Estate has 16" Spiders if that helps

1992 Fiat Panda 750L (was my sister's, borrowed from Dad! Had it on 2 wheels more than once) 2001 Citroen Picasso SX (first company car, got through front tyres, pads and disks in 12k... ) 2003 Nissan Almera Auto (company car, surprisingly nice to drive) 2004 Volkswagen Golf 1.9TDI Mark V (Copmpany car, got it the day they were launched, was the only metallic red one I saw for ages!) 1987 Land Rover D90 TD Truck Cab (driven and crashed whilst off roading a lot, but kept on going) 1988 Mark II Golf 1.8 Auto (Bought for £500, did me proud - lovely car!) 2007 Honda Accord 2.2 CTDI (Company car, ridiculous amount of toys, surprisingly quick, great motorway muncher) 2005 Seat Leon 1.9TDI (Next company car, bit of a downgrade but good fun) 2005 Skoda Octavia vRS (They took our company cars away and so I bought an Ex-Police Octavia Estate, very much in love with it <3) Bikes: 1987 Honda CB350S 1978 Honda 250N Superdream (My dad's - I parked it in the side of a car, not my fault!)