warps

Harry Don't let the truth get in the way of a good conspiracy theory. Got tto give the boys something to talk about for the next 4 weeks.

Since there is no mention of a budget, I suggest a new BMW M5. These will comfortably eat your 500km each way, and you'll always arrive in comfort and style. Great for the family too. For economy, the Audi A8 TDi V8 gets 7.6 l/100km, and will accelerate 0-100 in 5.5 sec. These would also be a great long distance cruiser. They are, afterall built for the autobahns. However, if you're not an Audi or BMW fan, then you'll just have to settle for the Merc S63 AMG. A bit thirsty, but will accelerate to 100 in less than 5 sec, so safe for overtaking those road trains out west. Hope this info has helped you, Adam.

Any of you computer types had anything to do with these? I travel a lot for work, and it gets annoying trying to use my 14" laptop screen exclusively (I run 2 monitors in the office). I see there are a few different portable USB powered monitors on the market nowdays, such as: http://www.pcworld.i..._monitor/421268 http://www.itproport...-usb-3-monitor/ These are obviously aimed at travellers who need / want a second monitor, but don't have the luxury of carting a full sized monitor on planes everywhere. I'm interested to hear if anyone here has had a chance to try one. Would these have similar quality to a standard 14" laptor screen? I'd expect that the travel case would have to be pretty tough. Even my carry on luggage gets hammered by other idiot travellers trying to cram their oversize bags on top of my gear in the overhead lockers (Thanks to the cheap, carry on only fares!!!). At under $200, these seem like a reasonable all round option.

Why is everyone getting so worked up about what it looks like? To me the only thing that matters about a car like this is the driving experience. For all I care, it can look like a steaming pile of dog poo, as long as it's a lot of fun to drive. Then again, I've been driving Subarus for the last 10 years, so looks in cars clearly mean nothing to me.

For a luxury option, you could consider one of the last Fairlanes (circa 2008). FOr some reason, these were much better on fuel than the equivalent Falcons (6 cyl only). I used to manage around 7.3l/100km on the highway on country driving whereas the equivalent Falcons at the time couldn't achieve any better than high 8's. Plenty of luxury and room in these things too. I don't know why it's so, but I saw this same trend on 4 different Fairlanes, compared to about 8 Falcons on the same trips over a 12 month period.

Magnas are getting long in the tooth now, and haven't aged well. The Mitsu 380 was OK when new, but I haven't driven one for at least 5 years now. The Aurion is another good cruiser - I've done plenty of 3 hour highway trips in them. I wouldn't go for a camry. The 4 cyl engine in something that heavy will be frustrating, and probably no better on fuel than the 6 cyl.

The XR6 suspension is actually perfect for daily driving - specially on highways. I find the G6's are a bit floaty for my liking, and the seats feel like an arm chair, whereas the XR6 seats still give you some feeling of what's going on. For a 5 hour haul I'd go the XR6 over the G6 every time I haven't driven an XR6 longer than about 4.5 hrs in one stretch (Sydney airport to Mudgee region), but they certainly do the job well. As an all rounder, I quite like them (prefer them over the SV6 Commodores, but that's just a personal preference). Second hand should be fairly cheap, given how many of them end up as hire cars.

Falcons aren't *too* bad on fuel on the highway - I normally average high 7's - low 8's l/100km in the hire cars I drive. One thing to be aware of is that a seat which might feel comfortable on a short drive can be cripplingly painful over long hauls. Example - when I had an MY02 WRX, the seats were fantastic and supportive on the race track. however, after 2 hours behind the wheel, my backside was numb and I had to stop so that I could get circulation back in my legs. OTOH, the 2007 PAthfinder had horribly uncomfortable seats (like sitting on a park bench) but after 11 hours behind the wheel (Gold Coast to Mackay) I still felt quite refreshed and there was no discomfort in the seats. I find the current crop of Falcadores to be very good long distance haulers. Much as I love my small cars, they have no place on country highways. A big car will soakk up the km's much more comfortably, and are likely a better proposition if you happen to encounter any wildlife. On that note, good headlights are a must, as I gather much of your driving will be at night. Big spotties are fine, but a decent set of factory headlights makes a big difference too (unless you want to go the B&S ute route and mount 16 spotties across your roll bar and bull bar.

Not that I can see. However, you can apparently win money in some of the events, so I guess you can use that towards buying new cars (don't know whether you need to buy the cars for the events first, or you can enter an event and drive whatever car is available). Some of the events are a bit of an "every child wins a trophy" event, so might be easy to get cash that way. I haven't had a chance to get back to it since trying it out the first time, so don't really know the answers.

was totally shyte with a keyboard - I couldn't even get out of the pits without writing the car off. When I plugged in the wheel it made a huge difference. At least give that a go before writing the game off. How anyone can possible play a driving game with a keyboard is beyond me. Still, for the money it's not a bad game. Maybe after they develop it for a few years it'll evolve into something decent. Most of these community online games started out pretty basic and either evolved or crashed and burned.

Stamp duty (2.5% - 5% depending on where you are - see here) say $900 Dealer Delivery - usually $700 - $1000 Rego around $700 So on road costs would generally be in the vicinity of $2500 for something like this. Add any options you go for, plus insurance and you might be approaching $35k all up on a $30k list price. Note you should be able to negotiate something better, but I don't expect them to be very negotiable whilever demand is high.

Just giving you a hard time . Each to their own. Not up to us to tell you (or your friend) how to spend your (her) money. I think the Zed will be a great choice - specially if you can get it for $45k. All cars depreciate. Some more than others. If you want to get hammered on resale, pay full price for a taxi spec falcadore.

Hope you find one to drive. They say that they're all sold out (could just be marketing drivel, too). I plan on test driving one too, but may end up with the Subaru instead (purely because I have a contact who can get me good deals on Subys). I can't see Toyota wanting to negotiate on them. Yes they're cheap for what they are. Yes, I'm a tight arse who hates paying retail for cars. Keen to hear anyone's reports on them after driving one (or better yet - owning one)

Yeh maybe it is - I haven't played it since the early versions - perhaps they've sorted the physic and made it feel realistic. Interested though - what is it about LFS and Simraceway that makes LFS (or others) better? Just saying "X is better than Y" doesn't help much. I know people who still claim that GT5 is the best driving sim ever greated (or Forza, for those that way inclined). I guess everyone has their own criteria upon which games are judged. From the hour or so I spent tweaking and playing Simraceway, I found the physics to be quite intuitive, though some aspects of the game did need improvement (see my first post). You can push the car and actually get some feedback on when you're pushing too hard, a bit like you do in real life. This is something that's lacking in a lot of games out there - even some of the so called "hard core" simulators. Has anyone actually tried it with different cars / configurations? I guess an EVO X is hardly the best car to test a game's physics capability, given that driving an EVO is a bit like driving a computer game anyway (with all of the artificial assists turned on). I get that the graphics aren't the best out there. Still, I'd rather play the original 1998 version of GPl, complete with 1998 graphics than grapple with the awful physics which afflict all of the console based driving games I've tried.

Oh dear.....

LFS hahaha Good one

Anyone else had a look at this? I'd never heard of it till I read about it in the latest EVO magazine. http://www.simraceway.com/ It's a free download simulator, based on online racing (although you can also practice and race offline). There are several tracks and cars available, but the standard download only gives you access to one car - an Evo X. All other cars have to be purchased. pricing ranges between $0.25 and anout $15 per car. Basically you pay 1/100,000th of the real value of the car - so something that costs $100k in real life costs you $1 in the game. I just downloaded last night and have been driving the Evo around Infineon raceway. I must say that the physics feel pretty good - the Evo on road tyres slides around a bit, but you can chuck it prety well, and it gives lots of feedback, unlike the canned spins / tank slappers / crashes that a lot of games seem to throw at you. I still need to tweak the steering wheel settings (sensitivity, dead zone etc) as it feels very dead in a straight line, then loads up artificially in corners. Still, for a free game it's pretty bloody good. I haven't looked into the online stuff yet, but apparently they are trying to build a big community, with prizes for winning events (including real track days etc) Check it out

Don't give a stuff whether the mods void warranty. I want to know whether track time voids the warranty. I'd rather driver a stocker on the track than a modified one on the street anyway. Yeh forgot to mention the critical bit about the test car being auto. What were they thinking, indeed? I have yet to drive an auto that feels as sharp as its manual counterpart. (Tdi towing vehicles are the only exception, but that's a totally different kettle of fish) Agreed that motoring journos tend to paint a fairly skewed picture of reality, but it's always good to get some real life feedback on cars, when the only other info available is the marketing stuff the manufacturers spew out..

I read the EVO BRZ article on the plane this morning. For those who haven't read it, a quick summary of what they didn't like / were disappointed with: 1)They felt it was underpowered unless revving the tits off it. Normal driving it didn't have enough torque, specially climbing mountain passes 2)They didn't like the sound, because it doesn't have the characteristic WRX burble 3)It has too much grip, so not an instant slide drift machine as the hype would have you believe. Maybe wet round abouts are a different matter, but on dry roads / tracks it was very hard to get the tail out, let alone keep it out there. 4) The non-performance tyres lacked feel / stability under braking. Not to say the brakes were bad, just the tyres let it down 5) It didn't have the same "fun" factor as the cars it was tested against, ie MX5, Megane 265 Cup, 370Z. The latter 2 were definitely faster and more involving, and more fun to drive. Bear in mind that in the UK the Megane is priced the same as the BRZ, and the 370Z isn't that much dearer. Compare to the price difference over here and would they have had the same expectations? Items 1, 2, 3,and 4 could be fixed with some tuning / better tyres. How much would this transform the car? HArd to say but it would have to help. Interestingly, their criticisms of the MX5 (felt it rolled a lot more, and had nowhere the limits of the BRZ) actually made it more fun and involving than the BRZ. Seems the BRZ is a bit sterile - not because it's all electronically assisted driving, but because the sheer grip and stability overcome the available power, and take away some of the chuckability. Still interested to see some local tests (of either the Toytoa or Suby) and want to drive one. Could be good for a weekend track hack / autocross (where the lack of grip will make it perfect for long power slides). If 15" rims will fit over the standard 86 brakes, then it might even make a decent rallysprint weapon with minimal mods.I will definitely be test driving one when the hype dies down a bit (can't stand talking to over zealous car salesmen - makes me want to punch them)

86mm to be exact.

fark lose the red trim and it might not make me want to vomit day-glo Looks like the back seat room is veeery restricted - my teen kids won't fit in there very well. What is this texi-deca of which you speak?

Hay Pat, have you thought about the Mazda 3 MPS? Lots of torque through the front wheels might sound scary, but they've had a lot of good reviews. You can get them for around $40k drive away brand new. also, you might find some good EOFY bargains at dealers, so shop around. They might be wanting to offload floor stock at very reduced prices (expect to be able to negotiate $4-6k off sticker prices if you haggle hard enough) If you find a demo with a few hundred km on it, there's some good saving and even further haggling to be had. It's amazing how desperate some salesmen get when they see a serious buyer walk out the door.

For occasional towing up to 2000kg the Falcons will be fine. Definitely not as good as a decent fourby, but they're solid enough to tow that kind of weight and still be stable. As usual, check towing capacities, trans coolers (def better to tow with an auto) lock up T/C etc. Have you spent time in some of the mid size fourbys? If you haven't you might be surprised how car-like they are - many of them even handle well these days (far from a sports car, but well and truly enough to keep up with traffic in all normal situations). Not trying to change your mind, just making sure you're being impartial. Each to their own.

Don't waste your time on a Foz - they're past their prime. $45k will buy a brand new Rex with change left over. Not much else in the new car market will touch it for all round performance in that price range (and definitely a better option if she doesn't have mad driving skilz - I can imagine an inexperienced driver in a 317kW commodore with worn suspension and tyres) 370Z would be a sexy beast - how about the new Toyota '86. Meant to be a driver's car (in terms of pure driving fun, rather than tyre shredding straight line speed). for a bit of classy grunt, she can pick up a 2000-2002 BMW M5 manual (5 litre V8, 400hp). They're meant to be the most robust of the M5's and have plenty of go to keep her happy. Of course a 10 year old BMW could end in tears if anything goes wrong. The lexus - meh I admit they're fantastic cars, but they are so booooooring. No passion. It's like driving a camry with a fancy badge on it. some of the hot hatches are meant to be uber quick and fun (Renault Megane 250RS, Golf R or GTi). Have not had any personal experience with tose euros, so only going by what the motoring journos say about them. As mentioned above - she seems to have a very diverse range to choose from. She really needs to understand what she wants / needs from the car, then work from there.

Private sales of cars and car related gear don't come under any sort of consumer code of practice / trade practices act etc., so you're not bound to offer any warranty. My comment on it being rusty was the only way I could think of him being able to prove you've sold hi a dud which could not possibly have been operational at the time of sale (ie it has been sitting in the weather for the last 10 years, has rusted up and you're passing it off as a running engine). Not suggesting that this is what happened - it was the only way I could think of that he might have any proof of what condition the engine was in 2 months ago. Apart from that, I'd say his case is extremely slim. If he hasn't got a receipt (or any other communication ) with the engine number on it, then how can he even prove it was your engine?