mickq

I havent checked the compliance plates. Will do it tomorrow if I remember. It was likely made just a few days ago. My company is different - we order direct to Ford not a dealer or other company. It then gets queued with their production run. So the lead time is long - about 4 months. The moment it rolls off the production line and is quality checked, within about 36hrs max we get our hands on them. Mods.....stay tuned....

My Mk2 is as follows: - Black - 6 spd manual - 18" wheels - Premium brakes - Premium stereo - Side airbags - Sports steering wheel. I looked at all the other options and decided not to get them for various reasons. Well, as someone who has thrashed a Mk1 manual for the last 2 years, here are my comments (after a whole 30km driven...but some with spirit) - The 6 speed gearbox is unreal. Fantastic. MUCH better than the 5 speed. You can tell straight away. It just feels solid and right. Each gear is easy to find and where you expect it to be. Getting used to the new pattern and 6th gear is a bit weird. I think it will handle more power with ease, for those wanting to add some go to their standard T. - 18" wheels. Look cool. Tyres seem to corner quite well. Havent checked the pressures yet. - Brakes - Work well. No different from the prem Mk1 brakes. - Sports steering wheel: great! Dont know why I didnt get it the first time. Its quite well designed....the contours on the side just fit your hand and increase your grip on the wheel during cornering. Makes quite a difference. Engine: Pulls well. Not the jack-rabbit my Mk1 was, but then again I have only done 30kms. It seems to have a slightly more solid mid range, but the power doesnt quite come on as fast, nor it it as strong in the high rev range. Its currently lacking that kick in the backside accelleration and response a little, but to be fair I will let the engine loosen up a bit before judging that properly. I get the feeling though that in the last 6 months they have modded their ecu software to reduce top end boost, and given the mid some extra torque but made sure it doesnt come on as quickly. (Typical "save the customers drivetrain and reduce warrantee claim technique!). Many wont notice it as they dont use the top end that much. (I do.). The fuel they provided in the car may be standard unleaded too...I dont know. (I use Mobil 8000 and sometimes Optimax when 8000 isnt around). The engine itself (ie under the bonnet) defintely sounds different somehow under load. Not sure what. Exhaust - The exhaust sounds VERY different. Something has definitely changed on the exhaust side of the equation. Deeper note. More impressive. And a little louder. Will get a mate to hoon past me and see what it sounds like from outside. - Pop-off: I cant hear it at all. My last car made a lot of noise when backing off fast from full throttle. This one is dead quiet. But this may change after some time of driving hard. I have the feeling my old car was quiet to start with too. - New Mk2 pedals: Definitely better grip and look better too. Should be good for double clutching. Gear ratios: Different. Close but different. The car seemed to struggle in 2nd and 3rd in places where it didnt used to. (eg turning around a corner near home, at a fast walking pace...it used to cope better but now the engine grumbles a bit more due to the load). This may change after some more kms but I think the gearing is different enough to effect this very occasional lazy (ie no-gear change) driving I do. 6th gear is ok. It doesnt pull that hard at 100kmh. (Enough to accelerate, but not at all quickly) It sits on just under 2000 revs at 100kmh. I am sure it will be efficient for cruising at that speed, but its no overtaking gear unless you have a lot of time to do it or are already going a lot faster than 100kmh. I suspect up some highway hills you might need to swap down to 5th to avoid slowing down - the only alternative being to floor it and load up your engine a lot whilst doing less than 2000revs...not good for your engine. I havent done accurate runs in each gear to determine their top speeds, but on initial look they are very close to the Mk1 (which backs up what the gear ratios and graphs show). Overall, impressed. If the gearbox continues its 1st impressions, I will enjoy it a lot. I will be interested to see how the engine turns out when its run in a bit more (and after the 3000 or 15k service...where no doubt they will flash it with new software...).

Oooo, yes please!! PM them to me if you want. Dave. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Will search for it guys. I think it (or a link to the site with details) is on my PC somewhere. But as I have almost a terrabyte of hard disk space, it isnt always easy to find things I am moving house mid next week so it will be busy for me over this weekend as I must pack...if you dont get a reply from me by next weekend, please PM me and remind me to look.

I agree, if normal use of an edited car results in it being disabled as it cant cope, it should be made clear to edit buyers prior to purchasing. It is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Effectively a fault has been found with the edit product. For a multitude of reasons it needs to be fixed. One thing of concern is this: existing edit owners will, I believe, have to get a whole new tune once the fix is found. This is not good. It is likely that the fix will be a change in the edit code. The problem is that the edit code that is uploaded to people's cars after a tune is unique. It will nto be easy to simply download it to a PC, modify it and then upload it to the car again. It technically CAN be done (involves some clever hex editing and byte patching) but I dont know if SCT will have the skills to do that. What I think is more likely is that people with standard edit software will be able to quite easily have their standard software upgraded. But people with custom tunes have unique software so its likely the suggested fix will be to go have another custom tune where they start from scratch but this time they start from a version with the TC fix in it. Not good. And not really acceptable. I believe all people should get the fix ideally for free, or at most a nominal $50 charge to cover the time needed to upload/mod the software files.

Ok, here you go. Put together from 2 separate posts I did in a thread back in April last year: In general its common sense. Some rules for early days: - dont let the engine overheat. Let it idle to cool down if it needs it. Especially if the turbo has been active. - Do not miss or delay the first oil change. No excuses on this one. It can be like silver glitter in some cars and will do damage quickly if left in. Also the oil tends to be a different grade from the norm, so dont expect it to act like the normal oil. - No Mobil 1 or similar fully synthetic thin oil until you have done 5000-1000km with normal oil. Hey for those who really want to do it properly, here is some more detail. But be wary: there is a fine line between doing it properly and not being nice to your car! You can see how anal the level of detail is below, which is why I didnt write it the first time. But from the number of PM's Ive got, here it is! I suggest if you really want to do a good job you follow what I have written both here and above very closely. If anyone wants to know the real detail behind it, let me know and when I get time I will write it up. Follow the same info I wrote above, but add this to it at the start, for the 0-60km mark. Alternatively if you are in doubt, just follow my original instructions and they will tend to work just fine. You might have seen some people here who wrote "Drive it like you stole it". There is *some* truth to that saying, but its much more limited than they suggest. The info below is written for the gearing on a Mk1 Manual. If in an Auto you may need to engage the manual gear change feature so you can control the gear its in and how many revs its doing. For those driving autos, for a Mk1 the rough speeds each gear is used for are: 1st: 0-70kmh 2nd: 30-110kmh 3rd: 50-160kmh 4th: 50-jail 5th: jail - Premier Bracksie's execution chamber Some background for you: When you buy a new car, or have a reconditioned engine, the cylinders have hone marks bored into them. These are left on purpose, and usually form a crosshatch pattern. They have two purposes: a) To literally wear down the rings, so the rings and cylinder form a _very_ close seal with the cylinder surface. b) To help hold some oil, for the short term. However these hone marks dont last long at all. So you need to change your low km run in procedure to take advantage of them, and reflect the fact they dont last very long. If you picked up your car and it has 60+km on it, dont stress that much,. Chances are a few test drives happened in your car, and chances are they were not that different from what I suggest below! What you want to do is this: All of these steps you want to try to get done by 60km mark or so. After that your hone marks are mostly gone so you cant take advantage of them to closely match your rings and cylinders. You pick up your car. It has say 20km on the clock (hopefully!). 1) Let it warm up. It also ensures oil is distributed around the engine. Let it idle, maybe after a min or two with you _gently_ running it from 800 revs to 1000 then 2000 revs every now and then. Let it get to full operating temp. (On my T that's a little under halfway on the temp guage). A good way to tell is that the engine cooling fan will probably kick in. It doesnt usually take long to do this in a T as they put out a ton of heat. 2) Start out driving. Go nowhere near freeways. Best place is in the country on some road in the middle of nowhere, but city is cool. 3) Drive for a couple of km's gently, making sure all sounds well and no issues. 4) If all is OK, do a couple of short 2nd gear runs from say 30kmh to 70kmh. Half throttle. Once you get to 70 on each run, back off the throttle completely, and let the car slow down by itself (ie using the engine not the brakes) back to 30kmh. Drive around slowly (normal) for a min or two at city speeds to let the engine cool. 5) Do a few 30-70kmh runs in 2nd gear using 3/4 throttle. Again, be sure to let the car slow down by itself. This is just as important as the acceleration phase as it will help clear excessive oil from the bores and can help prevent glasing of the bores. Drive around slowly (normal) for a min or two at city speeds to let the engine cool. 6) Do a few runs from around 2300 revs to 4800 revs in 3rd gear (may need a freeway to do this....in a controlled off-road environment with a professional driver). Again at 3/4 throttle. Again let the engine slow itself down not using brakes. Watch out for cars behind you! Drive around slowly (normal) for a min or two at city speeds to let the engine cool. (Shouldnt be a problem at freeway speeds). 7) Do a couple of runs as above in 4th gear but start at 2000revs. Dont worry about this step if it means you have to break the law badly! Missing this step wont change things too much. Back on normal roads, do 3 runs in second gear: 40kmh-60kmh. Full throttle. If all is well, its time to open it up: 9) 3 x 2nd gear runs from 2000revs to redline. If you can, try to stop the run just before the rev limiter kicks in. Choose 5000 revs if you arent sure when it kicks in. Be sure to let the car slow itself down from each run, not use the brakes. (At the end of a 2nd gear run in the manual you will be doing ~105kmh or so). By now you are hopefully near the 60km mark and Phase 1 of your breakin is done. The rings will be honed down by the crosshatch marks on your cylinders and will very closely match your cylinders. If not yet up to 60km on your odo, Id repeat steaps 9 and 10 a couple of times. Once you finish your runs, it is CRITICAL that you let your car cool down well. Drive sedately at 50/60kmh in the proper gear so the engine is relaxed, revving slowly (but not so slowly you are loading the engine up!) and then once you stop, give it 2 mins of idling to let it cool. Then its on to the steps I wrote in my earlier post for 60-100km, then follow each step for each km step above that. A few notes for the early stages: - Be sure to let the engine slow itself down after each run if you can. Dont brake. Its a really important step! - Be extra sure you warm up the car before you start, and let it cool down well at the end. Notes for later stages (60-1000km) - Always let you car warm up and cool down. Cooling down is extra important on very hot days, after very long drives, or after spirited drives where the turbo is likely to have had good use. It only takes either a min or two slow driving at the end, or let the car sit and idle for a min or so before turning it off. - Do NOT NOT NOT NOT delay your first oil change. Ideally you could even do one at the 60km mark if you follow the steps above as that's when max metal filings will be in your oil. But dont worry too much...you can follow the manufacturers recommendation and stick with 3000km. But dont delay after that. Changing at 3300km is NOT good enough. Get it?! 60-100km: For the first 100km or so, avoid high revs and avoid loading the engine up. Id say something like keep it below 3000 revs and dont press the accelerator more than 1/2 way. Be sure that you dont load the engine. You can put massive load on the engine at 10km by simply putting it in 3rd or 4th and accelerating. The engine isnt made to put out much power at low revs so it struggles. It produces a certain noise when this is occurring. Avoid it. The reason is simple: dont stress anything out for an hour or two of operation, just in case. Ensure the engine gets to a good operating temp and that oil will be will distributed everywhere. A nice freeway cruise will do this well. Do NOT hold any certain rev range. If you are doing freeway driving like someone suggested, vary the gear you are in every couple of minutes so that the engine speed doesnt sit at one point too much early on. Use all the gears - gearboxes can do well with running them in too. (Im assuming a manual here). 100-500km: Raise the upper rev limit slowly. Say to 4500 revs. Still dont use much more than 1/2 throttle. Dont load the engine too much, although some loading is ok. Accelerate between 3000-4500 revs *slowly* the first few times. Not much throttle. After that do it using up to 1/2 throttle. 1000km: Run the revs up to redline. Initially you should increase the revs in waves, ie do a slow 3000-4000run, then a 3000-4300 run and so on. After a few spurts you will be up high. But in the upper reaches (say above 4000) dont load the engine up too much (ie dont floor it to do those runs...geeeeently!). 1500km, go for it. High revs, high loads. The tradeoff with engines is simple. As anyone with a lot of racing experience can tell you, if you run it in too hard at the start, the engine's life will not be as long. Its fact. However it will make great power until it starts to prematurely leak oil and show other bad signs. This is only suitable if you are not planning on owning the car long before you sell it off to someone else. If you run it in too much like a wuss, the car will tend to rev sluggishly and not put out a very high peak power. It will also tend to have resistance moving past the rev range (or two) that they tended to sit at. What you want is to go somewhere in between. Start off pretty meek and mild. Gradually increase load and peak revs over the first 1000kms. Do not ever load the engine up at low revs, say driving up a hill at 20kmh in 3rd or 4th. It is not good, even with a fully run in engine! Understand that except for very early on it is LOAD that causes the problems not revs. If you are careful you can rev it to near redline after only a couple of hundred km's (or sooner if you do things really carefully), but you must do so whilst barely pressing the accelerator much. The degree to which you press the accelerator to get to the high revs should be built up over 500-1000km. I wouldnt engage in "drive it like you stole it" right from the start unless you plan on keeping the car less than 2-3 years. I have the Expensive Daewoo run in route map somewhere on my PC at home from memory. Its the route they take to run in their new engines, including prototypes and also race engines (put in stock looking cars). I will try to dig it up. Its useful for those who live in Melbourne area as it covers all conditions in all gears and different revs. And there you have it, how I run my engines in, in excruciating detail! Applies to both cars and motorbikes, except that for motorbikes the revs change (higher as they redline much higher).

WHat you recommend there is MUCH harsher on a new engine than high revs under medium-high loads. I would strongly recommend you DONT do what you stated. 4th gear up hills at very low revs is exceedingly harsh on your engine, even AFTER its been run in. I have written a detailed run-in post at this site...I will try and dig it up and post the link here.

An excellent idea! I will look into it as well. Then it puts us in control and they need to justify to us any flashes they wish to do...not just do them and tell us afterwards. Be interesting to see their reaction. Wonder if they will replace the part (ie cut the wire, add a new connector and then flash it!). Be sure to combine it with a "Do not flash" order. in fact I would ask for it to be put as a note on my car's record on their computer system,

Well, its time for the Mk1 to go away, and here comes the Mk2 with 6spd. Pick it up tomorrow. Looking forward to see how it goes in comparison, particularly gearbox performance. Be interesting to see if the 18" tyres last longer than the 17" ones...which were only 9k per set of rears.

Until you have to make a claim.... Just a word to the wise, watch out for AAMI. They have a notorious reputation for being very tough when it comes time to payouts - whether it be to you or someone you ran in to. Apparently often their standard tactic is to take it to court. There is NOTHING worse than having someone hit you and then they say "Dont worry, Im unsured with AAMI..." Why do you think they push their "We are ultra friendly" advertising so hard??! The truth couldnt be further from that image. An example? A mate of mine's father was about 65. He was getting on a bit. And a Volvo driver. So coming out of the city he seemed to black out for a couple of seconds. Ran his car right up someone's ass. Damaged 3 cars. Now in my book (and everyone else's...) that is pretty cut and dried. I would expect AAMI to pay out, and then to either decline to insure him in the future or demand a certificate that he was fit to drive from a Doctor prior to considering him for future insurance. All very logical and I think what most companies would have done. AAMI's response to the 3 people who made claims after being hit? It was an act of God. As it was an Act of God we wont pay out, and you cant make a claim. Take us to court. So they did, and a hell of a lot of legal fees later some piddly settlement was reached. But not before everyone lost money on lawyers, and not before my friends dad (the good AAMI customer) was dragged into the courts (as you have to attend if your insurance company wants you to) and went through all the stresses of lengthy testimony and cross examination by the other lawyers. Not good, and all this for maybe $20k in damage. So...the moral of the story is DONT JUST GO WITH WHOEVER SAYS YES AND IS CHEAP! Check around. Look for customers who have made claims. See how it went. Any insurance company can take your cash, its what they do when you need them that you should assess them!

Dropped past my dealer today to pick something up they had ordered for me. They asked if they could keep my car for 45 mins to reflash it. (The 3000-4000rpm smoothing flash I mentioned earlier in this thread). I said no, I dont have time. Besides, my Mk2 is coming in the next week or two and this car will be sold...the next person can worry about it. They tried being quite insistant, saying Ford (head company) would insist it was done. I said no, doesnt suit me and Im sure it will be done for the next owner when they service it for the first time. They begrudgingly said OK. I am surprised they pushed so hard. I too reckon my car has lost power over the last 2 flashes. In future now, if they want to flash my car, I will be asking them to provide me, in writing, an assurance that it wont impact on performance or power negatively, and if it does, then I can demand it be returned to the flash I had beforehand. If they refuse to give me that written assurance, I will refuse to get it flashed. Anyone know if they have grounds to refuse an engine warrantee claim because a flash hasnt been done? (I would have thought no, as non-Ford servicers may do a proper service but not have access to the new software. Declining a warrantee claim based on that would be an anti-competitive practice and illegal). As someone said, if they push next time I will flat out say no as it is not their car the decide that on. If they refuse, I will go to another dealer.

With the car *not* running, whip off the spark plug cable for number 5 at the spark-plug end of the cable. (ie leave the other end connected to the coil). Lay the end of the cable down so it is near a metal part of the main engine, at most the metal inner part of the coil lead being 2cm from the metal engine. Be sure its done in a way where it cant dop into any moving parts or belts. Crank the car over. You should see the spark jumping from the loose cable end to the engine block every time #5 is supposed to fire. That takes about 90 seconds to do. Best done in the shade/dark so you can easily see the spark. Do NOT under any circumstances touch the cable (I dont care how good you think the insulation is!) whilst this is occurring or the engine is cranking or running. You dont need a 100,000volt shock. If you do not see spark, then its likely your coil pack is stuffed. I havent looked at them in my T (havent needed to) and not sure how many there are. Best to check the wiring is OK to the potentially faulty one, then stick a multimeter across its power leads connected to the coil to confirm its getting voltage. If it is getting correct volatge, then its likely stuffed: replace it.

They arent THAT close. Look at them in detail (especially if you have a pic viewing program that lets you zoom in) and you will see they are close, but certainly not identical.

One of the worlds oil experts was interviewed on ABC News Radio a few days ago. He indicated that oil will hit US$70/barrel quite soon - ie a bit later this year. But he said that is as high as is reasonably expected. If we hit $100/barrel this year, it will have the following effects: 1) US will invade every oil producing country in the world....(Ok, so just the big ones...) 2) US economy will go down into a strong recession 3) As a result the world economy will go into a heavy recession. The biggest threat to the world in terms of oil prices is easily China. China is starting to grow, and grow fast. They are building an area the size of Brisbane every month. Moped, motorbike and car sales are starting to climb (they use a lot of pushbikes in china at the moment). They arent efficient engines that are being sold either. Their oil demand has grown massively in the last 6 months, and the serious growth hasnt even started yet. If China farts, another 20 million cars can be on the road...with a massive impact on world oil prices resulting. I predict big problems between China and the US in the next 10 years, as both struggle to forcefully secure their own oil supplies....

I recently had my 15k service and they did a reflash with new software. I noticed a slight drop in power. Probably more in how "aggressive" the power came on rather than peak power. (Torque limiting??!) I took my car in today (10 days later) to get a mag wheel replaced. They took my damaged one and are ordering a new one and will transfer my tyre to it. So all they had to do was remove one wheel, whack the spare on, and keep ahold of the damaged one until a new one came in...then swap the tyre to the new one, call me up and fit it to my car. What is most interesting about this is when I looked at their service form thing (that the mechanics read to see what is supposed to be done) there was mention of my mag wheel and a second, surprising, totally unrelated item along the lines of: ECU reflash to smooth out 3000-4000rpm. No idea why it was there. I had not mentioned anything about it, and assumed the flash I got 10 days ago was the latest. Perhaps a newer version is out and important enough that they do it to your car when it next came in. Anyone know about this one??!

Jumping to a major change may not be the best first move. In a nutshell, it seems you are more functioning like a museum than a retail outlet. if you are having lots of gawkers and not many buyers, you need to realise people are coming to LOOK NOT BUY. Ok, so that gives you a couple of alternatives, other than the ones you mention. 1) Capitalise on your reputation and displays. Its unique how you are doing it. Consider turning the focus to more of a museum that happens to sell things rather than a pure sales outlet. If people are interested in seeing what you have, could you somehow tailor it to be like an exhibit, the sort of thing where people pay $2 to see it? 600x$2=$1200, a lot better than $100. It sounds like a very specialist area you are in...and no doubt many visitors are into it as well...and they are the same kind who wont have an issue paying a couple of dollars to see the things they like. You would need to change the "focus" of the store from retail sales - to display with a retail component. I dont know much about the kind of glass you are into, so dont know if that might work. But how often have you seen "tourist" or "specialist" type places running as a mini visitor centre where a token fee is payable? They are all over the place - just read your typical street-level tourist brochure for all kinds of bizarre things people will pay for. or 2) Continue with the things you like doing, but increase your product line to include things that DO sell. Experiment with things along the same line. Eventually you will hit on products that will sell, and they can help subsidise your other unique but less often sold products. Try some things related but a bit outside the square. Try some things that appeal to the average visitor to be able to own, not just see. Part of that will be price, so look at the things you do sell, and see what kind of price range your visitors have. Just a couple of ideas. If you love your work, experiment until you hit the right recipe. You might be just a pinch or two of salt away from it. The difference between success and mediocre performance is often just a little trial and error or luck. Once you start to be more successful, I bet you it will snowball.

NOT a good idea. From memory Mr Sheen contains Iodine (or some version of it) which farks your paint. It might take a year or so, but it will happen. I would suggest that if you are planning on keeping your car for >1yr (unlike the car show people...) then dont use it. It is not a recommended car paint spray!

I have had the exact same damage, but ages ago. When I first pointed it out, I was told I must have run over something liek a piece of flat metal that cut into it like a knife. I wonder otherwise now...

City: 23.3L/100km usually is shown on the computer. I get about 210-230km before I refill. (With maybe 1/8th of a tank left at most). I usually get my 80km distance left warning tone at or just before I hit 1/4 tank left. that's using Mobil 8000 or Optimax. (Car runs better on 8000 though). Freeway driving is excellent (although I dont do much of that), even when I drive inefficiently. Arund 8-9L/100km. I have seen >500km per tank no problems, and that's with hard overtaking, flying onto on ramps etc. Amazing for a fast car. As you can imagine with that kind of fuel consumption rate, and my rear tyres being eaten every 9000km, Im kind of glad that I get free fuel, tyres etc!

The hair spray idea does not work well. Its an old urban myth, and it has various varieties too, like you should grill the numberplates afterwards.... The proper spray is a product by 3M. I have no doubt you could buy it as normal glossy clear spray or similar. I reckon they just buy large batches and re-label it to Photoblocker. The spray does work. Not only do a bunch of tests done in the US by numerous TV stations confirm it, but I even did some roadside testing with a digital camera and flash, from the angle that road side cameras are at: the plate is unreadable as it appears blinding white. I even ran the photo through a couple of dozen Adobe PhotoShop filters to see if any normal filters got rid of the excess light and revealed the letters underneath - they didnt. There was simply a saturation of white causing over exposure. You are supposed to keep the plate as clean as you can (ie wipe of dust etc) to maximise its reflective abilities. Naturally, this spray is only of use with cameras that have flashes. No flash = it does nothing except make your plate even easier to read! In Vic many cameras now have no flashes. But some do have flashes, so I still consider the product worthwhile. After about 18 months the clear spray is going ever so slightly yellow - a little like an aging plate. I could remove it and respray (mineral turps from memory...but the instructions detail how to remove it). But wont bother as new car and new plates on the way. I have been pulled over several times by the police, some of them with the cops not in a good mood with me. Both night and day. And they havent said anything, even though I used a little too much spray on the plates and thick "frozen" drip marks can be seen if you look closely. Anyway, the Chief of Police said on TV that its not illegal in Vic, and they dont believe it works so wont persue it. (Fine with me). Bet that will change at some time though! As for other alternatives, I dont consider any of them viable. Metal things sticking up and blocking a letter on your numberplate from the side, glass/plastic numberplate covers that turn opaque or to a mirror from an angle...all work very well but are also exceptionally easy for the police to see, and you WILL get fined the moment they see you "obstructing your numberplate" or "fitting a device designed to impede the operation of safety cameras" or similar. Nothing to lose by using this spray. I say give it a go. Although I used a bit too much the first time around, I reckon I will get approx 4 plates (ie 2 cars) done with the one can. Next time however I will explore my local hardware store first, and look for clear glossy spraypaint made by 3M. Find that and it will likely cost less than $10.

Exactly. I am quite stunned by this because it involves hardware. Even if you wipe all their software off it, they will still take it...so its not a software licencing issue.

Well, it amazes me. As many know, people have been modifying their Xbox units for a variety of reasons. Inlcuding running Linux or other things on it. This involves removing plate on the bottom, to give you access to the screws. Some people have subsequently had issues with their Xbox and returned it to Microsoft under warrantee. Well MS have just told dealers that it is now going to not just refuse warrantee claims on boxes which have been "tampered with". It will be keeping all Xboxes returned to it under warrantee where the plate may have been tampered with. They have decided to call it a violation of your license for the XBox, and that they can keep your Xbox. Absolutely unbelievable. Problem is noone has the money to take them on, as MS would simply tie you up in court for years and cost you millions for your little Xbox. I have no doubt some tiny line in the 10,000 page license agreement states this. I cant believe they are allowed to do this with hardware. (Software is the wild west legally and you are licensed to use it, but hardware is a physical thing and you reasonably expect to own it not just the right to use it). So watch out people with modded xboxes! How long before fords are sold with a similar license agreement, and they seize your car if you mod it!

It was an absolute disgrace that he wasnt banned for life after sticking his finger up people's asses on field. It was an even bigger disgrace that a team would hire him after that. The team is appalling as well.

Newspaper today mentioned, in their usual hysterical anti-car way, flame thrower kits that are being sold here. (See attached photo). Now yes, these are a bit ricey (ok, a lot!), but if done well they look pretty cool. (Many photos you see are the typical "bigger is always better idiots"...moderation looks much better). From what I read they work if your cat isnt 100% stopping all unburnt fuel (not unusual, although all our T's are pretty new, some have a hard life and that would effect the cat). Has anyone tried one of these on a T? I would LOVE to use it on a tailgater at night and watch how fast they lock up their brakes....

Fog lights dont annoy me. I leave mine on. At night they definitely help reveal things on the road as they reveal areas you dont otherwise have lit. My car has "headlights always on" fitted (mandatory unfortunately) and I dont like the look of the car with only headlights on...so I have the fog lights on as well...which looks better both in the day and at night. They should not effect anyone else, as they are properly aimed. The only exception being in certain hill (like cresting a hill) situations where they may hit eye level of oncoming cars...but so will the headlights. They only cause glare to people with overly-sensitive eyes or dirty windscreens, and in those instances its their problem not mine, as headlights of various types will always have that effect on them. (They need slightly tinted glasses or similar...and to wash their car windscreens). Aside from that, the only people that complain are people who have personal issues and cant cope with foglights being on for some deep down emotional reason...and that's something for them to deal with, not me!

Oops, meant to be as a PM