Turbocharger

Thanks for that. Hmm. £100 a corner is the same price as the Grizzlys were, and I'm a bit gutted after I ripped one apart last time out. Is there a similar sized mud/compromise tyre at a better price? I'm not too bothered about wear rates since they seem to wear according to price(!) but with the same risk of damage for all tyres.

I've decided I'm in the market for a set of tyres. I shouldn't and can't really afford it but my 235/85 Trac Edges are getting past their best, the 285/75 Grizzlys are too noisy and anyway I can't sensibly run two sets of tyres any more since I got a new smaller flat. I need one set of tyres to do motorway miles, daily commuting (30 miles) and still be good offroad. They should be taller than 235/85s but don't need to be as big as 285/75 because I don't like the abuse on the CVs etc. I love the TracEdges but deep mud leaves them wanting. My thoughts turn to 255 BFG Muds after many good reports on noise, wear and traction (and a little bad press about bead leakage). I guess Billing is a good place for cheap deals - how much are they in the 'shops' so I can compare price? Alternatively, what other tyres should be considering? Same pattern and size from Colway perhaps, so I'm not heartbroken if/when I rip one?

From an engineering point of view I take issue with that. You're reducing the volume above the piston at TDC whichever side you skim. How can it tell whether the gasket join is 0.2mm higher or lower?

7S for free? I'll be there! I did this marshalling last time and it was a really good relaxed weekend, plenty of high-speed lunacy from the racers and marshalling only required me to wave a yellow flag when anyone broke down! Free BBQ and all-day playing on Saturday sound like a good balance to me.

I can see why he would be keen, since it (may be) his neck on the line when someone heads out across the Plain (perhaps mistakenly thinking they're on a ROW) and then leap high into the air before scattering themselves and their car over a wide area. There's quite a conflict of interest allowing public access to a military impact range. There's no rights of way across Bovington...

How long before there's an orange one available, complete with excessive mark-up, bumper/cage mount kit and inbuilt sag? Nice idea, Si.

Indeed, the map shows the zig-zag bit to be a trolley line, presumably for dragging things along while they shoot them. It certainly makes an interesting obstacle when driving the lane (which I've marked in red).

I'd say it depends on the state of the lane. Does she need traction or clearance? My mum bought a Jeep Cher*kee but never takes it out of 2WD (I did and it wouldn't go back...) - to be honest her Volvo 240 went everywhere it does, but they're not exactly ground-hugging either. If she's just looking to climb a slippery slope, any of the Subarus would do well. If it's a bit bumpy, £50 buys you a Sierra or Fiesta to run up the lane, then leave a decent reliable car at the main road

Indeed, some photos: There were wires all over the floor here - wire-guided missiles or some kind of monstrous PA system for rock concerts perhaps. We didn't continue to bridge the gap here, tempting though it was. No such signs were evident at the ends of the two other dead-end byways we drove although as I said, we didn't go looking too hard. Exploring a byway which wasn't at all evident on the ground.

It scares me that similar things are available on Ebay. We had a good day out, drove a couple of lanes that weren't evident on the ground and ended up bouncing through gorse, long grass and 2ft craters in places. When we went up to the zig-zag testing ground (which is marked as a railway(?) on the map at the grid ref Chris gives above) I stopped and then Chris noticed the round above, on the floor in front of my car On both dead-end byways the signs suggested the end of the ROW is marked by a sign - in both cases we couldn't find anything (and didn't want to search too extensively!).

I think I've solved my bitch-issue - one of the guys from work (my boss's boss in fact!) has volunteered but I'm not sure how good he'll be [bish] Still, he'll have plenty of time to learn with your Milemarker...[/bish]

Err, yes, well spotted. That'll teach me to read before I write....

The finish on the plastic one looks terrible in the photo - lifted straight from the 1980s. Si's is very smart though, very impressed.

Sorry for the OT but he's meeting me in Erlestoke at 10am and I'm an hour away and just getting in the shower. Could somebody let him know that I'll be late, probably 11 o'clock. He's got my number but he didn't send me his Normal service will now resume.

Well, I'm still heading to Erlestoke but will be late since I didn't get in til midnight last night (after recovering TroddenMasses LR from the side of the M5 - I'll let his wife explain the nature of the breakdown ) - I'm aiming for 11am but it may be later than that. If anyone's got Minivin's number can they ring him please and let him know? He's got my number already. Edited because I'm too stupid to read all the posts above...

Does anyone have the original transcript of the Kitteetect story? It's Friday afternoon on a slow day in work...

Congrats Charlie - probably best to keep the ABS for offroad anyway with an auto (although at least you're moving to a sensible engine now). Are you planning the whole weekend for one hub (with beer and pizza)? If you're done by Sunday you could head over to Salisbury Plain for a shakedown before BDB.

Looks like the clue's in his sig, Chris... I've not got a (working) CB but I've PM'd Cartman, Jim and Minivin with my mobile number. Will anyone else be about and interested in a chug or will I have resort to burying my spare wheel and winching if I do get stuck?

... or use public transport? "I/they don't live near a bus stop or tube/train station, and it's expensive" is usually the response, but in London you benefit from an excellent transport network and it's usually ignorance or personal inertia (in the nicest possible way) which stops people from using buses. People spend a lot of time telling me that they don't use buses in Bristol because they don't know where they go. They don't want to know when I try to tell them either, mind, but they want everyone else to catch them so they can use a clear road in their car. As I see it, the only way to force modal shift is to provide a viable alternative then punitively tax the current solution. The issue that most of the UK outside London has is that the deregulated market does not provide that viable solution, it has the cheapest/leanest/most profitable network. (Can you guess that I work in public transport? )

^^^ what he said. Ideally we'd have a tax system which incentivised using a small non-polluting vehicle for town driving and an economic larger car for inter-urban driving, or just (as London has) a decent public transport system. Then you can combine driving whatever you like outside town with using the tube/buses inside the city. The only real driver for all this will be a punitive tax system so Red Ken gets my vote.

Andy, if you've already partly-triangulated the suspension you have (IIRC you've got bars in the shape of an A-frame, but bushed) then this will ask the rear axle to travel vertically. A panhard rod will want the axle to describe a circle around one (driver's side?) chassis rail, so the two will fight each other and either destroy the bushes in short order or become excessively stiff. In fact, without any compliance in the bushes at all the centre of the axle would travel vertically, the passenger-side panhard mount would move in a circle around the chassis mount and overall you'd get a roll component as the whole thing moved vertically. This might not amount to much if you've got flexy bushes and the panhard rod is nearly horizontal but they'll certainly be fighting each other in situations like this (credit to Rogue): Hard to say how significant this'll be without trying it but it's not the most elegant solution.

Given that I'm on TracEdges I'm not going to be uber-competitive anyway and if I'm competing bitchless as well I'll be as bad as Will Warne. Not a bad idea that - you joining me then Will?

Controversially, I'd say it's perhaps not glowplugs. On a decent 300Tdi with reasonable mileage there shouldn't be an issue with starting it without plugs, especially not in the summer in the UK. I've had my engine in for three years and never got round to even wiring them up. If the problem's only developed recently I'd suggest it's fuel - I know it's hard to tell in 5 secs but is there any white smoke during cranking / when it starts? Is it 'trying' to go, or does it just turn over for 5 secs dead and then fire up strongly (ie once fuel gets through)? I'd suggest changing the fuel filter in case any air's creeping in around the O-rings there, then change the copper washers on all the banjo connections (or anneal the old ones). Then start thinking about chafing pipes etc.

Would the middle one not be better captioned "Mrs Hybrid came back to a confused, half-scrubbed cat, a pungent smell of Waxoyl and paraffin in the bathroom and a notable absence of Nigel"

I spy a caption competition with that last photo - something about a Staffordshire Catapult?