Snooze

I guess you're talking edibles here, but as a side-note, I love receiving weird ingredients-type stuff as presents. For example, last Christams I got a bottle of saba, which led to some.....interesting..... recipe experiments!

I'd keep my Aristo over a 530d any day of the week - twice the power for half the money (wouldn't mind having a manual gearbox, tho' )

Same price could get you an equivalent GS300. That way you could potentially share 2JZ servicing bits, or leverage some of your existing relationships with suppliers? Chrysler certainly looks different, tho, if you're after a change! My old man used to have a Nissan 300C (with the VG30 engine) back in the 80's. That was a funny car!

The brakes seriously scared me when I first drove the Aristo - more so than the Supra. With the relatively small weight difference, maybe it was the smoother ride that made them feel more lethargic?

All these comments that you don't like her, yet you "dont want to tell her there is not going to be "us"". Why not?

I came across mine by pure fluke. I had decided I was after a MkII Aristo and was visiting my brother (who buys/sells cars as a hobby) a couple of weeks later, and he'd just happened to have picked one up at auction! Fair play - I've never actually driven an auto Supra, so I can't really compare, and I'm really not an auto fan anyway - even the (so-called) "manual" mode (with semi-auto shift buttons on the wheel) doesn't do it for me - especially on a turbo car - it makes keeping the revs in the peak range through the twisties that much harder. So I guess the downside is more that manual simply not being an option (without a conversion) is more of a downside than the autobox itself.....

Don't know about the specific technicals. As for a personal comparison, I came from a BPU '93 Supra to a Stock '98 VVTi Aristo. THE BAD The Aristo is slower, but that's compared to a BPU, of course, so not a fair comparison. The Aristo also feels slower - you don't feel as connected to the road. This is particularly scary when you look down and realise you've hit 100 already. I had to upgrade the roll bars and fit struts as soon as I got it to add a bit of feeling. The Aristo autobox is, to be fair, pants. Again - not necessarily a fair comparison, as I came from a manual Supra, but it's a common opinion. The handling is looser compared to the Supra, not surprising, really. The body roll is noticable. Brakes - eurgh. Worse than Jap Supra brakes but, like the Supra, easy to upgrade. THE GOOD #1 - the all important: My family actually fits in it! No other reason to change from a Supra to an Aristo (for me). The Supra has a surprisingly practical boot space, but the Aristo has about 4.5 acres of space. The traction control (and also stability control!) is actually usable! Not sure if this is a post-98 thing (ie. not sure what the 98+ Supras are like). A note on looks Horses for courses here, really. Can't deny the wonderful, head-turning looks of the Supra, but it's nice to be able to leave the Aristo in the road and parked up without worrying about it like I did the Supra. Also makes the Aristo a fun "sleeper". I do miss the Supra "cockpit", but the extra gadgets in the Aristo make up for that. Overall I'd still rather have the Supra than the Aristo, but as a 1-car family, the Supra just doesn't (quite!) cut it, practically. Compared to other cars, the Aristo does feel a bit out-of-date. If you're going to carry a big lump, I'm thinking a bigger N/A would be a better drive for a "luxury barge". Personally, there's other cars I'd probably rather have (W12 Phaeton? New M5?), but the Aristo is less than a quarter of the price of anything of equivalent performance. So - for your "poor mans supercar 4 seater" - I say wholeheartedly, "YES - thanks for the compliment!!".

I wonder how many climate-change-cynics would still be questioning it all if it wasn't going to affect them (eg. petrol taxes, carbon emmissions taxes, etc.). If the goverment proposed that climate change would be tackled entirely by a special tax on horse boxes and caravans, I bet there's quite a few (Clarkson fans, probably!) who would change sides!

The really dangerous situation comes when moving from middle to outside lane to overtake, then once you are past the car, when you move back into the middle lane; if a car which is half a length behind you in the inside lane is moving out to the middle lane at the same time. ie. two of you are trying to move into the same place in the middle lane at the same time. I've seen more than one accident occur like this (well - two - to be precise). That is why I always indicate when moving back into the middle lane from the outside lane.

Kristin Hersh! (who I saw at a solo gig earlier this year to an audience of about 50 people) Also used to like Sonya Madan from Echobelly. And Heather Nova! And Louise Post (Veruca Salt) And Corin Tucker (Sleater-Kinney) (shall I keep going?)

Did you have to ask? "Your Ma" was my favourite of theirs. PS. my lunch consisted two small pieces of cucumber, one tomato, one apple and one banana.

+5 -0 Avon ZZ3 +0 -0 Barum Bravuris 2 +0 -0 Bridgestone RE050 +4 -0 Bridgestone RE050A +0 -2 Bridgestone RE050A (run flat) +1 -0 Bridgestone S02 (N3) +2 -0 Bridgestone S02 (N4) +0 -3 Continental Sport Contact +0 -1 Continental Sport Contact 2 (N2) +0 -0 Continental Sport Contact 2 (run flat) +1 -0 Continental Sport Contact 3 +0 -0 Cooper Zeon +0 -0 Dunlop SP Sport 2000E (BMW) +1 -0 Dunlop SP Sport 9000 +2 -0 Dunlop SP Sport Maxx +5 -4 Falken FK-452 +0 -1 Falken Ziex ZE-512 +0 -0 Falken Ziex ZE-912 +0 -0 Fulda Carat Exelero +11 -2 Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 +0 -0 Goodyear Excellence +0 -1 Hankook Ventus V12 Evo +0 -1 Kingstar K 106 +0 -0 Kumho KU31 +0 -0 Kumho KU31 (run flat) +1 -0 Marangoni Mythos +0 -0 Marshal Matrac MU11 +0 -0 Maxxis MA +1 -0 Michelin Pilot Sport +4 -2 Michelin Pilot Sport 2 (N3) +0 -2 Nankang NS-1 +0 -0 Nankang NS-2 +1 -0 Nexen N3000 +0 -1 Nokian NRY +0 -0 Pirelli Euforia (run flat) +3 -0 Pirelli P Zero Nero +0 -0 Pirelli P Zero (N, run flat) +6 -0 Pirelli P Zero Rosso (N3) +0 -0 Primewell PZ900 +11 -1 Toyo Proxes T1-R +4 -0 Toyo R888 +0 -0 Uniroyal RainSport 2 +2 -0 Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta +0 -0 Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme +2 -0 Yokohama A048-R +0 -0 Yokohama V103 Advan Sport Am somewhat intrigued by the response on the Avons - having used Avons on previous cars (back when I had no money!), I wouldn't have let them anywhere near my Supra!

When I bought my Supra, I was looking for: - RWD - rear seating (enough for one extra person was fine) - high power - There isn't really much that fitted those requirements. Supra, 300ZX and M3 were the three I narrowed it down to, and a good Supra came up first. I like the look of Supra, but it was never really the look that was the reason I got it (as an every day car and on-street parked, I really wasn't after a head-turner) - these other characteristics are what sold it to me. Man - I am so glad. One thing that I had kind of assumed I wouldn't get with my car choices was good reliability. I couldn't have been more wrong with the Supra. Despite the fuel and insurance costs, the fact that regular servicing was all that was required meant it was actually cheaper to run than either of my previous cars (a BMW328 and a Clio16v). So...... what I really love about the car is the 2JZ-GTE engine. Absolutely awesome. That's why there was only one real choice for me when the family outgrew the Supra.

From that list, I personally would go with the Bridgestones.

Chris - definitely. Definitely. Stourhead is my favourite National Trust property by far. Truly stunning garden landscaped around a lake. It is laid out so well that you don't walk more than 100 yards before you discover another feature or vista. Wouldn't worry about missing the house - not that much of it is actually open to the public anyway, IIRC.

Edit: oops - violate Rule 3 by a couple of years Would have to be the previous revision (S3) to this one instead. http://www.bandcmotors.co.uk/cars/lotus-esprit-22-turbo-fh-2dr-fsh-immaculate http://pictures.autotrader.co.uk/ATD_web/servlet/media?id=986530003 Cheers, Gav.

One nearby us is great - there is a brass band which plays throughout the evening. A guy competition for the village kiddies. Toffee apples and roasted chestnuts. They put on a ridiculously good fireworks display (least important bit for me these days) and it's all by contributions alone - they don't charge for entry. Adam (3yrs old now) is coming along with us to his first one on Saturday - I hope the smoky air, the spooky atmosphere, and the "being outside in the dark after his bedtime" leaves him with similar, fond memories of the adventures I remember with my parents on bonfire night. Or.... if you want to see how it's REALLY done, try going to Lewes one year. Now there is a town that knows how to do bonfire night...... they burn an effigy of the pope!

Get them praying and we can defend against taoism.

Supposedly: anti-terrorist war to help stabilise government for their country's future self-sustainability against the evil taliban Reality: the usual. Oil. Gas.

Errrrr............? Ah. Okay. Definitely forget the Aristo!

The Aristo is better. Of course...... I might be biased.

So - if over-population is an issue, sending fooding to starving people in 3rd world countries is a bad idea, then - or - in fact, doing anything to prolong lifespans. It's an interesting train of discussion - where do you draw the line before you start actually culling people?

I liked the original idea of opening up the banking market to smaller competitors. But....errrr... Tesco and Virgin? Smaller competitors? Should be fine as long as the legislation prevents them (Tesco especially) from cross-selling banking products (eg. better banking rates for Tesco shoppers, etc.). Don't want Tesco turning into more of a mega-corp! That said, if more entrants are allowed into the market, it is going to have to be companies with this sort of clout, so they've got the capital to support themselves (rather than tax payer money) when things go pear shaped again. So - I like the idea of opening up the market, but I'm not sure there's a really good way of going about it.....

Congratulations - you are our 1,000,000th customer! (try the search option at the top, mate!)

On a related note, how is the Saw rollercoaster?