When it comes to the Lexus hybrids it isn't so much about actually being green as it is about seeming to be green.

Lots of people think diesel is "dirty" and unrefined, so they won't buy one, but they want to be seen to be making an effort.

The other thing is the performance. Having the electric motors means that torque is available as soon as you floor it.

I've driven one of the RX hybrids, it's a very strange feeling when you accelerate hard from a standstill. The electric motors send you forward silently and with a lot of force, it's not until you reach 15mph or so that the engine turns on, with an instant roar as it's already spinning. It's dangerously fun.

Toyota should do it.

They "weren't trying" at Laguna Seca and they still managed to break the record, they'd stand a chance at the 'Ring.

For the love of God, it's a DEMONSTRATION!

I mean, if someone offered you a free sample of food in the street you wouldn't say "That was tasty, but I fancy a full meal, and don't use shitty ingredients, I want the best" would you?

I don't care how little money you say you have, if you want more you'll have to save up and buy the game. How do you think all of us ended up licensed? I didn't have much spare cash when I joined, but I managed it eventually.

I can't stand the modern trend of ruining perfectly good straights with chicanes. They don't add anything to racing, for the driver or spectator.

Stock cars can race on road tracks. There are a few road races in the NASCAR calendar. True, the cars are completely different under the shell, but that could be sorted in the setup screens.

IRL, if you were driving a 5 speed car you would have a 5 speed shifter. I think it's perfectly fine for the gear to stay in 5th.

Quote from BlackSheep720 :

-1 to the spinners - this is a racing simulator, not Need for Speed

Did you even read the post? The OP wants different sized wheels. There are lots of reasons for this. For example, Ford might use 19-inch wheels on a road rally but 17s with more rubber on gravel.

Whenever the stupid intro for ITVs F1 coverage plays I think to myself "This is crap, bring back the old one". I wanted to watch it to see if it really is as much better as I remember, but a quick search on Youtube brought up some rather strange videos.

Anyone know where I can see the old BBC F1 intro (with Fleetwood Mac in the background)?

I'm still unsure as to why the FIA hasn't banned these. According to the rules, wheels are supposed to be entirely made from one piece of metallic material, with nothing else attached.

BMW won the Nurburgring 24hr in 1998 with a diesel engine.

Just sayin'...

F1 has never been about making just the stupidest fastest cars possible. It's always been about doing that WITHIN the regulations. In the past there were fewer regulations because there were simply fewer things that were possible.

First and foremost, it's motor RACING. You might have forgotten that, seeing as we've had so little for the past few years. The regulations mean the cars are designed just to be able to go quickly, with pretty much the only passing happening in the pits. There's far too much dependency on aerodynamic grip.

Ditch the aids, ditch the grooves, widen the cars and drop some aero. Not because it "takes skill away", but because it's what the racing needs. Everyone saying technology has ruined he sport, do you want to go back to synchro-less gearboxes, cross-ply tyres and drum brakes?

I use a joystick. I set it to wheel turns 90deg and wheel compensation 1.00.

For me, it's much better than kb/mouse. You can properly control the throttle and brake (just not both at once).

Cars should be fitted with a device that stops the driver from pulling out within a certain distance of a bike, and slaps them HARD for their foolishness if they attempt to.

The reason American and European octane ratings are different is because in Europe we just use the RON rating as a measure of octane, whereas in America they use an average of RON and MON (called PON).

Quote from ATC Quicksilver :

I hate it, as do the entire Nascar grid.

That's funny, I was just reading about how some of the drivers loved it.

Again, why do you even have to read the numbers? You can tell just by looking roughly where the needle is pointing.

Quote from Madman_CZ :

how about taking a photo of the most valuable item in you home

Great idea. Make sure to get some sort of clue as to your exact address as well.

You don't have to be able to read the numbers, it's easy to tell how fast your going just by the general area of the needle and the sound of the car.

If you drive in real life staring at the numbers on your dash I hope I don't come across you.

I like "draw yourself in paint"

Blu-Ray player or not, the PS3 is overpriced. £425! I know the Wii is hardly cutting edge, but for that money you could buy a Wii and 7 new games.

Or an Xbox 360 and 5 games with change left over.

Quote from Jakg :

if by differential equations you mean differentiation (ie x[squared]+5x+3 dy[over]dx) then actually, i find them pretty easy, and i'm predicted an E in maths extension!

There is more to differential equations than just differentiation. If you do A-Level maths I'm sure you'll get to it, or at least at university (I'm doing them for the first time at uni, I didn't do maths A-Level).

Don't trust it too much, because it'll change depending on how you're driving.

As an example, I was in the car with a friend driving to Dover to catch a boat and the light came on. I told him we should stop for fuel. "No, we've got loads left, look, the light goes off when we turn right". I 'trusted' him. Then the light was on constantly. "Are you sure you don't want fuel?" "No, it's not too far now". A few miles later "I've got my foot on the floor, but we're slowing down. What's going on?" "You #$%^$ we've run out of diesel". We just about managed to make it to a petrol station to get some more.

Driving on the motorway was using a lot more fuel than just normal driving.

Quote from tristancliffe :

Don't know about diesel, but I get more miles per pound using Optimax (V-Power if I must) than using cheap supermarket fuel, as well as having other benefits too. Although Tesco99 is supposed to be good stuff, as is BP Ultimate. But there's a Shell garage just up the road, so I use that.

I read an article (printed, so no link, sorry) comparing those three fuels. Apparently the Tesco stuff was pretty awful compared to the other two, with V-Power/Optimax being the best. It wasn't really a comparison with fuel consumption in mind, they were using a test engine to compare the amount of power at a fixed igntion point, then they tested to see how far they could advance the timing without knocking.

http://www.partizan.com/partizan/media/clips/729.mov

Let it load and prepare to be amazed. The most expensive TV advert ever produced, filmed in Rome, Monaco, Rio, Sydney, New York and Hong Kong.

Most importantly, TURN YOUR SOUND UP

edit: Youtube link for people who really want to watch a low quality version (?!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qT_q8PXFrw

Last edited by spookthehamster, Thu, 22 Mar 2007 17:30.

There's a lot more to it than that. For example, it has "Toyota, Lexus, Scion" Toyota owns an 8.7% stake in Subaru, as well as many other companies. You'd expect the 2nd largest car company to have more than 2 subsidiaries, wouldn't you?