Such a nice day - shame about the leaky hose!

It was such a lovely day again today that I took the father-in-law out in the Stag for a run at lunchtime - his comment during the drive was ' isn't the car running nicely?' - full of confidence I replied, yes its been running really well since its service last month.

FOOL!!!!!

Got home, parked up to get a few things before going out again when I noticed a pool of coolant under the car - a cursory examination confirmed it wasn't from the expansion bottle overflow - damn - as I was pushed for time, put it in the garage and went out in the Superb.

Just had a better look at the engine and after 5 mins running the water issued forth from a pinhole leak in the angled hose that connects to the water pump - phew - I was imagining all sorts of water pump problems.

New Tyres!

What a difference new tyres make!

As part of the preparation for the 10CR I decided to renew the tyres on the Spitfire, although not old, I had two Goodyears, one India and one Pirelli on the car, all 155/80 X13's on standard rims (although the spare was 145/80!) so putting the best 155/80 in the boot I trawled the internet for a good offer.

I eventually concluded after much research that the Avon CR322 was a good choice (after all they fit them to the Caterham Classic), and the best deal I found was at Tyreshopper.com, £20 cheaper than National Tyres who have a BOGOF offer at the moment - and the price included valves, balancing and fitting at National Tyres.

I had them fitted yesterday, the difference in ride and handling is amazing - much lighter steering as well, and the back no longer kicks out at my favourite roundabout under accelleratation.

They are also a low rolling resistance tyre, so it will be interesting to see what effect this has on fuel consumption on the 10CR


So my recommendation : Use Tyreshopper.com and consider Avon CR322's if you're looking for a standard replacement tyre.

http://www.tyre-shopper.co.uk/article.asp?id=160&title=Avon-CR322