Blazin

Terabite, First of all its not quoted in % terms, its 95 RON which is the octane rating. What I've found was, normally manufactures tell you what the minimum RON you should be using, but it doesn't hurt to in something above that. Like mine says minimum of 95 RON put I always put in 99 RON. If you have a performance engine, you will gain a few bhp by adding higher RON fuel, but if its not a newer car you might have to reset your ignition timing by resetting your ECU. The newer cars can adjust the ECU automatically. I don't know abiut Lanka, but most of the higher RON fuels in the uK have added cleaning agents which cleans out the crap from the valves, so you notice an immediate improvement in throttle response and fuel economy. It is also claimed that higher RON fuel can increase your fuel economy depending on the car, I have definetly noticed a difference when using 99 RON as opposed to 95.

Hello fellow aviators, I'm one of the others in Avation. Actually I wasn't too sure whether to opt for aviation or engineering, because I'm actually in engineering but in the aviation field. I've been at the Asian aviation school and done a short training at Sri lankan airlines (maintenance). But now in the design and development side of aviation in the UK. I eventually want to come back to Lanka though so its good to hear things are kicking off there. I thought my only prospects there was just Sri lankan airlines. Any news about Mihin air? Glad to hear there are other's in Aviation at Autolanka, we are a growing breed. Miniace, what do you do bro?

Where's the drug dealer/pimp field???

Yea man, let the guy study. Otherwise how's he going to afford his upgrade to a GTR without a phat job? Now thats an incentive to study!

Thats good stuff guys, keep it up! Its good to hear that a Sri Lankan automotive website's doing so well. Madz, how about improving the Automotive News section. I know its there but at the moment its a bit 'hidden' away. If you bring it to the top and put more emphesis on it. And if gets updated more frequently, like say 'Top stories of the week'. I think that would bring a lot more new visitors into the site. Just a suggestion, I know it'll be a lot more work.

Yea true. It's not worth getting fired over. I think you can get sites unblocked, but it needs to be work relevant. Anyways I can check at home.

Serious? But can you get busted by the Network Admin? The thing is recently there were some hackers (allegedly from China) trying to break into the network through another website. So they've blocked most websites.

Sounds good, but the site is blocked at work. Autolanka was blocked at first, but then got unblocked somehow.

I wouldn't call the SLR a mid range supercar. Its fighting with the top of the range Ferrari's and Lambo's. Closest competition from Mercedes is SL55. But that still costs £100k.

I know what you are saying, but in my opinion I think Lexus and Audi are quite evenly matched. And they are trying to compete with the big boys, Mercedes and BMW. Also BMW and Mercedes don't have a supercar in the price range of the Audi R8, Lexus LF-A and Nissan GTR. Except for if you consider the M6, but you can't really call it a supercar.

The Audi R8 first drive: http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/first_drive.p...=407&page=1 This car looks amazing! And sounds like it will be a good match for the forthcoming Lexus LF-A, Nissan GTR and Honda NSX in terms of performance as well. The entry level version is V8 4.2 litre 414bhp but they will bring out a more powerful 500+ bhp 5.0 litre V10.

I'm still undecided about the GTR front. It looks a bit wierd in the pics. But the back looks nice. The gereral automotive scene is going back to the trends of the early 90's, where the japanese were competing with hot hatches and performance coupe's. Like: Nissan GTi-R, Skyline Toyota Corolla Gt-i, Supra Honda Civic Vti, NSX Mitsubishi FTO, GTO

I don't think its a complete Yamaha engine. Its the Toyota 3SGE engine which is normally 170bhp tuned to 210bhp by Yamaha. You can get the Lexus IS200 version in Japan as well, its called AS200, but I don't think it comes with the Lexus equipment. I was going to import a RS200 from Japan to the UK, but couldn't get insured on it.

If he's going to get an Altezza, he needs to get the RS200.

Its hard to compare the two on looks. The ASC is truely a concept idea at the moment. So I doubt the car will look that streamlined if it comes into production. The don't have the manufacturing techniques to mass produce something that looks like that at an affordable cost. Whereas with the LF-A they have strongly indictated it is coming into production. And that is the second derivative they showed at Detroit. So it wouldn't change much from there. I think performance wise, they will be similar because Toyota and Honda both have enough F1 experience to make a high performance car. But I think Lexus built quality, equipment and comfort, can't be matched by Acura. There's also the Nissan GTR to consider. The question is will they all be able to take on the Audi R8: http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpr...i_r8_coupe.html

Not bad. But can't beat the Lexus LF-A: http://www.autoblog.com/2007/01/08/detroit...-lf-a-take-two/

Apart from the Rovers. And I'm sure some of those Chinese cars aren't very well built either.

One month later, its still at the port? How long does it take to clear a car? Maybe the owner is paying the import taxes in monthly instalments!

I think it looks nice to be honest. It's a good start from Lexus into the performance market. I bet you if it had a Honda or an Acura badge on it you'd be creaming all over it.

Can't wait for 2007 series to start, I've been watch all the old 2004 ones these days. Apparantly they are going to show the 'Richard Hammond Crash' in the first episode.

Yea its like 'Autovision' in Sri Lanka. They are too scared to point out any faults with the cars. That must be the worst motoring programme I've ever seen. I think the Evo magazine is a good car mag, but they do focus on very high performance cars.

Yea it does look a bit like a 'Pimp my ride' car. But I'm sure they'll tone down on the styling when it come out. And the American market loves Lexus anyway so I think it'll do very well over there.

Check out the new competition for the BMW M3 and Audi RS4. http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/first_officia...=383&page=1 With the new Supra, the Lexux LF-A supercar and a 250bhp Toyta Auris planned to be coming out, it looks like Toyota are finally getting some balls to compete in the high performance market. I've heard Toyota are planning to bring out the Lexus brand into Japan in the near future, so I'm sure these cars will trickle down to Sri lanka over time.

Yes Machan, I agree with you Don. I think the difference is that people that live in Sri Lanka are probably sick to death of hearing about Lankan politics and peoples opinions. Because I know when I visit Lanka, its always a hot topic of conversation where ever you go. But for people living abroad its nice to hear other sri lankan opinions on the state of the situation in Sri Lanka. Like you said, at the end of the day it will ultimately affect what is affordable to drive, I mean Sri lanka must be one of the few countries in the world where cars appreciate in value. With the war, I think it depends entirly on how the forces, handle the situation. If they can inflict considerable damage on the LTTE without civilian casualities, I don't think the LTTE will get much support. This war has dragged on for 20 years I think even the LTTE supportes will be getting tired of it now.

Its definitly getting worse, but we have a civil war in the country. So I think we just need to be patient and bite the bullet for the time being until an end to the ethinic problem is found. I think the govenrment is doing the right thing by focusing the resources on the war, to try and put an end to it for once and for all. Once the war has ended the economy will pick up in no time.