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No..! Do not get me wrong, a modern diesel engine (as in the Ford Focus ST) is a wonderful thing. Refined, revs freely, fairly unobtrusive NVH and shed loads of torque But should a diesel engine ever be attached to a manual stick and have any pretense to sportiness. No, just No... And if you think otherwise I'm sorry but I will find you, I will hunt you down, I will break into your house at night and I will feed your driving licence into a shredder... And then have you declared insane... Quite simply you run out of revs as soon as you get rolling. To make any progress you need to add 2 gears to the one you would use with a petrol engine and surf the torque. And since when does torque fit into sporty driving..? Yes it is by far and away the best engine for daily driving and munching the miles, but sports driving where you want to wring an engine by the neck until you have actually bent the tachometer needle round the stop pin... I am prepared to be flamed to death and possibly thrown out of the forum - but I will not care because I refuse to be judged by lunatics and if you disagree with me you are a lunatic...

Diesels have only developed due to the Climate change b*****k*. Before, they were seen for truck & van engines. People who had a diesel car were strange, like leather elbowed teachers, or those who could nick diesel from their truck and tractors. Normal people wanted a car they could start without a cloud of blue smoke. So every manufacturer needed to develop new engines that ran without knocking you fillings out, but to do that they had to spend billions on such things as Dual mass flywheels, oil filled mountings or electronic ones. They developed so fast they became better and the final piece fell into place when they got tax advantages. I have driven them for hundreds of thousands of miles and they are the ideal lazy mans car, stick it in top wind up the turbo and they fly, on a motorways, they are refined now but they are still not nice to drive if you are enthusiastic at all. People love the torque but hate the costs of repairs as they are biblically expensive when they go wrong. But they are perfect for our stupid limits, bad roads and tax regime. A true petrol head wants the thrill of revs, to feel you are working something to get the best out of it not just sitting pressing one pedal. The sport moniker is just advertising spin. My X type jag estate had the sport pack, better seats , worse ride, but it was still a soulless engine that did what it should. A v6 petrol version would have been perfect, I had one on loan when the diesel broke down, but it would have crippled the company with the fuel consumption. Now the tree huggers have been shown the errors of their ways and instead of saving the planet they have helped to kill millions due to the cancer causing particulates, we are going back to developing petrol again. Who cannot be excited by a three cylinder rev hungry engine that can kick out 250 bhp and this will get better as cities around the world ban diesel cars. But this is all academic as in a few years time we will argue about electric motors and hydrogen, in the same way steam lorry drivers did years ago against diesels

Different grades of stainless depending on the amount of chromium added . some is very tough and work hardens , needs special tooling , some types more pliable but not good under tension or shear

his shirts?

I'm concentrating on higher things.

i have an ex wife she is worse than my current wife i have 2 jobs one is good the other is not i drive a Saab diesel sport for my daily drive i also drive a Westfield yin and yang John.... you need to have bad to appreciate the good more.....

I drive an X type diesel sport. It really is a contradiction in terms. 18" wheels and a boot lip spoiler do not make a diesel sporty. I'm inclined to agree with John, for the pure recipe of a sports car it needs to run on petrol.

Apart from your marbles?

OY !!! I have a "GT Sport" Golf Derv

That's evil. I like it!

'Sport' usually a poverty spec special edition with a couple of cheap stickers

Actually I don't think "Sporty" does mean better. I think "Sporty" is a state of mind and how the drive makes you feel. For my two cents, ragging a 1.0 Fiesta L down a country road is a more sporty drive than doing the same trip in an uber efficient/merciless 3.0D 4WD Audi. The Audi will arrive so much sooner, but I bet the driver of the Fiesta has the higher pulse rate... And bigger grin...

I agree by the way, John- I find the diesel a GT not an ST. I like it but not in the same way.

I agree with your sentiments John, and I drive a 330D M-sport as a daily. I'd have the V8 M3 OR even a 330i in a heartbeat if I didn't travel so much. It's nothing to do with diesels being faster or slower, they just don't drive like a petrol and I find them far less rewarding to drive.

Don't think so as there was too much flame and not enough smoke if sponsored by VAG.......................coat already on

From 2006 a diesel engined car won the LeMas 24Hr for 9 consecutive years. The revs and torque didn't seem to cause them many problems

*Ahem* *Cough* *Nudge* *Hint* Now go get yer coat.

I must admit a drive over the Brecon Beacons in my old Golf GTD (manual) did find me frustrated.

Ignoring anything that's preceded it - if someone said there was a new car show coming with those guys I'd have happy. Will definitely be giving it a chance.

Stainless will be more difficult to tap certainly. I may have a 7/18 UNF tap or I use a guy in the next village to me for machining. If you let me have a dimensioned sketch, I could ask him for a price. I also have a 7/16" UNF tap.

Looks like an "easy fix" to me, just a bit of bodywork...

Its TVR Glen breaking, Im surprised he's not advertising it as reparable!

Signed up for PH? Stalk one of their members: Jensen owners

Well, it was in one sense disappointing as it was 'only' a new Zetec - but on the other hand, I couldn't afford to do what was necessary to install a Cossie anyway!

I can make on my lathe but I don't have a 7/16 tap. Also do you need left hand and right hand threads?

I don't know how to post pictures. If anybody wants some I can email them. Cheers