Dude. You are as they say 'The Man'.
Previously
<!--<TIME all="0.970788002014" sql="0.256434440613" php="0.714353561401">-->
Now
<!--<TIME all="0.324037075043" sql="0.0707721710205" php="0.253264904022">-->
1 sec is too slow for a page to generate. This has made things so much better. I salute you!
however, that is for manufacturer list displays. A category with 47 products and 1 subcategory still takes 2.5 secs.
Dave.