$_regsub ?
it took: 0.311 seconds on .17
and on .16 it took 0.311 seconds
i ran the code 5 times on each and these came up 3 times for each. Slowest value of .411 actualy comming from .16.
I did take out the $_regsub identifier as i have no clue what this custum alias does. This might have something to do with this or not.