sy300

It seems to be when the suspension has to drop over the speed bump (extend) quickly. The compression makes no unusual noise. It's almost as if the shocks can't extend fast enough.

When my shocks are cold, the first speed bump I go over on my street makes them groan, but after that they are fine. Other than that just 1 or 2 annoying little plastic rattles.

I opened the back sunroof the other day while driving my 2 year old son back from daycare. He hadn't seen it before, and instantly pointed up to it and said "roof gone". He also likes when I go a bit quicker around corners, he has recently started making a 'eerrcchh' sound when I do it, like squeeling tyres. Not that my tyres squeel, I think he picked it up from me making the same noise to him when I do it. A word of warning to do with kids and Stageas. Don't let them into the front seat, they LOVE pushing all the buttons, knobs and switches. Then when you start the car up, it's in 4WD, snow, the wipers are on full, the stereo up loud and the indicators going!

Couldn't fit new Son and all the gear required to look after him in the back of my old 300ZX. Needed a station wagon, didn't want a Subaru (everyone has one in NZ) and didn't trust Mitsubishi Legnum's reliability. Falcon/Commadore = overpriced.

No rubber weights anywhere on the exhaust, some on the back of the trans and rear suspension mountings. Measured pipe, it is 2.5" all through. Rear muffler has 'NISMO' stamped on it as well as 'Calsonic'. You know when the car is running. It makes a deep, but still quite soft, 'burble' at idle. It sounds nice, not too loud. So maybe non factory, but not top performance replacement.

I haven't reallly had a chance to have a good look under the wagon (no garage or driveway) until today. I was just adjusting my side skirt to make it fit a bit better, and stuck my head under the car for a good look. Everything is really clean, no damage, scratches, etc. Then had a look at my exhaust. It look like it is 3" all the way along. Is this standard? I know it has a NISMO rear muffler, so was wondering if the Japanese owner also replaced the system. It doesn't look new, and it looks professionally done (ie no crappy welds). Any ideas? P.S. When I bought it it did feel a little more responsive than the other Stageas I tested. Could this be why?

The size of the Stagea makes even 235's look a little skinny when looking directly from the back.

Sweet, cheers for that. Even the standard cooler looks a bit better than some others that I've seen fitted to other cars.

Has anyone got photos of the standard cooler vs upgraded? I was interested in seeing the actual size difference.

Looks good. $19k is a bit on the high side, but it has a lot of extra stuff and looks in good nick. I like 4WD ever since a pulled out of a service station quickly in the wet and instead of sliding sideways, the car just went where I pointed it. It's also good around wet round-abouts. By the way, you forgot to blank out your number plate in one of the photos. Once again, nice car.

Here in NZ they used to have a decibel limit, but they scrapped that rule and changed it to 'if it is appreciably louder than the factory standard'. So now it is totally up to the descresion on the police officer, who only has his opinion to go on! Mine is louder than standard, and the only thing that is non-factory is the NISMO rear muffler that it came with from Japan.

A guy up the end of my street has the first ones fitted, but smaller (they look like 16's) and in flat black. They look ok from the side, but I prefer a big lip, like the ones I recently got fitted. The hyper black definately makes the wagon look less 'showy' and a bit tougher.

Even in 4WD the Stagea can do some pretty nice, controllable dirfts on gravel. You can get the back to step out then have a little bit of opposite lock, and it just slides along straight down the road on an angle. I tried to do it on a wet road, but just as the back felt like coming to meet me, the front pulled me in the direction the wheels were pointing. It was a weird feeling, as I'd never owned a 4WD car until now.

I started adding the (correct) info about the WGCN34 and someone else from SDU formatted it (I no good using the confuser) and added the M35 info. I tryed to keep it as basic as possible, remember you have to write for simple people e.g. Yanks. Luckily most Yanks won't look at the Stagea as it doesn't have a 6l V8 and it gets better than 4MPG.

They even came with the RB20DE. Man that would be sluggish. Later models (after 2000) came with the VQ series V6. The VQ25DET gets 400lbs/ft of torque!

Since some of you thought my old wheels were really cool Does anyone want to buy them. They would be the perfect wheel for that 'sleeper' look to your wagon.

I think I saw one behind the centre console last time I took it out to replace a backlight in the air con controller display. I may be mistaken though.

I was wondering about using the spare if you have larger wheels than normal and you get a puncture. Would doing this have an adverse effect on the 4WD system? Would I be better of carrying a puncture repair system (e.g. Slime) and a 12V compressor in place of the spare? What sort of size difference can the system cope with?

I normally don't go much over 4000-4500. I to have noticed the flat spot before about 5000-5500. After there it's kinda like the engine's thinking "I'll just give it one last kick to get over the line". I really confused the auto one day, I was going a a long hill and trying to keep it in O/D, but a car pulled into my lane and slowed me down. I flicked it out of O/D, pulled into the lane he had just pulled out of and floored it. The auto dropped down a gear, bounced of the limiter and promptly shifted back to where it was. It must have sounded pretty strange to the guy in the other car.

Wheels are 18x8. Tyres are Nankang 235/40. The offset was standard Skyline/Stagea which is about -35, I think. It has made a difference to the handling, it seems more precise and has a bit more 'feel' through the steering. I can't really mod much else at the moment as my Stagea has mechanical insurance cover and it's fairly strict as to what parts can be changed without voiding it. But if anything dies on the wagon (e.g. turbo, trans, 4WD system, etc) it'll only cost me NZ$175 to get it repaired/replaced.

Yep, 18's. Rims and tyres came to NZ$2300. The old tyres were shite as well, they 'chirped' when taking off and turning corners on smooth tar seal.

I finally decided to get some new wheels for the Stagea. The old ones were pretty uncool looking, so after much thought, I decided on the Koya 'Rush'. Here are some pics (before and after)

I never take any notice of what is says on the door placard. Who knows how many different makes of tyres have been on the car since it was produced. Check the sidewall of the tyre, it should have a maximum pressure printed on it. I normally take it to about 5psi less than that. The tryes I have on mine came with the car. They are crap. On smooth surfaces they 'chirp' even if I take off gently. I think they are low rolling resistance tyres and therefore do not offer a lot of grip. I will be upgrading soon to 18's as well, that should help the handling a little.

Jeez, they are a bit pricey over in Oz. I've seen them for sale over here in NZ on Trademe for under NZ$100 for a slightly damaged (still good) one, and just over NZ$100 for an undamaged one.

I've seen pics of them installed in place of the factory stereo, and from what i've seen, they fit alright. I have looked at a circuit diagram of the ATTESSA system, but from an R32. I have been told that the R33 system is slightly different and the torque split gauge hooks up to different numbered pins. I would only get one if it is not too much hassle to electrically hook up, as for fitting it in the slot, I'm sure I'd find a way. I have not seen any for sale for a while. They appear every now and again on the Trademe site here in NZ (www.trademe.co.nz).