scathing

Because turnabout is fair play.

"Better than nothing" means compromise. Right and wrong can't be compromised on - either its right to do something, or its not. The former is a "real world" view of things and far more practical, I'll agree, but unfortunately if you're talking about something as absolute as "the right thing" its not the same. You should take care when talking about "right" and "wrong", rather than what's "practical" and "unreasonable". The situation right before a claim is that you had a car with a certain mileage and a certain amount of wear and tear. He's not insuring $7500 in cash, he's insuring a vehicle that would cost $x to replace around the time of the claim, regardless of how much he paid for it. "Returning him to the same situation", on principle, means getting him a near-identical car regardless of the cost, not giving him money. So if all of a sudden the market price of a car like his jumped to $15,000 should the insurance company pay out $15,000 even though the make and model's market value was only $12,000 when he bought it and he only handed over $7500 to get his specific car? From what you've said, this sounds like the "right" thing to do. Or, from another perspective, why can I only insure the car I paid $60,000 for in 2003 for $50,000 with my mods now? If he can't insure his $7500 car for $12,000 because that's not what he paid for it, why can't I keep insuring my car for what I originally paid for it? Perhaps is your idea of "right" depends on whether the insurance company gets shafted, or the customer. Winning a car is a perfect comparison, because its extreme examples that more clearly prove a principle when people are failing to understand. Fact of the matter is, you originally implied that its only "right" to insure a vehicle for what you paid for it. What happens when you pay nothing?

Insurance is there to repair or replace a vehicle. It shouldn't mean jack shit if I got a good deal on that specific vehicle, all that matters is how much I need to replace it considering deals like that don't come up every day. If I win a Chrysler 300C SRT8 (which is the prize for the Wheels subscription), which means I technically paid $0 for it, does that mean I can only insure it for $0? After all, is it "right that I pay nothing for a car, then write it off and get paid out $72,000"?

"That's a huuuge bitch!"

The prototype running around the Nurburgring sounds like its hitting more than 6000RPM. It would shit me if the GT-R was running a VQ38 that only revved to 6000RPM. The VQ40DE in the Pathfinder has the same redline, and while I realise its not boosted but at the same time one of these is a cheap 4WD engine and the other is in a flagship supercar. No centre differential means its also more likely to be running a beefed up version of the e4WD. I just hope the engine continues to power the rear wheels full time, and the electric motors only drive the front wheels when necessary.

If we're not restricting to R32s: Those Lowenhart rims looked phat on that 350Z.

I think we're showing our age. Before you know it, we'll be wearing cardigans and driving Camrys. They definitely have made a name for themselves. They're cheap and the kits are pretty solid (i.e. come with most of the bits you need, tend to fit properly, and worked pretty well) which means if you couldn't afford the HKS / A'PEXi / Trust / ARC / Mick's Metalcraft wankery you bought a Hybrid. And now, because everyone's got one, including some guys with "serious" cars, people who have no idea that they were the cooler you bought when you couldn't afford JDM now think its an aspirational brand. That said, if I had a turbo car I'd probably buy a Hybrid cooler. I know some very nice cars with Hybrid coolers, which fitted perfectly, cool / flow well, and haven't broken....and I don't need to tell people I paid twice as much for a JDM aftermarket cooler that only does a better job when bench racing.

If I had to buy a family car, but could afford to buy anything with 4 doors, it would be an Audi RS6 Avant. What's better than a V8 or a turbomotor? A twin turbo V8, baby.

This is what happens when your car becomes a hero car in movies and in computer games. They're so used to virtual reality that they're a little disconnected from actual reality. When a car becomes famous for things other than its ability to be driven, it becomes popular among who have skillsets other than an ability to drive. If you have a look at the most vocal of the people you're referring to, they probably wouldn't know Bathurst from Ballarat, and they're more likely to be able to draw you an outline of Trial Mountain than Mount Panorama.

This about covers it.

That cracks me up. A couple of years ago, a Hybrid was a "no name" intercooler. That's what you bought if you couldn't afford a Japanese brand name product.

Bikes have been running these things for ages. But, with more relaxed emissions and noise rules, they've been able to. Practically every supercar has an exhaust valve. Some of them have multiple pipes, to change the shape of the exhaust so you have the right flow characteristics for low and high RPM. The first car I can think of that publicised the valves is the Aston Martin V12 Vanquish. But now, the Gallardo Spyder, Ferrari 575M, 612, 599, etc, have it. As does the Corvette Z06. Check out the Top Gear review of the new Aston Martin V8 Vantage. Apparently once you hit the RPM point where the valve opens, you can hear the car from 2 miles away. And, f**k me, it sounds awesome.

Given the amount of completely ignorant shit you spew all over these forums (omg rexies run 1bar factory yo!!~!`1!one) better advice would be to read your posts, and then do the opposite. The rim cracking on that yellow R33 posted before - does it look like he smashed into something at the time the spokes snapped clean off the hub? Its come off the road, but as it hasn't dug in to the dirt its not like its put a massive lateral load onto the rim. With the lower grip afforded by dirt, chances are there's less than on the hard top. Yet, even when the evidence is right in front of you, you still manage to say stupid shit. And that doesn't necessarily need to be under the rigours of track abuse. I've seen cheap rims buckle or shatter after hitting potholes, and good luck avoiding them in Sydney. If you're going around driving Miss Daisy and you're not planning on opening it up around the corners, feel free to buy whatever wheels of whatever quality you want. But if you're going to drive like that, buy a Paseo or Hyundai Coupe. You don't need a Skyline.

They haven't done that in years. The Europeans don't bring their cars to Australia anymore. South Africa has the same climate that we do, and at least as nice roads, and they're in the same time zone as Europe so their on-site engineers can communicate with home base without stupid shift work. The Aussies also don't do high speed testing anymore. They used to, but apparently since the OH&S f**kwits have gotten more clout Holden and Ford no longer do V-Max testing on public roads.

You can get used rims from a reputable manufacturer for a lot less than $5K. And if you've seen people driving on wheels from the Temple of Chrome etc, they also have a tendency to bend after a while due to the rough road surface and countless speed humps, and the chrome starts clouding and flakes off. On topic, black cars with rims that have black spokes and polished lips look hot.

I know. Its brilliant. If I ever become a surgeon and have to treat a politician for gunshot wounds, I'm going to prescribe him some Panadol and send him on his way.....since that's the same philosophy as their attempts to curb the road toll.

There's no doubt that most of the understeer is engineered in. Getting rid of the staggered tyre sizes, and different swaybars, cured most of the understeer. Probably the best "bang for buck" handling mod I did to the car.

I know! Its so f**king stupid of them to expect people like you to obey the road rules, and give way to buses like you're meant to. And if you park in a bus zone and compromise such a long and unwieldy vehicle's ability to make manouvres by reducing the supplied space....you deserve what you get. It might look like a lot of space to you, but a bus doesn't turn like a car does.

The handbrake in the Z is pissweak. Even with the cable tightened and on wet concrete, I have to be getting some serious yaw before it'll lock. Its easier for me to clutch dump to get the car sideways than trying to reef the handbrake. And I think the WRXs are scared of us RWD Nissan folk, so they stack the deck in their favour by turning the taps on (as well as shrinking the distance between the cones). Not that I mind, it just makes it even easier for me to go sideways.

Lower pressures will increase your contact patch, but decrease the tyre's resistance to sidewall flex. So you're talking trade-offs. What kind of tyres are they? If they are a sports tyre with reinforced sidewalls in the construction, you can afford to run lower pressures.

Yeah. That's why I want to do it again. If I can find another day I know will rain at Wakefield, I'll take the time off work. And this time I'll spend more time trying to grip drive in the wet, instead of going out and bagging it up. As an aside, that pic isn't my car. My car's pure RWD baby.

Its fun. Although you might end up looking like this: The last time I went to Wakefield it bucketed down the night before, and intermittently rained all day. I tried to grip drive the first two sessions, just to see how well I could try and balance the car on the limits (the conclusion is, "not very") and then I spent the rest of the wet track conditions sideways.

I'm all for hooning and crashing into telegraph poles if gang rapists are inside the car.

My engine is alloy. Its a 350Z. Considering my car's weight bias is to the front, and my spring rate bias is to the rear, I just cannot for the life of me explain why the damned thing understeers so much in stock setup.

I might put in an appearance. My car's feeling a bit weird at the moment in terms of its power delivery, so I wouldn't mind checking it.