scathing

If I can figure out how to fit my OEM wheels onto the car and get them shod with my semis I will be there. All my other bits are in plcae.

Do you remember what the purpose of the practical driving exam to get your P plates was? Its to demonstrate that you have the ability to drive your car to some kind of minimum standard. If you're not capable of doing that, or no longer capable, you shouldn't have a license (regardless of your age or sex).

The factory ECU is flashable to a certain extent, but since its not a real-time tune and there's a finite number of rewrites the EPROM will handle I wouldn't recommend it as a tuner solution. If you were to tweak it once only then fair enough, but if you always mod and you want to retune for the mods you'll break the ECU eventually. The ECU du jour for the 350Z is the TurboXS UTEC. It can act as a piggyback to the OEM ECU if you want to use it as an interceptor, or can cut the OEM ECU out and run as a complete standalone. It has 5 programmable maps that you can cycle between as well. Its a pretty nice product from what I've read. As for Australian 350Z information, the only forum I've found with a reasonable Australian contingent is 350Z-Tech. Most of the Australians I know with 350Zs are either running Unichips or UTECs.

Got a URL for details on the product? I have yet to find anyone selling a PowerFC for the 350Z.

Exactly. Its people like this that give the politicians ammunition to say that driver training courses (including a previous NSW Roads minister) make young road drivers even more dangerous than those that haven't been advance driver trained. Want to know why the RTA and the NSW government won't make advanced driver training courses mandatory (and subsidised) for new drivers? Feel free to direct your complaints to our ex-"four door Godzilla" operator. It may be 4 lanes wide in points, but if I remember Windsor Road correctly there are houses with driveways facing that road. There are footpaths next to it. There are the occasional petrol station / shop that don't have a slip road to allow joining traffic to match pace before merging.

Yeah, belief can be a very dangerous thing since there's a wide gulf between belief and reality. Reality is, speed is a factor in 100% of road accidents.

So you don't measure an engine's superiority by power / displacement then? You're just after outright power and torque figures? I guess that means a Gen IV Chev is a better engine than the M3's and the TVR's, since it makes more power at a lower RPM. A Gen III makes more power than the F20C out of a Honda S2000 at a far lower RPM, so another win for Holden. It looks like we're measuring superiority by different things. I measure an engine's superiority by how much power it makes per unit of air that goes into it (to compare FI and NA engines), and how it delivers power. I don't particularly like the Gen III even though it makes a fair amount of power, because it doesn't deliver it in a linear manner like a large displacement engine should and it doesn't make that much power for a 5.7L engine. You said the TVR engine was superior, and then rattled off a whole bunch of specs. I pointed out all the ways in which its not, and the only place that I couldn't find an advantage for the M3 was in displacement. Its called a process of elimination and drawing conclusions based on evidence, a higher brain function that you seem unable to perform. While displacement may only be "one factor in a thousand", but unfortunately for you not all factors are weighted equally. And displacement, like it or not, is the factor with the biggest effect in a modern production NA engine (which is what we're comparing). You could start doing stuff like running exotic material internals, direct injection and the rest...but those cost a lot more and require a lot more engineering noise than just building a bigger engine (can anyone say American V8s?) and it still won't give you as much grunt. Then if you acknowledge your own lack of qualifications to make such statements, why did you? I bagged the TVR based on owner experiences. There's a guy who works at the end of my road who owns a TVR Cerbera (and that V8 is one of the most awesome sounds I've ever heard), and I work for an investment bank where I talk to the British car-nuts who can afford all kinds of cool toys. Yes it is hearsay, but this isn't a court of law. Its a forum for discussion. And so that's what I'm doing, and you were doing until you had a crisis of confidence in your own qualification. I'm wondering. As an R32 GTS-t owner, have you ever pulled your engine apart to measure its bore and stroke? If you haven't, then how do you know its actually 2.0L? Its on a spec sheet, brochure or you read it on a web site, which means someone told you. So if someone asks you how big your engine is and you say 2L, should they not believe you because its hearsay? Just pointing out how ridiculous saying "just because you have no direct personal experience you shouldn't comment" actually is. As for the engine note, I'd agree with you there. Aside from the E46 CSL, which I have personally heard a few times in a fly-by and on the skidpan (both standing on the skidpan watching and in-cabin) and sounds unbelievable at full noise, the regular M3 sounds like the exhaust has something wrong with it.

I don't mind EC, but I look at the track and I just think its a wasted opportunity. The NSW government had a chance to build a proper international-grade racetrack, and they built something that's half way between a go-kart track and a real race track. Its in better condition than the "old" tracks like Wakefield or Oran Park, but there's a few spots where there's not enough run-off and its too wide for the low speeds you carry. If more of the corners were as high speed as Turn 1 it'd be lots of fun. I should be doing most of the track in 4th and 5th (with occasional forays into 6th) instead of using 3rd-4th most of the time, and having to decide whether to slow down and use 2nd or have the revs drop in 3rd occasionally.

Because dogs don't have opposing thumbs, so they can't take rolls of film out of speed cameras.

I've averaged more than 100km/hr on the M7 a couple of times, and my letterbox has been clear. If they have to advertise those Safe-T-Cams for trucks (which calculate average speed) then I can't see why they don't have to advertise it for passenger cars. How many big accidents have there been on the M7? NSW legislation states that the authorities are only allowed to set up fixed speed cameras in known blind spots (I realise this didn't stop them with the Cross City Tunnel, but then again no-one drives through there anyway). I don't want to be the guinea pig for it, but if I got picked up by a speed camera on the M7 or Cross City Tunnel I'd take it to court, claim they were installed illegally (due to the lack of "black spot" status) so the evidence isn't admissible in court. The burden of proof is on the prosecution, and so I'd like them to supply proof of my speeding without those photos. And its not like the courts have any love of speed cameras - they've let quite a few people off because of that "checksum code on each photo being wrong" thing that was in the papers a few months ago, as well as when the Harbour Tunnel first opened and the speed cameras installed weren't an approved brand so those fines were overturned. With no other proof aside from evidence that is inadmissible, the defendants have generally won.

I understand the concept of doing 94km/hr in a 50 zone. That's not easy. I can't think of too many 50 zones that aren't residential areas, so 90km/hr+ is a fair clip. I'd be lying if I said I'd never done 60km/hr in a 50 zone, but on the rare occasions I've hit 70km/hr its outside my "comfort zone" of what speed I want to be doing past people's houses. And please, pray tell, inform us of what the "circumstance" was. Were you rushing to hospital because you and a family member share a rare blood type and they needed a donor? Perhaps you're pregnant and your water just broke? You had a bomb wired to your speedo and if you do less than 80km/hr it blows up? I can't wait to hear, but all I can say is that your circumstance clearly wasn't good enough or otherwise you would have gone to court to appeal, and probably won. What you need is a smack upside the head. What you got was your license taken away from you, which is not a bad start. If you didn't want people's opinions, here's a novel idea: don't post it on a publicly available forum.

There have been so many accidents on the hill descent through Delhi Road. I know of a couple of people that have fallen off the last right hander coming down before they installed the Armco. Then the Armco got a couple of massive dents in it, and its been replaced at least once. Now is a concrete barrier, if memory serves. I love the hillclimb from the bridge over the river, but coming down can get a bit hairy around that section....

Lucky there's a funeral parlour at the top of the hillclimb, and a cemetery further towards Epping Road.

The data Toyota Australia has supplied to the Australian Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries is pretty specific. If I called them, I'm sure they'd refer me to Read The Friendly Message they sent to the FCAI. So they're not thinking about some rogue sugar cane farmer in Far North Queensland pouring the stuff the Bundy distilleries won't buy into his Land Cruiser or Patrol when they came up with their guidelines. And Nissan is just as specific on their guidelines pertaining to up to a 10% blend. Any Nissan they've brought in prior, in their book, shouldn't. And they don't recommend running more than E10. As for grey imports, Nissan Australia has always washed their hands of them so perhaps Nissan Japan built R33s with an ethanol-using market in mind. Anyway, if it works for you that's great. And if any OEM can guarantee you quality control in their manufacturing process (and that of all their component suppliers) that's 100% consistent, making your test proof positive that it will work for every other owner out there, then everyone else should be safe despite Nissan's due consideration and testing (which may or may not apply to you). As I said, my car is pre-2004 and I use Optimax Extreme. But I'm under no illusions that it'll be a-OK and I can reasonably complain to get it fixed under warranty should it go wrong and the fuel blend is to blame.

My new brakes and suspension is going in to the car this week, so if there's another run on this Friday I'm keen, but I'll be taking it at the same pace as last Friday whil I run the coilovers in. Chris - some of the guys last Friday (your mate from Mudgee at least) has never done the Commenara Parkway. We should rectify that. Unfortunately there are houses facing on it, but its a lovely piece of road.

"Check this out, bro" are famous last words.......

Glad to hear it. We don't hear enough stories of guys getting their cars back from thieves in reasonable condition. Especially not something like a Skyline, where the big spare parts market makes stripping stolen vehicles quite attractive. Shame you missed the drive on Friday, but I will expect you down at Wakefield. :-)

Yeah. They're a big brand over in the US, and quite popular. I'm pretty sure they make the OEM shocks in the 350Z, at least for the North American models. I know a guy in Melbourne running Tokico aftermarket shocks with Tanabe springs on his 350Z, and he's quite happy with them. They haven't fallen apart on him, and the ride is still quite good on 19" rims.

Think about it logically for a second. Why does increased sidewall flex give more grip? The deformation of the sidewall then increases the effective surface area because the tyre squashes and spreads. But if you're going with a tyre that has less contact patch, then all you're doing is getting it to a point where the contact patch was the same size as the less flexy but wider tyre. Obviously the final word will depend on the specific application and would require testing, but logically all I can see happening is you having the same amount of grip. If you were going to a 235/60 R16 tyre from a 235/45 R17 I'd say yes, but since your "new" tyre choice is narrower I'd say it was pretty line ball (assuming your tyre is the same make and model).

No, nothing at all. But, then again, your misspelt "etc" at the end of that line covers any differences between an RB25DE and an RB25DET. So obviously aside from the bits that are unique to the turbo engine, its the same as the NA engine.

Do I take your word for it, or do I take Toyota's? One of you is the second largest car company in the world and the most profitable, with an enviable reputation for reliability and build quality. They would have to replace the damaged parts under warranty should it fail after giving this fuel the all-clear, and if the seals burst and cause a fire they might even be criminally liable (like the old Ford Pinto). The other is some random bloke of an unknown reputation, with no access to scientific testing or engineering, nor do they have a responsibility to ensure that their advice is safe or accurate. The thing is, OEMs will err on the safe side. If there's a chance it'll f**k up, they must assume it will. Anyone who's come from a support background will know that the last thing you give someone is choice, because the great unwashed will inevitably choose the wrong one. And due to our nanny state your mistake is their fault. My 2003 Nissan isn't approved by Nissan Australia to run fuels of any ethanol blend, although cars made in 2003 have gone to countries that use ethanol fuels and I doubt Australia's market is big enough to justify a custom run of vehicles. But, at the same time, I only put Optimax Extreme in right before I hit the track and chances are I've emptied the tank by the end of the day, at which point I put BP Ultimate back in. I won't say that it'll definitely happen to any car, but if I see threads with people whinging about how their fuel lines / engine seals etc seem to have corroded away after they were using only ethanol-blended fuel for months and months, they can expect a "bwahahaha, sucks to be you" response. You were warned by the guys who make the car, and you chose to ignore it. Maybe based on Sydneykid's advice and his own testing you can sue him for the damage to your vehicle, but good luck with that.

It was a pretty nice clean run, for the bits I did make. It was a good night for it - all that cold made for great throttle response. I don't think I bottomed out through McCarr's Creek Road, which would be a first.

Sorry for the lateness of reply. PM sent.

Pretty much. Their "perfect" tyre for a 9.5" wide rim is a 275, from the tables on the falkentire.com site.

What's wrong with bodyroll for someone learning to drift? Unloading your inside rear tyre means you have less contact patch, so its easier to overwhelm what grip you have to get and keep the car sideways. While keeping your speeds down, so you can react to the vehicle's manner at 40km/hr instead of 60km/hr. As long as the weight shifts in a progressive manner and it does return eventually, for someone trying to get the fundamentals down pat its not in itself a bad thing. You can use that greater weight shift to kick off various "dynamic drifting", once again at lower speeds. Its obviously not something I'd recommend to a drift competitor, but like I said there's a world of difference between a good car to learn on and a good car to compete in. I haven't been to a drift practice event in 2 years, and that was in Sydney. Do they run it on wet or dry surfaces? I'm assuming that the "practice" means no instructors? I would suggest doing an advanced skid training course, so a pro driver can tell you what you need to do and what you're getting wrong. They also tend to do it on wet skidpans, which once again lowers your speeds and so keeps it safe. Of course if you already know how to drift and you're just wanting to get more practice in to improve what skills you have you can ignore the above. I'd get a set of swaybars, and a proper 2 way LSD. I'd do a turbo-back exhaust to get more throttle response in the top end. Depending on your level I'd consider keeping the OEM intercooler to retain throttle response from the shorter pipes and hook up a water spray to reduce inlet charge temps instead (I'd chase bigger power once the skill levels are up and you can afford a slightly less responsive throttle). Get chassis bracing; front and rear strut braces.