scathing

Which ones?

Girlfriend suggested a SW20 MR2. I don't know if I'd get one over a MX-5, but I'd certainly get it over a Celica.

Forget the Lexus. They're gutless without a turbo or a V8. As are non-turbo Celicas. I'd rule out a Type-R as well, as they do get looked upon as hoon cars. I know it's "eye of the beholder" kind of thing, but I haven't seen a Corolla that I liked the look of. I am quite fond of the last generation Prelude VTiR. I reckon they look really good, and the engine should pull OK. It's bigger than an Integra of the same generation, so it should be a bit more comfortable. Alternatively, an EK Civic VTiR coupe. The hatch looks a bit ghey. If you want some guts, they have to have VTEC. Alternatively, you could consider a N14 or N15 Pulsar SSS with the SSS badges shaved off. It then just looks like a cooking Pulsar, but the SR20DE in the front has reasonably good torque for its class.

For looks. The car is so huge that small rims look disproportional. I'm curious to see which race cars do. And I'm not sure how increasing unsprung weight and rotational inertia provides an increase in handling. Going to big rims has little to do with improving handling, especially not a 4" increase over stock. On a race car you go for the smallest wheels you can fit around your brakes. Sometimes that necessitates putting on bigger rims than stock. At any rate, the suspension is engineered around the wheel/tyre combo. What's the likelihood that this guy's R32 has its geometry and components engineered around 20's? Or that it will only get driven on smooth surfaces where the loss of sidewall compliance and increase in unsprung weight is not going to more than offset the supposed benefits of reduced sidewall flex?

Dunlops are expensive, but I didn't know they were that expensive. I pay that for R888s in 17". My Bridgestone RE55S cost $450 a corner in 17". The R888s don't grip as well as the Dunlop offerings, but you should be able to get them new from an authorised dealer for $350/corner. They are one of the cheapest semi slicks out there. I've found the best bang/buck are the Bridgestone RE55S. I'd get Dunlops if I could afford them and am chasing times, though.

Sounds like arse-covering to me. Almost all the powertrain mods I've seen have been "track use only", probably because a lawyer told them to stick it in. If you get defected you can sue them for selling you a mod that's not street legal for your street car. I've seen that on everything from filters to extractors and high flow cats to ECUs.

Most turbo cars will still let you screw out good power gains without much outlay, once they figure out how to get past the electronic nannies. Most Euro cars (like the Golf GTi you mentioned) are tuned for flat torque delivery rather than outright power, so reflashing the ECU with no hardware changes do see massive power increases and a more "fun" delivery. For example, a VW Polo GTi has 105kW stock, but reflashing the ECU with an Audi TT map will see you at 147kW with no hardware changes. Pop on an exhaust and filter and you might pick up some more, but after that you might need to look at high flowing / replacing the turbo as I think (but am not sure) that you'll have maxed out the small turbo in the car. As people have said, it's pretty trivial to make lots of power from an XR6T these days. Even the LS powered engines can get a decent amount of power with just bolt-ons. S2K I wouldn't bother with. The engine is already pretty high strung. I haven't seen too many mods for the Mazda3 and Mazda6 MPS', but then I haven't really been looking. With a Vette (or any car that shares the same small block), I reckon its just easier to buy a crate motor and be done with it. You can buy a ZR-1 or Z06 engine, and make big power with a warranty.

But it has more torque, and delivers it across a wider rev band. Less "fun", but more fast. It depends on if you're show or go, I guess.

Ahem Thanks for coming. I've driven a modified 5.0L Commodore SS auto with Goodyear F1s on the front and retreads on the back in the wet, and managed to not spin out. I can guarantee that car would have less wet weather rear grip, and a shedload more torque that is a lot less predictable in its delivery.

Don't hurry then. Slow and deliberate. Everyone else has covered most of it on the tyre side, so my only other suggestion is to set the suspension up to understeer as much as possible. If it rains set the rear dampers to full soft and the fronts to full hard. If the ride's a bit too harsh in the front dial it back little by little, but always ensure the fronts are a lot stiffer than the rear.

Someone is selling a JWT Popcharger on Nissan Z Tech. The BMC's, from what I've read, are really good shit.

If you guys are interested there are some pics up on Nissan Z Tech, but I believe you need to register to see them as the photographer has just attached them.

Post lots of pics when you pop them on. The one you posted with the black car sporting the Ings+1 N1 kit looks so tough.

More than you can afford, paaaal. Fairlady.

That's what you get for disabling the VDC when backing it off the docks.

Some people like to push the envelope on how much ballooning they can get from a sidewall before the tyre just pops off the bead.

My car's got some stuff that still needs fixing. It'll probably be in the new year. I've posted on the forums to see if people have any suggestions, and when something is sorted I'll post it in here.

Looks like something Veilside would design.

I almost wet myself when the cop showed up, especially since I was planning on leaving at that point and I didn't need to be pulled over for a "random" inspection. It was a good day, and a shame I missed the cruise afterwards.

Probably only sound. It does sound good, especially past 3000RPM under load. The 350Z sees pretty much no gain with it, especially not if you just compare it to a K&N drop-in. While the V35's intake is slightly different, it's not by much. If you flick the UTEC into full ECU replacement mode (i.e. not acting as a piggyback) it naturally defeats the speed limiter. I don't think the UTEC is smart enough to be able to defeat the limiter in interceptor mode. I don't know of any straight piggyback that does - my Unichip doesn't defeat my 250km/hr limiter.

Not entirely true. A couple of people have the requisite software (for example Pro Concept has the Technosquare product) but he hasn't really done anything with it. I think there are a few people with similar products, but I don't know off the top of my head. Basically some people in Australia can, but don't. I'm not a big fan of reflashes since its not really expandable, and its hard for tuners to work with. You can get good piggybacks that allow for unlimited, real-time tuning (the VQ35DE ECU's EPROM only has around 1000 flashes in it before it's bricked) so that's what people tend to go for. I'm a big fan of the TurboXS UTEC. It can act as a piggyback or a full replacement ECU (so you can keep your cold start and run an economy tune), and you can program up to 4 tunes that you can use a switch to change between them. Plug in a laptop and you can use the software to monitor and run diagnostics as well as tune. Install a car PC and you could have digital gauges. The GReddy E-Manage is the only one I'm aware of that supports tuning the variable valve control on both the intake and exhaust cams, which is only a concern if you have a 221kW engine. I personally have a NA Unichip, which works reasonably well with bolt-ons.

If the ATTESSA works, a Chev small block would make an interesting replacement and you can screw some good NA power out of it. If it has to go RWD, why bother doing it to a GT-R?

Was good to meet new people, and see a lot of V35s are getting out there.

The tune was checked by a few different outfits. CRD did it, APS has checked it, and I've put the car on the rollers at Unigroup and Autotech here in Sydney and they haven't seen any problems with it. If I wanted a little more power I should put the factory airbox back on the car and fit a K&N drop-in filter. The OEM airbox is a really good design, and aftermarket intakes generally kill power. I just like the noise of it. Yeah, it's going OK. The car makes a proper sports car noise at high RPM but is still really quiet at low RPM. With all the mods I've run a G-Tech measured 13.9 ET on regular street tyres on....erm......a private road in the middle of nowhere That road wasn't entirely flat so it's not 100% indicative, but then if I did a proper launch on a properly grippy surface with heated tyres it should even out.

If I were to get a V35, I reckon I'd run a 19" front and a 20" rear. The rear wheel arch is visually bigger than the front, so the rear wheel always looks proportionally smaller. Personally, I reckon your fronts look spot on but I wouldn't argue that the rear could be a tad bigger. I have the same visual issues with the Z33. For me I'd always noticed that 19" front rims always look too big to my eye, but a 19" rear rim looks spot on. I was considering varying the diameter front to rear since my tyres can't be rotated anyway, but due to the design of the rims I went for I couldn't go for a bigger rear while retaining a similar look. As an example, the Nismo RS Concept has a 17" front rim and an 18" rear rim: and the proportions look better. The V35, I've found, is the same.