pixel8r

Well I'm 25 for what its worth... Have owned 2 silvias, (1st one n/a, 2nd one turbo - almost identical otherwise) and now I have a stagea I miss the silvia for its nimbleness and handling but the stagea is way nicer to drive (ie. LOTS more comfortable). Cant say which is faster between my modified silvia turbo (133rwkw) and the stagea (~180rwkw equivalent). Hoping to get a r33 s2 skyline within the next couple years as my drive-to-work car (stagea is too heavy for daily runaround, and yet too practical to sell). Its weird, I always like the r34 shape better, but having seen some stock r33's and 34's up close, I actually would now prefer a 33 (s2). Not trying to start a flamewar lol, but just saying that I'd prefer a stock 33 to a stock 34, based on looks alone. And with everything else factored in, I'd have a nicer and faster car for the same money if I go with a 33 Thats pretty much the way I'm leaning at the moment - wont happen for a good while yet tho...

haha and what should he do when he finds it? because its pretty definite he will.. Haven't seen a stagea without the TINY spot of rust behind the passenger mirror. Not a big deal at all - just something to be aware of. So saying I still haven't done anything about mine, after 1 year of owning it... it shouldn't put you off buying one. Stageas are VERY reliable as you can tell by the lack of requests for help fixing problems on this forum. Most "help me" threads are self-inflicted in some way, and by that I mean that very few problems would relate to a stock stagea

Dont take this to mean that the fuel economy is that bad that you can watch the guage moving!! What you witnessed is the way Nissan do their guages. The last 1/4 of a tank is not the same as the first 3/4. You will find that if you split up your mileage between each 1/4 of the tank, you will get different km's in each. So if you get say 480km when it reaches the Empty mark (roughly 58L) - this is about what I get, your "mileage" may vary... At 3/4 tank that would be about 150km At 1/2 it would be about 280km At 1/4 it would be about 400km and then the last 1/4 always goes a lot quicker, in my example, just an extra 80km on the last 1/4. You'll also notice the last 1/4 even LOOKS a lot smaller on the guage - never knew why cos it doesn't really make sense. The above figures are approximate but pretty close to what I have seen... What I also notice is that the guage may be different from between when I park the car one day and starting it the next. Usually, the guage goes UP a tiny bit when I next hop in the car - which is a nice surprise. At the other end of the scale - it tends to stay "above" the Full mark until about 80km and then marches on down to the 3/4 mark...weird. Most stageas should get between 420-500km by the time it hits the Empty mark. I should also point out that stageas have a 68L fuel tank so even at empty you IN THEORY have an extra 10L to go...but I wouldn't push it. I'm pretty sure all nissan guages are pretty similar. Once you get used to how they work its not too bad

I was looking at getting a 34 4-door (turbo) a year ago and JC quoted me about $1000 for full comp. I was 24 at the time and rating 1 so that helps. I also had a policy with them for about 2-3 years already so I think that counts too. JustCar seem to look after you if you've been with them a while (ie. lower premiums etc). Cant prove that tho... Now with the stagea I'm paying $1100 for full comp. Not bad IMO

Whoa sounds like there was a lot happening in different places on that cruise... A few of us got lost (went down main rd instead of turning onto upper sturt rd) and had to backtrack a bit...but overall it was still a nice drive I definitely didn't see any speed camera flash so I guess thats good news (at least for the 3 of us). I was following a nice black R33 and had a R34 GT-4 behind me. Even tho the 34 is n/a, he still managed to keep up through the twisties. Its still a 34, bet you love the fuel economy from the n/a!! Was good to meet a few more people from here too BTW just a quick question - was anyone else's cars pinging at all in the FREEZING cold weather? mine pinged a bit as I floored it at the entry to the freeway going home (thats the only time it did it). The turbo/engine was absolutely loving the cold air but I'm not sure if it was pinging just cos it was cold or whether my boost controller may have spiked a bit...maybe both. My ignition timing is probably a little too optimistic?. Never had a problem any other time tho - this is the first time in the 3 months since it was tuned that I'd heard it, and definitely not the first time its been driven like that...but I've gotta say last night it felt quicker than it ever has...mmmm cold nights I remember cubes said if its tuned in hot weather it will ping in cold weather and I think he may be right. Mine was tuned on a 35+ deg day.

Spotted 20 or so skylines last night (including the above mentioned GTR034 - very nice car!!) cruising from mitcham up to mt barker. Was a good drive except some of us got lost (our fault) and arrived at the destination a little late. Still good fun tho!!

yeah true, but its a RB24 so not that far off in displacement...its really just manual vs auto. manual would have better (closer) gearing which is why I mentioned that it drops off boost on mine (ie. to highlight the difference). The manual would likely still drop off boost a bit on the gearchange (i assume they all do - even stock?) but the gear ratios would be closer together whereas with the auto stagea, the gear ratios are designed differently - 1 is for quick acceleration to get the 1650kg car to move, and the rest are set up for smooth cruising and fuel economy... very different for a manual - usually gears 1-4 are fairly close and 5th (or final gear) is set up for cruising / fuel economy... I thought I'd post it up anyway cos you never know who will be reading the thread...

Not sure if all the new SA guys here are aware of the SA section of the forum - its where cruises are normally organised and other events etc. Anyway there's a skyline cruise tonight (friday 25/5/07) - below is a link to the original thread. stageas welcome http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...169604&st=0 Not a huge one but not small either, should be good fun for anyone wanting to come for a nice drive... If you're not sure what it'll be like, SAU cruises are usually pretty orderly and generally there are no lunatic drivers or anyone doing stupid stuff...so dont feel like you'd be cruising with a bunch of speed-happy hoons...its not like that at all I'm kinda hoping mine wont be the only stagea there so feel free to come along, would be great to meet some of the more recent Adelaide stagea owners. also, tangles, hope u can make it too

Ok, its confirmed I'm coming along tonight in the stagea Tangles, you going to make it?? should be good

As an aside - for anyone wanting to use a GT30 turbo on a daily driver, there is a positive side-effect and that is better fuel economy due to not being on boost between 1500-2500rpm which is where the revs sit a lot of the time when cruising around. With my current mods, turbo, exhaust, SAFC, boost controller (11-12psi) I'm actually getting 2L/100km better fuel economy than when the car was stock and it has a lot more power I'm quite happy with that. To give you more idea of my turbo lag with the GT30, if I put my foot to the floor when taking off from the lights, it will be well and truly on full boost before I reach the other side of the intersection (gotta love how quickly RB's build revs). Also stagea autos have a large gap between the 1st and 2nd gear ratios and so it drops off boost momentarily on the gearchange. Not much I can do about that. Driving along however, it can go from say 80-120 very quickly. Its sweet spot seems to be around 3500-5000rpm, and would extend right to the redline if my boost controller could hold enough boost. With a good boost controller, and supporting mods (FMIC definitely!) the GT30 could hold 15-16psi no worries at all, and in fact is likely to be most efficient around this mark (guessing). Bottom line is, if you're not planning on running 14+ psi through it, then get something SMALLER than a GT30. Hindsight is a wonderful thing Not saying my turbo is bad (its not), just that I dont have the funds to get the most out of it, and there are cheaper turbos which work better at 12psi and besides all that I have now decided that being a wagon it can stay as is and my money will now be used to save for a skyline (as a 2nd car).

I've got a GT3076R (I think) from Adelaide Turbo Services, they're quite expensive (>$2000 just for the turbo). Lag is also quite noticeable, on my RB25 (neo) it reaches 12 psi around 3800rpm so whilst not terrible, its not nearly as good as the stock turbo for response. However when it does start to wind up (usually between 2500-3000rpm) it builds boost fairly quickly and pulls very hard all the way to redline... Its a good turbo as far as quality goes, double ball bearing and steel wheels. It can handle a lot of boost, probably more than your engine can (reliably). Mine's mated up to the stock exhaust housing (R34 type, my car is an S2 stagea as in my avatar ) - apparently this gives it better response. However, the reason i'm posting here is because I'd like to recommend Sliding Performance Turbos. Chat to tangles on here about his, its a direct bolt-on high-flow unit for the RB25 and it cost him less than $1000. The one he got is rated at about 18psi max so they can handle some nice boost as well. The guy that makes/sells these turbos is also on this forum (cant remember if his username is slide or slidingperformance or something like that). Have heard lots of good things about his turbos and they're very affordable.

I'm assuming you DO want more top end power than the stock turbo?? because you wont beat the stock turbo for response. other options like a highflow rb25 turbo (ie. GCG) might be the way to go, steel wheels etc. and similar response to stock... but in short, Nissan lightened the stock turbo by using plastic/nylon and ceramic components. It means it wont last as long and cant take much boost (1 bar is enough to kill it very quickly) but if the car is left stock and not thrashed it would probably suit it just fine. If you want more power than the stock turbo can give you, there will likely be some compromises and one of those will be slightly less response/more lag. You can still keep turbo lag pretty close to stock however...just not exactly the same

Just read the recent thread about photography tips for taking good photos (nice read), and I thought I'd start one for things to try AFTER the photo has been taken - ie. on your computer. If anyone has any good tips for making your photos look great either in print or on computer, feel free to share them... Here are a few of my own tips: * The first thing I do with any photo off the camera is adjust Levels. In photoshop (or the GIMP which I use) and many other photo editing programs you can adjust levels, which basically corrects the exposure of photos a little. Obviously you cant work magic but it can greatly enhance even your best photos. In the levels adjust window, you'll see a graph of the level of colour in your photos. Both ends may taper off and there may in some cases be a gap at either (or both) ends. Drag the little arrows inwards to where the visible colour starts at either end and see how that looks - this can be used to brighten up overly dark parts of a photo or darken overexposed areas. I haven't seen a camera that takes perfect photos every time, so this tool is invaluable for making photos that little bit more vibrant. Often your unedited photos will look a bit dull in comparison... * Another thing you can do is brightness and contrast - although I would recommend not using these and using the above Levels adjust instead. This one's a matter of taste - but generally its better to use gamma controls or Levels adjust to brighten or darken your photos. I dont use brightness at all but occasionally I will use contrast to exaggerate a photo (for a surrealistic look). * My other favourite tool is colour saturation. Increasing the saturation (again, exaggerating colours) will often make your photos look "better" because they will have richer colours. It all depends if you want your photos to look realistic or "nice". I usually keep my original photos separate and save my edited copies in a separate directory. That way I still have the "realistic" copy and for photos I want to print or have on my desktop etc. I bump up the saturation, sometimes a lot, and I find it makes the photos stand out more. Its all about what people percieve as being a better photo. Thats why so many digital cameras have "noise reduction" built in. Personally I choose Ricoh digital cameras (they only do "prosumer" digicams, no DSLR's unfortunately - but then I'm not a professional photographer....maybe one day). They do not do noise reduction at all (except in very low light), giving you a slightly grainier photo but with way more fine detail. Look at your photos containing fields of grass. Can you see each blade of grass? or does it all look a bit smudged...I'm getting picky I know but it is a personal preference of mine and I love the extra detail I get. Things in real life are not all made up of flat colours so all those reviews that complain about "noise" in photos may just be complaining about real detail... each to their own I guess What other tips do you guys have for making photos look stunning on computer or in print?

I'm no expert...and I realise this is a bit late but I thought I'd reply just as an FYI... For these photos you would need to pan the camera to keep the car in the frame, ie. kind of follow the car with the camera for a bit. The camera would need to be set either on a manual focus or some cameras allow you to have it continually focussing even when the shutter button isn't pressed - or you may be able to have it continually focussing while the shutter button is half-pressed, as you wait for the right moment. The continual focus or manual focus will reduce your "shutter lag" time and allow you to capture the moment without having to wait (sometimes up to a second) for the camera to focus. Then just click the button when you want the shot and its important to note that you should continue with the follow through. When you press the shutter button, try not to bump the camera up/down as you do it, and keep the panning motion of the camera very fluid/smooth. A tripod is probably essential to do this properly...and a very fast shutter speed. Many cameras have a sport mode that should help out here but I've not used that mode much on mine so I cant really comment - I just know that that's what its for. For any other action/motion shots, I think the most important thing is a camera with a very fast auto-focus (I love Ricoh digicams for this reason - but they only do "prosumer" cameras, no digital slr's unfortunately). Having subjects in focus will be the goal of your shots, and if you're good you could even frame your subject well (ie. not always centered) while you are following them with the camera Hope that helps

Sounds good, its a maybe for me at this stage, but pls send me a pm and I'll see if I can make it

I have a S2 but cant see any special "magic" button near the accelerator. There are a whole heap of wires to the right of the accelerator - possibly the thing has been hidden or disabled? Or was it just a factory option? Had me thinking, how many "magic" buttons can a car have? So many little tricks with our awesome wagons

haha i discovered my fog lights after my battery went flat. wasn't me that left them on overnight but even so I wasn't aware they worked... or what switch turned them on/off

I bought mine from motorvation on the gold coast. car still running fine now (over a year later) BUT there were some problems with it that I wasn't told about or was told wasn't a problem... The rear suspension was stuffed, had it fixed under dealer 3mth warranty (they confessed to it when I mentioned it and were happy to have it fixed). Fan belt needed replacing which I did myself - not really their fault - most imports will need these replaced after being covered in dust for months). The turbo made a loud whining noise as soon as it hit boost and I was told that all s2 stageas make that noise (?!). When I eventually got it checked by a turbo specialist, he told me it was faulty and since the stock turbo isn't repairable, I decided to upgrade it. Cost several thousand, as the exhaust manifold was cracked as well...if that happens to you - it can be done a lot cheaper, especially if you do the work yourself. A direct bolt-on replacement can be had for under $1000. There were also several scratches on the car, one up to 10 cm long, covered with touch-up paint or something that looked like white-out. I had asked over the phone for photos of any scratches and was told there weren't any. Bit disappointed to fly over to the gold coast from adelaide and find a couple of noticeable scratches on it (mostly minor). Its expected for a 1999 model car, but it wasn't a nice surprise. So I guess the lesson is to really check the car out thoroughly for yourself, or have it inspected (more thoroughly than the inspection report I got, which basically said that all the lights work and the wheels are present and it drives and stops). All in all though, the only major problem was the suspension and turbo and I only had to pay for the turbo. Since then we've had no dramas and I'm still very happy with the car - so dont take this to mean that I bought a lemon - I didn't. The interior of the car was spotless and they did a good job of cleaning it up. Also their service was excellent - they picked us up from coollongatta airport and drove us back to their yard to pick up the car and pay for it etc. We were only there for about 45 mins and then we were on our way. Now more than a year later, its had a few mods, makes a lot more power and runs like a dream. Couldn't be happier with it

the s2 auto tiptronic box is different to the s1 auto box, but is the same as the R34 skyline auto tiptronic box - with the exception of the transfer case as mentioned above... For what its worth, note the transmission oil cooler is also larger on the s2 than s1.

Average 11.7L/100km in town, 9-10L/100km on the highway. It all comes down to a good tune, and a controlled right foot... oh, and adelaide traffic isn't as bad as in other states so your results may vary a bit... but then with better roads like in QLD I averaged <11L/100km when on holiday in brisbane...

Boostworx gets my vote as well!! I've been there once for a tune, based on other's recommendations and I walked away a very happy customer and now I wont be going anywhere else . 'nuf said.

you could replace the drive belts (fan belt etc). these are relatively inexpensive and if its a fresh import, its most likely they are worn anyway. If this fixes it then you've saved yourself a lot of time and effort, and if not, well now you know they are new and you've made progress towards nailing the problem

plenty of auto stageas in australia with >200 awkw. Same upgrade potential as skylines but you lose an extra 10-20kw through the drivetrain due to the extra weight. They're about 250-300kg heavier than a skyline AWD helps to overcome the weight a little bit - especially when you increase the kw. You can gain an extra ~20kw by removing the front drive shaft, making it RWD, but the reality is that people have done this and found that the car is actually faster in AWD (almost a 1sec difference in 1/4 mile times). Factory RWD-only stageas are a LOT lighter (front diff and ATTESA setup adds about ~200kg!!) however so these would have performance very similar to an equivalent RWD skyline.

Spotted a silver series 2 Stagea on NE Rd heading towards town this afternoon around 3:30 Doesn't belong to anyone on here (yet) - it had trade plates on - wondering which car dealer has it? Could have been driving towards synergy?

My choice would be the GTR for the overall package, and only if you do MINIMAL mods and want to keep it fairly stock except for basic exhaust/air filter/boost mods. The GTT looks better IMO and is a newer car. It depends if looks and age are more important to you than having a better car all round. There is an objective way to work out what car YOU actually want (but maybe you dont know your own preference yet?) and this works for many decisions in life... The easiest way is to use an excel spreadsheet... First, make a list of aspects/features you want in your ideal car, ie. looks, handling, performance, ride comfort, price, reliability, maintaining costs... etc Now for each car, write a score (say out of 100?) for each of these categories - so you will end up with 2 lists of scores, one for each car - each list has one score for each category. Remember that this is a rating, so for Price, you are rating how good you think the price is, so a higher rating doesn't necessarily mean higher price In 1 completely separate list, for each category you listed above, give them a percentage score of how important that feature is to you - and try to make it so that the total of all your percentage scores comes to 100%. Then line up the two lists against each other, and for each category (or feature), multiply the car's score by the percentage you chose, and so on down the list and finally total up your scores at the bottom. Do the same for the other car, and the one with the highest total score is the one you will be more happy with. Apologies if this is confusing - i've attached a spreadsheet for those interested in how this method works...this is just my example - if you want to modify it - change the values surrounded by borders and get your own result You can adapt it to almost any choice between 2 or things that you have to make in life. Its great. car_decision_maker.zip Please feel free to download this spreadsheet and modify it to your hearts content...i can certify that it is virus free (created and uploaded on Linux - very few viruses exist for the Linux Operating System and even if it had one, chances of it running on your windows pc are almost nil). Enjoy! and I hope it helps...