The Baron

Obviously not in Port Melbourne then :-(

Was this parked in the Toyota carpark at some stage ?? I noticed a very similar looking beast there on two occasions a few weeks ago (with envy ;-)

Thanks for great day - only a short visit to snap some pics and I hope this attachment thing works ;-)

It has a name.... Behold - The Dongfeng D-120 !!! Developed with the help of Nissan, Citroen and Honda it features 2.4 litre engine, ABS, Hydraulic Steering and independent suspension. The D - stands for Dong Feng , Dream and Development, the 120 stands for Dong Feng's production target of 1.2 million vehicles annually (I hope not of this model ;-)

Just a thought - is that Accordeon feature some kind of moveable spoiler like on the 911 ?? So it is compressed fully when at low speeds and only deploys above 10 mph ?? It is the only conceivable thing I could come up with as to why someone would do this ??

This http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...howtopic=141073 Now for that 35K.........

I like it - but then I work for Big T and we've been waiting for something - anything - that has some decent performance ;-) Hybrid is great for acceleration - hmmm torquey goodness ;-)

Still can't afford it :-( Good luck though

I saw some figures from a performance test towing a standard (1400kg-does that sound right ??) trailer and the Aurion beat the Falcon and Commodire in acceleration and braking - and yeah anything bigger should go on a Prado ;-) BTW The missus has a towbar on her Corolla Sportivo and it does a 6 x 4 trailer just fine BTW II - There is no way I'd choose an Aurion over an R-32 either - this is the Skylines forum after all ;-)

Just a correction - the 200kW is from a normally aspirated engine - the supercharged versiopn is aiming at about 240 kW And yes there is no manual but the 6 speed is standard and is 'tiptronic'

Let me say up front - I too work for 'Big T' I agree - the Aurion is not my choice of car, but it is very good at what it is meant to do To put it into perspective - of the 4 LM's (local maunfacturers) Ford - just announced 20% production cut Mitsubishi - approx 50 380's per day Holden < 5000 new VE's sold in first month (compared to 7000+ when they launched VZ) Toyota - ramping up production from 100,000 per annum to 140,000 per annum (Camry and Aurion) So I guess they are doing something right ;-) PS Just wait until some of the performance hybrid technology trickles down like it does for Hybrid Camry in the US. Electric motors give good Torque ;-)

Ahhh - good old "Horrible Haggis's Arse Burner" - particularly useful for testicular massage I believe ;-) Good stuff

I suppose I'll add my 2 c To me any modification to a vehicle needs to have a purpose. In particular exterior modification such as any kind of aero kit, exhaust, scoops and suspension mods. This purpose should have something to do with improving the performance or safety of the vehicle. If instead it is merely adding weight or trying to deceive, then in my opinion it is Rice. Now I know that some people talk about the 'look' of a car and that aero etc can improve this. Well beauty is in the eye of the beholder I suppose but unless your aero actually does something, I'd still call it Rice. (BTW Rice can look extremely clean and beautiful - although rarely - look up the Top Gear 'Carbage' site for examples ;-) Particular bugbears of mine are: Standard Lancers with EVO body kits, Excels with big Aero, GTR front bars on non GTR Skylines, Stickers for equipment not actually fitted to the vehicle, bad fibreglass on anything and 'spinners' on the wheels. But heck - as long as I don't have to drive it - knock yourself out.

Actually the film has 10 important steps that anyone can take at the end to help solve the problem (although one of them is to buy a hybrid car ;-) So it does offer solutions. As for tickets - we had ourt entire office try to score some (Environmental engineer here ;-) to no avail - all tickets gone inside 15 minutes. I think it's great that it proved so popular. The latest news is that the organisers (Vic Super) are looking for a venue to broadcast a live telecast - possibly Fed Square. Check their website for the latest updates

Hmm when Dermie ran through the pack he was considered a hero - when Ablett flattened Worsfold in the GF with no eyes for the ball that's also considered a great play...... Let's face it - in all sport you have to be a bastard if you truely want to win at the highest level. So let's not kid ourselves and think that other F1 drivers are any more gentlemanly - there is too much money in it for that to occur. (Atleast not on the track ;-) So when you strip that back then Schumacher was the greatest. Yes he had the best team behind him for much of it - but he had to build most of it around him, and keep it, and keep his drive and make sure his co-drivers didn't beat him and then beat the opposition. When I watched F1, I often saw Schumacher cruise for 90% of the race - well within his capacity - but in those laps around about the pit stops, or when he had to catch up because of a spin or other misfortune (such as the one last night) that's when you saw the best driver in F1, carving through the field, posting best laps, wrestling the car around a circuit. I'll miss those moments - they were sublime. Ohh and in private life it seems he was a pretty good bloke - donated $5million to the Tsunami appeal last year for example.

The Chilli debate - ahh yes. In my youth I was known to eat an orange habanero raw and with seeds on a dare - I fronted up to 'Monsieur Derango's Chilli Tequila Challenge' (although I didn't win) and I dabbled in some of the hotter sauces available ('Megadeath' sauce springs to mind....) I even partook in son of rajab T's 'Chilli Con Carnage' prepared with the capsiceine powder that's triple sealed and not to be consumed in it's pure form. I have huddled in the corner in the foetal position with a 2 litre bottle of milk to make the pain go away and dreaded the 'Ring of Fire' the following day. But these days are gone. Nowadays I still like my hot food - nose sweat is a must - but I can also appreciate the different tastes and textures of the varieties of chillies. The smokiness of the Habanero, the piquant little Thai peppers. All have their joys and none are more supreme then the other.

First of all thanks for the recipes :-) As for satisfying Chilli cravings I find the best way is to have some home made 'Chilli Vodka'. Simply get a good bottle of vodka - add whole chillies (of whatever variety is pleasing to you - although be careful with those orange habaneros) wait one or two weeks until the colour is leached from the chillies (when they are getting white it means the drink is ready) and enjoy - in moderation ;-) Also will highly recommend Mao's in Brunswick Street who make a great 'Hunang Beef' which is about 50:50 Beef and Chilli

Nena - A-ha - another child of the 80's PS If you like german eighties driving music - you should look for 'Ich will Spass' by Markus

1. What is your name and where are you from? Andreas Kammel, Melbourne 2. What is your occupation? Environmental Engineer @ Toyota 3. What is your date of birth and blood type? 28/10/69 4. What are your hobbies? Model cars, real cars, wargaming, sword fighting 5. How many years have you had your license and what license type are you? Since 1988 6. How many accidents have you had (your fault) and how many traffic violations have you had? Crashed my Bimmer twice - both my fault Many a speeding ticket but never enough to lose my licence 7. What was the car you owned before your current one? The last car I owned was said 1993 BMW 318i 8. What is your current car and it's mileage? Toyota Corolla Sportivo - approx 25,000kms (although I drive a leased Yaris and the missus has the Corolla) 9. Is the car Auto or Manual? Manual ofcourse 10. What part of your car is unique that no one else has? Nothing 11. Do you own a motorbike? Nope 12. Biggest trouble/problem you've ever had with a car you've owned? Rolling the Bimmer into a ditch and NOT doing enough damage to write it off - it was never the same 13. Do you have an in-car navigation system? No 14. Do you have an e-tag/electronic toll unit? What are your thoughts on the system? Toll roads are B/S 15. Do you have a particular route or road that you enjoy driving on? What is it? Great Ocean road 16. Do you have a meet point that you prefer? What is it? No 17. What petrol do you use? Why do you use it... Brand, Price or Convenience? Caltex - cause work gives me a fuel card 18. What is your favourite engine oil? Service does that 19. How often do you change the oil in your car? service does thast 20. What make is your tyre, and what size is it? whatever came with the car 21. How much tread is left on your tyres at the moment? 75% 22. Do you use winter tyres? Nope 23. How often do you wash your car? just before I hand it back for another one (the leased one that is ;-) 24. What magazines do you read/subscribe to? None 25. What music do you listen to while driving? Alternative, Goth, Punk, Hv Metal - Rammstein 26. Do you listen to the radio in your car? If so what station and/or show do you prefer? 774ABC - it's got the best news and sport - otherwise it's i-pod time 27. When you are stuck in traffic, what do you do to pass time? listen to music I guess 28. What products can you simply not be without in your car? i-pod 29. Do you prefer to take the highway or the scenic route to places that are between 50 to 100 km's away? Depends on availalbe time - often scenic route 30. Does your significant other prefer to accompany you on your drives in the passenger seat? Actually she prefers to drive 31. What is your preferred tuning shop? n/a 32. What is your preferred second hand parts shop? n/a 33. When you see the sticker "Baby On Board" what do you do or think? useless sticker 34. Do you like the Nissan models that have been released since Carlos Ghosn took over as CEO? The Tiida is a piece of shite as is the Murano - so I guess no - the next Skyline is their last chance ;-) 35. Although the R34 Skyline has been replaced by the V35, do you consider it a valid successor? No 36. What are your 3 most favourite Nissan models, excluding the one you own? Well I don't own it yet so in order of preference R32 GT-R R34 GT-R R33 GT-R 37. What are your 3 most favourite non-Nissan cars? BMW M5 BMW 635CSi Bugatti Veyron 38. If you were to buy a new car now, what would it be? Toyota Yaris - (so I can afford to run a GT-R) 39. Although its not Nissan, do you like Rotary Engines? Nope - absolute rubbish 40. What quality do you feel your car lacks? Most 41. What generation is your Skyline? It wil be an R-32 as late as I can get it 42. Is your car RWD or AWD? It will be AWD 43. Why did you choose to buy your car? Because it is now an almost affordable dream 44. When you chose your car, what other models did you also consider? None 45. When you bought the car, what condition was it in? Normal or needed some work? It will be in good condition 46. How many times do you drive your car in a week? daily driven 47. If you had to coin a catchphrase for Skylines, what would it be? It won Bathurst on 3 wheels 48. What car would you say is a rival model to yours as far as features are concerned? Supra ?? 49. What is in your opinion, the best features of your Skyline? Bang for Buck 50. What parts of your car don't work like they should? The interior design 51. Have you ever dreamt of your car? Give an example. No 52. What do those close to you (family, partner etc) think of your car? Midlife crisis 53. What spec would you class your car as? Drift, Drag, Circuit, or Cruiser? Daily driven 54. Which is more important to you about your car? Appearance, Performance/Power or Comfort? Originality 55. What seats and steering wheel do you have in your car? original 56. What brakes does your car have? (Including disc/hub) original 57. What exhaust does your car have? hmm - will probaly have 3" 58. What headunit/stereo is in your car? something with i-pod connectivity 59. What gauges does your car have? original 60. What aftermarket suspension parts does your car have? none 61. What structural reinforcement parts does your car have? none 62. What intake/cooling parts do you have on your car? none 63. Anything else you have replaced on your car? not yet 64. How many km/l do you get out of your car on average? The Yaris is great ;-) 65. Do you think you'll be driving the same car in 5 years? hope so 66. Would you purchase the car you own if it was new? (ie you'd be the first owner of the car) If I could have afforded a new Skyline - then yes 67. If you were given the choice between your car and your partner, which would you choose over the other? Partner 68. If the Skyline you own did not exist, what would you be driving right now? see list of Skylines above ;-) 69. A lot of Skyline owners are changing to Evo's, what do you think of them and would you change? Would not change although they are a good car 70. Which headlight do you prefer, projector or non projector and HID or regular? original 71. If you were to respray your car, what colour would it be? black 72. What is the first mod that you would do on a stock version of your car? exhaust 73. Is there a mod in particular that you would like to never see done to a Skyline? bad fibreglass body work has ruined many a skyline - that and taking the rear wing off an R-32 - it's a travesty 74. If your car is RWD, is there any time when you wish it was AWD? Or if your car is AWD, is there any time when you wish it was RWD? n/a 75. Have you ever considered your car awkward or uncool? Why? The Yaris ?? - every day 76. Do you have any brochures for your car? Where'd you get it from? no 77. Do you have a service manual, log book and owner's manual for your car? yup - ordereed online in prepapration 78. How do you feel about the price of Skylines on the market now compared to the price you paid for your car? Getting there - the Yen is dropping the Aussie is rising - all good for purchase soon (90 Yen to the dollar would be awesome as then I could look for a V-Spec ;-) 79. If money was not an issue, what tuning mods would you make to your car? I'd get a second Skyline for pimping with mods too long to mention although getting one of the Gibson Motorsport Group A blocks and the HKS Variable Valve Timing unit would be included ;-) 80. Would you upgrade the hub assembly of your car? (eg 4 stud to 5 stud) Would go for centre stud ;-) 81. Would you upgrade the air-con system in your car? (eg manual to climate control) Not necessary 82. Have you made any parts for your car, or any DIY mods? would not consider doing so - let an expert do the job 83. Do you own any spare parts for your car that aren't needed yet? no 84. If it was feasible to own a second car identical to yours, would you? yes - the one for modification ;-) 85. How much have you spent on repairs to your car? n/a - that's what insurance is for 86. If you see another Skyline which has been modified differently, do you pick faults in it? No- style is individual and opinion should be given when asked for 87. Have you ever watched Initial D, and do you think your car would have beaten Takumi? Actually never seen it 88. Would you buy a scale model of your car, and how much would you be willing to spend up to on it? Yup - a couple of hundered bucks 89. Would you buy a remote control model of your car, and how much would you be willing to spend up to on it? Yup - a couple of hundered bucks 90. Has your car ever been in a magazine? If so what and which issue? no 91. Have you ever participated in a cruise or attended a meet for Skyline owners? Been to A bbq - will be back when I have the correct ride 92. Is there any other forum members' car that you idolise or was very impressed by? there are many a neat R-32 around - I think GTR-Geoff was considering selling his once and it was awesome 93. Would you do a face swap/upgrade (ie R34 front on R32, C33 front on A31, etc)? No 94. What would you consider the locally produced equivalent of your car? No - there is none 95. You are offered to pick straws, one straw will get you free mods of your choice and track time to test them, the other will see your car returned to factory standard. Would you pick straws? Yes 96. You are to attend a track day, however your car gets damaged, and have the following choices: - run the same model as your car, but with a fully tuned RB20E engine. The car has done 150,000kms, and the engine has done 50,000kms. - run the same model as your car, but with a RB20DET auto. The car has done 500,000kms, and the turbo has done 60,000kms. - run your damaged car What would you do? Run my car 97. If you were to grade yourself as an expert on Skylines, what would you be out of 100? 50 98. What is the purpose your car serves in your life? Achievement of a dream 99. One word that describes Skyline owners in the country and the rest of the world? obsessed 100. Other than "that was long and tiring" do you have any comments? Kept me entertained on a slow day..

Had a bit of a look around the old CD collection on the way home last night and can narrow the previous album choice down to Offspring - 'Bad Habit' However I should also add Rammstein - 'Benzin' as a great driving song and if you ever get to Germany you have to listen to Kraftwerk - 'Autobahn' ;-)

Always have Marilyn Manson 'The Beautiful People' on full blast when cruising down Chapel Street

To lose your licence to music requires just one album played loud and late at night The Offspring - 'Smash' Can't really pin it to one song though........

not sure whether it has been posted before - but ....

There are reasons why I have been waiting until my 30's to get a High Performance import - Insurance is one of them, experience is another, enough income to afford to drive the thing and put petrol in it another.....

That's global manufacturing for you - on the positive side there are plenty of Opel's that have Aussie made V6's in them in Germany.