Mr_RS4

Yeah detonation (pinging) is a ticking sound (well at least thats how it sounds to me), espically if you say its only doing it under boost. But I mean I could be wrong, it is a car after all and a ticking noise could be anything. But I seriously doubt its the ecu! Anyone else?

You sure its not your engine pinging at you under boost , sounds a lot more logical than an ecu making noises. I can't even begin to think how an ecu could make any noise?

Have been with Just Cars on and off since 2002 and paid $2500 roughly for my first STOCK 180SX but I was only 20 at the time and had never had full comp insurance before. Start of last year I got my Stagea and hadn't been with Just Cars since 2004 and got an agreed value of $22,000 rating 1 protection and all mods listed for a meesley $936.00 I have never had a problem with them and won't change unless I have to. Mind you after just turning 25 last weekend I may call Shannons when my insurance is due next to see what they offer. I will admit that Just Cars excesses are pretty high (like $350 normal, $350 age, $400 due to being an import) which have to be paid at all claims except the age excess if you not at fault. Then if you have a fairly extensive mod list they will throw an extra $350 to $400 at you again. But since there is basically next to no competition out there for new or bad drivers and import owners etc etc then they can pretty much charge what they want. If more competition were to come on to the market then you'd find premiums and probably excesses would drop.

^^^^DITTO but both can be dealt with

If its the car I'm thinking (and everyone else) of. Bayside blue with a kit, wheels and is parked on a street outside a house or something. If thats the one its been hanging around for AGES now. Seen it a few times on and off at Prestige and J-Spec. Looks great and contemplated it my self. But its a huge risk. Technically it CAN'T be complied as it was never available as a manual (despite the series 2 or the 260RS having the option). But the only way I would do it is if I PERSONALLY knew the workshop doing the compliance. Not go by a spoken guarantee of the broker (not saying anything bad about either of the brokers I've mentioned at all either as I've heard a lot of good reports about both) BUT if they knock it back you'll be up for a lot of money. Put simply by the time it was completed (if or when that is, depends how deep your pockets are) you'd of come away cheaper importing a good example 260RS and then still could of spent money on it here in Aus. If you still don't understand where i'm coming from ask the Guys on here that have done the conversion, parts labour etc (although the Auto gear would be cheaper but harder to obtain) then double it as your basically converting the converting back. Just not worth it. Series 2 manuals are becomming cheaper now (espically since the M35 is now available), but are still a little harder to find. It would be worth the wait though, and a newer model too. Still its up to you, but I'd say this is the reason the car has been hanging around for so long now.

I'd have to agree here. When I was looking to buy my Stag I found the same thing (but you always do now with imports yards anyway). One gleaming example was at a yard at Coorparoo here in bris. It was a '97 model with about 49,000ks if I remember correctly. The interior was very worn (seats, steering wheel, shifter etc) and not so much from neglect (but it was in pretty bad shape) but from use. And just the wear and tear you could see even with out going over the car too much you could tell it was no where near 49000 clicks. I was lucky when I got mine, got the origional manuals, log books, purchase reciepts etc etc all in the little vinyl Nissan Stagea case so I had a full history plus all reciepts from work carried out here in Australia. It was a priviate sale. The asking price for the car at the car yard was $19990.00 and I got mine for $19000 so I decided to drive over to the car yard and show the salesman. Probably didn't change his price as I looked months later and was still sitting there and then he shut down like most do eventualy.

Yeah I only filled it enough to cover the plates, thats how dry it was. I don't really care which is causing the problem but now that I've got to the effort of pulling the starter off I kinda hope thats it....was a BITCH to get off and am guessing its going to be just as fun putting it back in. Just that one bolt right under the intake plenum.

Yeah I've pulled it off now, am going to take it to a sparky tomorrow. When the problem started happening I would turn the key and there would be no sound at all and the clock on the dash would die. I thought battery at first but I've got a volt meter on my turbo timer and when turning the key it would still stay at or just below 12volts. And head lights weren't dimming either. Ended up just tapping it with a hammer and it would start but the starter sounded like it was struggling (like the battery was almost dead). And this moring had to do it again and when I got home nothing again, no matter how much I tapped it. But I couldn't even hear the solonoid clicking there was nothing (so I thought it must be that). When I got it out I just tried power to the solonoid and it clicked in and out with out a drama. Didn't try to spin the motor itself though so I'll see what the sparky says. My only other thought is the battery has had it. Has full charge lights aren't dim or anything but my not be cranking enough amps. When I got the car back (after a swap BACK) just a couple of weeks ago the battery died after just 10mins or so with the stero on, checked the levels and it was almost dry (took almost a full jug of water) but has been good for the last week or so, so maybe the battery is stuffed.

Yeah well mine is just about to shite itself. Having to start the car with a friendly tap with my starting stick (hit starter with breaker bar). Wierd it didn't show any signs of failing just happened at the shops on the weekend. So like someone said above any from a RB20 / RB25 / RB26 etc will fit but will it make a difference wether its manual or auto?

Haven't been on here for some time (about 7 months) seeing as I sold (well swapped) my Stag but have now got her back so here are some pics

Now i have my heart set on the Stag', but theres a few things i need re-assuring about first. -How much, and where do you go for your regular service? Depending on how good you are with cars basic servicing can be done by your self, anything your unsure about you can probably find on here. But otherwise I can't seen why it would be anymore expensive than most other modern cars. -Where is the best place to test drive one, (I live in Melbourne) Sorry can't help you there. -Where did you buy yours from? Ive found alot on ebay, but im not too keen on buying a car over ebay. Priviate sale about a year ago for $19,000. Up here in QLD a lot of import yards have them, you'll get a better deal with a priviate sales but you could also look into importing your own. Check out www.j-spec.com.au or www.prestigemotorsport.com.au -Are there any other p-platers that drive one, or has anyone driven one on their probationary license? If checked out the insurance threads in the FAQ, but theres no mention of p-platers being able to insure them. -What are thefts like? Being a rare(ish) import, im guessing they are often targeted? I'm going to asume that you under 25 and probably around 20ish. So your probably not going to find insurance too friendly. I pay $930 full comp through just car insurance for rating 1, my g/f would cost almost $2000 as she only comes off her P's end of this year but has a clean record and would be about a rating 4. -What are parts like? im not sure if its the R33 skyline thats similar, but what parts are transferrable between the skyline and the stag? What parts are most often to break, and do turbo's have bits and pieces that break more often? Stagea's are a bit of a mix and match car (almost as if Nissan were trying to clear out some parts when it was designed) Most R33GTST and GTR parts will fit in different combonations. They are a pretty reliable car, nothing I can think of can be classed as a common problem. It depends on the condition of the car you buy and how you look after it that will be the decider. Keep your servicing up, Use descent fuel, Keep it in good tune and just treat it right and it will treat you right. 12 months and almost 150, 000kms now and no problems for me yet. -And whats sort of year/model am i looking for with between $13k and 15k? Best your going to get is a series 1. But if you were to look at importing your own series 2's have been dropping lately. Save a little more and you might be lucky to get one for $16000ish. But if your going to buy local then I wouldn't get your hopes up, a series 1 is what you'll be looking at. Which is still a fantastic car, thats what I've got. and the not too important question... -Fuel consumption. My commodore is on gas/dual fuel at the moment, and im getting 300-350 kms out of a 55 litre tank that costs me $30 to fill. Is the stag' better than this? HAHAHA well to be honest they aren't the greatest, but the results vary (there are many threads on here about this so do a search). When I first got it driven normally I would be lucky to get $350 to a 60ltr odd tank (that was on the fuel light and allmost on fumes) and highway wasn't a whole lot better. But I now have an Apexi SAFC and am trying to find an SITC (if not will be upgrading to an emanage) and it has improved a lot and has room for more imporvement with further tuning. Some on here have gotten 500kms or more on the highway. Also depends on your driving style, and when your on the highway its best to try and keep the boost off and the torque converter locked up (do a search if you don't know what I'm going on about) If anyone can give me ANY help, id be more than appreciative. I plan on hangin round these forums and learning as much as i can about my next ride! Thanks all!! All in all I have never regretted it, I love the car and you won't regret it either. Good Luck

Well mate incase your still interested, your goal of 200rwkw is quite achievable. For example my S13 Sil80. I'm using a redtop SR20DET....mods are: GT2871R turbo on lowmount stainless manifold (Still using internal wastegate but will be welding this up and using an external gate, have had probs with boost creep at higher levels) Sard 800cc injectors Sard Fuel Rail BOSCH Fuel Pump Wolf 3D ecu HKS Stage 1 Cams (not fitted yet though) Plus lots of other shit such as oil cooler, pod filter, descent front mount cooler blah blah blah ATM i'm making just over 200rwkw (can't remember exact figure) but this is only on just 1 bar boost and cams not fitted plus more tuning to be done. I estimate that once the cams are fitted, boost is raised and the tuning carefully carried out 250rwkw is not going to be too far off. This is as far as I'm going to push the standard internals. ATM I've had not problems at the current power level. The secrect with making power is all in the support systems and tuning. Mind you 250kw is really at the limit but keep revs down and temps down and octane (tuning) up and you'll be fine with what your chasing. I might also mention that at the 200kw its making atm traction is already an issue (depending on what you want the car for this may not be a problem ), but 1st gear just lights up the rears all the way though second on wot. On the high way with even a slightly damp road 4th gear rolling along to wot with do the same thing (an no I don't have shit rear tyres). Just something to keep in mind. Good Luck

i get a little of both. but i'm going to replace the stock bov as they leak under descent boost with an aftermarket plumb back. i was surprised how loud the induction noise is with the fatory airbox is. all i've got is a k&n panel filter (which shouldn't make a diff anyway).

I've got the same noise in my series 1. Stock injectors are noisey. Seems to be a nissan thing, the ones in my sr20 wern't much quieter. But i have also noticed that the boost control solernoid is also a bit noisey.

I don't know why you'd worry about getting a RWD stagea. Just do what others have done and drop the front drive shaft (don't just pull the fuse) then you can enjoy both worlds. I'm yet to try removing the front shaft in mine but its not hard to get oversteer in wet or dry conditions, just gets a little scary when the attessa kicks in and pulls you back in and you go from snap over steer to understeer in a flash. Once you get used to controlling it its actually quite fun.

I just did the brakes on mine last weekend and I just bled them as I would any non abs equipped car and it is working great. Using bendix ultimates front and advance rear (was lucky enough to find these at Autobarn), castrol srf and standard machined rotors (will do a dba upgrade next time). I haven't had a chance to give it a real work out yet but the preformace is better than I had thought it was going to be. I can easially activate the ABS with out to much effort at all and very little pedal movement is required. So I don't think it matters much but if you find out how to do it then I would anyway. Otherwise I wouldn't worry about it.

Yeah I just found the exact same plug near my ecu last night when I was hooking up my a/f ratio guage. And probably half of my ECU wires are spliced into but I have a HKS turbo timer that has every single feature hooked up which would require quite a few of the signal wires spliced into so not sure if they go to this plug or not, it was taped up and I couldn't be botherd checking it. It may well even be the plug for the turbo timer.

Do you know if any of these kits will fit a Stagea. I would imagine an R33 kit would come close but seeing as Stagea don't follow the skyline battery in the boot tradition will these work. Thanks Josh

Don't know.....i've seen some pretty crazy VIP cars before. They just love this look in Japan. As completely useless as this is I still think its pretty cool. We just don't have this kind of imagination here (or the balls either to try and get away with it) A couple of weeks ago I saw a hiace van that had been done up with the over the top body kits (kind of like the bat mobile) that you see in the HPI videos and mags. I don't know how it even made it onto the road here but I saw it @ Broadbeach down the gold coast.

does anyone know if a R33 kit will fit on a stagea?

PM Sent Put me down for one also postage to Brisbane

But aren't the ignition and injector harnesses universal, or are they made specific for the model.

You can buy brand new ones for $399

Take a look at brad's setup. If you painted it black then you wouldn't even notice it at all. Even how it is in the pics with the bar on you can't even see the silicon hose joiners. I would go this way. There was a thread on here where people posted up info on fmic they fitted. You can purchase a lot of kits where the drivers side tank faces back toward the passenger side so you can easily join the pipes back up to the factory pipes.

On red the darkened tail lights look better, on a black or silver car the clear would look much better. Not too sure about the dark front and side indicators though.... Could just be the photos but they look a little too dark and a bit uneven, but like I said could just be the photos. But they would be hell obvious to cops if you get pulled over but.