ras1983

Spotted a bayside blue R34 Vspec II with what looked like LM GT4s but with Volk stickers at the Royal National Park yesterday. Very clean car (very young driver too! I'd have loved to have had an R34 at that age, lol).

Thanks for that, he he. Great looking and sounding car.

Pics or it didn't happen

Two comments, Noy: 1. Damn I love the look of your car. 2. I like that you've used slightly higher profile rubber on the rims to fill out the guards. Too many guys use ultra-low profile tyres but they don't look as tough IMO. It also degrades the ride. Ray

actually I was thinking a cheap early 90s MX5 would be a great weekend car! There are quite a few available on the mx5 forum. Seem like a really good car. A mate of mine had one ages ago and it handled like a go kart and was a really fun car.

Well, you've learned for next time: get a lawyer when going to court. They would have told you when the appeal deadline was, what your chances of winning were, and whether you should bother. Still, you gave it your best shot.

I'm not buying a car. I just wanted to see if the premiums I was quoted were in the same ball park as everyone else (premiums don't change by more than a couple or few hundred dollars between suburbs, all else being equal). It turns out that's something experienced by all and sundry. The end of the discussion has been reached and the mods may as well close this thread. Frankly, it seems some posters don't actually pay attention to the point of a thread and have the conversation that they want to have instead of replying to the original question.

Because it's not within my means to do so at the moment. Maybe later next year.

Differences in premiums due to different geographical locations is one thing, but a near-doubling of premiums in the space of a couple of years is another. I'm thinking that the reduced prices of imports means more hoons can afford them, write them off and subsequently make an insurance claim? That's probably behind the increased premiums. Anyway it just seemed odd that premiums had gone up a considerable amount since I last had a GTR.

Back on topic... drove behind a Navy Blue LP640 near Bondi Beach a couple of weeks ago. Licence plates TTZ***. Very nice (and very LOUD) car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66vdESbE-0M

I guess I'll just have to suck it up and deal with the high premium when the times comes :-(

How old are you, Matt?

Dunno mate, you might be right. If that's the case, and knowing my luck, the magic age will be 35 once I turn 30 next year. I just can't believe some of the quotes and am looking to get an idea of what other NSW members/owners are paying.

I've been thinking about getting another GTR and have been trying to get some insurance estimates. At the moment it seems Shannons and Just Cars are the only ones willing to insure imports (haven't tried Lumley SV yet). When I had my R33 several years ago (albeit I was living in Vic at the time), a comprehensive policy with Shannons was $1600ish per year for a Rating 1 driver, and a R34 wasn't that much more. I recently got a quote for a Vspec 1 R34 GTR from shannons and they wanted $4.7K!!! Just Cars were offering $3k+. This is for a 29 yo male, no traffic infirngements within the last three years, one theft claim (car was recovered but written off), living in Parra (yes I know that adds a bit to the premium). What sort of insurance premiums are you GTR owners paying and with whom are you paying it? I want to know if it's just me that is facing ludicrous premiums or if it's a common thing these days? Ray

I don't understand how a 180 degree spin is possible at such low speeds around a round about. Was it the same round about that you spun out on the second time? Maybe there's a bump in the road that you're not seeing in the wet?

Hiroaki, you haven't caused an argument. It's just that it's clear the rules need improving and/or enforcing.

To oversee implementation of global rules. Otherwise the discussion about different rules for different countries and talk of cars being allowed to race in one country but not another is a moot point. There has to be an administration that governs the world time attack series to make rules consistent. If there isn't, then what we have are three separate events with the same name. And if this is what we have, then there shouldn't be any complaints about being competitive in one event but not another: it's a different event with different rules, so conform to the rules and be competitive or forever hold one's peace.

So does that mean that there is no world-wide time attack administration? It sounds like each world time attack event is run by administration in the respective countries. Is that about right?

From what I understand, the various world time attack events are seperate events with different rule books? The organisers need to develop standardised rule books for the world time attack series as a whole. It should be the same rules whether it be in Japan, Australia, the USA, or wherever. And, whole Nemo smashed everyone, there were some insanely fast cars that had lap times that were faster than last year's winning lap time. So teams have the means and tech to compete with Nemo. As has already been said, they can either decide that it's too hard and give up or they can decide to accept the challenge and come back with faster cars. I'm hoping it's the latter.

?Uestlove (nice username btw), your Supra sounded epic. Nice car man. How do you find the Supras as track cars compared to other stuff you driven in the past?

Agreed. If they're meant to be street registered cars in the clubsprint class, they should not be allowed to have as many aero mods or such low ground clearance. Also, reading through the rules last night, it was not clear as to whether cars could have their engines enlarged. I'm sure a number of cars had stroker kits? Also what's with the restrictions against rear mounted sixes? That seems like a blatant no-porsche rule?

More info about Nemo: http://www.carsguide...ws/lancer_evo_7 A guy named Andrew Brilliant (apt name isn't it?) designed the aero package. Here is an interview with him: http://www.hioctaner...dynamicist.html He seems to have his own website: http://www.amb-aero.com/ The guy is clearly not a chump and has designed aero for some big ticket categories. I was at the event on the Friday and I loved every second of it... until Nemo ran in the 1:25s, which happened in the first session. Suddenly every other car was at least two seconds off the pace. That ruined the pro class for the remainder of the day. Open and Clubsprint classes were fantastic to watch. The C6 Z06 'Vette looked and sounded great, the two supras were unbelievably loud, and the Exige looked insanely planted around the corners. There was also a very tough sounding C63 coupe that blipped the throttle deliciously every time leading into turn 1. All in all, a very enjoyable day.

My 2c is that today's performance cars perform just as well if not better than the old imports because of the advances in technology and price of technology. To be brutally honest, my 07 XR5 turbo gives my old R33 GTR a run for its money in terms of in-gear acceleration and handling, if not outright power. Also, and I found this to be very surprising, the humble XR5 is a lot more predictable around corners, which gives me more confidence to push it on hills runs without having to worry about the rear end suddenly losing traction or ATESSA working against me when I'm trying to keep the car straight. Having said all of that, I wouldn't think twice about buying another GTR eventually because I love the rawness (there's that word again ) and the overall driving experience. There's just something special about owning a GTR. They look special. They sound special. They feel special. That's because to me, as a GTR enthusiast, they are special. So, to echo what many other have already said, get the R34 if you are an enthusiast and can live with the downsides of a GTR. Otherwise, if your rose tinted glasses aren't powerful enough, you'll find that you'll be disappointed with the old cars and you'll be wondering why the newer cars that you've driven are faster/more reliable/inspire more confidence etc.

What you want to do is include the terms "used buyers guide" in your Google searches. You'll find reviews of used cars, which include common problems and faults. But the selection of cars reviewed isn't as wide as one might hope. Otherwise, forums are definitely the best way to research used cars.