Beer Baron

those prices aren't bad. at current exchange rates they cost me about $830 delivered for a pair and that's wholesale nismo.

like all insurance companies they will accept/reject individuals based on what info they have on you. I can tell you they do insure R35 GTRs I've had 2 insured with them one more than a year ago and it was JDM. it may have been the fact that you are not a member of a car club, or it may be that was the reason they chose to tell you and it was something else that made them chose not to insure you. if it really is just that, then why not join a car club? if you are in NSW you can join SAU NSW which from memory is only $50 a year or so.

yeah I know webber got let off a little with the unsafe release, but considering neither car touched and no one was advantaged or disadvantaged by it then was it really 'un-safe'? still kimi made a big move into turn 1. got out of shape, bumped into vettel, gained a place and damaged vettels car. I know the two incidents are different but I have two points. 1. they should have been adjudicated in the same way. ie, reviewed immediately during the race and the decision broadcast as soon as it was made. 2. given that he gained advantage from the collision, and he also disadvantaged another racer (ultimately ending vettels race altogether) I think a penalty is certainly fair enough, especially since the webber incident caused no one any damage or disadvantage at all.

HA's are about the bottom rung of japanese aftermarket suspension. they are (were) the cheapest teins you could get that had damper adjustment. they are a cheap twin tube shock that in reality is no better (maybe worse) than stock GTR gear. but that's kind of OT. thank god they are discontinued!

yeah I could not believe it when I saw the words "incident involving car 4 will be investigated AFTER the race" WTF? it happend on the first corner of the first lap, it's not like it was 3 laps from the end of the race and no time to adjudicate or implement a penalty. to me it's the same as the webber thing. slightly dodgey driving, contact made, neither car damaged (although in this case it looks like vettels car was damaged and eventually failed because of it), and kimi actually gained from his contact (vettel got out of the gas and kimi took the place) where as in webbers case he lost ground). very, very inconsistent. everyone screaming that webber should have been punished (and he was) I hope they are screaming that kimi should have been given a drive through, and failing that should have had 30sec added to his finishing time. it's interesting to note that both the webber decision and the kimi decision both negatively impacted on Webber! had kimi been penalised webber would have another 2 points right now. I'm not sure on renault being excluded. it was a fk up, and alonso probably should have just parked it knowing full well that any left hand movement of the car could see the car and wheel part company. I guess in the current climate of henry surtees death and the massa accident it's a pretty touchy subject having a wheel flying around.

yeah very sad accident for massa. I could not believe how dumb the 2 aussie commentators were. they watched it about 10 times. then they showed two guys at maclaren one was miming what happend saying "it hit him in the head" and rusty or mckonkin goes, yeah I think he's saying his head hit the steering wheel. you moron. after watching it for about the third time it was clear he was out to it as he didn't steer the car at all and his hands and head were limp and just bouncing around as he was heading towards the corner and then the wall. then they said he was downshifting. lol were they watching the same bloody footage? he was clearly coasting unconscious or semi-conscious at best. looking at the way the wheels kept locking and unlocking id say it was something like the anti stall kicking in (low wheel and engine speed in high gear?) or possibly just his feet resting on both pedals. after seeing the maclaren mime and then watching the reply again I could see the object hit him and you can see it flash past the onboard camera after striking him and you can see the top of his helmet forced up by impact. sticking throttle my arse. why was it just coasting then? and why were the revs fairly low as it sat in the wall... man it took them a long time to get it right. I would say it's quite possible massa won't race again. he's apparently had quite a bad skull fracture and the accident wasn't too good either, especially when your body is all limp and not prepared for an impact. But I do hope he does recover and race again, it would be a cruel end to his career. I wouldn't wish something like that on anyone. I couldn't believe alonso then lost a a wheel after what has happened this past week with surtees and massa. did you see how high it bounced? it could have been trouble if there was another car near him, or if it had made it back on to the track. it was very lucky it just came to rest against the wall. I was shitting myself thinking "oh no, not another one...". as for webber, I thought his usual luck had come back to him. he got passed by the kers powered homoton like he was standing still (another 80hp will do that) and then had a lovely pit stop fark up that cost him the place to kimi and nearly earned him a drive through to go with it for the un-safe release. he did pull one very nice move around the outside, I think it was on rosberg? memory a bit hazy. he was lucky to get 3rd due to alonso pulling out etc. I'm not sure going onto the harder tyre for the longer middle stint was the way to go. he probably should have stuck with the majority of guys who used the super soft for as much as possible and just used the soft for a short final stint. but I guess it did give him that good pace in the last stages, but not enough to get 2nd back from kimi that he lost in the pits. it's great to see webber up there 2nd in the WDC though! who would have thought last year that more than half way through this season webber would be 2nd on the points table!?! also good to see he's now ahead of vettel. and even before vettels problems with the car in this race he was being out raced by webber anyway as vettel was already a fair way down the field. with a little bit of GOOD luck and some good strategy and driving it's not impossible that we could see webber as this years WDC. it may be a bit of wistful thinking but if ever he's going to do it this year is as good as any. also some stats to consider if you are running red bull racing. webber has finished ahead of vettel 7 out of 10 races this year. and the 3 times that vettel did manage to beat webber two of them were webber finishing 2nd with vettel winning, and only one was a bad one with webber 11th to vettels 2nd place. so out of the 10 races webber has beaten him in 7 and in 2 was only 1 place behind (total 4 points there) and once was soundly beaten. and that one beating was where webber got knocked out early due to poor qualy strategy and qualified 18th, but still managed 11th place. webber has improved or equalled his grid position on 9 out of 10 races. inc 1 pole/win and one 3rd/3rd. he's only gone backwards once which was australia where he went 8th down to 12th. vettel has done the opposite. in 6 races out of 10 he's dropped places off his starting grid. he's had two races where he was equal (both pole/wins) and only 2 races where he improved his position. so webber has only out qualified vettel twice in 10 races but has beaten him home 7 times, that speaks well for webber holding his seat I reckon. I think the stats show vettel has a slight (very slight) edge on outright pace on webber but as a package and as a racer webber is a better driver. he's able to keep a cooler head in the races and make his results count. in years gone by webber would qualify well (and often light) and then just tumble back through the field. it's amazing to see him now often qualifying heavy with race strategy in mind and managing to move his way up from his grid spot. one thing is for sure. it will be a very interesting final 7 races of the season...

fatz you're sick mate. car looks as pretty as you do. but way tougher with the k-sports and aqua strut brace. now how about you give me back my tip you cnt. I still have your hat as hostage, your ears must have just about frozen off by now. don't make me post it back to you flap by flap... lol.

I have only spent a small amount of time in hiroshima, but one thing I would say is a must do if you go there is okonomura - okonmiyaki town. It is basically a building of about 5 stories of all okonomiyaki restaurants. if you like japanese food you will know okonomiyaki in japan basically can be ordered in two styles. hiroshima style or osaka style. hiroshima style kicks ass. and in hiroshima it's very good. amazingly good okonomiyaki and nice cold beer is a good combo. also, near hiroshima (maybe 30 min by train and then short ferry ride) is the islan miyajima. it's home to the floating torii and of course the floating temple behind it. they also have deer every where, lots of craft type shops, some nice 4 or 5 storey pagoda, and up the top (by sky car) there are monkeys. a nice day trip and listed as one of the 5 most beautiful sights in japan.

bargain. some info that might help the new owner. it may well have been complied under the old 15yo rule if it's a 1988 89 or 90 model. in that case it would have had rego items addressed (seatbelts, intrusions bars etc) but depending on the state it would not have needed a compliance plate as such. just the vin either etched or stamped on it somewhere. so it's quite possible if it was made roadworthy that it could be registered again. but either way it's a great start as a track car.

yeah, d'oh. mistype. I mean DUNLOPS ARE BETTER ON TRACK!!!

how about just getting FAT CNT. much better I reckon.

yep, I have tried both the dunlops and the bridgestones. not sure how "hard" my data is, but the dunlops are definitely better on track. better than some semi's i tried too on 19s. I reckon getting a set of dunlops on your stock rims for track and keeping your HREs with the bridgestones for street is a good idea handbrake.

yeah only someone with a penchant for self harm would actually on purpose let their compliance sticker become destroyed/removed. DOTARS like re-issuing compliance lables about as much as they like getting power fisted by jean claude van damme with those gloves he used dipped in epoxy and broken glass in kickboxer.

for the sake of $50 or $100 send it to the place 9krpm mentioned. he will be able to basic checks, check it for end float and axial play, check the wheels for you AND most likely can give you an opinion as to whether or not he thinks it will perform well on your RB25 engine.

have to say I've never really had any problems with low speed stuff. in mine it slips the clutch etc just like you would do yourself in a manual to get doing gently. I actually kind of like it... it does make some clunk noises etc from time to time, makes it sounds a bit like a race box... mmmm yes I am part gay.

I say do it. it's an awesome idea. it's just that in the 20 years that GTRs have been around no one else has thought of it or tried it. maybe ring Garage Saurus, Mines, M-speed, HKS, Prime Garage, and all the other GTR racers and workshops you can think of and let them know of this breakthrough in GTR performance. a way to give the car more understeer. it's also great as it means no more pesky wheel rotations to extend your tyres life, so you get to see your mates at tempe tyres more often. you will also have the benefit of eventually triggering your car into RWD and no ABS mode, so it'll become a real mans car, just like a 1983 model holden commodore. get ready for some awesome skids!!!

lol, I'm fairly sure the inflight refuelling was a joke. they are thirsty, but as pointed out my 32 GTR would get as bad as 23L/100km when being pushed around on the street a bit.. on the track... nuts. hell even my old V8 lexus was a thirsty beast, in city driving it was up near 18L/100km. nasty. so given the power it makes, and the fact that most of us can't resist the odd jab on the pedal I think they are doing pretty well. Note: I'm too scared to even measure the consumption of the RX7, but at a guess I'd say 25L/100+

yeah as I mentioned before. not a single person who has actually driven one hard I know of wishes it had a manual box. the box is the heart and soul of this car. it suits the character of the car perfectly, and works well with everything else. on it's own is an awesome box, but in the car it's part of the team. and what Munro is spot on. the very first time I drove an R35 GTR hard up through some hills I mentioned "wow, you would need about double the power and double the skill to keep up with this 35 if you're in a 32-34." you would need to buy a nice R32 for about $30K, then spend $100K on it just to beat the R35 in say 2 or three ways. so you might be able to make your 32 lap quicker at the circuit, and pull better drag times, but it would be nearly undrivable on the street and probably slower through the hills. it would be very hard to build a 32-34 that could beat the R35 in every way (street, circuit, drag, fast hills etc). outright power numbers do not tell you the story. considering an R35 "only" has peak power of around 300rwkw and weights over 1700kg, then you'd guess that a 34 GTR with 300rwkw weighing over 200kg less would absolutely smoke it. in drags, in hills runs, on the circuit and just on the street the R35 would decimate it in every way. it has superior power delivery, it has superior torque, and the box alone account for huge amounts of time, plus it has so much grip, excellent brakes and on and on. anyway, the point is the box makes the car. and no way will a 34 GTR with $60K spent on it even make a dent in an R35 in most ways that count. think about it, what would $60K on a 34 get you? well $30K would be gone straight away in buying a hollinger and compatible clutch etc and having it installed and set-up. then $12K gone on a decent brake upgrade. now you only have $18K left to buy you a full engine set-up, turbo set-up, all the gear like oil coolers, intercooler, piping, ECU, exhaust system, tuning, any interior and body gear, plus you still have stock suspension which needs about $30K on it's own!! You really need to AT LEAST double the budget to $120K. but then you've spent say $60K buying the 34, and $120K making it as fast in most situations as a 35. but on the downside it's still only worth about $80K and is still behind the 35 in a lot of ways. and it's cost you $180K. be under no illusion as to what a really serious GTR costs. I know a number of guys that have spent over $250,000 on their GTRs of various years (32,33 and 34). and a couple of guys that have spent much more than that. and there is just no way possible to do it cheap and get a good result.

it's easy and if you need an RB26 I have 2 complete ones for sale! lol. one is like 90% complete inc turbos, inlet etc etc.

yes US market ones will be different as they are all OBD II compliant. JDM models are not.

thanks guys. lol, well I consider myself to be of reasonable intelligence. and I promise you guys if it was as cheap as the armchair experts tell me it is to import a legal R35 I would be importing 1 a week. and under sevs I would have imported more than 10 during 2008 instead of only 3. and believe me I know all the tricks (legal ones of course!!) and it's still a long way from being worthwhile. everyone has a mate, or heard from a guy or knows of a guy etc that has done it, or is doing it. but these people are like ghosts. I've never seen them, or their imaginary cars. I have imported R35 GTRs as a test car/evidence car, Race car and SEVS car. the only other possible way is personal import and I was going to do that one too but it was no longer viable, and that was on a car that was ordered in late 2007! and delivered in early 2008 and would have been eligible for personal importing to aus in early 2009. and it was bought at the lovely exchange rate of 104JPY/Dollar, but of course the tax man bases the tax of the date the car is exported, so even though the car really cost $85,000 they would have taxed me on a value of about $130,000 as at the time I'd be exporting the car that's what 8mil yen would have cost. so that tax bill alone would have been about $60,000. everyone dreaming of cheap R35 GTRs this is not the car for you. Tyres cost $1000 each. and on one car I got a puncture within 500kms!!! a full fluid change costs over $1000 and you need to do it fairly regularly to keep the car happy. body panels are not cheap and it's pretty hungry on fuel (500hp will do that!). it's a $300,000 car for the bargain price of $180,000. think of it like that and it makes more sense. the associated costs are on par with most other $300,000 BMWs/mercs/italians. and if you can't afford the car at $180K you probably can't afford to keep it on the road either. I have a Liberty GT too (well mine is a Legacy GT STI one, lol personal import from japan... ). it's a great car, but yeah, completely other end of the spectrum from an R35 GTR. good daily car though and surprises a few guys. I do love the JDM models.

HKS EVC V or Blitz SBC ID spec R or Bliz SBC I colour Spec R are the two top range ones. (don't confuse the two blitz ones as they each have a spec S version too which has a lesser solenoid, get the Spec R). the blitz dual SBC is good too, but old now and looks very dated, and costs nearly as much as the two newer ones (ID and i colour). all 3 have the same solenoid as long as you go for the spec R. for best bang for buck though I like trust profec B II. easy to set-up and when tuned properly will hold boost very nicely. it's also small, and it will briefly display peak boost after every acceleration run, it also has overboost warning, and boost limiter (ie if car starts to overboost it can drop boost down to a set amount, tbh though limiter is not that useful as if car is overboosting something is wrong with the boost control!). you definitely don't need 2 solenoids, how it works on a GTR is you simply T together the two pressure signals going to the wastegate actuators. it;s the same way it's controlled in the factory set-up. a dual solenoid (1 solenoid unit but with 2 seperate circuits/valves) is a good thing though. I have personally used all the ones mentioned above and they all do a good job. for mild to mid serious GTRs (ie around 350rwkw or less) I am very happy with the profec B II. for a full on serious car or if you just want the best then the HKS EVC V or the blitz SBC ID type R or i colour type R are the way to go. getting one for rpm based mapping is really not necessary unless you actually wanted to DELAY boost spool up. and that's just silly! if you need less boost at any given moment, use less throttle. the Apexi AVC-R is over 10 years old now. the HKS and blitz ones I recommended are both only a few years old and have evolved from their older designs. the bad news is, the SBC ID R is about $700 the (very) old school dual SBC is about $600, the i colour spec R is about $1000 (but I believe it does have boost/RPM mapping which would make the tuner happy, and it has LOTS of functions). The HKS EVC V has RPM map too if needed, it's about $800. The trust profec B II is about $450, so it's a good $250 jump to the SBC ID, and about double to the rest. the old school SBC type R is guess is good value as it has dual solenoid and is only about $150 more than the profec B II, but I find the profec B II holds boost well enough, and looks quite nice, and once you get to $600 for the SBC R, you may as well spend the extra $100 for the SBC ID which is much newer, now you're at $700 abd you think, well the HKS is only another $100. now you're at $800 and you think, well the top of the line i colour is only another $200. all of a sudden you are double the price of the profec! so where would I put my money? It would be between these 3: profec B II HKS EVC V (as it's new, just released less than 12 months ago) Blitz I-colour type R (same as above).

yep, places like GCG etc can inspect the turbo or even test the turbo for you. best to call around and ask for prices, it will vary alot from a basic inspection (ie test end float and axial play) to full testing, disassembly, balancing etc.

no worries mate.

I would assume modified exhaust he means the exhaust side of the head? not manifolds etc. ie, the flow after the head was 'ported' it would not be done with manifolds attached guys.