Beer Baron

sounds good and the price sounds good too. I would go for it. it will be $5K well spent. providing the engine is in good shape 1.2 or 1.3 bar should get you over the 300rwkw mark easily.

wastegate valve is not seating properly for whatever reason. sometimes the seat of valve may be damaged, spring may be faulty. it's a bit hard to diagnose away from the car. only way to see what's up is in the first instance unbolt the screamer so you can see the valve at idle (if the gate is positioned so you can do it that is.). i wouldn't rush out to buy a new one though. try and figure out what the gate is opening at idle first.

Saturday 4th April – Timed Laps Morning Session All competitors will be given 4 laps on the Wakefield Park Circuit: * 1 out lap * 2 flying laps * 1 in lap Afternoon Session As per morning session above. Sunday 5th April – Motorkhana & Grand Final Morning Session All drivers will compete in 2 motorkhana events where they will be given 2 attempts at each. Following this session, an average of all the times from all 3 sessions will be calculated to give us the top 25 drivers who will compete in the Grand Final. Afternoon Session The 25 finalists will be given 4 laps on the Wakefield Park Circuit: * 1 out lap * 2 flying laps * 1 in lap Prize money is on offer from 1st – 6th place: 1st Place = $500,000 2nd Place = $250,000 3rd Place = $100,000 4th Place = $75,000 5th Place = $50,000 6th Place = $25,000 wow. 2 laps and 2 go's at the khana course. you wouldn't want to get baulked on one of your hot laps. I imagine there will be some people who miss out on the grand final who get pretty heated if they feel they didn't get a fair suck of the sausage. after all 2 flying laps is not much time even for the super talented to get the best out of a car they have never driven before. just a bit of consructive criticism here, but do you really think a WRX is the best tool to show off a drivers "talent, speed, flair, agility and car control"? I would have thought something a bit more challenging, and perhaps RWD would be the go. anyway it will be interesting to see what the punters think. it's too rich for my blood and i've no where near enough talent to win the thing. lol. if it were cheaper I'm sure more folk would consider entering anyway as a bit of fun and to benchmark themselves but at $13,629 it's a fair bit of coin for 4 laps in a WRX...

let's just all agree that lewis is a massive blow hard who can drive a bit.

steel or chromoly?

I'll tell you something scary. they wont even ask for your bank statements and transfer records. they can look at your accounts and get the info direct without you even knowing... nasty stuff.

I still reckon you need 4 point gap between first and second, then 2 points between 2nd and third, that will encourage people to go hard for the win. and means if you do go hard and DNF for whatever reasn (blow up etc) you don't need to win 5 races (with your opponent coming 2nd) for you to make up for that 1 fck up. think about it. it's screwey. if you have 1 dnf and your opponent wins you'd need to beat the 5 times just to get back on an even keel! harsh. beer baron's sytem is rock solid. 12/8/6 then 54321. 2 points pole. 1 point fastest lap. 1 point most laps lead (so if you do dnf after leading for 65/70 laps you at least get a booby prize). not sure about the point for 6 place improvement. I like it. not 100% convinced though yet. and Carlo has hit the nail on the head. the old system rewarded winning much more strongly, but the FIA got the shits with schumacher winning the WDC halfway through the season due to his proflific win rate. they wanted to ensure peolpe watched the races right to the end so they changed it to ensure no one could build a big lead by winning lots of races (gee what a top idea....).

massa is a victim in part of the bullshit points system. he had more wins, and plenty of poles and still quite consistent yet loses the WDC by one point. if 2nd is going to be 8 points you should get 12 for a win. so 12, 8, 6, 54321. and give a point for pole and a point for fastest lap of the race. hell maybe even consider giving a point for most laps led.... but the current 10/8/6/5/4/3/2/1 system just doesn't reward the guys who go balls to the wall for wins and poles. it just rewards the blokes who can circulate in the top 5 and snatch a few victories here and there.

new about $5K+ for the RS, maybe $3500 for the RA. second hand under $3K for the RS and a bit cheaper for the RA. but second hand can be a lottery. everyone will always say they are in tip top shape, but it's not always the case. best bet is if buying second hand from an unknown then budget for a rebuild, or at least get them on a shock dyno to be checked and set-up.

hehe. it's a good one. I hope poor glock at least get's a thank you card. but then again homo's head is so far up his own arse that he probably thinks his brazil race was driven with such great skill and perfect timing to win the WDC without any help from timo. anyway, all the fans will jump up and down saying how great he is, and see I told you so. but be honest, it's a pretty weak way to win a WDC. finishing in 6th place by a cnt hair and stuck behind a little kid in a torro rosso...

haha, I nearly spat out my coffee laughing at that one.

well I was right and wrong. homo did everything he could to try and give massa the WDC. he drove like a pu55y. and I honestly think the boy was full of fear. after his ultra aggressive effort last year cost him the WDC this year he just choked. couldn't pass a force india for god's sake and vettel carved him up. you can't really say he won himself the WDC. he sat back and glock handed it to him. he is the luckiest mofo out there. massa on the other hand for once actually put some effort it and gave it everything he had. sure his strong point has always been driving from the front but he did what he had to, to make sure that it would happen. I don't dispute that homo is one of the fastest drivers in F1. he certainly has amazing pace and great feel for the car, but he still has a long way to go before he is a top all round driver, not just a fast one. but I can see it would be hard for him to see what's real and what's not as he's had people blowing smoke up his arse for so long now that his mouth must taste like an ash tray... I really feel for massa. he did everything right. homo did everything wrong, yet somehow still got there courtesy of glock somehow dropping 18seconds in 1 lap and choosing to forget that he was racing vettel and homo for position. everyone jumping up and down saying 'see I told you so' just remember that homo only won it by a bee's dick and for 90% of the last 2 laps looked like it was all over for him and massa would win it. so don't get too carried away. the bloke one by one point... I didn't watch the podium but I understand massa had a little cry. not too cool, but at least he showed he cared. he must be dirty as hell that after doing everything right he still got robbed. I can't believe I actually feel sorry for massa! who'd have thunk it?

you should be able to rent a 350z without breaking the bank. and they are not bad at all.

no it is akasaka. which is completely different place to asukusa dave. lol. akasaka is a nice suburb in tokyo (minato-ku). near roppongi, azabu etc. lots of embassies and the like there. no way will your dad be able to bring you a clutch mate. they weigh 20kg+ inc flywheel. not many places will have stuff like that in stock, and I'm not sure your dad will want to spend 4hrs+ trekking to chiba and back to save you $50-$100 on parts. to be honest it's really not worth it for him. and it will take at least that long. even if he knows exactly where he's going and is good with trains etc it's still a fair old hike from akasaka all the way to the outskirts of chiba. you wont save much at all by buying 1 or 2 things retail in japan that you can easily order online via greenline, nengun etc. basically all you'll be saving is the postage cost, which on an EBC is maybe $40 tops. and it is a fair ask on your dad to spend a lot of time trekking around and trying to buy parts. plus you have the cost of converting your AUD to YEN in cash which is always a lower rate than if you were buying online. so in the end it may even cost the same as just buying on-line. If I was you I'd ask him to buy you something japanese that you cannot easily buy from aus. take advantage of him actually being in japan and get some thing japanese. maybe a 3 litre can of asahi, or some wasabi flavour potato chips, or some hand made rice snacks, or if you're interested in some japanese manga or figurines etc he can easily get that stuff in akihabara which is quite near akasaka. i dunno, maybe an ornamental sword. that's just off the top of my head, but there is heaps of cool stuff he could get you from japan. but parts, well any decent parts shop it at least 1 hour from central tokyo (where your dad is) and that's each way, and the savings will not be that great just to buy one or two things.

i'm telling you boys. it's all unfolding as I predicted. massa will win and homoton will choke. well he already has. he said he'd get pole and in the end got no where near it. i mean even trulli beat him ffs. trulli is a rolling road block! he'll allow massa to get a long way away, hamilton will try some kind of out there move on kimi or alonso who will of course be having none of it and put him in the wall. WDC to massa. we'll see...

looks like it will be a winner for sure. some very nice gear there mate. enjoy.

dunno about that. none of the cars i've imported/exported had the flares removed for shipping? a lot of compliers remove them but I haven't ever seen them removed in japan.

i have used both. personally, I would go with the splitfires. but if there is nothing wrong with the stockies, and no missfiring, then just leave them in and don't buy either.

yeah don't get me wrong, of course smart people will buy the best product regardless of what it looks like since the only time you look at the ECU is when you buy it. after that it's hidden. but there are plenty of people who will place stock in what looks better and judge off that. I'm not saying they are in any way smart, but their money spends the same as the next blokes...

I have to be honest, even if we take as gospel that the ecu is great and miles ahead of others in it's price bracket they need to do a bit more work on the marketing side. for starters the name needs works? Vi-PEC? bit awkward. doesn't sound cool like POWER FC. or F-con PRO, or MOTEC. anything with the words, pro or power etc go down well... lol. and the ecu itself and the packaging looks a bit old. like it was made in the 80s or early 90s. I mean even a power FC looks cooler with its plain, shiny silver case, motec and fcons with nice gold box. this looks a bit weird with the blue and silver and chrome lettering. even the font looks old. it just doesn't look nice. btw, just trying to add some constructive criticism. and the good news is that cosmetic stuff is easy to change/update/fix. because even if the product is awesome, a lot of people who modify cars still want the cool factor, and when spending $2500 on something they want it to look nice too, even if the looks have absolutely zero to do with the performance.

read or banishment. the choice is yours....

man that looks powerfully lame...

i am a raving psyco behind the wheel. people who can't drive piss me off. one day I will get locked up after murdering someone when they have caused a completely avoidable accident. I'll tell you why. 2 lane road, 2 cars driving side by side both 10km below the speed limit. = pisses me off. if you want to drive 10km below the limit the lift off for 1 second and pull into the left lane behind the other twit. people who can't merge. 2 lanes merging in an 80km zone. plenty of time to merge easily, instead both lanes need to come to under 5km/h for retards to merge = pisses me off. it's easier and safer to merge at the speed the traffic is flowing at. people who merge 500 meters before the lane ends, and when one lane is stopped they just stop dead 500 meters before the lane end in an 80 zone = pisses me off. merge where the lane ends, and at the speed at which the traffic is travelling. stopping dead in the middle of the road makes you a target for a nice 80km/h rear ender. and when i'm forced to stop behind you now I'm a sitting target for one of your retard mates too. people who are completely un-aware of what is happening around them = pisses me off. you should know what all the cars around you are doing. yes you need to know who is behind you, and are they going faster than you? slower than you? are they changing lanes? who is beside you? how are they travelling? what is happening 100meters up ahead? is there a merge coming up? is there a set of lights? you are not the only dumb fck on the road. people who drive slowly in the right lane = pisses me off. nearly as bad as the people who form a rolling blockade. these people then force you to overtake them on the inside (or get stuck behind) which is illegal and dangerous. if you want to drive slowly, that is fine, use the inside lane, I do when i'm driving slowly. people who don't know the road rules = pisses me off too. this one is simple. if there is one right turning lane, and the next lane is right turn or go straight and I'm in that lane with my right indicator on, and there is a red arrow, but a green for straight DON"T FARKEN BEEP ME. I'm obeying the road rules you moron. I can legally turn right from this lane as the markings on the road indicate, just bloody wait. people who start to change langes, THEN look and indicate = really pisses me off. I see it all the time, people start to change lanes, already a good foot into the new lane and then they look to see what's there and put on their indicator. this often forces people to take evasive action to avoid a collision. you need to look and indicate before you start to change lanes. If I leave a 1 car length gap in front of me that is a safety gap, not an invitation to cut in and reduce my braking zone from 20 feet to 20 cm. = pisses me off. I think what pisses me off the most is that I AM a very corteous, considerate driver. if I'm driving slowly I stick to the left. if someone is trying to merge in front of me I let them. I leave plenty of gap between me and the car in front. I'm well aware of what is happening around me and can anticipate where people are going, how fast they are travelling, what lights are coming etc and drive accordingly. is it so much to ask that other drivers are competent and alert too? I don't think so.

yep, I love my set. they look so sweet on the car with that really deep centre. you will love the +20 9s heaps better than your old 8s.

yep even modding the tow cars is worthwhile. we loved the navara with more boost and the chipped ecu. does great little chirpies now.. lol. nice fuel economy too....