djr81

Alonso can drive, of that there is no doubt. But I can't remember a more poisonous relationship between a team manager & his supposedly number 1 driver. Maybe Villeneuve & Sauber? In his defence there was a short period when he had a proper haircut....

Roy, I realise you are a card carrying member of the David Coulthard fan club, but I was pretty much the same about Mika. Crosses we have to bear. Anyway, there is a big difference between the press (Pommie press pro Hamilton, Spanish press pro Alonso) & the team. To be honest I haven't seen anything from the team that indicates favouritism one way or the other.

I think the difference is that, at Renault, Alonso didn't have a team mate as quick if not quicker than him. As much as I like Fisi, he is not Lewis Hamilton. None the less Alonso did occassionally have a go at Renault through the press (eg they are more concerned about the constructors championship than the drivers carry on). The other alternate explanation is that he has been made bitter and twisted by the FIA's favouritism towards Ferrari last year & the bullshit at Monza (He "held up" a Ferrari in qualifying by driving 100 yards ahead of them & was penalised) & by the mass damper debacle (A system Renault had been running for many races was suddenly declared illegal after Ferrari convinced the FIA). Bottom line is I don't think he is comfortable with McLarens even handed approach to both drivers. He believes he deserves favoured treatment & in the absense of that coming forth from the team he is conducting himself in such a way as to gain every competitive advantage - to his & the teams detriment.

Well I was prepared to give Alonso the doubt. Until the last week, that is: This is an extract from a Mike Doodson article in this weeks Auto Fiction titled "Who ratted on Ron" ...The man who phoned the FIA president Max Mosley to inform him that two McLaren drivers (de la Rosa & Alonso) and a senior McLaren engineer (Coughlan) had been circulating technical secrets...was none other than Ron Dennis... As Dennis explained last weekend, his own driver Fernando Alonso "suggested" to him on the morning of last month's Hungarian GP that he possessed information..... Alonso... ...said he would keep the information to himself if Dennis promised him favourable treatment... Now to be clear I don't believe that any of the information that Alonso or de la Rosa had was anything more substantive than the usual run of the mill paddock gossip. But I do have issues with the way Alonso tried to use his behaviour to further leverage a competitive advantage. So go Lewis. Hope he brings it home.

Well you could always email Nengun/Greenline for a rotor & bolt price. Either that or sell the rotors you have whilst they are still good. I am a bit bitter & twisted about DBA rotors because out of eight I have 2 cracked & the remainder not looking too sharp. For the $330 approx price for a 4000 series rotor & the awful slotting patterns & the lack of cooling....

Read post number 59 in the following thread. http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...40&start=40

Spot on. Just get out there & have a go. Most of what you learn is not specific to any one car.

Good to see Cruikshank Racing making some progress. But how the hell do you injure your shoulder getting out of a car?

Hmm, I had a quick look at Nengun's site. A pair of project mu hatted, slotted rotors, for your car (ie 324x30) are $961.08 delivered. Surely not much different to the price for the DBA rubbish? Worth looking up are Stoptech. They do a 324x30 hatted rotor also. Brembo also do one, but that will be a fair amount of coin. Try Tony & V-sport. He knows his shit & will steer you in the right direction particularly with regard to seals etc. www.vsport.com.au

Cams, intercooler & fuel pump still to be sold.

Well if you are using DOT 5 fluid then that is your answer to why your pedal is spongy. GET RID OF IT. Replace it with Motul RBF600 which has a higher boiling point & gives you a better pedal feel. Cheaper too. Basically all things to all people.

First port of call is to increase the airflow to the hub & the rotors. This will reduce the temperature of the rotors/callipers etc between stops. Try the www.nismo.com.au site for some brake ducts. Not sure if they have finished the bits for GT-R's, but worth a try. The second port of call is probably to throw the DBA rotors into the nearest scrap bin. Get yourself a rotor that has internal vanes that actually pump air - the DBA just has pillars that do approximately SFA. This will work with your ducts to keep things cool. Try Mu Secret, Harrop, Endless..... Lastly, there are better callipers around than Brembo. Particularly some which have what are referred to castlellated pistons. It looks like a tower on a castle - hence the name. This reduces the amount of heat transferred from the rotor & pad to the fluid in the caliper. Other things like external cross over lines help too. Not sure about titanium backing plates for the pads - I suspect this is just a bit of wank factor. The thermal capacity of the rotor is proportional to the weight of the rotor. But, remember that the amount of heat put into the rotor in the braking zone will not change if you go to a larger rotor. Nor, if done well, should the weight of the rotor increase markedly. So the difference in storage capacity only changes if you select a heavier rotor - something it is worth avoiding. Upshot - more ducting + better rotor. In that order.

I have a couple of queries regards the RAYS RE30 rims. 1 Does this AP kit shown below fit the LMGT-4 rim in a 17*9? 2. What the hell is the difference between a short & a long rim? See the Rays website under the RE30's. p16004.pdf

What a sickening week in F1. It demonstrated all that is wrong with the sport. A governing body doing the bidding of one team. Dull racing. Petulant drivers. For those that think that McLaren did anything wrong maybe you should spend some time in a pit paddock at any race weekend at any level of the sport. Most of the diiscussions are about who is running what. As to speculating about the weight distribution of the cars, well I guess I had better run and hide. Check post number 1232.

As the title says, I am after the triple gauge cluster that goes above the ventilation controls in the R32 GT-R. Need a version to suit a 94 GT-R. If you have one could you please either post or PM me, preferably with a photo of the unit you have. Cheers DJR81

Before you go any further - get an estimate for insurance. This may just put a stop to everything. To answer your questions 1. Yes. But you may get a back ache if you are tall. 2. They break because people crank stupid amounts of hp out of them. They also break because they can be badly maintained and/or abused. They are a very solid motor if left in standard spec, oiling issues aside. 3. Yeah, why not. 15kms is fine. Just don't wreck the seat getting in & out all the time.

That represents the upside of driving a Ferrari. If you do something stupid, somehow the world at large treats you with good humour. Do the same in a Nissan & you WILL be villified.

I have a question based on ignorance. Why are you comparing an F430 to an R32? The equivalent model is either the 328 or the 348. Take your pick. But both of them were rubbish.

This puts it plainly. http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_new...es_art_id=32759

Shell 5w40 is the viscosity they use for their full synthetic. It is ok as an oil, but not as good as Mobil 1 as an example. Just top it up with whatever you bought & it will be fine.

It isn't build quality it is old age. If you look up the manual, oh fk it here it is. Shown is how you adjust it to get rid of the rattles. door.PDF

With signage like that I am surprised Kevin Rudd hasn't been in contact. Nice car, good luck with the sale.

Actually re reading what I posted I think I left out the word reasonably. But then the FIA have never been accused of being reasonable. For those that remember Ken Tyrrell, this is what the FIA did to him in the mid eighties. Sorry about the quality, but it makes good reading if you can spare the time. Of it is from an Autocourse annual, back when they were worth reading.

What everyone should note is a few points: 1. Court decisions are supposed to be about justice, not about finding a middle ground. It is a judgement, not mediation. 2. The FIA have not explained their verdict. 3. The McLaren owes nothing to the slower Ferrari in terms of design. 4. McLaren, as an organisation, knew nothing of the document. Only one person within the organisation did. 5. As soon a Ron Dennis found out about it he suspended the employee in question. 6. The FIA does not have the sport as its number one priority. It has consitantly demonstrated that reinforcing its own authority is its number one priority. More often than not this has been to the detriment of the sport, be it F1 or other categories. On the up side it has made me change my mind about something: Max Mosley is a far better fascist than his father ever was. (Oswald Mosley, look it up)

Well there is a surprise. The FIA handed Ferrari a title on a plate. How do you go from a $0 fine to exclusion & 100,000,000? Then not bother to explain anything to anyone for a week or so? ie after the news cycle has run its course. Had it not been so thoroughly expected, everyone would be shocked by their obvious bias. So, are they going to strip Toyota of points or fine them? No, they aren't quicker than Ferrari. Biggest mistake McLaren made was winning in Italy. They should have thrown the last race & everything would have been fine.