djr81

No that is about right. Best thing to get boost happenning earlier is a less restrictive exhaust system.

Freeballer, The chief suspect in your handling woes (As seen from the other side of the country & without setting eyes on the car) is a mismatch between the front & rear roll centres. It can cause the exact behaviour you are describing. Hence the question about is the car sitting nose down on its suspension? Can you measure between the centre of the rim & the underside of the wheelarch and perhaps post a photo. This may well eliminate one candidate from the list...

Hey man - Paranoia is an UNJUSTIFIED belief that people are out there trying to get you. John DeLorean was actually set up by the FBI - true story. That his car company was dodgy, did all manner of illegal sh!t & was always headed for disaster is a whole other conspiracy, er story. By the way Colin Chapman is alive & well & living in South America. I have it on good authority the Ferrari's recent about turn in form is due to some of his consultancy work. Oh, yeah you forgot to mention that the real reason Kennedy was assassinated because he told Marylin Monroe the truth about the UFO's...... Gotta go, someone is watching me.

"Be careful that you are not confusing the quality of manufacture with the underlying design engineering." I suppose the point I would try to make is that I consider design for quality of manufacture to be a fundamental issue for productionised components. The Chris Bangles of this world tend to get all the publicity, but the production engineers are the ones who make sure your shiney new car doesn't fall apart 6 months later. "so it fits together perfectly, doesn’t leak and is totally reliable for its intended life." Those are pretty handy attributes for my money. In fact it is one of the things I really admire about Japanese product - Power FC, anyone? "A product can be all of those and still not be a good product, particularly if its intrinsic design is flawed." True. And a product can be rubbish even if its intrinsic design is brilliant, eg well anything Jaguar has ever made. As for 180km/h - well that is where the speed limiter kicks in on my AU Foulcan too. My mates 405 Pug can't even go that quick... Guess there are two ways of looking at things - and as is often the case both have elements of truth to them.

Well, how big do you want to go? Wheels/tyres/rotors/calipers/pads/braided lines etc etc can mean you are looking at $10k. I kid you not. Personally I have 17" rims & am looking at the 324mm rotors from the R33. Some poeple go larger (350mm) but then you need 18" rims & the tyre bill goes ballistic. The problem with a minimum clearance is that, for example a 17" Rays TE37 may clear a caliper that another type of rim may not. The important thing is the caliper/rotor combination fits your rims. don;t forget that a rotor that may fit a caliper cold will grow a frew mm's when hot... Best bet is to sneak up on it. Get some good pads eg Ferodo DS2500 or Racebrakes RB74's & good fluid. As for calipers the number of pots isn't really that important. More important is the area of the pots in the caliper. These need to be balanced front to rear & to take into account your new rotor diameter. Then you need think about the master cylinder diameter. To be honest it is a complicated subject & doing your reseach is very important.

An R32 GT-R is actually a reliable car. What you need to account for is that they are now betwwen 10 & 15 years old & some have had a hard life. If you buy a good one & look after it, they are a great car to own. What you will have to do - well that is pretty much impossible to say really. If you buy one that is already imported alot of the necessary work has already been done. If it is a fresh REVS/SAWS import things like brake pads & tyres are mandatory as are other mods. In either case a new timing belt is a good idea, particularly if you cannot establish if it has been done or not. In terms of operating costs, they are more expensive than the usual estate agents Camry/Commode. Petrol is obviously going to be more, as are tyres & the synthetic oil. Don't worry about a Mines ECU - a Power FC is a much better option. Also three hundred rwhp can be had without changing anything other than the boost setting. Have a search for the things to look for as it has been covered a number of times.

A bad handling imbalance can be due to running different tyres front & rear. I would suggest that you need to sort the tyres before making more changes as to be honest even if you fix it for the current tyres what will you have when you replace them with new rubber? to clarify - Very slight understeer - do you mean turn in understeer? - Can really feel a change in dynamics when weight transfers to the rear - do you mean power on? - Inside rear wheel sometimes lifts off ground, particularly slow sharp corners - this is a worry. Mostly when this happens it is the end of the car with stiff anti roll bars (As per say an on VW Golf GT-i) Other than that it can be due to an excessively inclined roll axis front rear. Does your car sit nose down by any chance?

So what are you saying - that people should be barrelling down the quarter mile with a hundred plus mph terminal velocity & a front spoiler held on with cable ties?

I once took the front bar off my R32 GT-R. There are about a bazillion bolts holding it in place & believe me, by the time you have got half way through removing it you will wish you hadn't ever started. Doing it twice is being a glutton for punishment. Just run it as you brung it - you won't notice the difference either way. For my 10 cents it would be well worth figuring our how to get it onthe trailer without having to remove the spoiler.

Chris, Try the search feature if you have a look for Nengun over an extended period you will find approx a million posts on the subject, many of which are not dissimilar to yours. Short answer is he is all good.

Teins can be had at 5kg/mm front & 4kg/mm rear. I have a set of them on one of my GT-R's. Mate your father was probably correct about Japanese gear when he did his apprenticeship. But I would submit that anytime from about 1990 on it has ceased to be the case. The build quality/tolerencing/fit and finish on Japanese goods is now as good as or better than their German equivalents. Then you factor in the price. If he knows anyone at MB get him to ask about the levels of warranty work they have to perform. Much, much more than their Japanese equivalents. Certainly the exposure I have had to European engineering in the recent past has left me scratching my head & my budgets bleeding red. The point of all this is that the gear you buy needs to be, in the first instance, fit for purpose. Japanese equipment can be more highly finished (Compare say a PWR intercooler end tank to a Japanese equivalent) because the production process can be more automated and made more specific ie tailored to the product. Why? Simply because volumes are greater. On the other hand you can (& I have) ring up the local suppliers & get them to make you a one off eg A front sway bar for a GT-R in a particular bar diameter. Try getting that kind of service ex Japan. The best shocks in the world are no good to you if they don't match their spring rate. The springs need to match the sway bars, which need to be suited to the front/rear ride height, which needs to match up the suspension geometry etc etc etc. In other words, a matched set. Too many people forget that when trying to set up their cars. I have local gear, German gear & JDM gear on my car. With the enormous amount of choice available for the GT-R's why wouldn't you pick the eyes out of everything?

Yes this has been done before. However there is much more to increasing your braking perfomance than just larger rotors. Making changes to the front end only will, in all probability reduce your braking performance because the fronts will then lock without the back brakes doing sufficient work. The first point of call for upgrading brake performance is pads and fluids. Can I suggest looking at the Ferodo DS2500/2000 series pads & some Motul RBF4-600 fluid. This will give you a good first gain. After that you then can start looking at calipers/rotors/pads/master cylinders. But you need to do it as a complete package as a one off gain in one of these items can result in negative effects to the brake system as a whole. Have a look at the foolowing website: www.stoptech.com Look under the technical information for a comprehensive discussion of many of the issues you will encounter.

best bet is to do a search of the forums & you should find boundless info on the subject. reason i'm asking is because i'm trying to tell if it is worth the extra spend for the car as opposed to getting new brakes (and etc.) for a normal GTR? Basically, no it isn't worth the extra spend to buy a V-spec GT-R or a Nismo edition unless that is what you really want for its own sake. The brake upgrade is nothing brilliant (The Nismo edition doesn't even have that) & can be easilly bettered buying aftermarket rotors/calipers. Essentially aftermarket gear that is 10 or so years further on in its development will always be a better bet than the Nissan/Nismo upgrades offered from the 1990's. Best way to get your hands on a GT-R that goes harder than a stockie is to buy one already in Australia. The only ones coming in from Japan from now on will be basically stock as per the RAWS scheme.

Neil, what did you think of the rotary?

Um Neil if you aren't afraid of the dark side ie rotaries, this RX-7 is for sale. The owner competes in hill climbs, sprints, kharna's etc over here & usually wins his class and is thereabouts for outright honours. The car goes hard & is much cheaper than even an S13. Having seen it is is very well engineered the fuel system alone is a work of art) and has that angry bridgeport rotary noise that will piss your neighbours off no end. http://ausrotary.dntinternet.com/forums/vi...5466&highlight=

Yeah, cause everyone loves a smart arse. Read the post again - you didn't snag anyone. I can't believe I am about to advocate anything other than a GT-R, but the following costs may prove to be illuminating: 4x255/40/17 RE55's at about $1500 total. May last a season depending on how many events you will do. Brakes at $250 for a new set of front pads & fluids. Suspension for about $3500 for springs/shocks/sway bars/alignment bushes. HICAS locker say $200. In this form you will have a reasonably competitive GT-R but the total is some $5k. Given the disparity in pricing between that & an S13 you will get alot more (competitive) bang for your buck in a Silvia that a Skyline. Can't believe I just said that. A GT-R will be ahead on a hill climb, mostly because of its better launch & better torque. Bulk hp is very handy in getting up hills. On tight circuits a well sorted S13 will shine, however on a longer circuit a GT-R should take the silverwear. At the end of the day there is only one winner & usually it is someone with a large wallet, a very quick car or something dedicated to circuit work. If you look to the class structures lately there are a lot of people running GT-R's/WRX's/Evo's & the numbers in class tend to be larger than in the sports car class. So for in class competition get a GT-R. Failing that, can I suggest a Westfield of some description - cheap as chips to run, competitive in an outright sense & well scary becasue you are exposed to the elements & your backside is about 150mm off the ground. Driving a GT-R after that feels like swanning about in a limo!

Did anyone see the Warwick Farm Improved Production Car race from 1970 that was shown on the weekend? Pete Geoghegan power sliding his XW GTHO had me absolutely transfixed. You couldn't drive a race car like that now adays & finish a race, let alone lead it. Bags of opposite lock, bags of wheelspin & bags of tyre smoke. Just fkn awesome. Best motor race footage I have seen since, well ever.

There are an enormous number of variables that dictate relative lap times - power to weight being only one. Track layout is one of the most important as a car that is quicker on one circuit may be slower on another (say tighter) circuit... To give you some sort of indication my R32 R has 300rwhp, but I have spent money on tyres & suspension. I usually manage about 14th in a field of anything from 60 to 100 fellow competitors at Wanneroo and can cover most of the GT-R's that turn up. I need another half a second to crack the top ten, but after that it gets very very hard & expensive as the really fast blokes are running another 2 to 2.5 seconds quicker. I suppose the point that I am trying to make is this: Do you want to win or do you want to have fun? I assume it is the latter and if that is the case either car will do but a GT-R can be kept closer to standard spec for a similar lap time. Conversly an R13 will be a cheaper vehicle to compete in on a regular basis. To answer fatz inflamatory post - please don't be a tool. Motorsport at this level is about having a go & having fun. The biggest problem is "The fastest car is always in the car park/workshop/being built/having an off day/blah blah blah" Those that get out there and have a go should be encouraged, not slagged off. And by the way GT-R's are not easy to drive as you put it - they take the same amount of concentration, thought, planning & balls to get a optimum lap time out of - same as any car does.

Bad corner weighting will make the car handle differently in a left handed corner than in a right handed one. However, you can achieve the same outcome as using scales with your adjustable suspension. Simply set the pair of dampers to the same thread point ie count the number of threads under the adjusting nuts and make sure they are the same on each side. As the spring rate should be of the order of 3 or 4 kg/mm it is pretty hard to stuff it up to the extent of causing a noticeable difference. Before anyone gets all narky about using threaded adjustments or circlips - at the intervals the circlips have you would need to be Ayrton Senna to figure out changes in ride height intervals of less than 5mm. Personally my car has the Whiteline springs & their rates are pretty much spot on, although the front end can be a little (only a little) crashy. You do, however, need to make sure the shop installing the things gets the bump stops right. Too long a bump stop will make the dampers lose control when the spring is under compression and turn your car into a pogo stick.

It is not uncommon for there to be leaks on the seals of the oil lines that feed/return oil from the turbos. Not the end of the world by any means, but a bit of a pain to find and then fix.

The number one ingredient for cheap motorsport is a light weight car. By that I mean as close to 1000kg as possible. The reason is pretty straight forward as weight increases so does the consumption of fuel/tyres/brakes. My GT-R is pretty heavy on all three. So a Silvia should be a substantially cheaper option for track work. Having said that it takes a fairly well sorted Silvia to get near a stock GT-R. It may also pay to look at the results from previous events in your area. As often as not someone will be pedalling a near stock GT-R, although Silvias/180's are less common. That should give you an idea of the relative competitiveness of the cars in you events. Ofcourse you have to factor in driver ability/application as not all people who enter their cars drive them at ten tenths.

Dean, Chances are it is a dodgy sender unit or gauge. Having said that you need to find out for sure. Get it checked by a mechanic with a proper gauge before you buy it. Remember a dead RB26 will cost a bundle of money to put right....

Despite all available evidence being to the contrary I still maintain that I am not a complete idiot. So, yes I have checked. For track use I would like to run toe out, unfortunately the only two tracks available are quite a way from home, respectively 300 kms for Wanneroo and 80kms for Collie - each way. If the SES runs at Northam next month make it closer to 400kms for that. So I have to run a set up that is manageable for the road. Rear is bugger all anyway. The local shops don't calibrate their wheel alignment equipment, so playing around with 0.5mm increments is largely a waste of time. Pineapples I don't have huge amount of faith in, but are on the list for adjustments - from neutral to less squat. Shocks aren't adjustable - they have been matched to the spring rates. For one I wouldn't mind seeing a histogram from the shock dyno, as I reckon it would be illuminating..... As the post said it has mid corner understeer & push understeer on corner exit. If I can fix the mid corner issue the amount of push being shown will become less of an issue.

2. It is pretty easy to swap over the upper control arms, only 2 bolts. If they are the same series then stick a camber kit in the current car and swap the arms over when the new one arrives. Good call, I will have a look - if the bushes are all contained within a control arm the it should be sweet. I trust the '89 is no different to the 94 on an R32 GT-R. 4. What's the rear hide height? If higher than 345 mm, then worth trying down to a min of 330 mm. They are extemely sensitive to ride height. You should be able to feel the differences, 2-3 mm is noticeable. I went with the settings that arrived on the dampers - haven't fiddled with them. I am a little worried about the rear guard clearance, but 5mm shouldn't hurt. The car looks like this on corner exit. http://www.circlework.com.au/ Then go to the Speedeeventseries on the 18th February, Page 4 - it is the white R32 in the top right hand side of the page. The photo is on exit to the corner coming onto pit straight at Wanneroo - power is down & the front end is pushing pretty hard as you can see. Front camber is woeful... cheers - even bigger grin...

Thanks Gary, Answers as follows: 1. Toe the front out about 2mm each side Basically running very little positive on the front end. Bit worried about what toe out may do on the road. 2. It needs at least 2.5 degrees negative camber on the front to match the 1 degree negative camber on the rear. I am waiting for my 94 to be complied & will put the camber kit into that. At the moment it needs more -ve camber at the front, but I don't want to waste the $500 to do this & then sell the car in a few months. 3. Don't have the front ride height too low, around 350 mm is as low as I would go. They can easily run out of travel. Ride height is set at 350mm as recommended. 4. All the fast circuit race GTR's have zero rake (ie; they are NOT nose down). The roll centre is much higher at the rear than the front, if you run it nose down, that just makes the difference greater. This causes the excessive roll to the outside front tyre. Match the roll centre more closely and you don't get that. See answer to #3. 5. You could stiffen up the front bar to fix #4 but it may lead to corner entry understeer as you don't get that initial bite from the weight transfer. Try the ride height first, then maybe try increasing the front bar setting just to be sure you have some logic to the adjustment process. Might try lowering the rear ride height, just hope I dont end up with too much -ve camber....