God_speed

Would've loved to be able to put the GTR on there after the day was over!

100% sure that's authentic. There was a Maybach 57 at the motor show some years back and it looks exactly the same. If I was in that market I'd buy a Phantom over one of these things for sure. It looks far too much like an S Class. Nice spot. Where was it?

Yeah mate it's a full day and they rotate both the cars and instructors to mix up the experience. Details here: Project D It's not cheap, but at least you do get a lot of drive-time. As you know a lot of these driver training courses have you on the sideline too much. When I went, there was a V8 supercar experience on at EC the same morning, but they delayed their start as was a bit wet (soft!). They got a good gander at our drifting from the back of the grandstand. I thought it was the best car there out of the four Corinne. I certainly put in my best performance with her.

Saw one of these just the other day on the road, had absolutely no idea what it was. Saw the "FIGARO" embossing on the rear boot handle, snapped a pic and looked it up on Wikipedia. Weird and wonderful story behind the car; you had to win a lottery in Japan to buy one, and apparently 20,000 were made in four colours, each representing a different season of the year. the Topaz Mist was least popular but since only 2000 were made in that colour it's the rarest and probably now most collectable. There was a young blonde driving , didn't seem the least bit interested in the GT-R though

Bought a Fujitsubo Legalis R stainless system for the 33R. Very good quality bends, minimum obstruction. From memory, 3.5" internal diameter with 4.5" tip. Looks similar to this. Mine was about $1500 IIRC. Need to make sure you also have a high-flow cat. Obviously changing over the stock pipes from the turbo to the cat will also make it louder and bring out the "characteristic RB sound". For now mine is fairly quiet at idle, has a nice mellow midrange with some good character up top too. Thing I love about it is it's not too loud that it attracts unwanted attention and is never "boomy", especially on the motorway when those harmonics (humming or booming sounds) can be really tiring.

Agreed - was a great race. No one can say it's been a boring season so far. Loved watching the pit-lane push and shove! The Schu still has the touch in the wet but as some said, the Merc (Brawn) doesn't yet have the performance edge. I feel for Webber but while he has proven he's got the pace in qualifying, I'm not convinced about his abilities in close quarters with other cars (in race conditions). He often comes off second-best. Will get even more interesting as the European rounds start, let's hope they can get there while the Icelandic volcano shroud clears...

Nah, for mine it would have to be a Boxster S, minimum. I know you said there are turbo kits but I wouldn't bother... To my eyes Porsches are incredibly overpriced; I'd pay for a 911 GT3 in a heartbeat, perhaps a Turbo, but those povo pack Boxsters leave me cold! Not to mention Panameras and Cayennes. Anyhoo... I saw that S4 mate; at second glance it looks alright. At first I kind of thought, aftermarket wheels, suspension... I'd prefer an untouched example. Also, I'm really not a fan of eyelids and while I know they can be taken off, I dunno, to me it kinda says something about the owner...? But if he's close I reckon a test drive's in order. Let us know what it's like!

Don't think it was Seb Buemi's fault when his front suspension collapsed under braking at 200mph at Shanghai... ... it could be the mechanic's fault But yeah, of course it's the driver's fault 95% of the time for either lack of skill, judgement, and/or not maintaining the car correctly An earlier poster on that thread said he was there with his wife and child. Hope they came in a separate car? F355 only seats 2. I also shuddered a bit when I read his forum username. Sh*ts me to tears when I see people of my race perpetuating the stereotype.

Good on you Nick. I also went to one of Fernando's school days and found it a lot of fun. The final exercise (hand brake, clutch in, turn right quarter turn, back on power and release wheel, catch wheel, power out then counter steer and repeat in opposite direction) really messed with me and it took me ages to get it 'right'. Which car was your fave? I couldn't drive the Sileighty properly and while the R33 chassis felt broadly similar to mine, it was noticeably heavy / unwieldy. I liked the R32 and S14 on account of their lightness. You can still buy an R32 GT-R and deactivate the 4WD no?

Haha how you been Alan, it's been a while since I've read one of your contributions

Nice pick on the C43 mate. Depends on if he wants manual though, which would also write off the XK Of course you can't always follow RB to the letter but I still like it as a guide to locally delivered cars (i.e. not GT-Rs like ours). I used to use Glass's Guide and found it was a little too optimistic. RB can be harsh but I find it's more realistic. As for your Bimmers, we've also had a few in the family and if I'm not mistaken their demand largely depends on 1. condition 2. options 3. colour with those cars in particular. I can only guess but the fact your car was black would have helped? We've had two BMWs without sunroofs and one of these was an 'odd' colour (Glacier Green) and these took longer than other BMWs to sell as people would quite often ring up and write the car off immediately on the basis of it not having a sunroof, etc. Meanwhile I'd be cautious on the E60 as I think sellers are still a bit optimistic in how they're pricing them. I'd maybe wait until the F10 comes out (on sale from June) if you can, and the values of the E60 will then drop further as people trade up to the new model.

Love the original S4, it's understated and came before the days of the pimp-style daytime running lights of the current Audis. This one looks quite tidy Grey S4 And this one a less desirable colour I think. Not sure what is with the shag-pile seat bolsters though?? Green S4 Redbook says you should pay between $18K - $22K for a 2000 / 2001 S4. Jag XK? Kind of similar to the 8 series being a "GT" XK8

What rims have you got Sarumatix? I think they'll go nicely with my Titanium RE30s. Can't believe how light they are!

I also like the blue, but I like more subdued colours. The carbon bonnet you're getting would then look a bit more stealth-like. The white's pretty cool too but both the white and "galaxy grey" are pretty close to existing R32 colours, so the other two (blue / purple) would make your car look more exotic if that's what you're after. The green on your car is already a custom colour? Never seen a green GT-R before...

Well they are continuing to come down in price. As long as you've got money kept aside for potential repairs and maintenance and have a specialist inspect before you buy, it's still a lot of car for your money. This looks like a nice example but was an import from HK: Calypsorot At the other end of the scale, this one's been for sale for ages, and the history is guaranteed, but you pay through the nose: Arctic silver

Sounds like you've got it covered (and you're the man to speak to if OP wants advice on the BMW V8). Did say that he should get a leak down test performed if he's serious though. Agree that vibration through the chassis when cold could be attributed to a number of different things. With engines such as these being at the leading edge of technology there are bound to be niggles and even failures of some sort before the tech trickles down to lesser cars.

Hey guys I just bought a set of RAYS Dura Nuts off eBay as I noticed they now come in a 'Gun Metallic' colour (in addition to the red, blue and black available previously), short type, and thread pitch to suit Skylines. I think the colour's been out for almost a year now but I hadn't seen any around, so I snapped them up quickly. There are still more sets available I think. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/RAYS-VOLK-Wheel-Nut...=item2c52f5d09f

I thought I remember reading something similar; the US had some of the worst sulphur content but the issue was still discussed here in Australia, and caution advised... I suppose it could be a blessing and a curse that the degradation of the coating would occur more slowly due to the lower S content and therefore perhaps only manifest itself long after the warranty had expired. I first read about it when I was looking for an early 90s 530i (3.0 V8) years ago.

Yeah I've heard stories about the cost of living in Norway. I thought we were bad compared to the USA. You do have the best healthcare in the world though apparently I've also heard that while sales have been above expectations overall, they haven't exactly been flying out the door. I suppose the GFC didn't really help but whilst I know it's not a car for everyone, I don't understand why more people aren't buying what is surely one of the bargains of the century.

Cheers Richard, awesome to hear that particularly coming from you Yeah probably a wiser move mate although with a BNR34 you'd probably still want money kept aside for 'unplanned' repairs and regular maintenance? Although I own a GTR and love Nissans I still go crazy for Bimmers and have myself considered getting an 8 before. You could consider an E36 M3? Upsides are lower electronic and mechanical complexity, (aside from the engine); it's proper fast (3.0L 0-100 6.0 sec, 3.2L 0-100 5.5 sec... all non-CSi 8 series would struggle to top 7.0 secs) more examples to choose from and a proper manual gearbox (5 speed for 1994-1996 3.0 210kW, 6 speed for 1996-1999 3.2 236kW) [avoid the SMG!], glorious sound and still a comfy, practical and stylish car that has street cred. Downsides are, again, being over 10 years old it's getting harder to find a neat one; well-known VANOS issues and the engine does neet regular fettling to stay in tune. It's also not as rare as the Eight and won't stand out as much (partly thanks to the endless dodgied-up 318iSs around). The E46 M3 might be an option for you?

Gorgeous cars. Choose based on condition first, wheels and other items can be added later. The Parallel M-Spoke 18"s look the business on the 8 Series (E31). As has been said, would avoid a V12 (850i) and choose the V8 for reliability, but it's all relative; the V8 in either 4.0 or 4.4 still needs to be serviced regularly. The earlier V8s in particular had Nikasil coating on the bore liners which tended to wear prematurely with the excessive sulphur in our petrol (and in other markets too). This should have been fixed under a recall / warranty but not all cars were done under the warranty period. If you start the car cold and open both doors, looking at the trailing edge of the doors will magnify any vibration from the engine and could indicate bore wear (obviously a leak down test would be even more ideal). The 'nose cone' of the 8 is a very complex shape and quite often didn't even line up perfectly from the factory. Combined with the pop-up headlamp apertures in the bonnet, any crash damage at the front will likely be pretty obvious. The 8 did come in a manual (850CSi tuned by M Motorsport had a 6 speed manual) but these are very thin on the ground; I'm not sure if they were sold here officially, if so then in very small numbers. Otherwise from memory the 8 series was sold here from about 1990 until 1999. The V12 went from '90 till the mid 90s, the V8 840Ci from early 90s to '99. Pick of the bunch would be a post-1998 840Ci Sport with the subtle bodykit, steptronic transmission and 4.4 litre V8 with double VANOS (210kW, 440Nm) but they still fetch close to $40K for a neat one with low kms, over $50K for a minter. They did retail for over $200K when new so that means two things - tidy ones are still expensive; and the rest of them are a very risky proposition. The self levelling EDC shocks will cost four figures from BMW, multiple oxygen / lambda sensors at several hundred bucks a pop, etc. Make sure you have a BMW specialist do a thorough inspection on the car you're serious about, before stumping up the cash.

I think we might have to be a little realistic too; that some people who do drive Sklyines or Sylvias etc do drive in a stupid, dangerous and "anti-social" manner on the road and thus perpetuate the stereotype. Because your car is black Terry and has factory-looking cosmetic mods and doesn't have 30" chrome wheels I doubt you'd get much prejudice from the cops unless you happen to be doing a burnout at the time.

I noticed he didn't use the Skaifey-signed version?

I just came across this thread - the car looks amazing! The proportions of the shapes and details are all brilliant as well - the execution certainly lives up to the original idea. It could have ended up looking terrible, but she's obviously got incredible creative talent as well as the patience to follow through with such an exhaustive task. Reminds me a bit of the BMW Art Cars of the 80s and 90s. I also like how there are various features on the different panels too (like the Skyline word on the boot/trunklid) and not all just one type of detailing. BMW Art Car 1 BMW Art Cars

SOLD!