lwells

Is it custom made, or off the shelf? LW.

What car/model is the Cusco stopper for? Cheers Lucien.

Yes but you are missing the point. Fuji Heavy Industries (ie. Subaru) had (and still does) a very small model range and were not in a dire financial situation. They can thus afford to make "more interesting" cars. By the way, have you seen their new coporate face? Going to be a very "interesting" (read: ugly) Subaru range in the next year. http://www.nasioc.com/gallery/B9Tribeca/de...?CurrentPage=4& LW.

Personally I would want it in writing: too often what the muppets say on the phone has no relationship to reality. LW.

They are illegal to use, not to sell or own (at least in NSW). You can't leave your car on and unattended. There is some other issue to do with safety (keeps the fuel pump on after ignition is turned off?) in crashes that escapes me at the moment. 19" wheels aren't illegal to own or use if your car, wheels and tyres meet the regulations (which, in NSW, depends on the original size specified by the manufaturer and the track). Its too hard to say if an insurance company would give you a hard time. Probably not if someone smashed your windscreen or keyed your car. However, if your car was stolen and later recovered and an insurance inspector noticed that the car had a turbo timer I imagine they would be well within their rights to refuse to pay the claim for a couple of reasons: 1) the ignition wiring had been altered; 2) a modification had been fitted without their knowledge (I assume you haven't told your insurance company, right?), and 3) the use of that modifcation is illegal. Most insurance policies contain clauses that expressely state the insurer can refuse claims where the car was modified without their knowledge and consent and/or contain illegal modifications. Just my 0.02c. Its all hypothetical, but given the doubtful benefits of a TT I am not sure its worth the risk of a) increased chance of theft or B) refusal of a claim. LW.

Not that I would speak for Gary, and no he didn't say its a "wank", but he has said (here) They have debatable benefits (how hard do you drive your car on the street while looking for a parking spot? If your driving that hard, take the whole car for a lap of the block to cool down), make your car a greater theft risk (at the very least, makes ignition wiring dead obvious), and are illegal in most (all?) states. Edit: I should also say, they probably void your insurance too. But as I said, its your car, do as you like. LW.

*Sigh*. Look, they have gone through a period of necessary consolidation. Now they are making money again and can afford to start exploring niche markets again. Wait and see what the next few product revisions bring. BTW, its interesting to note that Renault has a number of oddball products, so I don't think they will be the brake everyone accusses them of being. LW.

Sakai looks like he has put on some weight (and grey hairs). How was his food? LW.

How bout..... LW.

That's because they had to consolidate their range to survive. Why don't we all just wait and see what happens with the new GT-R before we write Nissan off? LW.

Given all the crap about "nawwwwwws" in the movie/s, I am guessing its meant to be NOS. It was probably just a smoke machine, however. LW.

I don't think it had anything to do with fitting, it was to do with the spray patterns of the Sards vs the Nismos. LW.

To be "cool". Its a movie, and a shit one at that. I wouldn't read so much in to it

Mate, I think you need to settle down and learn a thing or two about the car business. For starters, the regulatory environment has significantly changed in the last few years. Emission legislation (both in terms of noise and pollution) is becoming an increasingly important factor, particularly since markets such as California (the biggest market of them all; one no car maker can ignore) is leading the charge. The fact that the 350Z is fitted with four cats tells you something. Secondly, you can bitch and moan about Nissan selling out, but their options were either to stop producing the low volume, low profit cars and which were contributing to loosing vast sums of money, or to stop making cars full stop. Would you prefer no Nissans at all? Personally I think Renaults' takeover was inspired. I don't know why people are so critical. Nissan is selling a boatload of cars, and is finally making some serious money. The Micra has been a large success, the 350Z has gotten fantastic reviews, the Maxima finally doesn't look like a fridge, the X-trail leads its class. In the JDM the Cube has been a runaway success. Few companies are enjoying the level of success Nissan is at the moment. Most of the complaints seem to surround the V35 Skyline. You can argue all you like about polluting the breed, but Nissan needed a medium-large coupe/sedan to sit above the 350Z, and to do it on a budget and the cheapest way to do that is component sharing, hence the similarities between the V35 and 350Z: Nissan already had a proven platform, an emissions compliant engine (unlike the RBs), and an emerging styling trend. Now that they have the resources -- read: the money they are making that you so bemoan -- they can finally address the low volume, high cost, low profit sector. Without Renault's involvement, no such car would be forthcoming IMHO. LW.

I believe it was meant to be venting NOS. LW.

Mark: you should be able to source the K104s in NSW. I got a price on them awhile ago (can't remember exactly which shop). Were about $185 ea. LW.

Is there any issue with brake balance when simply increasing the rotor size? Cheers, Lucien.

Hint: your in Japan. LW.

You also have to be careful to look for signs of a car being returned to stock for sale. Things like holes in the dash, or boost controller and turbo timers tend to suggest at least minor modification IMHO. LW.

Nobody tries to buy beer at the hour. Bound to be one of those soiled school girl underpants machines... LW. PS. So you going to smuggle some nice toys back for us are you Nick? Right? Right?

Remember that the fuel in country areas is probably replenished at a slower rate than in the city servos (who have much higher volume). The fuel starts to go "off" after sitting around for a few days, so you may not get the full benefits of Optimax (or any other uprated fuel for that matter). LW.

Are TT's illegal in your state? If so -- and you insist on having one -- then mount it somewhere that isn't obvious and/or in plain sight. Personally I agree with SK: they are a wank, but hey, its your car LW.

Just enough room for Kel to fit an power it Flintstones style LW.

As I think Funkey and I have been alluding to, there isn't much point bringing in something people can already get: the margins for importing are very low anyway, so the difference between a car you bring in and one someone can already get is going to be very small (or nonexistant). So your best bet is to bring in something we can't get (or get easily). Generally that means something less than 15 years old that is either too highly modified for it to be worth trying to bring it under SEVS, or something not available at all under SEVS. The Tommy K is a good suggestion. Shan, do you have any links for the R34R? Tried Googling without much luck. LW.

Just be careful that Tempe give you wheels with the correct offset and do a wheel balance/alignment when fitting. LW.