GT-Ricer

It's all very nice, but the only problem with that is that if the "strengthened" transmission has any other issues with it, no matter how trivial, Nissan Aust/Nissan Jap will not send you a thank you note for fixing what wasn't broken (yet), but will void these guys' warranties for unauthorised work on their trannys. So, legally, it is better to let the thing break first and have it replaced under warranty, than to modify it to prevent it from breaking in the first place...

Let me guess...you have a DIY remedy already developed, ready to ship?

5 hours? I was quoted 12 hours labour only to replace the main seal on the E55 (tiny oil leak on the garage floor!), but that involves removing the tranny from the engine, whereas the GT-R has a transaxle far away from the engine. I wonder which one is the more complicated set up to pull apart? Either way, Nissan Japan wants the tranny back, so that they can have a quiet chat with the guy who built it...

We were told the tranny was hand built and matched exclusively to the specific hand built engine. Well, so much for that claim with the replacement .... I would not want a car that has had such a major rebuild done so early in its life and and so far away from the factory. No disrespect to the boys at Brookvale, because they do try to look after all of us pretty well, but this is a major job and they have not done twenty before. For my friend's sake (who is pretty calm about all this) I hope that Nissan Japan provides complete instructions not in Japanese....

It would not engage the first gear from neutral. Then it would make horrible crunching noises in other gears. They sent all the codes back to Japan and the verdict came back: wait for the new box! Sounds like "remove the body from the scene ASAP" solution....As long as my mate's car gets fixed, that's all he cares about. I am a lot less foregiving. This tranny had no right to fail in the first place. Not after 2900km on the street!

My friend, who has only had his GT-R for less than 3 months and managed to do 2900km has just experienced a catastrophic transmission failure. He's had his car taken on a flat bed truck back to Brookvale and the verdict is a complete new tranny from Japan. Who knows how long this will take and then the boys from Brookvale will have a baptism of fire getting "on the job" training, pulling the whole car apart for the very first time in Australia! Luckily, his car is bone stock, with no VDC-OFF launches, so there were no arguments about factory warranty. It would be a different story, I bet, if he had a COBB tune or any other mods installed. This can happen to any one of us and Nissan Aus will use whatever means it has at it's disposal to void the warranty if the engine has been tampered with. I wonder how many tranny failures they "budget for" out of 200 cars sold here so far? I, for one, would give them back this almost new car and ask for another, one which is not broken....

Are you kidding? You have forgotten to quote the price of the GT-R in US dude...

Maybe not. We can talk about shipping if you are genuinely interested.

Pre Christmas sale: $700 for a beautifully engineered piece! Come on guys, you know you want it!

Apparently GT-R brakes have shrunk from 380mm F&R to 360mm F / 330mm R just for this test... but they still outperformed everybody! Can't they copy the brochure without silly errors like that?

It was a great track day at EC. You are right about the Bridgestones. Mine felt like they were overcooked after the first session. From then on it was over-steer, followed by four-wheel drift, followed by a 45 degree drift, all in the space of 50m. Still, I am not too unhappy with 1:50.36 in a stock car. My next set will probably be Dunlops. I thought that you were happy with your MX72... until your left wheel became a major fire hazard after the last session! As far as Motor PCOTY results are concerned I am a bit puzzled. The fastest speed down the straight achieved by Luffy was 237kph- I did 243 on every lap without braking too late at 150m mark. Same with Turn 1: he did 164kph, I entered every lap at 185kph and hit 206kph before braking at Turn 2. I suspect that you went a lot quicker, but your car is not quite stock any more... How did he ever get 1:44.2 at that rate? Their acceleration times 0-100 at 3.95sec and 400m at 12.95 are pretty ordinary too, at least 0.2sec off the pace. When will these journos learn to ask for some advice on launching the GT-R from guys who have owned these cars for 8 months not 2 hours? At least they can use the brakes properly: GT-R got first place 100-0 at 35.13m!

For sale: Almost new (500km) R35 Challenge Street Spec (twin-resonated cat-less 76mm/3") Mid Pipe. Imported from USA, cost $1150, will take $800 ONO. Proven power gains 17kW over stock with no ECU tune. Verified 0-100kph 3.65 sec vs. 3.85 sec stock and 1.5 sec/lap gain at Eastern Creek. Great sound, quite "sporty" at WOT and not too loud at cruising speed. I decided to sell it because I am getting a complete mid pipe/cat back system. PM for more info.

Wow...I would love to see your latest dyno graphs after the COBB AP tune!

In that case your 50+ group should read >50 not 50< or it is the same as 45-50.

You can't be serious! Cut out the red and patch in the black inserts? What about all the stiching holes which will never match up again? These seats will get ruined for sure.

You did...c'mon, don't be bashful, tell them what you got...

I was considering this one...at $4000 each and probably quite narrow (built for a Japanese frame) it's too much risk, but very nice looking.

Challenge Street Spec

Hmmm, he probobably s...t himself when his foot hit the fire wall...I am sure he wished he was sitting on top quality leather seats when that happened....

+1. Dynos differ but as long as you compare before and after on the same unit, the % gain is real. Then you can go to the factory stated power of 357kw and add the percentage gain. My car read max power at the wheels of 268kW on GTech ProRR at 1880kg before I put the Y-pipe on and 299kW after That is a massive gain for no ECU upgrade, translating into 398kW at the crank. I can imagine what the AP would do on top of that!

By all accounts Dunlops are softer than Bridgestones, hence better track grip. Nissan uses them on Nurburgring for a reason. How many track days will we get out of either of them? Will that extra one or two seconds saved per lap compensate for less track mileage if one is not actually doing Targa Tasmania with sponsors paying for tyres? I love taking my cars around EC, OP or Wakefield as much as the next guy, but I would hate chucking this expensive rubber out after only two or three moderately intense track days. Also, having two sets of Bridgestones would give us that extra backup in case of a flat on the street set. It comes down to individual choice and priorities. Personally, I am still sitting on the fence, but having Taleb Tyres come up with a more competitive proposition certainly helps. Interestingly, their Dunlop set is A$200 dearer than their Bridgestones, whilst with the Tire Rack, it is the opposite, by USD 22.

Thank you. I did all the sound and heat proofing myself. There is nothing to it, just patience. My rear seats look even better now than these photos. The trimmer has now heat shrunk the leather so there is no more sagging and it looks totaly original. As to my other car, the E55, it is very fast for a 4-door sedan but not as fast as the GT-R. To start with, it is pretty hard to get traction with RWD and 700Nm so the ESP robs you of all this torque on launch. 5 gears are much taller, especially the first two. My best 400m was 12.35 sec in the E55 and best 0-100 4.5 sec but generally I would do 12.6 and 4.7sec. The GTR alraedy did 3.9 and as it loosens up, it will hopefully do 0-100 in 3.6-3.7 sec and 400m in 11.8. Around EC the E55 will do 1.53, Wakefield 1.09. I hope to do considerably better in the GT-R. In all gears the GT-R just feels ballistic and is never overwhelmed by the engine. The E55 is a great sedan, but if you mash the accelerator and try to use all its power and torque at once, it just disappears in a cloud of smoke. mind you, if you know how to use it, it still totally destroys all FPV's and HSV's around OP , Wakefield and EC as well as a few Porsches, M3's and Audis RS4's, but it would never match the GT-R on the streets or the track. The GT-R will never match the E55's refinement and quality though. Different cars entirely.

CF wing on now.

Here are some photos of the OEM-style CF rear wing and bonnet scoops I installed yesterday. Combined with a Gun Metallic car CF looks tone-on-tone subtle, similar to the dark lower trim colour. On a Red or White car, the contrast would be more dramatic. I am happy with the quality of fit and finish of these CF pieces. I rate these items overall 98%. I have not used too many CF parts before, but would not spend 3x the price to get that last 2% of quality. These parts come with no instructions but I have recorded the whole process. If anyone is interested, PM me.

Quality and fit are good. Bonnet scoops on already, rear wing will be done on Saturday. I will post better pictures in full daylight tomorrow. I will give everyone vendor details and prices once I know these things actually fit. I don't want to give them any more business until these pieces are confirmed 100%. They "cunningly" replicate everything with quite an amazing degree of accuracy and perfect finish at 1/3 -1/2 the price of Mine's, Zele etc.. I don't necessarily want all their CF gear at once, but they have Front Spoilers, Bonnets, Boot Lids, two types of rear wing (OEM type you see here and elevated Mine's-type without centre post and brake light), Front Fenders, Fender vents, Engine Covers, Radiator Covers, Side Skirts, the lot!