Duncan

First impressions? Well, it does good skids for an auto. Runs a VQ35HR engine + 50kw electric motor for about 280kw all up (compared to 240kw that my 5.6l v8 titan does....but still pretty slow compared to the Stagea :)) Ride is much firmer than the Cima, but it is still excellent, better controlled but still comfortable. It is quiet inside, seats firmer than the cima but still good. Driving position is a bit wierd at first as the steering wheel comes out of the dash quite high and vertical, particularly when you have the seat low for tall drivers not to hit the roof, but it is fine after a while. Has all of the interior tricks you'd expect from Nissan's top car like the 2 way electric steering wheel, easy exit (wheel and seat move back), power everything, auto headlights/wipers etc. Annoyances: Cruise control tops out at 107 (indicated 114) on the factory tyres. Cima had the same issue and it annoys me. I'll put 5% larger tyres on to fix this Lane departure warning is mega annoying (this may apply to all of them, I don't know, have never used it in another car). While weaving over the highway reading my facebook news, it grabs the opposite side brakes and pulls you back into the lane. I prefer meandering Sonar cruise control is also annoying. Even on the closest setting it leaves about 100m when it starts slowing. If you pull out from behind a car that far back, some tradie in a ranger raptor is sure to fly up the inside and around you. Hopefully I can turn the sonar bit off. To be fair, it works right down to 0 in town which combined with the hybrid makes driving in traffic a different experience The boot is small (compared to the cima which was a 2 body boot) as the hybrid batteries are under the rear parcel shelf The av menus are mega complex and it is hard to use google translate from your phone on them while driving. This time I'll get the english translation I think, considering the value of the car. Despite having option footwell lighting, the interior lights are poor. LEDs on the way which will fix that. Good things; The hybrid system works well in town, and the transition to engine is seamless (well, you can hear the engine, but the changeover is smooth). Responsive throttle (in sports mode) and plenty of power for a factory car. Well suspended for a big cruiser, it is not afraid of corners like the Cima was....very impressive suspension tune Of course, interior is excellent and rattle free. Very quiet with lots of insulation and thick glass, and it has active exterior noise cancelling Air con system is...well wierd....it includes "forest" mode that varies the vents and speed of fans to give that "walking through a forest feeling". Also includes automatic "aroma" dispenser (mine is happily well empty), ion generator, humidity control and external exhaust gas sensor to switch from external air to recirc automatically. Heated and cooled seats. No big deal these days but unusual in 2013 and work well. Heated seats seem so unnecessary until you have to get into a car at below 0 and wait for the heater to work... Speaking of heater, there are no engine ancillaries (probably all hybrids have to work this way). Power steer, aircon, alternator etc are all electric so they work seamlessly switching between engine and motor. Happily it still has a harmonic balancer with belt drive ready for the upcoming supercharger. As well as a reversing camera, it has a camera in the passenger mirror facing forward that you can pull up when parking. Useful, but a rear facing, same function, would be even better It has auto lighting when you approach the car at night (with key in pocket). Nice in a paddock on a cloudy, moonless night There is a factory option drive recorder installed, which records to SD and plays through the nav system. I guess I can find out how those dock workers treated the car.... Finally, for the driver too lazy to do everything, the seatbelt auto retracts. Love to know how long that will work, and what happens when it doesn't.

Well, I had a thread before I bought asking if anyone on here had a Fuga Hybrid, looks like not. It's not really what I would have gone for but was the best compromise under the new import rules I could find from nissan to replace my highway cruisy Cima which has given me 300,000 happy wafting klm. I took the plunge anyway and bought this car in September for $1.54M yen, auction rating 4.5B. It took about 3 months to find one in white, with a sunroof, in good condition. Had 55,000klm (matches last dereg certificate) and was brokered by Geoff at Prestige Motorsport who did a great job. Final cost on road in Aus was just under $33k which is a lot considering the Cima was about $10k when I got it, but obviously awesome value compared to what you can get locally for $33k (Mazda CX-30 anyone?)

They are basically a pair of electrically powered hydraulic platforms. You can run them either along or across the car. I run them under the sills as that doesn't block anything you really need to get to. It is clear under the middle, but note that to get under the car you need to go from front or rear because the jacks are in the way... They lift the car about 500mm off the ground so it is higher and more stable than a jack and stands. And once they are in place, much quicker to raise or lower. However, I got the 12v 3t (BL-7000SLX) set and they are mega heavy to move around. Assuming they are stored away, you need to drag them to the car once it is in place, then drag them across the floor until they are even front to back and side to side under the sills. Then hook up 12v source and the hydraulic lines, put rubber blocks under the jack points and you are ready to go. I haven't weighed them individually but the website says 110kg for the 2 platforms + motor (even the 1500kg ones are listed at 82kg) Considering the cost and the fact you are still lying on the ground, I wouldn't buy them unless you are regularly working on cars, and you don't have space for a hoist. A hoist is about the same price and way more versatile.

Yes, get in touch with someone like Jesse Streeter with your Vin. He can source from nissan or probably find aftermarket alternative. If you can have the car off the road, the other option is a friendly repco....if you can measure up everything you will almost certainly find aftermarket to fit. BTW, nice buy, I guess there aren't too many of those parked in your street

So, this thread was funnier to me until I picked up the Fuga today, and it had that button too. Anyway, after some quality time with the paperwork (yes, an import that actually came with original papers!), it is a button related to the option ultrasonic alarm. I also have an extra "security" led on top of the steering column. So, turn the switch on, headlights to auto, lock car and walk away. Approach with key on you after dark, and an LED lights up the driver's door handle so you can find it and unlock it using the door button.

Yeah jpnz did translations of a lot of the original japanese manuals, that appears to be one of them. Even better, contact jpnz and buy it, because they put in a lot of manual work to translate and recompile that

Is an S13 hatch what I might know as a 180sx? If so, didn't it come with a 1.8 or 2l turbo (or was it different over there?)

ha, I've done something similar in an evo, sheared all the rivets off so the centre and the plate could turn independently. Kind of hard to diagnose without taking it apart, but it is nice when the problem is cheaper and easier than it sounds

I'm assuming budget is a factor in replacing sandwich plate...may not be much cheaper but yes you can definitely T the pressure and switch off the existing switch feed. You could also have the temp sensor there but consider it really needs flowing oil not some back water to respond to temp changes quickly. Also they tend to be physically long and may not fit within a T fitting. Other options for temp are a fitting in the oil cooler lines or even drill and tap the sump (or weld on boss if steel sump)

No issue really, it just stops going whoosh and will be off the road until you replace the turbo (a high flow standard turbo is the quickest)

Axles! (almost never the diff, they are massive)

Why is WA still imperial not metric? About 450kw, right? Anyway, assuming it is not racing of some sort, it should be fine for street and twisty driving because you just don't use the whooshy end of the rev range very much at all, perhaps once or thrice a day or week. Gearbox however is at risk depending how you shift when you are pushing the car hard. Take it easy on full power shifts and you should be fine

Did f**k all on the race car this weekend because a couple of other jobs pushed in The tractor 3 point link needed sorting so I could mount the slasher up properly (it had been running cat 2 pins on a cat 1 linkage for probably 30 years, really not OK when it is not to complex to run adapter bushes). Anyway, all converted across and ready to kill tall weeds again next weekend. Then, I took the stagea for a zoom over to a neighbour's on Sat night, about 1hr each way. I was about 5klm out of Crookwell when I noticed the dash clock had gone really dim. Checked the volt gauge and it was down to 9.4v...got worse as I got closer and by the time I arrived it was down to 8.5v and missing like a bitch. Anyway, got a lift home and went back to pick up the car this morning. I figured the charge light globe had failed causing the alternator not to charge because it all went bad pretty suddenly. After pulling the dash apart and checking the globe, it was fine which was kind of annoying. Chucked the old race car alternator on it, and it started charging fine, so something in the alternator had died suddenly. Kind of annoying but the car has over 400,000klm on it and as far as I remember the alternator was original. Anyway, the only thing I did on the race car was put in place a better engineered solution than the traditional jack stand. One M10 rivnut in the firewall, Add chain and voila, gearbox is not going anywhere it shouldn't while at the panel shop

Like Ewan said. The same practical issue exists in 4wd RB30 conversions because the sump adapter means the sump's bolt holes are 8-10mm off from the gearbox holes On my original rb30 I got the sump rewelded (tricky as it is cast). Then i replaced the sump as the quick way to deal with a diff failure (apparently diffs need oil, who knew, not the workshop....) Current setup only uses the 4 engine block bolts and with 400awkw the gearbox hasn't fallen off yet (no promise it won't tomorrow though!) BTW, noting my experience is not with 1000hp drag cars....is an additional brace necessary or is this just non-externally-visible ricing your car? rbs are unusual (but not unique) in that they have a full cast girdle from factory holding the main bearing caps in place. dinosaurs like most v8s (which can also make big power), still run separate main caps and just put 4 or 6 bolts into each instead. Is there are proven issue where the 2 bolt per bearing girdle in RBs have issues with moving in big power applications?

This feels a bit like do you prefer blondes or brunettes.... I'd take the engine out for sure rather than drop the x member (noting dropping the x member is a hoist only option in practice. Apart from anything else, it lets you have easy access to properly clean the bottom end for resealing the sump.

looks like it is a no thongs outside day today, bummer. hell of a swing in maximum temps over a week from -5 to 28 too.

Well, they are also hand made and it could have been an error in manufacture - you should speak to them and see if they will offer to repair it (noting it is currently half way around the world from them)

Welcome Daryl. I'm a big fan of fast stageas....no-one really suspects them....

Pretty sure it is a laser that cuts people in half if they walk in front of you. Handy feature.

Per forum rules, posts which do not relate to questions or clarifications on the item have been removed. Advertised price is the choice of the seller.

I'm not familiar with how those are set, but conceptually yes, if the low boost setting is stock then the car will be happy as long as it was never tuned for higher boost in the first place (ie, it is still an unmolested standard computer) Alternatively, you could keep running and enjoying the car at 12psi, it is not an automatic death sentence for the turbo, just riskier. If it goes there are reasonably cheap high flow bolt on turbos you could replace it with

I think the water is worthwhile. I've got 1000l cube catching some of the rainwater at my shed and use it a fair bit for washing/rinsing stuff and hand washing. No drain/waste of course, just runs to ground nearby

You won't be able to run a larger turbo on a stagea with a standard ECU. They are very sensitive to changes in airflow, even a mild boost increase on the standard turbo will throw it off. If you want to be able to return it to stock, best to plug in an ECU like a PowerFC and put the larger turbo on, reasonably easier to return to stock if you want to.

I'm just some random on the internet. Yes, if the bearings are damaged it will be cheaper to rebuild it before they spin; the longer a damaged motor runs the more likely other parts will be damaged. On the other hand, my bet is that if it ran for 10 minutes and isn't knocking already, it will be fine and the rebuild is not necessary.

If it is running and sounding normal, all you can do is drive it. Unless and until it starts knocking, you will recognise the quite different noise if it happens