Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 41
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

I saw something in Fast and Modified (UK car comedy mag) which really cracked me up

it was the new VW beatle soft top ad.........but some dude changed the normal slogan to read "Now you can hear everyone call you a toss"

i think convertables are really overpriced...............think of what an MX5 (which is a great car) actually is. how much metal it uses, engine etc............it's a hell of a lot of money for a tiny engine/car.

Roadsters rock, it's all about the overall experience not just 0-100 speed, nothin like riding a twisty road with the top down and the purr of an inline bimmer six to listen to.

The new Merc SLK AMG 55 is also a hot car, check out that metallic roof that folds in the boot, pretty nifty, this thing is going to kill the z4 in sales.

112_04_gen_mb_slk55z.jpg

Convertibles are cool, apart from when u forget your out in the sun and burn off your face. I have driven most of the late model convertibles and im still a huge fan of the s2000... the 350z isnt bad but it doesnt feel as good as the real 350z. Not very good grip on the road with 16 / 225 tires either :)

350z.jpg

cant go past the Merc SLR. shame it wont be released in Oz

Hope thats not true. My best friends parents put a deposit on one in 1994 so they are still hoping it comes to Aus.... his dad doesnt drive and his mum barely does either but they are excited to get a 1mil super car.. hmmm

I saw something in Fast and Modified (UK car comedy mag) which really cracked me up

it was the new VW beatle soft top ad.........but some dude changed the normal slogan to read "Now you can hear everyone call you a toss"

i think convertables are really overpriced...............think of what an MX5 (which is a great car) actually is.  how much metal it uses, engine etc............it's a hell of a lot of money for a tiny engine/car.

being a car WITHOUT a top, they actually require a lot of engineering to make the chassis stiff and other suspension bit. Buying a car is not buying metal nor bigger engine!

A Ferrari 360 only weight 1200kg while a commodore weight 17xxkg

and a 3.6L vs a 5.7L

- what a bargain :jk:

I saw something in Fast and Modified (UK car comedy mag) which really cracked me up

it was the new VW beatle soft top ad.........but some dude changed the normal slogan to read "Now you can hear everyone call you a toss"

i think convertables are really overpriced...............think of what an MX5 (which is a great car) actually is.  how much metal it uses, engine etc............it's a hell of a lot of money for a tiny engine/car.

  the 350z isnt bad but it doesnt feel as good as the real 350z. Not very good grip on the road with 16 / 225 tires either :D

I know I am biased but there is nothing finer than the 350Z roadster.

It got a pretty bad rap in the motoring press but I think the blokes who wrote those articles are just big girls.

The suspension is tight but not uncomfortable, and while it may not have a turbo, the V6 puts out more than enough power to beat most cars off the mark at the lights.

Best of all, there are not many around at the moment, so they're guaranteed to score you some attention- after all that's what convertibles are really all about!

Clearly you guys have never driven a convertible! All this crap about "it's gay 'coz it hasn't got muscle"! You have no idea. If you are car enthusiasts, then you should appreciate them in all their guises. Don't be so one-eyed about the type you happen to drive or you will just end up like the falcadore lovers who have stupid stickers showing someone p#ssing on the rival make. Some fixed head coupes are great - like the Skyline - many drop head coupes are great too.

My favourites, in no particular order:

Triumph Stag - you can actually tune that V8! And it has four real seats, which is kinda good for someone who has to carry kids, their mates and a load of cricket gear most summer weekends!

Aston Martin DB6 Volante - just wondrous.

Mustang '66-'68 convertible - the only Ford I would consider!

AC Cobra - my mate had a really well made replica with a 351 Cleveland in it - awesome car. The real thing is just amazing.

Aston Martin Vanquish Volante - dreamland :headspin:

Austin Healey Spite Mk. 1 - 1959 to 1962 - the "Frogeye" - I spent one happy summer with one. Those of you who think kilowatts is everything (like the one who can't understand the Lotus Elise!) won't understand this! But what a fun car.

Some cars have something about them. Whether they have a Japanese turbo engine or not is irrelevant. If you can't appreciate that, then I suspect you still have some growing up to do!

Cheers.

thankyou rrrage!!!! that's the one! did you see the Poolo one too? you'll know it if you've seen it. post that one up if you can i reckon it would get a laugh........

Nah what i ment before is that a 1.4L 4cyc mazda engine isnt that much tech/metal. for 40K (mx5)

think about what you actually get for that.......then look at what else you can get for those dollars. the tech involved in making a convertable dosent cost as much as they charge.........

thats because people still pay the huge prices for them! they dont have to lower the prices......

Those of you who think kilowatts is everything (like the one who can't understand the Lotus Elise!) won't understand this!
Kilowatts aren't everything, but lack of them can make an otherwise enthralling drive quite tedious - the MX5 I drove was a bit like that, it handled beautifully, stopped incredibly well, but with the exception of being manual instead of auto, opening the throttle was no more exciting than the Government-issue Laser I had the week before.

I never said I didn't understand the Elise, just that I was disappointed that they skimped on the engine. It was designed as a driver's car, pure and simple (I think I remember seeing a quote about how a Lotus engineer's brief was to design the 'perfect' chassis). Cars that have huge amounts of power and an underdeveloped chassis are often criticised, why not the other way around?

Some cars have something about them. Whether they have a Japanese turbo engine or not is irrelevant. If you can't appreciate that, then I suspect you still have some growing up to do!
I don't care what powers it, as long as it is exciting to drive. Regardless of whether it's a revvy NA four, a turbo'd six, or something else, I want a car to provide some level of excitement, at least in the *way* it delivers its power.

There's more to a convertible than wind-in-the-hair stuff. If growing up means I'm happy to be bored to tears when the throttle is pushed to the floor, then I'd like to stay immature forever.

If you like drop-top cars, you'll love riding a bike :(

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • As discussed in the previous post, the bushes in the 110 needed replacing. I took this opportunity to replace the castor bushes, the front lower control arm, lower the car and get the alignment dialled in with new tyres. I took it down to Alignment Motorsports on the GC to get this work done and also get more out of the Shockworks as I felt like I wasn't getting the full use out of them.  To cut a very long story short, it ended up being the case the passenger side castor arm wouldn't accept the brand new bush as the sleeve had worn badly enough to the point you could push the new bush in by hand and completely through. Trying a pair of TRD bushes didn't fix the issue either (I had originally gone with Hardrace bushes). We needed to urgently source another castor arm, and thankfully this was sourced and the guys at the shop worked on my car until 7pm on a Saturday to get everything done. The car rides a lot nicer now with the suspension dialled in properly. Lowered the car a little as well to suit the lower profile front tyres, and just bring the car down generally. Eternally thankful for the guys down at the shop to get the car sorted, we both pulled big favours from our contacts to get it done on the Saturday.  Also plugged in the new Stedi foglights into the S15, and even from a quick test in the garage I'm keen to see how they look out on the road. I had some concerns about the length of the LED body and whether it'd fit in the foglight housing but it's fine.  I've got a small window coming up next month where I'll likely get a little paint work done on the 110 to remove the rear wing, add a boot wing and roof wing, get the side skirt fixed up and colour match the little panel on the tail lights so that I can install some badges that I've kept in storage. I'm also tempted to put in a new pair of headlights on the 110.  Until then, here's some more pictures from Easter this year. 
    • I would put a fuel pressure gauge between the filter and the fuel rail, see if it's maintaining good fuel pressure at idle going up to the point when it stalls. Do you see any strange behavior in commanded fuel leading up to the point when it stalls? You might have to start going through the service manual and doing a long list of sensor tests if it's not the fuel system for whatever reason.
    • Hi,  Just joined the forum so I could share my "fix" of this problem. Might be of use to someone. Had the same hunting at idle issue on my V36 with VQ35HR engine after swapping the engine because the original one got overheated.  While changing the engine I made the mistake of cleaning the throttle bodies and tried all the tricks i could find to do a throttle relearn with no luck. Gave in and took it to a shop and they couldn't sort it. Then took it to my local Nissan dealership and they couldn't get it to idle properly. They said I'd need to replace the throttle bodies and the ecu probably costing more than the car is worth. So I had the idea of replacing the carbon I cleaned out with a thin layer of super glue and it's back to normal idle now. Bit rough but saved the car from the wreckers 🤣
    • After my last update, I went ahead with cleaning and restoring the entire fuel system. This included removing the tank and cleaning it with the Beyond Balistics solution, power washing it multiple times, drying it thoroughly, rinsing with IPA, drying again with heat gun and compressed air. Also, cleaning out the lines, fuel rail, and replacing the fuel pump with an OEM-style one. During the cleaning process, I replaced several hoses - including the breather hose on the fuel tank, which turned out to be the cause of the earlier fuel leak. This is what the old fuel filter looked like: Fuel tank before cleaning: Dirty Fuel Tank.mp4   Fuel tank after cleaning (some staining remains): Clean Fuel Tank.mp4 Both the OEM 270cc and new DeatschWerks 550cc injectors were cleaned professionally by a shop. Before reassembling everything, I tested the fuel flow by running the pump output into a container at the fuel filter location - flow looked good. I then fitted the new fuel filter and reassembled the rest of the system. Fuel Flow Test.mp4 Test 1 - 550cc injectors Ran the new fuel pump with its supplied diagonal strainer (different from OEM’s flat strainer) and my 550cc injectors using the same resized-injector map I had successfully used before. At first, it idled roughly and stalled when I applied throttle. Checked the spark plugs and found that they were fouled with carbon (likely from the earlier overly rich running when the injectors were clogged). After cleaning the plugs, the car started fine. However, it would only idle for 30–60 seconds before stalling, and while driving it would feel like a “fuel cut” after a few seconds - though it wouldn’t fully stall. Test 2 – Strainer swap Suspecting the diagonal strainer might not be reaching the tank bottom, I swapped it for the original flat strainer and filled the tank with ~45L of fuel. The issue persisted exactly the same. Test 3 – OEM injectors To eliminate tuning variables, I reinstalled the OEM 270cc injectors and reverted to the original map. Cleaned the spark plugs again just in-case. The stalling and “fuel cut” still remained.   At this stage, I suspect an intermittent power or connection fault at the fuel pump hanger, caused during the cleaning process. This has led me to look into getting Frenchy’s fuel hanger and replacing the unit entirely. TL;DR: Cleaned and restored the fuel system (tank, lines, rail, pump). Tested 550cc injectors with the same resized-injector map as before, but the car stalls at idle and experiences what feels like “fuel cut” after a few seconds of driving. Swapped back to OEM injectors with original map to rule out tuning, but the issue persists. Now suspecting an intermittent power or connection fault at the fuel pump hanger, possibly cause by the cleaning process.  
×
×
  • Create New...