JetSet

Let's get things into perspective, when I first started driving in 1966 petrol was 6 shillings a gallon, 30 pence today and 6.6p per litre, and back then the average wage was £20 a week (I was earning about £9 back then). Today it's around £1.30 per litre or £5.90 a gallon and the average wage is £499 a week. Now then in 1966 in one hour you had enough money to buy 1.66 gallons of petrol, today that figure would be 2.25 gallons. Income tax and National Insurance will have warped these figures somewhat but I remember paying tax on my meagre £9 back then. Inflation (and time) twists our understanding of just how expensive things were in the past, I just worked out that my first sports car an Austin Healey Sprite cost me the equivalent of £1,760 in todays money in Insurance with 3 years NCB and would have cost me £20k to buy new . I think we will find prices stabilising soon at around £1.35, if they do go higher, say to £1.50 or above then it may have a catastrophic effect on the economy with people driving less (lower income on petrol duty for the government) and haulage companies going out of business, even another recession, there's also a chance of another drivers mutiny if prices keep going up. There's little anyone can do though, The Arabs know that the oil is going to run out and they want to make as much as they can while they still have it, the government need the income to fund spending.... As far as what I'd pay, then I guess it it shot up above £1.50 I'd cut spending on something else, reducing my holiday from 3 weeks to 2 would be first on my list. Pete

http://www.moodym.com/maxima/images/zRoadster-chop.jpg Pete

Yeah, from what I've read if you go for 19" wheels then the ideal setup is 245/35 front and 275/35 rear or 265/30 front and 295/30 rear to maintain the rolling radius and keep the speedo accurate and the TRC happy. I don't see any problems if you can do that to get the double dish effect which looks quite good. Pete

Great read Thanks, Pete

Yeah, you have to be really careful and you will more than likely forget one day. I also damaged a low front end when parking up with a high kerbstone in front of me that I didn't spot. Damaged the MR2 Turbo several times, eventually it was unrepairable. Quite low, but I've seen lower. Also, you learn to use a different technique, trying to straddle speed bumps by aiming the centre of the car over them at speed is a no no. Pete

You'll have to ask the guys who take their cars to Track days I suppose, there's not many road racers on here. Pete

Welcome Pete

To an extant its what you're used to, I remember picking up my Clio and not being able to hold it on the clutch on a slight incline, stalled it loads of times before I got the hang of it...Back to The Zed, the clutch is certainly heavier than anything I'd owned before and the release point is quite high up, it took a while to get used to it. Pete

I've never had any dealings with them, but they've been there since at least 1970. I'll take your word that its been there for ages, maybe I was distracted by the Ferrari they had up for sale Pete

Nothing wrong with imports, plenty here have them but they do come with a variety of specifications. Normally they can be spotted by the square number plate at the back although you do see the odd one with a U.K bumper. Specs on U.K cars are fairly easy to spot, I always look at the steering wheel, 6 buttons means its a GT, 3 buttons a non GT, and there are very few Nissan options other than trim, colours, SatNav, spats, maybe a couple more? plenty of aftermarket ones though . If your budget is around 11k then you're looking at a 54/05 possibly 55 reg'd vehicle. The Zed was given a facelift and a bit more power for 2006 and these tend to cost a bit more. 55 and earlier models do come in the cheaper road tax bracket though . Look out for the service history, very important that the work has been done on schedule, a car with 50k should have had 5 services minimum, walk if the book has been "lost". The car also has a few minor issues, the bose CD skips tracks when cold, the gear change from first to second is clunky when cold, the back axle clicks now and again especially if its been standing for a few days and as you've already noticed the seats do start wearing after a few years. From a personal point of view I'd also avoid one that had a mountain of previous owners. Other than that, just the normal things you'd look at on any car. Some dealers tend to throw on cheapo tyres so take a quick peek at what's on the car. The 350Z though is a very sturdy car that provided its been well cared for will last for many years, take your time, the right one will come up soon enough Pete

Like Chris, I've driven past it several times over the last few weeks and yeah, it looks really nice from the road. I first noticed it for sale in late November, can't be more specific than that and I'm seeing the price slowly drop. That dealer specialises in High performance cars, they often have Ferrari's, Lambos, etc in there and they've been trading for as long as I can remember (and that's a long time ). I can take a good look at it if you like, it's about 15 minutes away from me. Pete

What make of tyres? Got the same make on the front? Pressure should be 35... Pete

Have you got the right size tyres on? If you put a lower profile tyres on the back it confuses the TC correct size on 18" wheels should be 245/45. Pete

I hope you realize that you've listed the counties as they were in 1974, a few more have been added since then.. and a few no longer exist Pete

There's a big meet and drive out in Wales in May viewtopic.php?f=57&t=43279 Pete

Colours are a personal choice. My zed is Silver, not my first choice but I've grown to like it over the years . The facelift in 2006 added a fair bit of weight, about 70 kgs, I worked it out that the 300 version has around 5 bhp per ton more than the 280 version. I've no idea where this extra weight comes from, must have made a few other changes that aren't immediately obvious ?? You would need to talk to Abbey about increasing the power, the 313 engine is 80% different to the earlier engines. Pete

They're really nice, pity they're so far away though Pete

Welcome to the forum , looking forward to seeing the pics! Pete

Welcome to the forum.That's a seriously nice zed Pete

My son in law goes to to Le Mans every year with his mates, one of them has this car and it broke down in France in 2009, major breakdown, mega money to fix it and still hasn't been able to get it done, basically he can't afford it. If you get one of these think of running costs beyond your imagination and keep a large contingency fund handy... Pete

Took mine to Lookers on Sealand Road in October, they did the P3 service for £253 plus they did a free 19 point safety check and threw in a couple of Nissan air fresheners. Very pleased with the cost and the job they did. Pete

Excellent , I wonder who they'll get to do Coulthard's old job, Mansell, Hill and Herbert must be in the frame, maybe even Alan Jones but please, not Blundell ! Pete

PM'd...... anyone using the A55 is welcome Snacks/Tea/Coffee/Smoking Area, plenty of parking. About 60-80 minutes away from Valley. Cheers, Pete

You could always pop in here for a brew, you'll be driving right past my house Pete

You could always snuggle up Pete