NeilMH

Car looks great.

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Love the Abarth 500 . I am sure you will enjoy chucking that around.

Thanks for the comments so far - Tarmac and Dblock. Still hoping that someone might have gone from 17JDMs to 18Rays (there is a significant price difference!)

On A25 this morning. Waved and flashed - which was reciprocated

My car originally came with standard 18s which I know are heavy (with 050As). For winter I have been running JDM 17s with winter tyres (Kumho). I know I can't ignore the tyre factor but just parking that for a moment........ my observation is that the car feels more nimble and more feelsome with the 17s, despite the softer compound and deeper tread depth. I think the JDM 17s are a little lighter than Std 18s but to what extent that is compensated by a heavier tyre I don't know. Anyway, my simple question is - do 18 Rays provide a noticeable difference in the feeling through the wheels compared to standard 18s versus JDM 17s? I know they should do - but do they in reality? I don't care at all about the looks of any of them. I do care about feel and ride quality. It would be particularly interesting to hear from someone who has used all 3 types of wheels.

Looks brilliant I am a bit nervous about reading your future postings ... I have already found myself drawn to looking at 370Z ads Perhaps I should forget the mods and save up instead I await the undoubtedly eloquent descriptions to come

Isn't that nice, still getting welcomes nearly 3 years after joining Such a friendly.... and sometimes very random place Whoops

A very significant proportion of my wife's adult life has been very badly affected because she didn't have the right advice before and following 2 major back operations years ago. In fact, had she had the advice and help she is receiving now, I believe she wouldn't have needed the operations. Because she had those operations her options are much more limited than they would have been going forwards. It may not be that exciting but if you can get the right physio (ie. one who really understands the physiology of the spine and all the specific interactions in detail) and the right Pilates instructor, this could change your life considerably. The longer you leave it the more complex and difficult it gets. As it happens my wife's physio is also the physio for one of the British Sports teams - so there is a competitive element (!) - ie. what he expects from her, which is total commitment despite her limitations.

I am assuming this is to do with the 350z being the base power level from which you then have a desire for more. In one sense you always want more. When I put my foot down in the Caterham for the first time I thought "I'll never need/want more than this". Then after a few weeks you want an R300, then and 400 and so on. In tin-top terms I thought this the first time I drove an Evo 6 and so it goes on. However, there is more to life and I have to say that in terms of overall enjoyment I would put the 350z in the same bracket as my Alfasud Ti which only had 95bhp but there is something about them that you can't quite put your finger on. On the road you can't drive at 10/10ths all the time - so absolute power is not that relevant - albeit nice for a short burst.

Sally. The car looks great.

I agree with what others have said re core strength, swimming and pilates. Were the other cars autos? It could be operating the clutch - there is a lot of overlap/referred pain overlap between back and legs. Good luck.

Years ago I read a book about fast road tuning based around bhp or torque gains per £ spent. However, what that does not tell you about is the rest of the experience - power delivery, sound, driveability, longevity of the components, etc. Nevertheless it is good to be reminded of the equation from time to time I'll probably still end up spending too much one day.

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Done

JWT, no spacer or other mods, no remap yet, no problems