coldel

I can squat in the back of my R33 facing the child booster seat - am a touch under six foot tall and its easy to push the passenger seat forwards and folded carry little in facing the back of the car and fix him in whilst squatting in the rear seat footwell as it were. And I am nearly 40 and not at all flexible And for the number of times you need to actually do it, is it worth cutting in half your options?

As above - 4 doors shouldn't be a deal breaker, I carry a 2 year old in and out of my skyline and plonk him in the back seat, plenty of access once the passenger seat is folded forwards.

You can get R33 Saloons, in fact they are much cheaper than the coupes http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/nissan/skyline-r33/95-nissan-skyline-r33-gtst-4-door-fresh-import-manual-v-rare-45k-mls-kitted-up-kahn2-wheels-awesome-cond/2281976

interesting.. I got bad results handling wise in the past when changing wheels from stock. Did you get them in the same dimentions as the standard wheels? Well I got some which were slightly wider but maintained the correct rolling diameter and a sensible offset (19s but with lower profile tyres). But it reduced unsprung weight by about 60% which is better for the car, I would have thought. Also if you buy crap off ebay and not proper branded wheels you are probably getting something that will not improve the handling (although look better)

Wheels will make a big difference, I went from those touring wheels to some Volks Racing wheels, lets just say the difference in weight and subsequently handling is very noticable

Ignore gangzoom mate our two year old is demanding, but amazing, it doesnt stop your life, just means you have to be more organised and more willing to go the extra yard to make things happen. Just this weekend gone my wife and I went to Oslo for three days for a city break, the inlaws stayed at our house during that time looking after Alfie. I rarely miss a Zed meet in my area - I even took Alfie along to one when he was a baby and just learning to walk! Just need to learn to give each other space to do your own thing, be organised about it and get a calendar on the wall so its staring you right in the face each day and you get the best of both worlds - a baby that is amazing but also still get to do things you did before. A side effect we found was that you tend to drop the things that you thought were important but actually you dont miss when they are gone. Think of it as 'Lifestyle Streamlining'

Its a fair point - although did you mean you wanted a quick car and used the ring time as a benchmark - or you intending to do it? You will owe back some serious brownie points if you do, you wont be allowed out for months! We have a two year old, never had a need for an estate car - not sure what you would need it for? Kid goes in the back, you still have a spare seat and room in the back, buggy and cases in the boot. Job done. We have a Ford Focus for the family weekends away etc, never had a problem fitting stuff in.

For £5K? Yep

R33

Just got back from Oslo, these things were everywhere - as common as a Ford Focus over there - clearly they have stricter emmissions over there!

The exhaust tat on eBay is pretty crap, as any shred of common sense would be screaming at you if its the cheapest option on ebay vs 10 others more expensive ones chances are its crap. Speak to the traders on here for properly fitting branded stuff like exhausts and the like. CS and Tarmac are a good start. Weight savings, I think a member on here Wasso knocked about 80kgs off his car by stripping plenty out including the sound deadening material in the boot.

Cheers guys, got the car where I want it to be - but still have the urge to *tinker* - maybe swap out the induction kit for something else. More shiny bits. etc!

Ceramic turbos means much reduced lag, but at the expense of ability to deal with excessive power hence keeping it to around the 0.8bar mark. You can get steel wheeled turbos but they do spin up slower, but then the skies the limit on boost - I am happy with mine as its very drivable out on public roads.

Well, update time. Steering rack bushes were on the last MoT as an advisory, so those have been changed out for some aftermarket ones - has transformed the steering so much more feel to the drive now. Also, had a brilliant visit to Horsham Developments, Jez is a top bloke and really took the time to talk to me, listen to what I wanted and did the job professionally and quickly. A few garages I have used do tend to treat you a bit like an idiot, but really liked the way Jez handles his customers - really would recommend anyone in the area using those guys for work. Anyway, car is now officially at stage 1, I installed a new boost gauge along with an adjustable HKS turbo actuator - I could have pushed it up to the limit on boost but decided to give the turbo a decent amount of leeway in terms of safe boost so asked for it to be set to 0.8bar. Very happy with the results, smooth power curves, safe fuelling, non of the infamous flat spots at circa 4k revs.

Good pics guys, sorry to hear Zhorno although you did seem to hex the whole track moment with your talk of budget tyres and that in advance! Shame I couldn't make it, but was busy spending £8-£10 per beer in Oslo

I believe you can buy a spacer pipe to make 350z exhausts fit the longer 350gt's?

Popped you a PM shaun

I know someone selling some 18" Volks GTC's with tyres ...

Jag XKSS wow

Ditto! Which is why the VXR8 went the journey. Benefit of an RX8 is you get cheap fun with modern refinement. Anything else on it's pricerange would be a 90s jap sports car with the shabby plastics and rattly interior. Mine only rattles a bit

Just in answer to the OP, yes they are very dodgy, their main business is panel repairs so expect lots of crap imports tarted up to look nice for a sale. Plenty of bad reviews on the Supra forums. I enquired about a Skyline there last year and they didn't even have the import documents to view. Sharks. Avoid. Just don't be tempted because they have imported lots of cars.

Nope! Although it received a huge amount of laughter and baiting!

All pics taken on my iPhone 4s

Well, she had her first service yesterday, worth doing on any new car purchased. Just as well as one of the spark plugs I managed to undo with my fingers Also found some 'irregularities' with the bulbs i.e. rear fog was a clear bulb with some melted red tape on it! But, after 6 new NGK sparks, oil, filter, fuel filter, general clean out and other bits and pieces - was running so smoothly now, thought it was before but now it is smooth as silk, loving it. So, deserved a quick noon out Dorking way, stopped for some piccies Off to H-Dev in a weeks time to have it 'turned up' bit, should be fun grabbing a few extra ponies!

PS, if you never stopped at any moment, they can't fine you I am pretty sure, you have to have come to a complete stop.