DannyBoy

Does anyone else not think that celebrating (because this does come across that way) the deaths of 1500 people due to repeated corporate negligence is a little bit wierd, and a bit morbid if you ask me. I can't really see much of a difference between the sinking of the Titanic and the Bhopal gas tragedy in 1984, but we aren't all signing up to tour the Bhopal gasworks. People are strange, lol DB

The engine light will stay on even if the actual fault has gone away. Before bending over for Nissan, look for the 'pedal dance' on here, which is a way to read and clear the ECU codes yourself for free. That way you'll at least know what you're dealing with before spending any money. DB

Ahhh ok, had a look at one but couldn't tell if it was cats or just a centre muffler. DB

Lol not that expensive! My plan is to go for a Motordyne TDX V2 exhaust then get some PPE Long Tube Headers, but have to wait on that one as they haven't made them in RHD models but they have said they will be testing some in Australia early next year i believe and i've put my name down as the first on the list to get one. That system should be running me around £2000 or something, so a helluva lot cheaper and the increases in BHP are a lot bigger from what i've been reading on the MY350Z forums. Of course i'll be getting Abbey to tune it all as well after. Are you sure longtubes are such a good idea? I mean they're great for performance, but you'll need a very friendly MOT centre to get those through emissions, because you're not taking those off once a year, lol. Also it is now actually illegal to drive without cats on a car, and with longtubes on it'll be very obvious you've not got any on, both audibly and visually. Your car and your choice, just making sure you've thought about the red tape DB

The window thing is a classic symptom of a window that needs a position re-learn procedure. It's pretty simple to do, and as long as both of them work well, it's not something that should put you off. With the doors, make sure that the problem lies with the catches being out of place and not the door hinges themselves (they can make the door sit too low when they're failing). The catches should be easy to fix but I know from personal experience that replacing the hinges is expensive and a lot of hassle. DB

Even to get the 350bhp version all you'd be left with from a stock HR engine is the block. It has bespoke crank, pistons, rods, valves, heads and cams. Basically buy a vortech instead DB

Alright Ian, basically I'm going to have to give you that one aren't I Very confusing as all other evidence points towards the Nismo engine being around way before the HR was. When I looked at this originally in 2010 I'm fairly sure the Nismo website was different, as the RS and the RS-C now seem to have their own seperate sites. Possibly I got caught up on the development and never stopped to look at what Nissan called the damn thing. I stand by everything I said about the development and background because it's true, but i'll man up and say it: I'ts officially an HR. DB The bonnet made it pretty obvious, that and the fact the engine looks EXACTLY the same as the HR engine apart from the red section I figured that was just because if you gave a DE dual intakes it would look like an HR. Anyway in the meantime i've found out that wikipedia agrees with my view of things, and therefore I'm definitely wrong DB

Alright Ian, basically I'm going to have to give you that one aren't I Very confusing as all other evidence points towards the Nismo engine being around way before the HR was. When I looked at this originally in 2010 I'm fairly sure the Nismo website was different, as the RS and the RS-C now seem to have their own seperate sites. Possibly I got caught up on the development and never stopped to look at what Nissan called the damn thing. I stand by everything I said about the development and background because it's true, but i'll man up and say it: I'ts officially an HR. DB

Yup, NOT a HR Ok, now go to the Nismo website, translate it all from Japanese, and find where they mention the VQ35HR engine anywhere. Then read all the specs on the 380RS-C engine and realise it's not an HR either. Not everything on the internet is true, but if you can't believe the people who built the car, who can you believe. Nismo were using the race engine in early 2006, so why if they had already managed to get their hands on an HR and then had time to race-tune it, was the regular HR released a full year later? If Nissan had an HR ready in time to go racing in 2006, do you not think they'd just have given the rev-up a miss and gone straight to the HR rather than introducing a pointless middle-ground for a year? DB

That's the street legal version, so it has a bored and stroked 3.8l DE-based engine producing around 350bhp. They also made a track only 380RS-C with around 400bhp. They only made 300 of them, so pretty damn rare. Kind of anoying that Nissan could clearly get 350bhp out of the DE engine without making it un-steetable and yet the DE-engined regular Zeds had to make do with a whopping 74bhp less than that because of the stupid Japanese 276bhp gentlemen's agreement. Just think what a different class the car could have been in *sigh* DB That is a HR engine that we know is good for well over 500bhp even in standard guise. No it isn't. It isn't a DE or an HR, it is a detuned version of the engine from the 380RS-C which was based on a DE. So although it doesn't bear that much resemblance to either, it is genetically closer to a DE. DB Its based on the HR engine. Its the same as the US models which were a 3.5 HR, its just been bored/stroked to a 3.8 As for bringing one in, theres already atleast one over here - may even be a 2nd one somewhere. I'm sure there was another member who bought one. Sorry, but it's not an HR, lol. It shares the crank, rods, pistons, block and valves with the 380RS-C engine which is DE-derived (if you can find a picture of it you'll see it has a single throttle body with a mahoosive plenum). For the 300 380RS road cars that were only ever sold in Japan, they modified the engine slightly with different heads and dual throttle bodies (presumably to make it more bonnet-friendly), but that doesn't make it an HR. It's a Nismo engine built for Super-Taikyu racing and detuned for better road manners, it's not a Nissan VQ35 engine anymore. I know this because I wondered a while ago whether it would be possible to replicate a 380RS engine to any degree of accuracy, and then found out after quite a lot of research that you can't because it isn't similar enough to a DE or an HR for either engine to be a viable starting point. DB

That's the street legal version, so it has a bored and stroked 3.8l DE-based engine producing around 350bhp. They also made a track only 380RS-C with around 400bhp. They only made 300 of them, so pretty damn rare. Kind of anoying that Nissan could clearly get 350bhp out of the DE engine without making it un-steetable and yet the DE-engined regular Zeds had to make do with a whopping 74bhp less than that because of the stupid Japanese 276bhp gentlemen's agreement. Just think what a different class the car could have been in *sigh* DB That is a HR engine that we know is good for well over 500bhp even in standard guise. No it isn't. It isn't a DE or an HR, it is a detuned version of the engine from the 380RS-C which was based on a DE. So although it doesn't bear that much resemblance to either, it is genetically closer to a DE. DB

It's all a bit cloudy as to the reasoning behind it (varies from government safety rules to JGTC homologation), but in essence there was an agreement (or rule depending who you ask) between japanese car manufacturers that no-one would make a car with more than 280PS (276bhp) as stock. I think there was also a top speed limit as well but can't remember what it was. This agreement was in force from way back in the 80's (or earlier, again based on who you ask) until 2004, so basically the 350Z caught the arse-end of the 276bhp era, but could (perhaps should) have been so much more powerful. DB

First thing that springs to mind is that that ad was written by someone who hasn't got an effing clue about the car. Doesn't necessarily reflect badly on the car, but go in with your head screwed on. DB

Only two places down south can properly remap the Zed; Horsham Developments and Abbey Motorsport. Both are traders on here and well known/trusted. DB

Yea, have to agree with this. Choosing your exhaust purely for performance is a bit pointless because (assuming we're only talking about good quality ones) the difference between the best and worst is going to be like 5bhp at most. That's of course after a remap, as without one nothing you do to a zed will make any difference as the ECU will just dial it out. Go with something well made and with a sound that you like DB

That's the street legal version, so it has a bored and stroked 3.8l DE-based engine producing around 350bhp. They also made a track only 380RS-C with around 400bhp. They only made 300 of them, so pretty damn rare. Kind of anoying that Nissan could clearly get 350bhp out of the DE engine without making it un-steetable and yet the DE-engined regular Zeds had to make do with a whopping 74bhp less than that because of the stupid Japanese 276bhp gentlemen's agreement. Just think what a different class the car could have been in *sigh* DB

With a budget of £1k, I'd be looking at a Milltek cat-back sytem personally: http://www.h-dev.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=78_169_293_472_480&products_id=25055 Proven quality, fit and perfomance gains (with remap obv.) with a nice refined noise. DB

Bear in mind that basically nothing is going to be a perfect fit out of the box for the soft-top because most spoilers are designed for the coupe. That's not to say they can't be made to fit (several examples of member's cars on here), but it's something you'd want to entrust to a capable bodyshop, and will cost money to get right. DB

If Amy Winehouse was a car, she would be the X-1: no doubt very capable, but what a F***ing mess! DB

Thing is you still won't be able to include the magic 'GT Pack' phrase in the for sale ad, so tbh even with leather seats the damage will already be done. Getting the seats redone in good quality leather will probably set you back about £400, and you'll never make that back or get that much of an easier sale for it. I'd say just sell as-is and accept the fact that it might take a while to shift. DB

As a Zed owner you may be aware, but you'll be looking right down at the bottom end to find a roadster for 7k, especially if very good condition is what you're after, and especially if you want it in white (rocking horse poo) or black (which carries a price premium). I would respectfully suggest that maybe a more realistic budget would result in better luck finding one. Best of luck DB

Really don't understand why you'd want to cheap out on brakes. I have DBA grooved disks and my insurance only went up by the admin fee of adding them to the policy, the braking on the other hand went up by rather a lot. Oh and brakes can catch fire: If you buy cheap disks that can't dissipate heat properly then even good quality pads will get cooked. DB

Nismo V1 (or replica) unless i'm very much mistaken DB

That looks mean as fook, loving it. DB

Certainly seems that way! DB