brillomaster

nah, not worth the bother for me if theres no multiplier. plus im taking solace in the fact the petrol has dropped below £1.30 again for standard, so that feels like a saving to me!

getting ever closer to vet now, which makes sense as i've been on here for a year and a half now!

I'd rather have the F type, so im not sure that similarity works for me!

yep that is a pretty shocking list, especially the repeat offense of astras and corsas - even one of them is one too many You need a clear progression of cost, power and purpose, in my 4 years of driving I've had: 1995 Pug 306 1.4 2001 Pug 306 1.8 1999 Mazda MX5 1.8 1995 BMW 328i (first track car) 1990 Nissan 300ZX TT 2000 Honda Civic 1.6 (in its defence, it was a 8000rpm screaming VTEC) 2003 Nissan 350Z 1996 BMW 328i (second track car)

welcome to the forum! Thats quite a sweet looking corsa, you should definitely get a zed - £5k would get you a reasonable motor, which you could then slam on some 19" Rota GTRs... you're clearly no stranger to the 'stance'!

thought about doing one at silverstone - they have a lot of short notice half price days, and it would be an experience to actually drive round the Uks most prestigious circuit! But then again, now that i've had experience of trackdays, i'd rather spend £120 to lap my own car round an airfield all day than a ferrari round a circuit for 5 minutes with an instructor.

think im nearing veteran myself

Mmmm lovely looking car, and the noise of both the V6 and the V8 - ! I think the base level V6 is far too much money, considering that you can get a 370z with the same power for half the price. However, its hard to do better for less than the V8 Jag. Its a shame they've moved their competitor focus more up market - i was really hoping the V6 would be a match for the boxster and Z4, in which case i'd have been able to afford it a few years down the line, but as it is now, it's going to be out of my reach for a long time

stick it at 70, cruise control on. assuming the traffic isnt too bad, i'd have thought you'd get there and back on one tank

Little update report (although no pictures of work done yet) I've been working on the car for a couple of weekends now - so far have managed to completely strip the interior and boot of all trim and rear seats, remove 90% of the carpet and swap in my steering wheel and gearknob. Undecided as to whether to try and get the sound deadening out as well, its quite a lot of faff as i'd have to trail an extension lead out my first floor flat to power the hairdryer to soften the glue. similar story with getting a vacuum in it, interior is a right state and really needs a vacuum! Only thing left that needs to be done is fitting harnesses - should be relatively straightforward, but ran out of time yesterday. We've decided to stick with 15 inch wheels for now - parts of the problem with handling was the tyre pressures - they were 1.5 bar all round, so upped them to 2.5 bar and things are a lot better! still very wobbly through the suspension though... We've also managed to source a second set of identical wheels with nearly new tyres for just £65 of fleabay - so we now backup wheels in case we puncture/detread tyres whilst on track. Going to have to leave this now as i'm going on holiday, but will hopefully be out on track in May. And at some point Will you need to see the car!

seems to be pretty accurate to me - reset every trip and can usually work out to within a litre how much will go in using the miles and the mpg. Which is just as well as the fuel gauge is screaming bloody murder at me after 280 miles to fill up, when i know theres a good 140 miles left in the tank!

Thats looking totally bad ass in matt black, nice! Oh and for the premium rate phonelines, use saynoto0870 every time

who'd wanna fly!?! Birmingham to Edinburgh is perfect Zed GT territory! I'd recommend the A7 from Carlisle to Edinburgh, way more interesting than the motorway.

definitely give it a go before you buy. I came from a 300ZX TT as well, and i'll be honest, i missed the drama when the turbos spool up and the shove they provide is epic. However dyno runs have shown that my 300zx had a very lumpy torque curve, peaked at 280lbft, but dropped down to just 180lbft at the redline, so while the midrange was brutal, the top end was lacking as the turbos run out of puff. In the 350z its a different story - yes its very linear and progressive, a lot more so than a 300zx, but needs to be revved harder to get the best out of it in my opinion. However the gentle swell of torque grows on you, it just pulls and pulls and pulls all the way to the redline, which if you get there you are going very fast indeed!

try holding the switch up, and then a few bangs around the door trim just around/below the switch. if you're pressing the switch and nothing is happening at all its most likely a loose connection, not the motor. mine is doing the same thing - when the motor actually operates its fine, its getting it to operate in the first place that is the problem!

Best mod for me was buying a mp3/cassette adapter so i can listen to my music in my car again! I'm actually glad that nissan had the foresight to know that their CD player was cack, and put a trusty cassette deck in as back up

carparts4less.co.uk was cheapest when i was looking for a battery for my gfs 206 - free delivery as well.

this could be a tricky one... if MPSS are the best, and FK452s are apparently shite, is there a comfortable middle ground?

I appreciate the awesomeness of MPSS's, but the OP did say not to break the bank - and according to Camskill Pilot Super Sports are the most expensive tyres (bar trackday tires) in the zed sizes. what are opinions on other, cheaper alternatives? im thinking, in no particular order, Bridgestones, Dunlops, Vredesteins, Pirellis, Falkens, Toyos, Avons, Continentals. Personally i'll be sticking with Falkens, they arent good in the freezing and snow, but what summer tyres are. but when the roads are warm and dry they work fine for me - and also seem fine in rain, assuming they have a decent amount of tread.

aye, im considering winters next winter... just cos my commute means i have to drive otherwise im stuck. and yep, i'll probably put them on in december, and would be leaving them on until april at this rate... consistently been below 7degrees for some time now!

Oh Their their, who gives too hoots these days! They're are two many people who get a bee in there bonnet, their only getting themselves worked up over nothing.

+1 on the VRH35z - in race trim it was pushing over 1000bhp and keeps to 3.5 litre displacement, so fitting for a zed! However i'm quite keen on keeping the V6 - the 6R4 engine is a good shout, but i'd have the more highly tuned version that featured in the XJ220 with 540bhp

aye we'll see how we get on as it is - point taken about bigger rotors needing bigger wheels, but im hoping that better pads andhigh temp fluid will be enough - we'll only do a handful of laps at a time to try and not overwork the brakes. will report back when we have taken her for a spin

unfortunately cant get hold of R888s in 205/60/15 size, which makes direct comparison tricky! i take your point about narrower tyres being more prone to oversteer, but the tyres that are on there at the moment are smooth quiet running ones, so a more performance oriented compound would offset the narrower width. might need to play with the pressures as they are to improve feel - quite possible they're running too low.

First things first - this is not related to a 350Z, but would be interested to hear everyones views especially those who do trackdays. As most of you will know, me and Will have just bought an old BMW E36 328i for track use. Now, the car at the moment is running on the smallest wheels and tallest profile tyres ive ever seen on a 3 series - current sizes are 205/60/R15. it handles like a boat! My question is, im seriously considering dropping down to 195/50/R15s, but am aware of the disadvantages this would have - namely, the rolling diameter is 8% lower, so speedo would be completely wrong, and ride would be a lot harsher. However, as i see it, swapping from 205/60 to 195/15 means we get Less sidewall flex - better turn in effective shorter (or longer - cant remember which is which) final drive ratio - better acceleration at the expense of top speed Lower ride height - an inch of drop without changing springs, with a further inch of drop available to maintain the same arch gap it was running on 60 profile tyres lighter wheels - less unsprung mass, so better acceleration, braking and handling Does this sound like a good idea? i'm a firm believer in small wheels for better handling, but is an 8% decrease in rolling radius and an 25mm drop just from tyres going too far? remember we're working to a budget, and 195/50/15 tyres are so ridiculously cheap its hard to ignore - full sets of part worn toyo R888s go for about £150 on fleabay. Other options are 225/50/16s, or 225/45/17s, but both of these would require sourcing some new rims. Any thoughts appreciated!