brillomaster

that would be the first port of call, get the system checked for leaks and then regassed. Assuming that the blowers themselves are still working?

just keep it on all the time... on a really small car yes you can notice the difference in performance between A/C on and off - but on a zed there's plenty of power to go around, the amount of power it will be leeching is minimal.

simply supercharging a zed will indeed be pretty cheap servicing wise, only thing you'd really need to do is maybe change the oil a little more often, but you could continue to use the standard discs and pads, and standard tyre sizes. However, most really fast cars have the associated beefed up components to deal with the extra speed, and its these heavy duty components that cost extra to maintain and replace - dustbin lid brake discs, multi piston brake calipers and huge pads, and wider tyres. As well as heavy duty clutches, transmissions, differentials, fuel pumps, cooling systems and the like. Really if you supercharge a zed, you should also swap the clutch, put on a big brake kit, run wider wheels and decent tyres to put the increased power down, upgrade the cooling system - and if you do all that then the servicing costs will be comparable to a car that had 450bhp to start off with, possibly more as all the upgraded parts on a supercharged zed would be aftermarket, whereas all the parts on a powerful BMW will be manufactured cheaply and in great numbers. As an example, the calipers and discs on an M3 will be quite pricey yes, but the costs of most big brake kits is eye watering. similarly, a wider M3 wheel may be pricier than a standard 350z wheel, but to get the same width rim in the aftermarket will again be ruinously expensive, as they don't have the economies of scale in production.

wow that's a big sump! I presume as a result of the flat 6 engine? but even so, even if decent oil is £50 for 5 litres, that only an extra £30 or so in oil each year.

theres a big difference between the cost of an R8 or GTR and spending and extra £6k above a zed for £6k more than a zed you're maybe looking at boxster, cayman, maybe M3. certainly nothing as exotic as an R8 or GTR. but if you can afford to service a zed properly, im sure you can afford a cheaper Porsche or an M3 - after all, tyres will be broadly the same sensible sized 18" or 19"s, all have around a 3-4 litre engine so probably use the same amount of oil, and all all will have front discs around 330-350mm so will be broadly similar. the only extras I can see are that M3 discs are drilled and grooved, and are around 3 times more expensive than a similar sized standard BMW disc. moral of the story is for gawds sake don't use a main stealer, unless its a warranty repair you aren't paying for, or you had some servicing thrown in when you bought the car. All other cases, use an independent!

I'm sorry, but i'm not on board... Am I the only one who thinks spending only spending £17 on a part the protects the longevity of your £2,000 engine is a bit foolish? Sure branded air intakes are expensive, but they're also well tested. For £12 you might as well have used a few old socks for filtration. Also I hope you kept the old parts for refitting if you ever need to sell it... if I was looking to buy a car and noticed the seller's home made air filter under the bonnet, i'd be running away, fearful of what else the seller had cheaped out on...

hmm that's pretty good! where are you looking for prices?

about time there was a new R888, the old design is yonks old now. Strongely suspect these will be well out of our price range - the old R888s are still twice the price of the federals, can't imagine the new ones will be any cheaper!

be thankful you had three days! mine was targeted less than an hour after I washed it - thankfully i'd already taken the photos I needed.

nice shoes!

PS a 2003 GT with 70,000 miles (and rusty arches) sells for £5,400!

just been to get my rusty wheel arches looked at - garage said he wouldn't be able to tell the exact extent of the damage until he starts cutting metal back, but suggested around £300 to cut back, weld in new metal and repaint my right rear arch. that combined with rust on the front right coming through from a previous repair, and a stone chip being flattened and repainted on the left front arch, total bill was going to be around £600. made my decision to sell the car that much easier! also just to be aware, my car was a 2003 with 70,000 on the clock - and the rust coming through on the right rear arch was significant. plus there were signs of the same rust coming through on the left rear arch as well, so I definitely think it will need doing soon! suspect it will start becoming a serious problem for the oldest UK cars now.

a 335i certainly ticks the power, RWD and DD boxes - but it wouldn't feel that special compared to more specialist machinery. after all its only a 3 series! a mid 2000s M5/M6 would be a great car if you could stretch to it - yes the servicing costs would be high, but how else would you get a V10? actually, talking of V10s, slightly leftfield but an Audi S8? not once have you mentioned 'sporty' as a requirement... closest you've come was 'fun' but comfort and space have been mentioned... I think a 440bhp V10 would still count as 'fun'...

does that budget stretch to an early M6? if not then do what im doing, remapped BMW 335i!

yeah it was middle of the pack for us... glad we've done it, but still rank Donington, Cadwell and probably Oulton Park in front of it. but some great corners there - the first chicane into the long right is a tricky corner, then out the back through the very quick esses, and the double apex sunny in/sunny out. works the front left tyre soo hard.

So was at Croft circuit last weekend for a day with javelin trackdays... had a very early start getting the car up there - in fact left leamington at 8pm, stopped overight at Kens in doncaster and then went on to Croft from his at 5:30am the following morning. Very straightforward to get up there - just follow the A1! despite having only half of an interior, the bmw actually cruises really well - just have to avoid the drone from the hole in the exhaust around 2,500rpm. which its normally above when at motorways. Once on track there was a good mix of cars - ken was complaining about the number of racecars, but actually everyone was very well behaved - i dont remember any drivers pushing to get past or overtaking in unsafe places. The only problem we had was actually a road car - honda civic type R infact, which despite us following him for 4 laps, refused to let us past on the straights. Yes he was faster in a straight line, but really slow through the corners - could have easily overtaken him under brakes or round the outside of the faster corners, but thats not really the trackday way. Ah well, rest of the day was good. Overall the car was pretty good - ken may complain about a lack of power out the slower corners compared to the old 330ci (we have a 328i now, get used to it!). Still tending towards understeer rather than oversteer, which is a little frustrating, but through some of the faster corners around the back of the circuit the car did feel pretty fast. The only time the back was stepping out was if the rear tyres started to overheat, and the nature of the circuit means the rear right tyre basically does nothing as 95% of the track is fast right handers, so when you do need it to do something its not up to temperature. We did manage to unwrap some tread off the front left tyre by mid afternoon... down to the canvas - not surprising given the abuse the left front was taking! but im surprised the inside unwrapped, since the last time we took the tread off a tyre was the front left at Castle Combe - another very fast clockwise circuit! but that time the outside tread fell off. And then we also had a small problem with the power steering... the shaft in the pump snapped! no loss of fluid, belt still spinning the PS pulley, but no power steering. It did start making a pretty horrible noise about an hour before it finally went, but hey, wouldnt be the first time we drove home with no power steering. New brake set up was pretty solid - yellowstuff pads and ATE super blue fluid holding up well, no problems all day. And new throttle as nice, so good being able to heel and toe into the first chicane and then from 4th to 2nd into tower. Managed to get a bit of video - excuse the weird camera work, original footage was rather shaky, so used youtubes stabilisation software. and also the sound wasnt picked up that well, but you get the idea. so, few things for the next trackday... get the power steering sorted out primarily! and we'll also be swapping over the front left hub, so we can fit the wider wheels. the spigot rings worked well to cure the vibration, but would be good to have all the wheels fit. might do two more days before getting proper rubber on and an alignment. Not sure of next trackdays, but hoping to do cadwell early July and Donington mid july, both brilliant tracks whatever the car.

we've kept all our BMWs road legal, taxed and insured, so are kept on the road outside my flat. If i need to do any work on it i just move it round the back of the flats and do work in the residents car park. as for general stuff, the only thing you need to have a great time on a trackday is a car! but i think a clio, stripped out as much as possible, with a bit of extra money spent on some tyres (running on 15s?) and some decent brake pads and fluids. but why a clio? you know thats wrong wheel drive right?!? if you had £2k to spend on a car it'd be BMW 330ci for £1400, £400 on some decent tyres, and £200 on some decent pads.

Car is now SOLD! Mods please lock And dont worry, i may have sold the zed but i'm not going anywhere... I'll be joining the ever growing number of ex-350z owners on here!

also it would seem that the majority of people on this forum are happy today, seeing as we seem to be a largely tory lot.

huzzah! at last warwick and leamington have finished counting their votes! only St Ives to go, but they have the excuse of waiting for the scilly isles...

Bump still open to offers, the worst I can say is no!

its an old saying... 18s for go, 19s for show. since you've mentioned looks and dish, i'm guessing show is more important to you, so i'd go for 19s. EDIT beaten by mere seconds! ^^^

still haven't answered the question of who the drifter is at the start of the advert...

sheesh I would never do a session at either CC spring action day or Japfest! Pretty much all the MSV tracks do novice days if you're interested in seeing what all the fuss is about, or Rockingham do a lunchtime taster session for relative peanuts, which are all proper tracks with proper marshalling and driving standards. Or alternatively, do a cheap day at Blyton Park, all day driving for £129 I think, on the weekend. The standard of driving is so much better and considerate - any twazzocks will get black flagged, or if they don't, a quick word with the organisers will get them sorted out. Colin at Javelin trackdays especially takes no prisoners - if you drive like a dick, he'll chuck you off, simples.

nice ride! unfortunately I'm looking for a 335i otherwise I would have swapped you! must remember that 5 spoke wheels look rather good on an E92 coupe