Dynamic Turtle

Agreed, but the 2014+ models look more aggressive.

US manufacturers (who also make trucks & stuff) also seem to take this approach but with better results – wedging 454-620 “big blocks†into coupes has traditionally yielded a certain degree of fun. As long as you have an infinite petrol budget.

Unlike Nissan, Porsche don’t manufacture trucks and feel the need to component-share their weighty engines, gearboxes and electrics with their sports and GT cars. Doesn’t do much for mass but it helps keep them cheap and reliable though! It’s worth noting that the 370z has a 5-star Euro NCAP rating whereas the Boxster/Cayman have never even been submitted (AFAIK). Not something we really think about until you’ve had a head-on collision with a wall on a trackday. All that performance with added safety fizz too!

Looking good, but where were the birds? Just Monica Bellucci? Beautiful but what, 45 years old now? The Craig Bonds are great, Casino and Skyfall are both highlights for me. I think the Bourne Identity series has been very influential and that's a good thing.

Problem is the compound price differential between the £150 for "proper" wash and £5 for the albanian scratching session. Over the course of three or so years it could cover a pre-sale respray with the cash saved in the interim! I think people don't half faff over detailing - 99% of the public couldn't tell and the other 1% probably couldn't give a monkey's. Particularly as the damn things are covered in muck and filth again 50 miles later.

Given that tyres spend their entire time saving your life, you might want to sell the lot and get some MPSS on there sharpish. Gripper, better in't wet and quieter than the RE050s albeit with slightly reduced lifespan.

Re Mileage over 8k p.a. the GFV took a bigger hit than the excess mileage costs which I thought was a bit bizarre, but there you go. I'll still drive it regardless, just that every 1,000 miles over is going to cost me £80. Nobody said this was going to be cheap to run...

1) When you've got a meagre 8,000 mile annual allocation? Pretty much nicked for another £75 there. Token amount but it's the principle that counts. 2) Thought so. This is very annoying given that I'm at 8,600 already - I just know some muppet is cause problems or they'll break something and the car's running perfectly at the moment. Plus there's the Cobra exhaust on it. 3) Bit of a joke though, isn't it? 4) The figures I'm paying are exactly the same and as per the original dealership docs, but the APRs are completely different. Just freaked me out, quite understandably.

So then two months after buying West Way Manchester's 370ZN demonstrator I've finally got some of the documentation through that was missing at the point of sale. Actual delivery mileage was 1,000 miles higher than the 6,000 miles on all their sale docs - bear in mind that this cannot be rectified once the docs have been signed. It represents£75 worth of additional mileage. Annoying but admittedly not the end of the world. "155 point used car check" was carried out at sale, but I only have the stamp in the log book not the actual signed checklist. Incidentally do I still need to have a P1 service at 9,000 miles given that it had the pre-sale check at 7,000? Apparently the oil and filter was changed as part of the check... The log book data is all over the place. One sticker gives the model as a 350z while the QR code says its a 370Z Roadster! Worst of all, the finance rate on West Way's sale docs was 3% but the Nissan finance / Banque RCI website says the APR is 6.4% and the "True Rate" is 5.8%. So almost double the interest I was told I was paying at the point of sale. WTF?!?! Anyway it has taken four phone calls over five weeks to get an officially warranted & stamped log book back from them. Remember, you technically don't exist once the dealer has your money and you've walked out of the showroom. Grrr. At least the car itself is working perfectly...

To be fair that corner at Bedford is surprisingly tricky and caught out everything from scoobys to xk8s to meganes, it also gave me a little shakedown too. Basically don't feel too hard on yourself and be gracious for acres of grass there. As for that Porsche vid, holy sh*t that looked nasty!

How important are mufflers / resonated solutions using test pipes? Are they MUCH noisier than cats or HFC?

I think ecutek is a more expensive / bespoke solution for those running custom FI and/or racing setups?

And they look great...

I see Torqen/Octet has one of these for sale and I was wondering if anyone had it fitted the Mishi to a 370ZN (or post 2012 370Z) and witnessed a noticeable improvement in temp stability and cooldown times? Seems to be a bit of a weakness with the OEM design and I see some US franchise dealers fit uprated coolers as an official $800 option! Cheers, DT

Having said that, apart from the first day that is some nicely balanced daily mileage i.e. <250mpd. 350m+ starts becoming a real chore... I thnk the time of year you go makes a big difference too. 2nd week of June is great but we're having to go 3rd week of may this year which is a bit risky WRT mountain passes being open. Also very difficult to traverse if you're battling against a billion gallons of melt-water too!

That's a serious amount of mileage, my back is wincing at the thought of it. Currently booking a 7 day Eurotrip now, pretty much the reverse of our 2013 trip and <2200 miles, covering a lot of similar ground as your itinerary. I love the whole thing but not enough to want to spend two whole weeks in the car. Even that gets dull after a while. Choose your credit card carefully, lots of petropoints to be had on that trip!

Guess they didn't cut you in on "the deal"?? ;-)

Given that the roads in and around orlando are entirely straight, and turns are exclusively at right-angles, I really wouldn't bother with a muscle car. You'll just get arrested and have to respect 400lbs of authoritaaaaaaaay. If you were doing LA and wanted to explore Mulholland and other mountain passes then it would be a different story. Corvette all the way!

Honestly can't see the point (but I said that about the iPhone and the iPad too)...

Does it work without a bluetooth connection to your phone? i.e. is it a standalone product or an iphone peripheral?

Wiink are you running a 458 as a weekend toy?! A friend's father has one and gave us a demo. All I can say is that it makes the Nismo sound like Louie Spence, absolute rolling thunder that thing. Also thnking about having the badges and handles painted black like yours when I can be bothered...

Eight whole laps?

Understood. I just wonder how many laps it'll last before hitting 135c. Looking forward to finding out in due course....

On a more substantive note I was a bit surprised to see the oil temps hitting 110 during town driving. Guess its better a 3 lap sprints than 20 lap slots on trackdays?!