StephenG

I hit 'quote' on your original post. Why do you only add to threads to fight? There was a perfectly good, constructive topic here long before you waded in.

Yes - but - I was asking all people concerned with the thread to just keep it OT, rather than go down the fascist route of chopping up and deleting lots of existing posts that were worthy, but ultimately, off topic. Just asking for some common sense, not a swat team!

And PS - I have quoted the original post Val made - not the one he edited - with, might I add, a ridiculous notion that adds up to 'the inability to self moderate is the fault of all users who are not moderators'.

!!!! Yet again, I find this approach astonishing from someone who holds a senior position in this club who is supposed to act in an arbitrary, neutral, harmonious, and constructive fashion. 1. So a thread is 'on topic' if it is 'less off-topic than other off-topic threads'? 2. I never received - or saw - any communication asking people to put themselves forward as moderators. That's not to say that it wasn't there, just that I didn't see it. I wouldn't have, by the way - I'm not here often enough, and my priv. chats with existing and past moderators are not massive adverts for the role, ta 2b. So the insinuation is that if I didn't put myself forward for a moderator, that I am liable for the incorrect or insubstantial moderation of threads that I originate? In other words, if I get mugged, it's my fault for not applying to be a policeman? Jesus. 3. "Stop moaning". So if I don't flag a floutation of forum rules, I'm doing nothing, and nothing happens. If I do flag it, I'm moaning, I'm berated for that, and nothing happens. However, if it happens to a thread where a moderator has a vested interest, it is aggressively partitioned, edited, locked, moved, or deleted. Cheers. I thought you were here to help. Silly, silly, me. Honestly - two car clubs - the majority of the members of each, good guys and great enthusiasts. However, sometimes I feel like one is ran like a pensioner's crown-green bowling club (45+), the other, like a student union fraternity. (21-)

As ever, sorry for the lack of notice - but I only found out myself this morning where I was tonight! I am in Newbury tonight - doing a Jongleurs special, with a really strong line-up - http://www.ents24.com/web/event/1182392/Jo...omedy_Club.html - at the Corn Exchange. Show starts just before 8pm! And I am in Bristol tomorrow - a special show with me headlining : http://www.thecomedybox.co.uk/site/327.asp If you want to come, please email me - me@stephengrant.com - I will be able to get a couple of people in for free on VIP tickets at the least! Hope to see you there! Stephen

I think you're right about that. Keeping the SC in the sweet spot though is as tricky as getting the power down though. Not true. Many OEM's over-engineer parts specifically to KEEP costs down. Take for example, the current Mini engine and the 1.9TDi block used in the VAG series. It was deliberately over engineered so that different models could have the power turned up without having to manufacture a completely different set of internals.

Very true. I must admit though, i am rather tempted to buy my car back (see first post) pocketing a few squid in the process No, i mustn't Ha ha ha, excellent idea It is worth noting that a TT's biggest plus is also it's biggest issue - the constant, high levels of torque on tap throughout the revs. Because the SC only really pushes the engine at the higher revs, you only get stresses at that time. By that thinking, you could surmise that a SC used on a track, that was constantly driven at or around the limiter is as likely to go pop as a TT doing similar. People agree or not?

So, when a moderator's thread is taken off topic (specifically the club admin) he has a tantrum, throws out thinly veiled abuse, and locks it. When a genuinely constructive & intelligent thread is posted and it is skewed completely off topic, they do sod all, even when asked by the thread originator to keep it to topic. And in fact contribute to the thread on the skewed subjects to help take it OT. What's the ****!ng point?

A 200sx weighs very little - try pushing your thumb into the door panels on an S13 - boing! ANYWAY - MEANWHILE BACK ON TOPIC... I have 'canvassed' people from other car clubs on this very topic - and discovered that many of the people who went down the porker or bimma route just couldn't stand the snobbishness and condescending natures of the owners on their club forums - and guess what? That was an actual factor in choosing to come back to a car where the member's club was 'full of the sort of people they wanted to be rubbing shoulders with'. These aren't isolated cases either. What really puzzles me though, is the 350Z. It's a car designed to appeal to the buyer who uses his head as much as his heart - after all, it's a realistic propostion on paper for the cost/power available. That's why I think so many people here have not come from the Jap sports community. That's not the case with the Toyota, Honda, and even *other* Nissan owners in the past. And as a result, the 'character profile' -perceived, or in actuality - of a 350Z owner is still a relatively unknown quantity.

Best not to

No... doesn't ring any bells, sorry

So, do you not think certain drivers of certain cars fall into personality categories? Young mums on the school run in their SUVs? Mondeo reps? White van drivers? Junior BMW driving execs? Do you not ever 'expect' their driving to follow the trend of their stereotype?

Hmm. It would be a bit f*cking pointless running it in then if they had it going full beans on a dyno prior to accumulating any mileage. it is pointless running in a new engine imho, Remind me to never buy a 2nd hand car off you!!!

So, are those people who are saying that image is immaterial, that they'd be happily seen in a BMW if it was the best car for the best price? Or a bright pink Micra if it was the perfect solution to your motoring needs? Of course image matters. A car is your second highest purchase* (unless you have got married recently) and the perception is hugely important. Likewise, I have a friend at celica-club who has sold his boxster and has bought an MR2 instead because he found the attitude at the porsche owner's clubs so odious, and as a car *fan*, he wants to be surrounded by like-minded people.

Hmm. It would be a bit f*cking pointless running it in then if they had it going full beans on a dyno prior to accumulating any mileage.

Yep - that's the crux of the point I am making. Do people who stumble across these forums get encouraged or discouraged to buy the car if they think these personalities are representative of your typical 350z owner - and if so, is the impression they are getting an accurate one?

weeeeeeeeee!

Thursday night - central London - stuck on the A24, behind a BMW driving erratically, fast, then slow, without indicating, and then pulling over without any notice, leaving me half in the middle of the road with an oncoming bus. Even though I was in the car on my own, I whispered under my breath, "bloody BMW drivers". But then I thought - what do people think about us? The 350Z driver? You see, there are two ways of determining personality - what sort of person would 'buy that car', and what sort of personalities you've met who own one. As for the first category, I'm used to this. As a long-time fan of Japanese cars, I've seen the image change from 'miser/loser' to 'wannabe' to 'child of the playstation generation'. Jap cars aren't prestigious; but they are, in an odd way, quite cool. And the 350Z, despite many people thinking of them (incorrectly) as poor men's Porsches, is cool too. But then the second category worries me. You see, I've now met - through this owner's club, and the other one, quite a few Z owners now, and I worry that the overall image of an owner is NOT representative of how we come across as individuals. I've chatted to other owners about this, but I think a wannabe owner coming onto this forum, talking to the main people here, might get a skewed view of what sort of person the average owner was. Most 350Z people I've met - the average, day-to-day users, and not the fanatics, have been quite balanced, nice people. But then they aren't the main characters that are representative of what image goes with it; i.e. the sort of people you'll stumble across with an owner's club. So the big question is; are the personalities that shout the loudest about the car, the best representation of what sort of person the 350Z says you are?

It was OK! I'm in Leicester on Saturday now. Fancy a pair of VIP tickets? (saving you £35?!)

I'm more interested in the supposed weight reduction. Is the driver sat on a deckchair?

Very interesting to read that. There's been a fair bit of that 'in the field' as well Isn't a question of just bringing the boost pressure down, or is there more to it than that?

I probably won't be at Jong Leics though as I'm working on Room 101 that evening and won't finish in time to drive to Leics.

I'm here : http://www.careys.co.uk/ on Wednesday night. If you're around, then please feel free to come see me. I won't be driving the Z up there though because the area around there is a little bit barren... I'm sure it's safe, but I don't want to be proven wrong As ever, examples of my stand up are at www.myspace.com/stephengrantuk - with links to my YouTube site also. Hope to see some of you there. Stephen

Apparently the smilies mean he didn't mean that Captint - no clutch on the Vortech, it runs at all times, but the effect is negligible under 2500rpm anyway (so if you want to drive like it's not there... stay under 2.5Krpm)

I've seen it for £1750 http://www.incarexpress.co.uk/view_prod ... =AVICHD1BT Tempted actually...