Ekona

Terrible news

It'll fit, it just might not fit in the space the space saver has vacated

I rarely keep a car past the two year mark, and yet whilst I will admit to doing a fair amount of window shopping (well, and a bit more in some cases) in recent months regarding Exiges, 911s and Corvettes I still struggle to justify the 'upgrade' as the Zed just ticks so many boxes for me and for such a fair price in all aspects. I really can't see myself moving on any time soon, there's still so much more to get out of the car and also I'm sure there's more for me to learn as a driver that the Zed can teach me.

I've tried it before, and despite the very dodgy science surrounding it (you really need 100% nitrogen in there to make the big differences, which unless they suck all the normal air out using a vacuum won't happen) I was happy with the results. The theory is that nitrogen holds less water vapour than air, so when you get the tyres hot on a run you don't get such varying tyre pressures: They should sit more or less where they were when cold. Because of the installation method I've already mentioned I'm not convinced that that holds very true, however I did notice that the tyres held their pressure long term far better with nitrogen than with normal air. For what it costs (and it should be no more than about £1 per corner) it's worth trying and seeing what you think. FWIW I don't bother any more, but I'm glad I made the effort to try it and find out.

That just looks so angry. I love the square handbrake with the push button, I'd never noticed that before.

Count me in for this too! Would love to be on the stand if possible but no worries if not, also happy to pay for my entry ticket so I don't take anyone else's place for the freebies I'll meet you all at the pub and go from there.

I'd better start making some then! Joking aside, it's an honour to have been asked to join the team and I'm looking forward in equal measure to both helping out more around here and learning more about the place. It's a genuinely great place to be and I hope to carry on with the high standards already set here.

The clutch itself no, there won't be any difference as it's the friction plate that gets worn rather than anything you'd feel pressure on. The only clue you'll get is slipping when you apply power. The clutch pedal itself is adjustable I believe, however different pedal heights between cars and the biting point could be down to worn master or slave cylinders, worn clutch lines or old clutch fluid. Have a read of this page which should give you a better idea of how the whole shebang works (it was a godsend to me when I had my recent clutch troubles!). Apologies if that's teaching you how to suck eggs though.

But they're all part of the same car... The setup you've got will be very prone to oversteer, and as such is the worst possible combination out of the three options. For the most part a good tyre is a good tyre, but weight distribution does play a part as well. Of course you should always drive to the conditions, but it's the unpredictable nature and a billion and one variables that also affect your car in ways you can't prepare for. If someone pulls out on you and you have to swerve to avoid them, a driver on matching tyres will be better placed to avoid the danger than you will on mixed tyres. In an emergency situation, or where you catch a bit of oil on one side of the car, you're going to find out just why mismatched tyres are a bad idea. Like I said in the main post, those who think it's fine have just been very lucky so far. If you can't argue with the logic, then you know you're in the wrong on an 050/VUS split.

Sounds like most men in most offices around the country

Exactly why I got a spare set of Rays, really can't beat them for trackday wheels I'm currently using the R888 in GG (med) compound and used to run the A048s on the VXR in LTS spec which is somewhere between M and MH IIRC. I've never run the two on the same car and realistically never will seeing as how Yoko don't make the sizes I want in the 048, but I can go on what I do know which is that I'd pick the R888s any day. I've yet to track the R888s (next month at the 'Ring will see them get their outing) but on the road there is 95% of the grip of the 48s but with 105% of the feel: They're slightly more progressive than the Yokos which tend to give less warning when they're about to go. I think the Toyos also have better wet traction than the 048s, but that's like saying I'd rather bang Nadine from Girls Aloud than Kelly Brook: Technically true, but you'd be really happy riding on either

How much do you hate the RE040s? If you really hate them then yes I'd change, but if money is a big issue then no harm in getting a fresh set of rears which should hopefully die by the time you need new fronts. Very much depends on the race series and what cars are being run, but you are of course correct. I should have made my last sentence clearer really, I was referring more that race cars don't run mixed tyres rather than they don't run mixed compounds.

But a footballer already pays more in a year than a basic NHS worker does in a lifetime*. Why should they pay more than that? They don't cause economies to crumble if they get things wrong (a la banks), and in fact a successful football team will bring in a lot of monies not only in the immediate area, but also possibly nationwide too. The very biggest clubs attract huge investment from overseas, which then gets spent in this country by highly paid footballers who go to smaller businesses because they want something no-one else has got. You and I buy from B&Q, they buy from John Miller of JWM Furniture Makers just off the North Circular who does very expensive one-off bedside cabinets. Very few people go into the NHS because they want to be rich, they do it because of a general need to help others and for that I give my thanks. They know that it's low paid, but they love the job so much that they still go in with their eyes wide open. Should they be paid more? Well yes, of course if the country has the funds then by jove they should, but the NHS (and the public sector in general) has never been about ultimate wages. You'll always earn more in the private sector, but you take the risk that you won't get the guaranteed work that you do in the public sector. *Assuming footballer earns £5.2M (£100K per week) and NHS worker £20K.

Thanks for the kind words chaps, much appreciated Tbh I could write for hours on the subject of tyres and there was so much more I wanted to write but had to leave out to save it becoming an utter bore to read, and everyone who has mentioned that there are other factors involved in tyre decisions (especially but not limited to wear) is bang on the money. That's partly why choosing tyres should be about common sense as much as knowing the exact details, and basically if you think that there might be an issue mixing old and new then there probably is, and you should seriously consider spending that little bit more to get a good match all round. This applies to every car really, but given that sports cars are usually driven a bit more enthusiastically than shopping carts it's worth being a but more cautious than you might be otherwise. As a general rule I'll run my tyres down to about 3mm and then spend a trackday or two killing them off completely, the one exception being the trackday special R888/A048 as they only come with 4.5mm (ish) anyway so you'd constantly be changing tyres if you swapped at 3mm.

Must admit, I can't see a lot wrong with it either. As a higher rate tax payer it'll hit me more than others who are on the basic rate, but I appreciate that we're all in the same boat and the country needs to be sorted out now rather than letting things get worse. In one respect it's a huge gamble for the Conservatives as they've now promised to eradicate the deficit by the time we're due a next General Election, so if they haven't done it by then then there's no way they'll get a second term. On the other hand, if they get it bang on (and I hope they do) then there's a big two fingers up to Labour really. I very much doubt we'll see the back of the Human Rights Act with this government, as the Lib-Dems won't want to get rid of that and put something stricter (more common sense?) in place. If they manage to get anything through that isn't related to financial stuff in the next few years I'll be amazed, they've really got their hands full right now.

There's a lot of conflicting threads and posts on here with regards to the subject of tyres and in particular mixing them on the car, so I've been asked to write this which should hopefully clear a few things up as well as giving you something to think about and make your own mind up on. I'll start with the very obvious: Tyres are the only thing keeping the car in contact with the road. As daft as it sounds it's always worth remembering, as whether you're chasing tenths of seconds on track or munching motorway miles you will always want tyres that give you full confidence that they are doing their job properly at all times and in all conditions. That's the really the key point I'm getting at through the whole of this post, confidence in your car and tyres. If you take nothing else away from this, just remember that stability will lead to confidence and you won't go far wrong. I'll start with an oft-used example of tyres here, the RE040 (left pic) and RE050 (right pic). These are OEM fitment on the DE and HR engined cars respectively, and the latter on the 370Z as well. They seem pretty similar at first glance: Five main bands over the tyre, slots all pointing the same way where appropriate, both made by Bridgestone and only one number apart... Now look closer. See the centre band? On the 40 it's split with a line down the centre, on the 50 it has no line and the cuts into it are much more pronounced. The next two bands out are completely different, look at the angle and sweep of the cuts. Finally look at the out bands, and see just how different the cuts in there are. Two tyres, both by the same manufacturer, both fitted as standard to the Zed over the years, both just one number apart, both completely and utterly different. This is absolutely key in understanding why mixing tyres is a bad idea. I've driven on both of these tyres in the dry, the wet and on track, and they are even further apart than they now look. The RE040s are noisy, uncomfortable, have good grip in the dry but atrocious grip in the wet; The RE050s have a very progressive feel, outstanding water displacement at high speed and excellent dry traction. They're the tyre equivalents of a Ford Escort and a Ferrari Enzo. That said, as long as you keep all four tyres on the car the same (be it all 040s, all 050s, or whatever you prefer) you'll find a car stable and predictable. Now what happens if you mix them... Let's think about this logically. Let's picture the Top Gear test track at Dunsfold as it's a place just about everyone is familiar with, and let's say it's bone dry. Our test car is a stock 350Z naturally, and in the first instance is fitted with RE040s all round. Get in, drive, enjoy. No issues at all, car feels just like it should. After a few laps it starts raining, so you adjust your driving and speed to match. Car feels noticeably slower, tyres have nowhere near the grip you're used to, but nothing feels drastically out of place. Car goes back into the pits, time for a spot of lunch, and ZOMG! THE SUN'S OUT! YAY FOR A DRY TRACK IN THE AFTERNOON! Now we leave the RE040s on the front but put RE050s on the rear. Jump in the car, off you go, giving it full beans. Will you notice any great issues? No, probably not. Remember, both tyres are good in the dry, so you'd expect the car to be fairly balanced. It handles just like it should, but you do notice a bit more traction from the back when coming out of the Hammerhead. Soon the heavens open and the track is soaking wet. Same car, same setup (40s on the front, 50s on the rear), same driver. Once again, you go for a fast lap. First time round is slow as you get used to the wet surface again, then you start picking up the pace as you get used to the conditions again. You come round Chicago and brake hard for the Hammerhead, and start to turn in. The front washes ridiculously wide and you're in the gravel. Why? The RE040s have much less wet grip than the RE050s, and so you get chronic understeer despite the rear feeling very planted. Now we change the tyres around, so that the 40s are on the back and the 50s on the front. Same wet conditions, same driver. Out of Chicago, onto the power, brake hard for Hammerhead, car turns in fantastically well to the left, same to the right, but the second you get onto the power coming out the arse end overtakes you and you're suddenly facing the wrong way. As you've put the grippier tyres on the front the car now wants to oversteer everywhere, and as you carry on round the track and all tyres get hotter the differences become more pronounced. Yes, very huge and over-complicated scenario perhaps, but it illustrates the basics very well. There's a million and one things you can do to adjust grip balance between front and rear (suspension settings, weight balance, tyre pressures etc) but all those things will give you a subtle difference you can learn: Completely different tyres will always behave at such extremes you'll always struggle to cope, and that's on track when you've got the space to get it a bit wrong. Tracks are made of one material and all laid at the same time (for the most part, airfields are a different kettle of fish), and as such you can almost cope with different tyres as the road surface doesn't change. I can't think of too many roads in the UK that are the same! Imagine you're driving on a motorway at 70mph in our mixed-tyre Zed in the rain. You're in a straight line, in all honesty very little is going to go wrong. Suddenly there's a car in front you of that you need to overtake, so you indicate and pull out to the right. At the same time you happen to cross a section of road that has been repaired and replaced so has different grip to the rest. Your axle with 050s on takes it fine but a combination of surface, temperature, camber, suspension travel and steering angle combine to make the 040s aquaplane and you suddenly find yourself in a spin at 70mph in the middle of the M6. Your odds of walking away are pretty slim at this point. If you were on 040s all round you'd know how crap they are in the wet and drive appropriately, but on mixed tyres you don't get that kind of warning as you're getting such mixed signals. It's not a scenario that would happen often, but given the nature of driving would you really want to take that chance? There are so many different variables on a car and we take them all into account when driving, most of them subconsciously, and I simply can't understand why people would want to add another one in there just for the sake of a couple of quid. Let's make no mistake here: Mixing tyres is done 99% of the time because people are too tight to buy the correct tyre. That goes for all other cars as much as it does for the Zed. You need a new set of rears a couple of thousand miles before the fronts, but instead of replacing them all with something different people tend to take the cheap option, and then wonder why the car feels horrible to drive. Driving isn't cheap, I appreciate that, and sports car driving even more so, but is it worth risking your £10,000 car for the sake of a couple of hundred quid? No, of course it isn't and anyone who does so knowingly is an utter fool. If you can't afford to swap tyre brands for something different then don't! Some tyres are better than others but ALL tyres have been through EU type approval, which makes them all perfectly safe to use on the road. A set of Michelin Pilot Sport 2s will be infinitely better than a set of Nankang Ditchfinders, but a car with four Nankangs will be more controllable, more predictable and safer than a car running two of each. There's so much more to it, not least of all different compounds, different thermal expansion points at set temperatures, amount of water dispersed at set speeds... So much detail that you need a degree in physics to understand it all properly. Thing is, common sense is more than enough once you know the basics. I appreciate that there are people out there running mixed tyres who say that it's perfectly safe and they've never had an accident, and good luck to them in that, but I maintain it's always just a matter of time and the wrong circumstances that is going to lead to tears. It might not even be their fault: It might be the idiot that pulls out without looking causing them to swerve and end up in an emergency situation that they have no control over due to mixed tyres. Hell, that could happen even on matched tyres, but I know which is going to give you a more predictable and balanced car to give you the best chance of getting yourself out of any trouble. I'll leave you with a thought: There's not a car manufacturer in the entire world who supplies their cars with different tyres on. Their combined research budget is billions of billions of pounds. There isn't a single professional race series that would ever consider running mixed tyres, and they're aiming for hundredths of seconds so surely if it gave them an advantage, they'd do it. It won't, and they don't.

Update time! Car was back with Nissan today who changed the master cylinder, and whilst the pedal feel is certainly better I'm still not 100% happy with it. I'm starting to wonder of the existing clutch line has started to degrade, so I'm going to order a replacement stainless steel one with Adam @Z1 and see how I get on once that's been changed. At this point I'm not sure if the soft pedal is now partly in my head because I'm looking for it, however I'm so far down the line now that I'm going to carry on until I'm 100% happy with the car again.

If you're braking so hard that you're activating the ABS then you're either pressing the pedal too hard or your approach speed is too high IMHO. Disabling ABS really won't make you any quicker, being smoother will. Sometimes I find the Zed brakes a little over-servo'd and I wonder if it's this that people would like reduced, rather than the actual ABS control itself.

Silly question perhaps, but why don't you just find the nearest Nissan dealer and take one for a drive? At least that way you'd really know what it's like, as opposed to a passenger ride in someone else's car?

Bin the Bose and get a decent head unit.

Embarassing.

Congrats to the team who should be applauded for taking a pro-active stance over this. Well done done chaps.

Love the 928, mate of mine has recently purchased a '79 one that needs a bit of attention. I've had a drive of it and it's a bit of a monster at low speeds and the gearbox needs some TLC to shift, but being able to spin the wheels in 3rd was absolutely hysterical fun! Love them

Why not ask them?

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