Gonad Man

Great to catch up big fella. Sorry I had to bail early but I had an awesome day sanding a floor to look forward to on Sunday. With a splitter like that you should have scored the "best presented" trophy for sure. Well pedalled on Saturday mate. Embarrassed some serious cars.

Great work Pete! Awesome result, especially considering your success ballast (you can successfully find beer and pizza better than most).Seriously though, it's an awesome effort in a home built car done on a shoestring budget. Tight Wad Racing (TWR) FTMFW! ...Ben

Now c'mon Pete. We all know that's not true. You love snacking on it too, ya big queen.

If history is anything to go by, pizza and beer the night before equals no show to start line. Maybe I'm soft but then again, we do tend to coax the worst behaviour out of each other somehow. :lol: Hard to believe, considering how mature we are the rest of the time hey? Calsonic sounds like he'd fit right in. ...Ben

Nice work Fatz. Some great footage and I reckon you've done a sterling job of capturing the whole "stuck in a car with Fatz and no way to get out" experience. Seriously though, looks like you're having a lot of fun and going very quick. I love the whole "f*kf*kf*kf*k" moment into the chicane. I remember saying exactly that as you slid gracefully along the side of the blue Camry halfway down a soaked Macquarie Pass once opon a time. Happy days! The WRX that won was apparently nothing too extreme. The driver is the same guy that built the two WRXs that won Targa in 2004 and 2007, so he knows a bit about setup and tuning. Helps that he can drive a little bit. I would love to have a crack at this. I'll see if I can remember where I put my helmet hey? Cheers n beers, Gibbo

Hey Fat Man! You are getting soooooooo flash, sorta like a rat with a gold tooth. Cheater tyres, lightweight wheels, you're worse than me!Refreshing to see you are not just putting it up for sale with an engine that blows the dipstick out. You'd never do a thing like that hey? Just kidding big fella, it's great to see the work you are doing on this car. We need to catch up properly soon. I'll see if I can rustle up a couple of spare livers. ...Ben

I didn't realise you could drive for "11 hours all night". I thought that every 5 hours you had to take 1/2 hour break minimum with a maximum # of hours in any 24 hour period. If your hours of work are making you less able to deal with issues then maybe you should be taking a break. Dickheads in little cars pulling in front of you and hitting the brakes is a valid complaint. Mow them down by all means and help us all by increasing the average IQ of the country. The length and weight of your truck should not have a huge bearing on how long it takes to slow down. You should have the same ratio of brakes and tyre contact patch per tonne as a guy driving a 12t GVM rigid. The only difference with b-doubles and the like is that it takes you a lot longer to get back up to speed, hence some of the ridiculous "pushing" I see from drivers of heavy combinations. The length of time a light stays amber is not just some random figure pulled out of a hat. It is based on the upper limit of how long it takes a roadworthy vehicle to stop from the posted speed limit. If you can't physically pull up in time then perhaps the truck is overloaded or underbraked and maybe not roadworthy? I have spent my share of time driving a horribly underpowered and underbraked truck and I can understand how truckies get frustrated by stupid behaviour. Suggesting these new safety cameras will create a hazardous situation is a bit of a stretch though, IMO. BTW, the cameras on the M4 between the tolls and Church St were first installed purely to monitor for breakdowns. A sefety audit was done before this section of road was converted from 2 lanes to 3 and the report suggested that the removal of the shoulder created a serious risk of incidents due to stranded vehicles having nowhere safe to go hence the need to closely monitor and respond quickly to breakdowns. Cheers, Ben

Hehehehe-you mad pr1ck Pete! Should be a massive laugh when it's finished. The XR8 bonnet bulge was giving me a bonnet bulge when I saw it last. It's a shame you weren't finished a couple of months ago-you would've been in the running for "top engine bay" at Summernats for sure. Catch you soon, Ben

Fkn fantastic day Pete! I had an absolute ball, except for the bit where I popped a piston in my wife's Forester. My balls are still intact, but every night is a new adventure. I've hidden all the sharp knives. :lol: It was great to meet and catch up with you guys/gals from this forum. I've gotta say it seemed like we had a great bunch of people out there. What I found most enjoyable was the complete lack of the whole "them v's us" shit that seems to happen when you get 2 different bunches of car enthusiasts together (like Subaru fans and Nissan fans). I think there was a healthy respect of everyone else's rides out there, regardless of the the badges. I know the guys in the WRXs really enjoyed the day and have been raving about it on the club forum. Thanks again Pete. Top day was had by all..(except my wife LOL). Cheers, Ben

Oooooooooo! I'm so afraid! Fatz is getting not one, but 2 turbos. ...Ben :lol:

Holy Crap! That's a great time at the Creek! :lol: Some great times there Oz. 50.9 at OP South is honking! Fatz-My sister is faster than you. ...Ben

That's some nice work Ed. You are clearly a devotee to the early Skyline which I'm sure Fatz applauds you for. Great work mate-love the (non) convertible. The R31 is a classic shape that will only mature with age. Funnily enough-I now work just around the corner from you in Orange (the RTA Works Office in Tynan St) and I'm sure I've seen your car parked in one of the businesses in Leewood Estate. I'm not sure if it's your car but it's a white R31 with ED numberplates if I'm not mistaken. I'll drop in next time past. Cheers mate, Ben

Just to present another viewpoint: If you think the increase in petrol prices will only affect what you pay at the bowser you are mistaken. Everything will get more expensive and it's quite possible interest rates will rise as well. This will severely impact most people, even those who can't afford to own 3 cars. I'm not suggesting you have been born with a silver spoon in your mouth but I just don't agree with your "suck it up" stance. Australia is affected more severely than most other countries by an increase in fuel prices due mainly to our huge area and sparsely-distributed population. An increase in fuel prices makes everything we produce more expensive (to a greater degree than most other developed countries) which makes us less competitive in a world market which makes imports more attractive. Anyway I'm not an economist by any stretch of the imagination so I'll shut up right now. I just wish the govt would relax the tax they get from fuel. I'm happy to keep contributing the same $ amount I was 2 years ago but I think the % is just not fair, especially in light of the fact that the RTA's annual budget has dropped from about $2.2 bil in 2001/02 to $1.9 bil in 2005/06 (as far as I can remember). End rant, Ben

Cheater-pfffft! I guess that makes everyone with quicker times than Fatz a cheater, right? :lol: :lol: Yeah mate, the little TD05's on there right now. It hasn't been tuned and it's running wastegate pressure (12psi) so at the moment it feels like a piece of crap. I'm doing a mad dash to Sydney tomorrow morning (4:30 start to get there on time) to have it sorted out. Apparently this little hybrid sucker should be safe at 22 psi so I can't wait to see how she goes! I'm hoping this will lead to slightly quicker times. What surprises me is that this turbo is physically bigger than the original STi turbo and yet still spools up at the same RPM?!? Makes no sense. ...Ben

Hey there Rizos. Std boost for your bro-in-law's WRX is more like 13.5 psi. Boost cut is a little over 16 psi and 18 psi will kill it in no time flat. Cheers, Ben