tigerleo62

Have you guys seen this: http://www1.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?...eMax=&SUBCATID= If the link doesn't work then type in QP5035 in the search field on http://www1.jaycar.com.au Might not be quite as practical gauge-wise as you guys might want, but it is supposed to be standard DIN size and could fill an empty spot on the dash...

I get a bit over 14L per 100Ks of mostly city/suburban driving with the odd trip up the freeway... I got about an extra 80km out of tank once by driving very sedately with that tank of fuel, but it wasn't much fun. I really notice the decreased fuel enconomy if I plant the right foot due to idiot provoked road-rage. Car is more economical at freeway speeds, but I haven't had a chance for a drive out of the suburbs to find out what it's like over 100ks for extended periods.

How's that? What do you do and what tells you the fault(s)? Is there a link to this, or is this 'common' knowledge that the total lack of anything mechanical stored in my head has neglected me to be aware of?

Hi SK - did you record the bilstein part numbers? If so, could you post them here?

Sounds a bit like what my car has been experiencing ever since my weird pulsing then 4WD warning light thing: http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/sh...ead.php?t=63842 I have been experiencing minor surging/missing - sometimes feels as if the drive is transfered to the front wheels more for just a second or so then back again... however my car seems to feel much better on new smooth roads - unless the new 'smooth' road isn't that smooth - then I feel as if I need new shocks! I was hoping that a full tune/service would sort the problem out (with the surging, not the shocks) - they would hopefully read anything wrong in the ECU and know what to do, but perhaps I am too hopeful - or perhaps I have become hyper-sensitive to what the car is doing after the weird experience I linked to above.

You can buy my set of stock rims and new rubber for $600 Check all the dash lights, aircon lights, switch lights etc and get them to replace/repair before you purchase the vehicle - will save you a lot of mucking around.

I'm in Lockridge - work in East Perth if that is near by...

So Brendan, this is how you spend your days sub-contracted as a public sector employee :boinkcar:

Hmmm, "the engine goes very sluggish and misses on one or more cylinders" could describe what I experienced and am still experiencing to a much reduced degree... My power light doesn't work, so I can't tell whether that came on the other day while the car was freaking out, and the only 'performance mod' I have done to the car is replace the rubber strip around the air intake Driving today the car had moments of what would be described as 'sluggish' and then seemed to be fine - like something was cutting out momentarily - perhaps electrical or fuel, but I guess that could mean absolutely anything could be wrong... I had a car once that started cutting out all the time - I thought it was electrical as the tacho would do strange things and the the car would cut out like the ignition had been turned off - turned out to be crap in the fuel tank clogging up the fuel filter... Must take my stagea in for a full service & inspection now that I've had the car almost two months - hopefully that will find out what's going on. Damn I hate driving when I find I am questioning the reliability of the vehicle.

Yeah I know what you mean about not judging a fuse by its looks, that's why I changed it - glad I have a box of fuses in the car... The car has warranty - just a pain in the arse when the car yard is on the other side of the city/river from where I am and I am so damn busy at work at the moment... I want to take the car in to be checked out, but it's a real hassle at the moment to find time.

On the way home through peak hour traffic, as I was stopped in the traffic I felt a low pulsing sort of vibration at around 50Hz or so... I turned off the radio to make certain it wasn't the stereo, but the pulsing was still there - almost like the enging was hunting. I looked at the tacho, and it was fluttering ever so slightly, so I figured the car must need a service etc... Further along the road I noticed the 4WD warning light had come on and the car seemed to be lurching every so often - like the 4WD was cutting in and out or something - so I thought, bugger, the car really does need a service AND something isn't right. Closer to home the tacho started going berko - it would rise to about 2500 and then drop to about 1000 RPM, but the car didn't feel it was revving that hard or that low - there was a definate feeling of change of power, but not to the extreme that the tacho was indicating. Oh sh*t, I thought to myself - this was something serious and I thought the car was going to die on me at any moment. So I pulled into a deli that I was heading for on the way home and decided to pull out the 10 AMP fuse for the 4WD/ABS - the fuse looked fine, but I replaced it anyway with a new one and drove home with no problems... So, what do you reckon? An intermittent fuse on its way out that was freaking out the ECU or whatever? Admittedly I didn't need to drive to far home after I replaced the fuse, but the 4WD warning light had stopped coming on and the tacho wasn't fluctuating strangely after that... Any ideas or similar experiences??

Cool - thanks Adam - also thanks for the exhaust price/link etc.

Cheers Ken & Brazen - I was looking at these on Tein's website last night: http://www.tein.co.jp/swgdampe.html About $1250 for the set + shipping, fitting etc - Ken, what would be the approximate cost price? I have no idea whether this is what I want or what I need! But does seems like it has the right 'bits' (as far a my very limited research tells me) and it is a set made for Stagea... I currently have the Whiteline anti-sway bars (as outlined in this sticky), 235/40/18s and the caster arm adjustment thingo... I still find that the car needs firming up - I like the 'soft' ride in a straight line, but still feel that it rolls and wobbles a bit when moving off the straight... Tein's web site doesn't give a great deal of info on their stuff, so I wonder whether this set will be too firm, or not firm enough - though it would have to be better than the 118k stock shocks I would expect.

$550 sounds alright considering Tein's price is $500 for the springs alone... What shocks are you getting and which tune shop quoted the price if you don't mind me asking?

Thanks for the pic, SK!

No , not me - I know nothing, and now realise that I know even less... Any links to pics/diagrams that illustrate the bits you refer to? As I said - I know nothing - except how to replace the panel filter! I once had a Mk I GT 440 Consul Cortina that I knew what did what and could even fix when minor things went wrong, but now days when I open a bonnet I just go "Hmmm, engine" and that's as far as it gets!

How, what?? What did you do that cost nothing and only took 10 minutes?

Try making the top of the "S" level with the top of the "G" or one pixel lower. The height of the "S" is dominate by the height of the "T" at the moment... I would also use a plain 2D sans serif font for the "Stagea Tuners Australia Group" - using the current embelished font is 1) too hard to read, and 2) detracts from the depth of the 'Stag' logo. Also the outline of the text is already breaking up, so will not reproduce too well... Anyhow, just my 2 bits worth...

The roof bars are adjustable for width to a certain point hence fairly universal as long as you get the correct width bar in the first place. I doubt that a series two would be 40mm wider than the series 1 which would mean going to the next wider bar.

Perth WA

The Thule part numbers for the Stagea are as follows: Thule Foot pack #755 Thule Aero Bar #861 (120cm bar) The Thule International parts manual lists the wrong size bar for Stagea 97 on - it lists the longest bar which is too wide for the car. The above part number fits - I have them on my car now. Cost is around $250.

Made sense to me last night when I read it and still makes sense this morning... The idea of spending a few thousand on rims that don't fit the car, then having the guards rolled so that they do fit while adding a structural risk to the handling of the car just sounds silly and expensive to me... Of course you see young kids who have done it - nothing looks funnier than a civic with big rolled guards and covered in 'rice' stickers with the standard steel rims on as they have no doubt been sent over the pits... just silly, expensive and fugly if you can't even keep the rims on legally...

I personally would go with the 4WD as that is an important part of what makes it 'different' to me... otherwise it is a large heavy wagon albeit with a turbo Though I guess the RWD wagon would be lighter than the 4WD... Not that it rains in Perth, but the forum reports I have read of the 4WD's handling on wet roads leaves most other cars for dead, so when it does rain here you would probably be pleased that you got a 4WD then... Also, I guess if you are thinking of towing a boat from a boat ramp then the 4WD would be choice. If you have the 4WD and you want just RWD then you can simply pull a fuse - but if you have the RWD and decide you want 4WD then you are stuffed.

:jump:

I imagine they are adjustments using the standard camber adjusters - I haven't had adjustable camber bushes installed. These are the before and after camber settings front & back: Front: before: L-1.04 R-0.50 after: L-0.39 R-0.35 Rear: before: L-1.59 R-1.58 after: L-1.34 R-1.28 They also made some fairly dramatic alterations with the Toe - the right rear before, in fact the right hand side of the car - was dropped down and evened out - the chap who served me pointed out the right rear Toe original value to me saying that I would notice an improvement in straight line smoothness - he was quite correct! BUT THE STORY DOESN'T END THERE!!! Today I had the anti-sway bars installed - now the Stagea goes around corners!!! :aroused: I mean, it did go around corners before, just not that convincingly. Now I can feel the front wheels as the drive is transfered to the front and the car pull out of the corner/curve. I just have to get used to how the car handles now and go for a drive DURING THE DAY around some turning/twisty stuff instead of at night like I did this evening... I would say that at the moment the Stag has more capability than I have the courage to throw at a heavy car. The car feels great and so much more enjoyable to drive - now I can imagine it doing with a little more power whereas before the car felt too powerful compared to the rolling and relatively sloppy handling that it came with from the yard. Yeah, effen unreal!!!