jmac

www.mgccq.org.au Entry forms etc can be downloaded from here under the hillclimb section. Probably best to give the club a ring too, they're friendly and will explain the necessary forms / payments etc. (or just show up to the next event and see things in action!)

Well. *I* found them ok, they certainly didn't have more grip than I was expecting but they haven't tried to kill me either. They generally let go at both ends fairly progressively. The only brown undies moment was driving down the SE Freeway in the rain and the car stepped sideways pretty suddenly when it spooled in 3rd gear. I didn't lose control but it certainly got my attention. But otherwise, in the rain, they hang on to about the point where you kinda think you're pushing too far anyway. Rain is pretty rare in Brisbane so I'm happy to trade a little wet weather performance for better dry grip.

I would buy Bridgestone S03s again, I've gotten nearly 20,000 kms out of mine with 1.5 deg camber and still rate em highly esp in the dry. Wheels this month has a tyre test of 235/45 R17 size. The final ratings were: Tyre_______________________Rating /100___Average Price Dunlop SP Sport Maxx_________97.1________$285 Goodyear Eagle Revspec RS-02_96.9________$279 Maxxis Victra MA-Z1__________96.3________$225 Pirelli P Zero Nero____________96.3________$290 Michelin Pilot Preceda_________95.8________$261 Nokian NRY_________________95.8________$290 Federal 595 RS______________95.2________$148 Toyo Proxes T1R_____________93.4________$316 Linglong L688________________89.3________$139 Interestingly (for me, anyway) is that the winning tyre was a good all-rounder. In fact the Federal blitzed all the dry tests (tied with the Pirelli for hot lap time) and did ok in the wet cornering, but performed relatively poorly in the wet braking. I reckon if you took just that wet braking test out of the final results then the Federal would've won easily. But of course it's a semi-slick tyre so you might not get too many km's out of it on the road. A similar batch of tyres was tested a few months ago in Motor I think (the results are earlier in this thread) and the S03 was comparable with the winners here, but again if you excluded the wet results it actually kicked their ass pretty significantly. I've had everything from Ziex 326s and nasty compliance tyres (dangerous) to G'Grids (pretty good) to BFG Sports (average) in the past and the S03s take the cake. It might also be worth having a chat to Scott at TyreZone Capalaba, he can pull off some pretty good deals on Falkens (street or street/track). On another note I took some Bridgestone RE55s to the QR track day recently, these things are worth at least 2 seconds a lap (I improved my National Circuit time by about 4 seconds) and are phenomenal to drive on. They grip so much I was having a hard time getting it sideways which is normally NOT a problem.... A bit soft though, probably used 1/3 of them up on the day. Hope that helps!

harry! well done mate, that's a great time. nice to see you in there giving those WRX boys a shake. it'd be great to see a few more GT-Rs in that AWD-turbo class. at this stage i'm coming to the afternoon session of that come and try day (test and tune) - i'm not sure if first time runners could enter it without having been to a come and try day though. got some fairly fresh RE55s now too, just trying to get my eye in a bit more and maybe get into the 50s.

BUGGER (sorry)

big thanks to paul and all you other guys who volunteered today, i had a great time and i'm pretty sure i'm not alone!!! i'll be curious to see the times, i think the bridgestone semis were worth about 2 seconds a lap over last time i was there. it was a pretty big thrill to keep up with that green drift R32 on the national circuit at the end too. and pat, no worries mate it was great to have someone along for the passenger rides. bring on teh videos!!!

Hehe well a knackered set of Dunlops got me almost 2 seconds at Mt Cotton so I'm hoping a spanking set of these will help my times a bit too (along with a flushed radiator and Redline oil and coolant so I don't have to back off all the time!!!). I won't post price here because people probably wouldn't be too happy but send me a PM and I'll fill you in. I basically got them at trade price so I'm sure Tyretech are still making a bit out of me.... Got them through Rod there, and Scott at TyreZone Capalaba is doing the fitting for me.

D'oh.... too late, ordered em today. Fairly decent price (I think) though.... Thanks anyway Harry - see you at QR.

I ate the blue ones ... they taste like burning.

Hey guys, I'm shopping for semi-slicks for the next track day, just wondering if anyone had any connections at Tyretech? I'm probably gonna go for the Bridgestone RE55's, just trying to minimise the price as best I can... Thanks!!!

....how did I manage to miss out on this day....??? looks like teh fun!!!1

hehehehe

I have the Bilstein/Whiteline/Sydneykid setup and can't speak highly enough of it. A world of difference compared to my old HKS coilovers. It also did some reasonable times out of the box at QR (on road tyres) and felt good, but it's also civilised enough for a daily driver. I haven't experienced the Teins so can't comment, but I hope they use some lower spring rates than the usual Jap stuff, and the accepted wisdom seems to be that you can't do everything with just springs/shocks alone anyway. Fulcrum did my alignment and they were very professional but I think they'll cost $$$$. You'll get better prices for camber/castor kits, rollbars, pineapples etc though Sydneykid, but I guess it's important to support the local businesses too. I think Whiteline also do coilovers if you're wanting to go that way. I left some comments here http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...pic=88141&st=20 and after a day at QR and two days at Mt Cotton Hillclimb and messing around with the rollbar settings it feels great now.

So... how come it seems to be fairly common practice to put wider wheels/tyres on the rear then?

As usual The Man comes through for me. Thanks SK.

Hey guys, I'm looking into getting a new set of semis for the Buddy Club rims I've got for track days. The wheels are 17", 8" width front, 9" rear, the usual deal for a GT-T / GTSt. They currently have a pretty much rooted set of Dunlop Formula D01Js on them now (fronts down to the wear bars), 235/45 on the front and 265/40 on the rear (which *just* clears the guards). Now in pricing some tyres today one of the recommendations from a tyre place in Brisbane was to go for 245/45 on all four wheels. I know we're only talking 10 or 20mm here but is this a good idea? A better idea than having different widths front/rear? This place also recommended Falken RT615s but from what I understand these are a street/race tyre and I was thinking more along the lines of Bridgestone RE55, Dunlop D01J or DZ02G or maybe Yoko A048s - I'm pretty sure those Falkens don't really compare to them! Anyway should I go diff sizes front-rear or the 245s on all corners?

*Hops on bandwagon* Dude, it's been said before but HICAS is NOT your friend. It also stands for "help I can't actually steer". Dumping it and getting one of GTRGeoff's lock bars in there was one of the best things I did to my 34. Not a lot of point having a performance car if you don't have any confidence in its handling. On the whole loose connection thing though, there are a couple of plug-in pin connector things on the motor and sensors attached to rack on the back of your car, maybe give them a wiggle and make sure it's all on tight and the connections are clean. (pic added - the HICAS unit right before we ripped it off!)

Hi guys, Gonna try to track down some R-compound tyres for the next hillclimb and future trackdays... was just wondering if anyone had any feedback about good/bad places to buy them from in Brisbane? At this point (after searching) it's coming down to the Dunlop D01J or DZ02G, or Bridgestone RE55, or maybe some Yokos. I know you can pick up the Dunlops from Qld Raceway but just wanted to hear people's experiences etc. The sizes I'm after are front: 235/45R17 and rear: 255/40R17 (or maybe 265/40). Also I have no idea what compound to go for - the tyres will be doing the Mt Cotton hillclimb and trackdays at QR only (5 lap stints), I don't plan to use them on the street except to drive there and back. Thanks

Just wanted to put a word in for the Bridgestone S-03s. These have done over 10,000 km on my car now and I just took them to a track day at Queensland Raceway where they did more than 30 laps (5 lap stints). They're wearing ok (-1.5deg camber on the rear) and probably have about 5000km left in them, maybe more if I rotate them across the rear. They handled the track day well and didn't crap themselves though the front left looks a lot more average now than it did a week ago. :lol: By lap 5 of each stint they were feeling a bit soggy but that's to be expected with a road tyre I guess. I cannot say enough for these tyres in the dry, they are just so predictable and grippy. They're not so hot in the wet (sideways in 4th gear on the freeway, anyone?) but I am running about 240-ish rwkw with a 255mm width on the rear so they have their work cut out. So yes they were freaking expensive but I'm not feeling overly ripped off. Next time I will probably try the Toyo T1Rs or those Revspec things (if I can find them) or maybe the Hankooks, but only if they're significantly cheaper than another set of S-03s. Has anyone tried the S-03 vs something else?

Mine sits on 90-100 during normal road use (stop-start up to 100km/h). I've never seen it go over 110 on the road. I saw 130 deg a couple of times at the QR track day recently. I was told 130 degrees C is the absolute maximum you should push "normal" oil before the polymers and stuff start breaking down. I backed off for a lap and the temp recovered pretty quickly. I'm gonna try some Redline oil - apparently it runs a little cooler and is just generally more betterer (funky-ass polyol ester base stocks, whatever that means). If that fails then oil cooler here I come.

white 4 door R34 with a black bonnet pulled in about 3 houses down from me!

I have very similar mods to Bass Junky too except for cams. Made 226rwkw on the initial tune, now making about 10-15rwkw more with boost control kit and Z32 AFM, call it 235-240rwkw. Cams will be the next step for me, but they certainly weren't a priority. 10rwkw is probably a good "figure".

interesting guys! i was just thinking back to when i was shopping around and settled on the 34 GT-T with a bit left over for mods. my criteria were 6 cyl, RWD... (not a big fan of FWD or AWD) and i was strongly temped by the oldskool BMW option before i drove a 34. came close to getting a supra too but couldn't find a good one... test drove a new XR6T as well but it felt like a damn boat and the 6-speed manual was awful. my head hits the roof of an S15 and 4 cyl = meh. i've never even sat in an FD so that would be one option too. ...or a 350Z would be nice.... too many choices!

^^^ What he said. I had exactly the same setup (HKS coilovers, 330mm ride height) and the difference after raising it by ditching those damn things was pretty huge. I've since taken the car on a track and it handles great....

The government has just banned all Skylines, but as part of their Buyback Scheme have offered you $50K to let them melt down your 'line into VB tinnies. You need new wheels. You absolutely loathe anything with 4 cylinders (except interesting Euro stuff like Lotuses). FWD is for Kias and AWD is for sissies. You only have to transport 2 people at the most. What do you go out and buy?