Big Rizza

Yeah I figured the full episode was a bit large to post so I extracted and shrank that section. (If anyone is interested, full episodes of 5th Gear and Top Gear are available on Mininova.org as torrents, as well as full episodes of Best Motoring, Initial D and many others) As for idiots on the road, my g/f came home the other day and told me she was pulling away from traffic lights (at the front of the queue) in the right hand lane and there was a commodore behind her riding her ass, flashing his high beams and waving at her to move over into the left lane so he could get past. The whole reason she was in the right lane was because she had to make a right hand turn about 300m after the traffic lights, and it was too busy at that time of day to try and make a lane change between the traffic lights and the turn. It is just unbeleivable how impatient some people are on the roads. There is nothing better than overtaking these people through superior lane selection! Nothing except porn.

List of FUN cars to be had under $10k. Not a complete list, just those I could think of: - Alfa Romeo 75 Potenziata (141kw non turbo RWD) - Alfa Romeo 164 (up to 147kw, non turbo, FWD) - BMW 325i E30 (125kw, non-turbo, RWD) - BMW 735i E23 (150kw, non-turbo, RWD, top of the line limo for $5k) - Diahatsu Charade Turbo (50kw, turbo, FWD, 700kg!) - Eunos 800M (149kw, supercharged, FWD) - Eunos Cosmo (220kw, turbo rotary, RWD, only cheap as 15yo import) - Holden Calibra Turbo (150kw, turbo, AWD) - Holden Commodore VL Turbo (150kw, turbo, RWD) - Honda City Turbo (81kw, Turbo, FWD, 720kg!) - Honda CRX Si-R (118kw, Non-Turbo, FWD) - Mazda 323 4WD Turbo (110kw, turbo, AWD) - Mazda MX5 (86kw, non-turbo, RWD, only cheap as 15yo import) - Mazda MX6/626 turbo (100kw, turbo, FWD) - Mazda RX-7 Series 1 to 3 (77kw, non-turbo, RWD) - Mitsubishi Galant VR4 (148kw, turbo, AWD) - Mitsubishi GTO (206kw, turbo, AWD, only cheap as 15yo import) - Mitsubishi Starion (110kw-125kw, turbo, RWD) - Nissan Bluebird SSS (112kw, non-turbo, FWD) - Nissan March Superturbo (81kw, supercharger, turbo, FWD, 770kg!) - Nissan Silvia (up to 150kw, turbo or non-turbo, RWD) - Nissan Skyline R31 Passage GT (140kw, turbo, RWD) - Nissan Skyline R31 Skyline Silhouette (114kw, non-turbo, RWD) - Peugeot 205 GTi (up to 100kw, non-turbo, FWD) - Porsche 924 (from 95kw, non-turbo, RWD) - Porsche 944 (Up to 155kw, non-turbo, RWD) - Saab 900 Aero (129kw, turbo, FWD) - Saab 9000 2.3 Turbo (147kw, turbo, FWD) - Saab 9000 2.0 Turbo (118kw, turbo, FWD) - Subaru Liberty RS (147kw, turbo, AWD) - Suzuki Alto Works (47kw, turbo, FWD, under 600kg!) - Suzuki Swift GTi (74kw, non-turbo, FWD) - Toyota Camry V6 VZV21 (117kw, non-turbo, FWD) - Toyota Celica GT4 (136kw, turbo, AWD) - Toyota MR2 (107kw, supercharged, RWD, mid-engined!) - Toyota Soarer MZ21 (172kw, turbo, RWD) - Toyota Supra MA70 (179kw, turbo, RWD) - Toyota Chaser (154kw, turbo, RWD) - Volvo 740/760 Turbo (134kw, turbo, RWD) It's by no means a complete list, but I have tried to provide a large variety of car styles, from European bricks like the Volvo to small nimble japanese cars like the Swift. If you think this list is long, the number of cars I investigated before settling for my skyline was HUUUGE! And my shopping list included some more boring cars like the Nissan Maxima and 4cyl Camrys. Of couse the biggest bang for your buck comes from a $500 1970-something Toyota Corolla on a gravel track. Be a rally god! (Corrections to any stats listed are welcome)

I may hate all SUVs, but the BMW is definitely the most sporty on the market - even more so than the Porsche, and probably more so than you would maybe think IMO. That's why some X5 drivers think they are driving a Lotus Elise. And compared to the Landcruisers and stuff they may have owned before hand it probably feels like a Lotus Elise. Having said that, you are right in that it is still not as sporty as a bottom of the line BMW 116i hatch, which costs about 1/3 of a top of the line X5. Compare it to the 130i or 330i and it's a joke. See attachment for very short (9 seconds, 135 kb) of an X5 on a race track. It made me laugh - would take some serious balls to do that. Soccer_Mum.wmv

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I've been in silvias with 250+rwhp and Supras with 270+rwhp, and they are way faster than I would ever need/want to go. Given that, 250rwkw (=330+rwhp) will be insane - scary fast in fact. That's approaching double the stock car's power output there! Hope you've got some decent chassis, brakes, suspension etc. upgrades there! At least you will never be designated driver - you're gonna scare off all the passengers! (unfortunately a stock 32 4 door turbo has enough appeal, enough space and low enough scare to make me a regular selection for a night out) But you've caught the speed bug, and you've got it bad!

I'm guessing the mechanics screwed up the timing belt while doing the water pump, which in turn caused the valves to fail. But I'm no mechanic... In fact my mechanic friends regularly tell me that I know f**k all about f**k all. (Although when I try to tell them that the double negative in fact implies that I know everything about everything, they won't have a bar of it...). So someone more knowlegable respond!

I like pretty much all movies. The only ones I dont like are the ones where it's a bunch of people in the 19th century talking in the courtyard of a castle for 2 hours about a local bachelor, then go horseriding. Nothing happens. And I instantly purge them from my memory so I cant even name any! If something happens, I like the movie. Sole criteria. Being John Malkovic, Unbreakable, Mallrats and many others mentioned are in fact brilliant movies. However, I have some honourable mentions for BAD MOVIES. I enjoyed all of these movies, but I can recognise that they are just horrible piles of steaming shit: Biker Boys - Fast and the Furious meets a pile of shit Undercover Brother - Should have called it "White People Are Dumb" Cut - Kylie Monogue! This is likely the worst movie of all time - I loved it. Street Fighter - Kylie Minogue! But Honda is from Hawaii?!?!? huh? Surf Ninjas - This was entertaining, but terrible - a must see in fact! Ninja Turtles 3 - The first two were so awesome. This is just bad. The Toxic Avenger Part II - Like Ninja Turtles III, but with occasional boobies. Any 3 Ninjas movie - 10 year olds knocking out adults with one punch. Like Surf Ninjas actually! Any Power Rangers Movie - Low budget action with a budget? Kazaam - Shaquille O'Neil as a rapping Genie. Awesome Concept. Steel - Shaquille O'Neil as a superhero. Awesome Concept. Blue Chips (I actually dont think this is worth of the all time worst list, but added it because of Shaq.) - Shaquille O'Neil as a basketballer. Awesome Concept. Battlefield Earth - So weak, so very weak - but I still enjoyed it! There are many more, but I cant think of them off the top of my head. If I had to pick a single one, it would have to be Cut. I bought it on VHS off my local video store for $1 coz they didn't want it anymore. It was a $2 weekly rental, so good value for me. You gotta love it when people get stabbed through the neck with a long rod and die, then wake up 30 minutes later in the movie, leap to their feet and beat evil killer dude half to death with said rod, saving the helpless female from certain doom.

Take what you can get I reckon. Push him too far and you'll end up in Court. And that's a waste of everybody's time.

Nice car, but make it a second car. Dunno if it would do too well with shopping centre car parks - speed humps.

Yeah, despite how much I've been talking it up, I'm not a fan at all of the Koenigsegg. I have great respect for it's immense performance, but I do not desire one. And I agree with the you on the technology front - It's more an extreme extension of existing technology and doesnt really bring anything new to the supercar game. They have a few patents for it, but they arent anything revolutionary. But what does the Bugatti have as far as new technology? 7 speed gearbox came out in the BMW M5. High performance All wheel drive systems have been around since the 80's Audi Quattro. The duel clutch gearbox has been in the Audi/VW group for a while now (golf, TT, etc), although this is the first "high torque" application in a road car. Bugatti has done quad turbos before. Twin engine management has been done before (I think Aston Martin has it in their Vanquish...). Compact W engine layout has been used by VW/Audi for a while now. So I dont think there is too much new technology there. In fact having a look at all that it seems to just be a collaboration of everything the VW/Audi group and Bugatti have ever done. A halo car to improve sales of lesser models? Although it makes up for it with 0-300km/h in 14 seconds (McLaren F1 does it in 28 seconds). And 1000+ bhp is also new. Plus Bugatti reckon they will "tweak" a few extra bhp out of the customer vehicles just to ensure they are happy hahaha! As for the Enzo, I dont think I could ever own that car. I couldn't handle the attention!!!

Nice times. That is one quick car. My GTST is stuck in the 6's for the 0-100km/h sprint. Need some power...

Yeah maybe I should have put more danger for 4WDs... How about this: Danger to themselves: ** (as before) Danger to other cars: **** Danger to Pedestrians: *****! Cheers for the feedback though. Anyone have any suggestions for categories I may have overlooked? (not trying to steal the thread...)

Here is my opinion of the % break down of hoons and dodgy drivers on our roads. If anyone else wants to do the same it might make an interesting comparison: 30% Tradesmen Danger Rating: **** The most forgotten about category is in my opinion the biggest. Peope who drive vans / utes / small trucks etc, particularly those that are white in colour, are by far the largest percentage of dodgy drivers I see on the roads. Typically male, their age greatly varies from as young as 20 up to 50 years of age. Tailgating, speeding, cutting off other drivers, talking on mobile phones while driving, nothing is beyond these people. Anything to get to the next job as quickly as possible. So why is it that they are always late? 20% Holden Commodore Danger Rating: ***** Behind the tradesmen, we have the Commodore driver. Typically young males 18 to 25 years of age, these come in a large variety of subcategories, and their behavour varies accordingly. Examples of such subcategories are: Bogan Drivers (self explanatory), Cap Drivers (young males who wear caps while behind the wheel), Borrowing Mums/Dad's Car Drivers (often on P plates, they like to give the big 6 cylinder a workout coz it's so much faster than their excel at home), VL Driver (self explanatory), Business Man Late for Work and many others. Typical activities include burnouts, drag racing, speeding, and cornering too quickly. 10% Body Kitted Shopping Trolleys Danger Rating: **** Drivers of bodykitted shopping trolleys such as Lancers and Civics with the stereo up too loud. Typically young people 16 - 25 years of age, the gender split is approximately 30% female, 70% male. Big rims, wings and cut springs make the car the sweetest handling vehicle on the roads, and the neons and stereos use their radiation and sonic waves to improve the cars acceleration. Typical hoon activities include challenging far quicker cars to drags, speeding, weaving through traffic, creating noise pollution and badging/stickering their cars to be something else. 10% Young female hoons in econoboxes Danger Rating: **** Beware next time you see a cheap efficient 4 cyl vehicle driven by a young female. The majority of the time you will be safe from harm, but if you're unlucky they may be from this category and end up killing you. Typical activities include speeding, pulling out into traffic without looking, and getting distracted by phone conversations. 10% Four Wheel Drivers Danger Rating: ** Come in two categories: The blind and oblivious are those that drive their 4WD without realising that it is not a car. Typically they are seen changing lanes into other smaller vehicles and driving faster than the prevailing conditions allow. The second type is the Might Is Right 4WD owner, that is completely aware that they are not driving a car and use it to their advantage, cutting off vehicle in traffic and generally exceeding the speed limit. Generally not as dangerous as other "hoons," more of a nuisance than anything. But beware if you are a 5 - 10 year old pedestrian in a school zone - you may just find yourself under 3 tonnes of SUV 8% Japanese Import Drivers Danger Rating:***** Drivers of imported vehicles, predominantly turbocharged. They share many similarities to the "Body Kitted Shopping Trolleys" category, but their vehicles are actually fast, and as a result they often end up doing some stupid shit and crashing their cars. Activities include drag racing, attempting to drift, speeding, and going around corners too quickly. 2% Ford Falcon Driver Danger Rating: ** These make up a suprisingly small number, given the size of the Commodore driver category. The activities of these drivers are similar to that of Commodore drivers, although generally seem less aggressive. 10% Just a bad driver Danger Rating: ????? The final category is for every other bad driver and hoon that does not fit into a category. These can leap out at any time driving any vehicle. Be on guard always! Did I forget any? Note that I am not by any means saying All import Drivers are hoons, or All Falcon drivers are hoons, the percentages represent the % of hoons that drive those vehicles.

Haha "dremel." I had never heard of one of these until a few months ago, and I cannot beleive the incredible cult following this tool has! Complete with online owners club and everything. It seems dremel owners seek a job for the tool, rather than the more conventional seeking a tool for a job. Oh, and nice job beating the V8 too. The old commodore six isn't as bad as a lot of people say it is. The low rev torque, particularly in supercharged ECOTEC form, can suprise some more powerful cars.

I reckon there are more in the "show" category than are owning up... I voted "go" because i bought the car for it's performance, but I do like (some aspects of) the reaction you get as a skyline driver. So Im maybe 70% go 30% show...

I was soooo disappointed when I ran against a VN V8. I was so happy to be racing my first V8. My car is an almost stock R32 GTS-T and I absolutely destroyed the commodore... I was hoping for a close race. I am still yet to have a good race in my car. It's either destroy (civics, lancers etc) or be destroyed (GTR, Supra etc). Maybe I just need to modify my car to be competitive with the big guns to get a good race since my car's performance seems to be in no mans land...

It seems your 10 year prediction for 'Egg delivery is a bit off. A number of the world's richest (and luckiest) car enthusiasts have already taken delivery: Spotted in Norway: Spotted in Australia: Spotted in USA: Spotted in United Kingdom: Spotted in United Arab Emirates: Spotted in United Arab Emirates: Spotted in United Arab Emirates: Spotted in Norway: Koenigsegg have made a lot of claims about the CCR, but they have made one official top speed run at the Nardo High Speed bowl. Video here. They clocked 387km/h, which is apparently around 16km/h faster than the McLaren F1 acheived on the same track. Note that the Nardo bowl will not usually reveal a cars absolute maximum velocity due to the fact that you are constantly cornering on an embankment, which puts huge stress on the tires. The McLaren F1's official Vmax, as well as the Bugattis record breaking 400+km/h run, were recorded on Volkwagens high speed testing ground, which is entirely straight and flat, allowing the true Vmax to be reached. The McLaren F1 also had the wipers and mirrors removed for its run, unlike the "Egg which was 100% standard, including leather, stereo and A/C. The only modification was the addition of a roll cage. I can only assume the Bugatti was standard as well - I think there would be some angry customers if they modified it for the record breaking run given the crap they have already had to put up with in regards to performance claims and delivery dates. Koenigsegg officially state the car is good for at least 395km/h, and unofficially claim a 405km/h vmax. "This is without a doubt the most astonishingly fast car I have ever driven! Five stars out of five possible!" - Evo Magazine

I got my side intrusion bars done by a compliance workshop. From what i understand it requires an engineers sign off, so best not to muck around. i woudn't recommend making your own intrusion bars. If you can source some ADR approved intrusion bars, that is a lot easier. There is an article on ADR-ing a 15 yo import yourself at Autospeed. It's for a 180sx, but I would guess it would be similar for both. You need a membership to access the entire article, but I will copy the relevant bits: "Side Intrusion Bars Most Japanese-market vehicles are not equipped with side intrusion bars that meet ADR standards - and the Nissan 180SX is no exception. In the case of the 180SX, we were never going to attempt to design, fabricate and install the intrusion bars at home – a lack of facilities, equipment and design knowledge decided this. Instead, we farmed the job out to Best Enterprises. Best Enterprises take the approach of bolting and riveting the intrusion bars into place. This eliminates the need to remove and repaint part of the door, which is normal when the bars are welded into place. This photo shows the pre-fabricated intrusion bars that Best Enterprises employ. As seen here, the process begins by removing the door trims and plastic weather shields. Next, the ‘guts’ of the door must be removed to make space for the installation of the intrusion bars. The door lock, top trim, window and its electric up/down mechanism are removed. The intrusion bars used by Best Enterprises can be fitted through the gap in the top of the door (where the glass normally slides through). In this photo, the bar has been slid down into the door and is being manoeuvred into approximate position. The forward end of the intrusion bar is secured using high tensile bolts. This photo shows the holes being drilled through the end of the door. (A fiddly process!) Here are the two holes drilled and filed clean ready to accept the leading end of the intrusion bar. The leading end of the intrusion bar is aligned with the door holes and a pair of high tensile bolts is used to secure it into position. Once these bolts are tightened to Best Enterprises’ torque specification, the trailing end of the bar can be installed. When the trailing end of the intrusion bar is in its appropriate position, a series of three holes are drilled through the door and the intrusion bar’s trailing mounting flange. These holes are spaced exactly the same distance apart so that in the event of a side impact, each rivet shares a similar load. Once the holes are drilled, 3/16 inch rivets are used to secure the trailing end off the intrusion bar to the door. In this photo, the intrusion bar is being hold in position while the serious-looking rivet gun is brought into action. And here’s the intrusion bar installed. The same installation process is then applied to the opposite door. Engineer Certification: Once the intrusion bars have been fitted, the installation must be inspected by an accredited engineer. This is to certify that the intrusion bars meet specific strength requirements. As seen here, the engineer will typically take photographs of the intrusion bar fitment. In addition, the engineer will also sign a "Certificate of Inspection with Respect to Australian Design Rules" that confirms all intrusion bar related standards are met. Best Enterprises employs Australian Technology Pty Ltd for the approval of their intrusion bars. Australian Technology charges a certification fee, which Best Enterprises includes in the final charge for the intrusion bars. Total cost is AUD$550." Credit: Best Enterprises +61 8 8262 6055 Autospeed www.autospeed.com It's not a skyline, but it might still be helpful. The cost would be roughly double what they have quoted there for a 4 door vehicle. I was charged $1200 for the complete ADR-ing of my 4 door skyline, including fuel filler neck, seatbelts, intrusion bars, mirrors etc. That was through Autoworx in Western Australia

I've got mine. No boot carpet makes up for it in the power/weight stakes haha!

I'm not sure I agree with your go-kart vs. F1 analogy. Maybe a go kart and an F1 car driven by someone really really really fat. The Bugatti is too heavy, and is more of a GT car with supercar performance (like a Mercedes McLaren SLR) than an uncompromising supercar. There is no doubt that the technology behind the Bugatti is impressive, but ultimately it makes the car too fat to run away from the (much) lighter Koenigsegg CCR. A simple power to weight ratio comparison: Koenigsegg CCR: 1180kg / 807 bhp = 0.68 bhp / kg Bugatti Veyron: 1900 kg / 1001 bhp = 0.53 bhp / kg (source: www.ultimatecarpage.com) To make the same power to weight as the Koenigsegg, the Veyron would have to be producing nearly 1300 hp. This incredible power to weight is enough for Koenigsegg to claim a 9 second 1/4 mile at 146 mph. And that's a big claim indeed. Added is the fact that the Koenigsegg can hold a lateral force of 1.3g while cornering. The Bugatti will be infinitely more comfortable, more easy to drive, better built, and (likely) more reliable. More importantly, the Bugatti name, the ludicrous price tag and the record setting 2km/h top speed advantage will make it infinitely more desirable for the super rich than the no name Koenigsegg. But if the Bug can lap a track faster than the Egg, I will eat my own shoes. (Note: I am not a particular fan of either of these cars, I am just absolutely convinced that the Koenigsegg would be the faster car).

This reputation of unreliability is more to do with the early rotaries, particularly those by manufacturer NSU and early (pre RX7) Mazda rotaries. Vehicles such as the 1960's NSU Ro80 were notoriously unreliable. The engine was guarenteed by the manufacturer, and NSU had to make countless engine rebuilds and replacements for free. 4 or 5 engine rebuilds were not uncommon. It got to the point where the manufacturer ended up broke and were swallowed by the Audi/VW group. Audi/VW ultimately killed off the development of the rotary engine in favour of the more conventional piston engine. The NSU design team went on to design the far less inspiring Audi 100. (Although in their defence they did drop a triple rotor into a limited number of 100's just for a bit of fun in the late 70's). Imagine how insane it would have been if the Audi Quattro which took the Rally scene by storm in the early 80's with its turbocharged all wheel drive drivetrain also ran a rotary engine? It could have happened. The reputation doesn't really apply to modern 13B and 20B rotaries. Mazda proved that when they became the first Japanese manufacturer to win the LeMans 24 hour race. Anyone interested in classic rotaries may want to check out this article Rotary Engined Classics

Cheers everyone.

Just a quick one. What do people mean by "holeshot?"

Maybe Webber is too busy setting UK records for the quickest lap time in a Suzuki Liana? Actually, that honour goes to former F1 champion Damon Hill... But Webber would have won if it was dry... (Does anyone have any idea what I'm talking about?)

One quick note: Porsche times are always unfair because they have former Rally driver Walter Roehrl. No doubt the quickest human being alive around the 'ring in any car at any time. I don't doubt that he could do an 8:00 lap in a Daewoo Matiz. If I were a woman, I'd sure like to be his girlfriend...* As for the original question of "What relevance do they have in relation to the performance of a car other than it can sustain high speed and corner at high speed?" - I think it does have reasonable relevance because the Nurburgring is more like a road than most race tracks - it's bumpy with trick off camber corners etc. so if a car is quick on the Nurburgring it will be quick anywhere. Having said that, I have never taken a cars lap time into consideration when purchasing a vehicle... Oh, and the rumour is that the R33 GTR was "tweaked" slightly for it's record breaking run. A little boost here, some semi slicks there... * (reference from the movie Basketball, may or may not represent my true opinion)