scathing

Any chance of a copy/paste? I'm not signing up to their forum just to read about how some idiot in a crap car with stupid plates lost control and caused a bus to crash into a building.

Good to hear that you finally popped your track cherry. However, its the beginning of the end of your wallet. Once you get hooked and track heavily....things start getting replaced because they can't handle the rigours of track work.

That said, if you have a listen to the GT-R Testing at Nurburgring video...that engine doesn't sound FI. There's no flutter. There's no sneezing. There's no induction sucking noise, or anything you get from a turbo car that isn't OEM polished. However, it does sound like the current crop of high revving Euro V8s. The noise its making on throttle reminds me of the Audi RS4, previous BMW M5, etc....

I like the way it looks. Its certainly aggressive and futuristic. The nose actually reminds me of the hull of the Cylon starfighters in the current Battlestar Galactica series. And as for hybrids, Toyota's been doing quite well with them. More power with better efficiency. As long as it works, I'm all for it.

The NT has now lost its only attractive feature. Tourism must be taking a massive hit for the NT to have to shift to the rest of Australia's model for state revenue raising.

Those are fun. Except when you own a RWD car and the WRX guys set up the courses really tight. So not only can't you compete on time, you also don't have the room required to "express yourself".

The NSCC guys love track days, so I'm sure they'd be interested. They also run in an inter-club supersprint, of which the WRX Club is a member, as well as the HSV boys.

New speculation suggests that the Nissan brand might unite with the world of formula one racing in the near future. Also reporting a link between the Japanese carmaker and former team owner Alain Prost, French newspaper 'Le Journal du Dimanche' said Nissan could join the grand prix grid in 2008. Source: updatef1.com

They both are. My OEM spring rates are 5.9kg / 6.5kg F/R. The Flex run 12kg F/R. Not sure how thick my new swaybars are, but they're definitely thicker (about as thick as you can get, apparently) and solid instead of hollow. Given how skittish the car is with 12kg springs on the street, if I don't find the car easy to drive on the track I'll drop down to a 10kg spring. Should that still not give me the powerdown I want, I'll put my OEM rear swaybar back on.

My gallery is here. Nissan's stand was a waste of time and space. No merchandise, and no models (car or person) that grabbed my attention. The "concept car" was boring as batshit (reminded me of Hyundai's).

I wish I lived in Japan. Forget the Boonie doll, this is a promotional prize worth buying slabs and slabs of beer for.

I wouldn't recommend it. I have a set of adjustable swaybars spec'ed up by Roadholder Suspension. With my OEM suspension I ran them on the stiffest setting and they were great. Good balance, and still great traction. When I went to Tein Flex, the tail would snap out at the drop of a hat. Even now, with the bars dialled as soft as they'll go, I still have problems putting power down around low speed corners. Part of it could be my pissweak tyres, but compared to pre-Flex I still get more slip.

At least, with the shorter rolling diameter, you'll get more acceleration.

The new BMW E92 335i is barely as quick as the E46 BMW M3 (it'll keep up 0-100, but the more distance you put in the bigger the gap). If that's the case, there's no way it'll compete with the E90/E92 BMW M3, potentially with a shortened version of the M5/M6's V10. The BMW M3 has never been a GT-R competitor, in my opinion. Its always been too slow. The E46 did the Nurburgring in 8:2x, a far cry from the R34's 7:52 (to compare generations of each car released at the same time). The 911 Turbo times are always on-par, which means that even the entry level Ferraris (360, etc) are no match, performance wise. The 430 is meant to be a significantly faster car than its predecessor, maybe even enough to keep up with the 997 Turbo and the next GT-R, but then again anyone looking at a Ferrari isn't going to buy a Nissan. EDIT: Just read the rest of your post, and I realise I'm preaching to the educated.

That's true for the Ziex series, especially the 326's, but they do make some reasonable tyres. The infamous RT215s stick like shit on carpet unless its wet and they're worn, the ST115s aren't bad as a more long-lasting street sports tyre, and I've heard that the FK451s are a good "touring" tyre.

Mummy I want one.

The RS6 has got four doors, and doesn't wear an Italian badge. Its not a competitor. The M6 is significantly more expensive than the M5, but its only a poofteenth faster since they're almost identical. Yet I doubt the sedan is cannibalising sales of the coupe. If anything, the Audi R8 could conceivably take sales away from the Gallardo if it goes into production. It looks hot, and on paper it goes well, and it'll be cheaper than the Lambo. But the RS6 - no way.

And 255/40 R17 are piss easy to find. You can get soft street tyres, or a more touring tyre, and most of the more "street sports" oriented companies (Toyo, Falken, etc) have a range of tyres in that size. Since it keeps your speedo so much more accurate, I'd suggest going there instead.

My thoughts for competitors: Porsche 911 Turbo Chevrolet Corvette Z06 BMW M3 (maybe, might be too slow) I can't think of anything British. The Aston Martin Vantage is too slow, the Jags are too soft. TVR Sagaris maybe, but that might also be too slow. The GT-R is not quite a "hypercar" (in the same way a Murcielago, Zonda, Enzo etc are), and most of those cars get referred to as "supercars" these days. I don't think the competitor necessarily needs to be 4WD, it just needs to be quick and not a stripped out track day special.

The same can't be said for Targa Tasmania. The locals down there love it, by all accounts. But then Targa isn't the same as Bathurst, so you get proper enthusiasts watching, and usually behaving respectfully, rather than the great unwashed acting like tools and going only because its an "event". But that's good news. With all the racetrack closures in NSW, its nice to see we'll get something to replace it with. If / when it gets opened for public days, I'll be there.

There's a really cool hairpin at the end of the strip. Every time I get there, I'm always tempted to just rip the car into that perfectly paved, wide open, 180 degree bend and just try and drift through it.

But rear wings generate downforce for more traction on your driven wheels, yo. If this Skyline slid out, it couldn't have been him!

265s are very hard to find. I've been looking a bit. Does 265/40 give you right rolling diameter? 255/40 and 275/40 are much easier to find.

In all probability, no. Most mufflers work by slowing down the exhaust gas. Taking energy out of the exhaust stream reduces the noise it generates when it exits. I'm sure you've noticed that most aftermarket exhausts that are less restrictive also tend to be louder than stock. If the cat is less restrictive to flow, its also muffling less.

At least they did it near a hospital. And I'm with SiVaK. That's a really bad corner to go fast into. Even off the lights, from the middle lane to turn right, if I give it more than gentle throttle I'll get a bit of slip from the rear.