scathing

Source: Sunday Telegraph The problem with kneejerk reactions is that someone gets kicked in the balls.

Hamster's first words at finding out he'd been in a car crash. Was I driving like a twat? And then he insulted Captain Slow. The man is a f**king champion. If he ever comes to Australia, he deserves a beer.

I find them a bit stiff (but then I don't own a Skyline). If you're complaining about a bouncy ride, you might want to consider something softer. Super Streets maybe. Or if you don't need the adjustability, a lot of guys in different cars find that Eibach springs and Koni dampers tend to be great for the street.

I had a traffic incident recently, and I gave one of those "traffic lawyers" who advertise in Motor a call. I found the guy quite helpful and gave me a straightforward response. Also, since it was just a quick 3 minute call he didn't charge me either. If I had to go further and draft a letter I would have had to go in and pay, but for just a "here's my 5 minute high level professional opinion on the matter, try this and if you encounter issues then we'll sit down and discuss details" kind of call he was happy to do it for free. In other words, I have no idea what he charges but it would be a start. Anyway, the details are: Kalpage & Co 9261 0727

Define "cheap". All the reasonable performance tyres I've seen in that size have been around $280-$320 a corner new.

They're a "cheaper version of a Yokohama performance tyre" in the same way a Carmate fibreglass bodykit is a "cheaper version of a C-West carbon fibre aero kit". I've driven on NS-2s, and in my experience they're great for keeping your rims off the bitumen. They don't grip too well, but if you're not making a lot of power or driving the car faster than the signposted speeds they're fine.

If you get an actual suspension manufacturer to reset the springs, I'd say that you'll get what you want. But if you're letting some random do it on the cheap, then I very much doubt it. How many of these "spring resetters" have the tools to measure the spring rate of their finished product? Anyone with a ruler can measure the height, but if they can't measure the rate they can't even guarantee that your springs will have the same rate as each other anymore, let alone the rate of OEM. You can go get custom springs made up for under $500 by a proper spring manufacturer. I'm pretty sure King, and Whiteline, will be able to sort you out. It may cost more but at least you know the guy making it actually knows what he's doing.

Maximas are a great used car to own, since they've got an absolutely rubbish resale value. As for driving, its like a sofa on wheels. Great car if you don't feel like attacking a corner, but being comfortable, though. Another car to consider would be a top-spec Magna. Like the Maxima it gets mauled in resale, so you can get a 2-3 year old one with all the fruit (leather interior, climate control, cruise, etc) for a pittance.

You can put forged internals into a NA car and see benefits. "Strength" isn't as important in a NA car as you're not looking at winding up the boost and generating more force per each power stroke. Instead of using them for their strength, you take that extra strength per unit material and make the pistons lighter instead, which lets you run a higher redline.

Actually, Porsche is one of the few companies VAG deals with that they don't own. The Volkswagen Auto Group owns: Audi Bentley Lamborghini Seat Skoda Volkswagen

If they're adjustable but wearing out, have you considered delaying the inevitable rebuild / recondition and just tightening them? Or are they as tight as they'll go? It'll give you more time to save up for that purchase.

Being in the NA forum, I'll assume you're not interested in doing a supercharger, small turbo, or nitrous. Simplest answer: Stroker. Long stroke engines produce more torque lower in the rev range, but at a lost of high end revability. It will probably increase your displacement as well, which another way of making more torque in the low end. Otherwise, choosing a well matched exhaust will give you better flow characteristics at low RPM, boosting torque. But once again you'll find yourself choked in the top end, unless you do some fancy valving / pipework.

You will make at least 5rwkW with those mods. Possibly more, but I don't want to set false expectations.

Considering Carlos Ghosn is looking at doing a strategic alliance or merger with GM as well, that could pull Ford / GM / Renault / Nissan into one conglomerate.

That said, how can you not notice if you've locked up your tyres? It makes distinctive sounds, and leaves a distinctive smell. There's also the inherent lack of steering / instability that comes when the front / back of the car locks up. If you drive that unaware of what the hell you and your car are doing, maybe you should hang up the hamburger-logo'ed key and pick up something that has two hula hoops.

I like driving aids that act as a last resort, and only when needed. As such, I like ABS. It doesn't kick in too early (you have to have locked up in order for it to intervene, and it can correct faster than you can cadence brake) and I can't think of a valid reason why you'd want to lock your tyres up. If you can threshold brake, it won't do anything at all. If you can drive well you should never notice, but if you f**k up it will give you a chance to bail yourself out. Traction and stability control, on the other hand, tend to come on too early, they can think you're breaking traction / under or oversteering when you're actually not, and not do as good a job at correcting as a human....and I can think of plenty of reasons why I'd want to break traction or have the car "unstable" And I've almost spun because my TCS kicked in well after my car aquaplaned and destabilised the car I had perfectly controlled. For the guys who don't like ABS, do you like vacuum assisted brakes? Power steering? You get much better "feel" when these interfaces are unassisted (as people in Elises and AE86s keep telling me) so maybe people should pull these devices out of their Skylines too.

The FTO doesn't have a 3.0L engine, it has a 2.0L engine. From what I've heard its a pretty reasonable car. The '94 model got Japan's "Car of the Year" award, not bad considering its generally more "sensible" cars that pull that award. The GP Version R is a credible competitor to the DC2 Integra Type-R. The LSD helps with power down, and its meant to be quite chuckable. Otherwise, get the GPX. It runs the same engine as the GP Version R (its missing the bodykit, not sure about suspension tune or lightening) so it'll be as good as an Integra VTiR. The GP's engine, while the same size and configuration (2.0L V6) doesn't have MIVEC so its down on power. In other words, not worth buying. The INVECS-2 auto is meant to be one of the better Tiptronics out there as well, especially given its age, so its not a complete loss if you can't find a manual. But with such a peaky engine you'd want as many gears as closely packed as possible.

The articles I've read on the next GT-R say that Nissan will address that shortfall. The old GT-R was obviously a Japanese volume model vehicle with some very impressive go-faster bits in it. Like the WRX and Evo, its donor vehicle is painfully obvious. The next GT-R, as a bespoke vehicle, is meant to have the luxury to go with the performance, to become a well-rounded package. In other words, its meant to be a credible competitor to the 911 in every respect....not just on its Nurburgring times.

You might also be interested to know that next year's 350Z / Skyline is also getting twin throttle / intake technology. Behold! The VQ35HR

Is Carlos Ghosn also going to go to jail for selling eccies?

But Nissan Global has already announced that the GT-R will be sold as a Nissan, and not an Infiniti, in the US......which has pissed off a lot of Infiniti dealers who thought they were a dead cert for it.

"Umm....let me see if I can get you that speed reading. In the mean time, pop the bonnet and step out of the vehicle........."

The APS TT kit will get you into the 12's, I think, but at 380rhwp you'd hope so. The guy I know in Sydney who has the HKS supercharger, at 300rwhp, hasn't made any drag strip times public.

The only good engine I can think of made by Renault is their F1 engine, which has little bearing on how to build a decent road car engine. If you look at their street cars, most of the engines are average. Cosworth has much more experience when it comes to building streetable engines. You've got all those hot Fords (Escort, Sierra, etc) and they tend to do a lot of work for specialty low-volume British marques too, I believe.

That will take some time, and probably FI. I have yet to see a NA 350Z get into the mid 13's.