scathing

There's nothing wrong with buying second hand rims. But its a bit specious to give shit to people who buy low-priced "cheap" wheels of variable quality that are unused, and recommend they buy low-priced "expensive" wheels of variable condition that have been used. Your "parts place" guy isn't going to be a metallurgist with access to equipment to scan for internal fractures or over-stressed points on the wheel. Sure they might offer you a warranty on the wheel rather than buying privately, but I'd rather just not crash than to have my wheels replaced if one breaks. In the end, chances are both are probably going to be fine for street and very light track usage, but I don't think you should trust either if you're at the pointy end of the field in a competitive motorsport category. There are certain things I won't buy used. Generally, mission critical and fast-wearing parts that cop a lot of stress. I don't like second hand tyres, unless I'm planning on ripping skids on them. I wouldn't buy used pads and rotors. I wouldn't fit used coilovers without having them rebuilt first. These are all things that can pass a visual inspection while still being seriously deficient, and if they fail on you then you're in big trouble.

The plenum only needs to be as big as required to not be a restriction at full noise. At a certain point the size increase becomes irrelevant from an induction perspective. Actually, if the volume becomes too large then the speed of the airflow drops and you could see a performance drop as a result. People still make 5/8" spacers so there must be a gain. I'm wondering if going to a 1" spacer would make a massive difference over a 5/8" one, assuming it fits. Still, if someone's willing to test it I'm always willing to read about it.

The guys in the US already have experimented. They've found that the 5/16" is the best size. Any smaller and the front two runners still don't get enough air, too much bigger and you'll get clearance issues with the strut brace/bonnet (on 350Zs anyway). If you're planning on going to a strut brace that relocates from the factory position (like APS' to clear their Tall Boy plenum) then you could go bigger. I'm not sure if there's much benefit on a NA car though.

I remember watching one of those "police chase" video shows, and some woman had the same issue in her SUV. She managed to call 911. They cleared the freeway she was on, sent a fleet of squad cars and a helicopter out, boxed the SUV in, and then the lead squad car let the SUV tap it in the back before hitting the brakes to pull both vehicles up. The other 2 cars were there to hold the vehicle steady. My only thought was, "after they cleared the freeway etc, why didn't they just get the stupid bint to turn the car off and let it coast to a halt instead of causing thousands of dollars in damage and putting lots of peoples' lives at risk?" The freeway was, in typical American style, dead straight so the loss of power steering would have been no biggie. It's like the whole "space pen vs pencil" thing all over again. If I was the insurance company, I would have told both the PD and the woman to get f**ked if they tried to submit a claim for the damage when a collision-free solution was right there. Of course then the woman would have sued the manufacturer, since that's what they do in the US Also, some person in the UK had a similar issue on the motorway over there in a BMW. Luckily he copped what he deserved. BMW even released a statement that was full of common sense. I can understand that its possible the shifter jams into place and so neutral isn't available, but it'd be a tall order to not be able to turn the key.

It's an emergency!

Mount it on top of the steering wheel and it'll do heaps. We could finally find a positive use for the non-stop stream of hot air that comes out of the sanctimonious mouths of the gasbags that buy a Pius and won't shut up about how their car is so much better for the planet than ours.

That stuff isn't very developed either, so to get it to OEM levels of reliablity is going to be expensive. Some manufacturers are looking at putting electromagnets in the suspension, to generate electricity as it moves. Honda was looking at using some of the hot water from the engine's cooling system to power generators as well. It'll be interesting to see once they get all this stuff on the road.

Pretty sure RAYS don't design Work. They've got a billion brands on their web site (like Versus, Arthur eXchange and Black Fleet which seems to be their blingers) but Work isn't one of them.

The later model VQ35DEs (the 221kW/300PS versions called "Rev Up" in the US) will rev cleanly to their 7000RPM redlines stock. Drop in some freer induction and exhaust and it should rev very smoothly. At the same time they make power pretty much right across the rev range. The 6 speeds they come mated with have a good selection of ratios for said delivery as well. If you have more cash to spend, GTM Motorsports in the US sells crate motors where the 3.8L is still rated to rev to 8000RPM (which is the end of the dial on a Z33/V35). I'm pretty sure 3.5L engines go to 8500RPM with the appropriate bits. And, if you want internet points and induction noise (one of my favourite things about the L series engine) in exchange for money, Top Secret does ITBs for the VQ. If your S30 is light enough, have you considered importing an F22C from the US and modifying that? You'll get the same VTEC YO power delivery in an FR machine. The engine's also so physically small that it'll sit well back in an S30's engine bay. Or even a RENESIS engine? It'll rev smoothly and will be able to sit at 9K (or 3K depending on where you're looking ) until you run out of fuel or apex seals, and I know how much you love your rotaries.

But the R32 has an RB20DET, which is inferior to everything. If I remember correctly, only CA powered S13s come in 4 stud. S13s that left the factory with SR20DETs are 5 stud. The brakes are small, but almost all street cars of that age are underbraked for the power they can make with mods.

LPG-only fuelled engines would be a problem since you can't get LPG at every servo. I'm also not sure how popular it is as a fuel internationally. If you're dual-fuelling it, then you lose space from the LPG tank and the electric motors/batteries. Packaging all that would be an issue. The Japanese don't really like diesel cars (notice how they only started releasing diesel vehicles recently?) and so that's probably why they never considered a diesel in their hybrids. Volkswagen is working on hybrid Golfs that will have have both diesel and petrol IC engine options available to go with the electric. In what way? Diesels make a shitload torque from lower down in the rev range compared to a petrol motor of the same displacement. Modern diesels also rev out to a reasonably high RPM and with the correct turbo sizing (and variable vanes) deliver usable power across a lot of it.

I thought that water hit 1000g/L at 4°C, at an unknown pressure. When I was still doing high school chemistry, all published attributes for any chemical reaction are taken at "Standard Temperature and Pressure", which back then was 25°C and 1 atmosphere.

FYI Stuckey's is advertising Dunlop Z1s. As an official Dunlop Motorsport dealer, it would seem unlikely that they're parallel importing them.

They did near the end of the tyres' life (maybe even after they were discontinued, it wouldn't surprise me if they used Australia as a dumping ground for old stock). I'm pretty sure I saw them in Stuckey's web site earlier this year (or was it last year?) and Bridgestone Australia still has them on their web site.

Are you referring to Zeckhausen's Stoptech test? The Brembos do have an advantage on multiple stops. I've noticed how much more punishment my used OEM Brembos took, with stock (used) consumables. I found that I could brake harder for longer on the track with the OEM rotors/pads, even compared to when I still had the shitty single piston brakes running Ferodo DS2500s and DBA rotors (RBF600 fluid in both cases).

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I guess I wasn't 100% clear. At least you didn't jump down my throat because of that misunderstanding, start a shit fight, and then later "play" dumb when its pointed out that you're the one that went off half cock for no good reason. My meaning was that they borrowed the cars Mazda Japan uses in the endurance race for their test and fitted the various tyres to them. They didn't compete in Mazda's actual endurance race with a variety of tyres. They only did about a half a dozen laps, as per the standard format BMI uses for their "races" in their videos.

Since when? I've been through there at all hours of the night in the past.

(Lack of) unsprung weight is awesome. And the reason why big tyre shops do that is because they're mostly staffed by knuckle-dragging morons, who are used to working on cars with stock nuts and whose owners would be able to figure out how to defeat the future and get the LHC to work well before they could figure out how to get the wheel off their own car. Its fast to just rattle them on, and its fast to just have them torqued up as high as possible so they're not too loose for any car. Next time, find a shop that actually gives a f**k. I only take my car to tyre shops that hand tighten wheel nuts with a torque wrench they check and/or adjust beforehand.

There was a BMI test a while ago, where they shod the MX-5s Mazda uses for their annual endurance race with different S-Comps. It should be on Youtube somewhere. I think that the Z1s won, just beating the RE11s. There's still a lot of variables (like driver skill, and the condition of the car they were on, and the car itself) but they all came out reasonably close.

Got a link? I wouldn't mind seeing what their testing criteria and methodology was.

Pretty much all Excel drivers. It seems like buying an Excel automatically signs you up to the photon brigade, since an Excel driving around with the fog light off is the exception rather than the rule. It's a distraction as a human's focus is naturally drawn to bright lights in the dark, and when you get closer it kills your night vision as a result. It seems like using the rear fog light on clear nights is directly proportional to cluelessness. Low-spec E36 BMW owners are almost as bad when it comes to that rear foglight. I don't understand how BMW owners can find that little button hidden in the switchgear just above their right knees, but can't seem to locate the giant f**king indicator stalk on the steering column.

There's a dude with a set on his Z33. They really fill out the OEM 18" wheels. Craved sent me a link to someone who melted the dust boots in his Akebonos on the track, but its hard to say how hard that guy punishes his brakes.

Nah, that is fair enough and it's bullshit. I know that some independent tyre retailers parallel import tyres, and have them sitting there for god knows how long (Toyo complained about it on their web site with people flogging off R888s), but to have an official distributor do it is a complete joke.

I'd be careful throwing anecdotal evidence around like this. Federal's reputation isn't stellar either, and I have a couple of other mates who aren't on this forum who've had their 595s get ripped to shreds on the track.