scathing

Riiiight. You apparently own an Integra, but clearly know little about its history.

The lovely chaps at Open Wheelers Australia are looking at getting these things complied under the low volume import laws (so they don't have to crash test them). From what I've heard, they should have it sorted by year's end. There have already been drive days with these things available. Don't think the S/C one is available, but the NA ones were. I've been giving some serious thought about getting one if they come out. I've already convinced myself that I can live with an Elise; its only a short jump to a car with no bodywork.

Well, on Saturday I almost ran in to the back of a white Camry that was in the middle of that spray storm. No lights on, and with the light grey sound barriers and that much water I didn't even see him until I was almost on top of him. He was in the lane next to 2 trucks doing 100km/hr+ (between the Waitara ramp and the Mt Colah ramp, southbound) and pretty much between them. Why the guy decided to just match speed and sit in the middle of all that is beyond me.

This is without a chaperone in the passenger seat: Porsche 996 Turbo Ferrari 355 Spyder BMW M3 Various GT-R's Honda NSX

What car have you got, and have you considered what rims you're getting? Have you considered what tyres you're getting as well? If you're going to get a very sporty (or Comp-R) tyre, they tend to have reinforced sidewalls. As such, going for a larger diameter may not necessarily bring you handling improvements over a smaller diameter with good tyres. Generally tyre weighs less than metal, so keeping a smaller diameter wheel with good tyres might "handle" just as well, but with the benefit of having a lower unsprung weight. Lower profile tyres inherently have reinforced sidewalls (since they can't be permitted to flex as much), and since high profile street tyres generally go on econoboxes designed for people who want asoft ride, you don't get as high a percentage of what's available with good sidewalls. If you're going for a proper semi slick, however, your need for a big rim with low profile rubber isn't as pressing. I ran Falken Azenis RS-V04 semi slicks on 17" rims for a while. They felt stiffer than the Bridgestone Potenza RE040 street tyres I had on 18" rims (in terms of the steering response and feedback when cornering on smooth road / track), but with the lower unsprung weight the car's ride comfort and bump absorption was better on Sydney roads when using the semis. Its also a lot cheaper to go for a smaller tyre, which is definitely a concern to me with the rate at which I chew through them....

Yeah, the new Renaults are also a car that should probably have rolls of race tape to go with the spare tyre.

Yeah, I tend to drive with my parkers on. On the highway I'll drive with headlights on. It makes you a lot more visible, which is always a good thing. People seem to forget that sometimes its not about you being able to see, but other people being able to see you. Next time you drive when the Sun is low in the sky, note how hard it is to make out the cars that are between you and the Sun (so if the Sun's ahead of you, the cars in front). All you see are big black shadows, with no detail. Its hard to even work out how far away from them you are. But, once they hit the brakes and the tail lights activate you can work your range out. Same when its raining. There's enough ambient light to see the road immediately ahead of you, but other cars are a water-obscured blur. Sure, having your headlights on at dawn or dusk might not mean you can see any further, but it doesn't negatively affect you and if it stops someone from arsing you then it'll be worth the effort. On Saturday after I came home from a Soarer Club cruise, it was pissing down on the F3. If the visibility wasn't bad enough from the water falling from the sky, I got stuck near 2 semis kicking up so much spray you couldn't even see the truck's cab until you were at the beginning of the trailer. I remember there being a few cars, including a 3 Series BMW and an Excel, and thinking "Why don't you idiots turn on your foglights now, when its actually beneficial?"

The way I see it, you only live once. Driving a sports car is generally a young person's thing (not that I don't know some older guys who still drive it like they stole it, but generally you grow out of it) so I'd rather own a sports car while I can still appreciate it. I remember when I was on my P's putting around in the family hand-me-down, seeing all these old farts driving M3s and Porsches like a bunch of slowpokes. What's the point of having some of the nicest NA engines in the world if you're going to operate on a mental redline similar in number to a Ford Windsor V8 or the boat anchor the Commodores used to run? I promised myself I'd never end up like that. I was going to own a sports car while I was young enough to drive it like a sports car, and the day I get over corner carving I'll trade the car in and buy something soft and practical.

I'll agree with that. I was about neck and neck against my mate's R33 GTSt in the first 2 gears when I had my N15 SSS. Both cars stock. Of course, once we hit 3rd gear all I saw were 4 round tail lights.

Light weight wheels reduce the unsprung weight of the car. This reduces the amount of effort required by your suspension to control its movement, and so your suspension can spend more time doing what its meant to (i.e. absorbing bumps). Alternatively, you could run larger diameter and/or wider wheels. This reduces your tyre's sidewall height and increase the car's track, for better handling, while not increasing your unsprung weight and decreasing your suspension's effectiveness. Lighter wheels also reduce your rotational inertia, which should bring gains to acceleration (in a similar fashion to reducing the weight of other driveline items, such as your flywheel). From what I understand, reducing the unsprung weight has a much greater effect (per unit reduction) than reducing sprung weight in terms of handling. Same with reducing rotational inertia from the driveline. i.e. pulling 10kg out of the wheels will do a lot more for handling and the car's acceleration than, say, ripping out 10kg worth of interior trim. I could be wrong on this last point though.

The "wet" carbon, using resin to lay up like midnight mentioned, is the simpler and cheaper way of doing it. There are quite a few people that have experimented with it at home. "Dry" carbon, for a lighter and stronger end result, requires items like an autoclave that you may not have access to. As for thermal saturation, my intake kit uses a metal heat shield and it works wonders. With one of those laser thermometer things, after a track session I found that there was a 20 degree temperature differential on the "engine" side of the shield and the metal ring on the filter itself. But I realise it doesn't look as cool as a CF box...

Front fog lights are so 1998..... I remember wanting them when I was younger and more foolish, and only sports cars had them standard. I got over them, but now every man and his Falcodore has them and likes to run them. But yeah, I'd agree that the rear fog light is a lot more annoying. Whether its the chariot of the photon brigade (the Excel) or people driving 3 Series BMWs, its blinding at dusk or at night when these people turn their stupidly bright lights on when there's perfect visibility. Sometimes I just really want to smash those lights in, and then ask the driver where the fog is exactly. I'm not condoning vandalism towards other people's cars.......but sometimes they just ask for it.

Its a shame that SPEED got axed for 2DMAX. While I had my reservations about SPEED's technical content, at least they were a bit classier and a bit more sensible than the ricemobiles draped in T&A that infests 2DMAX (and Hot4s, etc). Unfortunately the publishing house couldn't afford to run that many magazines, and since rice and skin sells they went with what was profitable, not with what was (marginally) better. In my mind, if they kept the SPEED concept but got rid of the idiots who keep crapping on about "ceramic turbo'ed" S15s, turbocharged Echos that somehow make power at the rear wheels (without the article ever mentioning anything as major as a driveline conversion), and how feature car X has suspension reknown to be hard riding, for better track handling, a dozen pages after a professional and experienced race car driver panned overly aggressive coilovers for degrading handling (etc).....and instead hired people that actually have a mechanical clue, it would have been a good magazine for the "tuner" culture.

Godzilla is coming. The car that conquered Bathurst, and with it, the best that Ford and Holden could muster, is set to make a return to Australia. It probably won't be next year or even the year after, but Nissan has confirmed its commitment to building the next generation Skyline GT-R and it is headed our way. Nissan remains tight-lipped about the specification of the new car, which is due to make its debut at Tokyo in 2007, suffice to say it will be a car without compromisep. But as a global model, designed to compete with the best in the world, and no longer hamstrung by Japanese power restrictions, the specs are sure to be impressive. Insiders are tipping a power output of 350kW based on a twin turbo version of Nissan's brilliant 350Z engine. One thing is certain and that is the GT-R will not be adapted from any other model, but will be a purpose built coupe. Some have even suggested that it will be branded Infiniti and lead the return of the Nissan's prestige brand to our shores. Read the full article at Carsguide.

If they're both at a similar level of tune, your wife must either be a reasonable driver or you're a little optimistic about your own skill. The majority of the respondents have set their replies outside of pure drag racing, where there's no replacement for power. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you're not talking tangentally to everyone else... My car doesn't have the power to weight ratio to compete with even a light tune turbo car, but street or circuit I'll hold my own. I'll get munched on the strip, but that's never concerned me....

Nissan is also contemplating bringing the 206 kW Skyline (aka Infinity G35) sedan and performance 2+2 coupe to Australia, to reintroduce the Infinity (sic) luxury car brand. The demise of Holden's Monaro could help shore up the case to import the Skyline coupe to meet Monaro-type demand for a stylish performance 2+2 coupe, [Nissan Australia product manager Michael] Hayes says. "If I could bring those cars into Australia tomorrow as an Infinity with a fully fledged dealer network capable of supporting the vehicle, I'd do it," he says. Drive sampled these cars too. The Skyline sedan is set up as a powerful cruiser but the coupe is altogether a sharper drive. But first there's business cases to put together, and a complication is that any move to re-establish the Infinity brand here involves setting up specialist dealerships, which takes time, and the current product is already halfway through its product lifecycle. "We've already had discussions . . . about the ability for Australia to support an Infinity network," Mr Hayes says. Its about time. Nissan Australia should have dropped the Maxima and bring the Skyline ages ago. I guess the suggestion made by a friend from the NSCC a few years ago (i.e. keep asking the guys at the Nissan stand at the Motor Show, and the occasional dealer when the car goes in for servicing, about the possibility of them bringing the Skyline in), which I know has been passed on to other Nissan enthusiasts, might have filtered back to Nissan Australia management. Source: SMH's Drive

Non-turbo cars tend to run a shorter final drive, since they don't have the midrange torque. So assuming the gear ratios are the same, in gear at the same speed the turbo motor should be doing less RPM. In your light throttle situations (where you're not boosting) that should improve your fuel economy. And once you start doing NA tuning, it just exacerbates the problem. Your power and torque figures start skewing towards the higher rev range, which means you have to make the motor work harder to keep it moving...which drinks more fuel. I swapped my flywheel out for a lightweight one, and I have to pick a lower gear more often because I don't have the same inertia in the powertrain to keep the car rolling as I used to. If I dropped a set of lightweight internals into my car it'd make the issue even more noticable. And, unlike with winding the boost up, I can't just turn that weight reduction off.

Yeah, I'll probably just give Race Brakes in Melbourne a call. Mind you, Nissan's got a promotion with DBA at the moment, so they're selling their rotors relatively cheaply at the moment. They can get everything from your standard replacement to full 5000's. Otherwise, the guys at Sports Car International are good with Nissan cars without being a Nissan dealer. Of course, you can always give Mu's Secret a call and see if you can't get Project Mu brake hardware. From what I've heard their stuff is pretty good.

Oh yes, that might happen to. I forgot to mention that. The car's awfully..........French. Which means it won't stay together. But, when it does, it'll be a ball.

Ian Luff runs a pretty comprehensive course. Aaron McGill's are a little more open ended, but still a lot of fun to do. Open air carparks in the rain are also pretty good too, and the price is right. ;-)

Yeah, they've been in administration for a couple of weeks now. The guys in Melbourne are still active, though. I'll see if I can dig up the info I got from the NSCC and post it here.

My pics: http://www.au-z.org/gallery/sau_20051023_avoca

The words "chunky tread blocks" should ring alarm bells. The RX series of Falken Azenis are rally tyres (which also matches your description). Whoever told you that they're "some sort of semi slick" either misheard someone else talking about them being a type of Falken competition tyre, or trying to offload them after buying a whole bunch thinking they were RS or RT series tyres. Are you building an R33 offroad rally car? If not, tyres you steal from a taxi will probably do a better job of providing you with traction than these things on sealed roads. Here's Falken's actual motorsport range. As you can see, the RX-04 series are winter rally tyres, which means that not only will they not grip very well on the tarmac, but they'll also overheat within minutes of light use. You can buy and try, but I get the feeling if you're making 265rwkW that you're going to conclude your rhyme with "die". The falkentire.com web site is the American site, and its pretty much useless for competition tyres. They only list Falken's street tyres, with the RT215 / RT615 being the pinnacle.

Well, how about telling us what you actually use (pretending won't do us much good in the land of reality) and what car you've got?

A high compression, strong and light internalled, big camm'ed, large bore exhaust fitted, NA car with a nice aftermarket ECU isn't going to be cheap either. Taking out the insurance perspective, it'll cost you a fortune to do and it'll still use more fuel than a "standard" NA. It might not drink more fuel when you're at WOT, but it'll probably drink as much (if not more) commuting around town than a turbo motor making that power.