scathing

How long until you to the rim upgrade? If its real soon there's not much point buying Michelin Pilot Sports, but if its going to be a while I'd rather drive on rubber I can trust than to "save" for some unspecified time and potentially put my car into a kerb / telegraph pole other vehicle / etc.

SK - have you had any experience with RoadHolder in Kirrawee? I had my suspension bits installed there, and the guy seems to know what he's doing. Of course, I've got nothing to compare it to, but at least nothing fell off, rattled or squeaked afterwards.

Where are you based? I'm reasonably sure Tempe Tyres in Sydney used to advertise RT215s in 18" for less than $500 a corner. The site's been overhauled, so they no longer have the prices. However, if you're expecting RT215s to perform like a proper Comp-R semi slick, you're going to be disappointed. They're a very grippy street tyre, but even Falken's marketing drones advertise it in the radial section, rather than motorsport class.

ST215's don't exist. You've got RT215s, and ST115s.

Modern IRS cars, especially "sports" ones, tend to have geometry that increases camber as the suspension compresses. If you're powering out of a corner that's great, but if you're trying to launch then its not ideal.

The Honda Sports Car Club NSW is CAMS affiliated, if you want to stick with your brand. Aside from that Duncan is about right. The only thing is that, even though the CAMS affiliated drift clubs only need a L2NS at the moment, with their speeds rising I don't think it'll be long before they require a L2S anyway.

I'd have to sit in one to decide, but if I needed a big family car I'd consider one. They're just oversized wagons. Of course, I'd lower mine as far as I could to give it the same ride height as other cars (while still giving it a decent, sedan / wagon like ride quality).

If I were to buy another sports car and it had to be non-Jap (within my conceivable realm of affordability): Lotus Elise Hatchback: Renaultsport Clio Volkswagen Golf TDi DSG If I were to buy a family-type car Ford XR6T BMW 325i Out of those vehicles, I'd only buy the Elise (pure sports car) and Golf (sensible, non-sporty commuter) over any car I could afford in that price bracket (Jap or not) in the same class. I'd probably buy an ITR or WRX over the Clio, and I'd get a Liberty GT / Honda Accord Euro over the BMW and Ford.

I didn't see the news story, but from the sounds of it they were all idiots. I think that we should continue to let everyone drive powerful cars, and stop with the police crackdowns. With the medical advances and general lack of "world" wars these days, we don't have the usual checks and balances on population like we used to. People who should be dying aren't anymore. Without disease and warfare killing people off, its either going to be famine or stupidity. At least with stupidity culling humanity, its just improving the gene pool.

What TommO said. I'd recommend something like a set of Falken Azenis ST115s for a complete n00b. They're not bad as far as streeters go, but there's bugger all grip in them once you press on. If you want to learn how to drive as quickly as possible (i.e. at the car's limits) you should probably set yourself low limits at first, to see what its like. The car's easier to bring back since the tyres are more progressive at the limit (and there's less momentum because you're not going as fast), so its good to learn on before trying to get the kind of racing slicks F1 drivers wish they were still allowed to run in qualifying.

You can't. It then becomes your word against theres, just like if you hadn't taken notes. But, if you do have notes, then your word becomes a lot more consistent and you'll have a lot more detail since your memory isn't warped by time's ravages. And since the legal profession is such an old fashioned institution with a love of paperwork, they still have great respect for people who take notes of everything. The defense lawyer may still try and attack it, but its better to have more evidence than less. In some cases those notes can be tendered as evidence. If not, then there's no harm in having them. If they don't accept it, then you've lost a couple of skin cells holding a pen, some ink and some paper. If they do accept it, and the retailer doesn't have notes and his testimony keeps changing (either because he's a lying sack of shyte or because he can't recall exactly what he said 9 months ago) then you're more likely to go home with a car. Every time I've read up about what to do in an accident (either on official literature, literature provided by an insurance company, or by my novated leasing company) they've said that after exchanging details try and make some notes of what happened as soon as possible (it could be that night or the next day, but while its fresh in your mind). If the other party contests it, then your notes may help you in court. I doubt they'd all be telling us to make notes if it didn't have some weight.

You should be OK if you drive the car conservatively, and your tuner has given you a street tune that allows for margin of error. I wouldn't go do a track day or the drags with it, though. If you're using a piggyback or light tuning the factory ECU, the knock sensor and the learning functions should compensate. If you're using a full aftermarket ECU (like a PowerFC), most of them don't have the learning function. It won't retard timing etc if the engine pings. Occasional pinging isn't that bad (cars are engineered to sustain that kind of load occasionally) but if your car is constantly pinging (audible or not) then you're just causing undue stress on your pistons. I'd use 91 to limp home if I was stranded in the middle of nowhere and couldn't get octane booster, but I'd put in as little as possible and be keeping an eye on my revs and throttle load.

Great idea. Now instead of a proper petition, it just makes car enthusiasts look like spammers. If they're not from individuals, it makes it a whole bunch easier to write off all the same message as the act of some script kiddy hacker (which will give them more ammo to fcuk with teens in public perception). As a side note, under the new email laws what this "someone" has done (set up a script to flood someone's mailbox and stop it from being accessed) can be construed as a Denial of Service attack, which is a criminal offense. Its an extreme case, but possible under current laws. If Channel 9 gets very punitive, they could just file a lawsuit against the guy and then vilify him on ACA. Anyway, Channel 9 contacted BLISTC (a mod on NS.com) after doing their series on car hoons (with the despicable shots of some fnarkwits trying to start a fight with the cops under the Harbour Bridge) for a response from a car enthusiast's point of view. He asked me to help him write a reply, given my various rants on Silvia NSW. I'll attach what I sent to him as a suggestion to reply. Anyway, after BLISTC sent it in they said "we'll get back to you", and never did. Don't hold your breath that the "we've seen the responses and want to do a story" is anything more than a handwave. street_racing.txt

The other party is allowed to refuse for the conversation to be recorded. If they tell you to stop recording, you have no option but to do so. Considering how hard it is to set up a phone recording system (most residential phones don't let you splice a recorder to capture transmission) and all that effort can be lost by the words, "I don't want to be recorded", taking down notes is the "Russian pencil" option to the recording "American space pen".

I would suggest not making threats. Be courteous, but be firm. Especially since you can't do it in person, in front of a whole bunch of customers. People can be heroes on the telephone (just like on the Internet) but people can just as easily hang up on you. Being contentious gets you nowhere, and it'll just drag out a resolution. If they advertised the vehicle as a GTS-t and that's not what you got, then yes they violated the Trace Practices Act. The ACCC expects you to try and work things out with the retailer first. Only when you can't should you lodge a complaint with them. At that point they'll have a look and tell you what they think (from what you've said, this should be an open and shut case) but they'll try going through arbitration with the retailer. If the resolution of arbitration falls though (the retailer will probably be told to either cough up a full refund or find you a GTSt of condition similar to advertised, which you don't want since the guys will probably try and screw you over and its hard to find 2 second hand cars in the same "condition") because they won't give you the car, then it'll go to court. In that case they normally back up whatever the ACCC decides, but have the benefit of greater legal authority and penalties (which the ACCC doesn't have). As you can imagine, this takes a shitload of time. When I was working for a computer retailer and I went through the TPA training, they said from "first complaint to the retailer" to "court order" can stretch out for over a year. So, try and work it out with your retailer first. It'll be far quicker than going down the legal route. There's no point being an asshole since the guys just won't want to help you out, but you're in the right so don't roll over. Get what you paid for.

What Vuster says. Send them an email, but set your mail client to ask for a delivery receipt. Most mail servers have that option enabled, so you've got a record of it arriving in their mailbox. Should they not read it or delete it, that's not your issue. The message got to them - its their responsibility to read their business communications. If you do make phone calls, make meticulous notes afterwards so you remember what you said. I wouldn't suggest recording it since you might violate the privacy act, but written notes are fine. If it does go all the way to court, the fact that you can "recall" everything that was said will come in your favour.

Sorry Duncan. Wrong event. I'm flagging at the NSW SuperSprints at OP this weekend.

If anything, I'll be flagging. I'll check my calendar to see if I have anything on, before sorting it out.

2:01, which I set before lunch. I thought I'd cracked 2:00 after lunch, but evidently not. I am in dire need of a set of semi slicks, though.

I didn't see you guys there at all! I didn't know you were going! You both have my number, and know what my car looks like. You should have called me.

Shit, I should have checked here beforehand. Shame that none of you rocked up. You would have seen me getting monstered by pretty much everyone. Baron - I was in the silver 350Z. I saw your car, but I didn't think to come say hi.

I may be marshalling.

Depends on the setup and type. A roots type blower will give you a very linear power increase (it'll just feel like a big capacity engine). With a turbo or centrifugal supercharger its a bit more awkward. If you make the right compressor choice the power delivery can be smooth, but not quite as linear as a roots blower.

Well, you could always then specify in the topic that you're talking about a specific application. An R32 GTSt has a different mass, weight distribution and suspension setup to an R34 GTt, so maybe you think we should break it down into a specific forum for a certain car? Anyway, I've got a set of adjustable dampers with stock springs but my swaybars have been a lot more beneficial to handling.

Most Tiptronics are just autos with a tarted up shift gate. Most of the Euro cars will not hold gear at redline (a scary prospect when you're barrelling towards a hairpin in a rented Boxster and the f**king things upshifts on you and surges forward past your comfortable braking point.....) Some are better than others, and they will hold whatever gear you put them in, but that's not an inherently Tiptronic function. The old Mazda autos had a "hold" button (but no fancy paddles or toggles), and it held the car in whatever gear the shifter was in. So if I put it in 2 with the hold button at a set of lights, it'd take off in 2nd gear. And if I used the stick, it would change pretty much then and their. In the end, that's a programming feature rather than an inherent engineering advantage. After driving a couple of Tiptronic-equipped cars, I wouldn't buy them thinking they're a good compromise between a manual and "auto". They still have all the problems of an automatic, but with the problem that you expect more from it and so it frustrates you more when it acts stupid. The Tiptronics don't necessarily kick down immediately (the Boxster's needs 2 presses and a little bit of time to drop from 3rd to 2nd, but it'll upchange as quick as the technology will let it) and they still have the same torque converter losses that your regular slushbox have. If you can get a true clutchless manual then that's great (since they're a true clutch gearbox, but hydraulically actuated), but the cheapest car after the Alfas to have them is the BMW M3 SMG. After that, you're talking about Aston Martins, Ferraris and Lamborghinis. The DSG gearbox would be great too, but only VW has them so far. Those things have two driveshafts and a clutch for each pair of gears, so as you change gears it disengages one clutch and engages the next. Seamless power...