scathing

The problem is that its bodykit mods are very subtle compared to your cooking model 147, so most people will just look at it and think its another limp-wristed hatchback with a nice front and rear bumper.

The old bag must have made a statement. I would have asked them for proof for this complaint. Without one, I'd be wanting to get legal advice before I even made my statement. If there's nothing to defend, I'm not going to put anything on the record that could possibly incriminate me, should I either make a mistake in the wording (or actually have done something else). If they were trying to book you for almost taking out the stupid cow, they might hit you up for the rude gesture (which may not have been mentioned in the original complaint) or vice versa if she was complaining about the gesture.

So should something be done about it to make everyone more gender neutral, or should the cycle be propagated by the "outcasts" segregating themselves further? Reverse discrimination is still discrimination, so if you're motivation is to avoid it then it just makes you look hypocritical. And, if its only a small minority, then why set up a different club that's purely for girls? Its not like everyone is out to get you, so it seems like a bit of a hissy fit that just reinforces negative stereotypes about females. I can understand where you're coming from. Being in I.T. (another historically male dominated subculture) I've seen what its like, especially during the boom when it was 99% male, with an average age in the late teens / early 20's. I've seen some of the shit that people have posted on BBS' and Internet forums, and I've seen what some people have IM'ed my ex's completely out of the blue. But I just find that "well, we have to set up our own clique because there are some fcuktards out there" a bit offensive, and counter productive. The people that ended Apartheid / civil rights for black didn't do it by walling themselves in and only making the occasional foray out. Personally, I don't care what kind of chromosome pairs my fellow car enthusiasts have for me to give them respect. Its their maturity, intelligence and tastes (or lack of them) that decide whether I live up to my nick towards them. So if someone trash talks a fellow car enthusiast purely because of their genitalia, they failed my maturity and intelligence requirements and I'll give it to them with both barrels. While I'll still post the occasional ribald comment, just because I'm gender neutral in my respect doesn't mean I'm not male. But those comments will have nothing to do with a person's suitability behind the wheel with any seriousness.

Good luck trying to find parking around Pancakes at the Rocks on a Friday night, and then not getting pulled over by the cops as you try and leave via George St or Hickson Rd. The problem is Mosman is smack bang in the middle of suburbia. There aren't too many places around there that have nice routes. Did you want to go on a proper drive with nice eroads, or just meet up to hang out? If its the latter, you could always drive to St Leonards (which is near Mosman) so sl!m, craved and I can come outside for a while and meet you. Be warned that its freezing at the moment.

That depends on if you're talking about a Roots-type supercharger, or a centrifugal one. A Roots-type is always at max boost. Driving a car with one just feels like driving a large capacity motor. There's little to no lag on these ones, but because they're "always on" it means you're always boosting. Those ones tend to be measured in litres of air, rather than PSI. The 4AG and Mercedes ones have a clutch so the SC can be disengaged for fuel economy reasons, but I don't know if you can get that kind of setup in kits. The centrifugal ones need to build revs (since its basically a turbo compressor, but powered from the crank instead of an exhaust impeller) to generate boost, and those ones have various compromises.

Yep, that's what I said. If the witness is willing to go to court and testify, then the cops will get them to sign a stat dec. That will be enough evidence for the cops to give you a fine. If you contest it, however, the statement won't be enough. The witness has to go to court. So if the cops book you based on what someone else saw, then contest it. See if the other person cares enough, a couple of months down the track, to lose a day of their time to attend court and testify against you. If they do, they must either really hate you or you did something really stupid.

Yes, only the first word was typo'ed. He actually thought that RB stands for a special wheat-based baked-good that you use in motorsport.

Good luck with it. They're nice looking cars, and with a bit of practice to learn its idiosyncracies, still a quick car. As for "luxury sports car with leather etc", that you're "not taking to the track", an Alfa 147GTA is Nissan 350Z money.

Only of you measure your "performance" in 1 dimension. Which isn't what the GT-R was designed for..... Once you graduate to long pants and experience the joy of attacking the corners, your Typhoon won't see which way the GT-R went.

How "custom" are we talking, here? Can we get wheels in sizes not listed on the Rays Engineering web site?

I loved Buster! True about the composition, though. Most carbon bonnets are FRP with a wet CF skin, but that should weigh close to a pure FRP bonnet. A pure dry CF bonnet should weigh a bit less and be a lot stronger, but that stuff is expensive.

midnight says that his fibreglass bonnet is lighter than a CF one. Unless its fallen apart on him, its strong enough to do the job. No it doesn't have a weight to weight advantage, but it has a weight to strength necessity advantage. Any strength over a margin above minimum requirements is wasted (especially on a component that isn't called upon to sustain loads), and if the tradeoff is extra weight then its a performance deficit too.

There's a guy out there that has a TT Viper that makes 1000hp....before he hits the laughing gas. Although in that application, I'd call it the "black and brown skid marks" gas. Can't find the link, though. The owner said they've never used the nitrous....

Well duh! It stands for Takumi! You've got your regular cars, then the ones that work pretty good on the downhill (single Takumi). Then there's the special cars that are Takumi Takumi!, and as every anime fan knows.....when a character repeats something, its got to be good.

Silly Raver Vewy Quiet (since its going after RaBbits)

So, back on topic, when are you heading out to the track next Moanie?

If I'm feeling generous, when I get one of these for myself I'll pick one up for Mike, too. I think it was the first modificaiton Joshua made to the car

How hard did you hit? Conceivably it could have been enough to crack CF too. Its not like your average street car CF components are built to the same engineering and quality control as a race car, especially since most are just CF overlaid on fibreglass anyway. At which point you'd be up for a new bonnet regardless of what it was made of.....and I know which one I'd rather pay for. If I ever replace my bonnet and want the dark weave, I'll probably go for a CF overlaid 'glass bonnet. As long as it weighs less than my factory one and doesn't cost me a fortune, it'll do.

If Toyo's RA1 (which they advertise as a clubsport circuit racing tyre) has the same construction and tread compound as Nitto's NT555R (which is reknown as a drag tyre), then one of them is going to suck at their advertised function. Drag tyres make shit circuit tyres, because of their weak sidewalls. And vice versa. With the rubber compound and tread pattern, I don't doubt that the circuit tyre will provide good grip compared to your regular street tyre off the line, but its still not ideal.

If the person dobbing you in can reasonably give evidence without being discredited under cross-examination, and is willing to do so, then it is sufficient evidence to issue a fine. You'd be hard up getting hit for speeding by a civilian, since they're not trained to estimate speed and the speedos aren't calibrated with the same accuracy and regularity as a pursuit vehicle, but for stuff like dangerous driving, running red lights and other offenses you can. But, should you take it to court, it'll be your word against theirs. Unless you pissed off a driving instructor or some upstanding member of society, or there are a lot of witnesses willing to take time out to sign a stat dec. or appear in court, reasonable doubt should carry you through. Of course, I am not a lawyer so I wouldn't stand in front of a judge and tell them, "Well, this foul-mouthed bloke on the Internet, who I've never met, told me so".

Unless you've got the money and / or mechanical skills to develop the car, I wouldn't bother racing it. Not enough bang for buck. But if I had some kind of stupendous budget to develop the powertrain and the handling, I'd do it. The car's a nice, stable platform and I think, with time and R&D, it'll make a reasonable track weapon. Until then, its more for people with something to prove.

Tempe Tyres stocks Nittos, I believe.

The bonnet isn't a load bearing structural component, and generally any accident that stresses the bonnet is usually a sizable one, which means you have other concerns. As such, who cares how strong it is? Unless you're planning on spending a lot of time sitting on it, or having some lycra-clad bimbo doing that, as long as it supports its own weight its strong enough.

To be "safe", I'd get a stroker kit and bore it out to 3L, with aircraft-grade titanium internals. Run a pair of HKS T51Rs with custom cams. Bigger drag intercooler with a liquid nitrogen spray, and a MoTeC ECU to control it all (which would also let you drop the restrictive AFM's). Get methanol or water injection, just to make sure you can use all that boost. Maybe a nitrous system too, to help spool up those two turbos. Rip out anything non structural in the car, and rebuild the back end with tubs. Get yourself some drag tyres too. Its just an "arms race", in the end. If you don't know what his "mate" is going to do, then to be "sure" all you can do is make sure the engine makes every last kilowatt possible, and the car as light you can.

The first two letters denote the block (RB, SR, CA, VQ, VH, etc). The next two numbers denote the displacement in 0.1L units. The next letter on modern engines denotes the camshafts. Most of them just have D for DOHC, although you can get SR20VE and VET's that denote an SR20 with variable valve timing. The VQ35DE has variable valve timing too, and quad cams, so I'm not sure how that works out. The E is for electronic fuel injection. I figure you know what the T's are for.