scathing

Anyone want to buy it? http://www.themotorreport.com.au/6831/aust...red-r35-gt-r-2/

I bent a TE37 in a major way, and quite a few places I took it to say it was unrepairable. Neale Wheels in South Strathfield repaired it. As 75 Coupe says, a lot of tyre shops who "repair" it just send it somewhere else. Neale Wheels actually do the repairs.

Tarmac's not too bad. I picked it up last week.

I haven't been around for about a year now, but the last time I was there I ran a 1:52 flat. The car feels good at EC, and in general the wider corners suit the car's weight, midrange torque, and rear end stability. Obviously, the relative lack of power compared to turbo cars means I suffer on the longer straights.

Ric Shaw is pretty famous in the NSW rotary scene. He's circuit raced quite a few rotors. Pac Performance are pretty well known in the drag racing scene too. Not sure what they're like on customer cars, but their race teams do quite reasonably.

If you're measuring a stock GT-R's performance purely on its straight line abilities, you're not getting the point of the vehicle.

You might be a better driver, and they may not be on semi slicks. AWD and power only comes into its own on corner entry, so braking, turning in and mid corner you could be quicker. Those cars have more power than you. If they're holding you up in the corners then you can only go as fast as they do through the corners, but once you pop out on the straight you lack their ability to accelerate away and make back the speed. If you've had to back off in the corner to not hit them, you also lose more momentum which you need to recover. Power isn't everything, but it is a lot. You can either try and pass them by taking them under brakes, or back off enough to leave yourself more room and get a lap of clean track. The other thing is that, onto any straight, corner exit speed is king. In such a situation its worth sacrificing a little speed going into the turn and through the first part, in order to be able to maximise your speed coming out. This link breaks it down a bit more for you, if you want to have a long read. Carrying more corner speed is good if you're going through an endless set of esses (like, I daresay, mountain roads) since there's no straight to stand on the throttle for any length of time. But if you can hold a consistent 80km/hr through a corner that has a straight, on the track you'd be better off going in at 70km/hr if it means you can exit at 85. I only worry about carrying more mid corner speed through Turns 3 and 4 (the left hander near the top of the hill and the right hander immediately after it). Most of the other corners have straights after them, so I try to set up to get on the power as early as possible. The other exception is the Fish Hook, which doesn't give you much of an exit straight before the important Turn 9 onto the back straight, but you go in so relatively slowly and its such a tricky bend that it feels like I'm trying to both maximise my exit speed and slow it down a bit to ensure I've got good position for Turn 9. Congrats on the 1:20. That's still a good time for a non-turbo car of that age on your first time out. If you've boiled the fluid, flush it now. Its going to be off now anyway.

I reckon the Veyron looks horrible. It looks bloated, like its in a sumo suit. That Bugatti horseshoe front grille looks like it belongs on the front of an oldschool car that had long, narrow bodies with the wheels sticking out (like the ones Bugatti is famous for).

To be fair, though, a Reventon is just a riced up Murcielago. I would agree with GTS-4 dreamer that a Gallardo is a better looking car than the regular Murcielago. Since prototype designs are acceptable, I'd vote for the GT-R Proto over the production model. Holden's Efigy is also an amazing piece of work.

If you want to get anal retentive about it, its technically 7.75 years old. My vote goes to the Lamborghini Reventon. Its the only car I can think of that wouldn't ever need a bodykit or wheels, and the overall shape as well as the small details are amazing.

RE-01Rs have a UTQG of 140 on some sizes. Bridgestones also don't have the same anecdotal reputation of delaminating under hard use. I know you commented in that thread, but Tim's not the only guy I've seen rip apart Federals at a track day. To be fair (since I know you're quite touchy on the subject) I'm not disputing that you, your mates, and those drifters you mention don't destroy their Federals and that you're not guaranteed to blow out a Federal under hard use. The fact that a noticable minority do still indicates a certain level quality control compared to other brands who don't get the same comments from customers. All I'm saying is that its a comparative risk. But, since practically everyone here modifies their cars and exceeds the manufacturer's recommendations that risk may not be a deterrant. However, Federals tend to be significantly cheaper than the alternatives. For street only use I would personally consider them. Like other people have said, I'd prefer to run specific track rubber and dedicated street tyres. Heat cycling your tyres after a track day makes them rubbish when cold, so even if you have plenty of rubber left above the indicators the tyres will won't grip the same.

What time period will they be driven for? 5 laps on one circuit can take twice as long as on another, which means the amount of heat generated will differ. Assuming a 1:45 lap (which is about average for most of the track times I've seen) I'd probably go for around 28-30psi cold. Its the hot pressures which matter the most, so as soon as you park the car up check your tyres. I normally aim to have my RE55S' at around 32-34psi when I come off the track.

Turn 1 at EC scares me, but its a shame to lose what is a very definitive part of the track. There's no other track in NSW with a corner that lets you carry as much speed. I've got some friends who've come over from Europe and look upon our tracks as glorified karting circuits since they're so small and narrow. Taking out some of the high speed aspects of EC would make it even less interesting for those top-tier races, like SuperGT and F1. Overall it looks like it could be fun, and a new track is always enjoyable, but I actually quite like the layout of the existing circuit. Like Nuff, I think they should have just created another track elsewhere and only done minor changes to the Creek.

Pod filter with cold air intake. The stock one is quite restrictive. ECU-wise its hard to go past a PowerFC. Everyone's got one so there's plenty of tuning knowledge, and they don't cost that much. Suspension-wise, Tein is nice. Flex is a good sports suspension that's still reasonably streetable. Look at getting swaybars as well, an all the other adjustment pieces like toe rods, traction rods, etc after that. An S15 T28BB will flow 200rwkW+, and is OEM quality (for reliability) as well as being responsive. If you do replace the turbo, look at getting an aftermarket manifold, and get a brand name. I know a guy with a S15s that replaced the manifold with a cheap copy, which got even laggier, and then got a Tomei item which the copy was meant to replicate and the thing picked up all its response back, and more. If you want to drift, get an oil cooler at the very least. Upgrade the radiator if you can. Gauge wise, along with the boost gauge I'd get oil and water temp gauges. Doing a 5 stud conversion is only really necessary if you're looking for wheels. If you do a brake upgrade I'd do the stud conversion though.

Pretty much all the suspension / braking components are shared between the Z33 and V35. You could fit a lot of the mechanical stuff on that list that isn't obviously different to the naked eye(like the exterior stuff and trim, and the catback exhausts since the V35 is longer). The drivetrain products, the alignment products, etc are all common between the two cars.

Take it to a suspension place that does work on track cars, so not Beaurepaires or Bob Jane. Suspension setup is not a simple "set this at X, this at Y, this at Z" kind of thing. It depends on the car itself as well as the driving style of the person controlling it, especially if they're a track n00b and don't have any setup knowledge. You need someone with experience to get a rough setup to start off with based on what other similar cars have. They then need to be able to translate what the driver's saying is going wrong, as well as the wear patterns on the tyre, so they can fine tune it. If you get an alignment that's bang-on perfect the first time, you're either lucky or that technician is some kind of savant (and I want his number if he's in Sydney).

If you know any 350Zs / V35s in your town with fat aftermarket wheels, they tend to fit 9.5" +22 rims on the front of their cars. See if you can borrow some to test fit. Actually, those sizes look like V35/Z33 sizes, back when people thought you could only fit 8.5/9.5 on them without modifying the guards. You might even find an owner of a PM platform car that has those sizes.

If money is no object, Michelin Pilot Sport PS2. They're probably the best regular roadgoing tyre on the market. If you can't stretch that far, but you've still got plenty of coin its hard to beat the Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R. On a budget, Falken Azenis RT615. All these tyres have great dry and wet weather grip, and don't require that much heat to start working. None of these tyres will last particularly long (although the Pilot Sports will last the longest), so if you're daily driving it then there's other considerations. Bridgestone Adrenalin RE-001s are a good bang for buck budget street tyre, but in terms of grip and heat capacity they aren't in the same league as the above. Same with the Toyo T1Rs, which are also highly recommended. However, they will last a lot longer than any tyres mentioned earlier.

The compression ratio of your RB20DE-T (as well as various flow characteristics of the cams etc, which I don't know is the same between NA and FI) isn't your only problem. The gearing is completely different between the turbo cars and NA, so even if you pull apart the engine to increase the compression ratio and get its efficiency close to NA, the thing is still going to run like a dog. Theoretically you could just replace the final drive and leave the gearbox itself as-is and you'd get most of your performance back, but there's another expense. For the cost of doing what you want to do to an R32 GTS-t, you could have bought a good car. Also, its also debatable whether its legal for you to drive it. Some people have called the RTA, who've said its OK to take the turbo off, but a guy I know called the RTA who told him it was OK to drive a 350Z on his P's without an exception, even though its clearly marked in the banned list. The wording of the rule is that P platers cannot drive cars where the engine performance has been "modified". Note, it doesn't say "increased", just changed from its factory specification. If your car is meant to have a turbo and doesn't, the performance is no longer the same as when it rolled off the factory floor. A "letter of the law" interpretation says the car is therefore still not P plater legal. If a cop's in a bad mood, its a reasonable interpretation as an excuse to ruin your day.

mxfly has two sets of swaybars for sale.

Sway bars are anti-roll bars. I'd recommend getting them as your next step. Cheap, easy to install. Conceivably you could also replace the bushings, but if you get polyurethane ones the ride may not be suitable for your daily driving (it depends on your definition of "harsh"). Other alignment products are also good, but as a car you track you may also want to look at the brakes. I'd probably want to look at increasing the heat capacity of the brakes, if not generating more deccelerative force, as you can drive faster for longer.

I'd agree. My swaybars have been my favourite handling mod.

Technically, both. I've had the OEM ECU reflashed to give a 7200RPM cutout, and I've got a Unichip to adjust the A/F and timing. With my bolt-ons the power curve is straight all the way to 7000RPM. The torque kind of makes up for the weight difference accelerating on the straight, as would the V35's superior aerodynamics, but it won't make up for the weight difference when you turn-in and go through the corner. Even with Brembos, you still feel the inertia trying to slow the car. My g/f's stock MX-5 brakes as well as my 350Z with Brembos, rotors, pads, fluid and braided lines. The current Golf GTi is a pretty quick car, especially if its got a DSG. No fluffed changes, no compression locking going though the gears under brakes, being able to left foot brake while still easily changing gears, the ability to upchange mid corner without unsettling the car, and all that midrange punch from the turbo. I'm pretty sure its a touch lighter than a V35, and has a shorter wheelbase. It'll be set up to handle well too. I've never driven an S2K but I know it is a lot lighter and shorter, and the suspension is set up for hard cornering. I know the early ones had suspension setup issues where the tail would let go suddenly, but that was rectified in later models as well as with aftermarket components. On the track, the F20C's lack of low end doesn't matter as much since you'll always have the engine on the boil thanks to the close ratios and your intent on driving the car hard. For both cars, the possibility of a higher corner exit speed could explain why the cars look faster as they run down the straights. Its also possible that they're modified or on semi slicks, since Max didn't really say. ECU reflashes on VAG engines tend to make good power without any hardware changes, so that Golf could be making 30% more power and be indistinguishable from stock.

Touge - because insurance will probably still cover you even if the cops bust you trying to tow your car out of the scenery. Bear in mind that guide was written before the resurfacing. A lot of the ripple strips and kerbs they talk about are no longer usable, due to their height. Clipping them can unsettle the car. The line is generally the same, though. Another good read is The Circuit, by the guys who run Circuit Club. They do longer descriptions of the major corners on Wakefield, as well as some other tracks, with diagrams to help with understanding. Some of their guides are based on the old surface too. Speaking of MX-5s, if you want a time target I got a best of 1:19.27 at the Powerplay day in my girlfriend's current-generation auto MX-5 with stock tyres that weren't legal 7000km ago. The only non-stock components are front and rear swaybars. If you don't want to get beaten by a guy in an overweight hairdresser's car on shagged tyres, you'd better run a 1:18.

That last bit is the point. On a track, outright power isn't necessarily going to determine the winner. Your corner exit speed is more important, unless your power/weight is significantly better. For example I've had Dumhedz, in his 120rwkW 1 ton S13 outrun me in the straights against my 180rwkW/1.5 ton Z33. Our power/weight is the same, I have an extra gear and more midrange torque, but since he's a better driver he comes through and out of the corner faster so he gets away from me. If you were to do a rolling start from the same speed chances are the results would be different, especially with that supercharged V8 Snoarer. The car is quick by NA standards, but you need to do it by coming out of the corners fast rather than straightening up the car and mashing the throttle. The PM platform cars have lots of rear-end grip thanks to the suspension, so the key is to set the car up to pick up the throttle as early and as hard as possible. You can pretty much go full throttle on most corners from the apex. As Bobby said, suspension will probably be a good bet. Getting the kind of power your average modified turbo driver is used to is going to cost big dollars, but improving your corner entry and mid corner speed will shave off more time again. Still, you should see a reasonable power hike if you do the standard bolt-ons. I went from 155rwkW to 195rwkW with a full exhaust, intake and ECU.