scathing

I've put it out there. Our meet wasn't going to involve much of a cruise, just a meet similar to this one. That's why I was thinking that the two could have been combined. Since this meet is at Homebush, my one will probably be at Rouse Hill (our other nominated location). It doesn't really put people in a good spot for a drive afterwards, but those with a hankering for a country road run are within a reasonable distance of Putty Rd or Bells Line of Road.

You cool if this gets posted up on 350Z-Tech? I was trying to arrange a meet myself, but we might just roll this into one if you're happy to have a reasonable number of Z33s show up.

The run down to Jenolan Caves via Edith Rd is too tight for cars our size. Coming up the other side is a great run, if you can avoid the falling rocks and oncoming traffic.

The speed of the turbine is based on the exhaust load, not necessarily engine speed. You could be doing 3000RPM because you've come off the throttle from 4000RPM and you're coasting down, which mean the turbine would be doing SFA. Different throttle positions would also give you a different turbine RPM for a given engine RPM.

I recently fitted a Buddy Club exhaust to my Z. The car isn't daily driven anymore, and I wanted noise on the track (and something cheap, mainly). It runs a centre hotdog and a pair of cannons out back. The thing drones painfully at low RPM and low loads, but it sounds good once I get on the throttle. The problem with most cannons that rotbox Lancers use is that they're shit ones built down to a price point, and the exhaust they're attached to will be "custom made" by some idiot whose only concern was making it fit, not making it perform. There are some cars with some nice sounding cannons out there, but like your stereotypical Japanese import owner the few good ones are drowned out by the sea of shitness. By the same token, I've heard some stock free-flowing exhausts that have sounded absolutely rubbish. I can't say I'm a big fan of the E36 M3's if the throttle isn't jammed all the way open, and a few years ago I heard a Ferrari 360 driving through a shopping district that I mistook for an Excel with a Supercheap cannon.

Rouse Hill seems to be getting a fair amount of positive feedback as well.

If you're on a budget (i.e. no money at all), depending on how oversteery the car is just disconnect the rear swaybar. You can leave all the hardware in place, but if the bar isn't connected to the suspension then it'll provide no anti-roll effect. If you have access to tools and a pair of jacks (or a trolley jack), take them to the track. If you're finding the oversteer counter-productive in your first session or two, jack the car up so both wheels are off the ground and disconnect the bolts from the drop links to the swaybar itself. Instant oversteer cure. Everything will probably be a bit warm so bring gloves. You might find it too understeery as a result, but understeer is safer than oversteer. The last thing you want to do is put the car into a wall because you spun out.

They should ban people racing in the harbour. And stop young people from boating at all.

Wheel cannot be more than 26mm wider than the widest on the tyre placard. Offset cannot be greater than 12mm lower than the lowest offset for any wheel on the tyre placard. Wheels cannot be narrower than the narrowest wheel on the placard. Offset cannot be higher than the highest stock offset. Tyre diameter cannot be more than 15mm outside the diameter of the stock tyre (greater or less than). N.B. the wheel diameter is "free" as long as you can find a tyre that fits within this bound, regardless of what a cop tells you. However, since you want to avoid a yellow, a lot of cops mistakenly believe that you can only go up 2" in diameter so for safety's sake I'd recommend that. It's all on the RTA web site, as [200] said.

Justin - it's getting to that point where I'd consider a carpark that has a charge fee. Nowhere else is particularly central. I would otherwise aim for inner-west (to make it easier for people from the north and west) but I can't think of any suitable location. Especially since I want it to have some basic amenities, so people can get drinks at least.

What tyres are you running on? For most street tyres, they'll start to squeal before they let go. Squeal is the rubber starting to lose grip and start to slip a little. It's easier for an Evo to get the tyres squealing since the AWD system will do the driving for him, so he doesn't have to worry about spinning out. Depending on how close you'll get to the limits, the tread blocks will squirm and so the car will start to feel a little loose. I find R-Comps don't telegraph that zone between traction and no traction as much. They don't really squeal, and the blocks don't squirm. If you lose it, my personal preference is to try and drive out of a small slide. Generally if I hit the lock stop on the steering wheel, or if the car starts fishtailing and I can't bring it back within 2-3 flicks, its brake and clutch time. I've seen quite a few people think they could drive out of a slide or fishtail, making it worse, and end up putting the car into a wall.

What state are you in? The laws are slightly different for each state.

Not long to go and we still don't have any definite plans. Up for a suggestion otherwise it'll be something like meeting up for a photoshoot in a carpark....

If I remember correctly, the VE heads only came on east-west engines. That's why stuff like the intake manifold may not work.

You shouldn't stop braking that early. If you're trail braking, you won't stop braking until you're practically at the apex. Even if you're not trail braking, you should be braking during that gearchange (assuming its necessary). I'd swap the "engage lower gear" and "stop braking" points around.

Well, he wants to use an R32 GT-R drivetrain.

That's alright then. I can't remember when I checked, but I recall seeing that Mazda Australia's RX-8 specs had 2 overdriven gear (like the MX-5, another car that should have left the factory with a close ratio box). If the mass isn't a problem, packaging a RENESIS would be the best in a car this small. The relative lack of torque doesn't matter that much when the car weighs so little. The only potential issue is the AWD grip bogging it down off the line, but once its rolling I doubt it'll be a major issue.

...and not the cast iron housing? Fair enough a NA rotor will be lighter than a FI one when you delete all that plumbing, but if that just brings the weight down to around SR20DET levels (or lets say a 4AGZE since those engines seem really popular in Clubmans) will a NA rotary be able to deliver the same power (both in terms of peak, and area under the curve) as the I4s? Would it be any bigger / heavier than, say, a VQ? There are some US-based FM platform cars that run AWD with an active F<->R torque split (which seems to be one of the OP's requirements) so this could also be an option if a small V8 fits. Performance bolt-ons that couldn't carry on from the donor car anyway (exhaust, intake) would give him 180-190rwkW. I'm not sure what the ratios are like in the AWD manual box, but the 2WD manual box runs 5th gear at 1:1. Which may not have been entirely necessary when you consider how torquey the VQ is. There's the rub. The diff ratio only affects the ground speed. The ratios control how far the RPM drops on each gearchange. If the engine is peaky, that long drop can drop you off the torque curve. It doesn't matter what the diff ratio is. The shorter diff ratio means you spend less time waiting to get the RPM back up into the engine's sweet spot, but you'd be better off not having to wait at all. Anyway, if he wants to use R32 GT-R running gear does that mean he needs to keep the GT-R gearbox? I can't remember how drive is sent to the front wheels. How would the ratios from that box match up to a RENESIS engine's power delivery?

I thought you didn't want a heavy engine? Rotaries aren't light. An SR20DET weighs less than a 13B TT. It's got 2 overdriven gears. The ratios aren't that close.

Should we choose the one that has the retarded cylinder configuration that means one bank of cylinders will have a disproportionately long manifold path to the turbocharger, forcing people to either run an uneven length manifold or adding pointless bends to the other side? By all accounts the Evo is quicker, the WRX/STi is more streetable. You determine your requirements, you make your choices.

263. Don't belittle his achievement.

Fulcrum Suspensions is the official importer of Tein. Give them a buzz to see what the RRP is. FYI Perfect Run sells them for AUD$1500. That's minus shipping (and Customs Duty & GST). So, assuming you pay everything you're legally required to, that's $1800 + shipping. I would expect them to go for around $2200-2500RRP in Australia as a result (based on other items I've looked at where I've compared the Perfect Run/Nengun price vs Aussie RRP). However, Fulcrum does revalve the Teins for "Aussie conditions" (i.e. shithouse roads) so that "added value" might cost a bit more. If you're happy with slightly harsher ride than what Aussie sourced Superstreets would give you, then you could consider grey importing them instead.

I'll fill in the form soon, when I get my timetable. I used to do flagging for club-level supersprints but I've let my CAMS Steward's license lapse. I intend on restarting my flagging duties this year though. I'll have a chat with my CAMS/committee guys at the NSCC to see if I have to do the 3 supervised days before they allow me to renew my license. I've done dummy grid and starting grid duties at those same supersprints as well.

Or a Powertec motor. They also do gearboxes and drivelines. http://www.powertecracing.com/pdf_downloads/v8engine.pdf The K20 is an east-west motor. That said, if its being mated to a GT-R box it should be less of an issue.

Intake, full exhaust, cams, ECU. I don't think much else was done. It wasn't a big-budget car by any means. badhairdave bought the car off Dumhedz, and he posts pretty regularly on the forums, so maybe PM him?