scathing

No-one's run an official time around the Nordschleife in a Veyron. Bugatti undoubtedly tested there, but no official figures were released by them and I don't think anyone's taken a customer car and given it to a pro driver to set a record.

It does timing and fuel control. But its a pure interceptor, with a single map. Very limited. The UTEC can either run in interceptor or cutout mode, and stores multiple maps that can be selected either by a switch or with a laptop (which you can also use to output diagnostic information).

I thought he was referring to Volk Racing Time Attack rims at first. So yeah, say what you mean. We're not mind readers. Oh, and just go do Wakefield. Easiest track to get onto in NSW (although it is 200km from Sydney), in terms of availability and licensing.

Hard to control is an understatement. I know Clarkson, in his test drive, said the handling in this prototype was "unfinished". If you've ever read the review for a RenaultSport Clio V6, you'll know that the defining nature of that small hatchback with the mid-mounted V6 is that its when the driver spins the car, not if. And that was in production guise. The Golf doesn't have that much longer a wheelbase than the Clio, and its got twice as much engine. A car like that would make a great drag racer (all that weight over the rear wheels, and all that power in such a small vehicle) but they are not cornering machines.

An alternative is to meet on the ground floor of the Westfields carpark (the big, ex council carpark?). In the far corner, as far opposite the Victor St entrance as possible. The ground floor is relatively low car friendly, and in that corner there are fewer people parking as its really far away from shops. Being away from the exit, you generally won't be interfering with customers coming and going, so its less of a hassle for management. Also, there's an open air carpark between Claude and Archer St across from the Westfields carpark. I don't know if it'll fit 50 cars, but it will fit quite a few. Its across the road from the police station though.

MoTeC. 'nuff said. Also, one (if not the) most popular aftermarket ECUs for the V35 / Z33 is the UTEC by TurboXS. I'll probably get one in the future, as I'm running a Unichip.

There's 2 things on this. 1. It says that it just logs the infringements so the dealer can invalidate the factory warranty. It doesn't say it drops the car into limp-back mode, like the XR6T tried to, to curtail the extra performance gained. So you'll still see gains from your mods. 2. The "voiding of the factory warranty for modifications" is FUD and everyone knows it. The law specifically states that the OEM can only invalidate a warranty if the modifications done caused the failure. Nissan's contractual warranty can never override the owner's statutory warranty, so it doesn't matter what they put down on paper. They could say you void your warranty if you ever drive your car past the speed limit, but it wouldn't mean jack shit. So, basically, the situation is no different to it is on buying any Australian delivered car now. The only difference is, with all this data logging, that you're more likely to get caught if you do try and pull a swifty (like I've heard a lot of Silvia and WRX owners do, boosting their engines up without the correct supporting mods and blowing up the engine and then returning the car to stock and claiming "oh, I was just driving around normally and up it went for no apparent reason").

Yeah, they're all mine. I haven't bought a DSLR yet (but I will as soon as I can scrape the cash together). I'm still using a Canon Digital Ixus right now (pretty standard Point and Shoot camera). Learning how to shoot takes time. There are some good resources on the 'net for learning how to take good shots (I quite like this one on Dan's Data), but I also tend to touch up the images in Photoshop, which is why they look half decent. I don't add or completely change things around, but I make sure they're a bit more vibrant and in focus before uploading. The best tip I can give you when it comes to taking a good photo is to take lots of bad ones. Play around with the settings, so you know what setting does what. Otherwise, try the Photography subforum on SAU. A lot of the guys on JDM Style Tuning are photography buffs and its hanging out there that got me into taking photos in the first place.

Too bad its not production, and that prototype has been around for a year or two with no word on it ever being made production.

I agree with Amir that there are holes in the market that Nissan needs to plug, especially with their resurgence. They need to bring people into the brand at an entry point, and right now they've got nothing. Firstly there needs to be a hot hatch to contend in this very competitive and popular market. Ford, GM, VAG, Renault, Peugeot, Honda etc can't all be wrong. Where's the new Pulsar SSS? Most marketers know its easier to retain a customer than it is to get them, which is why they try to pick up customers early in their car buying "career". Then there needs to be a Silvia replacement. They need to build a smaller, more affordable, RWD sports car to stick it to the WRX and Integra. This entry model "pure sports car" is what attracts younger people (or people going through a mid life crisis and so want something fun while having to afford two cars) to the brand. I think that the market, especially the international market, could support a vehicle higher in the price range than the Z33 / V35 but well below the GT-R. Just like Porsche stuck the Cayman between the Boxster and the 911, Nissan needs to put a sports car between the 350GT and the GT-R. The Skyline and 350Z are seeing massive props internationally by motoring journos (aside from Clarkson, of course), and my international colleagues I talk to about cars quite like it too. If they can build something as competitive a bit higher up in the price range, but with more turbo, I'd say it would have a good job of succeeding.

No, no. That power's based on modifying the 206kW version (which makes around 155rwkW) not the new HR engine, and the TT kits make 280kW at the tyres (so more like 320kW at the flywheel). Bear in mind that its only running about 7-8psi to make that power, so the turbos aren't even being stressed. The car is amazingly responsive while still delivering a bucketload of power. The other thing to note is that the stock bottom end for the VQ35DE (which none of the turbo kits modify) only takes around 300rwkW before snapping a rod or gudgeon pin, which is why most of the kits are tuned to only make 280rwkW for extra reliability. Rebuilding the bottom end and leaving the fuel system stock will see you to around 310rwkW "reliably" (about 340rwkW is the absolute limit of the pump on a dyno, where the fuel isn't sloshing around) If you're willing to sink big dollars and rebuild the engine with headwork and do the fuel system, the turbines will support 500kW at the flywheel at 16psi. There aren't any kits available for the HR engine yet, but with the popularity of the 350Z and the G35 in the States its only a matter of time before companies do. And with their revised bottom end, they'll probably make upwards of 300rwkW at half a bar.

What country was the R33 GT-R sold in officially, aside from Japan? Grey imports notwithstanding (and, if they are grey imports from Japan, then in "production trim" they would have the speed limiters intact). I understood that it was on at least R-Comp semis for that run, which might have been available as a factory option on the car, and non standard boost (no matter how little the boost up) is still not production trim. I also read somewhere that the car had a cage in it. More weight, but also more rigidity.

It comes in handy when you're blowing boost into an engine 1.5x as big and using a relatively big and efficient turbo. My understanding is that the GT3037 will flow 2 bar without falling out of its efficiency range, so assuming you could build the engine and fuel system to support it this kit could run as much boost as you do. As it stands, the turbine's not even breaking a sweat. Nissan should just source / copy the parts for this kit and sell it in a Z33 and/or V36. The intercooler's only half the width of the Z grille, so even with a small oil cooler it shouldn't cause any serious heat issues. And it would bring back a platform that Nissan traditionally does so well, the FR single turbo.

The problem is that it would "devalue" the car to a lot of people, especially since this one is going to an international market where these things matter. People who throw down AUD$150K on a supercar don't want it to look like a cheapo model unless they've got some emotional response to it, and as we know otherwise intelligent people influenced by emotions don't need a good reason to do anything. After all, its what leads successful Australian businessmen (which you'd think required a fair amount of intelligence) to buy HSVs (which you'd think required a fair lack of intelligence). The GT-R, outside of Japan and Australia, doesn't generate that same emotional response among people who can afford to buy them so it needs visual exclusivity to add to the appeal. The only exception to this, that I can think of, are the BMW M cars. You needed to be an anorak to pick the difference between the E36 M3 and a 318is or an E34 525i from the M5 but both were still highly desired. However, in response to customer complaints that the cars were too subtle, the E46 M3 and E39 M5 picked up more visual aggression but aside from the quad exhausts out the back you'd still need to know what you were looking for to split them. So, once again, the E92 M3 and E60 M5 have moved further away from their Q-Car roots and BMW has dialled up the exterior again to differentiate the M cars. If BMW can't get away with it, I very much doubt Nissan can.

What a difference about 20 years makes. In 20 years from now people might actually queue up to buy a supercar made by.....Hyundai. Actually, better make it 40.

Oh, for sure. I'd never buy a Radical except for "toy" duties. Even with it street legal, can you imagine trying to drive it on a potholed Sydney road or over a speed hump? Even then, I'd rather buy a Track Pack Ariel Atom instead. It may not be ultimately as quick, but it looks heaps cooler and has VTEC (yo). The Radical looks like an upside-down bathtub with wheels. The Atom looks like someone just took a small car and then got rid of everything extraneous.

My question is, which body do you want this single turbo model to use? The V36 body, or the R35 body? If its the former, then the numbers I ran earlier are valid (and I didn't even include the cost of the custom bottom end required for the 3.6L displacement you're after, at least the VQ30 and VQ35 are shared across several platforms) and, in the grand scheme of things, not that expensive. If you're talking about using the R35 body then yes, it is a piss-weak GT-R wannabe and its that exact mindset of tarting up a povo Skyline coupe to make it look like a GT-R that Nissan would want to avoid with their new supercar. A NA 350Z or V36 costs $70K. You want to get model with a turbo engine not shared with any other car, but presumably a similar spec level, for another $5K? Unfortunately Nissan doesn't have any other RWD platform aside from FM, so unless you're talking about sticking this engine into a povo-spec V36 Skyline (with cloth seats etc and the VQ30 or something) your numbers are a bit disconnected with reality. And how is a car at $75K "bridge a gap in the market" between the $70K car and a $160K car you named in your first post?

HKS has a single turbo kit for FM cars. Its really nice, actually. I got a drive of one a few months ago. Power delivery has turbo rush but its not too peaky. Feels like an otherwise OEM GTS-t / Silvia with an exhaust when its set up at 4psi, which nets 230rwkW . Its a bit cheaper than the twins, and from what I've heard it'll make practically as much power if you're being "reasonable". The car I drove is up at around 260rwkW these days at 7psi. That's about 10rwkW down on the APS TT kit at the same boost, which isn't significant given the cost differences.

I dunno. He says he doesn't like "the Infiniti" (which is how the V35/V36 is badged in the US) and his subject line says he wants a pissweak "R35". But yeah, a twin turbo V36 would do nicely. I did the numbers myself once. For Australia, we'll use the cost of the 350Z since we get that car officially imported. $70K - 350Z Track model $16K - APS Twin Turbo Kit (full ADR compliance, full turnkey solution) for 280rwkW $1.5K - New Clutch $2K - Torsen diff $1K - Uprated oil cooler / power steering cooler $5K - Wider lightweight forged rims So, $95K all told. Practically half way between the NA 350Z and the GT-R's projected price. The stock Brembos are "good enough" for street use with FI (no worse than the Touring brakes on the NA car) so they wouldn't "need" an upgrade, although it would be nice. Otherwise, a set of AP Racing 6pot/4pot brakes with 355mm rotors is $8K, which pushes it to just over $100K. If you do specific suspension (say a different version of the $4K Bilstein option available for the regular Z), maybe $108K. Bear in mind that the above costs for the aftermarket bits are all retail, so wholesale pricing for an international market would reduce that by a fair amount. It also doesn't remove the cost of not having to buy the NA items that are getting replaced, and the cost of the APS kit includes installation, which wouldn't be a factor if its factory fitted. You could conceivably build the car, which would have an OEM level of quality, reliability and NVH, for under $100K with the same profit margins. The V36 G37 has already been favourably compared against the BMW E92 330. Build a twin turbo version, and it could carry the fight (or blitz) the 335. The question is, who in Australia would buy a $100,000 Nissan? The GT-R has a nameplate, and $300,000+ rivalling performance. Conceivably a twin turbo V36 Skyline could be an M3 killer but it would struggle for mindshare against the bulletproof reputation of the M3, the class of the AMG, or the current kudos Audi is getting for their range and the RS4 is enhancing.

There are a couple of kits for the 350Z and V35 Skyline. APS, Power Enterprise, GReddy, HKS that I can think of off the top of my head. Plus a lot of US companies doing supercharger kits for them. They are relatively expensive, but the cars are relatively new and so there hasn't been as much R&D poured into them. That said, your typical TT kit in the US is around USD$6K, which is not that much. They have a much bigger population than Australia, which is why a kit that costs us about AUD$13K can cost them practically half.

So are R33s. But what invalidates the R33 GT-R's 7:59 "production car" time is the slicks, removal of speed limiter, and non-standard boost....not its looks. It can be road registered in its country of origin. Its built in production volumes. Your dislike of it doesn't get rid of the facts. Yes, there are plenty of countries where the car can't be road registered. But then, the Enzo and Veyron can't be road registered in Australia. The Porsche 959 couldn't be registered in the US. Yet the times they pull would still be considered valid. Yes its a track day special. But then so is a M3 CSL or 911 GT3 RS etc and no-one would disregard their results just because they're "track day" specials. Yes they're also very compromise on the road. But then again, so is your typical supercar like the Zonda, as Top Gear showed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drhoArQAXDg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZdU-d9RL0A http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuI0OPavDn0 The Radical SR8 is the fastest road legal car around the Nordschleife that you can buy straight off the showroom floor, assuming you've got the balls to drive it that hard.

The new GT-R is meant to be a supercar. That's one reason why they took it away from the "Skyline" range, so it can stand by itself. Building a shit version would just devalue the GT-R. They should build a faster V36 Skyline, not a slower R35 GT-R.

That's closer to 50:50 than the FM platform cars, which are 53:47. They still handle alright. Nissan, with the kudos that the V35 and the Z33 have earned, might have "learnt their lesson" from those cars and continued to make cars with a slight front bias. With AWD traction it doesn't need the weight over the rear tyres for traction like other supercars (most Ferraris, MR or FR, as well as obviously Porsches have a major rear weight bias). The mentality with the FM weight distribution, apparently, is that when you're not accelerating there's slightly more weight over the front wheels, which gives more traction to your steering tyres, but as you throttle out the weight goes 50:50 which gives you better rear end grip while not unloading the front so much that it starts to lose front traction and start to understeer. I've found that their theory hasn't been too bad. If you run the same sized tyres front and rear on a Z33, the balance is pretty good for a heavy car using a GT suspension setup. Its hard to say if its better than 50:50, since the only car with that weight distribution that I've gotten to punt around long term is a 318i....which is a nugget.

Those tyres are the same as the "semi slicks" the STis have been running for the last few generations.

If its not available as an option, it'll surely be available in the aftermarket sooner rather than later. That exhaust path is almost identical to the FM platform cars (Z33, V35), although for the FM platform since they're both NA you get better midrange by linking the two exhaust streams into one. Which is why even the Nismo catbacks on these cars still link into a single midpipe. They paid a lot of time on aero on the FM cars as well (the Z33 has a 0.29 Cd, and while it doesn't run an undercarriage plate like current Porsches they did try and make sure it was as flat as possible) - I don't think there's much difference when the aftermarket guys started running "true dual" exhausts on the cars. I am really surprised the GT-R doesn't run true dual. I would have thought, at its exhaust gas flow, it would have been mandatory.