scathing

The two are not mutually exclusive. The 911 is one of the best sports cars in modern history. Hands down. Its not a supercar though. Its no Carrera GT. It doesn't stand with the Enzo or Murcielago (or the new Revention). Try reading my comments in context (sports car vs supercar), although I've come to the realisation that its probably beyond your grasp. The 911's lineage comes from when Ferdinand Porsche failed to convince Adolph Hitler to have the People's Car company release a sporting variant of the People's Car Hitler envisioned and Porsche designed, the car known colloquially as the Beetle. So Ferdinand Porsche started his own company, and built the sports car he wanted on his chassis...the Porsche 356. The 356 was later replaced by a larger version of the vehicle, known as the 911. History bears out Clarkson's comment as technically correct, although obviously his delivery (in the manner it was delivered) shows his bias against Porsche. Sorry that the facts aren't to your liking, but then reality doesn't need your approval. A supercar should never be derived from a passenger car chassis. A supercar should be bespoke in every way, which rules the 911 out. A sports car can be based on anything, which is why a FWD to AWD converted shopping trolley like an Impreza varint can be as much a sports car as a thoroughbred such as a TVR or Lotus. That's why the next GT-R, with the chassis bespoke and focused only towards performance, might be the first Japanese car with the power to be truly worthy of the title of "supercar"...although to be honest the projected 350kW is SFA these days when glorified taxis are making 307kW.

I find the second half of that paragraph to be a bit specious, though. Firstly, the R390 hasn't been raced since 1999 and no-one else has used that block for racing since. So that's almost 10 years of no R&D for racing applications. The game as moved on a lot since 2000. The VRH block is based on the VH45DE, which is still in production....in luxo barges. Hardly a test bed for a supercar engine. The VQ block, on the other hand, has been the SuperGT powerplant for Nissan since the RB was removed from the GT500 Skylines in 2003, and continued in the FairladyZ's. The VQ30DETT is currently Nissan's engine of choice in Japan's top-tier motorsport category. Given that the VQ is the current "racing pedigree" design, and doing quite well, I'm not entirely sure I can see how the abandoned VRH gives Nissan "more performance headroom".

I know a genuine Panaphonics when I see one..........

If the NSX doesn't qualify as a supercar based solely on its power, rather than its design brief and execution, then no Japanese car does as they're all making the same 280ps.

I made a resolution to play nice, but if you want to start up again we can have another thread that is going to end up getting deleted because of how badly I embarrass you and your inability to grasp basic concepts. The 911 is an amazing sports car, but supercar it is not. The Carrera GT is definitely a supercar though.

Variants of the 300ZX came with rear seats, which rules it out of supercardom in my books. No supercar should ever have rear seats, unless its McLaren F1 style.

If its sports cars and not supercars, then the Countach shouldn't even have made it. An Elise should have been in there. As should have a Westfield / Radical, and possibly the Ariel Atom. The Corvette should also have qualified.

A Porsche 911 isn't a supercar either. That car is, to quote Clarkson, just a trumped up Volkswagen Beetle. It may be as fast, but a supercar is more than being fast. A supercar is an event. A GT-R is no F40, or Countach, or XJ220, or Bugatti EB110. Remember, the Countach was shit to drive in anything but a straight line. So were old Ferraris. In modern terms its certainly no Zonda, Enzo, Murcielago, or Veyron. It lacks the purity of purpose of the first two, and the excess of the last two. If we were talking about driver's cars or sports cars I'd rate the GT-R a lot higher than 9th. But a "supercar" its not.

Happy birthday mang.

Its built off a passenger car. How can it be a "supercar", which should have a bespoke platform? The only true supercar made by a big Japanese car manufacturer is the NSX.

If I remember the marketing guff correctly, they said that its to provide better geometry or something. All I know is that I do get plenty of rear end grip in my Z33 (which shares the same platform), and its a right pain in the arse to adjust my ride height in the rear because you need to adjust the strut's mounting point as well as the cradle for the spring.

I can't stand Wiseman's. I don't like driving on a road with no lane markings, and its as choppy as all hell. I only encountered one HWP on Pac yesterday, but that was when me and a few other sports cars were parked on the side of the road so I'm sure we were conspicuous. It was just after lunch time on a weekday though.

If only...... The locals would bitch and moan if you did that, even if you cut them in on the fee. They were probably the biggest force behind getting Race to the Pie cancelled, even though there's no houses on that hillclimb between Mooney and Pie in the Sky.

Everything up to the Calga Interchange is still open. North of that, they've got the usual yellow barriers that you can move out of the way, or you're like the two bikes I saw this afternoon, just ride around.

Yes, they do. A "coilover" is a suspension setup where the coil sits "over" (or, more accurately, around) the strut. Whether they're adjustable or not is irrelevant. The V35 Skylines don't use a coilover arrangement in the rear, as the strut and spring are separated.

Or buy a R33 GTS4. If your dad is foolish enough to think that it only takes FI to make a car quick then he'll be appeased by it and the AWD drivetrain.

Insurance and rego is cheaper if you're "in the ACT" Don't change over unless you absolutely have to.

Aside from learning how to drive? A car only goes as fast as the driver makes it go. Even RH9, which makes 1100hp at all four wheels, can do a whopping ZERO kilometres an hour if the driver chooses to. If your father is after some kind of electronic nanny solution, I believe some engine management systems allow you to set a speed limiter. Alternatively, rev limiting you (which can be done on most standalone ECUs) means you can only go as fast as that RPM in top gear. If you've got a turbo car, your father could make sure you don't mod the powertrain (aside from the above ECU tweaks) so you're not making more power. Then do stuff that kills power (like tuning the ECU for economy instead of power) to pull the car down in speed. Alternatively, you can get some GPS/tracker systems which SMS' back to base (or a mobile) when speed thresholds are exceeded. It won't stop you from speeding, but your old man can know immediately when you do and give you a very angry phone call...followed by a grounding or something. Any of this stuff can be circumvented, of course, for someone suitably motivated to figure out how.

The NRMA has produced evidence it claims is the smoking gun over alleged price gouging and collusion within the oil industry. Brandishing a graph comparing the price of petrol at the bowser to international crude prices over the past eight months, the NRMA's motoring and services president, Alan Evans, said yesterday that the analysis proved "beyond any shadow of a doubt" that before the Treasurer, Peter Costello, announced an inquiry into petrol pricing in June, motorists were being ripped off by millions of dollars. "We see in the last few weeks crude prices have risen but, lo and behold, because someone is looking over their shoulder, [the oil companies] have brought the prices down," the NRMA's motoring and services president, Alan Evans, said. Source: SMH

I will be down in Melbourne around the beginning of Nov (I was going to hang out around Melbourne Cup time). GOR, Black Spur, Mt Dandenong, and Kinglake are all possibilities.

Its reliable, streetable and complete. And pretty much ADR compliant, so it'll pass engineering without your installer needing to "tweak" it. If you wanted an OEM TT car, the APS is the best option. Aside from the flutter, it sounds like it rolled off the factory production line. Its also pretty scalable. Its barely working the turbos and pipework at 280rwkW (although it does max out the fuel system and internals), so with an uprated fuel system and internals you could easily see more than 300rwkW without having to replace stuff in the kit that you already paid good money for.

If you're a track n00b, then power isn't what's going to get you around the track the fastest. Your initial question wasn't if it was "better", only if it was "safe". I don't know enough about your car to say if its safe (other people think so), but I know having driven laggy and responsive cars which one I prefer as a "first impression" around the bends. Go for the less-lag option, and build up your track craft, before you go around chasing that last tenth down the straights.

Found out later, in another post, that he's General Duties. Still, he came across like one of those cops that gives police officers a bad name. Apparently it was a big night. 200+ cars, and zero dickheadery (either from the few cops that came in to have a look, or the attendees).

This may no longer be the case. JDMST has a new member who is apparently a highway patrolman. He's definitely a cop, and apparently "likes defecting imports" at his own admission, even though he owns a riced up RX-8 himself.

You should be OK. Just be aware that you may encounter temperature issues, especially if the ambient is high, and so drive accordingly. Especially since its your first time out I'd run it on low boost. More power isn't going to be that much of an advantage. People have already told you how to drive it to keep your temps in check. When you notice your street tyres start to go loose, or if the brakes fade, back it off and do a cooling lap or two. I'll normally pootle around in the second highest gear, and go at a pace where I can brush the brakes when near the corner rather than hammering them, and be off the brakes from turn-in. When you do this, keep an eye on your mirrors (you should be anyway, at whatever pace) and if someone approaches you, back off more and wave them by. Don't come off the line (its the following car's responsibility to pass safely) but try to give them as good an opportunity as possible to pass cleanly.