pixel8r

Already bought myself a MSI Wind netbook ($600). The M35 is due for a big-ish service soon too so the rest will go towards that - have some small issues to fix up on the car - just minor stuff mostly.

Hope i'm not confusing things by what I posted. I think the original post was about a series 1 stag. Mine is an M35 and I'm not 100% sure but I dont think it has a fuel filter. It does have drive-by-wire though. The s1 stag has a fuel filter but not electronic throttle. mine's due for a service sometime so will just get it looked at then.

hmm my M35's been doing that lately. i've been questioning the transmission ever since i bought it... Had the trans serviced only 2-3 months ago though...so hopefully its not the trans for me...i think mine's more related to steering somehow...but anyway.

In fairness, the GTR currently uses a v8 in the superGT series - mainly because they had already developed the v8 engine for that series. But in saying this, I dont know if it would have to be sold here with a v8 in order to be allowed to race with one? Then you have the problem of a team coming up with the $$$ to back the GTR against the tried and tested ford & holden v8's. Not only is it a lot of money to spend on a car thats not guaranteed to win (you need good drivers too) - if it DOES win, the chances of being "booed" by the crowd (again) are about a million to one. You know, the "aussie rivalry" thing? haha more like "ford/holden is better because me, my brother, my mum, and my best friends uncle all drive one". lol

Fair enough too - but I thought I read that the nissan test driver who set the lap times at the nurburgring was there at EC? Surely he could've spent a day out there and given us a lap time? although a day might not be enough, going by how long it generally takes the v8 guys to really nail a circuit.

I've owned a stagea with a GT3071r in it, and even a GT30 is laggy (remembering that different people have a different tolerance for what they'd call laggy). Response and top end power are at opposite ends of the spectrum - so if you want response - the stock turbo will win hands down, but if you want power, then the GT30 should be ample. Basically the minimum you need to go with the bigger turbo is a free-flowing 3+ inch exhaust & dump pipe, piggyback or full ecu (incl ignition timing if possible), and obviously boost controller, then injectors/fuel pressure regulators, fuel pump (etc. etc. to handle the extra fuel), and last but not least, upgraded brakes and all the things associated with stopping faster. Stageas are heavy and therefore your biggest issue is torque. The RB25 neo isn't too bad for a 2.5L motor but has nowhere near enough torque to handle the weight of the stagea without the turbo. Also, the hotter the weather, or if you're running air con, the more strain on the motor - so that reduces torque as well. Torque is the main factor in how quickly your turbo spools up, so realising that the RB25 doesn't have a huge amount of low-end torque (under 2000-2500rpm), you really want the turbo spooling as early as possible. if the turbo STARTS spooling even 500rpm later, its going to feel noticeably laggier. I found that most of the time when just cruising around, the most used rev range is between 1800-3500 rpm - if your turbo hits full boost within this range, the car will feel much more responsive. Mine unfortunately didn't hit full boost until about 3700rpm and whilst it pulled pretty strong from there to redline, it really was very unusable power in average driving...making it very frustrating at times. An ecu to tune ignition timing can make it rev up quicker, thus reducing the time it takes to get on boost, but this is the one thing I didn't have (my piggyback ecu only tuned air/fuel ratios) so I cant comment on this. I believe a lot of money on engine mods, including major modifications to the engine itself, can overcome most of the lag issues for a bigger turbo, but the question that needs to be asked is "how much power do you actually want? and can you get it with a smaller turbo". Its better to run a small turbo at its peak than a large turbo that hardly enters its efficiency range. A small, responsive turbo in my opinion is going to make your car feel a LOT faster than a big laggy one - but by small I'm talking something in the GT28 range. Just keep it close to the stock size but with steel internals for higher boost and reliability. Find something that'll handle 16-18 psi or thereabouts (ie. reliably, not maximum). You should be able to hit 220+awkw with a GT28 turbo and have a much faster car than if you follow the GT30 route. A large turbo doesn't give you a faster car...it gives you a slower one every day that just happens to give you a rush at 4000rpm on the drag strip...but 90% of your daily driving you'll be slower than a corolla. The only exception is if you spend a lot of money on mods - but if you have this amount of money - you'd be better off just buying a faster car...hope that makes sense

No its much more expensive than anything else Nissan sells IN AUSTRALIA. Pretty sure the R34 GTR wasn't too far off that figure at one stage... Most aussies when they think of nissan, think of the Tiida, pulsar, and maxima, and maybe a handful of 4wd's, so you can hardly blame them for associating nissan with relatively cheap cars for the average consumer. But what they dont see is the performance car heritage Nissan has - which is well known in Japan, but not many other places. As for the comparison, the GTR is a factory road car, not a race car. I thought it came pretty damn close in cornering speed on most corners, and was even faster on one of the corners (was that correct?). I think a race-spec GTR would find the extra 18seconds and then some, pretty easily. The V8 supercars are pretty much just a shell, and completely custom - almost nothing about them has any resemblance to the road cars. So with this in mind a race-spec GTR would be much lighter, more powerful, and have better brakes and suspension setups. Its not difficult to imagine record-breaking times from a race-spec GTR. However, I doubt we'll see the day...maybe an unofficial lap time perhaps, but not an official race one. Those who complain about the weight - why? Its a road car - its already extremely quick...why sacrifice anything that it has when all you'd gain is more speed/handling? - and it performs brilliant in these categories already. I reckon if the weight isn't hurting it, then its fine. Its a road car primarily. Any race versions would undoubtedly be much lighter...

plenty of reviewers have stated anything from 3.3-3.5s on the original one. Pretty much the ones that reckon it wont go below 3.7 just aren't pushing it hard enough not that 0.2s is really that huge a difference

Well I read in the newspaper that they did have the very same driver that set the nurburg lap times, there at eastern creek...but no mention was made of lap times etc. Sounds like it was more of a media hype day than performance benchmark...

One of the latest car mags has a comparison between the GTR round bathurst and a v8 supercar - just comparing times, and speeds at each corner etc. I had to hold back the laughter and "what the...?"'s because it came pretty camn close to the speed of a v8 supercar on most corners and on 1 it was faster through the corner...yet they were basically saying its just not as good as the v8 supercars and has some brake fade when pushed hard etc. etc. I just thought to myself..."hello - they're matching a stock standard factory car against a custom-built, race-engineered v8 monster"...and look how close it came... it just made me a lot more confident that if they built up the GT-R to race spec and competed with the v8's, we'd again see the GT-R dominating and probably again see the rules changed and the GT-R excluded again... interestingly it would've been better had they driven factory ford and holden v8's round the track...but that probably would've hurt sales for the mag. pretty sure it also said that Nissan Australia has been asking questions about getting the GT-R racing in the series again...and that V8 supercars officials are open to allowing other manufacturers in but no plans have been made at this stage or something like that...

not to try to take anything from you - it sounds like you have a great result there... but my average is also around 400km a week, and on my current fuel economy (12L/100km) that costs me ~$60-65 on average. My car is petrol only and this is for bp ultimate 98 fuel. I've thought of converting to dual fuel sometime but I'd need the difference to be much more than $15 a week to make it worthwhile. It would depend on the type of traffic you drive in though, so if I were driving the same route as you I may well be using much more fuel. mike40sydney - yes the stagea is a performance wagon, but I still feel that you can have both performance AND efficiency. With my last stagea I managed to increase the power by 40kw and lower my fuel economy by 2L/100km at the same time - through mods. Without mods, my current M35 is just as efficient as what my last one was with mods - and at ~12L/100km I think this is very similar to ford and holden wagons of the same year - and much better than other wagons with the same performance. However that said, it is easy to use a lot of fuel in a turbo car - it requires a lot of self-control to keep the costs down and only hit boost occasionally.

One thing you need to realise is that on paper, the M35 wins. Its faster, comfier, more economical, smoother, more roomy (rear seat legroom is much better, extra space under boot), etc. etc. So the question isn't which one is better. Basically the M35 is "better". But its not that simple. Your opinion might be different, so you may well prefer the C34 (and I would understand if that were the case). Its more a matter of taste and needs than it is a direct comparison between the cars. If you just cant stand the looks of the M35, then you've already made your choice, but I will say - have a look at one up close before making your final judgement. I thought they were ugly until I walked past an import dealer one day and from that day on I was smitten. They look a lot better in real life than in photos. A couple months later I bought one (was originally looking at getting another c34). As for price, things have changed a bit now with the economy crisis and all, but locally you can get a M35 around $20K, maybe a touch less? As a general guide, the C34s are more raw, more sporty perhaps, whereas the M35 is more refined and maybe even luxury. They drive very differently so a test drive of each is essential. Good luck

I sold my s2 stagea last year, mainly for cost reasons plus i didn't have the money for the mods it needed to make it a really nice car. However, I ended up getting a payrise and a few months later I'd ordered another stagea from japan. (m35 this time, was originally looking for a s2 but this one came up cheap). That kind of tells the story. But then I've been a nissan import fan since I bought my first car (1991 silvia)...

I've owned a s2 previously and now own a M35 so I can give you some idea. My S2 started out stock and averaged around 13-14L/100km daily to work / back (semi-heavy traffic - about 30 min each way). After an exhaust, piggyback ecu and tuning, it managed around 12-13L/100km. Best I got on the highway was 10.5L/100km and that was pretty consistent. The M35 is much improved in most areas over the C34 (but the looks are very subjective - its grown on me quite a bit and now i quite like it - but you really need to see one in the flesh to appreciate it). Now I still get anywhere between 11.5L/100km to 12.5L/100km but I'm now in brisbane (was in adelaide before) so these figures would be lower if I were still in adelaide. Also note the M35 is completely stock and pulling slightly better economy than the S2 with exhaust and more efficient tuning. A better comparison is the highway fuel economy which is about 9.8L/100km in the M35. However, the S1/S2 stageas and the M35 are very different cars - so a decision between them would require you to drive both - and then I guarantee your end decision will be motivated by other factors, not just fuel economy. The M35 is more powerful, rides smoother, has 5sp auto rather than 4sp (not necessarily a plus since the auto is a bit sluggish changing gears but still ok), BUT even with all these benefits it may not suit your taste. Some days I love my M35, but occasionally I want my s2 back. On paper the M35 is a better car in almost every way, but that doesn't mean you'll prefer to drive it. The s1 & s2 have more of a raw feel to them, whereas the M35 is more refined. Hope that helps.

haha this is almost exactly how I got the shift kit on the last stagea. However that one was $440 including a transmission service and that was ~3 years ago now. If I mentioned $500-600 it wouldn't matter what else I said, it'd be too expensive... that and I no longer live in Adelaide so there's that as well...

A valve body upgrade (aka shift kit) will make the gearbox stronger so at least that part is taken care of. The ECU may be able to make a slight difference (My brother is a ford guru and says that ford gear shifts could be sped right up through the ecu for a particular model) but any improvement here could have a negative impact on the reliability of the gearbox - so thats why the above mentioned valve body upgrade is a better option, since it can then handle the extra pressure put on the gearbox. Not sure about the rest of the driveline though. I had a shift kit in my last stagea (s2) for almost 2 years and it never had any trouble at all - best mod I ever did and it made the car perfect to drive. I'm also very interested to hear that our auto box is the same as the one in the 350Z - thats great news.

I know the transmission code for the 5speed auto in the M35's starts with "RE5" - not sure if its the same as the one in either Z33 or V35 though...

is this on the RX/AXIS models only?

Am I the only one thats a bit underwhelmed at the amount (lack) of interest shown to my M35? When I had the s2 stagea I quite often had weird looks from people in other cars, pedestrians, and some people even leaned out the window to see what it was. The funniest was when I was sitting at the traffic lights and this teenager was walking across the road with his mum - across in front of my car. He was clearly interested in it and kind of turned his head as he walked past and kept looking back as he then proceeded to walk straight into his mum when she stopped at the other side of the road! I lol'd!! But yeah the M35 seems to "blend in" a bit more - maybe it looks more like a volvo so people dont both to find out more?

Someone on here ("chuckie" if i remember correctly) managed 15.0s at the drags once. Pretty sure his car was stock at the time. Not sure what the official time is though.

very nice fuel economy there mine will probably match that on a dead flat road sitting on 100-110km/h with it locked in 5th using tiptronic (holds the revs better in order to lock torque converter and stay like it)....but that'd be its theoretical best i'd say. The fact yours does it on your route to work makes that a fantastic result

I was in adelaide over new years and was very tempted to get mine done. Would be very interested in hearing from anyone who gets this done!! And I will definitely be keeping it on the todo list - might not be this year though...

that depends on how much "early" torque your engine can deliver too...which isn't that fantastic in stageas. It gets better with every later model though... I guess it would still work....seems a lot of effort though, and most stageas are on boost pretty early anyway - so you're looking at improving only a very small gap in the rev range.

Shift Kit!! nah seriously out of the options you listed I'd go with suspension - it'd probably make the biggest difference to your drive...so long as its still comfortable. If you are happy with the current suspension then maybe look at the ecu - since this will translate into some good fun only problem is that if you increase the power too much you may need better brakes as well?

actually i mostly agree here - mine went a bit quicker due to some mods and was a little noisy with the exhaust - not overly loud though. mine was a little sluggish before i put the shift kit in - but i still reckon the m35 is a notch worse. I like both interiors, but the seats in the M35 are definitely better - MUCH better for long trips!! know the feeling. Hence why my M35 will probably stay stock... Having said that, a shift kit would probably make me completely happy with the car. one day perhaps...