pixel8r

My previous stagea (series 2) had a larger turbo but still was only at 160awkw (9psi) and i had timed it 0-100 with a stopwatch (i know, not the most accurate way) and it was around 7-8 seconds. Sorry I couldn't be more specific but that should give you a rough idea. When it had the stock turbo, the top end wasn't very strong. It was able to get up and going fairly quickly but kind of ran out of puff after about 4000rpm. After I upgraded the turbo, it was almost the opposite. More laggy, but once the turbo kicked in around 2600rpm it pulled pretty good. It would hit max boost around 3700rpm and would go strong all the way to redline. Now I have an M35, and its a lot quicker than my series 2 (when it was stock). I'd say the M35 is quicker 0-100 than my series 2 was even with 160awkw, mainly due to the faster turbo spool and more torque. anything over 8 seconds does sound a bit slow for a stagea (although i'm not sure of the series 1's).

thanks guys, this info has helped heaps. I had a shift kit in my last stagea (s2) since I wasn't happy with how long it took to shift, particularly using tiptronic. So I wasn't sure what was "normal" for the M35. I've yet to try it out in the wet - I know with the last stagea even with 160awkw I could stomp my foot down in the wet in a straight line and it would just grip and take off. Wouldn't try it on a corner though - thats asking for trouble no matter what car you drive The guage thing still has me puzzled. It definitely feels a little different in synchro mode - particularly during tight cornering at low speeds, but the guage just didn't show as much front torque as what I expected. Anyways, better move this discussion into a new thread if we wanna continue with it...

I may be able to help with a few of these... Running costs are a little bit higher than an aussie equivalent car (if one were to exist). However you get to drive a car that quite literally compares to cars worth more than twice as much....so they are still very good value! I've only been driving my new M35 for a few days so cant offer much info on that, but I did own a series 2 stagea for 2 years, sold it earlier this year. Maintenance-wise, its a matter of how much you want to look after your car. Not that different to any other car except that I'd recommend only using fully-synthetic oils and things like that. My stagea didn't break down in the 2 years I owned it. There were a few issues when I first bought it - regarding the turbo and one rear shock absorber - but these are not a common fault and once fixed all was fine. The exhaust manifold can eventually crack/split, causing a loudish whistle when on boost (not the normal faint whistle you might here), but once fixed this doesn't normally show up again unless you're pushing it too far with mods...but once again, not a very common fault. About the only common fault I have seen with stageas is a tiny rust spot underneath the passenger mirror. Overall they are extremely reliable. However if you do need parts, a lot of the mechanical parts are shared with the skyline R33/R34's so you can be lucky with these. Worst case, you can import parts from Japan, but I've never had to do that (I've owned 4 nissan imports over 7 years and have never needed to import any parts from japan). There are a few wreckers here now stocking stagea parts too so for body panels etc you may still be in luck. Fuel usage was around 13-14L/100km for me when my s2 was completely stock. I managed to lower this to 11-12L/100km through mods such as exhaust, apexi SAFC (+tuning) and some ignition timing adjustment, but if you want to leave it stock, the s2's are slightly more economical and more powerful than the s1's, and I've heard the M35's are also more economical and definitely more powerful than the s2's. Look after the car and it'll look after you. Most of the ones that break, do so because they've been pushed too far (ie. modified or running too much boost etc) - which is why we dont include stuff like this as reliability problems. Mine was modified (160kw at all 4) and was rock solid. Insurance will be a bit higher also, depending on your age and driving history. My M35 is $850 a year with a high excess. I had the option of $1200 with a $400 excess. I'm 26. Hope that helps

So yours takes a little longer to shift sometimes? I've noticed mine tends to be a bit laggy on the kickdown and if i put my foot to the floor, it feels as if its slipping pretty badly and doesn't really take off that well. I've acheived the best acceleration by easing the throttle in. Slamming it to the floor on takeoff just seemed to overload it and it made a lot of noise but wasn't that quick. Felt like something was slipping - not sure if its the clutch packs not engaging properly or the trans slipping a little. On another note, i have a guage on my dash saying "front torque" measured in N-m x 10. It only seems to make it to about 3 on the guage - meaning only 30 N-m. I'm sure the needle should go higher. I'm talking about when its in "synchro mode" - which I thought was 50-50 split (although I haven't seen the needle move at all when not in this mode - even on hard launches). Hoping my guage is wrong. Everything else seems to work however. And it does feel quick when I give it a bit of stick.

its a on the raws govt website.

Ok, please let me put this thing to rest now. One week earlier, I was sent an email from Carmen saying that it was possible we may be able to take delivery of our car "next week". I didn't take this as a definite eta and when it came near the end of the next week I just wanted to confirm. So the ONLY reason I called was simply to see if the car would be ready by the end of that week. I realise now that you mistook me as saying that you were holding up the process. Please accept my apology for this - I had simply looked up the website, seen it was approved and thought "oh great, my car may be ready soon". So all I was doing was confirming if this was going to be the case. Unfortunately, it looks like my call was completely misinterpreted and I can only apologise for that. My reason for mentioning the approval date was only to work out if this meant the plate would reach you on friday. I thought you already knew the info i was referring to, so I was a bit surprised when you reacted as if I had just called to tell you this info. Sorry - thats what I meant. I hope it didn't come across any other way.

see this thread http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/Po...ad-t123730.html only the s2 comes in manual, or otherwise the 260RS's which only came in s1 and s2 form. Even with the s2 the manual ones are quite rare - not sure how many were made but not nearly as many as the auto version. no they're not all AWD. there are a few RWD stageas on here. AWD ones can be made to run RWD (by removing the front tailshaft) but you'd still have the extra weight of the front diff etc which the factory RWD ones dont have. the ones available in australia are listed below: s1: RB25DET (similar to R33 skyline) s2: RB25DET NEO (similar to R34 skyline) 260RS (both s1 & s2): RB26DETT - pretty sure this is same as R33 GTR M35: VQ25DET (same design as 350Z but smaller and with turbo). These do come with VQ35DE too but so far those ones are not able to be complied in australia. They rock!! Once you get one you wont look back.

Look I'm not trying to cause damage either. I have absolutely no dramas with how long it took. I had no idea it would take that long at the beginning, which made it difficult to understand. But yes looking back now 19 days is pretty quick, and I'm very happy with that. Why do people think that just because they did a good job and quicker than other workshops that they can treat the customer like crap? Any compliance workshop can comply a car. Not all of them can look after a customer. I never told Craig how to do his job - I think I must have been misinterpreted. I did NOT call 3-4 times a day. I never called more than twice a week and where I did call twice a week, one of those times was to provide info that they needed. All I wanted to know was how it was going and how long they estimated it would take. I didn't think that was unreasonable. But still I wasn't told, so I gave it another week, and called again...I had no idea this was offensive. People do it all the time - if you're paying a company for something, and they dont provide sufficient info on how its going, then you normally would chase them up for a quick update. Do you not agree? One call per week asking for an eta is not excessive in my opinion. Please dont take it personal. I'm happy with your work, Chris. This isn't about the work or anything else - purely how I was treated as a customer. And that means a lot to me. I'm not going to take this any further, so please dont think I'm trying to damage their rep or anything. All I've done is share my experience. Search the forum - I'm not the only one thats experienced this. If my story makes someone go elsewhere, then that wasn't my intention. All I want is for people to hopefully avoid being spoken to the way I was. Anyone else would've lost their cool after being told what I was told, so please dont talk to me about being patient. Yeah it looks like there has been a poor colour match on the rear left panel, but it doesn't phase me that much. We got the car about 8-10K less than most dealers are charging so all up it was worth it.

Edited by moderators as per the Forum Guidelines...

Actually for what its worth, I'm only 26 (27 in a few weeks)...but my taste in cars has changed dramatically over the past 5 years. life can be strange sometimes...

hehe, I'm all outa cash at the moment so it'll be stock for a long while... Either way I kinda regret modifying the previous stagea to the level I did, it never drove quite as nice as when we first bought it. I must be getting old or something - I'm enjoying the quiet, smooth, comfortable ride in the new one and it also feels plenty fast enough for a wagon (I'm sure I'll want it to go faster pretty soon though). But after the amount I spent on the last one and seeing what the car became, I sorta think it'll be a nicer car for a lot longer if I just leave it as is. Still cant believe how nice it drives...

And here's my new stagea...after 2 and a bit long months of waiting...she's finally "home". Drove it around all afternoon...wish I was still driving it!!! :-D Enjoy...

agreed. i thought I was a very patient person until now... Still dont have my car...obviously things are taking a little longer than expected. Will have it today or tomorrow at the latest. Will have plenty more to say after I get it, but for now I'm gonna keep my mouth shut.

For those looking for a cheap intermediate solution (while trying to hunt down the above mentioned products)...try using toothpaste. Most toothepastes are mildly abrasive - enough to "polish" the headlights. DO NOT get it on the paint (or anywhere except the plastic headlight) obviously but it will clean up the plastic headlights fairly well if you use a bit of elbow grease (and wash it all off afterwards). I've done it a couple of times before and it works ok - not as good as meguiars PlasticX plastic polish but may be all you need. WARNING: try it on a small patch of the light first to make sure it works on your car. (end of disclaimer).

Ok here's a different twist on the topic. I owned a stagea s2 rs4 for 2 years, sold it in april this year. But only 3 months later I really missed it (had bought a '98 pulsar sss - very reliable but otherwise very basic and pretty crap). So early August I decided to import another one. After looking around at more series 2's in japan auctions, a very cheap M35 came up in pretty good condition. Long story short, we bought it, ...fastforward 2 months...its now at the compliancer and I'm due to pick it up in a few days time. Filling in the blanks, we sold the pulsar 2.5 months ago, about the same time we bought the new stagea at auction, and have been driving an EF ford falcon wagon on gas since (borrowed from my parents). I'm VERY grateful for having a car to borrow but at the same time its been a loooooooong 2.5 months. I thought I was a very patient person until I imported a car. My goodness its hard!! I'm sure I'll forget all about it after my first drive in the new stagea, but a note to anyone looking at importing a car...make sure you have a nice reliable car to drive in the meantime that you're happy with.

Yeah I too feel very lucky that I bought my stagea m35 in early august. I still dont have mine but hopefully the wait will be over soon

+1 for the above. highly recommended!!

i've been losing sleep over it for the past two months!! just hope i do get it this week...dont wanna wait yet another weekend

Glad to hear mate!! This will probably be me this coming weekend!! Yours must've been on the same boat as mine, and got through compliance a little quicker? Mine's still at the compliancer's but I'm pretty confident I should get it in the next couple days. I've owned a s2 stagea before so will be very interesting to see what Nissan have done to improve on it with the M35. Looking forward to seeing the pics, and I'll upload some of my own hopefully soon!

I'm curious - what have you heard about the R34 semi auto ? having owned a stagea s2 with the same gearbox in it, i was pretty impressed with it. admittedly the first thing i did was get a shift kit installed, but that was more a matter of taste than anything else. if you want smooth gear changes then stock is better. in my experience (2 years and over 50,000kms of driving it) it was a very solid box and probably the best auto box i've ever used. previous cars were a nissan silvia turbo auto and nissan silvia non-turbo auto, both of those autos were good but not as good as the stagea/r34 auto. Not saying I dont believe you, just curious as to what bad things you've heard? Also, for the record, and keeping on topic, the turbo car will be much more fun, so if you're comparing with a r34 25gt then go the wrx but if comparing to a r34 25gt-t then go the skyline for sure!

I would've thought they'd be the same as AWD stageas - ie. r33gtr front, and stagea-specific rear. Note that whilst the rear shocks have the same fitting as gtst shocks, they are not the same. To put it another way, whilst the gtst shocks will fit, they will not provide the correct support for a wagon. Pretty sure r33gtr shocks on the front are the go however

I watched it, had mixed feelings about it though. It was like they specifically wanted presenters whose personality matched those of the uk show....which we know is just not gonna happen. All I wanted to see was some honest reviews of some expensive cars (and some crazy stuff thrown in, TG style) and all we got was 3 guys going on a 4wd trip, and a lame one at that. I think the episode was "ok" on the whole, but certainly not anywhere near as good as the uk one - which was as expected. Next week we have holden v ford, and admittedly I would like to see which one comes out tops, but having to listen to them harp on about them might ruin it for me. Straight up I thought the presenters are just clueless and trying to crack jokes and put on their best "tv" act. Whereas with the uk show you dont get that same feel that they're all just "acting". Anyway, I'll probably watch the next one...but I also wont be too surprised if the show gets axed in a few episodes time. Its an amusing show, but definitely not "must-see" tv.

Its not about top speed, its about average speed. That comes down to tyres and suspension (and chassis and a whole lot of other things) much more than just the hp the engine peaks at. I'd say the GT-R has plenty of power, remembering that the nurburgring isn't all straights. Plenty of reviewers have commented that the GT-R can hold a higher average cornering speed than the porsche - and that its much easier to get consistently good results from it. Even in a straight line its been proven to acheive anywhere from 3.3 - 3.6sec 0-100km/h, which is faster than a lot of cars that weigh less and have more power. You can talk physics forever but no one can argue with the times its pulled in so many independent tests. Peak engine power is only a fraction of the picture. What matters more is how quickly it reaches that, and how it goes about putting it to the ground. There are so many variables that I dont think making a comparison based on weight and peak power is even remotely possible. I dont believe Nissan is lying. or even if they were, how many other tests, including our own Top Gear Australia, have come up with the GT-R being quicker than the 911 turbo round a track? Its been all over the news all year. If everyone else's results are showing the nissan as being faster, then why would Nissan need to fake a lap time?

hey isn't it entirely possible that the jap-spec gtr that did the 7:38 & 7:29 DID in fact have different tyres than the US-spec gtr tested by porsche? The jap-spec one had japanese manufactured tyres on it whereas the US-spec one would've had us-manufactured tyres. So the difference could well be in the tyres...meaning that porsche simply chose a gtr from the wrong market to compare with. All the same, there are so many independent tests of the porsche 911 vs the gtr (including the latest on aussie "Top Gear"'s first episode) and they all conclude the gtr is faster. it smells of sour grapes to me.

Some of you have probably seen/heard this before... http://au.youtube.com/watch?feature=relate...p;v=K8OD7Jxpe3Y http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=3Zh0cPwWZJ0&feature=user Wish mine sounded that good