pixel8r

Yeah I second that - esp if its the dealer on the GC that i bought mine from... Most dealers make quite a bit on their cars and are happy to knock the price down a couple grand if it means a sale. We managed to knock $1500 off ours and got 12 months warranty free. The warranty ended up not being that great but better than nothing. Good luck with the purchase if you decide to go ahead with it....and if you do...please show us some pics

The stagea/skyline auto boxes are quite touchy with gearchanges. I think they do "learn" your driving style in the sense that it will try to work out when you want to shift up a gear and when you're just easing the throttle down a bit and want to stay in the same gear... I find the kickdown very quick and only a small foot movement is required to kick it back a gear, but this is one thing I really like about Nissan autos, compared to other manufacturers (ie. ford/holden over here). It gives more of a sports feel to the gearbox rather than the slushiness that exists in our locally made cars here. I've got a shift kit fitted as well for the same reason - just to improve the snappiness and response of the gearbox. Not sure how to reduce this behaviour though. Its possible from what you've said that you do have an electrical problem with your gearbox...but if it only does this while accelerating and not while cruising then dont worry about it. 4th gear is more of a "reduction gear" anyway and is really only there for fuel economy while just cruising along (at any speed, although over 80km/h it will attempt to lock up the torque converter, dropping the revs even further and saving a bit more on fuel). What this means is as soon as you want to do any accelerating, it will likely shift back to 3rd if it can (depending on your speed) in order to get more power/torque. The shift points in an auto are usually designed around where the engine makes the most torque, so when accelerating hard, it will try to maximise torque, but if you only accelerate mildly, it will probably just get to top gear asap to minimize engine revs etc. Hope this has helped a little.

No mine have been converted to H1's so thats why I'm wondering if there is anything other than the "standard" H1 globes to make them brighter...as answered by ssshonky Will let you know how it goes when I buy some...

is it already in australia or available for import? Prices are generally cheaper if you import through an import broker, at the cost of not being able to physically inspect and test-drive the car beforehand. Have a look on www.j-spec.com.au, www.prestigemotorsport.com.au, and www.imports101.com.au for a few estimates of import prices. However please note that THIS IS NOT a personal recommendation for any of those. I have not dealt with any of them so cannot comment on their service. To compare local prices have a look on www.autotrader.com.au, and www.carsales.com.au. Not sure how many are on there however, I'm guessing not many at all. There are for's and against's for both options (local or import) so its your decision whether the extra premium for buying one that is already in australia is worth it for the reduced risk.

nah i bought the car from a dealer so didn't get any of that stuff - would've been kept by the compliance place i'd imagine. Thanks for the advice though - will definitely look into those. Might buy them now so I can at least try them out before the trip. Cant recall my high-beams ever being changed so probably a good time to do those too. Wouldn't even have thought of taking spares if you hadn't mentioned this so cheers!

if you want a car for drags, and want 12s 1/4 mile times, then this will be a LOT easier with AWD than any RWD car, otherwise all your money will go on tires and suspension in order to get the power to the ground... the S15s are a lot lighter but the RB25 neo has a lot more potential... if you want 12s 1/4's why not go for a GTR? you'd already be in the high 12's that way and probably for the same amount of money - or less if you get an R32GTR. That'll be quicker than most s15s you'll ever see, even before you modify it.

Depends on how much power you want. I say go ask another tuner for advice, and maybe a third for good measure. Some workshops I know are just one-trick-wonders...they only know how to tune one thing and will tell you all sorts of crap to make you think that one thing is better than all the others. A lot of the time when workshops advise against a particular product etc, its just because they dont know how to tune it. I'm guessing there are plenty of r33's running an e-manage and not running too rich or too lean. SAFC's and SITC's also work well but only within a certain range. If you only want an extra 50kw than stock then this will work well, but if you want more, then go with a more capable ecu. There isn't that much difference between 33's and 34's as far as tuning goes, so if someone tells you the e-manage wont work on either of them, there are plenty of skylines on this forum that are proof that it can be done. anyone out there with an e-manage?

There is a M35 on youtube - showing off the exhaust note, and it is one of the nicest sounding exhausts i've heard ever. So with a good exhaust system I think you'll be very impressed. It'll make your car more responsive and probably more fuel efficient too. So its a mostly stock Autech AXIS version? hmmm, my next car (dont tell the missus )

Hey while we're on this topic, does anyone know of any decent bulbs to put in instead of the Halogen H1's? Mine uses those instead of Xenon's since it was changed over during compliance. These halogen's are not real good as many people know and since I will be doing an interstate drive next week (moving to brisbane, yay!) I was hoping I could find something brighter that will work with the current setup. Not looking at fitting a HID setup to it, sounds too expensive for what its worth - only to risk a defect notice Is there any other options, maybe a headlight that is more of the white/blue xenon colour that will fit? i think its 12V/55W if i remember correctly...

I'm also impressed by those photos. I'm normally not a big fan of the M35 shape etc. but yours looks quite nice. What model is it? and are those wheels standard? and is it lowered at all? All the other M35's I've seen that I like have been lowered and have larger rims than stock...

My S2 stagea has ~160awkw which translates roughly to 180rwkw. If I raise the boost even just 1-2psi it hits "boost cut" (R&R, but it cuts the fuel briefly). I've been told by a workshop that around 180rwkw is approaching the limits of the standard fuel pump. I have standard regulator/injectors. I believe the standard regulator and injectors can go a bit higher, maybe 200rwkw? anyone know for sure? I'd like to run 14psi through mine and would like to think that a fuel pump is all I need also...so I'm quite interested in this thread...

Hey guys, I've always wondered why there is so much english all over cars like the Stagea that were never intended to be sold outside of Japan. The weirdest thing for me is the fact that with the Xanavi TV/Nav units that some of us have, the CD player and climate control is all in english, and yet the TV/Nav stuff is in japanese. I mean, wouldn't this mean that we cant read the TV/Nav sections and the people in Japan cant read the CD player and climate control sections? My guess has been that Nissan is so used to building cars for international markets that they do it for all their cars regardless. Anyone know for sure?

The RB25DET original has VVT but its only like On/Off whereas the NEO has fully variable VVT. Its been covered on here before. Also, the NEO has 60N-m more max torque and more than 1000rpm earlier in the rev range, so basically a lot more torque at lower revs... Its also got an extra 20kw peak power, and to top it off, its a touch more economical as well. So yes, I'd say its improved to run noticeably more efficiently. Not a huge difference (appart from torque) but a noticeable difference. Most of these improvements are all related to the improved VVT, which may be why someone mentioned it being nissan's answer to V-TEC. But I think nissan's answer to V-TEC could just be the TURBO lol! Give me boost and bucketloads of torque anyday over those tiny V-TEC engines that need a car that weighs less than a jellybean to make them go. Sure they're quick, and the technology is great, but they just lack torque. (maybe I'd think differently if I had a lighter car, but having performance AND practicallity in the one car is very very nice) I've also been told the NEO has direct injection, but maybe someone on here could confirm that? It can get confusing referring to both engines because the engine code is the same for both. The NEO name is probably just given to differentiate between the two. Nothing to do with V-TEC at all in the name.

Yeah I thought they were meant to cut these during compliance but mine are still connected up and work fine Never had to change them, but my guess would be that the yellow lens thingy comes out - maybe held on by a couple screws or something. but I had a nissan silvia which has indicators on the front bar - looks quite similar, and with those you could access them from the front of the car...

Not real sure on that but I'm moving to brisbane to live in 2 weeks so I'm pretty sure there'd be heaps of qualified places up there that do LPG conversions on performance cars.

I thought LPG was like 100RON these days. Also rather than "a few extra K's to the tank", I think gas is more likely to be aimed at people looking for "a few less $'s per km". Converting to LPG isn't everyone's solution, and may not even be mine, but I'm going to look into it and talk to workshops about it to get some idea of feasibility. LPG can be used in performance cars and has been very successful at this, so regardless of who its aimed at, its been proven to work well

As far as safety goes, they must be pretty good. You dont hear of gas tanks exploding in cars (well I dont anyway) and there are plenty on gas. Probably just as likely to have your petrol tank catch fire as have your gas tank explode... As for space, I mentioned I'd want to run it as a dedicated gas setup if I was to do the conversion and so hopefully you could replace the petrol tank with a gas tank in the same position. I believe it has been done before, to get a gas tank mounted underneath the car, but I dont know any more details on that. might be more expensive and require a different tank or it may not be possible and I could have heard wrong... I know there are skylines and stageas on gas, but like others mentioned its a case of how many compromises have to be made. I have a brother in Perth with a V8 AU falcon which he's just fitted a SGI (sequential gas injection) system to and along with simple mods like exhaust and intake is making something like 160-170kw at the rears. He had one issue with the system and had to get it fixed but since then it has worked fine as far as i know. I have taken fuel economy into consideration (based on people's experience with gas vs petrol mileage) with my calculations of around $2000 savings per 25000km. Most calculators will work by comparing to the regular unleaded price but I did mine based on the price of premium unleaded - which then works in favour of LPG. As for webng's point number 4, thats exactly the reason I'm thinking of it. Previously I've been very much against LPG but with current advances in technology and the price of petrol, its now looking like a very attractive option and a real possibility.

I drove past this last night too. Sorry to hear about this mate Glad no one was hurt though...

wouldn't it be cheaper to buy a GTR and switch the rear end back to a GTST? maybe i missed something.... excuse my sad sense of humour, all I'm saying is, if you want a GTR, just buy a GTR

Hi fellow Stagea owners, Just thought I'd start this thread to put all this info in one place. Recently this has been discussed somewhat in the Stagea Fuel Economy thread (link below): http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/St...html&st=160 and this has got me thinking that maybe I might even consider switching to that "other" fuel sometime if the results are as good as they say. I would average 25,000kms a year, including an interstate drive once a year and several weekend holidays. According to my quick calculations, with premium unleaded here in adelaide now around $1.58 (ouch!) and gas still under $0.70, I'd be saving around $40 a week on our current usage, or something around $2000 a year. Taking into account the $2000 govt grant (plus $1000 if you're in WA), even a $4000 conversion will be paid off in 12 months, and I'd be saving roughly $2000 a year after that. LPG is now common enough in petrol stations that there are not many places in australia you cant go with just LPG. Plus LPG is 100RON I believe. Have also heard of premium LPG but not sure where this is available. I'd be looking at a dedicated LPG system if I was to do it, because I've had bad experiences with dual-fuel systems in the past and dont like the idea of two different tune settings, which are incompatible and it just never seems to work well. I'd like to retain the current performance of the car, if not increase it a little more (I've been wanting a fuel pump for a while anyway so this is 2 birds with 1 stone). So I've created this thread to discuss options for converting to LPG, both for myself or for anyone else who might be thinking of this. I really like the idea of the newer Gas Injection setups but this would depend on the cost - or more so how long it would take to recoup this cost. Another concern I have is of reliability. My stagea has been extremely reliable, and I'm not willing to sacrifice reliability, even if it means paying more in the long run. Please join in and discuss - especially people who work with or have experience with LPG systems on stageas/skylines.

lol according to this website my car is a "light 4cyl". My car's average fuel consumption is around 12L/100km and even at 15L/100km they classify this as a "light 6cyl"....weird. Obviously the govt dont agree with their own (extremely optimistic) ratings for vehicle fuel consumption

I've always thought cars do a bit of this although I dont think the logic is as complex as you might wish. It'd just have a few different settings it could use depending on your driving style, things like different shift points etc. for the auto. Can anyone confirm (someone that knows what they're talking about, not like me) ?

WOOHOO I may be able to come! Will be moving to brisbane on the 25th Jan so only a couple weeks away now. Looking forward to meeting some of you guys and chatting about all things stagea Been on a couple of cruises here in adelaide, but no stagea-only ones yet. Afternoon would suit me better but should be able to fit in with whatever goes.

For the record I reckon my a/c sucks up at least 30 or 40kw (maybe more), not just 10. I presume it greatly affects torque, and therefore revs up slower, meaning the feeling of lag is increased. The temperature outside also makes a big difference. A couple weekends ago I drove from home (adelaide) to waikerie, about 2-2.5hrs drive, in near 40deg heat and used half a tank of fuel on the way there, but coming back a few days later at night, (about 30deg) it only used a quarter of a tank to do the same distance. I think it just doesn't like the extreme heat and also I think I was driving into the wind on the way there... I dont think my performance does change depending on when i turn a/c on, so maybe i was imagining that. I think its just different day, different result. Cars are like that I guess.

Maybe I should be clearer on this since people dont seem to understand HOW it works... The only thing that is ON when you start the car with a/c on, is the little LED on the A/C button - that is ALL. The computer is smart enough that it doesn't actually engage the a/c until the car has been idling for a couple of seconds. Its no different to you pressing the button a couple seconds after the car starts. To put it another way, its electonically controlled, so you press the button, and it tells the computer that you want a/c so it turns a/c on. When you turn the car off with a/c still on, the next time you start it the computer will remember the setting and light up the LED on the a/c button, just so you can see a/c will be turned on. Then when its ready to turn A/C on, it will, but by this time the starter motor has done its thing and gone back to sleep and the engine is already happily idling away... Have a listen next time you start the car with the a/c button on, you will hear the a/c cut in a couple seconds after the car starts, ie. not straight away. If its good enough for Nissan, its good enough for me Gone are the days of manual switches that directly control things.