warps

This can happen. The typical setup isn't ideal, as the hyd steering stick interrupts the normal rear brake circuit. Not really a problem as plenty of rally cars have it set up like this. If you're worried about it, a more elegant (although slightly heavier) solution is to mount a second pair of small calipers onto your rear brakes, plumbed into a completely separate circuit. It adds a little weight (specially unsprung) but keeps the brake circuit intact, and there's less chance of bias issues etc.

Just to clarify - welds on ally will look ugly. Welds on steel should come out fine I just fired up my ebay special stick / TIG today to finish fitting brakes to my son's go-kart. From the first weld they all came out looking pretty good. Normally after not using the welder for 6 months or more, I need to practice to get nice welds. These all came out beautiful (except the one where I blew a hole in the thin tube from leaving the rod in one place too long). As for stick welding being useless - that's horse hockey. You can do a hell of a lot with stick, only limited with very thin stuff. Anything down to 1.6mm is pretty easy for an average back yarder to weld with a 2.5mm rod. I still find the old stick very versatile, and only bother with the hassle of TIG when I want to make sure the welds look perfect, or on a tricky weld where the stick is likely to not work for me. That's speaking as a rank amateur welder. Pro boilermakers can weld with anything and make it look good.

You can use the Uni filter or Finer filter foam air cleaners like these. Plenty of guys use them on Webers in rallying (I had a pair on my RX2 rally car with 51 Weber) so they'll keep all the crap out of your engine. I see Unifilter also sell the plain ram tubes. If you haven't already bought the throttle body, they'll usually give you whatever colour ram tubes you want. In that case, just get the clear anodised ones, and use a pair of filter socks like in the link above. There was a guy on Ausrotary a while ago who modified a standard intake to fit over a Weber carb, so it is possible. The ram tubes help with air flow, so I'd leave them on there. I'm pretty sure the guy on Ausrotary did this.

By "not using the trumpets" I assume you mean you're going to get the non - anodised ones, just the plain alloy? Those have been around as long as Webers, so I presume period enough? (that's what I was using in the 80's)

What happened to And this made me lol. Keep it up, son.

Yeh just messin' with ya, Arthur. Sad but true about the lawyer comment. It's not about who's right or wrong, but more about who's more lawyered up.

Absolutely, and anyone engaging in that kind of dodge should be kicked in the upper lip with a steel tipped toe cap (or insert appropriate punishment) This is very different to "my engine died 3 years ago because 5 years ago the dealer may or may not have changed the timing belt, and may or may not have charged me to change the timing belt. The car was well and truly out of warranty. I want to sue them. How do I go about this??"

Are you saying they charged him to replace the belt, then didn't replace it? Have you got proof?

What? Yes, let's take this to some ridiculous "what if" conclusion. Are you for real? As far as general servicing goes, then they are responsible for making sure that they have done the work properly (refit sump plugs, tighten bleed nipples etc). Just make sure they haven't left a ring spanner on the bleed nipple because we all know that only retards and morons do that Now, as far as the timing belt goes, yes, the manual says that it should be changed at 120,000km. In my experience, they will ask whether you want it done at that time (or sometimes they'll suggest to do it at an earlier, smaller service to spread the coszts out a bit better). If the owner tells them not to bother ("F**K that, am I made of money? Let's leave it for a few thousand km and see how it goes") then the dealer can't force the owner to follow the procedure in the book. I'd suggest this is a common conversation they have with vehicle owners. Perhaps the dealer did choose not to replace the belt. Perhaps that did contribute to it snapping 100,000km later. If so, and you could actually prove these things, you may have had some cause for compensation at the time. Bringing it up another 180,000km later? Well I think they will tell you to piss off and stop wasting their time. I know I would.

At 120k it's out of warranty Once it's out of warranty the dealer will ask if you want these things done - there is no obligation on them or you to complete everything that's in the book (apart from general service items) Anything that happens at 220,000km is so far out of warranty it's not funny. It's now done 400,000km so even if they were at fault 180,000km ago, there's zip can be done now Stupid thread

And a VN SS out-displaces anything F1 has ever had. That's even sadder

Well what's the pssht pssht noise then? My best spectator point was at Yarraman a couple of years ago. During recce I'd noted how there was a sweeping RH coming into a hairpin left. "Perfect for setting up a nice scando flick" I though. Now at the time I was driving an RX2 with the infamous TQX gearbox. Anyone who knows these boxes will know that they have "park" right next to first gear, so when you're in a hurry it's very easy to grab park instead of first (not good). Because of this, I always had to be uber careful trying to select the 1st / 2nd gate. As you can imagine, coming sideways in a scando flick, ready to snap around into the hairpin is not so easy to remain calm and carefully select gears. I missed the 1st / 2nd slot and kept hitting park or 3rd (or kept getting 4th when trying to get 2nd). Managed to lose all momentum, slide sideways into the bushes and nearly stop before finally getting 1st gear. Then sat there spinning at 9000RPM trying to get going again (RX2's aren't renowned for their rear traction). Of course there were spectators and video cameras galore there. We snapped a front strut a few minutes later - must have been too pissed off to slow down for the triple caution up the road Bloody mazdas. My old 1600 never would have given me that kind of grief.

Noice Well done for getting out there. Lose the BOV though - sounds awful I see you tackle spectator points as well as I normally do

Ah for f***s sake why is everything taken so f***ing literally? I used the term "Value" as a catch all term which I then went on to explain further. Correct, ATO don't give a stuff if you're getting value for money. What they do care about is that you're claiming $30k a year on "advertising" whereas you might realistically increase your turnover by $100 a year based on that advertising (if at all). Again, that alone won't necessarily raise any eyebrows, however if that $30k allows you to enjoy your hobby, then they will definitely frown upon you trying to claim it. There's nothing wrong with businesses sponsoring motorsport, but claiming that the $100k a year your business pumps into your club racer is legitimate advertising and hence taxable, well, good luck with that one. I'm not talking about a car that will get national exposure in its category here. What I'm talking about is the typical club racer who wants to write off his racing expenses, even though the only people who are likely to see the car have nothing at all to do with his business. Just because people get away with it doesn't make it right. I know I could easily syphon tens of thousands into a race car, but as I said earlier it is a stretch to claim that it is legitimate advertising. It all depends on how "creative" you want to be.

I think that the ATO will look at the value for money the company is getting for their sponsorship dollars, ie the exposure they'll get, and the relevance to their business. For example, I only do club events, and my business deals with mining companies. Plastering my company name all over my rally car is unlikely to attract the attention of any of my clients (who all live 1000km away from where I'm likely to be competing anyway). It would be a very long stretch to try and claim thousands of advertising dollars against my rally car. I'm sure I'd get away with it for a while, but I wouldn't want to have to explain it to auditors. On the other hand, if my business was a tyre shop, panel beater, engine builder etc, then a rally car would be a great way to lift the business profile. Another thing to remember is that the company will have to think long and hard about how you behave whilst driving your car with their logos all over it. Imagine the PR if a car they sponsor is perceived to be behaving badly in public.

Yes. My brother's owned a Disco 3 for about 3 years now and it's a pig. We all advised him against it (including my bro-in-law who used to sell them brand new but gave up the agency because the warranty repairs were sending them bankrupt). The Disco has been in the shop more times than I can count, and has left my brother stranded a few times. I wouldn't touch anything with the name rover in it. THey may be better than they were, but they are still big steaming piles of poo.

This will put a lot of people off. They think they're buying a lemon. I did the same with a 7 year old Magna I'd owned since new a few years ago. It had a cracked windscreen and just couldn't be arsed getting it roadworthy, even though it was still registered at the time of advertising. People stayed away in droves, even at $6k asking price (equivalent models were selling for $12k at the time). I ended up trading it for $4k (TH manual sports - supposedly sought after in Magna circles.......apparently)

Nothing wrong with the Doc Martens The way I figure it, there are plenty of other things to focus my time and $$ on before my shoes become the weak link in my racing. Besides, all those fancy poofy racing shoes will soon be ruined after trudging in muddy forests and paddocks all day. Stuffed if I'd take the race shoes off to take a piss while waiting to check in at a start control.

Not sure on pricing, or what your feelings are, but I'd suspect that the MY02 should be good buying these days. Why? They were the beginning of Subaru's "ugly stick" phase, were relatively heavy and hence not as sharp and edgy as previous WRX's, hence didn't appeal as much to the hoons out there. They were still a very competent package (better handling and brakes than the previous models) but didn't have the same image. It might be easier to get hold of an un-molested one that hasn't been thrashed by P-platers. The MY01 I understand was basically the same car, but with taller gearing (they shortened the gearing to try and recapture some of the performance edge due to body weight) Just get rid of that horrible immobiliser. That was the only thing that gave me trouble on the MY02, and it was a royal pain.

The 99/00 Rexes were the sweetest of the lot (of that era). Enough performance to keep you happy (mid 5 sec 0-100, so I don't know where people get off saying they're slow). I think they had the 4 piston brakes (not 100% certain on that though), so while they're not ZOMG!!! Brembos they're still very useful. Might fade them on a race track, but I get the feeling your missus won't be doing that too often. I'd be wary of one that age though, like any performance car. You just don't know how it's been treated, so you could be taking a risk. Even if it's bog stock (which I would absolutely insist on) there's no saying it hasn't been modified and then converted back to stock. At any rate, it WILL have been driven hard - of that there is no doubt. I've never owned a WRX that old, so can't comment on their longevity. However, I've been driving new Suby turbos (WRX and Forester) for the last 9 years and they've all been more reliable than any of the other new cars I've owned in the last 15 years.

I concur on the Xtrail. Wouldn't tow anything bigger than a box trailer with one. I used a forester XT to tow the rally car a few years back, and it was never comfortable with that much weight behind it (about 1500kg. Trailer weights 600kg and car about 900). The forester had a rating of 1800kg, but wasn't happy even with the 1500kg behind it. Oh, there was plenty of power, and I had no trouble on hills / overtaking caravans etc, but it always felt like the trailer was pushing the car around. Xtrail is more fragile, much worse dynamics and less powerful. I wouldn't dream of towing with one.

If it was that close to the road, then it either had totally shagged stock suspension, or very badly modified suspension. Unfortunately the Civics and CRX's attract wankers and ricers who love to do these sorts of dodgy mods, so there are some real death traps out there. Trust me - stock R spec civics and CRX's handle fairly well. With light (sensible) mods they can be very sweet handlers. If your mate's was darting all over the road then I suspect it's been very badly modified, or it has something seriously wrong with it. Also, I thought that any engine swaps / mods made cars illegal for p platers, so if he's running an Integra engine in a CRX I think he'll find it's not p-plate legal (even though it's not super quick)

Fixed Trust me - a decently sorted and driven CRX / Civic (not talking $10k coilovers) will outrun an R34 through corners every day of the week. Still, you have your heart set on the R34 so I'm sure you'll be very happy with it. They are still a great car.

I plot the torque curve, then calculate the tractive effort at 50RPM increments in each gear throughout the entire rev range. I then calculate the section of the curve that gives the biggest area under the curve for each gear change, which gives me the shift point for each gear. Then I program my shift light for the optimum gear change point for each gear Not really. Actually the rev limiter does a pretty good job of telling me when to change In the Rex somewhere around 6500. In the Hoonda, it's about 8500 (cutout at 8700) and in the Pathfinder about 2500-3000

You can have just as much fun at the track in a $5-10k Silvia or Skyline, or even Civic, MX5, early rotary, etc as you will in a $25k S2000 (ignoring your unsubstantiated bias against FWD for a minute) To be honest, your arguments sound to me just like you're justifying your wishes to have an S2000. Owning one will not make you want to save harder for a house. Yes, it will motivate you to pay off the loan more quickly, but nothing more. You need a tangible goal to make you want to save for the house deposit, and owning an S2000 isn't it. By all means, if you really desperately want an S2000, then go for it. Just be honest to yourself though - it won't help you save for a house, regardless of what you might think.