Beer Baron

yeah it doesn't look like final set-up and complete testing will be done before WTAC due to a few snags along the way. but once done I'm sure BW and FR will want to make the results public. we've never published any dyno sheets etc from the car before but the way it performs on track is a pretty fair indicator of it's performance. so for now it's still work in progress....

wow, massive number of vanes in those rotors! I'm guessing they pump a fair bit of air. the calipers looks nice and very 'reminiscent' of alcon and the current generation brembos... even the font is very brembo... yeah nothing adds confidence like brakes that perform stop after stop.

working their arses off on their 'nearly' completed cars...... this year is going to be tight. but if all the big cars currently on the edge of completion make it it will be a fantastic event.

awesome stuff. the scary thing is how many cars I know of that are still in the build 9 days out from WTAC. perhaps some kind of unanimous agreement for a 2 week postponement is in order? I know a few guys who would gladly sign up!!! spectators and organisers might not be keen though....

lol, just logically thinking about what order I'd buy tools if I was starting from scratch. you still have the biggest 'tool' i've handled....

mate, 242 is wicked on that straight. will be a contender for top speed honours at WTAC for sure.

agreed. nothing warms the cockles of my heart like little sebastian having a sook. he is pretty fragile. god imagine if he'd had to spend years driving minardi, jaguar and williams at their low point? he'd have slit his wrists long ago. 1 more race off the podium and he'll be downright miserable.

It wouldn't surprise me. he really is a massive sook.

living the dream little buddy! Love it.

just checked, it was about June 2009 it was built. I also bought brand new R34 n1 turbos for it too. it also has tomei 1.2mm head gasket, and the head was expertly ported by Tetsuya at prime garage. From memory it had the inlet manifold etc port matched too. also fitted brand new injectors, brand new R34 crank angle sensor, 6 brand new genuine coil-packs, and ignition transistor unit (over $1200 just for those 2 bits). also had brand new N1 crank damper fitted, all new hoses etc too. Also has tomei timing belt and other gaskets. Just checked my bills, total was about $20K for the engine work, the engine, and fitting. The car itself was immaculate too. I still have the old engine I removed from it to make way for the nur engine. That engine was still in perfect health too. If aaron doesn't have the receipts for it I still have copies I can give him.

I would have to check when exactly I purchased the motor (possibly 2009?). I bought it brand new from nissan kokura (japan) and it was checked and installed by Prime Garage (built cars like Yoshioka's D1 car, Super GT cars etc). I had the car for not long, maybe 1 year and I would say travelled less than 2,000kms on it. It was treated very well when I had it and I'm sure treated just as well when Aaron had it. He was a fastidious buyer (had the car and engine thoroughly checked before he bought it off me) and a very careful owner. Aaron probably has some pics etc from when I had it installed. i'm pretty sure I passed them on to him.

or, PWR is also excellent.

for me, I've never had any problem with koyo. and to my mind less is more. so many people fit giant bloody radiators that do nothing more than add massive weight up front (no matter how light the rad is remember it gets filled with fluid). koyo make a nice upgrade that has standard type top tanks, is dual pass and not much thicker than stock. great piece of gear. look how thin a standard radiator is and how well they cool. ask youself if you need one 3 or 4 times thicker than that?

agreed. for the sake of $200 I permanently have a fuel pressure gauge in car. it's referenced to boost too (so stays steady at base pressure unless something is wrong) so it's very easy to spot lack of supply to the rail. cheapie mechanical ones can be had for about $60. and any workshop would have one.

building up tools is a great idea. if you're starting out I would buy in this general order: - half decent set of screw drivers. there are different sizes for a reason! stanley make a good set for reasonable money. - nice quality 3/8 drive ratchet with metric socket set. buy a good one. you will keep it for life. even go as far as snap on if you like. - metric spanner set. get a set with ring spanners on one end and open on the other, again buy a good set. cheap ones open up with use and become useless. good ones like snap-on have lifetime replacement - ratchet spanners. metric. consider a set with swiveling heads as they are even more useful in tight places. - set of a couple pliers and cutters. straight pliers, needle nose, bent and maybe a circlip pliers. don't need to spend too big on pliers but good cutters is important. knipex very good. - time to get some bigger stuff. 1/2 metric socket set, a breaker bar and maybe a 1/2 ratchet handle too. again but good stuff for these. maybe not as $$ as your 3/8 set (you won't use 1/2 as much on cars) but something decent. also buy a small set of impact sockets for wheel nuts (usually just 2 or 3 sockets with a plastic coating around the socket to protect wheels) - time for a drill. no need to go crazy with the best here. something midrange is fine - drill bit set, metric (possibly add imperial too if you like). buy something slightly above midrange. snapping bits gets old fast - small set of pipe spanners (metric) needed for brake lines etc - set of stubby spanners or even stubby ratchet spanners (get the ones with regular open spanner on one end and ratchet on the other) - get a jigsaw and some high TPI fine pitch blades. don't need anything expensive in this case. good for cutting carbon etc and thin sheet metal - angle grinder. again I personally don't see the need for anything expensive in a non-trade environment - trolley jack. my favourite is the bluepoint superlow one (i've recommended it to lots of guys on here including craved I think). it's expensive but very good. it's a hard $500 to swallow but I've not used anything that's better for less than $3K or so! - jack stands. don't need anything fancy but pay attention to what type of saddle is on them. some are better than others. - by now you need a roll cabinet. some good ones at bunnings. don't need a $5K snap-on roll cab (though they are awesome). a few hundred for a kinchrome etc is fine. consider adding a top chest too. - now time to buy a 1/4 drive socket set and ratchet etc to go with your 3/8 and 1/2 sets. again get something decent (you keep these for life) buy no need to spend up quite like you did on the 3/8 gear. simply because on jap cars you'll be using your 3/8 set all the time but the 1/2 and 1/4 less so. - a good work bench is important and probably should be further up the list. just needs to be solid and flat. - a good bench vise and some vice jaws (protectors) are important too - a set of wire strippers and wire crimpers are very handy. again midrange is fine. - a nice pair of gloves to work in. most manly men don't wear any but then their hands are always cut and dirty and burnt. I know mine are. gloves are a good idea. some others I forgot. good tyre pressure gauge with pressure bleed. brake bleeding kit spark plug gap checker tool (NGK one is about $2 and works awesome) spark plug remover (just a piece of stiff rubber hose with an ID same as plug ends OD) compression tester (these are cheap now and invaluable diagnostic tool) infrared temp gun (again cheap and handy) spark plug socket multi-meter (automtive one, they are quite cheap now too) heat gun there is heaps of other bits but they will keep you busy with stuff to buy for a long time!

yep, you are spot on. the only hurdle really is the non-adjustable steering column but they have tiny steering wheels which helps. at 6"4 you'll be fine. I'm 6"2 so bugger all difference. dude, just ship her off with my girlfriend. let them do whatever the fk it is girls do. caterham would be awesome, but availability at spa etc needs to be checked in advance. trust me, once you've paid the exorbitant hire fee for the day you WILL fit even if you have sit on the roof and steer with your feet!!! while ron was trying to talk us into their brand new GT3 porsche (and we were crumbling) we looked at the lotus and troy and ron said to me, do you want to sit in one to make sure you'll fit for spa next week. I just said. don't worry I'll fit. if not, just cut my legs off at the knee!

yeah again very sorry to hear that. hopefully things move on like you say and in hindsight it won't look so bad. most importantly I hope you can get the evo going soon. I know this will be a big set-back but you are used to dealing with those!

agreed. he's a whinger and a bullshit artirst. I was looking at the top speeds in each sector. funnily enough neither RBR was in the top 6 fastest cars in S1, they were in S2 but so was hamilton and guess what? all top 6 cars were equal at 214km/h, S3 again no RBR in the top 6. speed trap was the same story with maclaren miles ahead of RBR (and again no RBR in top 6, fastest from memory was - and often is - the mercedes of schumacher). in a straight line it's plain to see big mac have more speed than RBR and with DRS he gap between them is worse. like you say webber was consistently 3-5 tenths quicker in S2 regardless of being in the DRS zone or not. even a simpleton can see that RBR employ a higher drag set-up which gives them the edge in corner speed and overall laptimes whilst maclaren have a lower drag/lower downforce set-up which puts them about even or a bees dick behind in outright pace, slower in the fast corners but quite a bit faster down the straights. the other possible explanation is the mercedes engine vs the customer renault engines RBR use but I think it's mostly a set-up thing and just they go about their racing slightly differently. i agree. these days I would say the maclaren is on terms with the RBR and if I had to choose which one to race I would be tempted to take the maclaren as that extra top speed makes passing a fair bit easier and defending easier too. high corner speed and good lap times is nice but no one is passing mid corner round the outside with their superior aero... it's all done on the straights on the power and DRS or into the braking zones. RBR's obvious advantage is in qualy where only lap times count.

just be careful about which 2.8 kit you get and what pistons. you need to have a handle on what the pin height needs to be and what the rod length needs to be. since this HKS kit works with stock rods that tells me it works with the tomei rods (standard length) and since you're getting the pistons in the HKS kit you know the pin height will be correct. if you got a custom crank and different pistons just be aware of how it's achieving that extra stroke etc. as for tomei rods for around $1000. ebay USA. I saw a set there for actually just under $1000. they are a steal for that price. the pistons are still pricey (I think $1600 or maybe even more these days) but are excellent pistons. one of the best.

sounds wicked. there is some cool stuff happening around the place with the SR VET heads going on to SR20s. but your thing is out of this world. I'd like to come check it out one day soon.

it sure sounds good.

roy being on 69 will probably stop tipping now to preserve his awesome score!

Yes I have picked webber to win. but not every race. I think I picked someone else once or twice. fking webber.

he says it like a joke but it's true. that's how I spot him in a crowd. look for the bloke with the paper bag hanging at the ready out of his back pocket "just in case".... and as if push on. if I get a cramp I just whine and lie in the foetal position quietly swearing for a few mins till I'm good to go. it still counts as love making right?

bloody hell derek. so sorry to hear what happened with AW mate. hope it goes better from now on.