Blackmagic88

Hi, Do u still have the Jap spec display screen assy? If so please send me a pix of the reverse side (showing the plug connectors and part no of the assy (there are 2 types for the jdm depending on year of manufacture). Can u confirm it is in perfect working condition?

So whats the feedback on this kit?

Just wondering if anyone here might be interested in a HKS Kansai exhaust system for the R35. Its in stainless steel. Made In Japan (original HKS Kansai and not a copy). This is the dual pipe system, ie. two pipes from the turbo downpipes (with a proper muffler in the midsection and not a resonator), two pipes after the muffler running down the entire length to the rear and splitting into two separate left and right mufflers. Quad tail pipes in blued titanium finish. The complete system consists of a catback and a midsection. I bought it new at around $5,000 and used it for probably 6,000 km. Been in storage for 6 months as I've switched to Mines system. Part is in Singapore and I have no idea how much shipping will cost. Looking to sell it at half the price i paid (fob basis) PM me with your email add if you want a pix of the system.

I have a set of the T1R coilover kit (the GTC kit pictured is EXACTLY the same as the T1R kit). Used for 2 days before i switched over to a full coilover kit. I will need to check freight cost but it will end up costing you much less than if you buy a new set direct from Canada (or the UK). PM if you are interested.

I have for sale a HKS Kansai dual track specifically for the R35 GTR. This is the stainless steel version (there is another in titanium which is horrendously expensive). The system includes a midpipe (or Y-pipe) which has a full muffler instead of a simple resonator, hence it eliminates the resonance commonly found on simple Y pipes (even those with resonators). It is a true dual track piping set up, ie. from the turbo downpipes, there are individual pipes leading to the rear which terminate either side into titanium finished tail pipes. Lighter than stock system, typical JDM high quality and adds 25 bhp. Wonderful sound. In immaculate condition. Used 6 months or around 8,000 km. For pix click on the link below : http://www.z1auto.com/prodmore.asp?model=g...amp;prodid=3260 Part is NOT in Australia but i can arrange shipping. Bargain at A$3,750. Interested please PM.

Hi, I'll be keeping them on for a while till i see how the new AP/Stillen Carbon Ceramic brakes are priced & reviewed. Dont know how much Nissan sells the OEM Brembo calipers but knowing how expensive OEM partss are $1,700 each sounds cheap. For instance a friend recently had to replace the engine oil cooler on his R35 due to damage and the Nissan price for just the engine oil cooler is $5,000. AP rotors at $850 each sounds like a good deal but i think this price does not include the aluminium hats and bolts etc which have to be re-used. Replacement Alcon rotors come with new hats but are more expensive.

Am toying with the idea of upgrading my brakes on my GTR. Wondering what the stock R35 brake system are worth if i sell them. They will be complete (front and rear calipers, pads, rotors). Mileage about 17,000 km. Rotors are fine with no cracks or excessive wear. Calipers are near perfect. Anyone interested?

If you are going to own only one car, DONT buy the GTR. I've owned a JDM R35 for exactly a year now and for the past 6 months i've hardly used the car as i've 2 other cars which are much better daily drivers. If you live in the city, you'll find the GTR is disadvantaged by its rather large proportions. Its not the easiest of cars to maneuver in narrow or congested roads and can be difficult to park in tight spaces (you really do need the reverse camera). Even at stock ride height you can hit the bottom on road humps. Performance wise the car is very fast (as opposed to quick, like a Subaru STI, VW GTI, Renault R26 etc), so fast in fact that you can barely use its performance in daily driving. One of the functions that the multifunction computer screen on the car allows you to see is the throttle opening position (ie. how much throttle u are using). You'll be surprised that you can barely go over 50pct throttle position, 90pct of the time, in daily use. I usually try to keep within speed limits but occasionally it frustrates me to drive at 15pct throttle opening @ 120kph (in 6th gear)...give it some boot and you'll find you can hit 180-200kph in seconds! Its much more fun driving a less powerful (but more useable) car like your BMW or any of the above previously mentioned, where you can actually hit redline in daily use and have some fun. Given the low speed limits in Australia (and the almost overzealous policing), i'd say not many GTR owners are going to come anywhere close to being able to enjoy the car's potential. Fortunately i dont live Downunder at the moment and have ready access to a world class F1 circuit and "virtually" unrestricted highways where i can literally put pedal to the metal. If this wasnt the case, i would have sold the GTR already.

Nightcrawler: "At that price point people would be stupid to buy a GTR over a 911. I think the number of people with that much money wouldn't dream of buying a GTR in favour of a Porsche, if the price was the same. Sure there will be a few, but I think Nissan will be pushing crap uphill to sell them...." I must be one of the stupid ones then.....but then i have actually owned 6 Porsches before the GTR, including an extremely quick 911 biturbo. First of all, the A$ has devalued not just against the Yen but against almost every major currency in the world. It has dropped 30% against the Euro over the past few months, about the same % drop against the Yen. That means your showroom 911 is going to have a similar price hike. Secondly, regardless of whether Nissan Australia hedged their forex position on the 1st batch of GTR's, it doesnt oblige them to sell it at a price based on the value of the A$ 6-9 months prior to the drop in value of the A$. They may well book this "windfall" as a separate profit. Many companies do that. It will also make it untenable for them to sell the 1st batch at say A$157,000 and subsequent shipments at over A$200,000. Over the last couple of years when the A$ appreciated massively against the US$ and virtually every major currency (from A$1=US$0.50 to the high of A$1=US$0.985), did Nissan or other importers pass on the "savings" . Not that i noticed and i was living in Australia until mid last year. My bet is that the car will not be sold at A$150,000+ and if it does then Nissan Aus has decided to subsidise the early bird buyers and you should count yourself very lucky. Thirdly, why compare the GTR to a base 911? There is simply no comparison. The GTR runs rings around a naturally aspirated 911 Carrera under any situation. In every comparison i've read in magazines/road tests etc, the GTR has always been pitted against Porsche's finest, namely either the GT3RS or the Turbo, and in some cases even the GT2. Even Porsche themselves got into a fluff recently over the Nurburgring time for the GTR against the GT2 which is the pinnacle of 911 engineering. Obviously guys like Nightcrawler find it hard to look beyond the Nissan badge and appreciate the car for its engineering. Finally, if you can get a grey GTR, for $150+ or thereabouts in today's market (with today's A$ value), its a bargain. And on the topic of warranty, if you are going to drive the GTR on the street, even very enthusiastically (hard to do in Oz cos there are cops and speed traps everywhere), nothing is going to break. If you are fixated on trying to break the 11 sec 1/4 mile or get a thrill out of doing donuts then something will break and no manufacturer will honour warranty on an abused car. If you are going to modify it (which every R35 owner i know has, and we are talking about dozens of them) there is no warranty anyway. The GTR being the tuner car that it is, you will likely do something to it. I know i have. If you are losing sleep over the warranty issue then dont buy the car. And lastly for the record, stop griping about the price of the R35 Downunder. You guys are getting it cheap. I paid over A$300,000 for mine (in today's A$ value....in Singapore)...with virtually no warranty to speak of as it is a grey import. Its every bit as good as a Porsche 911 Turbo which costs almost twice the price. Having owned a number of Porsche's before, I wouldnt even consider a naturally aspirated 911 again.

Those BBS LM wheels are a special edition. I think BBS only produced 200 sets for worldwide distribution. I had first dibs on a set but didnt like the idea of it being a limited edition as you probably wont be able to get a single replacement if you damage one wheel. Nonetheless they are very nice and light and expensive. If i recall correctly there are 5-6 sets in Singapore. When the R35 was launched Nissan didnt want anyone to change wheels or install bodykits/spoilers (its even mentioned in the Owners Manual as a big No No) but they should have known better. The GTR being a cult car its almost impossible to expect owners to leave it in stock form. The initial problems with aftermarket wheels were (1) fitment of the tire pressure sensors (one sensor on each wheel forming part of the TPMS) and (2) nothing available in 20 inch with the correct offsets. Both problems are now solved and there is a fairly good selection of aftermarket wheels and probably more to come in time. However 20 inch wheels in the GTR fitment are not cheap. I am thinking of a set of Rays Volks TE-37 in bronze which should suit a black car. The second biggest problem as far as I am concerned is the use of RFT (run flat tires). They are very heavy (i think around 39 Lbs each or close to 18kg and the sidewalls are super stiff. I have yet to weight a set of non-runflat tires like the Pirelli P-Zero's but i estimate they should weigh in at around 28 Lbs or roughly 5kg lighter per tire than the Bridgestone/Dunlop RFT's. Together with a lighter wheel, thats alot of weight savings and especially since its rotating mass/upsprung weight the advantage should be quite dramatic.

Neither of these cars are mine. I just happen to know the custom painted red one (pic of another thread) who owns the HKS Technical Centre in Singapore. The white one is a customer's car. Mine is Black and looks basically stock so no point posting a pix as it looks very ordinary. On engine tuning the HKS 570 kit is pretty interesting. Its been posted many times online but this particular install i actually in person 2 days ago. Very neat and OEM like finish. Obviously didnt get to drive it as its not mine but i did get to ride shotgun and it is VERY quick indeed. Makes mine, which already puts out at least 70-80 bhp at the wheels more than a stocker, feel rather lethargic. A stock R35 on a Dyno Dynamics puts out between 380-390 hp @ wheels and this is a fact as i've seen several stock cars dyno'ed already and they all consistently produce hp within this range (i know the US cars seem to dyno at much higher nos which seem optimistic). Given the dyno figs at the wheels it doesnt seem that Nissan's claims of a 10 pct drivetrain loss is accurate. Its more like 18-20 pct loss. The HKS 570 produces on this particular car 590 bhp at the wheels, a good 200 bhp more than a stock car, so it is pretty damn quick. This seems to be consistent with the results that other tuners who have fitted the HKS 570 have achieved. 570 hp at the wheels is what HKS says is the Minimum you will get and some depending on temperature, humidity, fuel quality etc appear to get over 600 hp at the wheels. Stock brakes are definitely NOT good enough with this amount of power. Based on my experience with my own car, driven hard on road and track, the stock brakes are barely adequate even for a stock car (so dont believe all the hype the motoring press dishes out...and definitely not the BS that fat pommie Clarkson regularly dishes out).

Following up on my previous thread: First, i am not 20 yrs old (although i wish i was) & secondly i dont come from a line of blackmagicians but the nos 88 may give u a clue to my ethnicity. I do however own an R35 and have had it for 6 months. I've had many quick cars over the years (yes..i am older than 20 yrs x 2 even !!) including half a dozen Porsches (all modified and one i remember with fondness being a heavily reworked & exceptionally quick Porsche 911 turbo which costs half the price of the R35 just in engine mods). The R35 however is completely different. Interesting car but more on that later. Attached are some pix i took just a couple of days ago. Alot happening on the R35 tuning scene now (despite the financial turmoil we are experiencing) which is really in its infancy now as the car is still pretty new. All carbon fibre components on the car in the pix are dry carbon. Clear coated on the bonnet and bootlid but uncoated on the rear spoiler and very light. How light? see the pix of the carbon fibre front fender....

Hi Iron Chef, I've seen a replica of the Zele Orange in real life here. Bit too bright for me. There is also a Green done but its not painted but stickered in vinyl. Definitely an acquired taste and not to my liking either. There is also one in matt black which is also vinyl. Pics of all these have been posted on the Net many times. Custom paintjobs involve considerable downtime and are very costly (if you want to do a first rate job) so i'd rather not experiment in real life. Photoshop seems to be the answer. Anyway let me start a new and more appropriately titled thread and post some interesting pix and video clips if i can. There's alot of interesting work going on with GTR's here.

I realise that other than a handful of private imports there are very few GTRs in Australia at the moment and most of you who have booked your cars probably wont get your hands on them for some time yet. Meanwhile your only source of information on the GTR is online and there is alot of hype and crap surrounding the GTR posted online. Most of the rubbish i suspect is from people who dont currently own an R35, have little or no real experience or knowledge on the car and simply spew out or regurgitate garbage that they have read or heard. In Asia (Malaysia, Thailand but mainly in Hongkong and Singapore) we have had the car for about 10 months already as the first cars arrived in Dec 2007 (very soon after the launch in Japan). A huge number were imported within the first 6 months of 2008. I understand there are over 200 R35's in Hongkong and probably approaching that in Singapore. All of these have been brought in through non-Nissan dealers as the R35 has not been officially launched in Asia. As such none of them have factory warranty or any warranty for that matter, not that that is any concern as the bulk of enthusiasts in the region are incurable "tuners" who can never leave well enough alone. If it helps you guys on this forum who may be thinking of purchasing an R35, i'm sure some of us owners in Asia will be happy to give you the benefit of our ownership experience. Its may also be interesting to see some of the mods that have been done on R35s here. For instance quite a few cars have already had custom paintjobs, carbon fibre bodywork, brake kits, aftermarket exhausts and of course engine tuning. Attached is a recent custom paintjob on an R35.

Because i have a R35 GTR not an R34 and the curves and overall shape are totally different.

Could one of you photoshop savvy guys post up a photoshop pix of the R35 GTR in Bayside Blue (and if possible a lighter shade of metallic blue, somewhat like a skyblue). Am thinking of doing a custom paintjob on my car and would like to have an idea of how it would look. Much appreciated.

Does the sales contract have an "out" clause if the eventual price turns out to be significantly higher than what Nissan initially indicated? I'm thinking it must have. For those who watch forex closely (i trade it actively), the A$ outlook is very bearish for the forseeable future. On Friday 24th Oct, the A$ collapsed almost 9pct against the USD to just below 0.62 cents. Against the Yen its now like 58 Yen. Its dropped 30pct since the start of October. Every technical indicator and currency analyst is betting that it will go below 60cents to the US Dollar and in fact 0.50 is now considered an achievable target (which brings us back to what it was 8 years ago). Thats potentially another 20pct downside to go. If the Yen moves in tandem which it should then it will be something like A$1=48 Yen, a whopping 43pct drop in value from the time Nissan announced the GTR pricing in early Oct. I wonder how many of those who booked the GTR will be willing to take delivery if it eventually costs A$240,000.

This is definitely not the time to purchase an expensive sportscar new. Buy something 2nd hand that is already heavily depreciated. In today's financial climate (and things are going to get alot worse before they get better) there are definitely bargains to be had. I'd rather take a used Ferrari 360. They must soon be going below $200,000, especially if new 430's are taking a one-third haircut when virtually new (see attached article that appeared today, 13 Oct 2008). Ferrari_firesale_in_Oz156.pdf

Has anyone actually signed on the dotted line for a new GTR, put down a deposit and have the RRP GUARANTEED? I think its highly unlikely, no, more like impossible, that the GTR will be sold at the RRP recently announced by Nissan Australia. The reason is simply the plunging A$. In Sep A$1=between JPY88-90 , on the 1st Oct (just a few days ago) A$1=JPY 82. For those who dont monitor forex rates, today (8th Oct 2008) the A$ went into a free fall vs every currency in the world. Just today it dropped 6 pct vs the JPY and is now A$1=JPY 68. Simply put, in the last one week (yes..one week) the A$ has depreciated by almost 17 pct vs the JPY. Its simply NOT possible to expect to pay an RRP of around A$152,000 for a GTR. And its not simply multiplying it by 1.17 either as there is a multiplier effect so for every A$1 increase in the fob price, there is the additional increases in taxes, gst and Luxury car taxes etc. You might be looking at a driveaway price closer to A$200,000 but then every imported car (for that matter, anything that is imported) is going to be significantly more expensive with the drop in value of the A$. Best put your deposit down and get in WRITING a price GUARANTEE, if that is at all possible.

Good to see that Nissan Australia is finally going to make the R35 GTR avail in Aus from Apr 09. A$173,000 for the Premium Ed isnt really so bad. I have had a JDM spec R35 for the past 6 months (yes road registered but not in Australia as I currently live in Asia). When i eventually return to Aus in 2-3 years time, will I be able to import my GTR into the country as a personal import? Does anyone know what i will have to pay in taxes? On the warranty by Nissan Australia, I wouldnt really be that concerned. The typical GTR owner (at least in Asia) doesnt leave his car stock for long at all. Most people slap on an aftermarket exhaust system before too long and of course an aftermarket ECU tweak which deactivates the 180kph speed limiter. As much as Nissan wants people to believe that the car is "special" and that only GTR trained techs can service them, I can tell you that there are literally hundreds of GTRs in HK, Malaysia, Thailand & Singapore and they are ALL serviced/maintained by independent workshops (as the GTR is not officially sold in Asia yet so they are all privately imported or through Parallel Importers).