Wacky Dee

Hiya Sydneykid I have decided to instead get new shocks (as per your advice) instead, since the car is 10 years old after all. I do have a few (understatement?) questions though and I'd appreciate your input .. no rush, whenever you've got some time to answer them. 1) to change all the shocks for the bilsteins on my car would cost 2 x $560 correct ? 2) you recommended I simply use my stock springs and lower them 20mm using the circlip grooves ... how much 'better' would new whiteline springs be in terms of ride quality etc 3) with the new shocks and lowered 20mm - will the ride quality suffer a lot ie. will I feel every little bump and pothole ?? My main goal is to lower the car a bit (for looks) and to have a good ride quality. 4) do you have a link that explains all the other parts that are being sold in the group buy ie. stabilizer bars, caster, camber, toe, subframe alignment dust cover and bump stops - I'd like to know what each does and whether I'd need to upgrade these too 5) if I were to order the bilstein shocks (complete set for my car) how long will I wait ..? is there a long wait on the shocks or any of the other parts are are they all in stock right now?? I'm in Sydney by the way 6) can you give me an approx. estimate as to how much installation of the new shocks might cost 7) As mentioned before, ride quality and looks (lowered car) are my primary concerns .. I'm not too fussed about handling aka 'cornering ability' as I don't drive at 60kph into corners. I've seen mentioned in a few posts that people who got these bilstein shocks complained about VERY harsh ride quality (compared to stock car) and being able to feel bumps and stuff. this confuses me a bit as I thought new shocks were meant to IMPROVE exactly that ..ie. ride quality so that bumps and potholes are felt less as the new shiny shocks absorb their impacts. What am I missing here? Ok I think that's it .. I'm sure I've missed something but oh well. Thanks in advance mate.

I was at a shop today that had fibreglass kits laying around ...my first encounter with these things. And the quality appears horrible. They felt VERY thin and flimsy .. eg. if you dropped it from a height of 1m I had a feeling they'd crack in 5 different places ... I don't understand why aftermarket kits aren't made from plastic ... is plastic really that expensive ??? I would have thought plastic to be a really cheap material.

replacing the stock rims with a set of 18x8.5's What's the recommended size of tyre for this size/width of wheels? I'll do the research on the tyre brands myself as there'a a LOT of discussion in that big sticky thread above .. I just need to know the right size. Cheers Also if someone could just quickly explain the tyre size lingo and what it means that'd be cool ie. 235/40/R17 (or some such)

How much did Nissan quote you on the oem nismo rear and sides?? And is that in any colour or unpainted ? Cheers

I believe Leon charges $450 for the premium autowatch system for an R34 .. not sure about other cars. I got some extra stuff (gsm pager) so I paid a bit more than that ..

I wasn't having a go at anyone and I apologize if I came accross that way. I just wanted to be clear that we're talking about one and the same thing ie. performance in the lower rpms, not accross the board. Either way, case closed. Thanks boys.

Just drove it back after having it all installed and it's great. No loss of power as claimed by SOME PEOPLE (not me ffs). Either way, you were right, those OTHER PEOPLE were wrong or just full of it (or had some unrelated issue). What the f**k is with these personal attacks? Grow the f**k up.

Once again ...read what I said. We're talking about traffic light to traffic light driving under 3k rpm. I'm sure you're making more power than your buddy but I'm sure that the dyno run you did wasn't up to 3000rpm only. Either way I'm getting the full turbo back system installed .. front/dump pipe, xforce 3" cat and hks silent catback so nyer.

That's not what I read ..and in at least a couple of places. Maybe I'm just confuzored I just wish people will take into account my circumstances (ie. living in the city, no long stretches of road, LOTS of <3000rpm driving) before giving advice, although any advice is appreciated. What you're saying makes sense, but I've read the opposite more than once here on SAU ie. 'smoother delivery up to 4000rpm, but less oomph at 3000rpm' for example So how do you like the HKS Silent? Is it drony at all? I'd love a deep rumbly sound like a WRX but I don't think that's gonna happen on an R34 hey? Edit: here's an example thread .. http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/R3...back+turbo+back notice how the OP keeps on insisting he feels less power on the lower end, presumably under 3000rpm

Yeah I know turbo-back with a nice dump/front pipe and high flow cat will give you extra power and a smoother delivery all up but I've also read in numerous places that a full turbo-back would deliver less oomph/power below 3000RPM I live near the city so a lot of my driving is between traffic lights and I'd hate to lose power ("oomph") below 3000rpm as I VERY rarely even go above 3000 RPM I don't do any highway driving whatsoever and don't go to race tracks. So would you recommend a cat-back system rather than full turbo-back in my case? I just want a nicer sound note from my exhaust (getting the HKS Silent system) Advice needed quickly please !! I'd like to get one installed tommorow (got a booking)

Attached are some pics of the Nismo factory bodykit fitted to 2 different R34 GT-T's ... rear bar, sides and front bar. IMO it's the best looking bodykit for the R34 there is. Speaking of which, if anyone has one for sale or know where to get one (in black) please PM me.

another vote for Leon from security in motion .. did a top job on my R34. He comes to you and uses the best alarm on the market (autowatch)

which one is the xenon .. the one on the outer side? my rhs headlight the (round) bulb on the right (outter side) is dead.. grr.

yeah I've found a pioneer one at the local strathfield (I think it was strathfield) car and audio store .. approx. $300 with installation .. has the ipod plug at the front too (not aux in) I'm sure I could find something slightly cheaper but it's not worth the hassle cheers

filled 'er up with bp ultimate. My first tank .. cross my fingers my fuel economy isn't as bad as some of the horror stories I've heard around SAU (250km to a tank etc)

cheers mate will do

hey guys just got my r34 gtt but the 'aftermarket' manual mentions only unleaded fule - it doesn't specfy if it needs to be premium 95/98RON or if the standard 91RON is fine what's generally recommended for the r34 gtt (manual) with stock everything? Cheers

Sorry forgot one thing .. the new unit should also have an ipod connection at the front so that I can plug my ipod straight in without any messy adapters etc Can anyone atleast recommend a headunit like that?

Gday just got a stock r34 gtt from japan and would like to replace the dodgy cassette player with an mp3 cd player (nothing special, as long as it plays mp3 cds and FM radio it's fine) Don't feel confident taking the headunit apart myself nor do I know which replacement unit to get so I'd like a quote from an experienced skyline audio installer to supply a decent replacement mp3 cd player (with fm radio) and the installation I'm in the inner west (camperdown) of sydney

think I've finally managed to wrap my head around the whole concept of a "changing wheel track", in relation to wheel offsets. If your new wheels are WIDER (or narrower for that matter) than your stock wheels, but the OFFSET is the same - the wheel track does NOT change (it's just that the wheel sticks out further inwards and outwards as it's wider) - the centre of the wheel is still the same distance from the wheel mounting point (which does not change its location obviously) If the OFFSET changes, then so does the wheel track ... ie. if offset is say 10mm more your wheel track becomes 20mm narrower (2x10mm for both wheel on each side). If your offest is 10 LESS, then your wheel track becomes 20mm wider. So basically when they talk about 'wheel track must not be wider than 25mm' what they mean is your new wheels must not have an offset smaller than 12mm from the original eg. if the original offset is 40mm, any new wheel should not have an offset of less than +28mm otherwise the 'wheel track' will increase by more than 25mm Now at the same time, you need to keep in mind that a wider wheel will provide less clearance for the strut housing. In short, I don't think there's a friggin chance in hell that 9.5" rears could fit without some extra work or risk of being defected. Woohoo, I finally figured something out!! Yay for me. (I realize most of peeps here already knew all this, but it's very confusing for us newbs so maybe this helps someone like me) Now as to the max legal WIDTH of a new non-stock wheel - it's simply, no more than 1" wider than the largest factory option (anything above that and you need an engi cert). So anyone know where to find out what Nissan's widest optional wheel was for the R34 GTT ? I'm guessing it couldn't have been more than 8.5" if the stock wheel is only 7.5" wide.

Edit: I believe that's completely wrong .. see explanation below.

Doesn't say anything other than tyre sizes ... there's an additional 'T135' and 'D70' or something along those lines...

Just found this rather informative document on RTA's web site (NSW roads & traffic authority): http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/dow.../vsi09_rev4.pdf Basically what that document states is that wheels up to 26mm (1") wider than the widest optional wheel recommended by manufacturer are OK...... BUUUUUUT, there is another catch. "An important requirement for all replacement wheels is that the wheel track must not be increased by more than 25mm beyond maximum specified by vehicle manufacturer". From what I understand, "wheel track" refers to the distance from the center of the one wheel to the center of the wheel on the other side of the car. And from what I could google, the standard wheel track for the R34 GT-T is 1480mm at the front and 1470 and the back. So um, anyone know what the 'widest optional wheel' (factory) is/was for the R34 GT-T when it was sold? Stock is 17x7.5 What about 'maximum wheel track' as specified by Nissan (or is that simply the 'factory' wheel track ie. the standard is the maximum) And also, anyone know a wheel offset calculator that also gives you the change in wheel track at the same time??

Yeah I know .. it's just that these look really great on a black gtt (as seen in DOSKI's gallery) and the price cannot be beat I fink (<$900 for a set!!) ah well ..gotta keep on fishing ..err looking

According to the wheel offset calculator the 18x9.5 +35 would add another 30mm to the outside wall .. and I've just done some rough measurements on my car and that seems to be sticking out about 15mm from under the guards The 18x8.5 (+35) would add only 20mm which means they'd stick out only 5mm or so, so shouldn't be an automatic defect unless you run into a really nasty copper. I guess I better stick to 18x8.5 on both fronts and rears since the offset is +35 in both widths. Grr! Wish i could get em today, alas no such luck.