JimX

I like the sperm guard on the seat

Ah fair enough. I'm lucky that my bov doesn't go off at low boost, so whenever I see a cop I just drive sedately and he hears nothing You'd also have to do an indepth search to find it, so if I did get pulled over I don't think I'd get done (touch wood).

Isn't the defect for the bov just for the fact that it's installed, not for whether or not it's doing anything? Either way I'm sure the cop would just assume it was there and working, if they saw it, even if you tried to prove that it was off.

I've had a lot of fuel of all types spill out the side, no stains/marks as yet. All that happens is it strips the wax and sticks to the paint, I just clean it as normal and re-wax the affected section.

Yes, sometimes BP is cheaper, and I tend to grab it if it is Like I said, I can't really tell the difference, but I do know that I get considerably worse mileage out of 8000 on the 'line. My worst was 19L/100km on 8000 recently, nfi what happened there! This is why I avoid it for the car. I only "prefer" Optimax really because there are so many more Shells in my area. Plus only half the BP's around me have Ultimate, whereas every Shell has Optimax. So it's mostly a convenience thing. But the bike loves 8000! I get an extra 10-20km per tank easy over BP/Shell. I don't do it to save money (because 8000 is usually more cpl above ULP than Shell/BP) but to save the hassle of having to fill up as often.

All the 98 RON fuels use aromatics to boost it up to 98. All I can say is that anyone that says "fuel X is the best" is talking out of their arse. They are all different and run differently in different vehicles. Optimax may be the "dirtiest" by having the most sulfur and aromatics, but that doesn't necessarily make it the worst. I get the best economy out of Optimax on my Skyline. However my motorcycle doesn't like it as much, and it gets the best economy on Mobil 8000. So I use Optimax in the car and 8000 on the bike. So the correct answer as to which is the best is "it depends". The only way to tell is to try them all yourself and make your own decision. BP Ultimate gives me virtually the same economy as Optimax for me (car), and I'll use it when I can't get Optimax in the car. But Optimax is usually cheaper and easier to find so I tend to buy that more often.

Holy shit, you put oil in your fuel tank?!

Intensevil, I realise it's an NA motor. My point wasn't really to compare power output but economy. I think 170kw from a 1.3L engine is pretty farkin' good. That's the equivalent of a regular NA 2.6L engine, so the power on tap isn't an issue. I'm sure it's an absolute ball tearer with a turbo bolted on or even with the tweaking mods that you mentioned. It's just that they have to go through a lot of juice to make that power because of the way it works similar to a 2 stroke.

For the extra $100, I'd rather get a brand new cooler. A GTR cooler might be up to 10 years old and have pinhole leaks, or headed towards getting some. Although if you could get a good deal on a near-new '97 GTR cooler, maybe that'd be ok.

I don't mind banners in sigs, but the really wide ones annoy the crap out of me. It means that the text in my window rolls off the right edge whenever there is a wide banner on that page and I have to scroll around like an idiot. Would it be possible to either limit the width of banners to something smaller, or just make it so only the banner itself rolls off the edge, and the text frame stays as it was before?

Ryan D, what rotors did they buy? Were they bridgeported? And how old? It could just be that performance car from the 80's = flogged to shithouse. I know a couple of people with 80's and 90's RX7's that are still running on the original engine and well over 100k km. But they probably drive more sensibly than I do

DJ984, I'm not sure how that works. Just because you still have negative plenum pressure doesn't mean the turbo isn't doing anything. And on top of everything else the exhaust still has to push past the turbine which reduces the engine's efficiency slightly.

Tony, the reason why the statistics show that people who have done advanced driver training are more likely to have accidents is simply because it's not compulsory. ie, The people doing the training voluntarily are the ones who generally speaking want to push the envelope. As you've already said, motorcycle rider training has reduced motorcycle accidents because it's compulsory. If driver training were also compulsory then there is absolutely no doubt that the accident rate would drop. There is the problem of getting the much larger amount of car drivers into advanced learning courses, but it's working in places like Germany so why not here? It's gotta start somewhere.

I followed (and loved) the GTR when it was racing at Bathurst in the early 90's. Then I found out how much they cost, and I just decided they were a mythical exotic that I'd never be able to afford and just forgot about them (the same way I don't pay any attention to Porsches, Ferraris, etc). Got back into V8's when they took over the racing at Bathurst, bought myself a VS Commodore V8, knowing it was slower than a WRX, but for the cost I figured was still worth it. A couple of years later a friend and I were talking about cars, and he mentioned Skylines that were faster than a WRX when stock. At first I thought he was talking of those old 80's box shaped things and I said no way, and then he said no, the ones built in the 90's that weren't released here. I then became educated in grey imports. Talked a bit more, found out that he was referring to GTR's, but that the GTS-t's were almost as fast. Wtf is a GTS-t?! Did more research, found out its specs and features, and decided I really wanted one because I could afford it. It took me over a year after that to get my act together and sell the Commodore though. One and a half years after my upgrade to the R33, I don't regret the upgrade one iota. It is the only car I've owned that I've truly fallen in love with. The Skyline is 2 years older than the Commodore but a quantum leap over it in almost every department. There are a couple of "smart" things about the Commodore that aren't in the Skyline though. eg, deadlocking driver's door, no passenger lock, factory immobiliser, ski-hole in rear seat, telescopic steering wheel adjustment, passenger air bag, ABS (option mine doesn't have), gas struts on bonnet, and a few others. But those aside, the Skyline is still a much better car and so far ahead in almost every other department. Even though it's only a "lowly" GTS-t and not a GTR, I still hail it. The only car I will ever upgrade it to is a GTR, or *possibly* an R34 GTT (doubtful). If I start a family in the next couple of years there's no way I'm trading it in for a family sedan. I will just pull an extra car out of my arse if needed!

No it won't. The rotary works similar to a 2 stroke, so it has twice the inlet cycles of a 4 stroke. Similar to how a turbo car will always drink a little bit more fuel than its NA equivalent on the highway, because at highway speeds you're on a bit of boost and this will always necessitate a bit more fuel no matter how well you tune it. Also don't forget that rotaries need to rev pretty high to make power, which means more fuel is required. Even the current generation RX8 which is meant to be the bees knees of rotary economy only gets 12.6L/100km in a "combined" economy run, for only 170kw of power at the flywheel. My R33 gets over 220kw at the wheels (so what, 300 at the fly?) and I get 10.5L/100km on the freeway and 13.5-14L/100km around town so I imagine around the same for "combined". And this is just the base map of a PowerFC, I expect it to improve after tuning (especially the highway economy). The R33 is heavier, too. I agree with the rest of your post though. Rotary engine reliability issues are a myth. I think it comes from the old days where people would do a massive bridgeport to boost the power up, and this could interfere with reliability. But these days you just whack a bigass turbo on and there aren't any issues really. They probably take turbos better than any other type of engine.

I'm just wondering - if the rear strut bar is so useless then why do the series 2 R33's come with them?

HKS can do anything they like with their unlimited budget though. I'm talking about cheap factory turbo options. I presume if a factory turbo option is made they will make a new front bar to accommodate a fmic. Looking at the V35 and 350Z side by side the Skyline looks even uglier

The reason why cars are quicker around the track is because they corner better. If bikes weren't so quick to blast out of corners into the straights then the cars would be faster still. A bike will also get you to your destination quicker, without having to break the speed limit. There's nothing quite like effortlessly dodging traffic on a bike. And you also get to legally use the transit lane In my opinion, own one of each!

Assuming you *can* turbo the V35, where is the breathing space for the fmic?

Yes certainly, the $1.6million Bugatti will clock the $18k bike quite nicely.

I have no doubt that the car itself is a very nice and powerful ride and I'm sure it appeals to a wide audience. It's just the styling and the V engine really that I don't like about it for the reasons mentioned. The main reason I chose the Skyline over the Silvia was the styling. Although it was close. If the Silvia had an RB engine it would be even closer I think velour and round tail lights would have still won though. On the plus side, the GTR version (if it really is the same as the photos I've seen in the past) looks to be a lot nicer. Proper tail lights and a body kit and front and rear bars which give it a much more distinguished look to the 350Z. But... there's still that V engine. *sigh*

When I first saw them I thought "meh", then it started to grow on me, but it's now regressed back into utter disgust. Here are my reasons. 1. First and foremost, it looks like an uglified 350Z. So it's like a copy of something else AND beaten with the ugly stick. Double whammy in my opinion. I don't know which came first, the 350Z or the V35, but either way Nissan should have changed one or the other (preferably the Skyline of course). Tail lights and headlights are especially terrible. The "round" tail lights look like an animated LED Christmas card. 2. Build quality has NOTHING to do with style. They could have made it look as pretty or ugly as they liked, but it would still have the same build quality. It was not pressed into this shape for reliability. So it gets no points for being a "better" car than any preceding Skylines. It would have been better regardless of its shape. 3. Same goes for power and driveablity, handling, etc. Basically it can be as good as it can get, but if it's ugly, forget it. The R32, R33, R34, all grabbed me as sexy beasts the first time I saw them and my opinions of them only went up from there. A car shouldn't have to "grow" on you. 4. The V engine just kills me. Look at the redline, it's 6500rpm. Sure it's got more power than the inline 6's it replaces, but revs are where you get power. Increase the capacity but lower the redline and you have less potential for mods. **This doesn't mean that I think the RB engines are necessarily superior!** All I'm saying is that if they had stuck with the inline formula it would have been a better engine. It definitely would have been easier and cheaper to work on and modify, and that's one primary concern of most Skyline enthusiasts.

Could be an exhaust leak. You haven't said exactly what it sounds like. Even though exhaust "ticking" noise sounds nothing like tappets or injectors, it's still a ticking type noise.

I would change the same thing you changed up front - ie the strut bar. If the rear feels like it's lifting off then it will only get worse if you put a stiffer sway bar on the rear. Once you upgrade the front swaybar though you should be able to more easily upgrade the rear.

What the... $150 for 20 minutes work? I hope that was including the price of the coils! Although I don't think there was anything wrong with them, it's common for the stock ECU to over fuel in upper rev ranges and cause a lot of smoke to be let out. If it happens again and resetting the ECU doesn't help, don't change the coils. Get something to tune the ECU with instead.