t01-100

canards used to be fitted to v8 supercars in the early '90s... people might remember them on the seton and johnson falcons. the level of contact in that category might have seen them moved away from if the rules didn't. they can work if designed and set up to work, i doubt most fitted to road cars have any measurable effect... all most would be good for is extra drag.

Link International are the Australian dist for Nismo.

...and town stage kurb's too!

as my car was a pretty nice example and i decided to put a bolt in removable cage in it... we even reinstalled the whole interior without cutting trim. the guy that bought my old car who lives in melbourne has now pulled that cage out and is selling it (asking $1500 neg). it was one of the best bolt-ins i'd seen with welded diagonal and harness bar in centre hoop with solid side intrusion... might be something to consider... i think you would be frustrated driving a GTR in the tour.

...but its so much fun!

kuhmos only start coming on when they look stuffed! magic or rx7, m3, gtst. i've not driven on 03's yet, but 02's were a cut above at the time so stands to reason they would be better than current crop.

i'm working on this at the moment. solid interest in both 2 and 4wd camps from factory teams and some cars currently being build. expect details in the new year when drivers are confirmed.

hrd-hr30 - if there was tollerance to run more than four tyres at the event a set of deciated of roadies like potenza re001 for 'wets' would be an great idea for the stages you could forsee as wet. the super soft re55 i tried were the first sets of re55 bridgestone sold in australia when bridgestone motorsport cocked up the order in '03 - five cars (three gtr, one 200sxr and one gtst) all killed a set each at symmons plains in a morning at a state series round. don't remember much about them but bridgestone supplied a replacment set a few months later when the mediums arrived. marlin - the kuhmo's held up well on ayersies 33 in the dry with solid times (even when he only had 2WD), they will be perfect for the nice light 7 (if i ever get it back from yt!)

Being a Skyline owner that has hillclimbed (won the odd event), circuit raced (state series runner up) and tarmac rallied (decent pace), I disagree. Most R tyres provide much less grip than a good road tyre in the wet. R tyres provide little warning of apporaching their grip limit unless you have good experience using them. Most R tyres do require heat to get up to peak operating condition, even reasonable operating condition... that said I have tried the RE55 in the super soft/hillclimb compound and they are magic first up, but goes to mush within 3.5km at pace so usless in a rally. The RE55 is old tech now, the Dunlop DZ03 is full generation newer in dry and wet performance, but the Kuhmo V70A is considered to be one of the best performers on the market currently.

white looks cool, gunmetal is more stealthy though....

I ran an Xtreme XtraHD single plate in mine. A numberof other GTRs run them. Good for 80 or so 7000-8000 launches at about $900 I think they sell for.

email or call me if you need help, i'm the events technical manager and used to race one.

like you'd need a pink car to pull chicks stretch!

RS and C-Spec are eligible for 4WD Showroom... there are issues and opportunities either way with inclusion or exclusion. If I were driving I'd pick a 350Z for 2WD, but needs a top shelf driver to do well (not me!)... for a real result a Mazda3 MPS with rally pedigree driver would be v-hard to beat. 130i too heavy, 135i too pricey, Focus XR5T and RX8 too slow. I like the idea of DSG R32 Golf, but suspect a weight issue. Running an oiler would be an interesting option too... been driving a Mazda3 diesel and have they got torque or what!

RS and C-Spec are eligible for 4WD Showroom... there are issues and opportunities either way with inclusion or exclusion. If I were driving I'd pick a 350Z for 2WD, but needs a top shelf driver to do well (not me!)... for a real result a Mazda3 MPS with rally pedigree driver would be v-hard to beat. 130i too heavy, 135i too pricey, Focus XR5T and RX8 too slow. I like the idea of DSG R32 Golf, but suspect a weight issue. Running an oiler would be an interesting option too... been driving a Mazda3 diesel and have they got torque or what!

i got talked into the rx7... i had all the intent to screw together a nice and easy disposable gtst! its only early days on tyre talk, but something to consider and yes much like fuel, true parity of these consumables can only be delivered by limited and well managed supply. there are no right or wrong answers, but we need to develop the future of the sport and not just let it slip away. i've seen 98ron vs 102ron mean 40kws at the wheels on some cars, not to mention the extra $6k+ required in the budget to run it. interesting point re non-turbos, i think they are unfairly disadvantaged against turbos in anycase, a gtr is say 200kws at the wheels standard, with elf/sunoco and the right mods and tuning its 330... an bmw m3r is lucky to pull much over 200 with all the good gear! i actually looked at building an m3r instead of the rx7 sp, but pulled away as power was too limited. max length targa stages and the shortest possible touring is what we're aiming for. day four next year is gonna be huge... next years course is so good i think I need to slip in my resignation just to have a run! i was out and about today finalising pre-lim approvals for some new sections which all went well so we're releasing more detail shortly and recce notes will obviously be out for chrissy holidays.

sorry i haven't been on to reply... the joy of moving house! troy - i get what you mean re low volume cars. they do need careful consideration, but i think a space frame daytona will always be stronger and a safer place to be than a mass produced car with a bolt-in- system... even worst a mass produced open top with a bolt-in half cage. i saw the bullet at targa the other year, what a car... that driver certainly knew how to turn it up for the crowd... i doubt many people could harness that car, then again few people manage to harness classic v8s or even 911 gt3s! reports from fatalities have seen safety upgrades such as harnesses, rops, course design etc. many things targa tasmania had already made policies on. we're yet to do proper testing on premo road vs r tyre, but the results will be interesting... r tyres are really a thing of the last 10 years so is really just history repeating. I think events would be heaps more fun with road tyres (check out pre-1998 targa videos), plus the tyre gives warning before it lets go where as an r tyre finds it limit then flings you off the road before you even know it… a road tyre would be a far better option on wet stages and an r tyre thanks to better water dissipation too. targa tom - targa tasmania has no intension of following suit with the other tasmanian based tarmac events, that organiser has its approach and octagon has its. when are you going to get a real car again?

sounds familiar, i spun my gtr pushing too hard and tagged a bank... was having a great time before that and the following day when we fixed it!

duncan's approach is right on, these events can be dangerous, but manage your approach and they can be the best fun!

sorry, forgot to disagree with your statement about limited build cars roy! adr and crash testing has near no part in the safety of any tarmac rally car... in fact a tower to tower cage actually compromises the crumple zones a manufacturer builds into modern car design. although perhaps not evident on the surface, it must be recognised each serious incident involving a limited build car involves a significant factor other than how the car was built...

personally i speed limits are as out of touch as average speeds... stats show that cars crash on corners, not straights. crashes on corners are usually because of too higher entry speed, not by a hundred ks, but low speed (+10-20ks)... change the tyres and you reduce the corner speed, reduce the corner speed and you reduce the maximum speed of the corner, now add 10-20ks to that and you event up with cars going off (as they will) at say 80ks instead of 140s... although i hope not intended to by design, a 190k limit will ensure the near total domination of lancer evolution and wrx sti in an event... just got off the phone from a mate of mine who owns a gtr and only just found out about the 190 limit... his response was he will now withdraw from rally tas because the car he developed to have fun in will struggle to get out of third gear now! i cannot see the point of even bothering to buy all the stuff i need to make the rx7 comply with the tarmac rally rules as i'm too busy to play during targa, so not point doing over events. bring on track work. roy makes a good point about fatigue, stages following long transports maybe prone to crashes, but again based on the stats actual longer stages (+30km) do not see more crashes than those shorter (-10km). don't overlook the fact that people approach six day enduro events very differently to three day sprint events... i won't even start on my thoughts about the hillclimb sprints (running the same road for the same distance 12 times is hardly a tarmac rally). tarmac rallies are a very special part of motorsport, but as with anything special they should be considered precious and treated with respect

Donut King used to sponsor my R32 GTR and I was happy with pink on that!

my cams licence says motorsport is dangerous, always has and always will hans devices are good idea so is reducing the total speed of cars by running max 98RON fuel reducing corner speed is also another top idea so r tyres should be banned too...

we are currently talking to a number of other people interested in running one at Targa '08... they plan on running a more conservative colour

Steve Thatcher/Just Jap and looking after preparation. Based on limited exposure to the car and limited time for development I doubt much will be done to it... should be half a thing even standard though.