Revhead

Me if I get time, but spectating only. Too poor to race.

The only time I've been truly hassled by the cops was when there was another R33 that looked nearly identical to mine, but the guy drove like a friggen maniac. I'd be driving along minding my own business, a cop would pull me over, walk over to my window (with that 'you're screwed' swagger), but as soon as he saw that I wasn't the other guy, he'd apologise and let me go. The other bloke must have moved or been locked up or something after a couple of months, and I haven't seen it around since (yay!)! Funny thing is that I have virtually no trouble now that my car looks less stock, with the exception of one time that I really deserved it, because they don't get me confused with the psychotically-driven stockers any more. Moral of the story: yes you will get attention, but how bad that attention is all depends on you.

GTR parts are readily available - things like timing belt, water pump, idler/tensioner bearings etc would be identical to R32 GTR parts, which were sold here (albeit in limited numbers originally). My 100,000km service (R33 GTS25t) cost around $450 two years ago, parts are much cheaper now. I doubt whether the low price would be purely because it's close to 98,000km. I'd be asking to see the auction sheet with the grade on it, and get someone you trust to translate it and try to give you some idea of any potential problems. The auction gradings are very strict, they'll pick on the tiniest thing, so if there's something wrong, there's a pretty good chance it'll be on the sheet.

When your budget allows for it basically. The factory maps can nearly always be improved upon by an experienced tuner - every car of the same type leaves the factory with identical ECU maps, but each will have slightly different engine characteristics. This'll be exaggerated even more when you start doing exhausts/pods/boost or more, which takes the engine further and further from what the ECU was originally programmed for.In a nutshell: You will more than likely gain power from a programmable ECU even in a stock car, particularly earlier models, but they really come into their own once you've started modifying.

PowerFC is a plug-in replacement ECU. Unplug the stocker, plug in the PFC, start the car, and start tuning. I got mine (with hand controller) for $1200 from a member on these forums, you'll find a few being sold around that money. Note that they are model specific, eg R33 GTS25t wouldn't work in an R32 GTS-t, and I believe they're also specific auto/manual too. Look up a thread on 'tuning a PFC' or something similar to that, there are some good guidelines in there. I'll probably be giving it a bit of a go myself, to reduce the amount of fuel it burns before I put it in professional hands. The base map on the PFC runs very conservative. The general consensus on these forums is that Gavin Wood is the best bloke to go to for ECU tuning in SE Qld, I have no idea what he'd charge for a tune but I'd be guessing somewhere between $500-$1000 for a full road tune (part throttle, light load, idle etc).

I know with the R33's, once you start upping the boost the ECU runs things very rich, kind of a fail-safe thing for what it sees as a fault condition. What can you do if this is the case with R32's? You can reprogram the R32 ECU, get a PowerFC or similar, or get something like an SAFC, which you can adjust mixtures with (but not spark). I personally would probably go for the ECU retune.

Can you use the O2 sensor (or some other method) to read AFR's? If so, what voltage = what AFR? I wouldn't mind doing some road tuning, but have no idea what my AFR's are (guessing

get onto any P2P file sharing program (Kazaa Lite, eMule, whatever) and look up Skylines. I don't have many other normal web links on hand, but there are plenty out there! Here're the only ones that I have: http://www.tremek.com http://www.exvitermini.com As I said there are plenty more, no doubt someone will fill you in

Apart from being able to efficiently support more hp, my other biggest reason for putting a front-facing plenum on is so that I can get at the spark plugs without removing any pipework. And it looks cool

DAMN!!!! Why do these farkin things always come up when I have no money??!?!

No I don't, but I originally read your post 'If i never speed or do anything overly stupid in my car, what are my chances of crashing?' as meaning '...what are my chances of being involved in a crash?'. I thought you were taking the commonly-held belief that if you drive slowly you'll never crash. Thankfully it would seem I was wrong

I re-read my post and I might have come across a bit harsh - for that I apologise (damn lack of sleep), but I stand by everything I've said. I was not accusing you personally of being a bad driver - far from it, as Autech says you seem to have your head screwed on alright. I was mainly trying to point out that experience in one car does not necessarily give you relevant experience in another. My granddad used to drive around all the time, but he couldn't see a thing - he had to have my grandma in the passenger seat telling him what colour the traffic lights were... and grandma used to comment about how 'so many people must know us, everyone seems to beep and wave'. Right... Autech, being cautious definitely doesn't make you a bad driver, quite the opposite I believe. The fact that you're aware of your own limitations is one massive step toward not being the cause of a crash. Have you thought about attending skidpan days or other driver training to address your anxiety behind the wheel? I know for me, when I first started driving, much of my fear came from not knowing whether I would be able to handle the car if it did something unexpected, training days helped alot in that respect. They also tend to show the guys that think they're Colin McRae that they are mortal, just like everyone else... Lol I remember reversing my dad's brand new patrol into a tree when I was learning, because it was the first time I'd taken my foot off the clutch fully, and I was thinking "hey cool, I don't need my foot on that one anymo.... BANG!" The spare tyre absorbed much of the impact, but I still dinted the steps on the back and crushed the mailbox . I copped a hiding for that one! I also nearly ran into the back of a stopped car on the way home from school, because I was too busy showing off to all the guys who were walking home that I was DRIVING, so nyer. Missed it by like an inch. Felt like an absolute tool, but I learned a valuable lesson

It would have no doubt been brought about by someone suing the maker of their remote start system for damage to their car. Yet another case of idiots + lawyers = pain in the arse for the rest of us.

It's not a sensor, it's just a switch. You'll see it (unless it's fallen off ) when you pull the console off. There's not much there, it'll be the only thing with a wire going to it, except for the really thick wire that works the hand brake itself. If it's not there, feel around under the carpet between the trans tunnel and the seats, that's where it usually ends up. If it IS there, adjust it until it only lights up after the first click. If you're REALLY keen I can wander downstairs, pull my console out and take a photo...?

I would be going after the 4wd driver for damages, not the dealer who sold the car. He may well be dodgy, but a) from the sounds of it, you'd be hard pressed to prove it, and B) from what you've written, your mate knew it was questionable before he handed over the cash.

Yep quite possible it's just fallen off and it shorting on the metal around the trans tunnel, which would make it always 'on' iirc.

Things like driver training and experience in a vehicle of similar performance WILL give you better car control. You cannot expect someone to be able to start from practically nothing, or from a stock 50hp Gemini or something, and jump in a 250hp+ car and be able to safely drive at its limit. It's all well and good to say "I'll be good", but what happens if you need to push the envelope one day? It will happen. As I've said before, I've had to do it at least once (it was to avoid being involved in a very serious incident that happened right in front of me on a wet 100km/h road), and it not only saved my car, it could very well have saved my life. I'm not saying that all young people are bad drivers, that young people cannot control a car with power, or whatever. That said, you can't possibly try to tell me that you'd be no safer on the road after a couple of advanced driver training sessions. Also, the quote you used is in no way invalidated by anything else said here. A 200rwkw car will be a weapon in the hands of an inexperienced driver. Using the basic rule of thumb conversions, 200rwkW car is putting out ~266kW at the engine, or around 355hp in the old money. A Skyline that makes that kind of power produces it in a way that means that the driver must know exactly what they are doing - there is a huge amount of midrange torque, and it comes in hard, and forget about full throttle mid-corner. How would an inexperienced driver handle the powerslide that would result from the sudden midrange push of such an engine? They'd back right off, and possibly hit the brakes - which would put them into the scenery. What about if it causes understeer? Probably wind on more lock and back off. Bang, into the scenery again. Erm, I don't think anyone is saying that at all. Most of us in here are still young ourselves. Anyway, you don't have to be an idiot to crash a car. There are plenty of other idiots out there willing to do the damage for you. It's comments like that that show just how inexperienced you are. What happens if someone pulls out in front of you? What if there's a crash in front of you? What if the only way to avoid smashing into another car (or a pedestrian, or another obstacle) is to deliberately throw the car sideways? Staying below the speed limit and being sensible (these are two SEPARATE things, by the way) wouldn't save you then.Thinking that you're the world's best driver with very little real-world experience is stupid. Thinking that you'll be safe for the entire 50 or 60 years you're on the road if you simpy don't exceed the speed limit is stupid. (Note: these aren't aimed at anyone in particular.) I don't see how you can put things like speeding and street racing under the same heading. Just about everyone here would have exceeded the speed limit. Anyone who has at least one functioning brain cell and who has spent time on the road would know that it's nowhere near as dangerous as the govt campaigns make out. Don't forget that there's a difference between 140 in the middle of nowhere, and 80 in a school zone. Look at any of the main highways between the capital cities - you cannot tell me that 10km/h is going to get you killed.Knowing when and where is appropriate (and being able to control yourself) is something you gain with maturity. FWIW I've never lost a point. Nothing. I don't assume anything. That said, I've been on the road for a bit over 7 years, 4 of which have been in the 33. If I'm lined up beside a 17 year old kid in a sports car, I would be fairly confident that I have a much better idea of what I'm doing than he does. I've been driving a car of 'similar performance' for much longer than they have. Perhaps not, but it usually brings maturity.That said (and just so you don't think I'm saying how long you've held a license for is the be-all and end-all of driving safety), IMHO some of the most dangerous people on the road are the elderly. Some are just physically unable to drive properly, whether it be due to sight or hearing problems, or inability to properly move a limb, but some are just very bad drivers. They're oblivious to the fact that they're doing anything wrong, and if they even notice that you're there, will often retort with "I've been driving for 50 years sonny, I think I have a better idea than you!" Well you might have the years on me, but when was the last time you practiced car control, had to do a driving test, or even read up on the numerous changes in traffic law over the past 50 years? Don't remember? Didn't think so. Experience is only valuable for as long as it is put to use, and applied in the current context.

Maybe so, but they might have trouble explaining away the fact that the car was four and a half thousand km away at the time I don't think Ken has too much to worry about. Except for the security tapes at the bank(s).

Yes. I robbed a few banks afterwards. Ken, expect a couple more visits

Cheapest way I can think of is one of the $99 TV tuner cards. Most (if not all) have hardware video capture built in. I'm not sure what sort of quality it is, but it'd easily be better than VHS..

roflmao I love that monster exhaust :bahaha: IMHO I would've painted the ash tray to match too, looks a bit funny as it is.

Sounds like a water/coolant leak. If you don't already know what it smells like, i can be very hard to pick. Is there any smoke if you lift the bonnet?

Heh, Morooka eh? That's like 20 min from my place Actually, truth be told.. it was me... I gave my car a quick respray in white, changed the bodykit, printed up some fake plates, put on a Ken mask and went for a strap. Shortly after, I went home, resprayed my car back to wine red (complete with the same blemishes I had before), refitted my body kit and removed the fake plates. Seriously though, that is pretty funny. Tape the phone call

I can't believe the farkwits in the Daewoo didn't at least check that he was OK... I hope the pricks get caught. I hate it when someone in a nice car is automatically blamed (he will be) for an accident caused by an idiot like this. Sort of makes you wish that he'd run up the arse of the Daewoo - the friggen retard in the buzzbox would get their just desserts, and Ben might have actually gotten some form of compensation...

T3/4, FMIC, PowerFC, cams if you're keen.