bambam1

Yea, after some further discussion and review I figured it was too expensive and to much of a hassle to try to have it shipped over. I will stick to walking for the moment and maybe just rent some nice cars when I want to get out of the city. I was at the Melbourne Auto show this weekend for a bit, saw the GT-R there and found it funny that is was taking a back seat to the new 370Z. they had that front and center, while pushing the GT-R to the back of their display. I guess they wanted to push the cars they expect to sell the most. I even spoke to one of the dealer reps there and he showed little interest in selling the car. But that could jsut be because he thought I was a gawker tourist. I did see a couple of nice cars, if I was going to stay for a while I might consider leasing, but only a couple of cars popped out at me (Lotus Europa, Lexus ISF, Audi RS6 and the new BMW M3 is not too bad).

I got my R35 back in July and had a great time driving it in the AKA Rally from NYC - Salt Lake City. Put the Cobb AP on about 1/2 way through the rally to see what the difference is, and trust me I think it is a great buy. I have been working here in Melbourne for a bit and looks like i will be coming back for another year, so now the tough call; do I try to import mine from the US, or let it stay there while I am here for a year or more.. tough call.

Thanks for the note. I know the newbie threads tend to be ignored, so no problems there. Australia appears to be a pretty cool place, but I have to say this weather in Melbourne is just plain strange. The temp differences take some getting used to. Hopefully I will get a hire car and do some sightseeing around the Melbourne beaches and coastline one of these weekends. Won't be my GT-R, but will make the best of whatever car I can get ;-)

Snowman is correct. The GT-R that is sold in the US comes with the same warning message as indicated in the above letter. You actually have to sit down with the General Manager and sign a series of documents stating you understand the tranny and other mechanical devices in the car make noise and not to be worry about it (i.e.: don't be bringing the car back in for servicing for every noise you hear). You have to go through a full checklist of things with the dealer as he explains everything about the car to you. They have to tell you there is no launch control, but in fact they give you a little 'wink and nod'. When it comes to the warranty, the way it is understood (and explained to me by my mechanic) is that if you turn the VDC off, AND break some aspect of the driveline, they will argue you are abusing it. IF you turn the VDC off, beat on the car, turn it back on and shortly afterwards something happens to the driveline; they will check the black boxes and if they see the VDC was turned off for any period of time, they will consider voiding the driveline warranty. In a letter to all dealers in the US, Nissan North America issued a statement saying basically they would only void a warranty if they saw clear abuse of the car (i.e. doing something explicitly against what is in the manual). So the key is black boxes and how long they record the activities on the car and if you are engaging in an activity that is expressly prohibited in the manual. Nowhere in the manual does it say you CAN'T use launch control, because it is not a feature they document. BUT it clearly states that turning VDC off for anything more then getting out of snow/mud will void your driveline warranty if something breaks BECAUSE OF THAT SPECIFIC ACTION. For you everyday driver these conditions should be fine unless you are beating the crap out of the car on the street. (I don't see people setting up the car for a LC at every stoplight, just not practical) For guys who are tracking and want to remove as many electronic nannies as possible, this poses a problem and needs to be thought out before you go turning off the VDC for the track. Again, this is a perspective from a US owner. I can't for sure say these rules will apply to Australia, but I would assume it would be very similar.

I agree, the LC is pretty cool, and I have done it a few times with my friends just to see what it was like. It definitely makes you realize how fast the car is if you don't leave sufficient room down the road. It was fun, but in my opinion, not really crazy like my Z. Now that will slam you back in your seat (not to mention swing sideways if ur not careful) and scare the living piss out of you... But I spent a lot of money building that thing up and honestly if I beat on that too often I am sure it will break at some point like every mechanical thing does when abused. I like to play just like everyone else, and that's why I got the Cobb tuning AP for a little bit of a bump in the low/mid range. But the LC is not as important to me as the handling and that is really what this car is all about. Just my $0.02 of course ;-)

Honestly , I do not think most people who want to buy this car based on it's track killing performance are heavily concerned with the LC. If I wanted a car that can do a standing start in some blinding fashion, I would be looking for a car with more of a solid transaxle so as not to worry about a LSD or breaking my axles. (I learned this the hard way with my 350z). This car is made for tearing up corners and basically an awesome road handling performer, not 1/4 mile times. Those # were just for the magazines to throw around in my opinion. As for the supposed 'frail' tranny, I don't believe in that either, as I could not see Nissan releasing something that would have such a tendency to break in their Halo car. I am sure there are some QA issues that creep up with any build like this and can only hope Nissan will stand by their product. Only time will tell though if there is a weak tranny issue or extreme levels of standing start abuse that could be causing the couple of tranny failures reported in the US to date.

I have one, but unfortunately I have not brought it with me from the US. If I was staying longer and I did not have to do the left -> right hand drive conversion, I would have but I will only be here for about 6 - 9 months and the conversion is not an option for a temporary basis. It is awesome, well worth it in my opinion, but it does have it's quirks. I am guessing OZ will get the JDM version, hopefully with the limiter removed cause the car is REALLY fun around 130 - 150mph. I put the Cobb Tuning Access Port on and the change in midrange power is quite noticeable, and also well worth it, even on the Stage 1 tune.

Thought I would post up and say G'Day to everyone. I have been in Melbourne for a month now and just getting settled into my new flat downtown. Man this weather is really unpredictable. Looks like I will be here through June, but wish it was longer as I was thinking of looking at importing my GT-R from the US. Have seen a couple of R33 and a 34 driving around town and makes me miss my new baby. I have one of the early R35's on the East Coast of the US. (I am also a member of NAGTROC, myGTR.com, Lotustalk and my350Z.com) It's Gunmetal with the Cobb Access Port: Stage 1 tune. Already put 8,500 miles on it in the first 2 months for a cross country Rally (pavement only, not dirt Rally stages). The AP has given a great boost to the midrange power level and while I have not dyno'd it, I have had exchanged rides with some other new GT-R owners and everyone agrees it feels much faster and responsive in the lower gears. Cheers mates, and I hope to run into some folks around the Melbourne area when the weather gets better (if it ever stays warm for more then 1/2 a day that is). --B