Nightcrawler

kewl .... committee formed - Matt, Paul, Erica and Myself. (Anyone else?) So .... Place ideas Date ideas Activities? I was thinking something along the lines of Victor Harbour / 29th March (if the drags aren't on) / byo picnic by the jetty to Granite Island OR lunch at the pub. OR Paintball skirmish at Wirrina resort with lunch down there / tennis / swimmming etc (preferred idea!) Other ideas?

Everything you said in that last post is true

Yes we are GOING to have a daylight get-together soon .... before it turns bloody freezing on us, and get pics of everyone and their ride .... and I also propose we should wear name stickers with our Nick and real name. Who's gonna help me organise it?

Matt - I hear there are plans to make another Silvia .... S16 due for prototype next year - they were supposed to can the Silvia but there has been so much public outcry they're looking at reviving them. I would keep the Z stock for a long time before seriously playing with it .... I would be happy with it stock for a while I think! Hippy - ROFLMAO .... if only I could afford to! Brad - Thanks for the info - I wasn't positive what it runs .... I agree it is one sick mutha for a 250 Ford!

Erica - it's not possible for her to love me more *violin playing softly in the background* lol Matt - Yes, an S15 Commodore 'the best of both worlds' - WANKERS! I am still very 50/50 and am currently inclined to keep the S15 .... however - the Z is 206kw standard (but really more so I hear) .... imagine then me giving it a free-flowing exhaust/intake and then later whacking on a turbo kit .... it would have to go 300kw+ Your comment about the 13 second quarter and MPH was spot on - that is freaky! Hippy - I'm very tempted .... it is an awesome car! Enrico - thanks for th elink - I played with cartest many years ago and had lost it .... it is very interesting!

hehe no worries Matt .... we went up on the hill to see a couple of mates and were gonna chase you up after but there were ppl everywhere, it was too cold, I was too pissed off etc etc Yeah "on a bit of extra boost" ROFLMAO - you will notice if u listened to the end of my run one commentator calls my car a Commodore .... luckily the other commentator corrects him and sticks up for my slow run saying I must have a problem (understatement!). Yeah the videos make even your 13 second quarter look slow! They sure show how both you and I wickedly bogged down at the start! But hey, it's all part of learning the art - it was our first time out there after all! As soon as I get back from Qld the new clutch will go in, then the intercooler (still working on the cooler with the wife though - might cost me a diamond ring lol) ... then I would really like a boost controller (so I can have a low street use boost, and a higher track use setting), then tune it all up and see how she goes! Mind you I went and had a look at the new Z the other day with the missus .... it has magically appeared on my shopping list, so I have to decide whether to keep spending money on the S15, or stop now, save a bit and buy a Z .... decisions, decisions!

Clint - no exhaust on a Skyline would sound wicked! .... yes you are right about the sleepers .... there were some that sounded wicked and looked good but were slow; and others that looked like a POS but went like hell! There were a LOT of cars running under 12 seconds Saturday (in fact most), so you would've had a challenge! In fact there were a lot of cars in the 9s! For those that have downloaded on of the videos of Matt (off my Yahoo site) .... you will notice on one run that he was racing the 'Motor Shop' TC Cortina (that got the front wheel off the ground in that run) that on another run did a 9.65 .... non-turbo, non-injected (so I am told) 250 crossflow motor .... now that's power!

They were different at the rear on each side .... you have to have identical rear tyres or they won't let you run! I have heard they are trying to have one every month .... we REALLY need to get more guys out .... it is great fun and I want to run against some of you - rather than some beefed up bloody drag V8 running slicks and no exhaust whatsoever!!! It was nice to see, however that a 5.8L VT HSV with slicks ran a paltry 13.9sec run a few runs after me - puts my (very bad start and backed off before the end) 14.18 into perspective!

Yeah I had a blast and will definitely do it again! .... I would like to get my intercooler on first (if and when I get one) so I can boost it up a bit more .... I only have a vid of the second (crappy) run at http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/andnus2002/l...+1-3-03&.view=l if ya want to have a look .... will post some more videos soon including a couple of Matt's (Whatsisname) runs and one of Keirs at 9.69 ... these files are about 5Mb each so they suck for 56kers, but its all I can do until I learn some serious video compression!

It was a mixed bag night .... Got there 6:15pm .... MattR wasn't allowed to run his R32 cos it had different rear tyre types/brands. Lined up for about half an hour in the scrutineering line .... scrutineer informs me I have to empty my coolant overflow tank so as to avoid overflow on the track (fair enough). Proceed to try to siphon coolant out (ewwww that stuff tastes like CRAP) ... siphon hose not long enough. Have a look at removing the container - obstructed by air pod and heat shield. Try a few different things then after about an hour finally removed all the bits and emptied the damn thing. Reassembled. Lined up in a huge drag line of about 30 cars .... see Whatshisname Matt and Brute Henry - nice to see some friendly faces. Finally get to the front of the line when they decide to wheel out about a dozen road bikes for drags before me .... wait another 15 minutes or so. Finally get out to the track in a short line and some commodore drops his oil half way down the track - another half hour wait. So .... finally I get up to the line - do a nice burnout in 1st then 2nd gear - all ready to go and shitting my pants (which I had been all afternoon fyi). I am lined up next to some insano-looking Torana with a big hornet scoop and supercharger - and no exhaust (=noisy). Rev to 3,000rpm (normal street revs) for a 1st run (taking it easy). As expected it bogged down but didn't get a too bad start. Went through each gear and think I got into 6th for some reason - missed 5th to 6th change quite badly .... then I'm pretty sure I started slowing down just before the finish - it was pitch black and I couldn't see the finish line - in hindsight I shoulda just kept going but damn it was dark! (and shoulda kept it in 5th). Anyhow, I didn't care cos it was my 1st ever run down the strip. Results as follows: 8:12pm 1/MAR/2003 Temp 14.7deg Rel Hum. 42% Abs. Barometer 31.63 R/T 0.794 60' 2.260 330' blank 660' 9.067 mph 81.78 1000' 11.736 ET 14.18 MPH 83.65 Not too bad but not too good either - I know there is plenty more left in her than that! 2nd run line up for about an hour .... just get near the front of the line and another commodore drops its lunch - another 15 minute wait. Get out on the line - this time I'm up against some monster old statesman with a thumping V8 again no exhaust. Do a bigger burnout this time to get more heat into my tyres .... clutch feels a tiny bit funny changing into 2nd for the burnout. This time I launch at 5,000rpm so as to not bog down - I get a good launch but change into 2nd and the revs rise massively quickly yet I'm not going any faster .... this continues in every gear .... clutch is slipping wickedly - the revs rise but I'm not going very fast at all. After the run I stop down the back straight and do a couple of launches and it now seems ok?? Get back out the back to line up again - clutch absolutely stinks for about half an hour of lining up so I call it quits lest I break it completely. Timeslip is as follows 9:22pm 1/MAR/2003 Temp 13.5deg Rel Hum. 50% Abs. Barometer 31.77 R/T 0.828 60' 2.217 330' blank 660' 10.201 mph 68.87 1000' 13.336 ET 16.124 All in all a fun but disappointing night .... my clutch still reeks today even on short drives - new clutch for me Oh well I'll be out there next time and have a decent run (I hope) - at least now I know how it all works and have made my mistakes! At least my reaction times weren't too bad and my 60' times were ok(ish) - but I know I can do heaps better than them though so there's plenty for me to think about!

Is anyone going to the drags tomorrow night? .... If it's not pissing with rain I am gonna run my baby .... who's coming to watch? 0414 904 451 if u wanna hook up - I will be going down at about 6pm (due to a prior engagement).

Dunno Paul .... did you download the latest version? .... Maybe do that and then register it with the CD key I gave you?

Lots of little witches hats organised into a track then you go one at a time through the course, whilst being timed. Normally very quickly and VERY sideways! I have never done it but have seen the MG club doing it at TTP .... looked like a blast!

Sounds good to me Erica .... those Motorkhanas look sick .... I'll give it a go!

cowboyb .... we can't do maps cos then it becomes an 'official' cruise, under the CAMS guidelines .... then we've got issues with insurance etc. - ie. if u have an accident and the cops see the map and/or decide you were on a cruise, your insurance will most likely NOT pay up. Technical point but valid I believe. Your best bet is to be at the start of the vruise, where we decide the route and tell everyone .... and/or get soeone's mobile and give them a buzz to catch up. Side point: We should designate a meet-up point at/near the end of the Southern Expressway, when we cruise down it - for those that get left behind .... some people value their licences more than others

I have the solution to your problem Pawley - it's a Pinnacle System 'video to USB' adapter .. plugs into your USB slot and it has normal AV in (video, left audio and right audio) .... I bought it 8 months ago second hand but haven't used it cos shortly after I got my digi cam that takes video. It comes with software too .... you can have it for $75 .... it retails (last I checked) for around $300

All of the pics and most of the vids are up on my site (click here) for those interested. I have still to upload more of the videos but they take forever on 56k Sorry for the other 56kers out there having to download them .... which reminds me - does anyone know how to encode mpegs to DivX? I would love to make these vids a lot smaller. Does anyone have the know-how? btw if anyone is uncomfortable having their number plate displayed on my pics page can they please ASAFP send an email to Andrew's Email (click here), and I'll photoshop your plate off. This would be a slight pain for me but I respect ppls right to privacy if desired.

Matt .... I am a big girls nightie - not a blouse .... you know its cos I don't have a decent cooler, poof! Which reminds me .... if anyone hears of a good cooler for sale can they please drop me a line?

Whatever gave you that idea Matt? .... yeah let's get the ball rolling and arrange something! You know I'm in! Whilst they can cost a bit of money, at the end of the day what is your life worth? Even if you only learn decent braking techniques it could very well make the difference between life and death - of you and/or your car!

thanks man .... yeah had an awesome cruise - just the right number of people and no constabulary, made for a top ride. Excellent route selection too John, as always! I got heaps of pics and vids - I will get them up on my Yahoo site later tonight .... will post when they're up! Timmmayyy - yeah we go out all the time - keep checking these forums for info. Mel - loved your ride - sweet as .... can't wait till you get your cooler and Power FC on so you can keep up with me ROFL *grin* Nozilla - good to finally meet you mate - nice clean car you got there! Stang - were you in the black 33? .... yeah those races down Grote St were awesome - there's nothing like the sounds of some worked engines pumping up the revs surrounded by buildings! The bystanders got an excellent show! Pawley - yeah I nearly cleaned up that Lancer big time .... can't figure out why he continued doing 30km/h in a 60 zone after the corner .... thank the good son of rajab for ABS Good to see everyone was 'reasonably' sensible and we didn't attract any defect or speeding attention!

We try to keep it to high performance cars but Skylines specifically (however I don't own one - I am an outcast ). We don't want massive numbers of cars cos it attracts too much police attention, but kind of the more the merrier without there being to many - have I been vague enough? The other more important issue here is that this is in NO WAY a cruise, it is merely a few friends getting together and travelling from place to place as we see fit. There are all sorts of nasty legal implications to do with insurance etc if it is a 'cruise' per say. So yeah we keep it simple and just hang out .... going for a bit of a drive here and there if we feel like it Hope I have been clearer than mud Come along and meet the gang .... don't be shy to introduce yourself!

I went through the Grand Junction/Sudholz Rd intersection just after it happened .... the headlights of the VL were squished up to the windscreen .... the rear of the 32 was up to the wheel arches and the front didn't fair much better. I thought the VL must have been doing serious speed .... surely the 32 was stopped at the lights?! .... why then was the VL doing 100km+ coming up over a rise into an intersection? Bloody idiot gives us all a bad name!

I use either Mobil or BP with same results - my car doesn't seem to be fussy. I have also on a few occasions used Caltex Premium and it is : 1. ALWAYS cheaper (cos they guarantee only 5c/l price above unleaded) and 2. I seem to get a tiny bit better fuel economy from it too! Fortunately even though I have turned up the boost to 13psi and still have the same cooler - I have never heard pinging from my SR20 .... however in 32degrees + weather I turn the boost back down to about 8psi, just in case!

According to the PF forums the cruise is not on .... looks like it is our cruise now .... I'll be there at 9pm .... Matt I will give you a buzz to hook up beforehand. Erica, yeah I was taking the missus out for Valentines - we went to a comedy thing at the Zoo .... was awesome! Performing were Big Al (announcer from Fresh FM), Justin Hamilton (from Triple J), an mc and some other dude. Was a good show on the lawn near the rotunda! See you all tonight Mitcham 9pm .... my mobile is 0414 904 451 in case you get lost

I hope to make it .... if the wife gives me a pass-out Saw you tonight on Hackney Road .... it is indeed a very nice ride!