Cowboy1600

Good outcome. I'd be letting those at Nissan who said no the outcome. I'd probably seek some kind of compensation too.

So you want a VW Golf? It would only be lacking the "Electro-chromatic windows" and "camless" technology.

Since when did 33s come from the factory with Xenons? I didn't know they ever had em.

The reason Xenon headlights are a roady issue (and it's only aftermarket, not factory fitted) is the reflectors aren't suitable for xenon and you get this issue, ie. glaring lights for oncoming traffic. Xenons need a different focal point to regular headlights. So, especially as a motorcyclist, I couldn't agree more. If your car doesn't have xenons from the factory they should not be fitted at all. The rest of the rules, however, are pretty much BS. If you can fix it on the side of the road or fix it with a single trip to Autobarnz and $5 then it should never be metered out for a major,. Even a minor is pushing it. But then again, I find these are more for attitude than anything (a few examples notwithstanding). You would only get pinged for this kind of stuff when A) you've been a d!ck to the copper or B) you've just been stung by an anti-import copper such as that prick in Knox. In both cases it could be considered your fault or at least partially your fault. More often than not a copper wouldn't even think twice about checking these kind of things.

I know I'd be interested to hear what they say. As it stands it's "ZOMG, I never hit nothin'!" bloke who drives a $150k car on tyres till they are belts and in 11,000ks of driving knows, 100%, he never hit a pothole and who apparently watched his tyre fitter for every second they were fitting his tyres vs a team of engineers who have said it's not a manufacturing defect. While I'd be willing to bet the OP has hit something at some stage (not marks on the rim means nothing) I would still like to hear the actual reason Nissan have knocked it back. I don't think it's good enough to deny a warranty claim without providing justification and I can understand why the OP may be a little upset at that.

What was the actual issue?

Be interesting for you to expand on this. Clearly it's not as clear cut as you make it out to be as Nissan said no.

A simple Xray would surely rule in or out an impact, would it not? I don't think a metal xray is terribly expensive.

Correctamundo. I assumed to OP was referring to these cars, should they have had stupid looking shit stuck all over them.

Nice comprehension. You said RICE is some shitty acronym. It's not. The term Rice came from the early 90's and it was a derogatory term to describe JAPANESE built cars which were slow and covered in wings and stickers and shit. They were called Rice cause they were Japanese built and "ran on rice" which is also taking the piss. Technically a US built car can't be "rice" as it was not built in Japan (where cars run on rice) however the vernacular has now expanded to include all cars which look like a harlot after a night on the Breezers. So I'd say in this day and age the Cobalt and Neons can be considered Rice.

WTF are you talkin' bout, Willis? Rice comes from Rice, as in the stuff that Jap cars run on. A rice mobile is a Japanese built vehicle that's covered in shit. It's not an acronym. By the very definition a Cobalt or Neon can't actually be a Ricer as they are not built in Japan however I think the term has broadened to capture any vehicle which you typically see which is as slow as a wet week and tarted up like a slurry getting ready for a night under the red light.

Hmmm....the race is on. Can I get the beast back on the road by the 6th of April (cut off for entries)? Super keen to do another Winton day.

I'll take the front bar if you're happy to hang onto it until next weekend? (gotta fly to Perth for a wedding this weekend) Or I can try and get there after work one day next week.

It's all relative. You can't compare diff ratios in two totally different cars. The Holdens, like the Fords, ave a double overdriven gearbox. Top gear is for highway cruising only. The rest of the ratios, and the diff ratio, are relatively the same as most other cars. And quote 0-100 time is pretty much meaningless. Get them both ont he strip and see what outguns what. I bet in real world the Monaro (I assume a 350ci) would eat the Supra.

I'll be keen, assuming I have my car up and dandy by then, which is highly likely.

Bit of a tangent here, but on the question of what feels faster, a torquey, low revving V8 will often feel slower than a high revving turbo 6 as it makes power everywhere which means no "coming on boost" which can often give the false impression of speed. My mate has an SII BA XR8 and it's almost neck and neck between it and my R33 GTST (mine is ever so fractionally faster in a straight line) however the R33 feels much faster. I remember the first time I took him for a spin in it his head nearly exploded as he thought it was so damn fast. Fact is, it's not much different to his car, and he flogs his thing everywhere. It's just his thing makes pwer from idle so lacks that kick in the pants feel that pretty much everyone on here is likely addicted to. So while something like an XR8 may feel a lot slower than something like a turbo skyline, fact is there's probably a lot less between them than you think. And when it comes to corners, it's about 70% driver 30% car so a good steerer in an XR8 will likely spank a nubcake in a skyline.

Mmmmm......yeah get a beemer, casue like, it'll be super cheap to fix when things start wearing out prematurely because you've been using it as a tow vehicle. Hell, the extra $12 million dollars it will cost to maintain a beemer will be more than offset by the $15 per week saving in petrol you are bound to make. Wait, I've just re-read you OP and realised you didn't ask for an alternative to an AU XR8. Silly me. The AUs are bullet proof and pretty much perfect for what you want. Any vehicle capable of towing another vehicle frequently without collapsing in a heap is going to use a bit more juice than the rest as it's A) Heavier - to deal with the extra stress of towing and B) going to have a bigger motor. As long as the AU has been looked after you shouldn't have any issues.

I know someone who works for Deloitte. Chris Russell. I think he's an accountant.

Every inch of that car is pure, unadulterated class and sex. I was worried the might stuff up the Murcie replacement.. They didn't.

So very true. As for things like "but knowing 2 peeps now that have had their 90k (at the time) GT-P's spit their engines with around 100 thou on the clock" I will bet my left nut those cars were abused to all hell. Engines, irrespective of which company they come from, don't just "spit". Occasionally their are problems, ie. the first Gen III's, but more often than not it's only flat out abuse which causes catastrophic failure. And or everyone that goes pop, there are 999 which have had zero issues.

What if the boost controller is leaking boost? That would probably cause it to come on later, wouldn't it?

So lemme get this straight, your mate has dropped $10-15k on an engine which is making ~700hp and he's got you poking around under the bonnet trying to diagnose a boost issue even though you're clearly not qualified and, with all due respect, probably are not the right person for the job? Is your mate a total moron?! A $15k engine and he's not taking it straight to a well regarded tuned who is properly qualified and equipped to diagnose a problem which has the potential to destroy you mates big dollar build? Dude! I'd recommend keeping that bonnet shut tight until youget it to one of the well regarded tuning shops. Seriously, if you think there is something wrong you'd be mad not to get it seen to by an absolute professional.

I think the first problem in answering your question is pretty much everything you said is actually bullshit. "They perform terribly compared to other cars on the market" Bullshit. Dollar for dollar and when comparing them against compareable cars, they perform outstandingly. If you are going to compare them with cars 4 times their cost or compare them with cars built for very different reasons, then of course you will get differences. But compare Apples with Apples and the locally made big cars come out on par or on top. Of course they are not prestigious. Your problem here is two-fold. First, they do not claim to be prestigious. Secondly, they do not cost the same as other more prestigious marques. They are comfortable and well built for the money. In fact HSVs and FPVs are as good as any European offering in my experience. The build quilty is on par and the materials are as good. As for unique, nothing this side of a Lambo or Ferrari are unique. Go drive around any middle to upper class suburb and you'll see more Mercs and BMWs than any other brand. Everyone trying to be "unique" so they go and do waht everyone else does. I consider myself as much as an enthusiast as anyone. I live and breath cars and bikes and have done for decades. I've owned all manner of cars and bikes, from KE30 Corollas to stinky hot Datsuns. I could not care any less for prestige. Seriously, it's impossible for me to give any less of a shit. I want speed, handling, performance, sound, smell - I want my sense to explde everytime I turn the key. What other people think of my ride could me no less relevant to what I want in a car or bike. If you do care, then good for you, but to assume that all car enthusiasts care what other people think is highly flawed. In fact, I'd say mroe often than not enthusiast are more like me than you. Sure, we like it when people like our stuff, but if you don't like it, tell someone who cares. It's not going to change how I think or what I feel about my car/bike. And I reiterate, there is no prestige in the European competitors for a Falcadore. Anyone who thinks there is is foolding themselves. BMWs and Mercs are as common as muck. Put a set of 18s on a 318i and most people couldn't tell the difference between that an an M3. Falcons and Commodores are brilliant performers, are immensly practical, sound brilliant, are relatively cheap and relatively reliable (find a towie and ask him which marques are the most common to hitch a ride on his tilt tray and he'll probably tell you BMW followed by Mercs), look hot when dressed up right and are uniquely ours (aussie). And the overriding assumption for this thread is, again, totally wrong. Australian's are not osessed with Falcadores. Just look at the sales figures. Take fleet purchases and government purchases out of the sales charts and Falcadores would struggle to make the top 30.

I'm pretty sure I made it clear I was talking about Vic. From http://online.fines.vic.gov.au/fines/Content.aspx?page=20 And if you think it's an idle threat, think again.

I don't think you get it BB. You don't get to choose to pay the fine and nominate no one, you can not nominate anyone and get fined and then nominate someone or else someone is going to get in a whole lot more trouble or you can nominate someone inthe first place.