Commsman

which 4 parts? Do you mean the wheels? They look nice BTW.

G'day Peter. Since the demise of the Asuka tuners (hard to get in small quantities at an affordable price), I've been hunting for a suitable replacement. I've tested a few which were OK but had their limitations. This last one looks the goods in its anodised aluminium case and works really well. I sent one of my 2 samples to Brad (Ducati02) in SA and he did a back-to-back comparison with the Asuka HR3 and found the new tuner picked up signal better and in places the other didn't. Based on my testing and Brad's recent feedback, I've placed an order for a small quantity. These units have been upgraded to come with a an AV input including cable (not shown in pic) that can be used for reverse cam (it switches to that input on supply of 12V to a wire) or any other AV source like DVD/GPS etc. Because of the special order they are not sitting in a warehouse ready to ship and with Chinese New Year happening soon, the delivery date could be mid Feb. There is one in SA if you are desparate to have it straight away. The other is in my Stagea & I'd rather keep it Oh, and the price looks like it will be ~$230, plus maybe $15 in postage. This makes it excellent value when you consider it comes with antennas and the RCA leads where the Asuka didn't. Cheers, Leon.

Hey Ben, any word if those holes weaken the bar excessively? It looks good and should send more air towards the cooler. Very nice. BTW, where did you pick up the inserts?

Ha, it just keeps getting BETTER! Goes to show you can have your cake and eat it to. Do the job right and reap the rewards. I am in total AWE. I want that torque and the economy.

The most impressive thing to me is the torque figure. MAAATE.... that is AWESOME. Nice work.

Yeah Brad, we're all waiting on YOU . Actually, no need to sweat it (although I would like to know) because the factory is going to be on a short break for Chinese New Year right about when they should be making up our order. Normally it'd be OK, but they had to modify the standard product for us so now it becomes a low volume special. Chinese NY is Feb 3 I think, so there may be a chance they can get it done & shipped out before then if I give them the OK early next week. Otherwise I'm told they'll be ready mid Feb. BTW I appreciate your input.

Sure, will keep you posted. They are pretty typical in that they have the standard 3 RCA (video, L & R audio) jacks for the output, plus an extra 2 video outputs if you want to run additional screens in the back. Also has an AV input and a USB port (can record TV signal or play video/music), They are pretty much a direct replacement for the Asuka HR3, except it doesn't have a 2nd AV input. Cheers, Leon.

Hi Luke I'm pretty sure Chook doesn't have any more of the Asuka's since I bought the last one he had before Christmas, but I could be wrong. The company isn't very helpful re supplying more in limited numbers, at least not for a decent price. I've been trialling a few over the last couple of months to see if I can get a suitable replacement and it just so happens one of the samples I have received made its way to Adelaide today. It's in the hands of Brad (Ducati02 on this forum) for his feedback as a comparison to the Asuka. It comes in gold anodised aluminium and look schmicko. I'll post the brochure / pics / specs once a few of us agree that it works as good as it looks. The manufacturer modified their product for me (added AV input and wire to auto switch to the input so it suit a reverse camera, but can work for GPS/DVD/whatever) so once I give the go ahead it will still be a few weeks for the shipment to arrive. They must think I'm going to buy 1000's, not tens I guess there's no reason why you couldn't get the sample one from Brad though, if you are in a hurry. Good news is that they will be a little cheaper, around $230, and come with all the cables and 2 antennas for those that don't have factory ones built in. Cheers, Leon.

Hi Mario Nissan have written up service bulletins for fixing this problem. I posted all the bulletins on www.m35stagea.info forum. You will need to register first but will find them under M35 Stagea Discussions/Nissan Service Bulletins. They are for the Infiniti but essentially your car. From memory it is a simple fix. I hope this helps. Cheers, Leon.

Yeah, on mine just locking the car with the remote (single click) folds the mirrors in, but I'm sure it didn't do that till I pressed the little round button with the "auto" sticker on it one day. But I could be wrong. Maybe the mirror fold in/out switch needs to be in the centre position or something. I gonna have to check......

I joined recently with no probs & M35 info there is great. Smaller community but mostly same guys as on here and really helpful so worthwhile getting on. Try sending PM to Iain (a few posts above) as he will help with any site issues with that forum. Cheers, Leon.

11.22L / 100km isn't too bad considering the weight of the M35. I have a theory about getting better economy when having a bit of a go rather than staying off boost as much as possible. I posted about it here http://www.skylinesa...00#entry5578928 and at least one person tended to agree. I'm not sure if I'm on to something but it sounds like a good excuse to me

Hey Andy. That's a great write up. I'll be referring everyone to your guide when the new tuners arrive. Thanks Cheers, Leon.

Hi Fabio Mate, if I'd know you were a MAC fan I wouldn't have been so quick to help. Nah, just joking. They make some nice looking kit. It is probably very obvious, but I would make sure that the hardware you buy will connect to everything you want to connect to (eg ODB2) and can run the software you want to use. I've bought stuff in the past that later on I wished had (say) a serial port or whatever. Good luck with the build and PLEASE post some pictures when it's done so I can dream about how I might have done something like that. Cheers, Leon.

Hi Fabio, welcome to Stagea ownership and these forums. It I were you, I'd seriously look at a carputer. You can get ones that fit single DIN spaces or mount in upper dash hole (OEM navigation DVD no good here, if yours even has one). Ideally I would try to find the OEM pop up mechanism that most of us have and put your own touch screen in that. With a carputer you can have GPS, store & play all your music & video files & I've seen guys that link them to the OBD2 connector for displaying vehicle diagnostics & parameters (intake temps, throttle %, injector duty cycle etc). If you get one with an extra input, or a screen with an extra input, you can get an in car TV tuner to pick up Aust digital signals. Best thing with a carputer is you don't have to worry about converting languages, working around screens turning off when driving etc etc. All these things take time & sometimes money. You get one box that does everything. I'm no expert and you are bound to find some downsides when you start researching (possible having to wait 30 secs or more to boot) but I think it's worth investigating. Cheers, Leon.

G'day Angus, where do we stand with this? Are you still on track for pre Christmas delivery or is maybe becoming a New Years' resolution? Cheers, Leon.

Do Stagea caps come with a large section at the back? Maybe you can open the whole back up to let air in around your head, or there's a smaller flap for those times you couldn't be bothered opening the whole thing. Do they have an electric close that automatically tightens the cap when you put it on? Can you option it up with Works wheel shaped ear warmers? Will the tag come with Japanese writing, but you can pay some guys in Russia to translate it for you? I could go on and on & on....

Yeah, it does look nice. But if you were considering one, there's a current group buy for $697 delivered (I think). Cheers, Leon.

Here's something interesting, at least I think so. I've been taking note of the M35's fuel economy lately. The display shows a long term average of 12.1 L/100kms. 2 of the last 3 fills (tank filled till pump clicks off a few times) returned 11.92 & 12.44 L/100kms. Then I went on the Qld Stagea cruise last Sunday. Most of the way up was driven at 110 - 120km/h on the freeway (hardly fuel efficient, I know) & then blasting away from every light and on ramp with the other guys. Now, remember my long term average (12.1) was displayed on the screen. This means that it doesn't increase every time you put your foot down to overtake or decrease when you coast down a long hill. (It does that if you reset it, then it becomes a short term average, yeah?) You could imagine my surprise when, right in the middle of some spirited driving over Mt Mee, my display drops by 2 points! It went down to 11.9 when I was having a "fang". How's that for an ecomomy run! So when I got home and filled up after 609kms, it had used 11.22L/100kms. Interestingly, the computer gave me a warning that I was going to run out of fuel about 75kms before I filled up. And when I filled up, I still had over 12L left. I could have gone beyond 700km in one 80L tank! This drop in fuel consumption happened one other time but I didn't have records to back it up. A blast over the Burringbar Range & back didn't deplete the tank as much as I thought. In fact it seemed the opposite. But I told myself to wake up and smell the premium. This started me thinking about those guys who achieve great economy by pulse & glide techniques and also an article I read in Autospeed that talked about the most efficient way to run an engine (high throttle opening (but not WOT) at low(ish) revs. So maybe that's the secret..... Take the winding road and "give it a bit" instead of using the freeway at pretty much closed throttle. Cheers, Leon.

Yep, you'd be right about that! And I reckon Scott's right about the gear numbering being calculated, probably from speed. When I hooked it up to the Micra and had it in Drive but stationary, gear displayed 0. As soon as we rolled forward it displayed 1. It only stands to reason that if the speed sensor wiring has been changed somewhere, and therefore doesn't output to the InfoMeter, then the gear selection part wouldn't display also. I wonder if that was messed about when the headunit/GPS was installed? One thing I do know, I'm getting a bad back & neck from having it stuck up under that dash of mine. Oh, and the footwell smells distinctly like feet Iain, that's pretty cool that it told you about the faulty O2 sensor. I haven't seen where it is on the M35; hope it's easy to get at. Thank guys, I appreciate the advice & I'm sure I'll track it down eventually.

Hi Keir. Yeah, it was a great day. I was looking forward to seeing you there with your M35 but you can't do much about a faulty starter motor. So next time then..... Hi Matt, my son took some pics & video on my phone but you'd be better off seeing who else can contribute 'cause the quality won't be up to the standard you would want. However, if you really get stuck for content, let me know & I'll send what I've got. Cheers, Leon.

Hi Andy I have a quick question. Today we played with settings on the InfoMeter and found there are 2 things it can't display on my Stagea. Speed and gear position. Both these display on our Micra. I don't really care about gear position but speed could be needed later (for cruise control perhaps). I'm a bit surprised since all the other data is picked up from the CAN bus, so why would it not get these two? Can you confirm that both work on your car? Thanks, Leon.

Bugger! That's bad luck. I don't think anyone else got a ticket. Well not getting to Bribie at least. Who knows about the way home...

Thanks everyone on the cruise for making it a great day out & for being so welcoming. Thanks again Darren for doing the organising. It was nice enough weather and some great roads were chosen for the cruise. The sound of all the cars accelerating away from, well pretty much everywhere possible, was awesome. If a few more M35 owners could make it next time then the couple of us who turned up wouldn't be so outnumbered Cheers, Leon.

Installed digital TV tuner to Eclipse head unit Fixed missing wire on OBD2 connector so InfoMeter would work Swapped wires on auto shift lever so forward is change down and pull back is change up - now I don't have to look at the + & - to remind me, it all feels natural. Vacuum and shampoo for the carpets (Qld cruise tomorrow) Not bad for half a days work. Thanks to Jacob (my son) for helping his old man.