Smurf

Hey Ronin, For the recent test it was the Swinburne TAFE, Victoria, Dyno Dynamic AWD dynamometer, 16 deg C ambient temp. The 2003 test was also sone on a Dyno Dynamics dynamometer however with a group called C&V. One last comment, I'm impressed by some of the power figures. No wonder their quick in a straight line. It would take a reasonably well modded and tuned Skyline GTST to outrund the Aussie contingent. And I say this not because I am a Ford or Holden fan but because I think it is a fact. Am I wrong in thinking that that a standard GTR would be outrun by most of these cars? Not trying to start a war, just curious.

Hi all, For those who don't buy Motor magazine I have provided some reasonably interesting info below in relation to their recent test of Ford and Holden's toughest. Car kW(wheels) HSV GTS (manual) 245.2 @ 5,700 HSV R8 (auto) 243.9 @ 5,500 SS Comm (manual) 236.2 @ 5,500 SS V Comm (auto) 232.0 @ 5,500 FPV Force 8 (auto) 229.2 @ 5,900 FPV Force 6 (auto) 229.2 @ 6,200 Falcon XR6T (auto) 195.1 @ 5,700 In July 2003 Motor had a similar test. The results were as follows: Car kW (wheels) Caprice (auto) 5.7ltr 158 Falcon XR8 (manual) 193 Monaro CV8 (manual) 189 SS Commodore (manual) 182 Commodor SV8 (manual) 178 GTS Coupe (manual) 222 HSV Clubbie 5.7ltr (manual) 196 FPV Falcon GT (manual) 225 XR6T (manual) 185 Interesting comparison. You can make as much or as little as you like out of the results. There are many factors that effect the figures and I understand the different dynos produce different results. There are some significant differences and a few minor movements over this 4 year time period. In relation to say the SS Commodore when tested in 2003 the quoted figure by Holden at the flywheel was 235kw where as the current power is 270kw at the flywheel. This is an increase of 14.9%. The figure at the wheels has increased from 182kw to 236kw. This is an increase of 29.7%. All in all this may be an accurate or inaccurate comparison and we will never know. Cheerio

Ello ello, Originally I had the standard pads. In addition the discs were glazed. Lets put it this way, I couldn't even get the wheels to lock up, and no I don't have ABS. I then changed the fronts to Bendix Ultimate and had the discs sanded. Left the rears as is. No problems round town and some good bite when required. They are noisy under light breaking and leave a heap of dust on the wheels. I am looking at getting my rears replaced in the next week. Was advised to replace rears with Bendix ultimate at $140 for the pads and $88 for labour. I would prefer a pad that does not squeal however do not wish to pay much more. is it ok to use another brand on the rear and what would you recommend for a similar price? Thanks

I have bendix ultimate pads on the front and they squeel quite a bit. These were bought some time ago. Someone since informed me that Bendix admitted to a mistake and in all manuals have the incorrect brake pad for the skyline. Not sure whether this is true or not. This is quite a timely revival as I was this afternoon talking to a mechanic about getting new rear brake pads. He recommended bendix ultimate as well. The cost of the pads was $140 plus $88 for labour. Is this reasonable?

what tires will you be running? I currently have a new set of Goodyear F1's. 235/45 all round. Not bad on the road, how do you think they will handle on the track? Previously I had an extremely good set of Bridgestone Potenza's, which I believe were extremely good on the track, in fact a GTR on one of the best motoring videos had the same set and the commentary made special mention re the tyres. Cheers and thanks for your help.

regards to suspension I run the Bilstein works kit listed in the group buy section of this forum... is great on the road and the track, maybe a bit soft for tracks like Phillip island where you would be better off with some super hard Teins or the like... its the stock diff that I hate, doesn't allow you to put the power down out of some corners, making you use a higher gear to stop it single spinning Thanks Nick, I was speaking to a person about it and they suggested I get a new diff. They changed the suspension first and then the diff. Their opinion was that the diff provided the same sort of traction gains as the suspension upgrade. That leads me to my next question, what diff should I go for and how much do they cost. Cheers again.

Thanks Manwhore

Hi all, I plan on doing a number of track days and Dutton West. Now I have a R33 GTS25t with minimal mods. I plan on changing the suspension and brake pads however I would like the engine to be almost indestructible. I don't intend on winning anything at all, just wish to have fun with minimal to no break downs. At the moment I have 155rwkw's and would be happy with say 190-200. Is it possible to create a much much stonger engine and associated parts that are capable of handling 200rwkw's? If so, what needs to be done and how much would it cost. At this point my budget would probably extend to $10k including around $2.5k on suspension. Any help will be muchly appreciated. Cheers Will

Hi All, I can't see it in the TV guide so just wondering whether I am missing something or whether they stopped broadcasting. Is Will Power putting in a good effort. I remember watching him years ago in the open wheel categories and was extremely impressed. Wonder how he would go in an F1 car. Cheers Will

Hi all, As you would have probably noticed, turbo sports cars are now producing amazing torque figures at very low revs such as 2k to 2.5k in the rev range. From what I can tell they feel similar around town to large capacity engines. As I get older, this facet has become more desirable than a crazy top end. A couple of questions: 1. What are they now doing to get the torque so early in the rev rance. Is it direct injection? 2. Do they sacrifice power for the torque? Also, is there anyway of improving the drivability of my R33 GTS25T around town. Only mods are exhaust and pod filter however as you would all know it doesn't feel all that strong until maybe 4k revs. Cheers Will

What did I end up getting??? Nothing yet. My circumstances have changed, dramatically. I have left my job and the finance industry and have bought into my own business. The rewards will come I'm sure though it may take some time. In addition my girlfriend has also bought into the firm she was working for. So at the moment we have a huge amount of debt so I have put the purchase on hold. I've been thinking long and hard and think that I will slightly modify my car, do some track work and say the dutton rally over the next year or two. Once the debt is reduced I wlkl be looking at a new car. Given mine and my girlfriends new income streams I am now thinking of: 1) 996 911; 2) BMW M3 3) Z4 Coupe; or 4) Audi RS6 I've no doubt thoughts of the above will occupy a lot of my thinking over the next year or two. Hopefully good things come to those who weight. Anyway, out of the cars listed above what would you prefer and why. I'm not seeking approval just wondering skyliners and car lovers alike like (if that makes sense). Cheers

x

I asked about a 4wd variant. They guy said probably not because they are concentrating on beating golf gti etc. It could be a ploy for me to buy the current version. Then again, he would probably know as soon as we would. In relation to putting the power through the front wheels, it didn't seem to limit take off and that was swift. Personally rwd is better though they did a good job with the mps.

Hey all, Test drove a Mazda3 MPS yesterday. The sales rep cam along so I thought I wouldn't get the chance to give the car a real test. Per previous tests the sales person drove it out of the show room and up the road. Next minute I know he has absolutely floored it and man it goes. We hit 110 kmh in no time. I was worried as we approached a crest at around 90 and still accelerating. Such thrust from low in the rev range. Can hardly believe it is torque limted in first and second. Turbo engines have come along way with direct injection etc. It's amazing how easy it is to get from 60 km/h. I thought I was doing around 40 when it was showing 60. I think on boost my car would go close to keeping up however would be belted below 4000 rpm. My driving by comparison was very conservative. Was difficult to get off the line smoothly with a very quick take up. Didn't get to experience the dynamics give that we were in a built up area with very few non 90 degree bends. From what I have seen I am very impressed and would probably consider a second hand one in a couple of years (as a second car). Cheers P.S. Save the "You are comparing two cars that are 12 years apart" responses. I realise this, I'm just making observations.

I once rode in a LS1 Calais (225kw at fly) and it felt fast, surprisingly so, definitely effortless when compared to my r33. All that torque. As with most turbo skylines you really need to wind them up in order to get going and can feel quite slow off boost. Just to qualify my original post, I don't intend on buying one, just being open minded about a model that I have up until now written off.

Hi all, I have always disliked Commodores for a number of reasons, including: Lack of quality control/quality of materials Lack of style Lack of technology Big boat type handling Fact that nearly everyone owns one Fact that they are used as taxis Boofy Ausie bloke factor The new commodore however seems to overcome point 2. Although there's not a huge amount of tech. in the way they produce their power, there sounds like theres a bit of tech. in the suspension. Although a big heavy car will always be a big heavy car, from all reviews they tend to grip and handle pretty well. I know this did not start with the current commodore. I now think they have a reasonable level of style. The GTS in my opion looks great. No longer looks like a heap of plastic and grey bits stuck on. All the GTS's i've seen are black and only black. Not sure about quality or product, I have only read about one recall. Although there are some shortcomings that haven't been overcome, this car has largely changed my view on Commodores and I can now can appreciate that if you want a big car that handles and is powerful, then the SS's and HSV GTS are reasonable value for money cars. Never thought I would say that. Has anyone else gone from dislike to like? Cheers

From everthing I have read the current corvette's are good alround sports cars. saw a couple of new ones while in Canada and thought they looked quite good. Wide and low, how sports cars should be. The only question i believe is over quality of materials and build quality, though I could be wrong about this.

Quote "Even if they dont, someone else will make the kit aftermarket" I think nissan needs to come out with 400kw+ to stop so many people out there commenting on how overrated gtr's are. I don't think Nissan will though I believe they should. also by the time it hits the market, 330 to 370kw won't be in the ball park of the latest euro super cars, including m5, 911 turbo etc. These cars have been making this power for some time and will continue to produce more and more power. By then they will producing this in the locally made HSV's so will have to continue to take the bogan abuse. Unless they can make it a nible handler or come out with something amazing, I imagine it will fail to impress. If they could produce twice the power of a 350z with similar balance of a 350z plus 4wd, that will impress. I'm hoping for the best though have a suspision I will be disappointed. Just my thoughts.

What's that????? I think I can hear your mum calling West, time for your midday nap.

I struggle to understand the autosalon. all that money and effort just to show off. I admit there are some nice cars though there is no point unless there driven. i don't understand art either so maybe there's something in that. I found the tyres on the WRX's to be interesting. They have colours on the walls. Are they simply stickers they have stuck on or do they buy the tyres like that?

I agree. Unless there is something outstanding about the GT-R, I can't see it being a stand out in this day and age where 350 or more kw is common place in European sports cars. Shortly after they release the GT-R, Porsche will be close to the release of the 998 Turbo which I imagine will have close to 400kw and suspension to match. I hope Nissan pull a rabbit out of the hat.

On advice from a number of members I test drove a MX5 today (the current model). Definitely a nice car. Didn't really get a chance to test the limits due to mazda employee next to me. As far as acceleration is concerned, it wasn't bad, though not great either, which I guess is what you expect. Did feel punchy though imagine you would get used to it very quickly and soon want more. As far as handling is concerned, it had a bit more body role than I thought. Mind you less than my current R33 which still has the standard suspension. It absorbs imperfections very well with a more comfortable ride than say and S2000 or S15 200SX. The trade off I think is probably mechanical gip, although this is just a guess. The breaks seemed extremely strong. I know this as they are very touchy, so when I applied the breaks like I would in my car, I got a bit of a shock. It was similar to the time I tried left foot braking and ended up locking up the wheels (although the MX5's wheels did not lock up). When I got back into my car I wasn't disappointed at all. In fact I though how good and enjoyable skylines. The only thing I missed from the MX5 was the flat handling, which is something I can get from some new suspension parts. I now need to test a Boxster. Unless it puts a smile on my face that I cannot replicate in my R33, I think I will stick with my Skyline for a few more years. Cheers Cheers

Thanks Maxx.

Yep I'm still keen on the boxster despite the negativity. I honestly think the negativity comes from those who have not driven a boxster and don't know how good the boxster is or believe people who buy such cars consider themselves superior. I don't think I'm superior, i simply want a drivers car and now the boxster seems like reasonable value. Horespower isn't my number one objective and so a car that can do 0-100 in less than 7 seconds will do me. I spent a week driving a Peugot 206 GTI. Although not fast, it was definately enjoyable. The boxster should be all this and more. Cheers PS. I would think my car would do 0-100 in around 6 seconds so there may not be that much of a difference.

Finally, somebody who knows something first hand. To those nay sayers, have you ever driven one or read articles about them. Most articles suggest that they are an unbelievable drive. Since when have they been a hair dressers car? Isn't that a Hyandai Excel. Oh you mean a really successful hairdresser who loves to drive a classic car. Just jokes. Appreciate your comments. Never realised there was so much hatred for the boxster. I've also considered the Elise. Too spartin for me. Would love the driving experience though would imagine it to be laborious on long trips. Thinking long term I am thinking a BMW Z Coupe. 2nd hand in 2 years if I don't go the boxster. RB_n00b, How expensive is it to replace parts relative to the average Japanese cars. Are we talking double the price or tripple???? Cheers