Awaiting My Skyline :od

[sl33py]

Should be getting my Skyline on Tuesday/Wednesday 96 R33.

I'm farkin' excited. Noone knows yet so it's gonna be a big surprise. Esp for the GF hahahahah

Anyway, a few questions:

How long should I give the engine to warm up in mornings on the way to work? Only takes about 15 minutes total to get there (that was in the Civic). BTW, the engine is completely stock except a K&N panel filter and exhaust.

And how long should I leave the engine running after getting to work/wherever. Someone told me that if he was just going to the shops then he wouldn't even bother letting the engine cool down. But if hooning around, he reckoned 1-2 minutes. Does this sound right?

I'm used to drivin' my Civic CXi (maybe 50rwkw? lol). This is gonna be a blast.

A few months ago dad got me a "defensive driving" voucher for that course Rick Bates holds.. but I don't think I need it cos I've only ever had one very minor bingle in 7 years driving. The worst incident was when some lady drove into ME. Anyway, I'd like to take the "performance driving" one instead! Anyone in the ACT done these courses?

Man... I CAN'T wait :OD So hypo hahahha

Also, if you know someone in the ACT who wants to buy a Civic CXi in good condition, gimme a PM!

[sl33py]

Hmmm, my smilies went to crud ... used to stupid yapoo/msn messenger

[sewid]

Dont bother leaving it to warm it up. Just drive it off boost and change gear at low rpm until its up to operating temperature. Warming it up just wastes fuel and wears the engine more as everything takes longer to get to operating temps.

Dont need to let the engine idle to cool it down either. Just drive normally to your destination and take it easy for the last 1 or 2 minutes of driving. Idling it to cool it down really doesn't make sense as you no longer have airflow so you arent going to get it much cooler. Just dont thrash it and turn it off immediately.

What do you want for your civic?

[dezz]

you should at least let the car run for 30-60seconds when its cold. that lets it build up oil pressure so that everything is at least coated. then as sewid said, drive easy until its up to full operating temp....idling wont warm up the transmission etc, so thats why you gotta take it easy even if you warm up the engine for 5 minutes

the best explanation i ever heard was not to warm your car up for a prolonged period (60seconds to get oil pressure is enough) as the car will be running and using fuel, but not getting the air it needs, and something about that glazing the "bores" or something

[R33S2]

Letting it cool down is for the turbo and only if its glowing from hard work, if a turbo is red hot and is shut down there is the possibility that the cast outer will cool quicker than the turbine shaft, thus pinching it and if started in this critical period will damage the bearing surface, the turbo has water and oil lines running to it and these help to stabilise temps. A ball bearing turbo has significantly less chance of this happening.

[cowie165]

With respect, you need to crawl before you can walk - I'd take any driver training I could get into and it would be a good warmup for you to learn about your new car.

You'll find out how well it brakes and turns and how to handle it when it loses traction, and so on. You have a great driving history and courses like Bates' will help you keep it. Good on your oldies!

[sl33py]

Haha @ good on oldies. Yeah, they're good like that.

Okey Dokey @ what ppl have said about warming up the engine and cool down, all makes sense.

As for the Civic, I'm gonna advertise it for around $11k-ish and just see what happens for a few weeks. It's a 96 CXi, stock except 1 month old Advanti R-Six 16 inch rims (matt finish), brand new Firenza tyres (the dots haven't even worn off yet), slight lowering and exhaust. It's got about 147 thou kms on the clock. I'm gonna be swapping out the Alpine CD head unit from the new 'line for the mp3 player in the Civic. The Civic's got a Mongoose M80S alarm on it. I've replaced all possible filters and serviced it (sick of Honda screwing stuff up!). Interior in good conditions, exterior has a coupla minor nicks (previous owner's handywork!). I haven't had any trouble in the 18 months I've owned it and obviously it runs on peanuts compared to a skyline. Just wanted something faster. It also has factory roofracks and headlight protectors and floor mats. It'll soon be advertised in allclassifieds or maybe a few other sites, soon as the audio is swapped out. After the transplant I'll also have an CD stacker, Alpine EQ head unit and either a Kenwood or Alpine amp to sell too (not sure which amp I'll keep yet) if anyone is on the look out for that stuff too.

[~Hypnotik~]

I highly recommend doing the defensive driving course. Just because you have only had one accident in 7 or so years doesn't mean you know everything about driving. Far from it!

When 90% of people do a defensive driving course it shows them how little they really do know about driving. It will open your eyes and if your smart will make you a much more carefull driver.

[thommo]

yep, definately do the defensive drivers course.

i was the same and thought i was a good driver, but it really does teach you some invaluable lessons about yourself and your car. its also a heap of fun too.

have fun with your new car mate!

[sl33py]

Dammit, front suspension bushes are split and a coupla other very minor things need fixing. Another few days wait for me

Is this something to worry about?

(from an NRMA report)

"Corrosion deposits build up in cooling system and hoses. Suggest chemical flush and refill with corrosion protection cleaner"

It only got an "M" (minor item to monitor).

The other things are "pfft yeah whatever" things e.g. license plate light out dealer's gonna fix them ALL for me anyway. it was just a surprise cos

a mate and I couldn't tell anything bad about the suspension during the test drives.

[Tigger]

Dont get too confident about your driving skills just yet.

I know of too many people, myself included, who have crashed their turbo cars less than a month into ownership because they thought they knew what they were doing.

Civic --> FWD with around 80kw from the engine.

R33 --> RWD with around 187kw (stock) from the engine.

I really recommend the driving course... especially get the hang of the rwd cars behaviour in the wet.

Congrats on the purchase and best of luck!

[sl33py]

Yeah I know the power differences, its the reason I got it hahah

[Terminal]

hope you enjoy your new skyline. i remember when i got mine my previous car had been a 1971 V8 kingswood wagon, man were they different cars. i knew to take it easy though and never had an accident in it.

you'll enjoy it so long as you're not stupid and get the cops onto you, you can't get away with much in a skyline.

I'm used to drivin' my Civic CXi (maybe 50rwkw?)

and just for the record, civic's don't have rwkw, they have fwkw.

[sl33py]

Ah.. been reading on this site too much, so think in rwkw now

[sl33py]

Took delivery today (and by that I mean drove it back to work in the lunch break).

.. what a *bastard* of a day to get it though! it's pi55in' down like there's no tomorrow, so i had to granny it all the way. Oh well, bring on the sun

[ORIGIN]

lucky bastard

yeah the weathers a pain...... i want sun!!

Edited October 20, 2005 by Boost32

[R33S2]

remember to change the oil every 5000ks (its for the turbo)

[sl33py]

My jaw hurts from smiling hahahahahhaahah

No problemo @ oil mod!