RichardS

Hope so, but I doubt it :headvswal Honestly, when I saw the tax and NI totals on my P60 this year I felt like I'd bought the fekking country rather than contributed to its running....... :mad: Then I think of the tax I (and the rest of us here) pay on fuel and......... :mac1: Richard

I think it's just the J-spec TTs or the highly tuned examples that show a real difference in performance over regular unleaded. I drive a UK spec TT with just an induction kit mod and TBH the only difference I've noticed with Optimax is a few more MPG. Not a great deal more, just enough to match the extra cost of the fuel I reckon. Then the UK spec car was programmed for 95RON whereas the J-spec TT would be better on the higher octane stuff. If I've ever had a dodgy batch of fuel though I have topped up with Optimax on the halfway mark and it does sort things out...... Richard :smw:

....and just when the regulars had started drifting back into the area....... Sorry, poor taste joke there :o :nelson: Just have to keep a sense of humor about the way of the world at present otherwise I'd probably go completely :wack: Richard :( :(

Hi mate, welcome to the forum. This must have been a bad example - an SWB would of course be an import, so for an import to be that rusty.....well, I'd stay well clear! :eek: Plenty of good examples for sale on here at the moment - they have the advantage of having been well looked after by enthusiasts so should be better than the Auto Trader offerings. Good hunting Richard :smw:

I'll be there too :hyper: Richard :D

Steve mate, If that's her in your avatar pic she can come round and bother me with the hoovering as much as she wants.... :rofl: :D Richard ;)

Sound like a real bargain - as Ryan says his price of £450 is V.good :eek: Surely the parts alone come to almost £250 - more if you replace the belt tensioner as this runs to a few pounds....:confused: Nice one on getting it done for that, though Mark :bow: Richard ;)

There are pros and cons for each argument, but at the end of the day a good ZX is a truly great car be it Uk spec or import. It's true there are very few good UK cars left, many lost to accidents and the tin moth but they still do exist. Equally there are many rough imports, especially the latest lot coming over now filling the Autotrader pages at £3000. And they do all seem to have "56000 miles" :confused: I suspect they are clocked by the dealers once they arrive, rather than in Japan though. The important thing is to buy a good ZX whatever version you go for. Me? I wouldn't mind if it were UK or import, as long as it was sound and I liked it. But if there were 2 A1 condition, similar mileage etc, Zeds side by side for sale, identical but for 1 being a UK and 1 being an import; I'd chose the UK spec. Richard :D

With those vents in your headlight panel, I'd say your thoughts are most probably correct ;) Richard :smw:

Not really, just replace at 55-60K miles as a routine. If you have just bought the car and don't know when/if it was done, then do it anyway. Whilst doing the cambelt, change the waterpump, thermostat those 2 little coolant hoses at the front of the engine and the other drive belts (PAS, A/C and alternator). They all need to be removed anyway and Murphy's law tells us that if you don't, they will need replacing within a few months.... ......I learnt from experience :mac1: :o Richard :smw:

I have to question this too...... I'm no expert, but check out the leather gear knob in pic 4. Is it just the light giving some shine or does it look very worn for a 15K mile car..... :confused: Nice ZX otherwise, though but I don't care for that stick-on dial housing above the centre air vents. Richard ;)

Ditto..... ....buyer beware! I know the price of the ZX has apparently fallen recently but IMO that is due to the number of bad examples being peddled out there. Unfortunately that will affect the price of good ones as buyers simply compare prices in the adverts without seeing the cars. Take your time and buy wisely, look what cars are for sale here on the forum as they will have been well looked after. Oh and beware of new imports - most of the good ones were imported ages ago, traders are importing any old crap now and they all seem to have 56000 miles on the clock..... :confused: Good hunting Richard :cool:

Common prob with the stock sponge spoiler - water soaks into it over time and will get into the tailgate and rot it eventually. Best cure as per above post :) - I did this and all is now well...... Richard :smw:

The very ZX that whipped the 350Z on Top Gear "Old Vs New" :bow: :bow: Nuff said....... Richard :dance:

I agree that the ZX brakes are actually pretty good - you would expect them to be in such a high performance car. The problem is age - they deteriorate over the years and with a heavy fast car like the ZX, will suffer more with time than someone's E reg VW mentioned earlier. The rubber hoses will probably be stretched to b*ggery by now....... Calipers sticking is the most common problem. One of my Mk3 Soops also suffered from this, but I've been lucky with the ZX so far..... I've had my calipers checked out and they are fine, I also run Brembo slotted front discs with Stillen metal pads and on the rear, stock discs with EBC black-stuff pads and have no problems. They work just fine at low speeds and very well at high speeds. I could probably do with a fluid change now though and will go for the s/steel braided hoses at the same time. Richard :cool:

Are you chopping a few inches off the back as well, then Mark.....?? ....That one in your sig pic is an SWB :slap: :p :rofl: Richard :D

Doesn't Jeff at Z-world break them for spares? Richard :)

Me too..... ...leave the chrome for classic MGs etc :smash: Ever seen two 5 series Beemers side by side, otherwise identical apart from one with chrome window surrounds and one with black? The black looks so much more modern and sporty and the chrome looks like a grandad's car :hurl: But hey, each to their own :dance: Richard :cool:

Jesus, Mark..... :shock: WTF are you doing to it :confused: Richard ;)

As above please...... .....They have just given me a quote of £299 for a S/S (T304 grade) cat back exhaust system fully fitted to my ZX...... :shock: They are based in the Midlands (Walsal IIRC) - anyone used them or heard anything about them? Thanks Richard :cool:

I figure my question - "Why do you still employ that fat useless c*nt Prescott in your cabinet" - may not be answered :rolleyes: :slap: Richard :p

Oh yes... :dance: I did this too - and to all the VW drivers at work who wondered why I turned down a BMW or Audi company car :tongue: Richard :cool:

It's not Marshal's is it? His has those wheels IIRC..... Richard :cool:

And if you're (un)lucky you might bump into Rod Stewart (or his mrs :dance: :shock: ) - his mansion in Epping is on the Copped Hall Estate. (Copped Hall for the un-enlightened, is the derelict house with the big chimneys you can see from the M25 between Waltham Abbey and the M11) I remember taking a walk there a few years back and peering through the hedge of a house almost next to Rod's. The residents and their mates were playing croquet - in the nude!! :shock: Richard :slap:

A cheaper and IMO better upgrade is to convert to UK bulbs by adding the earth wire (do a search for how to), then use the H3 bulb which the UK car does. You can get a wider choice of bulb then - go for Osram Super +30% from http://www.powerbulbs.com for only £14.50. I had these on my UK car prior to the ID conversion and they were excellent - every bit as good as PIAAs for a fraction of the cost. Richard ;)