DTA (UK)

Yes, (new) parts are definitely getting more expensive. Nissan is consistently revising their prices (upwards) and, courtesy of the weak Pound versus just about every other currency out there, all import part prices have gone through the roof. A number of manufacturers have gone bust over the past few months and those that are still in business have revised their pricing and minimum order policies. Point in case, Apexi Japan (where I used to get my Apexi filters from) have practically doubled their prices and set the minimum order quantity at 50 units!!! Needless to say I (and everyone else) have started looking elsewhere for Apexi filters which has lead to a global shortage! Unbelievable but true.

Hi Steve, No, all KSport BBK's are now of the black (upgraded) variety but calipers can of course always be relacquered if required ;) Will e-mail you tomorrow with prices and dimension as I'm just about to shoot off for the day. Cheerio! Dan

Glad to hear the car is finally being worked on Steve! Bet you forgotten what it looks like by now! :) If you do want to go down the KSport route let me know as I can get some decent prices on their kits at the moment. I also have a list of actual disc & caliper clearance requirements - will dig it out and e-mail it to you. That way you can decide whether the kit will fit inside your wheels. As for more bling - just let me know what you require when you're ready. ;) All the best, Dan PS - don't forget to let me know when I can post out your HID kit.

Just to add to that list of unmarked cars operating in the Warwickshire/Worcestershire/Birmingham area (M6/M40/M42/M5): BMW335i - silver (58-reg) BMW5xx - black (unsure of reg but current model) Volvo V70 T5 - white (56- and 57-reg) Skoda Octavia - silver (08-reg) Jaguar XJ - grey (yes, really :eek:) The above is obviously not a definitive list but just what I have personally seen on my travels. Also worthy of a mention, the active traffic management system on the M42 between J4 and J6 (both North & South bound) has a number of cameras positioned on gantries. These are set quite sharply on whatever the current (variable) speed limit is at the time - ie, not a lot of leaway. This info courtesy of my wife who found this out to her detriment travelling at 63mph (60mph limit indicated) at 2.35am ... :rant: The active traffic management system is currently being expanded so beware of SPECs as well on both the M42 and M6 around B'ham. Happy motoring!

;) There you go Steve - straight from the man himself!

Hi Steve, First of all - hope you're ok mate! :) Secondly, I've personally not heard any bad reports about the KSport big brake kits, especially the most current kits. With regard of putting the 3G's on the back and retain the handbrake assembly - you have a slim chance of doing that. What I do know is that the KSport 330mm/6-pot rear kit is compatible with the OEM handbrake assembly so that might be a route for you to take. The best setup that I've ever had the pleasure of driving was 356mm/8-pot up front and 330mm/6-pot at the rear. These were KSport items with Ferodo DS2500 pads (not the standard KSport pads). Very well ballanced and prograssive braking. If you don't want to go down the KSport route (which would appear to be the case) then try to get hold of a 350Z track spec brake kit. These are larger than the normal 350Z discs (I believe 352mm versus 324mm for stock 350Z) and work extremely well. I believe Jimmer has this kit on his car so perhaps he could expand on this. Otherwise try ask Smithy what he's got on his car (can'r remember whether they are KAZ or KAD calipers ...) They are very good as well. All the best mate! Dan

The little switch is to turn the inverter on/off regardless of the live feed. Basically a safety feature should you not wish to have the sills on whilst the doors are open.

Hi Pete, My pleasure - hope you'll enjoy the experience. I certainly do! Had to clean the tank today and do a part water change (as you do every 2 weeks) and had a hell of a time trying to find all the baby snails! Should have 12 but could only find 10! I use a battery powered "hoover" to clean the gravel and if I were to accidentally suck up a baby snail then that'll be it - the propellor will crush it ... :( They're only about the size of a small pea and grey shelled to boot so almost impossible to spot on the gravel! Found them all in the end and removed them before commencing my "hoovering"! :) In any case, have a look at the following forum: http://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/ I frequent that and it gave me all the info I was looking for when I first got started. Friendly and helpful bunch of people too! Cheerio! Dan PS - if you're going for a tropical setup make sure you get a decent (adjustable) heater and put a plastic guard around the element as (warm-blooded) fish won't realise when they burn themselves (if they touch the element) ... You can get the heater covers from most aquatic shops that also sell heaters. I've got a 150W heater in my 60L tank and it keeps the water temp perfectly constant at 24.6C.

Am no guru either but try to angle the cooler forward slightly so that the air hits the fins at an angle. This will help keep air flowing through the cooler at high speed. Theory is that if air hits a solid object at a right angle then at some point a "cushion" of air will form in front of the object and prevent the air from reaching it. If the object is at an angle this problem will not manifest itself until a much higher velocity is reached (well beyond the limit of our cars). HTH Dan

Hi Pete, I got started with a tropical fish tank about 5 years ago. The most important thing is to set it up correctly and "cycle" the water & filtration system before introducing fish. "Cycle" refers to the nitrogen cycle whereby fish waste is turned from Amonia to Nitrate into Nitrite. You need to keep these levels under control as this could be poisonous to the fish. You cycle a fish tank by letting it sit for approx. 6 weeks (with the filters running and all decorations in place) and monitoring the various chemical levels. You'll notice the amonia concentration will spike before going down again. This will cause so-called "friendly" bacteria to establish themselves and start breaking down the Amonia. You are looking to create a happy equalibrium. pH level stability is also very important. This takes time to settle and is sensitive to the type of substrate and decorations you use in the tank. You can buy so called pH-buffer solutions but these only temporarily level off the pH level. After a few days the pH level will spike again. These spikes are not good for the fish and can cause all sorts of health issues. Basically, when you have a stocked aquarium you are managing water quality not so much the fish themselves. Once you have cycled the tank and are sure the water chemical composition is in equalibrium then you can start to introduce fish - a few at a time. By adding a few fish at a time you will not "shock" the "cycle" and throw it out of whack again. I started out with a 60L hexagonal shaped fish tank. It took 6~8 weeks to cycle and then another 8 weeks to stock the tank. I now have about 20 community fish happily living in it and also keep a pair of snails and some shrimps to keep the algae growth under control. Anyway - I could go on forever ... If you want to discuss this further I'm always happy to dispence information so give me a call. Good luck! Dan

NO. That is only the case on a UK-spec car (front = 225/50R16 rear = 245/45R16). A JDM car has 225/50R16 all-round.

Spot on Joel! Phil - I did used to sell our so-called "budget big brake upgrade kit" but it was strictly for street use only. It was always meant to be a "stop-gap" solution for people who were wanting to upgrade to GTR-33 calipers/discs but either couldn't afford it or couldn't find the calipers at the time. The caliper relocation brackets we sold as part of the kit were made so that you could swap the stock caliper for the GTR-33 Brembo jobbies without having to buy another bracket. I still have a load of relocation brackets left unsold. Ideal for cars running 324mm discs and either standard or Brembo calipers. RRP = £80.00 but will sell to subscribed members on this forum for £50.00 incl. postage and new high tensile bolts.

Doubt it will be headgaskets - more likely rocker cover gaskets. These are prone to leak after a while. Other than that it could be a PCV valve hose that's started to leak oil onto the hot manifold although this is rare. Good luck with your search. Dan

Hi Ad, That's not too bad at all! Consider yourself lucky! My answers are in your original message below: I hope the above has been useful in some way. Good luck! Dan

You get what you pay for ... (as is the case with so many products these days ...) I made an enquiry about 2 years ago for a Lambo customer of mine who wanted to wrap his Gallardo with an Army camo theme. At the time it cost approx. £2900 (excl. vat) to do the whole car and it would have take approx. 2 days to apply.

I can indeed obtain every possible size of jubilee, t-bolt or spring clip clamp. The reason I don't offer a set clip kit for all the various hoses in the engine bay is because there are so many of varying sizes. If you have a good idea of what the outside diameters of the hoses are and how many clips you require respectively then I can get the appropriate clips sorted for you.

Jimmy, The reason your discs cracked is NOT because they were drilled, it is because you were using stock calipers/pads on a larger disc. As stated (by yourself) previously, the inside surface area of the disc was wasted. When using the brakes agressively (ie, track day use) the fact that you are only using a small proportion of the disc and poor heat dissipation of the caliper means that there is a much higher propability of the disc overheating. This is especially the case when you come to a stop after a track session and stay on the brakes too long whilst standing still. This will cause local overheating which in turn may cause the disc to crack. I have seen this on one other occassion on a 300 running bigger discs with stock calipers. Drilling/grooving discs introduces "imperfections" and reduces the effective surface area of a disc but it is a compromise between gas dissipation and effective braking. With regard to your new Porsche calipers & discs - the calipers will accept a range of disc sizes. For example, the KSport 8-pot calipers used with their 330mm discs also works with their 356mm discs. Therefore, your best bet is to contact a Porsche dealer/parts department and ask them what size discs that particular caliper accepts. When you get the brackets made up make sure they are made from either mild steel or preferrably aero grade aluminium. Also, make sure you use the highest rated high tensile bolts to secure the bracket to the hub and the caliper to the bracket. You really don't want to be scrimping money here ... Good luck! Dan

A properly "wrapped" vehicle can remain so for up to 5 years without problems (provided it is looked after and stone chips properly laquered to prevent tears, etc). This is very popular amongst owners of high end cars and I've recently seen a number of Lambos and Fezzas wrapped in either matt black or even (some) chrome. Very impressive and a great way to change the colour of a car.

PMSL! LOL! ;) No worries Dave - totally understand ... BTW - your suspension parts should be starting to make their way over from the US later this week ... They are solid (ie, real carbon fibre) which is supplied with high strengthe double sided tape (3M) pre-administered to the back. So, provided your B-pillar posts are completely grease free then the CF covers should never come off. So, to answer your question - they can be sprayed if you like. HTH Dan

10- to 13-row half-width coolers are more than sufficient. If you look at rally and GT3 race cars they only ever use a maximum of 13-row coolers and their engines are under far more load/stress than our engines. I can get every conceivable size cooler and fittings but will need to check on current pricing as that will no doubt have changed since the last time I looked ... :( Will post up costs later or at the weekend.

That'll be because he bought them off ME ! ;) LOL Have a look at http://www.smithys-place.co.uk/cf.php Available from stock for both 2+2 and 2+0. ;) Dan

You can actually slow the flow of exhaust gasses down by going for too big a bore pipe work. This will then result in loss of bhp. For a TT the optimum bore size is 3", anything larger and you risk slowing the gasses down. You can fit what ever size exhaust tips on an exhaust system - this has no bearing on the flow rate of exhaust gasses as it is usually slowed down by the back boxes anyway. If you have a straight through system without back boxes & cats then the exhaust tips should be the same bore size as the rest of the pipe work. Just my 2P worth.

Hi Ian, In order of your questions: 1. Wider wheels increase the contact patch with the road, therefore (theoretically) increasing grip for accelleration, braking and over all handling 2. Apart from increased cost per tyre/alloy there aren't many downsides. If geometry isn't set properly then the wider tyres tend to wear quicker than thinner tyres. Also, as width of the tyre increases the depth of the side wall decreases. This reduces the secondary suspension characteristics which manifests itself as a slightly more rigid ride (when compared to thinner width wheels) 3. No, apart from the physical width of the rear wheels there is no difference between JDM and UK spec wheels 4. Yes, you can fit the UK size rear wheels directly onto a JDM rear. The tyres are only a few mm wider but will not stick out or rub on the wheelarch. 5. Yes, you can fit the narrower import rears onto a UK car without any problems. FYI: UK-spec size wheels/tyres: Front: 225/50Z16 (= 8" width wheels) Rear: 245/45Z06 (= 8.5" width wheels) JDM-spec size wheels/tyres: Front & Rear: 225/50Z16 (= 8" width wheels) I hope the above has explained it, if not I'm sure someone else will come along with the answer shortly! All the best,

As Jimmy said, any new exhaust will NOT come with O2 sensors and turbos are unrelated to the exhaust system so you do NOT need to change them either. I can see where this is coming from though ... The O2 sensors (also known as Lambda sensors) are located in the manifold, the bit that sits just before the catalytic converters. In turn the catalytic converters have EGT (exhaust gas temperature) sensors in them. So, if you buy a pair of de-cat pipes then the EGT sensors will be lost. This is perfectly ok and you just need to make sure the wires are insulated sufficiently so as not to short out on any metalic chassis parts. If you purchase a cat-back exhaust and retain the catalytic converters then you don't need any new sensors. With regard to changing turbos, the removal of catalytic converters will reduce the back pressure on the turbos significantly. This will allow them to spool up faster but at the same time may allow oil to trickle past the rear turbo seals (which are probably worn out after being on the car for 15+ years). This manifests itself as heavy smoking when the car is idling. To rectify this you need to remove the turbos and replace the turbo seals (or get new turbos). Hope the above was useful information. Regards, Dan

As it is for a NA there is not that much that can be changed. Ignition timing and A/F mapping changes will hopefully result in some more useable torque in the lower to mid rev range. Don't think you'll need a rolling road session as you can't alter the parameters on the chip anyway. As for the ECU swap, make sure that when when you tighten up the big blue ECU connector that you don't over tighten it and that it goes on true and straight. A lot of people experience all sorts of strange electrical problems if they've over tightened the connector or it isn't sitting straight. Hand tight is good enough. Good luck and many happy miles! :) Regards,