DTA (UK)

Let me know if you need any as I have plenty in stock at the moment! :) Regards, Dan PS - thanks for linking to the site guys!

Yes, but lack of WiFi makes it somewhat limited when compared to other smart phones (in particular the iPhone).

1000 x apologies for the thread hijack! Back on topic - there is a chap with two (yes, 2) R8's on his drive near to where I live. A silver one and a black one. As far as I can tell he lives on his own so why he would have two is beyond me unless he couldn't make up his mind about what colour so get! Lovely cars and I personally can't wait for the V10 version to come out!

Hi Mark, Hope you had a good Christmas & New Years! I just got off the phone with Alunox and their quoted price for NA headers is £520+VAT=£598 + shipping. I can do them for £535 plus £20 shipping. Unfortunately they are closing down at the end of the week for two weeks so won't be able to do them until end of the month. Lead time will then be 3 ~ 5 days. The kit includes a pair of headers, gaskets to the down pipes and studs/bolts. Let me know if you are interested in this. Regards, Dan

And the final 5!

And some more!

Ahhh ... yes, the IMSA Gallardo :) Very nice from a distance but unfortunately the body kit isn't as "perfect" as you would expect. For starters most of the panels are "glued" on (yes glued, not bonded) which has allegedly caused some embarassing moments for some owners when they arrive to find part of the wheel arch extension fell off somewhere along the journey ... oops! I've got 15 pics of the IMSA gallardo and I shall attach them here. Joel, if you want any of them in large size let me know and I'll e-mail them to you. ATB Dan

I've got H3C's in stock (£12/pair + £1.58 p&p)! Can get a set out to you today for delivery on Tuesday. As for the 100W bulbs - I do those as well but in practice they aren't that much brighter than the normal 55W bulbs. The problem with the headlights is not with the bulbs but rather with the headlight unit itself. Usually the problem is two-fold: (1) dirty glass on the inside and (2) poor alignment. Many years ago when I first cleaned my headlights on the inside the light output from the SAME stock halogen bulbs was increased by at least 50%. No real need to put higher wattage bulbs in. However, upgrading to HIDs made a heck of a difference but again, the improvement will only be maximised if the insides of the headlights are clean and dust/grime free. HTH Dan PS - don't buy the cheap 55W or 100W bulbs off eBay - I've bought them for comparison reasons with the bulbs I stock and found the eBay bulbs to be absolute crap!

Or if you need a new pair of upgraded xtreme white H3C bulbs - I've got some in stock. £12.00/pair plus £1.58 postage via Recorded Delivery. HTH Dan

Get the tracking sorted, then (if necessary) re-centre the steering wheel by taking it off and reinstalling it. Then, reset the ECU by disconnecting the - terminal for an hour or so. Reason for this is that your HICAS will have been disconnected due to the off-centre steering wheel. The HICAS ECU will automatically switch it self off when it realises that you are constantly "steering" at an angle even when going straight forward. HTH Dan

I think the OP may be referring to the SPLITFIRE DIRECT IGNITION kit which replaces the stock coil packs. If that is the case then, no - definitely not cheap at nearly £400 for a set of 6. The main benefit of these is at high rpms where stock coil packs experience a drop in voltage - these will maintain the correct voltage for longer resulting in more power/torque and less chance of detonation. HTH Dan If on the other hand you were refering to sparkplugs then yes, stay with NGK's.

Yes, it is a much newer system with updated soft- and hardware as the earlier system was a first generation development based on the original R&D done in the mid-80's.

Alunox made a series of NA headers for us (Smithy's Place) some time ago. I'm pretty sure there are still a few left over. I'll contact Leon and see what he still has and what the current price is. These headers are hand made from the highest grade stainless steel and guaranteed not to foul on anything. Specifically made to fit RHD cars. I'm pretty sure Alunox has shut down until the beginning of January so bear with me whilst I await an answer. Thanks, Dan

Hi Dave, I'm of the opinion that you should NOT decat the car. As you say, it's going to be a PITA at MOT time and you also risk oil seaping past the rear turbo seals and causing the exhaust to smoke due to a lack of back pressure. I have previously looked into hi-flow cats and these can be bought in the UK. They're not cheap and you would need them to be custom installed (with flanges custom welded, etc) but it is a good solution. I can't for the life of me find the suppliers that do these but I do remember they were based in the UK and did kits for various high performance cars (although the Z32 wasn't one of them at the time). I will see if I can find any of the old information I had over Christmas and get back to this thread. But, in a nutshell - hi-flow cats will maintain a certain amount of back pressure (although less than stock) and they will filter the fumes to meet current emmissions standards. Win-Win situation if you ask me! I'll start looking ... Regards, Dan

There used to be five of us living within a 1 mile radius and then there was only me. Now there is a stock silver JDM TT parked in a side street just off Toms Town Lane in Studley, Warwickshire (around the corner from me). I haven't seen an owner but it has been there every day for the past two months now. Come on, fess up ... who is it? Dan

A close friend of mine has a set of Spax lowering springs on his Mk4 and is very happy with them. Handling was improved no end and it also sits much nicer on the 20" Audi (A8) multispoke alloys. HTH Dan

I've just gone and picked up a wild boar roast! Will be roasting it in challots, mushrooms, carrots and a cider/mustard sauce. Had guiney foul last year (was good) and kangaroo the year before. As you can see, we like to have something a little out of the ordinary each year. :) Have had too much turkey already this year! Merry Crimbo! Dan

Although it sounds an absolute bargain I would still be wary of buying it (all IMHO of course). As with most cars, they all benefit from being driven regularly, even if it is only a short distance. It maintains lubrication to all the vital parts and prevents things from degrading and falling apart (ie, mice eating away at rubber pipes or electrical wiring, etc). I have recently seen a writeup of a car (non-Z32) that had been stood in a garage for 5 years. There was rust, seized brake calipers, rusted brake discs, all sorts of leaking fuel/oil/air lines & hoses, leaking seals, seized transmission, electrical problems, etc, etc. I understand that the seller is driving it in for you to see but I would go over the car with a fine tooth comb (incl. compression and leakdown test) before agreeing to buy it. £500 may seem little money but if you then subsequently have to spend £3k to get things back to standard operation again it will seem a waste of money. Good luck with viewing the car - I do wish you the best. The above may seem like "scare mongering" but it is best to start off with a pessimistic and overly critical view. It tempers the expectations and you won't be too disappointed if you decide to walk away. All the best, Dan

Yes, it's stunning. That colour is a special edition colour. I haven't got the colour code or name but it definitely isn't a pearl white.

If anyone is interested, DTA-Motorsport (in The Netherlands) have what is believed to be the ONLY 99-spec Version-R in Europe for sale! Freshly imported by them only a month or so ago, it is fully race prepared and available immediately. Being a late 1998 production date it should be fine to import into the UK before April 2009 when the rules are being tightened to 15 years (or so I have been told). Pictures (taken just this weekend) of the actual car for sale are attached and this is the spec of the car: '99 model 300ZX Version-R: - Right Hand Drive - Manual transmission - HICAS 4 wheel steering - Improved ABS system - Additional impact safety equipment not found on previous models - UV shield & heat insulating reflective window film (front windows - not windscreen) - Recaro seats - Genuine xenon headlights - Nismo 300kph speedo - Skyline GT-R32 brakes, slotted discs all round - Koyo uprated radiator - Volk Racing 18" wheels - ROLL CAGE - HKS boost controller - HKS Intercoolers - HKS oil cooler kit - Tein coilover suspension - Nismo tension rods - Nismo anti-sway bars - Nismo steering wheel - Trust/GReddy exhaust - Cusco Type RS 1.5 way differential PRICE = 15,500 Euro (fixed price - plus any additional costs incurred for importing into the UK and making road legal) If you are seriously interested in purchasing this car please either contact myself (0845 4744-382 or info@dta-motorsport.co.uk) or contact DTA (Netherlands) direct on info@dta-motorsport.com.

You're not going to find much of an improvement if you change to TT brakes. It was only the thickness of the disc that increased (and obviously the calipers to match). If you can get hold of a 350Z brake kit then that would be the way forward. Alternatively, you could opt for larger discs (say 324mm) and use a caliper relocating bracket to relocate your stock calipers outward. That will give you some better braking performance but no where near as good as the 350Z setup. HTH Dan

Hi Leigh! How's it going mate? Hope you and Lucy are keeping well and out of trouble ... ;) Up until about 3 years ago I used a Wacom tablet and can't recommend them enough. The things you need to look into is not just how big the tablet is but also what the resolution is that it supports, how many pressure levels it has and what software packages it supports. In my personal opinion, a smaller tablet is fine so long as the tablet supports high resolutions. It means you move your hand/arm less and can do more detailed work (especially handy if you work in Photoshop a lot with zoomed in artwork). I must admit that I haven't kept up with recent developments in this area so can't recommend a specific model of tablet but can honestly say that if you go down the route of a Wacom you won't be disappointed. All the best chap - regards to Lucy - and we need to get together again for a drink/meal! Cheerio! Dan

As you're not familiar with what is required and what is possible I would strongly suggest you take it to Europe's premier ZX specialist - DTA-Motorsport in Holland. They do every kind of service, build and tuning you could possibly imagine and are extremely well known throughout Europe. HTH Dan

Hi Alan, I lived in Hong Kong for three years and travelled extensively throughout China for business. I do not recall every visiting Xuzhou but I do know it is one of the eastern provinces half way between Shanghai to the south and Beijing to the north. Weatherwise she'll be fine as it is fairly temperate around there. However, and I say this with some reservation as I've not been there in a long time, if foreign investment isn't high (as in there aren't a lot of foreign companies and therefore nationtionals out there) then any city in China quickly becomes very isolated to our western expectations. If she is living amongst the locals (most likely) then she'll have to learn the local dialect as communication will be difficult. They are very friendly people but do take getting used to as both their culture and daily lives are so different from ours. If your daughter is prepared to keep an open mind and be flexible then I don't see any reason why she wouldn't enjoy herself. I would be worried if there aren't any other foreigners around for her to socialize with, especially in the beginning period that she's settling in. I have a close friend who is doing exactly the same as your daughter up in Beijing - has been there for 5 years now. She thoroughly enjoys her work, the people and the culture - she even learned the language! However, she is in Beijing which is infinitely more cosmopolitan than the majority of China (with exception of Shanghai). I wish your daughter the best of luck. If going there with the right attitude it can be a brilliant carreer for her and you should be very proud! :) HTH Dan

Hi Allan, As I now do the Smithy's pipes, you'll need the following sizes: TT Boost pipes: 10x 40-60mm 6x 60-80mm NA Intake pipes: 8x 60-80mm 6x 12-22mm (small vacuum take-offs) Radiator pipes: Top: 4x 32-50mm Bottom: 4x 32-50mm Twin induction kit: 6x 70-90mm If you need the jubilee clips for these let me know as I've got them in stock and I'm just south of Birmingham. Regards, Dan