DTA (UK)

Our stainless steel boost pipe kits consist of the four hard pipes (polished to a mirror finish), silicone couplers (in Red, Blue, Yellow or Black) and stainless steel bands. The price for this lot comes to £248 delivered. That's about £63 more expensive than the Injen kit from the ZCentre (after you add VAT and carriage costs). Choice is yours - if you're after durability and high quality craftmanship then our stainless steel kit is what you want. If your budget doesn't stretch that far then the ZCentre kit may be for you. We [DTA] also do a matching upper and lower radiator pipe kit in stainless steel. If you want to discuss this purchase further I can be reached on 07044016586. All the best, Dan

No worries mate :D

Yes, they're ok and fit is ok (not great but ok). Just remember that the injen pipes are made from polished aluminium and are prone to discolouration over time (unlike stainless steel ...)

Or give me a shout - I sell A'PEXi induction kit for the 300ZX which have been proven to be the best on the market. Piece of cake to fit too! Dan

Okey Dokey! ;) Regards, Dan

Derek, I sell these (as you're probably aware) and am in the Midlands - well, Warwickshire to be precise but only on the outskirts of Birmingham ...) Give me a call on 07044016586 and we can arrange to meet up somewhere convenient and I'd be happy to give you a demonstration. Regards, Dan

Ballast packs shorting out other electrical systems on the car is (unfortunately) a common occurance. I always advocate isolating the ballast packs with either rubber grommets, etc. However ... "proper" ballast packs should be isolated inside their container - our X3 systems are and because of that they can be mounted straight onto the chassis without the use of isolation materials. I can't speak for your ballast packs but it is plausible that they are the cause of the headlight problems. I have also heard that certain HID kits, which use a direct 12V feed off the battery and run separate igniters and ballasts, are more susceptible to causing electrical problems. Not wanting to speak ill of the quality of other HID kits, it does pay to spend a little extra money for quality kits. I hope the isolation of your ballast packs sorts your problems out. ATB Dan

Hi Si! Your car may display the same symptoms as mine did a year or so ago ... namely tired and sagging OEM springs. I too thought my car was lowered because when it was parked next to a Z with lowering springs mine was actually lower! When I replaced the springs it turned out that after 16 years of use the springs were compressed when compared to new OEM springs. Not sure if this is the case with yours but it's worth bearing in mind. Cheers mate! Dan

LOL I know - I sell them ... ;) Thanks though. Andy - yep, I think a C-Spanner will do the trick ;) ATB Dan

Thanks very much Pete - that is much appreciated. I'm off to find a ---¬_ shaped ring spanner ;) If you do think of of the name please let me know. All the best, Dan

Hi, I "may" soon be putting on some nice 19" wheels on my car and am looking to buy lowering springs from Mike at MJP. On his website he states you can specify the drop, spring rate, etc and as I'm looking to keep the ride height as close to stock as possible (whilst reducing the arch gaps) I thought these would be the right choice. For the time being they'll go over stock JDM struts (relatively new). Questions: (1) Has anyone else bought these springs from MJP? And if so how do you rate them? (2) I'm looking to install these myself - what specialist tools are recommended? Many thanks! Dan

My Apologies for stating people missed the point. Had a crap weekend and looks like it'll be a crap week ahead as well. No excuse (I know) but I guess it gets on my wick - especially when I'm already p*d off - when people don't stay on-topic, etc. however slight the deviation may be. Once again, I apologise and will rephrase my original post. Dan

I think we need to get back to the point here. Dave is looking for opinions on the X5, it's going to be driven by his wife and by the looks of things he's looking to buy her a safe and comfortable car. It's highly unlikely that she'll be taking the car off road and if they're considering an X5 then fuel economy is obviously not the most important factor in their decision making process. I have driven both diesel and petrol variants of the X5 (3.0d, 3.0i, 4.4i and 4.8i). In my opinion the X5 is one hell of a car. It's both comfortable and spacious, carries a certain amount of "caché" (whether that's "posh" or "gangster" ... you decide) and offers superb safety features. I found the 3.0i to be a little under powered (especially as I was hauling four adults through the mountains of Bavaria at the time) but all in all a very capable car and easy to live with on a day-to-day basis. The 3.0 diesel felt "torqueier" than the equivalent petrol engine and I consider this to be the best compromise (performance/enjoyment vs purchase/maintenance cost). The 4.4i was good fun but for my money the 4.8i is my top choice. Of course it is also the most expensive one in their lineup ... If you are considering safety, reliability, comfort, internal space and maintenance/running costs then I would suggest the 3.0 diesel. If your budget allows then the 4.4i or 4.6i gives you more performance but the same safety, reliability, etc. features of a 3 liter. There are a lot of 3.0d cars available at the moment. Probably because a lot of them were used as company cars (and therefore well maintained) which have now come to the end of their lease term. High mileage shouldn't put you off with these cars so long as they come with a full service history. I hope the above has been of some interest/use - good luck with the search! ATB Dan

Hi all, I've got an Alpine "DAB ready" head unit in the car (has been in for about two years now) and I'd like to start using the DAB facilities. However, a separate unit is required (TUA-T100DAB) but nobody seems to have any. Phoned Alpine today and was told those units were discontinued about 12 months ago and they too have none left - so I'm out of luck. I was wondering if anybody on this forum has any connections anywhere who may have one of these lying around. I don't mind second hand/refurbished/whatever so long as it works. I have checked the usual suspects (ie eBay, etc) but nothing ... Many thanks for your feedback. Regards, Dan

I know the owner of the company quite well (Michael Bristow) ... he's a very nice and knowledgeble chap and has invested a lot of time, expertise and money into this venture. I was invited by the Invicta company to the launch of the car a couple of years ago at the NEC in B'ham. Back then the car was going to be based around a souped up Mustang engine and cost £70k. However, development costs and new regulations have pushed that price well up to over £100k o.t.r. which I think will hurt their sales. It's a relatively unrecognised brand (unless you are familiar with the Invictas of yesteryear) as well as unproven quality. I've had the good fortune of having driven one of their pre-production models early last year and nearly joined them for the European Cannonball Run but the car was pulled out at the last moment. From driving the pre-production model I can say that it is a very quick car but the car I drove needed it's suspension/geometry revising as it was all over the place. No doubt they have that sorted now as customer deliveries have started. I recently saw one in Brighton parading up and down the boulevard (poser!) Dan

1. Colour coordinating the side lights/fog lights: I've got LED bulbs for the side lights which are very close to 6000K in colour (ie good match for 6000K HID kits). Price: £17/pair 2. Colour coordinating main beam: this is very difficult to do because there are only a handful of H1 55W bulbs that can match the 6000K colour temp of the HIDs. I don't have these in stock at the moment but can get them via special order. Price: £20/pair 3. HID kits will only convert the dip beam, therefore your main beam remains halogen. You can, if you are so inclined, convert your main beam to HID as well but this is not recommended. Why? Because main beam is primarily used for flashing and the life of a HID bulb is directly related to how often it is flicked on/off. You are better off fitting colour coordinated H1 halogen bulbs to your main beam. 4. Andrew - in stock configuration (ie dip = HID / main = halogen) the flashing pattern is as follows: Lights off: flash = main on/dip off Lights on (ie dip on): flash = main on/dip off I would very much like to get the car rewired to either keeping both the dip and main on during flashing or (and in my opinion better still because then you can fit HIDs in the main as well) wire the system up to flash the fog lights rather than the main beam. I hope the above has been of some use to you. If there are any more questions, please feel free to ask me. Regards, Dan

Hi Syed, If you're after a genuine Nissan Consult then be prepared to pay thousands of pounds for a battered and bruised one. Much better to go with our DTA ConZult - which will run on any PC/Laptop and is much more user-friendly. Cost for the item is £275 and this includes all the hardware, software, instructions and Special Delivery. Give me a shout on 07044016586 and I'll get you sorted. PS - your laptop will require a free serial port or a USB port (£15 for a usb/serial converter) Regards, Dan

I used to live in Midlevels and the Peak (HK Island). Worked for AT&T in Causeway Bay and before that for Bechtel at both their Chek Lap Kok (ie new airport) office and KCRC (train) office in Sha Tin. Very fond memories and would go back to live there any day! Enjoy the trip! Dan

FYI - the stainless steel bottom rad pipe has now been modified to avoid this problem. Top of the vertical pipe has been bent roughly 10 degrees to make sure it is situated well away from the pully. The design now follows the stock rubber pipe shape more closely.

I often see a silver ZX with a HUGE rear spoiler in the car park of the Navigation Inn pub in Stoke Prior (Bromsgrove). Anyone on here? Regards, Dan

This would not be a good "investment" for the club because: (a) The model report is too "specific", ie you'd need one for all the variants built during that particular model year, (b) 99-spec cars still commision a lot of money in Japan and hence would be considered "too expensive" to get on the road in the UK, © At that price, why would anyone buy a Zed when they can easily buy a used 350Z, etc. for similar money I could go on ... In theory it's a nice idea but in practise you'll find it won't make financial sense. Now, here's another question: What are the legalities of importing a 99-spec ZX through a third country? Ie, import it into say Germany or Holland (has to be an EU country), have them perform all the regulatory checks, etc on it and get the car registered, then import it to the UK as an EU car, hence circumventing the model report, ESVA regs? Not sure if this would work and the legalities should be thoroughly investigated but it is worth checking out if you're really serious about importing a 99-spec ZX. I know of at least one person who is looking to import a 99-spec into Holland at the moment.

OK Chris, will PM you in a minute. Cheers, Dan

Yes sir! Completely identical to the original Nissan H3C bulbs - only ours burn whiter/brighter due to the inclusion of Xenon gas in the bulbs. Items are currently in stock. Regards, Dan

Keith, can you please keep me in mind if/when you decide to sell it - can possibly use it for a DTA-UK "project" ... Thanks! Dan

I hope for your sake you got away with it. However, the police no longer need to be on your tail to record your speed. So long as they have their camera on and can see you in the distance it is "good" enough for them to either pull you over on the spot (which I would have thought they'd have done in your case as you were clearly doing nearly twice the speed limit) or prosecute you later. I really hope you got away with it.