Funkysi

There are a number of reasons that I haven't gone and am unlikely to go next year either....or rather this year now! Firstly, the show itself does not interest me in the slightest. Their website is terrible and seems to promote the fact that they have 5-a-side-football, a disco and tug-of-war as their main attractions - this is a car show, is it not? It's not in a central location, it's bloody miles away and lastly, a lot of these static type multi-marque events seem to attract the wrong type of people and with it, the wrong type of vehicle and it just isn't the sort of thing I'm interested in. From photos of the rest of the site, it appears more akin to those awful FastCar type shows in Doncaster. Appreciate it is what you make it and that people do seem to enjoy the 300zx stand. But camping in a muddy field with a lot of chavs just isn't for me I'm afraid. I have probably joined the pipe-and-slippers brigade who wear cloth caps and brogues, but I prefer that scene! :lol:

That's cool. Do you take the ferry from Santander or Bilbao or do you make the long trip to Dover?

It's not worth it knowing the different model scenes. It has been tried over the years and it doesn't really work. The best thing out there is ZClub

There's ZClub.net for that and the clubs do some joint stuff together - we usually go with them to Beaulieu.

That had crossed my mind. What are the legalities in keeping a UK car in Europe for an extended period of time? Do you have to take it back to the UK every 6 months or something?

Very nice. How come you bought a RHD?

And this is why I am quite fussy and selective about the shows I personally attend! :)

JAE locations seem to change every few years, I think you're maybe thinking of Japfest that has been at Castle Coomb for about 10 years and is now moving to Silverstone?

....I'll also add, it also depends on exactly how you get involved. Getting involved at a micro level as well as at a macro level is also a great way to enjoy being part of a club and sharing experiences. My trip to southern France with AndrewG and JoelyP wouldn't have been orchestrated in the way it was if I wasn't part of the club. Sure, we didn't need to be subscribed members to do what we did - but it felt like a mini club meet and was great to be representing the club in that way.

Whilst I would have asked the same question myself about 10 years ago, membership renewals and new members is extremely low. There are probably under 150 per year. Let's say the majority of those are membership renewals, that's £1500 in total. Now insurance at all these events will eat into that in a huge way, then you have all the other sundries such as stuff for club stands, t-shirts and other promotional stuff, in addition the hosting of the website, you'll begin to see that the spend is probably slightly more than the revenue stream. Club dedicated events are now very hard to organise. I've been involved with club stuff for well over a decade now and it isn't what it used to be. This has nothing to do with the club, it's actually to do with the amount of club members. It wasn't unheard of to get 25-30 cars at a regional event, whereas now, you'd be hard pressed to get more than a handful. We're a small club with a very small membership base, there's really only a few things that can be done. I don't go to JAE and have no plans to, so can't comment on that. But the bigger events that do get organised that I still attend are excellent. There's great camaraderie and lots of passion. Beaulieu is always good and that alone makes it worthwhile. The NEC has also been exciting to be part of. The odd regional meet in recent years that has gone ahead has usually had nice (but small) numbers and has always been fun. The big issue and what it all boils down to is the sum total of the ownership numbers. It's very small and getting smaller. You can say 'organise more', but it's not a case of 'if you create, they will go' as we are such a small club. It won't change either as membership numbers continue to dwindle. There'll always be a membership and I personally think smaller clubs like ourselves are far more personable than large clubs. Members become more friendly and stuff doesn't get diluted. I think the club is in a good position now as the Z becomes of age and I like the size it is. Do I wish we had more events? Probably (I'm very fussy on the events that I go to anyway), but those we do have and the membership ship we've got in my opinion are great! As an REO it is extremely difficult now to have regular gatherings. It's still a lot of work to organize the Beaulieu event despite it being a multi-region turnout. As an REO you have to keep beating the drum. Organising other regional events takes a huge amount of work in promoting it and you'll often have to get other clubs involved. I'd say we're doing 'ok' for the size of club we are and I still love the club. The beauty of a club this small for a car of this age/marque is that the regular members have been here for a very long time so there's a wealth of knowledge and some great friendships have been struck. I'd say that's as key to having loads of events up and down the country, something that a large club with big member numbers would be able to achieve on a regular basis.

There are so many ruined S15s about now. It's quite shocking. Stripped out or ratty drift turds or just nasty show cars.

An all too common occurrence, people think their cars are rust-free and they seldom are. Finding a really good rot-free example is hard but not impossible. Generally, the good ones get hold on to. I am only glad that my Z has zero rust as it's garaged and never driven in the wet/winter. If you can push your budget to £5k, you're probably better off with a freshly imported series 1 car. You might be able to get a series 2 for that...in TT and manual. They're going up in value in Japan, but good ones can be found and generally they're pretty much rust-free and not covered in bolt-on ebay junk and have half a boat grafted onto them.

Correct, but I added a dash of glue on mine. They're press-in. Wouldn't want them pop out!

Here's a Z in a red similar to the Mazda red. Not sure on paint code though.

It's been done many times and I've not seen any issues. The issues come when you run very high boost and bypass it, especially with a standard chip. There is a way of relocating the DET sensor - it's been discussed a number of times on twinturbo.net and there's even a kit for it. http://www.yugobernie.com/det_sensor.html I'm not totally convinced that the sensor would be picking up the most accurate detail, but again, not heard any issues of this being used either.

You need to click on 'subscribed sellers' in the drop down box.

Yup - very crisp. I 'true' red.

Just go to your local Mazda dealership, they may have one. It really striking in real life and is definitely a colour I'd consider if I had a red Z. It eclipsed every other car on the road - so bright and clean looking.

The brightest red I've seen is actually used on Mazda cars. The little Mazda 2 - I was blown away by how bright this looked in person. More vivid than the Audi colour, really vibrant!

No, it's only to do with the noise the sensor would pick up under pre-ignition. The sensor is often called a 'knock sensor'.

That's the DET sensor connector, the actual sensor is buried at the back between the heads. The sensor is basically a microphone that listens for engine knocking/pinking. If it does, the ECU would put itself into a limp mode (increased fueling and reduced boost) to prevent this.

They're dropping like flies! I hope they hurry up and find a cure for cancer! ONE DAY!

I fitted 4300k in my Z, I did have 6000k, but I didn't like it. 4300K looks a little more OEM rather than McDonalds.

As for the rust, they rust pretty much EVERYWHERE, except the doors strangely enough and the bonnet (as it's made from aluminium). Really prone areas are sills, rear arches, fuel cap area, inner rear arches and front cross member.