mines twinturbo

I will check it. Last time it was ok but I am paranoid about over-filling it as i know that can blow the seals out. I have had the z centre oil-cooler upgrade fitted too. Do I check the level when it is hot or cold? What spec of oil goes in? Chris

My Jap has zero rust too but blew an autobox quick as the jap ones have a next to uselessly small autobox cooler. This is an essential upgrade to a jap auto. There is a tiptronic style upgrade available for the auto so don't rule it out. As far as tail happy is concerned this is an occupational hazard of Z ownership but I highly recommend racelogic traction control which is an awesome upgrade especially if you have tuned the car too. Chris

Whilst cruising in overdrive just over a 3 figure speed (at the nurburgring of course) a porsche 911 came along side for some fun. So I kicked down but the box just lost all drive to the wheels and the engine spun around to the red line leaving me red faced and wondering what TF happened. :headvswal I backed off the throttle and the drive came back with a jolt and clunk then only by smoothly pressing down on the accelerator did it behave a re-attempt to kickdown resulted in the same thing. Note I had covered about 200miles at this point car was warmed up and had driven faultlessly til then at an average 85mph cruising speed. So....... What could this be????? I am in the final stages of preparing for my big trip to the ring so do not want this dangerous issue coming up there (erm again...). Note my autobox was re-conditioned at Ztech earlier in the year and has run faultlessly since but admittedly I have not tried this at these speeds before. It seems like something could be wrong with overdrive (didn't know if that was included in the re-con) but any expert advice would be welcome. Thanks Chris

End of this month mate on the gumball type trip called Destination Nurburgring. Going with One of our employees with his M5 V10 me in the Z and our good ladies along for the ride Chris

thanks i will set em then see how that works. I am going to the ring at the end of this month :) so will see how those settings work. A lot of folks i have spoken too say road settings are good for the ring cause any harder has the car dancing around all over the sometimes crappy surface :rolleyes: Chris

bump please?

Wow looks like my suspenny will eventually be set up soon as the KYB AGX (same as nismo S-tune) dampers will soon be fitted to compliment my poly bushes, pillow ball upper mounts and eibach springs all-round. I also have white-line anti-roll bars front and rear so...... Anyone running a set-up similar? If so what settings do you advise for the KYB's (front and rear)? My driving habits are fast twisty B roads lots of 200 miler motorway sprints and end of this month the nurburgring :nana2: so setting suggestions much appreciated. Chris

Team, Any idea where these are and anyone fitted aftermarket ones? Install photos much appreciated Chris

I know this is a problem for which I will get little sympathy but the thing is so much of the car purchasing behaviour that we learn as we grow is driven by price that we dream of stuff on the journey but when actually faced with actually doing it there are different things vying for your money. School fees or a Ferrari? Property investment or a porsche, Life experiences or the acquisition of stuff? For sure sitting in a £100k car going nowhere on the M6 soon puts the whole experience in its place believe me. My real problem........ I had for a while started leaning from the Z to a ferrari 456GT V12 2+2 (i love the idea of uberfast 2+2's that don't look like estate cars hence the Z.) The 456GT Pinifarina themselves describe as the most beautiful car they ever styled and it sure is nice. It also has a classier image than most of the range without the british stuffy tweed feel that an aston has. BUT....................... £33,000 for a twelve year old car is what it is.......... The question I put to you whether you care to consider it or not is..... Is it worth 26K more or not? My Z has been fettled to probably good as new stop, go, handle etc and maybe worth 6k I concluded what the extra 26k would get me? Kudos? OK more than the Z but the Z is nicely rare enough to not be an everyday sight and i like to wear my labels on the inside having gone through all that designer stuff when I was a wannabe. Looking back i realise how fookin ridiculous I looked armani'd up at 21. Performance? ok slightly very sightly more but my Z has enough upgrades for it to be no difference MPG !!! not a factor for me really (most costs incurred doing business so I re-coup those) Getting extra snivelly sucking up service by some establishments.....Dont want to eat / drink / sleep in such shallow places anyway.......I'll leave that for the nouveau A/B/C list whatevers! Anyway pst. I want to share something about our Z'ds. They are cool as fook because they come from an era when engineers could still spend loads on a 4 wheel steering system and not have some accountant veto it because of cost. They are so so good that the leap to 'the-next-level' whatever that might be is still not enough after all these years to truly make it worth it. let me explain........... One of my business partners came to a meeting the day he got his aston and placed what I swear was a ford focus key on the table next to my titanium Z key, call me shallow but I could not stop laughing out loud and all gathered had to laugh along........The aston, Its Good but not that good. Meanwhile the Z is a car that was so good in its day that even now i don't ever think it reached the respect that its abilities and value for money should command. Now if the badge was different and the japanese had never caught-up and passed the europeans we would not be having this conversation.....Funny ol thing progress. Similarly if the business grows i have concluded that to buy say a lambo you really have to be so into cars (and I think i am) that you would choose it over everything else or maybe there is a point where cars become something you buy out of your loose change like a sandwich before you can enter the 'supercar' market. Unless......... Come on nissan honda and toyota put the cat amongst the pidgeons with the GTR / Supra and NSX2 quickly Chris

Wow great thread..........This is MY total dilemna summed up. At a stretch I can change my car for whatever but........ I fail to see what I can have that realistically would be a better bet right now and a lot of test drives are a dissappointment to say the least. One of my two business partners just bought an aston DB7 vantage plaything and the other a 2005 M5 but the former is an unreliable piece of crap and the Beemer is cool-as-hell but still a saloon car that well er looks like a saloon car and still is electronically limited to 155mph :( It is not paid for either which I am not sure I would like. We go to the ring at the end of this month and my Zed holds its head (and its timeless looks) way high amongst this crowd. A lot of the guys that work for us are petrolheads and ex-auto-design-industry types so we have a DB9 owner, some lotus elises (great track cars) a very important (historically) De Tomaso Pantera (ex works racer), mercs and beemers and then the usual jap stuff. Evo's, Scooby's etc. Skylines do it for me performance-wise but the looks are just too in your face for me. I would love a Nismo 350Z but two seats won't do. I am hoping the New GTR is as good as the hype but then again i got some inside info last week on the Supra replacement and that is sure to be a beast of a car............. So many so-called desirable cars have image flaws to me:- Ferrari - hairdresser image and ridiculous servicing regime Porsche 911 - smacks of male menopause and that handling (after a good handling Z I defy you to not feel that a 911 is just the triumph of engineering over physics! Porsche Boxster - screams i'm a porsche label wannabe owner with MR2 turbo performance Aston - Too pipe and slippers Merc - Crap crap build quality label long past its sell-by date Beemer - New ranges are all ugly as sin All 'Offroad' 4 X 4's - Screams bluewater shopping mall chav wagon and does not fit my need for a sporting 4 seater GT Maserati quattroporte - Hmmmm Close but I look at my 300 which makes me smile every morning and whenever I drive it then I ask myself why buy a car i am not passionate about? Should I buy a new car or invest in some more property? Bottom line.......... Until a car comes along that I can get passionate about like my Zed I will stick with the Z and do other stuff with my dosh......... Hmmm problems problems Chris

Oh sh....... just when I think 300 ownership is cool, full of genuine classic kudos a chavved out monster comes to shock me to my senses. So very very wrong........But hey each to his own LOL

Thats why shells premium fuels get better results than some higher octane fuels. They have additives get better burn and many tuners can make more aggressive maps run with this fuel. V-power is highly recommended if you run a JDM car with JDM ECU or aftermarket map as you WILL notice a difference. Chris C

That sounds like a guilty man doing post splurge rationalisation to me :nono: Chris

Appeal the decision in writing and type the words without prejudice underlined at the top of the letter on professional paper (makes it look like you are getting legal advice already). Send the letter recorded delivery and stating your case clearly without ranting. Say you will be taking steps to recover not only your car but any out-of-pocket expenses you incurred to. Suggest it was probably an error and that if the charges are waived you will take no further action........... Best of luck "Its only the squeaky hinges that get any oil" Chris

LOL at the age-old Blow offs vs re-circs. Anyway......... I got some Tomei hybrid Blow off / recirc valves but have no clue how to fit them anyone help????? Chris C

Listers I thought my car was fitted with stock shocks but I think stock shock part numbers are:-? FRONT 56110-VP125 REAR 56210 33P25 What is fitted to mine are Nissanstamped mfronts part number 56210 33P12 and rears silver labelled Nissan and Tokico part number 56110 30P01 Can anyone inform me as to what has been done here. Also I am after a set of KYB adjustables anyone know who sells em? Chris

mine warped in a week :rant: total SH,,,,,,,,,,,, rears are ok fronts were poo Chris

My dip beam set where fitted to the car which i bought throught outlander motorsport (the least said about that guy the better - No longer trading). Everything he fitted to my car he did wrong. Alarm was "dangerous and really badly installed" lost its siren and cost me much dough to get it put right. My boost controller never worked and when I took the car to ryan he noticed parts missing. At least he put the air filter kit on right !!!!!! Needless to say the dip set of HID´s he supplied switch on fine but are the wrong bulbs, bodged in and the ballast packs are just sat rattling around in the engine compartment. They short like a mother and so are wrapped in tape. The high beam set was fitted at a later date and again i think these are the wrong spec bulb wedged in and have only ever worked on the passenger side and then after a long warm-up. I don't think its a bad advert for HID's just sketcy mutha´s ordering the wrong parts and not doing proper professional install. I believe the 99 spec lights have the ballast pack underneath them? Anyone got these fitted? Two questions 1) Anyone in the northwest fix \ supply and fit Hi & Lo beam HIDs and do a proper job? 500 notes waiting to someone who can do a good job 2) Anyone fit genuine 99 spec HID lights if so price? 3) Anyone post some pics of good clean installs of HID´s on a twin turbo especially hi & lo beam? I really want this sorting cause my missus HID lights on her RX8 are top. superbright, no delay on firing up etc. Chris

Whenever your 'working' on a car these days before its design life expires that is a DEFECT......I don't care if they give me blow-jobs and booze whilst they put it right it is still a defect and either their business pays or teh consumer pays........Still think they are good cars? or good businesses? Time will tell

Amazin in it that when we were kids they told us the soviet union was where big brother was watchin and waiting to take away your freedoms...........ironic that in the USSR now you could probably be sponsored by the state if your gumball rally speed its way through the economy...........! Meanwhile the shamera money scheme rolls on. Flush the letter and deny you ever got it, or............ My missus just asked politley in writing if they could produce evidence of the camera's last calibration date........she was offered the speed awareness course and no points :) (go figure) Fight back with road angel, road pilot and update the database every week Good luck Chris

I went to the Merc garage today and parked next to one - it made my 300 look like a nasty little plastic toy. It was £55K though! :eek: And those mercedes designers have only had 15+years and £20k on the new price to make it look better. Fer chissakes lets have apples with apples mate if you can find a 15 year old merc then compare and contrast........or think If you had rolled up in your new incoming Nissan GTR would you have felt the same???? Doubt it......... Label, labels must have my labels.......shiny, bright, shiny and right, the right ones, not the wrong ones mind............. Only joking mate .........Bling Bling ;)

IMHO Like most 'luxury brands' these days they are sadly more label than real quality. The depreciation values on luxury cars make what look like amazing deals appear all the time....... Luxury cars that are not new enough for their real target market often have no real home in the marketplace at all except for the odd enthusiast (probably people like us) who likes the idea of driving what was a 50 - 70k car for much less.......Bargain!!!! But.......and its a big big but that 15k is neither an investment or a cheap option sure you may get a hell of a lot of car for your dough.........maybe Hmmm lets see 15k it would buy various fine looking Mercs or perhaps an M5, an Alpina B10 (little more exclusive) etc. But can the running costs be contained? Is the 'quality' really as good as the Badge still implies or will you end-up with a big bill money pit. Years ago the german brands were rightly held in high esteem for quality up until the mid 90's at least but since then all is not as it seems. I can with facts prove that the two big german brands have deffo gone down in terms of quality since then. Ask a BMW E34 5 series owner to compare & contrast with the recent models. I will bet you that on any real measurable measure of quality todays Toyota Avensis is way better quality than any merc or beemer and those of us that have been inside the trade both manufacturing and repairing will vouch for this. Toyota in particular has been pounding the others business wise by relentlessly focussing on quality and productivity. This drives up the preceived value, (slowly mind it'll take a few generations to let go of the 'old brands') whilst at the same time continuously reducing costs through productivity improvements. Their competitors (with a few exceptions) meanwhile have been doing the usual under the radar fake cost savings to stay in touch instead of really driving productivity and quality. Just like our learned friend reveal once proud brands are reduced to bodge it & scarper repair standards to save moeny whereever they can and screw the owner....... To realise how much poo they are all in consider this:- Right now Toyota is sat on cash reserves large enough to buy daimler chrysler, Ford and GM outright if it chose to do and toyota achieves today in output terms with 200,000 what GM struggles to make money doing with 800,000. In short the old guard are faking it and the new kids Toyota & Honda in particular are playing a much longer killing game for keeps. Right now Ford and GM stock is 'junk bond' status in the US so how long before they go under? If you don't believe it can happen just think rover but on a much larger scale......... To me such cars (few years old luxury cars) are beginning to look like Louis Vuitton Bags they once had cache (maybe when they hand made your own personalised luggage) but now they are so played out and churned out for the masses. Oh what happened to the fine english luxury brand of burberry?!!! My advice would save yer money, if you really want luxury get a lexus at least there might be some dealers still around in a few years time to serve you and the quality is true quality that should have stone axe reliability to boot. Do a total cost of ownership calc and factor in a possible new engine then see what you could buy new even..........with all cost included. If you really must have 'that brand' do your research. carefully, very carefully. My business partner is currently living the dream (nightmare money-pit) with his Aston that has done half the mileage and half the age of my 300 guess which spends most time off-the-road?..........(and after all its ford really, my titanium nissan key looks so cool next to his ford escort one!) Food for thought maybe but your choice in the end. Lets start a list of cars that once looked cool but have chavved themselves out...burberry style lets start with BMW X5 (LPG conversion of course) Any Merc 4X4 (ditto) Aston DB7 Oh and BTW if you think the next generation is going to value these old brands just ask em who sponsors and wins their computer driving games???????? You pays yer money and takes yer choice

deffo soundz like bits missing. The stock set-up has two thick rubber thingys either side of the top plate and a large washer under the nut. The lower is the bumpstop. There are also big rubber do-nuts between the springs and the top plates. Any metal on metal is bad.........can someone post a graphic here?

Bud Does your chassis dyno graph work? I am thinking I need additional connections to make it work. Boost graph works fine but no HP and torque graph? :( PS what settings do you have for your 4 channels? The shop only set up two for me as they ran out of time.........

Can I offer an alternative view? Keep the seats and replace them when you eventually sell the car as it would keep the Version R model you have 'correct'. I am only saying this because I have run into this issue when selling an 'edition' car before and punters repeatedly turning away because some detail was not right and they then put 2 and 2 together and get 5. (car must be nicked, re-built wreck etc.) :headvswal You obviously have a great reason for wanting to change the seats but my advice is find a corner of the loft bag em up and keep the recaros as you wont get what they are really worth anyway. and if you still have them at re-sale it just adds to the sale. IMHO If is not a genuine version R ignore what I said and sell them....... Chris