MattMe

I'll add my two pence worth. I have to say I agree that running mismatched tyres isn't a great idea but it is much better than havin'g worn out tyres. If it makes sence financially to replace the rears now and the fronts in a few months then do that. Having said that, you said you were quoted £340 for the rears. I got a set of 4 Falkens (912s - not the best but good value I think) fitted, balanced etc for £440. Why not pay the extra £100?

You seem to be taking a bit of a bettering here Andlid! (You do deserve it though) I have to admit, I use the local hand wash guys from time-to-time, most of them don't do a bad job. Having said that one did blast a load of lacquer off about 3 inch square (was originally a very small stone chip) with their jet wash. Wasn't too happy but if I had a jet wash it'd probably happened to me anyway... My excuse is where I used to live I never had an out door tap I could use to wash my car. No such excuses anymore whihc is why this weekend I plan to wash the car myself for the first time since I've owned it (12 months!)

Interesting thread so far... So how much does a re-map cost on average? Also, I'm in nottingham (Midlands) and I'm aware Abbey are in the South, so does anyone have any recommendations for a decent trust-worthy garage around these parts? If not a long drive may be necessary later in the year... Has anyone noticed the remaps giving improved mpg alongside the improved performance?

I ordered some 452s in early January when my RE40s were bare. Unfortunately I left the car while I sorted some other stuff out, came back and noticed the tread didn't look right. They'd fitted 912s instead without telling me first! Not impressed but the weather being so bad and my tyres having literally no tread left I stuck with them. (I too was told 452 wouldn't be available till the end of Feb). I have to say I have mixed feelings about them. They seem okay in the dry, although I've still not had opportunity to really push them but about the same as the 40's in the wet - i.e. not all that good. To be fair it's only when you're pushing them it slips so I usually know when they're likely to slip so I'm ready to catch it should it slid a little bit. Other than that I'd say the noise etc is no better or worse than the Bridgestones. Think I'll make sure I get the 452 fittted next time! £440 for 4 tyres I didn't really want is a lot of money...

Have you considered a stroker kit? Don't know all that much about them on the 350z engine, but you can get 4.2 kits for a relatively low price. Benefits being i's reliable, and a fairly straight forward install compared to fitting a V8, plus no extra weight gains. Beleive you can get around 370+bhp out of them...

The BEST smell I ever had in my car was after me an 3 friends went to Cornwall in my £50 Mondeo, 'Betsy'. We'd been to a cider farm the day before and had a few of those huge gallon bottles of cider in the boot (considering I was driving this was a very bad idea) and on one slow corner one rolled forward and hit the back of the rear seats, soaking the whole rear passangers and seats. I found it quite ammusing. And my car smelt amazing untik the day it was sold. Ahhhh, apple fresh. I don't smoke and it offends me when people ask if they can smoke in my car. Makes me feel bad for saying no when really they should have the respect to not just smoke in someone else's car but also in such close quarters to someone who doesn't smoke.

I signed it but you have to wonder how much attention they pay to these things don't you? I had a quick look through some of the others in different sectors and quite a lot of them seem like genuinely good ideas. I think I'll sign up to a few more when I have more time. MAke me feel like I've done my part

I drove t Machester from Nottingham and back last night so it's half motorway. half twisties over the hills (average speed cameras on a lot of it though) and then a bit of town either end. (2 halfs and a bit??) Anyway, I got 29MPG. Obviously a trip round Europe will be 10x the amount of miles, and a hiher amount of motorway I imagine so expect high 20s I'd say. Not too bad... I heard re-maps can improve consumption though not sure by how much. Suppose it depends on each car. Sounds like a good trip anyway - wish I could afford the fuel to do it!

Good points everyone. The main reason I posted was because I was surprised, and impressed, by the Golf. Not upset! I once borrow a company GTI Mk5 with DSG... It stank when I got home but it was a bloody good drive. Best FWD I can recall driving. Obviously I'd rather have a 350z than a Golf, otherwise I wouldn't be here, would I? I love RWD and I love the torque of a V6. Plus I'm not fond of turbo cars. I just imageine when driving round the Zed's going to be faster than most hot hatches when nowadays they aren't. Damn it. Also had a Punto up my arse on the M1 after some roadworks, again I was totally in the wrong gear, just left it in 6th whereas he was probably in 3rd or something but it stayed with me right up till... well... quite fast! Next time I'll drop it down a cog (when I'm in the car alone) and show 'em a thing or two! It's a shame there's no way to add significant power without going FI but I'm still happy... For now... Oh and my girlfriend finds it hilarious I got 'so upset' that I posted on here about it.

Driving back from Newcastle this weekend with a boot full and the missus (although her weight is nothing not a factor in this story ) and had a bit of an under/over taking session with a '07 plate Golf GTI with 3 lads in it. Nothing silly, just avoiding deathly boredom in the traffic. They happened to pull off at the same junction onto a dual carriageway where they slowed down so I was beside them (fairly low revs, 3rd gear) so I floored it... I was just starting to pull away at 90 when the dual turned into a single carriageway so I backed off and let them pull ahead. I noticed on the motorway it accelerated quite quick but considering both cars had some weight in them I thought the V6 "300BHP" zed would easily pull away. Granted, he may have been in a better gear to start but they're only 200-230bhp. I'd like to get it on a rr now and see what it's actualyl putting out. Anyone else come up against a Golf GTI and been embarrased? Come to think of it they had pulled of the huge VW bagde from the boot (but leaving the mounting holes), saving weight and no doubt increasing bhp by over 10%...

I've been looking around recently. I don't often keep cars for more than a year (although I did promise the missus I'd keep this one for YEARS) but I can't see anything around £10k (+ reasonable mileage) that would tempt me away right now. The Zed's a great looking/driving car and fairly practical for day-to-day kinda stuff. I looked at TVRs but they're weekend cars and you'll struggle to get a good one at 350z prices. Not fond of the S2000 engnie (and it's less practicle), Elise is even less practical and then there's the Beemers but they don't do much for me either. Plus they're everywhere... Think I'll be hanging around here for another year or so until I can get a loan for a 370z

Thread from the past! Just to add to this I changed my clutch at 55k, not because it was slipping but because I was changing the gearbox and thought I had may as well do it at the same time... However, I didn't change to dual mass and now I'm quite annoyed I didn't. Not sure if replacing the clutch made it more noticable or if I could have damaged it but I do know I get juddering on the biting point now, which apparently is the dual mass. My recommendation would be to change it if you're doing the clutch! I'm curious how much difference the single mass makes in performance terms...

I fitted a new clutch last weekend (not the most fun job ever) and now I've noticed the flywheel's on it's way out. Not sure if changing the clutch could damage it or if just having the new one makes it more apparent. What I would say is change 'em both and save yourself the headache of doing it again a few days later like it looks I'll be doing! I've done 55k miles now, btw.

I'm no expert but to me it sounds as though the clutch is slipping, especially with you revving the engine and it not picking up straight away. Try going quite slow in 5th/6th (ie low revs) and flooring it - see if the revs go up but the car doesn't accellerate. If so it's your clutch. Having said that I was of the opinion that the cruise control would be disengaged on pressing the clutch pedal it's self, not if it detects the clutch slipping... Maybe it's cleverer than that and is intelligent enough to know if the revs increase but the speed doesn't then something's wrong. I'm sure someone who actually knows what their talking about will be able to shed more light...

So this weekend I finally changed my 'box and clutch. Wow - it took a lot longer than expected. I've not really done any proper work on the 350 yet so even jacking it up and being comfortable about the axle stands took a while. I got it all done, eventually but now I have a couple of problems. I'm not sure how many people have done this but if anyone's got any ideas please let me know. I have no reverse stop so changing into 6th is quite an arse-tightening process at the minute as reverse is so dangerously close. I'm guessing it's something to do with how we put the linkage back together but by 3am ( ) I wasn't about to start taking it to pieces again. Any ideas what I might have missed? I also get the feeling my flywheel is on the way out because when I'm sat low revs on the biting point I get a bit of a judder. That sound like a flywheel? Before I put the 'box back on it seemed to be prung when turned clockwise but not anti-clockwise. If that makes any sense? Oh and one other thing whilst I have your attention - does anyone know anything about where I might be able to get some synchros or a rebuild kit for the old gearbox I took out? I'd rather fix it and let let someone have some use out of it that just scrap it. Cheers everyone. Me.

Sorry to be a tad picky but is your 350z an import??? If so, I apologise as I don't really know how they differ internally from the UK spec other than items such as sterring wheel controls and the like. If instead it is a UK spec.....then you can adjust the steering column!!! Furthermore regarding feeling comfortable in the 350z, everyone I have spoken to in this club and from the comments I have recieved from friends when they have been allowed the priviledge of riding in my new girl.........the comments are always how tremendously comfy the seats are. Passengers have said that perhaps my driving isn't particularly rider friendly but hey, that's half the fun!!! Nope - it's a UK GT 2004. What I meant was that it's only rake adjustable. Even most basic car nowadays allow some kind of adjustment in how far toward you the steering wheel can be moved. The seats are nice but with no (adjustable) lumbar support I find on long jurneys I'm constantly adjusting the angle of the seat back and the hieght of the seat bottom to try and get the support where I want it. I also have the problem where either I'm too close to the wheel for my legs so my arms are comfy or the total opposite so I get shoulder ache too. Maybe I just have long legs and short arms but I've never suffered in other cars like I have the Zed. That said I'm certainly not swapping her, definitely enjoy every drive and have put up with the back pain for almost a year so far so it can't be all bad can it?!

Hmmm, sorry to be the one to bring the negative points but what about the fact there's no lumbar support, or adjustable steering column? That really frustrates me - I can never seem to get get properly comfortable and I've had it almost a year a now. Maybe I'm just funny shaped. It's certainly the best car I've ever owned - not the fastest, economical or most comfortable but a good all-rounder.

Hi. I recently got some Falken 912s fitted when my Bridgestones finally wore out. I noticed that the centres of the tyres were considerably more worn than the outer edges. I know I used to run 36psi after reading some advice on here - now I'm starting the think that might be a bit high! When they changed the tyres I said to put 34 in all 4 but then last night when walking to the car park I noticed the dirt on my tyres wa still only on the middle of the tread, not the outer edges. So I'm thinking 34 may be too high too. In the past on all my other cars I've only ever put in 28-30 and had no problems. Does weight etc of the car effect what pressue you should put in the tyres? My logic tells me that every tyre, whatever the size should be about the same psi, but I could be tottaly wrong. Does it vary from tyre to tyre even? I don't know! I do know I'm going to try running about 30 psi and see what it feels like... What does everyone else run here - tyre make/psi?

Damn!

Just had a look on eBay and the Pop Charger on there looks as though it's just the filter - not the full piping system replacement. Is that normal? £135 just for the filter and heatshield? Blimey! And am I correct in saying the ECU cancells out and potential performace gains?

I've always wondered why these sorts of kits are usually so expensive. I see what everyone's saying about not knowing how effective the filter is but surely that's the least expensive part? Why not purchase this kit and also a Pipercross or K&N cone filter for the end of it if you're not happy? Just a thought. Also can you explain why the quality of the filter would determine how much water is sucked through? Never even thought about tht being an issue when purchasing filters in the past!

Hiyas, I tried to send you a PM about the splash guards but doesn't look like it sent Can you PM me about them please- deffo interested in them. How are they fitted to the car? Cheers, Matt.

Effing what? 3 litres? That's £45 worth. Shite. That's almost as much as the gearbox cost me! And it also looks like I'll need new gaskets for the plug and drain screws? Any ideas where I can get hold of 'em?

^ I'm 25, had mine almost a year now. Don't know how anyone under 25 can afford the insurance though! I bought mine a few weeks before my 25th b'day, parked it on the drive and waited (extremely patiently) for the day to come round before insuring it. Saved a fortune for those few weeks of torture Oh yes, and I like long walks on the beach...

Found this: http://www.performanceoilsltd.co.uk/man ... ssion.html Which I guess would do the trick but I still dunno how much I need