Rubber

The black and yellow Supras are stunning However, on the subjext of the demise of Jap coupes - what do we have left? Civic Type R 370Z GTR CR-Z Integra DC5 (JDM) Civic Type R (not Mugen version - that's a shocking price!), CR-Z and Integra would all be a disappointment after the Zed I reckon. So that leaves the 370Z or if you can handle the expense the GTR. I love the look of the FT-86 but again, will it be a disappointment after the Zed? Although I was just having a quick look at ths stats and it looks like Subaru will be offering the FT-86 with a 260 bhp engine. If they keep the weight down that may be interesting... Looks like it will be the 370Z next then (unless the Cayman S still niggles at me!) Chris

That's what worries me - maybe they are best left in the past? Chris

I'm not mechanically minded enough to own a RX-7 with all the work and rebuild stuff that goes with it! What about the Supra though? Would it be a disappointment to get one now - would it handle as well as the Zed or should it just be left in the past as an icon? Would you be better of buying a well maintained (nicely modded Supra running reasonable power) rather than building a turbo Zed? Chris

Yes FTO is a bit crap, not ugly in my opinion but a good starter car. GTO is a bit of a monster but the intention was there to create a cool car with active aero panel etc - unfortunately it just didn't work!!!

Like most of you, I patrol Pistonheads a few times a week looking at cars that I would like to own, but never will. For me the Z is the right car to have now and within my money limitations I don't think there is anything else I would change it for right now. Yes, a Porsche Cayman would be nice but I don't think the extra money I would pay to get it would give me any more enjoyment than the Z. However, whenever I go on Pistonheads I find myself looking at the old Jap cars that I still lust over - the Supra, the RX-7 and more recently the Silvia. I don't know if this is a hang up from reading Max Power when I was younger but I still love these cars. I don't think I would fancy owning a 10 year car due as I would worry about rust, mechanical failure, expense of ownership... This begs the question, what good Jap cars are out there right now? I started thinking about all the cars that I like (don't flame me for some of these - it is just my opinion!) and thought that there is nothing that really floats my boat now other than the Zed. The Skyline or GTR is the only line that has consistently been improving with time. Some of the other models seem to have been watered down Nissan 370Z - Is it as good as the 350Z????? Mazda RX-7 (RX-8 is ok but not as cool as the RX-7) Honda Civic Type R (EK9/EP3) - new Civic doesn't do it for me really and the Mugen version is £40k Honda Integra Type R (DC2) - DC5 is replacement has mixed reviews... GTR - better now than ever and always has been improving with each model (the oddball of the group) Toyota Starlet (Glanza) - production ceased 1999 (pocket rocket!) Toyota MR2 - production ceased 1999 (new shape MR2 production ceased in 2007 and was reviewed as a good car but didn't look great IMHO) Mitsubishi FTO - production ceased 2000 Mitsubishi GTO - production ceased 2001 Honda Prelude - production ceased 2001 Nissan Silvia - production ceased 2002 Toyota Supra - production ceased 2002 Honda NSX - production ceased 2005 (yes it was very expensive, and still is!) Celica GT4 - Celica production ceased 2006 Honda S2000 - production ceased 2009 I did have a Gen 7 Celica (VVTL-i version) that I loved but the rear wheel drive Zed is so much better. There may however be some controversy about some of the other front wheel drives such as the FTO and Prelude being nice cars! Personally the Impreza and the Evo have never been on my wish list So whats next? The FT-86 looks interesting but the CR-Z seems a little disappointing from the reviews. The running costs of the GTR seem too much for me even though the cost price of the cars is coming down. I have a love/hate affair with the 370Z. I think it needs to be modified to look good while the 350Z looks good just as it is (or better with a Nismo kit). FT-86 may have potential though... What are you thoughts? Do you still crave the Supra and RX-7?!!!!! Chris

Any pics on the car yet? Chris

Horrific

Dead right. EVO had about a 10 page review comparing the car on a number of levels and still preferred the Ferrari. The content of Fifth Gear review was a load of rubbish in my opinion.

Lovely. Seems like the next logical step from the Zed So whats it like?

Spotted this when I was out and about today. Don't know if it would suit the Z? Chris

They look sweet. Any pics on the car yet? Chris

Thank god it doesn't have those awful white ST stripes along the side!!! Nice car - they're rock solid. Let the modifying begin

Car looks great - love how low it is How do you find the ride? Thats a 30mm drop all round, right? Personally I find my car quite nosiy on the motorway - have these mods affected the road noise? Chris

Ha ha! You would think! The garage passed them but put an advisory that they shold be changed.

Can't really tell you how much an improvement it has made because my discs and pads were in such a bad state In my particular case it is a big improvement. Alex - the slight detour to Clarke Motorsport was an eye opener! They had a load of nice cars knocking around in the car park, R33, Impreza, Evo etc. Inside the workshop was spotless. They had a few other interesting projects inside including a stripped out DC5 in progress They were servicing an Impreza at the time as well so they do work for us ordinary folk as well!!! For those in Aberdeen they are located in Kintore and may be worth a look....http://www.clarkmotorsport.co.uk/website/index.asp?refID=1&pageType=C

These are rotors...http://www.350z-uk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=157&t=46541. Just like it says on the box To be honest I wasn't even aware I was calling them 'rotors'! I would have always called them 'discs' in the past but I must have been converted by my research on the forum. A search will reveal that both terms are used. Not sure if there is technically a difference? Is rotor what the Americans call it?

I assume they are the OEM rotors for the GT. I got the car 3 years ago with only 16,000 miles so I assume the pads and rotors had never been changed. Chris

I had what felt like a warped disc when braking. Brakes were working ok but you could feel the brake slightly pulse when stopping at low speeds. I changed the pads all round for Ferodo DS2500 a couple of months ago. The old pads were a disgrace. I intially though the brakes were better following the change but the pulsing was still there. So, on to Zmanalex again for a new set of front rotors. Removing the old rotors and the spacers This is what the old rotors looked like when they came off... Don't look too bad really. But wait, thats only the visible side of the rotors. The engine side looked like this To be honest I'm not experienced with performing car maintenance myself. However, my father in law is a helicopter mechanic and he's worked on cars all his life so under his guidance things are a doddle. Plus he has a tool for every occassion! To remove the rotors we: 1) Removed the wheel nuts 2) Removed the wheel spacer (get another person to step on the brake pedal when undoing the nuts for this one) 3) Unbolted the two large bolts holding the brake caliper in place 4) Slowly pushed the caliper off the rotor (making sure we did not bend the hard brake pipe too much). Then remove the rotor which comes straight off. The hard brake pipe is shown in this pic. We could have removed the bracket (black) for the brake pipe but we thought it would be easier to leave it in place. Not sure if other people do it this way? 5) Bolted the caliper back in position to support it while we cleaned up the hub. We used a drill with a wire brush type attachment and some scotch brite to clean up the hub. Also took the opportunity to spray anti-corrosion agent around the brake pipes etc. 6) Removed the bolt supporting the brake caliper, slid the rotor into place and bolted everything up. (Should have mentioned that we cleaned the rotor with brake cleaner to remove any anti-corrosion agents before installing the rotor.) Then went though the brake bedding in procedure as per the Stoptech guide in the Guides section. Brakes feel a lot better and the low speed stopping judder appears to have gone away. So, to sum up: - This job is very straight forward and you only need basic tools. This total job took about 1 hour. Best to have two people though to get someone to stand on the brake and also when removing the caliper - Check the condition of the inside of your discs. You can feel them with your hand through the wheel but probaly best to get the wheel off and get your head right in the arch to visually inspect. FYI - my car is a 30,000 53 plate so not a huge amount of mileage but the car is relatively old. Thanks to Alex for the new rotors Cheers, Chris

Nice one, cheers for that

Hi, Just installing new brake rotors and we obviously need to take off my wheel spacers. Don't have the box to hand where I am now but I remember we torqued them to a figure that was given on the box. Can anyone give me a figure? Sooner the better, because we are mid way through installation! Cheers, Chris

The comparison websites (Confused, Compare the Market etc.) have a section where you can tick all the mods you have done on the car. Basically it is just a case of getting an unmodified quote and then going back and redoing the quote with the modifications to see the price difference. My mods (exhaust, wheel spacers) add an extra £30 and my 3 points an extra £100

Yes, I don't have any intention of tinting the windscreen . I was rather confused from a previous post as well when people were clarifying that you can't tint a windscreen! Don't think I have ever seen this done

Thanks for all the comments guys! So far I think we have established: - you don't get points for having your front windows overly tinted, maybe a fine or a request to pull off the film on the spot - MOT does not have a check for tinted windows - You must have at least 70% light transmission through the front windows - For some unknown reason some window tinting companies refuse to do the front windows A couple of posts refer to the fact the factory glass may only leave 70% through on the fronts. I had seen some reference to this as well in an older thread. However, I am unclear as to whether people are referring to the Zed or older cars that they had? As far as I can see my front windows are clear although I do believe that even this might amount to something like 90% light transmission.

I have been thinking about getting the windows tinted. For me, it's not anything to do with privacy or to hide an ICE install - it's purely aesthetic. Especially on silver cars (mine is a blade) I think the tint looks good. I don't want a dark limo tint, just a light tint on all the windows (except the windscreen of course ) I had this type of tint on my previous Celica and had no issues with MOT or the police. I found night driving fine. Yes, I admit there was some reduced visibility but it didn't cause an issue. However, on going to a local window tinting firm in Aberdeen for a quote, they told me they would not tint the front windows. The cops are clamping down on this and can apparently give you points for it. While out and about in Aberdeen I see lots of cars with the front windows tinted - not specifically modified cars but Range Rovers, BMWs, Minis (with all their crap chrome trim etc). How do these people get away with it or is it a matter of time before they get 'caught'? I have searched all the information in the forum but have yet to come up with a definitive answer. The most useful link I could find from the other posts was http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/newsandevents/pressreleases/2004pressreleases/21-09-04vosanowhavethepowertostopmotorists.htm but even this appears to be open to interpretation from different members!!! So in summary: 1) Are front window tints with 70% light transmission legal? 2) Will it pass the MOT? 3) Can the police give you points for window tints that are too dark on the front windows? (I thought the normal method of dealing with this was to get the driver to peel it off the tinting film on the spot. This would be rather upsetting but I could live with the chances of that happening but not further points!) I realise some people have strong views on tinted windows and that they are chav and dangerous etc. However, I'd prefer to try and keep this post centered on the legal side... Cheers, Chris

I went to a local carpet store to try and get an off cut of carpet underlay. Unfortunately they didn't have any underlay but I got some carpet instead. I used the original boot mat as a template and cut out a new thicker boot mat from the carpet. The result - well, I now have the carpet boot mat covered by the thin 350z boot mat. Didn't find any discernable difference in noise but my RSR exhaust is loud and I don't have a tonneau cover Maybe the a thick section of underlay will work better... Chris