Valveman

Falken 452's. These are perfect for both applications. They also give a superb ride, so much better than the RE40's and for about £480 a set (you may find them cheaper) I think they are excellent. I did 2 track days (well evenings actually) last year with 452's and the grip was very good. It's the suspension that limits the zed on the track not the tyres so the 452's will be ideal.

Please read my post above. The car will be traded on Wednesday whether someone buys it or not! I have owned and sold cars since 1974, so I have a good experience of buying and selling. People buy cars on condition and mileage, and obviously price, not because of any dyno results. To be honest any extra performance is barely noticeable, however the driveablity of the car is transformed. It is a pitty Nissan could not have done this from the start. If anyone does buy the car before Wednesday then they will get the published Dyno results together with all the other documentation. For information all the garages I took the 350Z too all said it was one of the best they had ever seen, hence I got offered a good trade in price for it.

I am selling a car here not posting dyno results. Car BHP figures are always quoted at the flywheel and not the hubs hence why I quoted what the flywheel results would be. What's wrong with sending me a PM instead of trying to rubbish my advert!

This car will be traded on Wednesday. Any one interested has until Wednesday 28th Sept.

Price Update as I have found my next car £11500

2006 (56 Plate) UK 350Z with GT Pack in metallic gunmetal grey NOW SOLD.

I doubt you will get winter tyres/all weather tyres in low profile sizes and even if you could they would be useless in this bad weather as they are too wide. You need thin narrow wheels and tyres for snow driving and then it is still very risky as other motorists can easily hit you. A 350Z or any high performance car with wide low profile tyres is a no go in any snow or similar winter conditions. Just leave the car in the garage or lock your keys away until the snow and bad weather clears.

The 912's are not going to perform like 452's........

Good too on the track - if only I can reduce that body roll.............

The Michelins are more than double the price of say the T1R's and 452's. The Toyo T1Rs will be good as will the 452's. The ride quality of these tyres over the RE40's will be a significant improvement. My Z has about 330HP and I have no problems with grip in the wet with 452's. Ride is excellent too. One thing to check which hasn't been mentioned on this thread is insurance. I have heard of insurance claims not being honoured if non standard or non manufacturers specified tyres are fitted. Don't forget that insurance companies are just looking for any excuses not to pay out if a claim is made and this is one of them.

Cleaning the TB won't make any difference. Best to take it to a Nissan garage or a 350Z specialist like Abbey Motorsport and get them to sort it out as there may be a chance some damage might be done to your engine if the fault is left unchecked. Engines today run withing very tight limits and if these are exceeded for extended periods potential damage may occur. At the very least you should get the throttle position sensor checked and adjusted if necessary.

If you have the 06 296 engine then you need the Uprev remap. With this low down torque and drive ability is simple not an issue over earlier models. It transforms this car into something even more special.

Regarding your initial comment about the Boxster/Cayman being a "poor mans 911" well both cars share many of the same parts, in fact I think many would be very surprised to learn how many parts are the same in both models. I read a test about a year ago where a Cayman S was timed against a 911 (997) C2 around a race track (I think it was Bedford Autodrome) and the Caymen S was quicker round the track than the 911 by about a second a lap. Having owned some pretty rare 911's over the years and driven some of the newer ones I can confirm that I would take a Cayman S over the 911 any day - its just more of a drivers car and it handles better too.

Yes do, every 20,000 miles or every 2 years. The only replacement parts you may need would be tyres and these are probably no different in price to your 370Z. I drove a Cayman S (with ceramic brakes) round the new Porsche Test track at Silverstone and it was sublime. The lighter brakes made it handle even better than the standard car which is also excellent.

Thanks for the erudite response Valveman. I don't remember you being in my car when I've clocked up 150 laps at Castle Combe or the 3 sets of tuition I've had. Must be my age. Ekona has very kindly already identified that he thinks using the D1 is not a good idea and as he seems to have a lot more track experience then me, I'll take his advice and turn it off. However, I'm still unimpressed with the tyres and will be changing next time round. What about tyre pressures - did you reduce them before going out on track because if you didn't this will have a huge impact on grip levels. My first track day about 10 years ago in 964 Carrera RS and I spun off on the warming up laps with an instructor leading us around just showing us the track. The tyre pressures were 32 psi before going on track but when I got back they had gone up to 45psi so I was only running on the centre of the tyre. I took me 3 sessions to get the pressures right so I had proper grip, and ended up with about 15-20psi coming out of the tyre....

Absolute crap! I've done 3 track days this year at Silverstone (the new GP circuit and the old old with Bridge corner) in my 350Z (with 452's), two in the dry and one starting dry then wet towards the end of the day. I've had the car sliding in all the corners with absolutely no problem with the tyres. The 350 tells you when things are getting out of hand so you have plenty of time to sort the car out on the track so you don't have an off!. I've also been out in the wet with no problems at all when others were going off - I was really surprised with the level of grip. Its not the grip that is the problem with the 350Z on the track (with 452's) - its the level of roll. I know this could be improved by stiffening the car up and possibly lowering it, maybe losing some weight but then it would make a @*!# car for the road. Last track day out I had a pro driver with me and he said the same - the roll is the problem not the grip. Suggest you get some tuition on your next track day.

Sorry, but I think you have ruined the car with that exhaust. A Nismo or Motordyne that looks similar to the standard exhaust looks much better and probably performs better too. Why people want to turn a nice car like the 350Z into a Chav's wagon is beyond me....

Have you thought about contacting a specialist 350Z tuner and getting some proper advice on what will work on your car?

Try the Motodyne XYZ and you will be pleasantly surprised. It makes the car much more responsive and easier to drive fast. http://www.motordyneengineering.com/index.php?cPath=2_9&osCsid=ba5d9e50cf143a2910f16a3740059a96

Speak to Mark at Abbey. The Motodyne Y pipe is very good and not silly money either. Sports cats together with the Y pipe + remap will give you good gains without spending a fortune. Unless you are going racing the manifolds will be a waste of money, also they can crack and become unreliable. One golden rule with regard to power gain figures quoted: ignore them as most are just bullshit. Speak to a proper experienced tuner who knows the 350Z well and can tell you what bits work and what doesn't.

When you make any changes to a vehicle you have to declare these changes to the DVLA. See here http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/BuyingAndSellingAVehicle/RegisteringAVehicle/DG_4022486 Depending on the severity changes the DVLA may request you to have the car inspected by VOSA at one of the VOSA test centres. It is almost 100% likely this will be the case if you are increasing the size/capacity of the engine and increasing the number of cylinders, as you would with an LS2 engine. See section: Registering a radically altered vehicle The reason for this is to make sure the work carried out on the vehicle meets with the DOT safety standards. A car can be submitted for testing by the Individual Vehicle Approval Scheme You can use the IVA scheme if you: rebuild older cars with major changes The IVA inspection checks that your vehicle is designed and constructed to meet modern safety and environmental standards for use on UK roads. Examiners from the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency do inspections at approved sites in Great Britain.

I am not talking in respect to kit cars, but that I have seen and read the VOSA regs and take it from me you simply can't just put a different engine in a car without it going through the proper tests. Its OK for show cars or for race car use that won't be used on the road, but not for road cars where people’s safety is at risk. Regarding the Elise engine swaps - these are proper recognised and approved conversions that have TUV approval. If a conversion company goes to all the trouble and gets an approval for fitting a 1000HP LS2 engine in a Zed then this will not need VOSA test. VOSA are there to protect us (the public) from unsafe or dangerous engineering.

It won't be just a simple engine swap will it, if someone puts an LS2 (supercharged or not) in a Zed. The gearbox and drive chain will need changing, and possibly the rear axle plus it will need uprated brakes. Add all this together and you effectively have changed the car from what it was to something completely different. Doing this sort of thing these days is very complicated - I looked into this a few years ago when I was considering a replica Cobra. The rules and legislation are now very tight. It is different if a company has gone to the trouble of offering a proper approved and certified conversion with certificates of safety compliance (i.e. Alpina and AMG etc) if not you can't do this sort of thing anymore unless its not going to run on the road. However tuning an original engine is a different matter.

Also don't forget that if you change the car too much from its original spec like changing to a different engine it may be liable for a full DOT VOSA test. If you do find an insurance company to insure a car like this then they also might insist the car has a VOSA test before they will insure it.

Then you have the issue of getting it insured. I doubt you would find a company that would insure such a car, and if you did it would probably cost as much as the conversion.