350ash

There's another thread along similar lines to this one: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=36064&hilit=le+mans I'm heading down, it'll be my second time to Le Mans and the first time in the zed. I like the hairdressing sticker on your car Ekona

I spotted a blade roadster last night at the top of the parade in Leamington, I was on foot at the time. This one definitely was Grant as I saw him in the drivers seat!

S1 Elises are becoming pretty cheap nowadays as are VX220s but they're not too practical for an everyday car. I almost got a VX220 but in the end I decided that I wanted something more practical and so I ended up with the zed and I'm glad that I did. Also, I don't actually fit in a VX220 properly either so that's something else to consider if you're quite tall!

i saw that zed, looked like a right heap. are you going to the mod day tomorrow mate? It definitely needs some new wheels anyway! I'm not going but starting to think I should be, I'll make sure I make it to the next one.

The zed I parked next to at work today didn't have them either, he must not be one of the kids you mention.

It also has steering wheel reach and rake adjustment, I'm pretty sure no zeds have reach adjustment. Plus it has electric rear windows which is quite impressive...

If you're unsure whether it's a UK car or not there are a number of things you can check as well as the bumpers - quite a few imports now have UK bumpers on so this isn't a reliable check. On UK cars the oil pressure gauge has increments of 0, 60, 120 psi; the JDM cars have 0, 4, 8 bar. UK spec cars have the indicator stalks on the left and wipers on the right; I think it's the other way around on the JDMs. All UK cars have headlight washers; not all JDM cars will do. Good luck finding a car!

At Bala on Sunday I was speaking to John and saying that I was glad the club take a strong stance against driving recklessly and that I didn't see any stupid driving with the group of cars I was in (dangerous dogs are another matter entirely though - we'll have to ban them from next year's run). It would put me off from coming to future meets if every drove like lunatics so it's nice to see the work the mods do to ensure we all drive sensibly.

It was me in FP53, I saw you waving me past and thought "oh crap, I don't know where we're going either!" I just followed the red zed and hoped he knew the way. That worked until near Ruthin where I lost him at a junction, which left me leading our convey. I thought there wasn't any point in pulling over because it didn't seem like you knew the way either so I dug out the directions, crossed my fingers and luckily we ended up at the Lake!

Jeez yes! I was up the front and saw them screaming down that track out the corner of my eye but had no time to warn any of you guys. I have to admit I looked in the wing mirror expecting the worst. How you missed them / they missed you is still beyond me. Having had a similar experience the day before with an uncontrolled dog running in to the road in front of me I can imagine how you felt. Hoping to post some of my pics up later on. I'd also like to thank Colin, Dave, Martin, Chris and others who made this whole weekend so enjoyable, great organisation, fantastic company, astonishing roads and the best weather Thanks guys Bockaaarck I'm guessing your car was the red one ? I was following you in the GM car when the dogs decided they wanted to play with us, they swerved to avoid my car as I was swerving/braking to avoid them and then I saw them run behind my car in front of the GM behind (ZedJohn possibly?). I have no idea how both the dogs and the zeds all escaped unscathed. I'd also like to thank the guys for organising the weekend - Colin and Dave in particular although I know lots of other people helped out too!

A few of my pics from today; I didn't do the drive after lunch today, instead I headed home via the B4391 and found out that it's a really nice road. It was my first major meet and it's quite a sight seeing so many zeds in one place!

Think its a Lotus I had wondered if It was a Lotus but hadn't found anything on google images which matched. I've checked again and reckon it's a Lotus Eclat - thanks Beavis! Edit: Attack Z got there first!

In the top photo what's the car in the background (the one that isn't an astra!) I've been trying to work it out but haven't had any luck so far.

I saw the same car today at the end of the A45 in Coventry. First time I've ever seen the colour, it's a nice change to the standard colours (but obviously not as nice as GM!).

The new video looks good, mounting the camera so low down also makes it lot a lot faster, although I suspect it would have looked quite fast anyway. About halfway through the video I thought those roads looked familiar and by the end I'd worked out where you were, think I may have to take my zed for a spin along there soon.

I'm no expert but could it have been the handbrake sticking on? I had this on my old focus a few times if I washed the car then didn't drive it for a while causing the handbrake to seize on. I'm sure other people will be along soon to tell you it's not the handbrake and tell you what it actually could be!

I was joking, I know youtube is the place to go to actually find out what they sound like, or listen to other people's cars at a meet, I just thought your answer was really funny!

kind of like this vrooooom vroooooom vroooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom does that help How do other exhausts sound in comparison then, I'd be interested to hear your take on them too!

Welcome! Just to add to what rtbiscuit said, the oil pressure is dependant on engine speed so higher revs = higher pressure and vice versa. And the pressures you mentioned sound ok to me too.

I found a 'spotted' card on my car at the end of the day in the work carpark. There wasn't a name on the card but I'm pretty sure I know who left it!

I couldn't stop laughing the first time I saw that video, and having just watched it again I'm laughing again.

Actually Husky, although you're right that increasing the diameter of the disc would increase braking performance (as long as you moved the pads out to be clamping the edge of the disc) I don't think the equation you used to prove it can be applied in this situation. It's the torque capacity that indicates the braking performance available and: The torque capacity of the brakes = (friction coefficient)x(number of friction surfaces)x(axial clamp load)x(mean effective radius of friction lining) so assuming that the friction coeff. and clamp load stay the same then increasing the mean effective radius will indeed increase your torque capacity. There is another equation to calculate the mean effective radius but in simple terms, increasing the outer radius of the friction lining will increase the mean effective radius. But, I guess none of this is actually very helpful for you and in answer to your original question, I have no idea if it's possible. Personally I think it probably isn't worth it and the one area on the car that I'd least like to experiment with is the braking system!

Remember to check the spark plugs, trying to track down new spark plugs for any diesel engine is a nightmare.

To quote EVO's 350Z buying guide: "on cars up to 2005 the 'lever can vibrate noticeably (in fact during our 2003 Car of The Year test the Sunset Bronze car we had became known as 'the Ginger Tingler' for this very reason). It's not a fault - they were left this way to avoid damping out some of the feel. You soon get used to it." To me it sounds like what you've got is quite typical for the car, think of it as a 'feature' rather than a problem and you'll be fine!

I'll be driving down there. So far it looks like I'll be going in a mini convey of my zed, a Porsche 914 and a Mk1 MR2. Last year was the first time I'd been and we managed to fit 5 largish guys in a merc 190e, which was quite cosy! A word of advice is to not speed whilst in France as over Le Mans weekend the Gendarmerie are out in force and they ignore all the speeding French drivers and just pull over any car with a foreign plate. We got caught quite near Calais, paid a 90 euro on the spot fine then stuck to the limits after that and passed lots and lots more speed traps.