bigbramble

Yeah its very true, I also used to sell Jap sports cars and that really took the shine of it. For a few years I was happy to drive a shed to work but I have to admit the itch has gradually come back.

Haha I am a fully qualified mechanic and I would rather pay someone else to work on my car!!

Add all that to a new 370Z and you could have bought a GTR for less!

That looks absolutely stunning. It really looks like those wheels belong on a 350.

Torque converter auto's will always use a little more fuel due to the lossy nature of a torque converter, saying that if its a locking torque converter then it wont be that bad.

I love the VXR8, carry the kids one day and powerslide the next! I went on a track day with a guy in a monaro recently and it looked like he was having sooooo much fun going totally sideways!

I know a nice RX7 for sale not much of a project unless you just want silly silly horsepower though

The prices seem pretty average quite honestly, some turbo recons cost over £1000 alone. Its pretty hard to say if you are being screwed or not without knowing what the symptoms are and why they say those parts need replacing.

Damn you are a pedant, meter (metre) was a typo but you are a 'foot pound' traitor!!

Yeah its retarded, especially when considering torque is measured in so many ways on a car, normally newton meters or lb/ft but you even see it in kg/m and all sorts these days. The other one that annoys me is when journos or yanks describe torque in 'foot pounds' what the hell is that? How many feet you can get in a pound?

I teach motor engineering and the number of times I hear 'but I heard on Top Gear', I then have to explain to them that top gear is the automotive equivalent of a lads mag and contains very little in the way of accurate facts.

So if your thrashing it what does it drop to? Rx7's drop to under 10 to the gallon

I used to import cars a few years ago, we used a reputable buyer in Japan and even then we got our fair share of sheds. The reality is all cars are in the auction for a reason, Japan still has dealers and private sales. The reason for auction may range from making a quick sale to passing on a big problem. The argument that the Japanese care for their cars better is total nonsense too, I have seen countless cars with frankly disgusting oil in the sump, obviously badly maintained with plenty of 'bodge' repairs. Cars are often auctioned with niggly annoying faults that are really hard to find and repair or accident damage. I have seen plenty of grade 4's which have had big wacks which wasn't spotted by the auction graders. I have witnessed shocking faults including on several occasions cars with blocked oil galleries where they had not been serviced when it was needed. It used to be the case however that you could get great bargains in Japan due to the strong pound and weak Yen. Bear in mind that just a few years ago we would get as much as 250Y to the pound, now its more like 130Y, so to get something for a good price its so unlikely its a straight car. There are 2 arguments that Jap cars have going for them: 1) they are often a higher spec. Take for example the Japanese EP3 Civic Type R which had a stronger engine, more powe,r limited slip diff, recaro seats and a better (white) colour scheme, the UK version (although ironically even the Jap cars were built in the UK) was greatly inferior so it was worth importing one of those. The 350Z however is not improved in JDM form, if anything its very slightly (although we are talking very slight) the inferior of the UK 350's. This isn't the first time that this has happened many UK cars were beefed up and are better than the JDM equivalent, the R33 GTR for example had an additional transmission cooler and the JZA80 Supra had more BHP, bigger turbos and bigger brakes. 2) Road salt. This for me is the biggest factor, Jap cars never seem to have any rust mainly due to the fact they dont use common old salt on their roads unlike us Brits. A 10 year old UK car will have surface rust all over everything underneath, a JDM will have none. Does this mean they will last longer? Maybe but most cars are so well rust protected anyway that the body will normally out live everything else on the car. I would say that Ford in particular ought to look at rust treatment as their cars STILL rust and need welding repairs after 10 years or less. To conclude I would say, buy a JDM car by all means but don't buy blind. Pick one up in the UK where you can check it over for yourself and check for mechanical/electrical faults and accident damage. Anthony.

Yes its a monster, but I have to have a commuting car so I don't have room for it on the drive. That means it gets left at my parents house so it never really gets used. I need something I can commute in and have fun in which means getting rid of both cars. How are the 350's economy wise? Is 30mpg a feasible target if driven carefully? What are they like on a 'spirited' drive?

Much easier to work on than those horrible 18 16v Clio's too. I seem to recall changing the alternator was practically an engine out job.

Ahhh ok, thanks.

Thats a great idea! They handle very well and the engine sounds awesome too.

There are some seriously nice cars in the for sale thread I must say, I think buyers are spoiled for choice right now. I would really like a convertible though to be honest. Nice rims, are they Volk TE37's or the rota ones that look similar?

I hate to say it but a Focus 2.0 is a fantastic handling, if a little gutless car.

The Bose in a Z is a re-badged Clarion and has a couple of problems .......... it's not that bad though IMO Ahh really nothing special then. Thanks for the tip. Hope you're not into Bob Marley ............. his CDs keep jammin on the Bose Haha!!!

Heres the pistonheads ad; http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1794878.htm

The Bose in a Z is a re-badged Clarion and has a couple of problems .......... it's not that bad though IMO Ahh really nothing special then. Thanks for the tip.

Ok thanks, hopefully I will buy one with some exhaust mods already done

Nice one, thanks. a nice sound and a bose stereo!! Yeah, you will soon realise the "Bose" is sh1t and wanna change it! Haha really? I have only heard the Bose systems in Audi's and they sound great. I do listen to Mozart sometimes though!

Cool, is that with or without the 'y' pipe though?