Southernspeed

I rebuilt an engine (2004 motor) with around 30,000 miles on it that had really worn rings from fuel wash and smoked like a trooper (bores were ok after a hone), my own engine with similar mileage smoked badly too ( AMS have this now but don't think it's been stripped yet so don't know where the wear was), but ... Abbey supercharged a Z with 140000 miles on it with good results and no problems, so basically, you'll have to judge each car on it's own merits regarding mileage and wear. Unfortunately the cats can hide (burn off) a lot of oil smoke until it gets really bad, then you'll see it easier, so it's not that easy to tell the condition unless the seller is totally honest with you and tells you how much oil he puts in per 1000 miles.

Ditto Yep..... Nismo, need I say more! Roads were too busy going home to open it up but sounds great so far

What's that, 23mpg ish?? I can live with that if I'm having fun !

Looks great. What make is that cooling plate?

Even more amazing when you consider you'd just done a 2 hour motor swap then put in a blistering run! Very cool. Looking forward to seeing it run later in the year.

I still try but with the same results. Even when the rest of the carpark is empty, they still want to park next to me ... and close too!!

Good fuel price, good consumption! Yep I remember the grin factor of my drive home from buying mine. Enjoy!

This was a very steep , nose dragging driveway!

In reverse? I backed up a friend's drive last summer and thought I'd totally trashed the clutch by the smell coming from it but it's still fine now. Apparently they're not too good with reverse!

Wheel or fly?

The steering is rather 'sports' orientated and certainly far heavier than most of my previous cars and trucks, but having said that, I'd hate to have steering as light as my Vectra shed, in something as quick as the Z. Also remember that power steering works 'both ways' so with wide tyres the tram lining you can get on the Z will seem far worse with a lot more power assistance.

Yeah for 400hp the HKS induction system is missing something quite critical just behind the filter!

Scam. That's a dodgy premium number I think??

I had replacement struts, did the penny trick and removed the counter weight. I still wasn't happy so I bought a pair of genuine struts. Problem solved and worth the cost If you do a search you'll find reference to a company called SGS or something like that. Most people seem happy with their struts, but as said, I ended buying new Nissan ones after trying theirs.

You take the TOTAL cost of the item INCLUDING shipping and then add 20% VAT & 10% import duty plus handling charges of about £20-£30. add the import duty then VAT on the total

If you're not installing it yourself I'd suggest having a chat with someone who installs and Uprev's all in house as they may give you a better price for the 'all in' job. Abbey are my local specialists but maybe one of the other Uprev specialists are closer to you? Just a thought Of course, if you've read Ian's 'how to' guide on installing one and still fancy it, then I guess buying from the US could work out cheaper. I'd still recommend Uprev over piggyback systems though.

No won't be there, too much going on at the moment.

Strangely I can't find anything under C&U or in the VOSA testing manual relating to tyres/wheels sticking out. I found this: Damage to road, person or vehicle If the tyre causes either damage to the road, or to persons, or to any vehicle using the road. This would cover such instances as if a vehicle with damaged or very oversized tyres which either caught against a person or other vehicle resulting in either damage or injury. Studded tyres also are included in this clause and if used in inappropriate conditions (i.e. where there is no ice or snow) and they damage the road surface then they would be clearly illegal. However, that's not from a legal document. Best way would to be phone a local VOSA office and ask for their stand point on it from an MOT angle AND RTA C&U .

Welcome, surely you can get a personal loan cheaper than dealer finance??? Yes to premium fuel. There's no comparison between a Z and a focus IMO chalk and cheese

Motor is all bed in now and running good with the final map in (well, final for now as Mark is getting a smaller SC pulley in, which he feels will add an extra 30hp or so). Loving the new power (even fended off a hostile attack from the rear by an S2K today with a 5th gear roll on from 70 on a long uphill slip road, no idea what gear he was in but he started an overtake pretty sharpish!). I'm still trying to get used to the new noises (mainly intake noise) that the SC and Stillen decats, Ypipe etc make, it's also got tubular headers on which I know from my Chevy days make more noise. Power is really smooth coming in with quite a rush in the higher RPMs, so it's easy to drive with the TC off as I've always done , even when it's wet (I'd imagine a TT set up is a different story with all that mid range torque??) So all in all, well pleased Is the modding over? Unlikely. Although we're buying a new house I have a feeling I need a new back box . The intake is so loud it almost drowns out that lovely V6 howl from the stock box even with the race cat. Huge thanks to Abbey Motorsport who I'd recommend without hesitation. Quite amazing that when my car was there last week they had 4 (I think?) other FI cars in..... getting as common as muck!

Welcome. It's not a case of only getting a percentage of the throttle in the first 3 gears, it's the speed the butterfly opens in relation to you pressing the throttle. You get 100% throttle but it doesn't open as fast as you stamp on the gas peddle. An uprev can remove this. If you do a search for Uprev in Abbey Motorsport's forum you'll find this explained better.

I've found , more than any other car I've driven, it needs 'proper' gear changing, as I was taught all those years ago when I learnt to drive. You don't hold/grip the gear knob, you just push or pull with palm (fingers for 3 to 4) so for 5th you should push with your palm at about 7-8 o'clock on the knob, that way it can only go into 5th, not jam on the gate between 3 and 5. for 6th you'd put pressure on the knob at about 10-11 o'clock. Make sense? Easier to do than explain! But if you're 'holding' the lever it's easier to catch the gate.

The way I understand it, as long as you keep the scrub radius the same it'll be fine so if your wheel is 2 inches wider it needs to be an inch on both sides of the hub flange i.e. and inch sticking out and an inch in toward the engine. But wider tyres will tramline more anyway regardless of geometry. Mark at Abbey is very knowledgeable about this sort of stuff after many years working with race teams, I'm sure he'd be happy to help you out with info and hardware.

Surely you would have some idea it was going to be taken back i.e. you havent settled up If you didn't own the car it was a bit stupid SCing it anyway and like stated very very dodgy... Yeah true, you'd know they were looking for money so I guess if he's used to bailiffs turning up he may well have taken it off in advance assuming he'd decided he wasn't paying anyone and was happy to lose the car. If he's that sort of bloke I certainly wouldn't want to try and claim off his 90 day warranty !!

Yes, it messes the handling up! They look good but makes the car tram line badly and you'll have steer it out of turns more. I've taken mine off now and it handles way better again. I was talking to Mark at Abbey about this last night and he says you can get away with a small front spacer (I think he's talking about 5 to 7mm) before it starts affect scrub radius. Rears aren't a problem, just the front.