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These are still available.

I've got a set of four Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 tyres to suit the JDM 17" wheels: 2 x 225 50 ZR 17 - 6mm tread 2 x 235 50 ZR 17 - 4.5 to 5mm tread They are in excellent condition, no damage or repairs. I took them off in December when I put my winter tyres on. I've bought some 18" Rays for the summer so won't need these anymore. They are great tyres, I have been really pleased with them. So much better than the Bridgestones I had on before. They also look really good if you care about that sort of thing - sporty tread pattern and a very square aspect which makes them look nice and wide (the 245 wide Michelins on my Rays look much narrower than the 235 Goodyears to my eye because they curve in). I took the pictures back in December when I put the winter tyres on. I hope that's OK but Mods please let me know if I have to re-do them. I'm looking for £300 for them. Collection in person from St. Albans or central London - or happy to work with a courier of your choice. Thanks Ian

Do you have different wheels/tyres to standard? If your tyre diameter is different that will put your speedo out. cheers Ian

If the light is to do with the ETC toll road system, it should be part of a larger unit usually with a card slot. Most of the ones I've seen also play a little tune when they start up or shut down (important to know if you are driving towards a barrier and expecting it to whip up out of the way at the last moment). If there's nothing else around it I'd bet on it probably being an aftermarket alarm or immobiliser that was fitted when it was imported. Ian

I have to agree. End of November I put a set of Super Sports onto my newly-aquired 18" Rays and they are awesome. I've been running Pilot Sport 2's on my M5 for three sets now, so I knew the Super Sports would suit me. I was previously running a set of Goodyear Eagle F1s (GS-D3s) on the 350Z and I'd say the Super Sports are slightly better, but it's close. Only shame is that due to the rounded profile the Michelins look quite small on the wheel, despite actually being a wider set (245 rears) than the much "squarer" Goodyears (which were on 17" JDM wheels and so 235 rears). Unfortunately I am on my winter Kumhos now, which I will be glad of if it gets icy but are nowhere near as good as either of the above. Ian

Well, if you only use the bottom end of the throttle travel you might not notice the difference! I first noticed when on the highway crawling out to Narita airport - traffic was moving OK but only at steady 50 mph or so across all the lanes. I was bored and playing with all the switches in my new car. Since I was used to the behaviour of the M5, the jump in speed was a bit of a shock! Luckily it's a pretty minor change when cruising and I had plenty of room between me and the car in front. Ian

I also have a JDM auto and the power button does change the throttle response (it's a fly-by-wire throttle after all). Interesting it's easier to see in the Z than in my other car with a "software" throttle (an e39 M5). In the BMW, pressing the sport button while the throttle is part-way down will not change the mapping until you lift off the throttle and press again. In the 350Z you can cruise on the motorway at part-throttle, press the power button and see that despite keeping your foot still the car is now picking up a little speed. That works best in the early part of the throttle travel. I have a 2003 car - it is possible that they changed the software later on as the BMW behaviour is the safer approach. Ian

Feel sorry for you Rob, but definitely the sensible approach! I've put winter tyres on this year, so hopefully the Z will remain useable. As for traction pulling away, what I've done in the past in other cars (my Z's an auto) is to pull away in 2nd or 3rd gear. You have to be sensitive on the pedals as the clutch will be taking more strain, but you don't want big revs and power anyway. Not sure what the tradeoff on damage/wear-and-tear is compared to Sam's handbrake suggestion. In any case, your wheels must not spin up as you pull away - as soon as they do you'll have compressed the snow beneath them into hard ice and it's time to jump out and break it up with a shovel. Apologies if I'm teaching grandma to suck eggs, but I've been stuck a lot myself! Ian

Last winter I managed some short trips on side roads that were unsalted and snowed over - but if I'd had to stop I'd have been stuck! Although just getting the car out of the garage and up onto my upwards sloping drive required 20 minutes of cracking ice and shovelling. I carry a small shovel and a tub of salt - that will often be enough to get you rolling again if you're careful. My shovel is an ex-German army entrenchment tool. Bought it at a surplus store for only a few quid. Quite heavy, but it folds up small and is all steel, so tough enough to crack through ice. This year I've put on some Kumho KW27s which will hopefully keep the car useable. I have an old defender 110 with narrow-but-chunky mud tyres on that copes with almost anything, but that's freezing cold and damp inside! What size wheels do you have? On the JDM 17s it's the rears that are tricky - 235/50/17s are difficult to find. I've used these guys and they're good: http://www.reifen.com/en They show a "ready for immediate dispatch" icon which is accurate. I've been let down by other suppliers who will take the order despite having no stock. I've no association with that site, just had two transactions I was happy with (one successful, and one where they could not source the tyres but gave me clear options for taking them up on an alternative or cancelling for a refund). cheers Ian

Those dials look great! Very nice font.

Here's a picture of it:

Sorry, a bit off topic, but yes this is for the Japanese highway tolls. You can stop and pay in cash at the manned barrier (which is what I always did) or fit an ETC box and then drive at the automatic barriers (marked by purple and white chevrons on the road). At the very last minute the ETC box will beep and the barrier whips up out of the way. My brother loves driving at them at what seems far too high a speed and perfectly judging the time it takes to register and lift. He'll regret that one day...

It's also very easy and common to add/change items aftermarket in Tokyo. I added an OEM spoiler in my local Autobacs (equivalent of Halfords) and in the same shop they had tons of Nissan and Nismo parts alongside all the more exotic tuner parts, all in stock and on the shelf. Great place to spend an afternoon, but don't take your credit card... Ian

When I moved back to the UK and brought my 350Z with me, I swapped out the instrument binnacle for a Nismo one which has both MPH and KPM on the dial, plus goes up to 180MPH. Not the cheapest option, but it looks great. I'll take a picture when I get a chance and post it here. cheers Ian

On the Bridgestones my JDM car came with I had this problem - and associated shuddering around 60mph. I hated those tyres. Once I changed to new (Goodyear Eagle F1) tyres and was careful to check pressures regularly I had no more issues. Could be that the previous owner ran the tyres underinflated or that the "squarer" profile of the Goodyear's holds up better. cheers Ian

When I had my speed limiter removed in Tokyo, one side effect of the new control unit was that it made my auto's changes a lot more aggressive. Nothing uncomfortable, although it does sometimes get confused and lurch a bit at low speed when speeding up and slowing down repeatedly. Before that I used to have it in "manual" selection all the time and was disappointed with the speed of the changes. Luckily the 3.5L V6 has a lot of low down grunt. Now it's transformed and I just leave it in drive. That might help! I must say, I never regretted having an auto in central Tokyo traffic and it's not so different in London either. If you're interested, I can try to work out which brand/model I had fitted. cheers Ian

I feel for you! Very sorry to hear about this. First time that happened to me, I was driving a red Ford Escort. I kept it looking nice, but come on! Very deep (bare metal in places) all down the driver's side crossing both doors. I was half convinced it was a neighbour who didn't like me parking where I did (marked bay, one of many in the road outside our house). On another occasion, having upgraded to a nicer car, I was visiting a friend and from their front room saw a passing lout put his can of beer down on the roof of my car and reach into his pocket. Luckily I got up and out onto the street before he could fish out his keys. I don't understand how some people think damaging someone else's hard earned property is OK. I used to live in Tokyo and if anyone witnessed that sort of behaviour they would report it immediately. Somehow in the UK the same sense of civic responsibility is just not there. Ian

Thanks everyone! I suppose it does seem a long way, but I really liked the car. It wasn't too much hassle getting it back - biggest problem was finding the right company to do the Japanese paperwork and arrange everything. On the UK side it was easy to find a company to do the import - waxoil the underneath, fit an alarm, fit a UK rear right light cluster (foglight) and weld a restrictor ring on the fuel filler then register it.

Oh yes it's a great drive, very scenic - it winds through the foothills of Mount Fuji, a short drive from central Tokyo. This is where many of the European car magazines road test new Japanese cars. Try searching for "Hakone Skyline" on youtube. http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=hakone+ ... n&t=m&z=15

Hi everyone, I've owned my 350Z since 2005 - here's a picture you might like from March 2006 when I visited a certain famous road... I've since moved back to the UK and brought my car with me. cheers Ian

My 2003 definitely has an 80 litre tank. Apart from having filled it up with 78 at the pump before (yes that was cutting it far too fine), I also have the Nismo instrument pod which I fitted before bringing the car back with me from Tokyo - primarily because that has a speedo with MPH as well as KPH. The fuel gauge on that has "80" printed on it at the top and 40 halfway down. (which is a shame because I think it would look better with no numbers on at all)

I've got an optima yellow top in mine. I seem to remember that I did need to change the positive terminal, but it's an easy job and since I was adding wiring for a subwoofer anyway I would have had to regardless. I like these (used them on my 350Z and another car): http://www.maplin.co.uk/lift-off-batteryclamps-9566 It was a while back though... might have to pop down to the garage to see if I've remembered right!