rayhoop

Good stuff! Will see you there on Sunday! You cant miss me - 6ft+ with a big turban and beard I'll be doing the same... just a different day! Look out for the Blade Silver 53 plate heading up the M40

Oh shoot. Not good. Did any neighbours see/hear anything?

Do not try to start it... Unless you have taken the spark plugs out.. Just in case you have water in the cylinders, you don't want it to hydrolock and destroy valves etc.

Wife and I were in Tokyo in September this year. Flew over on BA (approx 12 hours non-stop) We did: 3 (or was it 4?) nights in Tokyo, 2 nights in Hiroshima (trip out to Miyajima/Mt Misen), 4 nights in Kyoto, 2 nights in Koyasan (stayed at a Buddhist Temple called Eko-In), 2 nights in Takayama (with a day trip out to the Japanese Alps), 2 Nights in Tokyo with a day trip to Mt Fuji/Lake Kawaguchi. Tokyo - Lots to see. I wont reinvent the wheel - Lonely Planet has a lot of useful info. Different things appeal to different people. I do recommend the Edo Tokyo museum though. Hiroshima Defo spend a day in the memorial museum. Spend some time walking around the memorial gardens Get someone to tell you the story about Sadako Sasaki whilst you are there - they may even teach you how to fold a paper crane - we were lucky enough to meet someone who took the time to teach us! ... even though it was dark and approx 10pm lol). Spend some time reflecting at the mound where remains are buried... Head over to the epi centre of the blast... you MUST go take a look at the Fukuromachi Elementary School Peace Museum. It is small but powerful. If you do the day trip to Mt Misen - take the cable car up and down... it takes ages to hike! We hiked down the mountain, and even though it was downhill it was still a killer. Kyoto - again, TripAdvisor/Lonely Planet is your friend! Some really nice walks and Temples, the food market was interesting. The Bambo Groves were not all that to be honest. Koya San is very peaceful. It is a Buddhist place of pilgrimage as Kobe Dashi is there meditating (has been for hundreds of years). We stayed at the Eko-In which was a lovely Buddhist temple, albeit slightly commercialised... but lovely all the same. Be prepared for taking Onsen though!! (shared baths). Go on a night time guided walk through the cemetary - it is really peaceful. Takayama was ok. I wouldnt go there again, unless I was having it as a stop off before heading further up for skiing. We did a day trip out to Kamikotchi which was pretty. Nice walk along the river... with mountain climbing if you are adventurous. Mt Fuji - you should get a nice clear view in Winter. Lake Kawaguchi Do try an Onsen! It is an odd experience, but a good laugh. When in Rome... We booked out hotels independently and made damn good use of the train network using our Japan Rail Passes (have to be bought in advance outside of Japan). The JR Rail Pass worked out VERY well for us. We hardly needed to touch the metro in Tokyo, as where possible we used the JR lines for 'free'. We did not use any taxis due to cost - however I was amazed at how clean and 'swirl free' the taxi paint jobs were! Buses and trams are reasonable (used in Hiroshima and Kyoto) From what I observed, Tokyo has 3 rush hours... morning commute, 4-5pm ish commute... and then 11pm commute (before the last trains). The Japanese are SUPER polite, honest and helpful. Even to someone as ugly as me! Crime is low as mentioned before in this thread. Toilets are generally super clean - although I did have an odd experience at Narita airport... I did my #2... came out of the cubicle... in front of me was a gent doing a #1 in a urinal (perfectly normal), while the urinal next to him was being cleaned by a female cleaner (not normal).... hmm. Ok. Learning to say good morning, evening, thank you, please etc... does wonders for putting smiles on the faces of people who are helping you. Remember when you take or give anything e.g. cash, offer it up/take it with both your hands. It is considered rude to just hold/take it with one hand. My phone (Samsung Galaxy S2 on T-mobile) worked fine. Some hotels have free wi-fi, which worked ok on my phone. Some other hotels require you to plug a laptop/netbook into a cable. All varies depending on the hotel. Food is roughly the same, if not more expensive. Fruit is stupidly expensive! £5 for 4 bananas! £5 for an apple... it was a huge apple though! NOTE: Many reataurants have early 'last order' times.... a few places we went to would not take orders past 2030hrs. If you are vegetarian - make sure you plan your restaurant visits before you get there - look up vegetarian restaurants near the sights you will be visiting using the happycow website and lonely planet etc. Electronics - laptops are a touch cheaper, but have the Japanese characters on the keyboards. I couldnt find much that I found 'appealing' to buy price and spec wise. Car stuff - the Toyota MegaWeb is so so. But you can go there and test drive a GT86. The classic car garage at Megaweb is worth a visit. The Nissan Garage in Ginza is a let down. Mazda have a museum in Hiroshima (did not get time to visit). Nissan have an engine museum in Yokohama which is only a short train ride out from Tokyo (did not get time to visit). Honda/Suzuka etc is a bit further out north - I didnt have time to head out that far. Looks like a bit of a trek (trains + bus journey). I found my Nationwide Building Society Credit Card gave very favourable exchange rates (no built in commission) on credit card payments - I think you may need a current account and pay in a minimum amount each month tho? If buying currency in advance - if you are in London, it is worth trying a place like this: www.bestforeignexchange.com We got our currency from them, as my wife works near their Strand office. Got better rate than our bank/post office etc. If you are planning to drive out there, you will need your International Driving Permit (£5.50?) - which is basically a booklet that translates your drivers license into x number of languages. FCO.gov.uk has some handy advice. I might be a little OTT, but I always register my details and trip itinerary with them before I go anywhere... so if I loose my passport, or get caught up in an earthquake etc... they have my info and know roughly where I was planning to be.

Japex are a goods honest and knowledge bunch of guys.

I've just ordered a ELM327 OBDII bluetooth reader, and am planning to use it with the Android Torque App. Will try the free version first and then the paid version. I'll let you know how I get on. Thanks to Andlid for the additional PID info! Hopefully will make it a useful little app :-)

It is also worth giving Pitstop Tyres in Hayes a call. They are very hard to beat on prices - even if you use camskill/blackcircles etc... They are a bit of a drive out - but always have good prices. However - as they are just a general tyre shop, you do need to inform the labour force that the Z has certain jacking points for use with trolley jacks. Other than that they are good. Pitstop Tyres Clayton Road, Hayes, UB3 1DU 020 8848 4500 http://www.hayesmot.co.uk/ Blackboots are only a couple of miles down the road from me too. I've heard good things about them - especially their suspension set up skills. I've not yet used them, as they have a long waiting list if you want a Saturday appointment (for alignment) - which makes it a little inconvenient for me. Might try them next time for tyres.

On down hills, leave it in gear, keep your foot off the clutch - let the momentum of the car turn the engine with a closed throttle. It uses less fuel (virtually none) compared to the engine having to fuel itself to stay at idle. That is assuming your lambda probes work! It is the beauty of modern engine management systems that run closed loop fuelling when cruising. The best I have ever achieved in the Z is 37mpg driving from Luton to Centre Parcs in Nottingham (with passenger and luggage) - I was cruising at 60mph with very gentle throttle input and lifting off well in advance if slowing down (rather than using brakes). It does take some effort planning lane changes etc though. The average soon dropped as soon as I drove slowly through Centre Parcs.. and the drive home was a bit more spirited, but still averaged 31 so was happy.

I've emailed BJV regarding availability for their 'car on site' service. I've also asked if there is a cheeky discount for 350z-uk members. Will see what they say.

Happy belated Diwali and Bandi Chhor Diwas to all the Hindus and Sikhs out there!

Hi mate, Did you manage to get your brakes sorted? What had to be done to remedy it? Many thanks Keerat

Looks sweet! Have you got a clip of how it sounds? I'm curious how loud it is under normal driving and cruising on the motorway

Ah Curby!! What times were people getting around there? I'm a member of club GTI who also hold a bi annual sprint there. My friend has won it twice in a row in his mk1 gti :-) Good fun!

The sad thing is that the majority of motorists probably fall for the convincing scaremongering that the dealers spew out. My diesel Accord (worth approx £1500) threw up the ABS, VSA & Traction Control lights a few weeks back... On the way home I popped into the Honda Dealership in my Z... without seeing the Accord they said "Its likey to be the VSA module @ £1900... and our driver will not bring the car in as our insurance wont cover driving it with the VSA etc kaput... so you will need to pay us £100 for the tow truck, £70 to diagnose and then we will leave you to decide what you want to do?" They were trying to convince me the car will be only worth scrapping, and to consider a new/used car (as I had been in the previous week looking at replacement options)... I took it down to Japex who diagnosed a faulty ABS sensor, supplied (Honda original @ £130+vat) and fitted for £225. The job included drilling out and re-tapping a few "problem" bolts on the front suspension for me.

I agree with Dave. If I was you I would try to find an aftermarket head unit that you do like (new or used) and install it along a simple speaker upgrade.

Yup there are quite a few. Ninja Z is around the area with his azure Me with my blade silver There are two black ones I see regularly (think they are from Chalfont St G) The sc silver import with black tailgate - heavy mods, sounds like a banshee! GM one I see parked on the a413. a lot of Z action in a small area!

Does the SC'd Z have a black bonnet and tailgate? If so I've seen that one around, sounds mental as it accelerates past the house!

So.. Regularly see a Sunset Orange on the way into Luton. Sunset comes off the M1 southbound @ juct 10. Gunmetal in the Luton Airport industrial estate This morning a black 07 plate heading northbound on the M1, exited at juct 9. Hey Gents - I'm in the 53 plate Blade Silver Z! I'm the hairy Sikh guy - you cant miss me with my big turban and beard

ah another Z in Amersham! Seems like quite a little collection in such a small town!

a) you will have to spend more than 1 complete tax year out there to qualify for tax free status in most arab countries, if you rent a house/flat, you have to pay all your rent up front.... alternative is expensive hotels c) expat lifestyle is expensive - espc if you drink alcohol or desire to socialise with other expats, as you can only drink in certain places which are always expensive... and as all your expat mates will be there, no doubt you will end up going quite often too.... A friend of mine is a Corporate Lawyer in Doha (being worked to the bone). He has been there 3 years, and is likely to be there another 2 (original plan was 2 years tops then back home). It is not too bad for him, as he has little family in the UK to miss (all/most are in Hong Kong). He is a sensible guy (not extravagant), but even he says it is expensive. Plus side... Brimmed the tank with petrol in his V8 BMW X5 for about £6 when I went last.

Ah ha! interesting that you are playing with standalone management! I would be interested to find out how restrictive the OEM management is (even with UpRev), and how much switching to standalone can gain (with/without other mods). The uprev sounds good for removing the throttle restriction in 1st/2nd/3rd, but other than that I personally cannot see much of a benefit. However, I'm well aware of how 'calibration' of the management can make an engine more responsive compared to stock etc. But that experiment was conducted using a 1998 Golf VR6, which in standard form has a pretty lazy map. Is the OEM Nissan management set up well to begin with, or is it restrictive? I'll probably pop past to see you guys early next year when my Z is due a P3 service :-)

Found it... I was looking for ICT 29-672, (which comes up as a Subaru part). The actual number is ICT 29-674!

Just having trouble tracking down the required adaptor loom (as mentioned in the how too guides...) I can find the loom to connect the new head unit (via the pre outs + ISO) to the Bose amp, but it doesnt appear to do the steering wheel controls too...

Has anyone managed to find the ICT 29-672 Cable for sale anywhere? I cant seem to track it down.... There are other cables available to just hook up the HU to the Bose amps via the HU pre-outs, but they dont appear to cover off the steering wheel controls. http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/cel-ais2260-iso-nissan-350z-with-bose-audio-system-to-rca.html

Did it sound like all the valves were bouncing around or just one or two? Just thinking - if it was oil related, would it not be likely that you would hear a fair bit of 'failure' going on i.e. multiple valves etc suffering oil starvation wear... in comparison to if one faulty component has given way etc? Ross and Stuart are good guys. Hopefully they will have it diagnosed quickly with a bunch of options/routes to take.