Screamer

Uploading as we speak... um, type

I know..! Worst part is, when I logout of Facebook and then try the link, I get the same 'This content is currently unavailable' error Sorry we didn't get to have a chat at the meet (it's all a bit too much with too many people in too short a time for us newbies), but that car of yours looks stunning - like it's been suckered onto the road, low and smoothed out!

Thanks Wasso - that might keep them off my back just long enough for Facebook to sort itself out

Does this one work any better: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 402&type=3 ? I've only just uploaded, so that might be the cause... It's definitely 'public'

Here's my SLR photos to go with the ones Kim took on the point-and-shoot http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 402&type=1

It's too late Mark, it's too late! Save yourself! Ah, great to meet you too - gutted we seemed to spend a lot of the Sunday drive nose-to-tail yet we only got to speak to you at Country Cooks! Will have to make amends at the next one The Invidia is very tempting, isn't it... It's starting to look like the nice compromise of looks, sound, build and price

Thanks Colin, I'll pass that along! Even more impressive she got those shots, seeing as we were going at 'a fair pace' during that section of the drive! At best, I was just, just hanging on to the back of you, but that's always easier when you're following someone else! One hell of a good drive behind one hell of a good driver! The directions were great, thanks - given the number of people, there was always going to be times when the group got split, so having easy to follow instructions was a great touch! We got stuck behind some traffic on the A5 going to Country Cooks and were separated from the front of the group, so a quick glance at that piece of paper was enough for us to know that we going the right way and probably hadn't passed it. Another example of how well you and the other guys organised the whole thing Thanks again for being so welcoming and accommodating the whole weekend, really appreciated! As you recommended to me before I got my spacers, you were spot on about 25mm all round being the way to go - the fronts and backs match up to the arches perfectly and as a bonus, the shape of the front bumper with them means the car looks much wider and more planted! Hard to understand why the car didn't leave the factory looking like yours does now - small tweaks that have genuinely transformed the looks! The great thing is that none of it looks like it couldn't have been there from the factory, either!

Thanks for the replies, guys! Too many choices! Right now, it's looking like a toss up between Fast Intentions (due to seeing/hearing Chris' car + opinions online), HKS (seems to be well regarded), Invidia and Scorpion... I must admit, when I started thinking about it, I fancied something stock-looking (hence, in part, the appeal of the Scorpion, which seems to be the most retrained in appearance and possibly sound), but having seen Colin and Chris' cars, I'm not sure... They're clearly aftermarket, but look great; really suit the car! I get the impression that this tends to be the general opinion on the choices above: FI: the 'in thing' at the moment, great sound, one of the noisier options, great looks, slightly more likely to create a bit more drone (presumably determined by the resonators chosen), one of the expensive options HKS: really well made, good sound, Stillen-esque muffler look, one of the expensive options Invidia: solid, good sound, Stillen-esque muffler look, well priced Scorpion: slightly quieter and a little higher-pitched, near-OEM look, cheap Actually, having had a listen to some more videos (that sounds odd, but you know what I mean), the Invidia is looking highly tempting... nicely priced, looks good without being too 'aftermarket' and sounds really nice to my ears via my speakers..! Might still leave it a month or so to weigh up the options a little more and be in a position to afford whichever I fancy That is lovely though, isn't it..! Thanks Chris & Freebird - hadn't considered the HKS (having not heard much about it on the 370Z) until you two mentioned it... I love the curved pipes on the SSM! I blame you! Walking over and planting these bank-threatening ideas in my mind! Thanks Dave! I know, I wondered if my speakers had gone kaput when I rolled off! The delay after the car in front didn't help either - complete silence until Mark put his foot down behind me! True! I almost fell out of my car when I first heard you nail it! Sounds brilliant, though! Touche! Can't blame you there! The nice burble at startup is worth it alone! That's definitely NOT you Bugger. It does sound very nice, that... Agh! Which exhaust is that? That is very But I'm guessing it's another £1200 ish affair, yeah? As for the lulabye remark, I'd love to argue, but, well you're right This does make me wonder about the FI... I really want something that doesn't hinder the interior quietness, especially when cruising down the motorway/around town... I guess there's bound to be a small price to pay for what's probably the best sound when going for it

Great pics/vids everyone! Although couldn't Humpy have edited in some kind of engine noise over my car pulling out of that layby?! A lawnmower would have done! Kim's uploaded some shots she took on our point-and-shoot here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 6bef0c82e8 I've got some taken while parked up on my SLR... Will hopefully get around to getting them online soon!

Hi all, To everyone at the Wales meet: now look what you've done! After having heard various exhausts over the weekend, plus my car being apparently electric if the lack of noise captured by the videos is anything to go by , I can see that I'm going to end up taking the plunge on some kind of addition to the exhaust system The most tempting option right now (particularly on price) is looking like the Scorpion, so my first question is does anyone here have one? Beyond that, Redline Styling's Invidia Gemini group buy looks tempting, but even though that seems a fair bit cheaper than the many £1200-£1300 options (Stillen, etc), it's still a good £250 ish more than the Scorpion... Difficult to tell if it's actually buying anything more! Obviously, I'm sure each exhaust out there has a different tone, but it's difficult to compare them unless you've got all the options together at once... plus, every exhaust I heard at the meet sounded different varieties of great to me! Last couple of questions (honest!): is there a Cobra exhaust for the 370Z yet? Sparky370z (Mark) seemed to reckon there is one, and I have found some videos of a remote-controlled exhaust by Cobra on YouTube, but I can't find anyone anywhere selling anything Cobra-branded for the 370Z (remote controlled or not)! Lastly, I'm after a setup that minimally effects cruising sound levels, but adds more noise when you put your foot down - are HFC's attached to the stock exhaust a good idea instead? Would appreciate any help! Thanks!

Ah, presumed it might have been yourself we passed in the layby! Considered waving, but thought that might have been a bit confusing if you hadn't realised it was me! Despite the usual back-and-forth on here, gutted we didn't get to have a natter! Was looking forward to a listen of that exhaust Hope your son's a-ok, sorry to hear he's ill. Just wanted to drop by and say a massive, massive thanks to everyone involved in the organisation of the meet, particularly Colin! We really enjoyed it all; can't imagine how it could have been any better! Following Colin/attempting to follow Colin (!) was a rather good lesson in just how much grip these cars have - an awesome part of the drive! Really big thanks to everyone who made the effort with us newbies, too - completely understand that for many of you, these meets are simply excuses to get together with some old friends and so having to wander over to some timid looking strangers must be a bit of a pain, so it's much appreciated! Particular thanks to Chris (Atkin666), Will (Will370z), Tom (Gudzy), Colin (Ebized), Dave (daveparkin), Simon (zippy), Ken (Ken), Struan (Bockaaarck), Mark (Madmarky), Mark (Sparky370z) and Chris (ChrisS)

Huge thanks to everyone involved! Not an easy few days, I'm sure!

Aaaaah!

As per usual, the software installed in the car reports itself using a completely different version format to what Nissan and NavTeq use online... My best guess with these disks is that the X-followed-by-a-number (X9.0 in the case of the latest NavTeq update) is really the version of Connect Premium that you'll be updated to with that disk, while the year (2011) is the map data version. From previous experience with Honda maps, the way these things work is that NavTeq provide the map data, but then the car manufacturer has to wrap that data up in a container/format that's ready for their in-car units to read. Because the map data format may have changed, or because the map data may offer new features, I guess it makes sense for manufacturers to roll out updates to their systems on the same disks. That way, I presume no one can easily get into a situation where the map data is incompatible with the 'operating system' of their in-car unit... Also works out quite well financially for Nissan - you want the USB image viewer that you don't have in your current operating system? You'll need a map update disk, even if you weren't bothered about updated maps! NavTeq (and I presume Nissan) are saying that the latest version of the Connect Premium operating system is X9.0, whereas my car reports "FLASH Ware: X3E10007" and "FLASH Application: X3E12015" which is entirely useless in terms of translating that to an X-something-point-something..! Does that make it X8.0? X8.5? X9.0? The map is the same; rather than "2011," I get "Map Version: 20100521" from the display- that, I presume (it's a date backwards), means either "2010" or (if such a thing exists) "2010/11" in NavTeq/Nissan's online speak... Although I guess it could still be the "2011" release, depending on how they convert! Confusing. One final thing: finally pulled the door off the cubby behind the drivers' seat (open it as still hinged at the bottom past 3 - I think - clicks... last one takes a bit of a shove, then pull the whole thing towards the back of the seat - it should come away easily) and then opened the little panel that looks like it should house a DVD drive... only to find no such thing! I can only assume that Connect Premium is therefore updated via the CD/DVD drive that's used for playing CDs and DVD movies (under the screen), then! Listening with the car and audio off, I'm pretty sure I can hear hard drive activity from the same area, under the screen.

I just searched NavTeq's a different way (go to navigation.com and ensure that Europe is mentioned towards the top-right, then use the drop down in the blue area on the left) and found what appears to be the latest/currently recommended update for Connect Premium: http://www.navigation.com/is-bin/INTERS ... onMenu=YES 2011, X9.0 Will check what mine currently is...

Just when you thought I'd forgotten this... Of course, sorry, yours is, as the salesman said to me when I bought mine with the Black Rose sitting behind us, "brown" I'll take "sooooo yesterday" over 1970, thanks! I'm not quite sure how it's happened (I am - he immediately started with the insults in my 'hello' thread!), but ioneabee and myself seem to be spending most of our time having pops at each other! Rest assured it's all good humoured! Well, I assume it is - he might be livid... After all, he has ended up with the wrong colour As for the rotary on the harder German clearcoats, I'd heard that too... I'm taking it pretty lightly with the Silverline for now - it's probably not doing much to start with but that's far better than polishing pad-shaped bare metal spots!

only if you want to sand it down to get it back to a proper colour like mine I guess if I had a scratch-attracting colour like, say, black, I'd need a DA polisher, but I've been fortunate enough to be blessed with better taste and then rewarded with a more easily maintained colour! You started it!

Ooops! It's still very good, though

Oooooh, an 80 Corvette! Nice. There was no need at all for my 'take it easy in the wet' advice there, then! I've done a fair few track days/experiences/etc now - would highly recommend having a go if you haven't before! Being my local track, I've spent the most track time at Oulton Park - fantastic, challenging place! As long as you remember the obvious rule of starting at a speed that you'd call 'fast but under control' and then build on that as you settle into it (using the slower corners to experiment and explore grip levels), rather than trying to keep up/get past others, it's a surprisingly safe activity on the whole!

I've got the Silverline - highly recommended. I believe a number of other models out there are essentially the same, simply rebranded. Got mine from Toolstation so I could collect it in person: http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Power%2 ... 309/p84532 I picked up a polishing pad and a finishing pad while I was at it, although I'll probably switch to Meguiars versions sooner rather than later (nothing wrong with the Toolstation ones though). With them, I'm using Meguiars Ultimate Polish or Meguiars Ultimate Compound (interchangeable really - the Compound is for restoring brilliance to clouded paint, whereas the Polish is more specifically for swirls and scratches... I'd imagine they're broadly the same thing, with the Polish simply being more aggressive) on the polishing pad followed by Meguiars Carnauba Wax on the finishing pad. As with the pads, the polish/wax I'm currently using are simply because I haven't bothered ordering better stuff online yet. Previous research seemed to point at Menzerna polishes followed by Meguiars #26 liquid wax. Hope that's of some help!

PM'd!

1-10 Chris`I 11-30 Ebized 31-40 AK350Z 41-60 Stew 61-70 Darren-B 71-80 glrnet 81-100 Chesterfield 101-120 M13KYF 121-140 ChrisS 141-155 Michelle (garetgax) 156-170 Graham (garetgax) 171-190 DoogyRev 191-200 Ruddles 201-220 sparky350z 221-240 Screamer

Hello and welcome! Brilliant choice of car, spec and colour - couldn't have chosen any better myself, because I didn't! GT Edition's definitely come with darkened alloys in original Nissan spec, although it looks just as lovely on the silver's. I always think of silver vs dark grey/black wheels as a dead heat tbh - the darker colour adds a racy edge and on mine, Nissan have kept a nice metallic effect rather than a 'flatter' finish you sometimes see on darkened wheels... But they always end up looking smaller to me when alongside silver versions of the same design. I'd presume yours were either nicked for another 370 (employee's car?), or simply scuffed and therefore replaced with an available standard set. Westway Nissan in Manchester had a red 370Z (that I test drove before getting my GT) with black wheels (a less-nice flat finish - no metallic edge) that the salesman admitted they'd had done themselves... Immediately knew it'd be because they'd been damaged! If you were interested in getting a darker finish, I'd take a look at www.thewheelspecialist.co.uk - believe these guys used to be LapTab (or something similar)... Never used them myself, but seem to remember them having a really good reputation online a few years back when I came across them. Apparently, they'd charge £408 for 4 370Z wheels in 'Flash Chrome' and an email a day or two ago claimed to be offering 15% off until 7th May. Just a thought if getting them darkened appeals! Sure there's plenty of other places out there that also do the same thing. As for mod suggestions - I'm hoping to work my way through this lot: Evo-R front bumper fang cover, carbon-fibre-effect vinyl-covered rear diffuser area, possible carbon-fibre-effect vinyl-covered roof, wheel spacers (20mm), exhaust (possibly/probably a Scorpion). Congrats on the car! Take it easy in the wet - grip in the dry is nearly unstickable, but the Bridgestone 050's are terrible in the damp... Knew that a few years back as they were fitted to my Mazda RX-8 PZ, but forgot about their recurrence on the Z and had it go sideways on me only a week or two after having got it, on the way back from a mini break..!

Yep - the quote for my old Z4M with Elephant dropped £100 when I told them it was on the drive, rather than in the garage..! I presume it's simply the effect of some complex calculations that are required to quote a figure automatically conflicting with company marketing policy that dictates they should be competitive in certain 'markets' (e.g. customers with cars parked on their driveways, younger customers, etc). Alterations are made to achieve that goal, and you end up with cheaper quotes for 'higher risk' policies. £776 with Direct Line for my GT Edition at the ripe old age of 27 (took advantage of their 'sale' couple of months back that, too my surprise, actually did seem to mean cheaper prices!)

Thanks for the replies and kind welcomes, everyone! Sorry for the delayed reply... long few weeks of work! Must admit, I've always been a fan of dark grey on black, so that was very tempting here, but having had a couple of black cars before, I'm happy with the change. I quite like the contrast of the white and grey (plus, I get to coat certain bits in carbon for added effect), I love the white's pearl finish and I'm hoping I won't quite want to get the whole car resprayed after every 2 washes having seen all the hairline scratches that black seems to attract/show! That said, as with most cars, the black does just look plain good, doesn't it! It's a bit difficult to give much detail having had the newer Z4 in between the M and the 370Z, but I can tell you that there's very, very little in it. The 370Z definitely has better grip (I seem to remember an issue of Evo comparing the Z4M against a tuned version of a 350 and their verdict being that the tuning had brought the 350 up to the BMW's engine performance, while they were surprised at the M's lack of rear grip - so as a result, the 350 was quicker overall) - the easy test for me was some fun in the Trafford Centre's overflow car park The Z4M would relinquish grip easily, even on Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric's, whereas the 370 on the standard run-crap Bridgestone's really, really has to be persuaded! My guess as to why would be that the Z4 uses trailing arms, whereas the 370 does it properly with multilink cleverness. In a straight line, I can't tell the difference at all, although having not come from one straight into the other, I can't be 100% sure... The stats for the Z4 were 0-62 in 5.0 seconds, which is a bit quicker than the quoted times for the 370, although a few of the US car mags have done it in 4.8 with the Nissan ( ), so there's probably not much in it there, either. Oooh, how'd it go?! Can't wait to stretch the car's legs properly on some of those great roads and meet all you guys I wouldn't bother - go for a 370 instead They're certainly no nicer inside than the 370 (the newer sDrive ones are by a big margin, but then you lose the driving experience) and the reliability just doesn't cut it. On top of servicing and other repair/parts costs (around double Nissan's rates, I'd have thought), you've got to factor in a replacement of the Vanos units every 3 years ish (it took Williams Liverpool 2 weeks with my car, so that won't be cheap - mine was JUST under warranty) and replacing the rear springs every 1 or 2 years as they snap at their base. The springs themselves were £100 I seem to remember, plus time or cost for fitting them. Nowhere near the same levels of kit, either. Hehe, thanks Colin! The moment I came across the forum, I knew it was a great community, so decided there was no point waiting around when you'd got a meet planned up this way! Other similar things might be a nice excuse to see other parts of the country, too. Thanks to Maccaman, Ian, flexib, CS, EH 370z, NeilMH, DoogyRev, ATTAK Z, Will370z, Pr1ngle, dragon, Ken, bronzee, Keyser, Ruddles, Beavis and Sarnie for the welcomes, too!