pmorg4

That pioneer does look OK, more so with the buttons changed to orange. Can you disable the "beep" function on that unit? Some Pioneer units cannot have the beep on button press disabled, which rules them out for me. It would be nice if it had a volume dial rather than +/- buttons, especially since there is plenty of space for a dial on the side. Still you can't have it all I guess

SteveM, what's involved in fitting that unit? It looks great - how is it functionality wise? I'm guessing sound quality won't be great being a Nissan unit, but these are such noisy cars I could live with that.

Even though it probably costs about £50 to manufacture. There are plenty on the used market for pennies, although VIN coding poses a hurdle.

I haven't really followed F1 in years (not since the dominant Ferrari era where it became very predictable and boring). It's looking like this season might finally change that - I'm going to try and catch the next race to see if it lives up to the first one

Agree with the last few posts - when on a bicycle you have to ride defensively and try to anticipate what other road users are going to (or might) do. I also have a motorcycle licence and it's very similar for both, except you're even less visible and can't accelerate out of trouble on a bicycle. I enjoy all forms of transport and they each have their place, but you have to adapt your approach as appropriate to the situation, which includes the vehicle you're in/on as well as the type of roads and time of day.

Agreed on the labour price con... remove/refit a gearbox is a pretty straightforward job on most RWD cars, and they've already had the gearbox off to do the clutch.

Maybe get something from another (newer) Nissan, that will look original but have better functionality. Sound quality probably won't be any better though, and there's the issue of units coded to the car, so not sure how viable that option is.

Loving the look of these steering wheels... keeping this page in mind should I decide to go down this route

Good work mate That steering wheel looks ace. Really like alcantara on the wheel, as it feels nice and doesn't get too hot or cold in various weather. Downside is the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions tend to flatten after a while (assuming you don't drive cruiser style with one hand on the top of the wheel!). Had an alcantara trimmed wheel on my BMW, and tempted to get the Z wheel done too after seeing yours, although I do like the OEM look too!

Yes, but on a car that weighs as much as a small country to begin with, not noticeably heavier

Finding a head unit that looks good (i.e. not chav!) is the difficult part. It seems the aftermarket mainly caters to barry boys these days, so good luck in your search. I'm still on the stock radio as I couldn't find anything that offers all the nice features of an upgrade system while looking reasonably "original". Depends on whether you can stand flashing bright blue lights I guess Keep us posted with your progress - sorry I couldn't be more help, but I'd be interested to see what you choose

Looks like it could be quite subtle with illumination set to Amber. Could do with a larger screen though to make it easier browsing hundreds of MP3s.

Agreed - this seems to happen with every car I buy! It's just perception, you just start noticing them more.

Lost the work sweepstake. Oh well only a few quid, maybe next year

If I get home from work in time tomorrow, I might give it another wash & dry then hopefully get some pics before it ends up covered in dust again

Some insurance companies simply don't like modified cars, regardless of whether it improves performance. Keep shopping around and you'll find companies that are happy to cover your car.

First off congrats and enjoy I don't think these cars have a service indicator, so you have to go by mileage and time since last service. If it had a major service in 2012 then unless it's done huge miles since then I wouldn't worry, just get the standard service done at the first opportunity. Oh and some cars, mine included, don't use any oil between services. So the level being full is no indication that it has been recently serviced. Even if it does use oil, it may simply have been topped up recently.

Having the wiring is a huge plus when doing this type of job, and it seems most manufacturers these days don't include unnecessary wiring for parts not installed. Nice that Nissan does! Regarding standard fit options, it seems most manufacturers now make a substantial chunk of their earnings from options, hence why many models are pretty spartan, even expensive ones! You can spend a lot of money on a BMW or Porsche, and you'll still have very few toys unless you delve into the expensive options list. Interestingly, the "cheaper" brands such as Ford seem to fit far more standard equipment these days.

Washed mine over the weekend, only for it to rain shortly afterwards, which resulted in loads of dust sticking to the car. Not sure why it's so dusty, as I think I'm too far north to be getting the Saharan stuff! Anyway, I also cleaned the interior and engine bay, neither of which were particularly difficult as I tend to keep on top of these. Here are some pics - I skipped the exterior pics due to the aforementioned dust Not up to some of the incredible standards posted on here, but rather nice looking nonetheless in my opinion

Likewise, I deleted my account at least two years ago now and haven't regretted it once. 99% of what is discussed/posted there is mind numbing garbage!

That is cool... didn't realise it was basically an advert though!

Good job! This reminds me of a few years back, some vauxhalls had cruise enabled from factory but were just missing the switch built into the indicator stalk. 10 minutes to replace the switch was all that was required to enable cruise even on poverty spec models I think they later realised the loophole they'd left and disabled cruise in the ECU on base spec models, which sounds like what Nissan have done.

Mine DE doesn't use a drop between services but I still check regularly just in case.

Great, thanks mate I'll pass that on.

The race off the line is the one good thing about stopping to pay tolls