allaboutthepasty

I get about 300 - 350 miles to a tank when commuting 10 miles each way to work and back. Display shows 25mpg average. I've had cars before that supped fuel for fun and it did take the enjoyment out of them whilst constantly watching the rev counter. As mentioned before, make sure you have plenty of spare cash left over each month before considering it. My girlfriend up until recently did 60 miles a day and we have a Golf TDI for that reason. She used to do it in a VR6, absolutely loved the car but hated putting petrol in!

Ordered fluids Monday lunchtime, arrived Tuesday with a bag of sweets. Competative quote when I PM'd Ewan, would definitely use again.

Sorry Zed forum. Undertray had come away in one corner and made a proper racket when i knocked it about. I will try not to worry too much next time! 3.5 litre bombproof engine stays bombproof! Very glad.

Had a look underneath as best I could and nothing was drastically hanging down. It isn't in the best condition as I found out during its last service. Previous owner removed the heat shields I think. I'm being harassed by the girlfriend to go out for a sunday roast so may not get a chance to have a proper look today. Will keep you updated though and thanks for the suggestions. It's put my mind at ease for a bit for now seeing as nobody has chipped in with anything such as "engine failure" I was dreading the comment from Alex regarding replacement engines for £1200 good to go! I hope I end up only having to pay him for service items this month.

Fixed Can you please show me where in my post I said I was doing 80 on a public road? The fact that you are defending the statement confirms it Haha ok, I will stop feeding the troll. Fyi ~ Don't think anyone has made an engine yet in existence that is bombproof if you don't put oil in it. Hopefully it's not that serious though. Just checked oil level, absolutely fine. Thought it would be the case as bought the car last December, regularly checked the oil which never dropped, before I serviced it in May, again, never dropping as I regularly checked. I'm not that special as to starve my engine. Had a poke around, very slight bit of play in the radiator and it's in need of new belts at the front which I'm ordering today. You can push the arch liners back a bit but I assume this is normal. Will lift the car today but if I can't see anything obvious I'm stumped. I'm correct in thinking anything clutch / flywheel related would be more dependent on revs than speed? Big end also? Could it be anything steering / suspension related? Anything I can look out for?

Fixed Can you please show me where in my post I said I was doing 80 on a public road? I'll do an oil check tomorrow. It's never lost any oil since I've had it and it wasn't all that long ago I checked it. It's strange, it's not like a chatter that matches revs etc... Just a clunking rattle type sound. I'll check the tray as it is pretty haggard and wheel liners. Really hope it's not the engine seeing as one of the main reasons I opted for a Zed was due to it having a 3.5 litre bombproof lump

So I was out in the Zed yesterday and a loud rattle/chatter seems to have appeared. It's a 03 GT with 66K on the clock, original clutch and flywheel. It happened as soon as I hit 80 in 6th. I cannot tell if it's in the engine or not, but definitely up front somewhere. It is not dependent on revs, just speed as when I put it in a low gear and get the revs to 5-6k, it's fine. There's no loss of power or anything, just an awful racket which disappears once I ease off. Had a quick look under the car but nothing looks dislodged. I'm going to get it on the stands tomorrow and have a proper scout about, so I'm just wondering if there's any common problematic things I should look out for?

Just watched the videos. Don't know if I'd fancy rocking up in my 6K Japanese sports car and taking on those Aston's, Zondas and Lambo's! Looks like good fun though.

Your number plate shrunk in the wash...

They still said they'd rather have the Bimmer in the studio. Reminds me as well of a Fifth Gear review where they put the 350 up against a TT. It beat the TT in every test yet they still chose the Audi. What do they know?

Yup, I'd imagine any car this type will eat clutches / gearboxes and replacements will not come cheap. The S6 is apparently a good choice, same engine as the S8 but not as highly tuned and very bombproof. Still not bad at circa 400bhp. A colleague of mine got 20 out of his M5 when commuting sensibly then down near single figures at the weekends. Oh well. Going to put some time into the Zed one weekend soon and give it the plugs, belts & gearbox fluids I've been meaning to. Then enjoy it

Had my 03 near enough a year now, on 65K. Few squeaks from cold going over bumps on winters mornings. Airbag light came on which was fixed by fiddling around with the plug under the seat. Next maintenance is a throttle body clean as it cuts out on startup when warm if you don't dab the throttle, will cost me a fiver for the carb cleaner. Overall, not much really for a 10 year old car. Just look after the engine and gearbox by using good quality fluids at the recommended intervals and you'll be fine. Go on absolutely any specific car forum and you'll hear the horror stories. For a 300bhp sports car, the prices for parts really aren't that bad either.

After having an itch into getting myself an E60 M5, with all its V10 5 litre goodness and the last hoorah to the F1 cars of that generation and all that, I've had a bit of a U turn. So my commute is fairly short, so the decrease of about 5mpg from the Zed isn't an issue. Tax and insurance in the grand scheme of things isn't too much to worry about either. After doing the sensible thing and digging around on the owners forums / pistonheads etc, I've found that 500bhp comes at a bit of a price (yes, really) 3 grand for a clutch and flywheel change as opposed to the 1K for a Zed. 1.5K for discs and pads? The massive downside is that due to the iDrive etc and all the masses of electronics in the Bimmer, you cannot do the general maintenance yourself, everything has to be reset etc by the dealers, massive German ripoff. I'm sure it'd be such an amazing car to own, but I cannot justify the cost at the moment. Maybe after a few more promotions!

You can still do a Degree, my mate is 50 and doing a Chartered Surveyors Degree. Yeah but I'd have to pay for my second. Will try and blag one from work!

Very paranoid, but he does have to understand from a buyers point of view. Would he pay upfront in cash only to find a blown headgasket etc? I'm all for people not taking the **** and picking niggly faults (which you'd get on any 30 odd year old car) and trying to drive the price down. But there could be a glaring emission from his listing. Where would the buyer stand then? Personally I'd just turn upto his house, check the car over and send him the money then via the paypal app. Can't see how bidders aren't put off by this and have gone upto 2K. I sold mine for 700 quid a few years back. Needed a bit of a tidy up but was unabused. Biggest mistake of my life along with not doing an engineering degree

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1991-NISSAN-200SX-/261483038796?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item3ce19a884c Ok this guy is seriously nuts. He's selling the tidiest S13 I've seen in a long while. Only problem is, you are not allowed to go and view the car before you bid. You must pay the whole amount by paypal as soon as the auction ends. Just have a look at some of the Q&A's at the bottom. "The person who wins this auction must pay by Paypal after the sale before collecting the Nissan 200SX, no other kind off payment is acceptable such as credit card or cash etc. The reason for this reminder is because I have had a bidder who thought he could turn up with cash.If this does occur I will refuse to complete the transaction and relist the car again."

Had a few VR6's and such but this was the most fun car I've ever driven. Cooling lines corroded and I didn't have the time to replace them all so sold it on at a profit. Can't find a pic when it was in my possession but I had it pretty much standard. New owner put the aftermarket wheels on. Really want it back. I'd trade the Zed in anyday for a low milage minter!

Blame the previous owner!

Girlfriend was in bed hungover so treated the Zed to an oil change and a good clean. Spent more time battling with axle stands and the undertray rather that doing actual work. All ready now for a bank holiday trip up the A65 from the Lakes to Leeds next weekend. Next jobs on the list are belts, plugs, gearbox & diff oil when funds will allow. .... And yes I haven't got round to buying a stubby yet.

Wow, you lot are far more welcoming here compared to the introduction Max 'Do you know what a manual choke is?' Revs got over in the General section.

Ok so I was trawling through this thread at lunchtime today watching you all digress. 9pm tonight and I have no f**king idea what the hell is going on now.

I had the Zed with Admiral, then proceeded to buy a shed. They gave me a Multicar quote letting me use my NCB on the 2nd car too.

Not really seen much in the way of changing fuel filters on Zed's. Is there a recommended interval?

Cheers for the advice guys. Haha yeah, spotted this in one of Dicky's threads, was gonna buy from them, bargain. Yeah heard it was a right pain to drain from the block and there's only about a litre in there so not too fussed. Going to shop around, come up with a total price and if a trader wants to match it I'll get it in a one from them. Just a quick one though, this is the right stuff yes? Just seems very cheap: http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-876-motul-8100-eco-nergy-5w-30-fuel-economy-petrol-and-diesel-fully-synthetic-engine-oil.aspx

Yeah was going to. They seemed to offer the cheapest Gear Oil at least. Some bargains on ebay though!