Dave McCool

I agree, and to be honest I'm happy enough with it switching like that, although there are situations it would probably be fun to have it display while on the move it's probably for the best that it doesn't... There must indeed be a setting for this, but I can't find it anywhere and nor can anyone else I've tasked with flicking through the settings while in the car!

Basically yes, sorry! That post was a bit of a waffle, I'll try to be a bit more concise: Auto display is the aim - it did it before and then stopped and I don't know why! It is definitely switching on the reverse gear, when in 'camera mode' it says no signal until the car is in reverse, then displays the camera when the car goes into reverse, then stops displaying when it comes out of reverse.

Car came with a Clarion VX401E head unit, kindly fitted by the previous owner. Frankly it's rubbish and it'll be replaced at some point, but it currently does all I need it to, can stream audio and calls from my phone, iPod hookup in the dash cubby etc, but the user interface is confusing and laggy. It'll do for now while there are other things needing doing, but its days are numbered... Anyway, the main issue at the minute is with the reverse camera. When I bought the car putting it into reverse would automatically trigger the reverse camera, bringing that up on the screen no matter what was on there before, and then returning to the previous screen after. This was nice. Now this doesn't happen, I have to manually select the reverse camera from the main menu. What's odd is that the switching on the reverse gear obviously still works - if I select the camera while not in reverse it just says 'no signal' until I select reverse. Then the camera displays on the screen, and cuts out again once I'm done reversing. If I put the car in reverse and don't select camera, nothing happens, it just stays displaying the tuner, or whatever else was happening. I've tried resetting the head unit to factory settings, been through all of the settings menu (not an extensive menu) and I've looked all through the manual and nowhere is there any mention of the camera coming on automatically - but it definitely happened before!! Anyone had anything like this before?

72k on an 04 plate

Thanks guys, I spoke with the guy there who'd be doing it and he seemed to know what he was talking about, as well as coming highly recommended. We talked through the list of bits required for the P3 and he seemed perfectly happy with that - we shall see. If it turns out to be naff I'll move on and try one of the suggestions above, Japex do sound good Will, although my old job used to take me to King's and Langley every so often - 40 minutes would be optimistic! Actually, double that would still be optimistic...

Have an UpRev'd DE and I seem to be getting it - it is pretty mild for me though...

I find I sometimes get this, feels a tiny bit jerky when trying to hold a constant speed. It feels like I could almost be going over a rough surface/slightly uneven throttle input. To be honest by the time I'm sure it's happening the car has warmed up and it's gone away... No clue what causes it for me but there does seem to be a correlation between that and the amount of time the car is running before setting off - generally I'll have the car running for 30 seconds or so while I pull all of my crap out of my pockets and put them in the centre console and sort out music etc - the jerkiness only seems to happen when I've been slightly more hurried than that and backed the car off the drive straight after starting it? Could be coincidental...

It's a P3 service - first one since I've bought the car so I want someone more capable than myself looking over it, plus I'd like the stamp in the book. Think I've found a place now, recommended by a mate who takes his M3 there. Heard really good things about some places which are a fair drive away, would just be good to find somewhere local that knew what they were looking at!

Struggling to find anywhere in Essex that have even heard of the 350Z, anyone have any recommendations?

Citroen AX GT Citroen AX (954cc 4-speed beast) MkIII Fiesta 5 door 1.1 Peugeot 306 1.9td Suzuki GSXR 600 K8 Hyundai Elantra saloon Suzuki GSXR 750 K7 350Z Pretty rubbish history for 10 years worth - sure I must have missed something...

The only negative comments I ever really encountered while reading up on my next purchase (which turned out to be the Z) was a general feeling that it wasn't as fast as it 'should be'. The actual power output isn't huge for a 3.5 (especially when compared to, say the 2.0 in an S2000), which seems to lead to a lot of, presumably, little boys stating that it's not a proper sports car because it can't force your eyes back into your head. If you actually look at the numbers it's not a massively impressive car, but it's way better to drive than the sum of its parts. Those that haven't driven one can confidently state, having looked at all of the numbers, an Astra VXR is a 'better' car. I haven't driven one, but it's not. It won't feel as special as the Z, it won't make that lovely noise when you start it like the Z does, it has the wrong number of seats, and it even has a proper boot. A quick car, but when you're driving it normally I would imagine it feels just (or at least almost) like a normal Astra, whereas the Z feels different than other cars, even popping to the shops. To be honest I didn't buy it because I thought it would leave great big patches of scorched earth and burning rubber behind at every set of traffic lights - I came from riding superbikes so it would take a hell of a car to actually feel properly fast. That said, when asked 'is it fast' by friends/colleagues that see it, the honest response is 'faster than I thought it would be'. It's a nice big, comfy coupe with a dirty great engine which makes it really rather nice to drive, which is exactly what I was after.

As far as I know a lot of the noises that mine makes are to do with the SMF which was fitted by the previous owner. Some days it's not so bad, other days it really is serious and is about the only thing that spoils the car for me - it's not so bad at idle, just the usual clackety sounds with the clutch engaged, more while under any kind of load below around 1,600rpm. It's mostly drive-roundable, but irritating when I'm pulling into the work car park and all the people at work think my nice new car is very poorly... http://youtu.be/pyuIL4FlVT4 This gives a good idea of the noise, if not the volume at times - I took a mate out in it the other night because he didn't believe how agricultural the noises that came from the car could be - gave it a bit of a boot at 30mph in 5th and he was amazed. When you get that reaction from someone who's daily drive is a 25 year old Land Rover 90 (a pickup at that) you know it's loud!

To be honest, all credit to the Merc - that is a monster. Looked like the Z might have been keeping pace by the time the Merc changed lanes, and we all know it's hardly a 0-60 car, but you can't argue with the lawnmower. Beast.

Whereas I'm very grateful they didn't... Appreciated man, good to meet you, even if it was brief!

Welcome along! I'm new too, based just up the road from you in Tiptree - be surprised if I don't see you about at some point!