Ebized

....and my turn, with a couple of vids thrown in the best used car lot in town two of our snappers, snapped and a 360 and for those bike enthusiasts - some 400 on the move from the cafe

Lewis got the job done whereas Mika was all at sea (again), but there is no doubt that this season has been all about the cars and the upgrades. Just look at the way Ferrari and Renault have fallen away with no development to speak of in the latter races, but they have proven racers in Kimi and Fernando. JB winning the championship this year has been about making the best of the best car at the beginning of the season and then a relatively poor one in the latter half of the season, but not helped by poor qualifying. But race consistency has won through in the end and that's whats won many championships in in the pre Schumacher/Ferrari era when that combination was largely unbeatable. You have to admire the way that circuit has been put together, but again money is not a factor there. Compare that to the debacle here with Donnington/Silverstone - two great tracks that I would suggest give a better racing experience but are so under-funded in comparison such that their racing worth is down-graded. From the TV coverage so far it is difficult to tell what overtaking opportunities exist at Dhabi - hope this last race gives us some real excitement

You kept that quiet many happy returns for yesterday - and thanks for the help on our little convoy to the Cafe

Just for Martin and anyone else interested Stuffed in the corner was not conducive to good pics but here you go: The boot height is accentuated on the roadster but we noticed that in both the coupe and roadster the boot actually seems shallower than the 350's, which given there is no spare (spacesaver) wheel I guess is down to the removal of the strut from the boot area needing to be compensated by extra strengthening around the boot floor (Nissan guys not too keen on us pulling the boot trays out etc to check) The beesting boot aerial is prominent and not sure if an added 'wing' would make the resulting overall height just too high. Couldn't work out if the rollover hoops would extend on a rollover/collision (as in BM's) but the plastic finish that disguises was a let down - shame the polished hoops were not left unclad?

If its anything like the day I did at Thruxton, most people come out with a very similar mark. On that day I got 85% but overtook every one of the other people in the Caymans we were driving (as it drives very like a Zed, so easy to go quick), and still came out only 5% above most of them, half of which hadnt driven anything performance before and were stupidly slow! I would guess if you are half decent you will get 80% and if you are a good driver you will get more. But it wont be detailed above that. Did you have timed laps? With 9 different 'instructors' there is no way there would be consistency in the marking but to be fair from my experience and what I heard they were not at all restrictive and once they sensed your capabilities encouraged overtaking - Rob (H5) saying that on one lap he was told to blast between two slower cars. As professional racing drivers employed to give us a great experience they did just that - if it had been Nissan employees I doubt we would have had the same freedom. And no, there was no timed laps but speeds up to 130-140 on the straight were on. I was passed by the GTR on a fast lap with one of the winners of a previous group - jeeeeez that was shifting - would have loved to have a ride with the Nissan racing driver brought along for those hot laps - what a job eh OK Mart - roadster pics coming -phew trying to keep up with this thread and plan tomorrows trip to the ACE cafe now that I am leading a small group - its all go

A few pics from today The 370 camp Nostaglia corner (with a GTR and race academy car thrown in) One of the circuit cars (I gather in this colour they were manual and those in white were auto - all left hand drive) Cars for the drive outside the circuit - two guests in each and linked by radio from two support vehicles - each guest had a turn to drive. Auto and manual. Too quick for the camera, having cut the apex In answer to what is the % thing - here is my score card showing how it is calculated [attachment=0]370 driving assessment 30-10-09.pdf[/attachment]

I have given my details for a weekend test drive......but please no one tell June otherwise it will be this from this . Oh, and chatting to the head of Nissan Europe a full bloodied 370 Nismo for the UK is not ruled out but unlikely for 2010. Wheeling and dealing going on to ensure what can be offered is competively priced

Come on Keith especially Beavis you mean? So come on then who beat him? put it this way, who was that desparate he felt the need to turn up in racing boots..... BTW, pics report on its way

Bloody obvious - Minister for lowering and spacing

So did I. If a Scando rally driver got to that angle he was going to spin - you dont invoke that drift angle outside of drift competitions. Sorry, but I get sick of hearing "We were doing this in Escort/Capris/Morris Minors before you were born sonny" or "Rally Drivers do that with their eyes closed" Drifting is having the car sideways before you enter a corner, and maintaining the maximum angle of attack whilst staying on line and hitting the apex, then keeping the car sideways for as long as possible on the exit. Any fool with RWD can do a powerslide, but its balancing the car before reaching the corner and then maintaining it thats the art. Quite aside from that, Kawabata was doing close on 100mph in 4th for that corner, didnt drop much speed through the corner but then kept the car on the lockstops slowing back down to 30 odd mph for the next corner. You dont do that in a Cortina. That is little different to what the top rally drivers have been doing for years - the only difference is that if the road straightens after the corner they control the slide to get maximum forward momentum. If it s a series of 'S' bends then the drifting, or power sliding motion is little different. But always willing to learn, I checked out Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drifting_(motorsport) that reveals just how long the Japanese have perfecting the drifting art. The following quote caught my eye: Note that the actual scandinavian flick maneuver in rally driving is more complex than feint drifting. In scandinavian flick the tires are intentionally locked by braking hard right after turning a little away from the corner. While the wheels are locked, the driver applies steering input into the corner, adds throttle while still braking and then rapidly releases the brake pedal. This causes the car to slingshot itself through the corner. Having seen some impossible angles achieved by top rallying exponents, on loose and on tarmac and hitting corners at well into 3 figures, I think it is a little unfair to imply that drifting has more skill to it than what top-line rally drivers do, and have done over many decades. Where drifting scores is that it is specifically aimed at crowd pleasing (and usually in a competition environment), whereas in rallying it is all about what is perceived to be the fastest way round to the next piece of road and the sharpness of the bend/surface condition will dictate the angle of attack. In other words, they each have their skills that are very similar, and what I have just learnt from Wikipedia is that art of 'drifting' goes back a lot longer than I had appreciated

Tut tut, done the edit for you Mike, and after all the thousands of those posts by Sarnie too I somehow think the 370 will only look the full part with some styling mods we are beginning to see emerge - for me the base shape just dosen't work 'out of the box' as well as the 350

Stan You forgot the most important The Minister for trains I can see a ban coming on - nice knowing you Stan

You 'lost'? Have you checked behind the radiator, fridge, etc? looked in the cat?

Should that bit read 296? It does now

A nice write-up and pics Steve - looking forward to the next opportunity to give you some support

I'm here....... On the road I certainly 'feel' that the mid-range the torque characteristics of the rev-up engine are, if anything and in the twisty bits, slightly worse than the 276. But I have noticed on 'spirited' road driving that the extra revs on 296 does come into its own at the top end. That is not the case when up against the 309 engine - it can easily stay with me when the 276's start to (very marginally) fall away. Overall, I would say that the 276 is more suited to the ZED for road use but on track the 296 (and 309) would come into their own. I always remember Big Phil (ESR) telling me that he found the best engines were those made in 2002-2003 and I have to say that in over 4 years of ZED ownership those engines do seem to hold up well. No doubt some 'mods' might have an effect and with the ECU piggybacks and the likes that will corrupt impressions. But then again some of the modded air intakes are also known to reduce power over standard, although they might sound nice. Hope that helps

Scandinavians having been doing that before that guy was born

I'm down for 11.15 Friday Thursday 1. JAK 11ish 2. Sunset350z 12.40 3. 4. Friday 1. H5 11.15 2. Rich5259 12.00 3. Mazzaman 12.00 4. Rawbhp 8.20 5. CS 1:30 6. introspect 2.30 7. paul "first thing" - perhaps he means 8.20 with rawbhp 8. ebized (Colin) 11.15

Welcome along I've had a couple of Scoobys in the past and I think its fair to say the running costs are going to be about the same with a ZED. I thoroughly enjoyed the Scoobys but now having had two ZEDs I have to say the driving experience is so more rewarding - lets face it the 4-wheel drive does so much for you whereas planting 300bhp out through just the rear wheels takes more driver driver involvement but once you get the feel of the car's limits the factor means you just want to go out and enjoy it all the time. But do be wary in the wet after the Scooby and the Civic until you know the limits - but I promise you, you will not be disappointed

Here's a pic of an MY06 There are (illuminated) drink holders at the front of each door armrest that you cannot see in th pic and the single dash drink holder has been converted to a credit sized card coin holder. (Brodit o2 orbit phone holder/charger and curly wire serving the snooper is my addition )

Is your car a UK right-hand drive supplied or a left hooker as the photos show? If it is a left hooker I'm not sure the aftermarket bluetooth set-up will work but here is a useful guide otherwise .pdf]

Yep - looks like a good few true enthusiasts from 350z-uk will be there

Maybe so, but my pestering got me an invite last week

Anyone hoping to get in for Thursday (29th) check this thread out viewtopic.php?f=70&t=29092