Pingu2

Yeah I am definately planning to s/c rather than turbo, so I think the level of back-pressure isnt really so vital.. am trying to source nismo now anyway

I am also working on this car PC thing - I have replaced the nissan stereo with one with aux inputs and plan to plug the pc sound directly into the head unit (I have bose system and dont want to go down the route of seperate amp/speaker install). I have a small form factor PC, running a via epia 1000 chipset with 512mb ram, cd drive and hard disk - also have a power regulator that will convert the 12v battery supply to allow the pc to run (the touchscreen will run directly off the battery supply). Something low power and light is what you want of course - but something powerful enough to run the software you want. You will also need a power/shutdown control circuit of some sort that will start up the computer AFTER you have started the engine (or cranking will reduce the battery voltage and the computer will just shut down mid disk-access) and then shut down the computer a set time after you turn the engine off). I have bought this -> http://www.cartft.com/catalog/il/574 to use - it seems the best option (along with Opus made ones) I am intending to mount the pc in the large rear glove box and route the cables through to the dash, where I will install USB sockets. I have a USB bluetooth adapter and a bluetooth GPS thingy that I will be mounting somewhere it can get a lock on some satellites. The 7 inch (800x480) touchscreen I intend to mount in the satnav cubby - apparently it's best to get your hands on a 2003 cubby as they are easier to fit a touchscreen in. You will need to do some cutting of the cubby and remove the touchscreen from its casing to fit this stuff. Once the hardware is set up there is of course the problem of what software to run - check out www.mp3car.com and there are quite a few different front ends available, that do most of what you might want (music,dvd,satnav etc). I have been writing my own software but its a very on/off project for me - and I will probably end up using some of the pre-written stuff in the end (I have the music stuff written nicely, and some satnav working using mappoint 2006 api's). Anyway if you want to read up about it I would really recommend the forums at http://www.mp3car.com and for buying bits you might need I would recommend http://www.cartft.com (this is a german website/company but I have ordered from them before several times and also had to get replacement items sent and they have no problem dealing in english).. I would budget 800 pounds for doing a proper job of this btw (unless you already have some of the things you will need)..

I have the bose yes - and it works pretty decently with it, no noise or anything and sounds fine.. the kenwood unit is OK - it plays CD's and USB fine (providing they are 192kbps or less); you get some software you can use to copy stuff to usb sticks etc (the software is pretty decent - and does include functions to create voice indexes so that it will say what album youre selecting etc).. the display is pretty readable except in direct bright sunlight. I am not experienced at all with car audio installs and managed to get it working - after I realised it needed the pwr/ant connection connected or it wouldnt power on (seemed a bit strange to me!) i didn't want a screen based system as I am intending to put a touchscreen in the sat-nav cubby at some point, and I didn't fancy the look of 2 screens (visual overload!). anyway if I wasnt intending to add a car pc I would have spent more and got a screen based dvd, probably jvc one..

not sure about the micro harness - still havent got round to fixing my steering wheel controls back up to the head unit since I changed it.. I have installed the Kenwood DPX-501U that you *were* considering and the used the pac kit.. works OK but I don't really like the headunit much, one major pain in the bum is that it only plays files from USB stick when they are encoded at 192k or less and skips terribly on higher quality stuff.. which means I have to re-encode stuff for the car.. I also find the radio on it doesnt have much gain on the antenna - hard to receive channels even in SW london.. not that I use the radio much..

make sure the screen is clean and dry (and warm is best!) and then hold it firmly in place for around 10 mins (or until you get cramp, whichever comes first!)

mm I think you're right .. although he took it off as it was too noisy for him, is that right?

Is the Nismo exhaust suitable for a vortech s/c setup? Looking to get an exhaust sorted soon and the vortech later on, don't want to have to buy a different exhaust then..

hmm the most annoying thing is the lack of visisbility when reversing (not helped by the reflection of the strut bar)... although that's closely followed by the water in the door sills when its rained hard..

Nice - don't think I've ever seen one on the road Welcome!

can you pm me details too please! i could use a little more grrrrowl..

I'll bet

I went past an Atom this morning on the A286, hooning round a corner in the driving rain - 2 very very wet looking people!!

yeah probably - still a real shame

well they have now and yet Nissan still supply the bridgestones.. or do the 07 cars have different tyres now?

have just gone from the OEM tyres to Toyo Proxes T1-R all round - the difference is amazing, nissan are idiots for putting those bridgestones on as the default tyre.. pissing down today and the wet handling is simply fantastic.. wish I had changed them as soon as I got the car now!

Thought you were stalking me on the way home, Hanel Yeah I live about 50 feet from where we seperated - say hi to my car when you pass it each day please!

not at this time of year with my Z parked on the street!

damn - sucks about the wheel - hope it is fixable:(

yeah too much traffic I'm afraid down here

I overtook him earlier and he didnt like the move (said he had to brake, but there was space in my book!), was tailgating me through the village.. anyway John slowed down and I overtook him, then the local guy overtook John and stopped.. so I reversed back to block him in and see what the score was.. a few words were exchanged and we agreed to differ

we shouldn't have put the 2 custards together really - looks like a giant custard cream

7 zeds but sl114 had to go back before the photo op ;0