James Junior

Hi guys, Does anyone have one of these that I can buy please? It is the little chin spoiler that sits under the standard front bumper. I am removing my Stillen front lip and want to reinstate the air deflector. However, I no longer have mine so need to find another! If so please could you email me at james.wetherall@wetheralls.co.uk. Regards James

Hi guys, A few quick updates: Firslty I am now loving the sound of the car without the HFCs. It might be perhaps verging on 'too quiet', but as a daily it makes it so much more enjoyable. I feel like less of a hooligan and the car is much quieter when shooting down motorway slip roads or using a squirt of acceleration in town. Yes on the open road I now have to wind the windows down to hear much of an exhaust note, but a sacrifice I am happy to live with for daily usability. Given that the HFCs are now removed from the system and that my last Uprev map was designed to optimise performance in a set up including HFCs, I have now booked the car in with TDi North next week for a fresh map. I just want to ensure everything is running as it should, even though any gains will be absolutely marginal. Finally had a scary experience yesterday. Since getting back from the tour I was hearing a slight catching noise from the front right wheel arch with the window down. This continued for a few days and by the time i had arrived at my GF's on Sunday evening it had developed into a creak. Whilst I was in France we had hit a stretch of freshly tarmaced country road and this had led to lots of little sticky, tarry (I think I just made up a word there?!) chippings being stuck to the inside of the wheels which I had to pick loose. I checked the wheel and apart from this couldn't see anything awry so assumed there must be a stone lodged in the caliper somewhere. Took the car to a mates garage yesterday and he had a good look, before realising a wheel stud was missing! We fitted one of the spares from my boot and he tightened everything up, as all round the car a couple were a tad loose. The spacers are proper bolt on ones, but even so I can only assume that hard driving in the Alps had somehow loosened them off a touch. Doesn't really bear thinking about and has left me with butterflies in my stomach. I am off around Europe again and doing the Scottish highlands in September, so will be taking them off and going back to standard fitment for these trips just to be 100% safe. might then go back to the spacers for regular UK driving. Also having the black side blades and Stillen front lip removed, hopefully this week. The Stillen lip is now catching on every speed bump and doing my head in! Not sure what state this will leave the bumper in as the splitter is bonded and screwed on. It needs a repaint anyway s not too bothered. If it is a mess I will do the two tours in September first, then have it repainted and might consider some of the protective film you can get to put up the bumper, bonnet and wings to protect the fresh paintwork once she is mint again. As an aside I have now also fitted KW V3s to my MR2 Turbo which has also had new top mounts and a full geo alignment. First impressions were actually terrible - the car was only marginally better than it was with the Teins on B roads and rough tarmac. Then I had a light bulb moment and remembered that the rebound is adjustable at the top of the suspension struts. Got the little adjustor tool out and checked them all and sure enough, they were almost on the stiffest setting! Turned them right down to around 20% up from the softest setting and car immediately felt better. Not had chance to really test them properly, but going to Cobra in Sheffield on Friday so will have a good opprortunity to put them to the test over Snake Pass. Can't wait!

cheers. Think I may give them a go then, I always got the feeling the v6 should shout a bit more than it does. I still have the Motordyne ARTs which have only been on a short while. PM me if you're interested matey.

Hi guys, I know deciding which exhaust and breather mods to choose can be hard work and sound clips can be few and far between, so here is one of my Z with the following: - Stillen G3 intake - Motordyne ART pipes - Cobra Y pipe and cat back exhaust - Uprev remap The vid starts in 'mute' for some reason so you will need to turn the sound on. https://www.facebook...57234681135195/ I have spent time over the past year with Cobra and Berk HFCs and Motordyne ART pipes fitted. Whilst all sounded awesome when pressing on, I have actually gone back to standard cats now, as I found all of them a bit too noisy for daily duties. Hope the sound clip helps some of you decide which way to go with your own mods.

A couple more of the Z out in the wild on tour: God damn! Thats a big fat ass!

"Save money by spending £10k on a supercharger kit!" Car guy logic at its finest - I love it!

I guess as a finance geek I cannot help but get wrapped up in the numbers and the research! Totally agree about hot hatches. They just don't have any appeal to me. Like you I think I will just wait and see where I am financially in another years time. An Evora 400 would be awesome, but a bit too rich for my blood I think! You'll have to take me for a spin in yours...

Wez - all a matter of opinion I suppose. All of the aftermarket HFCs I tried were really loud. However, what is too loud for me, might be fine for you. To be fair I have been running the car for almost a year with various HFCs fitted so definitely liveable as a daily. Paul - as I plan to remove the Stillen front splitter I think the car might look a bit odd if I keep the side blades on. Will see how it looks when the saggy Stillen comes off. Thats the next job! I will post a few pics once this is done.

For those of you wondering what the car DID sound like, here is a driveby video taken on tour. The set up of the car in this vid is: - Stillen G3 - Motordyne ART pipes - Cobra Y pipe and cat back - RS Tuning remap It sounds pretty mean, but I just felt I wanted to go back to something a bit more sedate for daily use!

Well, the standard cats are finally back on. I went for a little spin this afternoon and first impressions are....damn the car sounds quiet now! Will have another spin later once the traffic dies down, but it is certainly a lot more reserved. The performance delivery also feels a touch blunted too. However I think this is how I will keep it from here on, as for daily use all of the aftermarket cats were just too loud for me, despite the noticeable increase in performance that they gave. Will report back after some more time at the wheel.

Don't you need to look at the F-type R for the significant leap in performance you seem to be hankering after? On paper, the F-type S doesn't look to have a great deal more performance than a Z with a few breathing mods. I'm not knocking them - lovely cars and I realise that 0-60 times etc isn't the whole story - but I wonder if they would give you the extra excitement you're looking for? Its a very fair point and one that I had considered myself. The problem is that the V8 F-Type is significantly more expensive again than the V6 S. I am trying to stick to a budget of around £30k ideally. My research indicates that a stage 1 tune on an F-Type S would take power to 400bhp and torque to 350 lb ft, whilst the weight of the car is comparable to the 370Z. So not a dramatic increase in performance by any stretch. There is a good car stats and comparison site called fastestaps.com that I came across recently and this supports the theory: http://fastestlaps.c...ns/sisfgg1lbsdp So not much in it at all really. I actually did have a play with a V6 S coupe in the Z a few weeks ago on Snake Pass and there was very little to separate the two cars. That said driver input also plays a role of course, so perhaps I was pedalling a little more effectively than the guy in the F-Type. Anecdotally the figures do suggest the F-Type would at least have a bit more low down grunt for overtaking. So even with the stage 1 tweaks, in the real world you are absolutely right; there wouldn't be much difference. However, there really isn't much out there that is of a similar age, that offers a significant step up in performance, without spending a hell of a lot more. I am a financial adviser and I manage portfolios of investments for clients. One of the basic rules we work to is risk vs return. That is to say, the more risk you take in investing, generally the greater your potential for return. We use something called the efficient frontier curve to plot the maximum amount of return possible for a given level or risk and try to get our portfolios to as close to the curve as possible, as this means we are achieving the maximum return possible on behalf of our clients for the level of risk we take. https://www.google.c...oCrTS8Af68KugDA I mentally apply the same theory to cars (stay with me here!) by changing the x and y axis on the chart to price vs performance. Generally speaking in the world of performance cars, the more performance you want, the more you pay for the car. You also suffer the law of diminishing returns, which means that once you get to a certain performance threshold, you have to pay substantially more, for only a relatively slim increase in performance. Certain cars sit at the efficient frontier in terms of price vs performance. The 370Z because of its bargin price for the performance on offer is a great example of this. The Golf R is another great example, whilst the Nissan GTR is arguably on of the best examples on the market; supercar destroying pace for a relatively low outlay compared to its performance peers. This creates a bit of a problem when moving on from the Z and other cars along the efficient frontier curve, as it means you have to spend significantly more for any meaningful increase in performance. So I am struggling here to find much that offers any significant leap forward in performance whilst retaining usability as a daily. When you add in other factors such as presence, rarity, quality and overall desirability I think the F-Type S rates pretty highly. Hope I haven't bored you all to death! Its actually been quite useful to lay it all out on the page as it has galvanised my resolve to keep the Z for another year before changing it. In the meantime I think I will be removing the front lip and side blades, whilst maybe adding a new set of wheels to help keep my interest.

Hi guys, Thanks for your interest and kind words. I can only echo Nic's comments re the KW V3s. They are sublime and such a great upgrade. The car handles so much better with them and is still really comfortable. I am having another set fitted to my MR2 turbo at the start of August and can't wait. The only downside is that on the standard drop my Stillen front splitter has been catching on speed bumps and ramps. This in turn has led to the splitter sagging on one side, so now it catches everywhere, turning heads with a wince-inducing scuffing sound! The splitter was tiger sealed as well as screwed on, so going to have a bodyshop look at it and advise me whether it can be removed. The current one is toast, so hoping to go back to standard front bumper and bring the front ride height up 10mm. Then i can think about replacing the splitter if I am confident a small increase in ride height will stop it catching. Otherwise I might just leave the bumper as is. Worst case scenario is that the splitter is permanently bonded onto the front bymper, in which case I think it will be new bumper time!. This is of course a unique situation created by the fitment of the Stillen front lip and shouldn't be an issue for anyone just using KW V3s with the standard front bumper. Besides, as the coilovers are fully adjustable you could always just raise them up at the front end from outset, to avoid any potential scrubbing.

Thanks for your input guys. I normally like cars that are conceived as sports cars/ performance cars from the ground up and the fact that the M3 shares its bodyshape with the run of the mill models was initially offputting. However, having driven Kirstie's 3 series convertible, even that is good to drive, beautifully built and looks very nicely proportioned, so has changed my opinion of the lower level BMs. Its all very well saying the Z has heritage, but when you get back in one after sitting in a quality car like the 3 series, the flimsy unsupportive seats, plasticky interior and poor visibility do jar a bit! The lack of torque with the M3 is on my mind again, so thinking of paying a visit to my local Jag dealer to talk about what sort of PCP deals are available on F Types. I normally like to pay cash for my cars, but might consider PCP if the deal was right.

It's a amazing machine to be honest !! But although it's a 4.0 v8 .... It's low on ftlb , 300 I think . So it's not at all a torqey car . You do have to ring it out . But when the engine sounds so so good it just begs you to rev it . You going to the beaulie jap show? Was thinking about meeting up with everyone at the tescos car park before to say hi and have a chat . More than welcome to get there early and go for a spin . Thanks for the offer Josh, but I am not going to this. How have you found driving the M3 and the Z back to back? Any observations you could offer?

Hi guys, Yes point taken about the M3's lack of torque - I had already seen this on paper and heard this anecdotally. I imagine once the M3 is wound up though it is noticeably quicker than the Z so just a matter of keeping it in the zone? A bit like a more muscular V-Tec? My girlfriend has just picked up a very nicely specced 3 series convertible on a 2012 plate and I have been a bit seduced by the build quality and refinement, which was what really got me thinking about an M3. I really fancy an F Type 3.0 S but they are still a bit too rich for my blood, as I don't want to spend more than £30k. I discounted the C63 and XKR on account of them being too lardy, whilst a TT RS has no appeal at all. I also considered an SLK AMG but they don't get very good write ups, whilst the SL is too lardy again. I don't want a hot hatch as I just don't think they are special enough, which doesn't leave much out there as an incremental step up from the 370Z! Only other thing I would consider would be a Z4 35is, so will test drive one of these too when the time comes, but they don't come very highly recommended as a driver's car. I did get a drive in one of the guys' 235is whilst on tour and they are mega quick, but just not special enough for me. In fact I think the styling and proportions are just downright ugly! Open to suggestions if I have missed anything? Remember the car is a daily driver so cannot be too extreme.

Thanks guys. I know this thread has become more a 'where I have been' thread than a member build thread! I must confess however....I am starting to crave more power. I found it hard overtaking at some points on the tour due to the relative lack of torque of the Z and its lack or low down grunt. I found myself really having to wind it up to get past , whilst the higher power V8s or moder turbo charged stuff just sailed past. Starting to look at M3s... Josh - how have you found yours?

Arriving back from the trip the Z needs a new windscreen as a chip turned into a 6 inch crack, but quite pleased really as the windscreen was very scratched anyway so well ready for replacing and covered on my insurance. The Stillen front lip has also started to sag a bit on one side and is catching a bit on speedbumps, so going to get this looked at. Other than that the car shrugged off another 2,800 miles with casual ease. I have also reached the conclusion that the Motordyne ART pipes are too loud for my taste too, so going to put the standard cats back on. This means both the Berks and the Motordynes will be up for sale on the forum if anyone wants them.

Hi All, Just checking back in after another great tour of Europe. The drive covered nearly 3,000 miles covering France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Spain. As ever, the Z did a great job of clinging onto the coat tails of much more expensive and capable machinery. The Endless brake pads were brilliant throughout and so much better than the standard set up. The first time they were used in anger resulted in them smoking like hell and I had to pull over for fifteen mins to let them cool down, but after that they performed flawlessly with no fade and lots of stopping power. A superb upgrade. Here is the list of motors in attendance, a number of which were running power mods: - BMW 235i x 3 - Porsche Boxster Spider - Porsche Cayman GTS - Ford Focus RS - Mercedes C63 AMG x 2 - Audi RS4 - Ferrari F355 Spider - Porsche 996 911 turbo - Alpina B3 - Porsche Boxster - McLaren 650S - Audi R8 - Ferrari F430 - Porsche 997 GT3 - BMW M3 - Jaguar XK-R I will post a picture of the full route later, but in the meantime here are a few of my favourites from the tour: Parked up at the start of Susten Pass: Near the top of Grimsel Pass: Coming down the other side of Grimsel Pass (check out the road below!): Following an F355 down Furka: Top of the Nufenen (after passing the 911CS, GT3, F430 and F355 on the ascent as I was going quicker on that section!): Lovely V10 R8 at the top of Nufenen: Rear shot of the F430 at the same spot: Lunch stop in Switzerland: Marc's 650S near the top of St Bernadino - quickest car on the tour by a fair margin: Hotel Belvedere: Merc C63 and F430 at the foot of the Col De Gallibier: Canyon run north east of Carcassonne: Adil's beautiful Boxster Spyder: At the peak of Mount Ventoux: F355 beneath the Millau Bridge: Rest break near the Pyrenees: Glenn and Vanessa's Cayman GTS:

So...the car spat its dummy out last week with the dreaded steering lock failure and had to be recovered. A new module from Nissan was going to hit me for £480 plus VAT and fitting. However, there is no stock in the UK, so had to be ordered from Japan with a 3 week lead time. As my drving tour of Europe was fast approaching this was no good, so with some help from John Bonehill and the forums, Lockwood and Greenwood my Z indie managed to get it running again and removed the fuse to prevent reoccurence. Unfortunately this then lead to the red bonnet light coming on. Apparently this light is more frequently seen on roadsters, indicating that the hood has not been retracted properly, which is odd given mine is a coupe. The car is being worked on again today and hoping they can get her back to top form, as I am supposed to be driving to Southampton tomorrow to catch the chunnel early Saturday morning and head into France. On the plus side, whilst the car was in L&G fitted my new Endless brakepads, braided lines and better brake fluid. Reports from a brief test drive are that it hasn't given a noticeable increase in braking, however, this set up is designed to show it quality once the brakes are hot. Hopefully I will get to test the theory in the days to come!

I also have KW V3s on my Z. They are the single best modification I have ever made to any of the cars I have owned to date. Significantly improved handling - the car feels much more tied down when cornering and gives you loads of confidence to really ean on the tyres in the corners. Yet the ride quality is like stock but with better damping. They are absolutely sublime. So much so that I have just ordered another set for my MR2 Turbo, They may not be as cheap as some coilover kits, but they are worth every penny.

Glad you are back in the saddle mate. I am sure you will have a lot of fun making this one your own! Following this with interest. Also looking forward to pictures from your Euro jaunt.

One thing the latest tour demonstrated is that the car's current weak point is without a doubt the brakes. My OEM pads were getting a bit low after the Euro tour last year, so I 'upgraded' to EBC Yellow Stuff pads. To be fair they were fine for day to day use, but in performance driving conditions they just weren't up to the task, which is a bit ironic as that is supposedly their raison d'etre! They fade fast and on the odd occassion where you have to reach deep into the pedal for some emergency stopping power, they don't give anything more just when you need it. On tour as a result of ongoing radio-banter they earned the unfortunate moniker of 'EBC Brown Stuff'! Given that brakes are...you know...kind of important, I am getting on this ASAP. I am aiming to have a new brake set up installed ready for my European tour at the start of July. After doing some research and seriously considering a PB Big Brake kit, Mike Cooper (my advanced driving instructor) recommended getting some Endless pads, which in his experience he reckoned would do the trick without the need to fork out for a big brake conversion. Endless are a Japanese company who predominently develop braking tech for racing, but do some high-end fast road and track pads. More information is on their website below if you care to look. Its a good site largely, despite the odd touch of 'Engrish' here and there. http://www.endless-brake.info/ I trust Mike's judgement, so after a bit of shopping around I have ordered a set from R53 engineering, along with some braided lines and performance brake fluid from Tweeks. The pads are being delivered from Japan so may take a while, but their ETA is before the end of the month so I hope to have them fitted before I head off into Europe. Hopefully these combined with the braided lines and better fluid will give me the extra stopping power I am looking for. I will let you know more once they are on and I have had chance to test them out.

Finally found some time for another proper update whilst on the train home from London. A few weeks ago I spent an amazing weekend driving the best roads Wales has to offer with a great bunch of guys courtesy of Pete Osborne and Dan Hale of Petrolhead Tours. http://petrolhead.tours/ Memorable drives included a thrilling blast chasing a 911 Carrera across the Evo Triangle in heavy rain, a great run with a Ferrari F430 and BMW M3 through empty countryside and an ascent into the Brecon Beacons National Park hot on the heels of a GT3. As usual the Z kept its head up in some pretty exhalted company. Apart from during my days driving tuition, this was the first real chance I had to put the KW V3s through their paces out in the wild. What a fantastic piece of kit they are... Had an unfortunate end to the weekend as I had a disagreement with a stray rock at the side of the road whilst heading up the Black Moutain. Clipped both wheels, bubbled the front tyre, burst the rear tyre and scuffed the side blade. After the event it turns out a few other people have done the same going up there. At least I know now for next time. Queue a 7 hour wait on the side of a mountain whilst awaiting the arrival of the AA, who took all day to finally send a vehicle appropriate to recover a low car. Despite an unfortunate end there was no serious damage and it didn't detract from what was an amazing weekend. Great people, great roads and superb planning and organisation. Turned out to be an expensve weekend really, as I was offered a last minute drop out place on the Alpine South tour in early July. Well I couldn't very well say no could I......?! So soon Z and I will be off on our travels again. I can't wait for deserted Alpine passes and dry weather... Here a few pics from the Wales session: Miles and miles of beautiful roads, largely deserted: Nice motors in attendance as usual: That is some serious high performance ass: Driver of this TVR T350 had brass balls given the conditions for much of the tour and the lack of ABS and driver aids: F430 looked lovely in understated grey with red leather interior: Driver of this lovely old 325i did an admirable job of keeping up with some serious modern machinery, with only a few suspension mods to assist: Awesome wrapped Mclaren 12C was so attention-grabbing that one member of the public rear ended another in Llandridnod Wells as he was too busy gawping at it: Beautiful scenery at one of our afternoon rest stops: As usual it wasn't just a range of cars, but a range of ages too. Alex, the driver of this F-Type was 70 years old and still loving his fast cars: Had a great run with the F430 over miles of deserted roads after the afternoon break: This white van man was a ledge! When he found himself in the middle of the convoy he wouldn't give ground, taking the racing line through the corners hanging onto the 911 in front of him! We gave the unknown hero a toast at dinner that evening: The old military road had lots of visibility and was deserted: Now that is one VERY flat tyre - upon inspection I realised the rock I clipped had torn a 2 inch hole in the tyre. All the tyre weld in the world wouldn't put that back together again: Some of the guys pulled in to see if they could help, but recovery was the only option: So began the loooooong wait for the AA. Could I have picked a more remote location?! Did I mention it was remote? Like REALLY remote: First AA guy who turned up couldn't get me back on the road unfortunately. They then sent a loader some hours later that still couldn't cope with a low car, despite me stressing this twice on the phone: I had hardly any phone signal but did have my laptop, so figured I would at least make constructive use of the time I had to kill by doing a bit of work. Never normally get a view like this from my office: Finally at 5pm the AA got a special low access vehicle to me. I had been sat in that layby for 7 hours! The driver took me to Cardiff airport, where I got a hire car to drive home to Manchester. I was knackered when I got home! The Z was trailered up the next day. So what have I learnt? Beware of stray rocks on the Black Mountain and don't break down in the depths of nowhere on a Sunday with a car with barely more than 3 inches of ground clearance!

Thought I would just check in with a little update now I have had chance to live with the Motordyne ART pipes. Overall I am pretty pleased with the result. My primary goal was to make the car a bit quieter at low revs and the ART pipes have achieved this. They are not quiet by any stretch, but 'all-hell-breaking-loose' seems to have been shunted about 1k up the rev range. If I am honest I think I preferred the tone of the Berks when pressing on, but being able to drive the car more quietly when just pootling about is a boon as I use my car as a daily and to see clients. I had also toyed with the idea of going back to standard cats, but everyone who has actually followed the car says that it sounds awesome. I finally got around to following it myself last night as I drove my partner's 1 Series whilst she drove the Z. Sure enough, the car sounds fantastically evil! So I think the Motordyne ART pipes are here to stay. Only thing now might be another remap to make sure I am extracting maximum gain, as this has effectively moved the set up from an HFC to a straight through pipe; albeit one with sound chambers to capture some of the noise.

Thanks Rich - sorry, I must have gotten mixed up! Would be really interested to hear your results from the ECUTek if you would be happy to share them with me, thank you.