Ekona

Correct.

PS2s are dead now don't forget, the PSS is the replacement and is a much superior tyre, so worth the cost if you can afford it. As soon as they get N-rated, that's the only tyre I'm going to put on my car. If you're not going to splash out on something decent like the PSS or the RE050A, then I would only ever consider the VUS. Utterly spectacular tyre for the money with more feedback than any tyre has the right to have. You'll probably be going slower as outright grip is less, but you'll know exactly what each wheel is doing at any one time so you won't care.

If you're happy with the pressures then leave them as-is. I've never used the PS3 on the Zed as the PS2s were so much better, but assuming that they have the same hard sidewall as most Michelin tyres if it was me I'd be running 33/34 F/R. That's just me though, if you're happy then stay with that, a few psi here or there won't make too much difference.

350Z in the UK and JDM (not sure about the US) don't have tyre pressure monitors, and even if they did you still still manually check your tyre pressures roughly every fortnight. Get a cheapy gauge from Halfrauds, will be good enough for the 2 min job

But you suggested an Astra!!

1-Series, no contest. Still RWD so still fun if you want, and the 120D is very good on the ol' fuel.

Just tell the debt collector that the debt is still in dispute, and contact TalkTalk again. Job's a carrot.

What tyres are they, and are those sizes on the rear or the front?

If an Aston had sneakytimes with a 370Z, that'd be the result I reckon. Beautiful car, let's just hope it's more sports than GT.

I've been contacted by one of Ian's friends, Lex, who has asked me to let everyone know that there's going to be a meet in memory of Ian who passed away last year. I'm sure she won't mind me posting up the PM I received from her as it says it better than I ever could. It would be great if some of our more local members could pop along to this and show the support of the club to Ian's friends and family.

But by the same token you could do exactly the same with any two people and end up with the same result. There is no reason that completely separate people should have the same experiences as each other, but when you start including millions of people in that often a pattern will emerge. I'm no expert on statistics by any means and I can't get my head round the reason that any two people out of fifty share the same birthday or whatever silly low figure that particular one is, but companies don't tend to raise their figures for no reason at all. There has to be a business case for it, and in this situation they will have the stats to back up their need to increase their premiums to cover their own risks.

It's more likely because that's what the statistics say. I've no idea of the real logic or reason behind it, but them's the facts and that's life. Maybe it's because people who have a non-fault then drive their car before it gets fixed in a slightly more care-free manner, leading to them causing an accident? I dunno, just a guess.

Here's the issue as I see it: The reason premiums go up if you've had a non-fault claim is that, statistically speaking, you're more likely to go on and have a claim where it is your fault. As such, there's no point getting mad at the insurers themselves as they're only covering their arses and going on what the figures say, you really need to direct your anger at all the idiots who do go on and have that at-fault claim after a non-fault one as it's them that's causing the price hikes!

Don't put your handbrake on after you come back into the pits after a session, you'll bind your brakes together. Leave the engine running and gear in neutral for a few mins to let it cool down, then kill the engine and pop the car into first. Turn the TCS off and push until you spin. There is no better place to find out how both you and the car react when you go past the limit, and it may just save your life one day.

So yesterday I was at Bruntingthorpe at VMax Hammer, and never having been before I didn't really know what to expect. What I found was basically a load of proper petrolheads without an ego between them, and some of the nicest metal I have ever seen in the flesh having the balls driven off it. My personal favourite was the 599 GTO that turned up, the sound was utterly incredible: Noisiest thing by far, but what a noise! Anyhoo, obviously I managed to get a good few runs in, but as daft as it sounds high speed in a straight line isn't as easy to accomplish as you think it would be. I've driven at pace on many circuits and always felt comfortable, but even I found myself lifting off well before the timing beams on the first couple of attempts without even realising it, and I was peaking at around 165mph in the morning. Jo had a couple of goes after me and managed to hold her nerve better and pushed the car into the 170mph bracket which I was so proud of her for, although she did then rib me in front of complete strangers about it I did pick my speeds back up in the afternoon though and by the end I was very comfortable holding the go pedal right down from much earlier until right past the timing beams, but it was also a good day to try out the launch control function over and over and over again. I didn't always get it right though: I ever so slightly lifted the accelerator just before the go, and the whole thing cancelled itself but it still said LC Active in the display so I lifted off the brake and just sat there! Didn't matter in the end as the way to get the top speeds is to let the other person go so you can get a clear run at the corner at the bottom, so I actually got a pretty good number on that run. That GTR was absolutely immense all day. I did on occasion get the launch very much spot-on though, and the power and flexibility of the 997.2 C2S PDK is really shown in this next video. The car I'm up against is the almighty Ruf Yellowbird, so you know how powerful and quick that car actually is, but keep watching after we take the bend and start coming back up, and who pulls out on who: Okay, so once he got in his stride he breezed past me as you would expect, but I would never have given my car a chance against a legend like that from lower speeds. As far as the experience from inside the car goes, I guess the best way to show it is just to show it, and yes it is that bumpy! Shame the angle wouldn't let us film the digital speedo, but you can see the dial to the left of the rev counter well up near the top. Just an amazing experience all round, and I can see why people go there regularly with all sorts of modified stuff trying to beat their previous best. Car of choice seemed to be 996 + 997 Turbos, although the GTO and the 430 Scud (as shown in the video above) were fairly brutal too, and the various Audi turbo nutter barge cars were just completely insane. There was a chap there in his Atom who hit 155 every single time as he was bang into the limiter halfway up the runway! I guess I was most impressed about the 911 overall, as it took a serious pounding all day and not once did it moan or grumble, or even force me to stop doing the runs as it was overheating. The power was there every time, the gearbox seemed to enjoy the launches as much as me, and the brakes didn't have a hint of noise or fade about them despite the repeated stops from 170mph+ down to 30mph, and they have some serious stopping power too. A very enjoyable day, and I'll definitely do another one at some point. Top speed from me for the day? 176mph, which I'm very happy with. Top speed overall was a 997 3.9 GT2 with 206mph I believe

Do the ARBs and get the full set of Summit bracing on there, I guarantee that will solve your issues

Not being funny, but that's the wrong way to go about things. As was pointed out to me a while back, trackdays are under a very real threat of being stopped as the NIMBYs get all excited about a bit of noise, and the less ammo we can give them as trackday goers the better. You'd never notice 10bhp less when on track, nor particularly care, but if by putting bungs or silencers on it means that there is nothing for whingers to complain about then that's what we all should be doing. Yes, we all love it when cars are loud and I'm as big a fan as any, but when you've got your helmet on you can't hear naff-all anyway so you might as well quieten it down and help make sure that there will be trackdays for many years to come. There's no prizes for having the loudest car on a day, but there is a very real penalty if we all look at it that way.

Folks, these are an absolute must-buy, especially at this price

For people who haven't heard a K1 in person, to give you an idea of just how vocal it can be when I was installing my one I ran the engine with just the cats on for a laugh, and giggled as it was monstrously loud. I then finished fitting the y-pipe and K1 and started her up, and it was no quieter than when there was nothing on there cat-back! All the K1 does is add tone, whether or not it's a likeable one is very much up for debate /slightly_off_topic

Nah, he's just not pushing hard enough to know the difference The VUS give you so much more feel than the PS2s, that's what makes them so confidence inspiring. You will go quicker on the PS2s, but it takes a lot of nerve to know you can go faster rather than rely on the feedback.

Completely unused? I'd say about £400 for the wheels and £650 for the tyres, assuming RE050As.

Throttle response is marginally better with them out, but it's only a tiny difference and not worth risking a trackday over.

You'll be fine there, I've never been myself but I can't imagine any of the RAF bases being particularly fussy over stuff like that: Certainly Woodbridge were fine when I did a day there, and even asked me if I wanted to take the bungs out for extra power!

I can see this getting a bit out of hand very quickly here, so I'll do a pre-emptive lock. To the OP se350z, please don't take this thread the wrong way, it's all been pretty good natured and although many people here own their Zeds just for the styling purposes, even the most hardcore modder wouldn't dream of putting fake NOS purge kits (for that's what you're after) on their car as it's a little bit... how can I put this... tasteless? That said, if it's what you want to do then go ahead, if you Google the term you should find what you need.

With the bungs in you should be well under the 105dB mark, I was every time when I tracked mine. With them out you'll be very close and I wouldn't risk it. The only other thing is the drive-by (if they have a limit for that) as the K1 is noisy for that regardless of bungs, but the worst places are Bedford and Goodwood and you probably wouldn't pass the static for either place anyway. Where were you thinking of going?