Gollum

A good cheep man's copyright = Photocopy the sketch and mail it to yourself and don't open it. That way you can prove that you came up with the idea before anyone else. Looks good though. I'm usually not one for simbols, becuase of precocieved ideas behind them; but now, thanks to you, I'm thinking about custom symbols. Nice stuff man.

Even if you change your hardware config windows should be fine. It's when you try to reinstall XP on the same key that you'll have an issue. Mobo/cpu combo nowdays for budget systems can be well under the $100 mark. A new socket A AMD cpu is CHEEP. I'd go that route, it's rare that overheating will fry a mobo. If push comes to shove for the harddrive just format the primary one (that you said didn't have any important data) then reinstall windows on that one. You're secondary HardD should be fine. No worries about data loss there. Shope NEWEGG.COM ! I can't stress that fact enough. They're cheeper than any retail store (fry's included) and they're the most reliable online store for PC componets. Even if you're into gaming you DON'T "NEED" PCI express. It's been proven in benckmarks this technology is ahead of it's time for budget and midrange graphics cars. It's better to stick to AGP unless you're going with a top of the line core (radeon X850 or X1800 would be a good example). I play lots of new games on my radeon 9700 that i've had for a long time. This is a true testament to how backwards compatable games are nowdays. They can bog even the best cards down, but they can also disable much of the effects that make games so pretty. Most graphical power nowdays is used for filtering, wich is barely noticable to the average gamer (and maybe even self-proclaimed "hard-core gamers"). I'd suggest just get a new CPU, and if it doesn't work spring for a new mobo/cpu. You don't need ram right away if your ram you have is DDR. There's no point to go spending 500 bucks on a new mobo/cpu/ram/graphics card.

Not as bad as you might thing for it being a turbo 4 banging with 4 doors. I've watched one of the mitsu rally drivers drive a stock one for a time trial and in turns he'd take it down to 2500 rpm and no downshift. He said even though it didn't sound like it, the tourque down low was actaully quite good and acceleration there equally good. Now, I still wouldn't compare it to a V8 like the 5.0. In one of those you put it in 5th at 1500rpm and getting up to freeway speed is still effortless. But the thing that should be noted is that these motors are designed to have extremely flat tourque curves, to offer the best performance that restriced air can on the rally. Obviously quite a bit about the street version isn't anything like the rally, and the honestly the rally cars ratain very little from a street trim verions, BUT the motor isn't changed as much as you'd think. They're still only pumping out around 300hp. Most of the engine mods are rev & reliability mods, like the backfiring system and such.

25MM south vs 10MM south?!?! If mine is 10MM longer than I don't understand HOW you could ever get a longer shifter down in there. Mine HITS when I put it in. It can't go any farther down. Whereas the stock shifter you put it in then you have to raise it a good 1/2 inch or so to get it to the pivot point. THAT'S where the shorter shift is coming from. If there's a way to get the shifter down even farther I'd like to know how. I personlly like really short shifts, wich is why my first fitting of the truck shifter dissapointed me. I didn't want to have to resort to a shoter stick to get a short through. I was actually hoping the through would be short enough for me to angle the shifter closer to me, thus adding an inch or so the the length of the shifter above the pivot point. When I do mine I'll probly end up cutting the shifter about an inch shorter than the stock one, and angling it back a bit.

WHAHAHA, gotta love ford eh? We know the truth, the explorer was never meant to explore the roads...

What that really shows is that our dogs are even more lazy than we are! They must not have caught on to the whole adkins thing.

Actually the EVO MR goes for as much as 42k here, and as low as 37k if you're lucky. You can get a packed STI for 31k here. BIG difference. BOTH cars are awsome. I don't trust a word any of the mags say comparing the two cars. I like to see REAL footage of what they're doing. If you want a REAL view of the two, pick up some BMI videos. All PRO drivers with thier share of victories giving REAL impressions about the vefhicles and racing them flat out against eachother. Neither have a HUGE lead over the other in racing, but there is a KEY point to look at if you're going to race them. The STI AWD system alows alot of back end slide to compensate for the understeer. Subaru's idea is to overpower the car to oversteer. The EVO is completelly the oposite, trying to maintain a stable controllable turn using YAW adjustment to compensate for the understeer of AWD. They're totally different animals to race. It's all just preferrence. The STI sounds killer, but the EVO is easier to mod. And there's a 650hp one rolling the streets somewhere, so they have potential. The STI 'might' be more reliable seeing as subaru has been making AWD systems for decades, but I could be completely wrong. Mitsu is doing HORRIBLE financially so if the company went belly up there could go alot of part support (just a possability). I personally feel a decision between the two should come from a couple of key points. 1. Driving Style 2. Interior Comfort 3. Appearence & Sound Everything else doesn't matter between the two. They both have bellypans that have brake ducts. Both have functional rear wings. Both have plenty of room for 4. Both sound great in thier own right. Both offer a world of performance for the price compared to anything on the market.

Well, if you're time you've got listed for the Z06 is 7:42 then it's a bit shy of the carrera GT's 7:28 The Z06 has 150 Kg on the carrera GT and has 112 less HP The Z05 has 200 Kg on the ford GT and has 50 less HP Statistically they SHOULD be in exotic territory. But are they seen as such by most people? I personally see them as budget as supercar gets. They smoke many high end cars out there, wich is a feat to behold. But many people won't be able to ever see the vette as a supercar becuase of it's history. It's never been as fast as it is now. Even die hard ford fanatics have a hard time when I tell them the 03' cobra was the fastest mustang ever produced when they came out. Truth is truth, and it can hurt and be unbelievable. But to be fair, we're seeing results like this across the board. The evo 9 when tested by BMI ran a 8:11 in the rain at the ring. And it's a 4 door 4 cylinder. That's just insane. Cars are just faster than they've ever been. There are crazy fast cars in every catagory nowdays. (i'm really sorry for the off topic post) So back on topic (sorta). Who likes the new solstice? I personally don't like them now that i've sat in one, but I like the idea. I think GM should be making more cars like it. (no i don't mean the satern version, i mean a car that's as awsome looking and affordable with good performance)

So anyone know how much it costs to get tires put on a set of rims (for those of us that don't have the equipment to do so)? I've never done my own tire change so I don't know exactly what is involved with the process.

I'm not positive on the materials, buy honda puts magnetic plugs in the oil pan & tranny in thier engines. (at least in the b16 and b18's i know well) I don't know if they're this neodyminum stuff. I know in transmissions you'll want one for SURE because any gear gind creates metallic dust that will just float in the fuid, causing even increased wear. Magnetic tranny plugs are a must IMO.

notice the severe angle difference between your car pic and rim pic? Try to get a pic of your car with a similar angle as the rim pic, that will ensure a very realistic close match. Otherwise much warping needs to be done to the tim to get it to fit that angle.

I could do it, but the I woudn't be able to get to my cd player with cups in it. I usually just set cups in between the seat belt and the center arm rest. Until I find a problem with that, i won't work up a solution (havn't spilt anything in the 15 months i've been driving ZXs.)

$2600!?!?!?! There are guys paying 6k for the same thing on newer cars guys! Even with the cost of a fuel system (most newer car's fuel systems are fine, just need a new or modified ECU) you're still looking at a full system well under 4k, even after programmin/tuning. Now, I'm broke. But if I was making money I'd send 2k his way for a down payment, but maybe i'm just too friendly. Seriously though, software companies determine cost by figuring out dev cost and then dividing it among proposed sales. Since we know this kit will probly never reach 1000 sales (although I'd like to see it do that well) he could charge 10k if he wanted, and sell only 10 in his lifetime. To be brutally honest most people will look at 2.6k and say "i can buy and build a L28ET for less" but the realy buyers are people that want a supercharger specifically. And at 2.6k it's dirt cheep. And the video didn't look sped up to me

Wow, that was vivid. Here's what I think. I agree that if 4k is the limit put it all into suspension/brakes. If you know you're gonna go dedicated race car with it in the future it'll be MUCH easier to get used to a new motor, than a new suspension feel. And as long as you invest wisely you'll only need new springs with the new motor. Suspension is most of the feel of a car. Motors mean much less. Now, the stock L motor doesn't get great gas milage, but it's not too terrible for it's era. And it sounds to me like you don't really know what you want yet for a motor at all. I personlly think that decision can only be made by ONE person, you. I don't think you should have us tell you what motor to use. Sure, take our advice, but please let it be your own decision. I want to do a NA 3 rotor Z someday, and I won't let anyone else here smack that idea down, becuase I know why I want to do it. You need to figure out what you want and why. There are many motors out there that will get 300HP reliably and with good economy. The main factor that will keep this car from being streetable will be saftey regulations (as stated before by much wiser people). Maybe you'll just want to stick to open track days and club evens and such, where the most ever required is a roll bar and a fire estinguisher (both good ideas anyways). I personlly think if you're gonna race SCCA or NASA you'd better be out there every chance you get to really make it worth your while. To get your car made to SCCA spec and the get your SCCA registration only to race once every couple of months would be like buying a really expensive major leage baseball mit only to use it playing catch with your son. Sounds cool, but maybe a bit of a waste. Hope you get your ideas sorted out 8)

Why look at a triangle when you can look at a pyramid? Interesting way to look at it 8)

Well, just test fitted the shifter today. At first I was like "wtf? it's not any different" but after changing them back and forth it seemed the truck shifter was about 30-40% shorter shift. I also noticed it would be near impossible to make it any shorter of a shift. The truck shifter can only drop maybe 1/16 or 1/32 of and inch below the pin to gain any more throw. I got mine out of a 70's truck and I didn't check the model or anything. The back said datsun and I looked inside and notice the shifter was there. Once I took it apart I was positive it was the same srtyle shifter wich was good enough for me. I believe it was a 5 speed. Another odd thing was that the truck was a 6 lug car, kinda weird. I'll hopefully be cut/welding it saterday. I'll make sure to take some pics of it all.

My beef is with people that think comaros, stangs, fire chickens, ect, think they're fast with few mods. Very few cars take my attention in stock trim. I've watched guys take thier precious new M3s to the track only to run 14s. I've watched 03-04 cobras run 14's, i've seen WS6s run 14's. Basically most those guys that you can get to race you stop light to stop light can't drive (maybe this is different other places, but around here it's true). Watch a mustang guy shift, watch it take him half a second. I've driven plenty of mustangs, it's an art to shift the older fox stangs. But you can get those shifts extremely fast if you know how. But there's ALWAYS those people, with exhast, maybe intake, maybe even some other light mods like FPR (illegal in CA), but they still can't drive and even if they could they still wouldn't be that fast. I think if you had a car you could run 11s in you could smoke just about anyone you met on the street in my part of the bay. Shoot, I have friends with 13's second cars that have a hard time finding a challenge on the street. Unless you're going to serious street races or the track, people are just plain slow. But my all time hated car would be... (gotta think) euro cars... yea, euro cars. They're the only owners I've found that just seem to hate everything. Most car owners can respect anything that's really fast, but not euro people, they always seem stuck up about thier companies. I still expect GM to make another comaro someday, but maybe i'm wrong there. If the vette reached for exotic/supercar status (wich i hope it does, even though i'm not a fan, just admirer) ford had better get it's act in gear with the GT... But that could leave GM totally out of the market for muscle bound american buyers. The GTO isn't at hit, and what else is there? Now that challenger spyshot... oOo, a dodge that could reclaim thier dignity. It would be nice if it actually looked like that. I still wouldn't buy it, but that's for other reasons. Now they just need to remake the cuda, roadrunner, and demon. Maybe even the dart.

If you look at how many Zs are out there you might even say few Zs are nice... But that's just one man's opinion. Most Zs you see on the road ARE a POS that are on thier last leg that's only hope is to be bought by a datsun fan who wasnt's to rebuild it. How many Zs are out there that are rust free? Give it another 20-30 years and most S30s you see on the road will be awsome, becuase most the beaters will be gone. The majority left will be either well kept or restored. THEN you can't just go calling Zs in paticular POS cars. It's like 60's mustangs and comaros, twenty years ago you could have called the POS cars because most the ones rolling the streets were in crap shape. But alot has changed since then, and aparently a POS shelby frame can go for over 30k. Go figure. (please don't hate me ford fans, i'm a ford guy too, but I speak truth. There ARE pos shelbys out there, and they just waiting to be restored)

As stated by pop n wood, ABS can only be as good as the programmer. I'd venture to say that ABS on race inspired cars will dramatically improve lap times, but maybe I'm talking out my ***. And what about cars like the skyline R34? Those cars are known for the fact that anyone with the dedication can learn to drive them on the edge really well. Now, the pro racers remove all the computer stuff but then very few people can control the car. Truth be told a stock R34 is easy to drive at it's limit compared to say.... almost anything on the market. Then there's the STIs and EVOs that have 4 wheel brake managment to compliment thier AWD systems that allow them to correct for oversteer and turn more like a RWD vehicle (although not completelly) but still are able to be full throttled much earlier in turns. Cars like these would be reduced to thier much earlier and slower counterparts without these ABS systems. Sure the older ones had less power, but they were lighter. The power/weight in these cars hasn't changed too much. I think if we want to talk about ABS though you still have to mention the everyday econo vehicle out there, where ABS is only a saftey feature. In these cars ABS would probly most definatelly cause slower lap times in race conditions, becuase the ABS systems weren't designed to race. Just my .02 cents

actually it has been posted before. IT was for sale for a while one ebay I believe (minus motor). For those that the link doesn't work it's the red ZX with the turbin motor. The consensus before was that the motor he used isn't a true jet engine as you might think, but rather a backup engine of some sort. One guy mentioned they're what they used to start thier motors at his work, one guy mentioned they're used as emergency turbin spinners on planes. I don't think there ever was a 100% definate answer it seemed. All in all it's just a novelty item. imo

I think you needed more like 130 octane I truly grieve for that motor though.

I wonder if he keeps his fridge plugged in during all that? I'm a huge trans siberian orchestra fan, so I got a real good kick out of that.

I just got a nissan truck shifter for 19 bucks. I plan on installing it next week but I want to find another ZX shifter to cut so I can have a spare just in case. I'll try to make sure to take pictures of everything.

I hate netscape. I don't think you realise how bad it is. Design some webpages, then you'll feel my pain. Open source all the way baby. Although I bet the person(s) who found this new hole are using it to scare people into using FF.

I'd ditch the scoop. but same shape but smaller might look good. Less like a STI and more like a low profile boss scoop (constructive critisism). I personally like the shorter front end. If I ever get "my" perfect Z built it will have a completelly redesigned front end that will be a bit shorter. The windshield looks to abrupt for my taste, that's a bit of a porcshe look to me. I really like the idea of the swooping line on the side and how it extends onto the door, but it's a little too 60's ferarri I think. Needs to be a little bit more angular (i like passive agressive lines). I like the short butt, but I'd like to know what it looks like from the back Looks like a good start though. I usually go though 20 versions of a drawing before getting anything coheasive.