markxr6t

Bit embarassing, but my first car really was a Datsun 120Y (poor student) Made up for it with my second car - VJ Charger 265 Hemi, 4speed. I've heard my old Charger is in or around Darwin and is now bright yellow (I'd buy it back in a heartbeat!)

In a manual, XXXR6T ran 13.5@ 106 mph with generic 10psi tune, but he can peddle those gears quickly as he did 13.85 stock. In a BA auto, there's a couple 12.9s been run by members of this site (is it PSI or CSI?) In a BF Auto, Simon from Xtreme has tuned in consistent 12.6, 12.7s from a tune only.

Magnatec changed every 7500km

Centre Ford to Wangara. Hmmm - that's about 21km for running in! Love your work!

I have an 03 XR6T and an 03 Subaru Forester. I love Ts size, engineering and performance and I admire and respect the Subarus build quality. No issues with my T but think of it this way. A Liberty GT is a 2 litre turbo much smaller than an XR6t and costs $55k. If an XR6T was built as well as a Subaru (or Subaru ever decided to build a full size competitor) it would cost over $80k. You get what you pay for and in the size / performance /practicality /value equation, nothing comes close to Aussie Muscle cars with the XR6t being the best of that breed. Just my humble opinion - (go buy a T!)

Nice work - well done! When is your 11 coming, Jordak? Geez at this rate I'll get there before you!

24th/25th best for me, Steve. (In Melbourne for work 11th - 17th and hoping to score a ride in Rumble!) Why not ask for a $5 donation from everyone which pays for a sausage, a roll and a beer, take out your costs and donate the rest to the site? (And everyone still BYOs meat + drinks) And/or have some site stickers and merchandise available for sale. If its an issue to organise, let me know and I may be able to help out.

Mine has never pinged on 8psi (95 or 98 RON fuel). It has pinged on 2 occasions on 10psi - both times around Ultimate 98 supply shortages. I reckon one was a batch of bad fuel and the other was when I had to fill with 95. I only run 8psi now until I eventually get a custom tune (or a BF Auto)

All for it - leave more fossil fuels to use in Internal Combustion Engines too! Here's a really interesting site on the Chernobyl Disaster: http://www.chernobyl.co.uk/ Makes you realise what a cockup it all was and that they are actually very safe if you have adequate cooling enabled and use the control rods properly! I also agree with Lawsy's waste management strategy.

Love to see it pulling 6000rpm! Or should I say 600rpm.......

When I did my research on tyres, I just Google searched a whole range of tyre brands, followed by the word "forum). eg "Federal SS595 forum". This brings up a range of performance car forums from around the world. I couldn't find a bad word about Federal SS595, found heaps bagging Kelly, Dunlop an Falken (except their top of the range). Of course, top end Michelins and Bridgestones are good, but you pay. From my admittedly slap-dash research, I found the Federals were at least as good as Toyos, Yokos, Kumhos and Nankkangs and significantly cheaper.

Kmart auto sells Dunlop SP3000s in 17" for $220 in their catalogue. I replaced my Dunlops with Federal SS595s which cost $160, grip better, wear less have less road noise and even look better!

Me being the conservative type that I am, feel that with the added low down torque that your injectors, cooler and cat will allow, combined with the extra clamp with your new clutch, that you'll really be exposing the weakness of your T5. You're probably the fastest manual gear changer I've seen, which is great for driving quick and very hard on your T5 with the instantaneous torque applied. You can chirp it in 3rd with your T5 - with grippier tyres and a heavy duty clutch your "chirp" will be happenning in the teeth of your gearbox. This is why I'm not going down the mod path and am just running the 8psi tune in my car from here on. As soon as BF autos drop under $30k, I'll upgrade! Therefore, if you're going to mod your car, I'd also look for a second hand Ford OEM T56 for about $3k or at least budget for it when your T5 goes. Just my overcautious opinion based on us having very similar cars.

I'm in the young family brigade. With a wife and 3 kids under 6, weekends are pretty precious and I'm currently showing about as much commitment to cruises as I can. Easiest for me to attend are Wednesday night drags, Dyno Days and breakfast / early morning cruises where I can still fulfil my family duties later in the day. For me, the best bits of any get together is talking about our cars (and other cars) and meeting all you mob. "Cruising" itself is less of an attraction for me - probably because its time consuming and there's no one to talk to. that's my humble opinion from my time-poor perspective. Mark

Sorry - I can't make this one. Prior arrangement by SWMBO. Hope to make the next one.

Thanks for thinking I'm young, Ross My T is Blueprint, with spoilers, no painted cooler, kiddie seats in the back and usually dirty. Mark

Steve doesn't need help "doing his clutch"! He "does" his clutch really well every time he goes to Motorplex! Look forward to seeing how your car ends up hiddeous!

Shame little Johnny's buyback scheme means such a gun can't be legally owned here.

There are people in the 30% tax for whom novated leasing works well using the ECM (Employee Contribution Method) where FBT is totally offset by putting the FBT amount into your package after tax as running costs. So in short, yes it is worthwhile. (ie the pre tax benefit of lease payments may be offset by FBT, but who wouldn't be happy with a 30% reduction in fuel and maintenance costs and if you get a Subaru or something else which depreciates slower than a Falcomagnadore you'll be in for a windfall come residual time) You still need to do your sums and for most people doing over 25000km per year reduces FBT (or ECM) to an amount which makes it worthwhile. For cheaper cars (say under $20k), it is still worthwhile if you're doing over 15000kms.

I can just take my red T U R B O badge off if that makes you feel better!

I'll be a maybe.

That would be VCM Suite. I believe the company that owns it in the US has just merged or collaborated with SCT (who make our Ford Flashers for Capa) which means a VCM Suite will (or is?) available for Fords soon. (I'm happy to be corrected or enlightened)

If for some reason down the track you want or need to sell in a hurry and maintain most of your capital, I think Quintrex is the go. Good hulls, beaut finish for an ally (yes others are as good) and well marketed. I may be wrong but when you choose to upgrade, which you will, people always seem to go to "Q" in the classifieds first. I think they're the Engel fridge of the fabricated ally boat world. Just my humble opinion.

Check out these articles on Autospeed about Powerchip. When I was a magazine reader I thought Powechip was OK (good marketing). Now it wouldn't be an option for me. http://autospeed.drive.com.au/cms/article.html?&A=0402 http://autospeed.drive.com.au/cms/A_0408/article.html

Hi all Absolutely nothing to do with cars, but another blokey pursuit - FISHING! I'm off to Steep Point next week for a bit of hardcore fishing and thought I'd like to see some people's best catches. I'll be gentle and start off with my best land-based conquests - salt and fresh water. I'll save my boat catches for later. First one is a 25kg + Cobia taken from Garth's Rock ("The Ledge"), Quobba Station, North of Carnarvon. Second is a 100cm Barra taken from the Fitzroy River in The Kimberley. Both were caught in the late 90s before kids and when I had a life. In fact, my T wouldn't get me close to the locations that I caught these two! Look forward to seeing yours. Mark