bugster70

I'm not going to put any numbers to that. As always, there will be exceptions to the rule. There'll be very sensible and considerate 18 year olds and there'll be some very irresponsible and dangerous 40 year olds. But, if you're to go by what most insurance companies do, it would certainly appear that males in the 18-25 (or even 30?) category pose a greater risk than average.

Well, I don't think you can (not in certain states anyway). In the ACT (and NSW I believe) at least, you have to start off on a LAMS approved bike - these are approved based on a power to weight ratio and certainly aren't fast, although some ridiculous machines still slip through the net (very heavy and difficult to manage Harleys come to mind). And you need to stick to these for a certain time period, then pass quite a stingent test to be able to get your 'open' licence. The thinking is that you should have at least some experience before you step up to a more serious machine. But yes, you can then go out and quite legally ride a new ZX14, for example, which again is quite mad. But yes, I hear what you're saying.

Well, I don't want all the younger members thinking we're out to get them, or that they can't ask whatever questions they want to (I'm a great believer of the saying that there's no such thing as a silly question), but I felt strongly enough about what I have been seeing to voice my concerns. With any luck at least some of these guys will stop to think that a few of the more experienced members here actually know what they're talking about. I have no qualms about admitting that if I'd been behind the wheel of a 300rwkw car when I was 21, I probably wouldn't be here today. And, of course, nobody (and I mean nobody) could have convinced me of that at the time.

I truly mean no offence to anyone here but, having a 300rwkw T myself and knowing what it's capable of, I gotta say that it scares the bejesus out of me to see so many obviously very young and very inexperienced fellas coming on board and talking about doing serious mods. I mean, I've read questions ranging from "what's flywheel kw" to "what's octane boost(er)" from people who are thinking about extracting 300-odd rwkw out of their newly acquired toys. It's a very scary mix indeed. I know I'll probably get flamed for this and will be barking up the wrong tree, but I hope most/all of the new guys have some sense of self preservation and respect for other road users when driving around in what will be one of the more powerful cars on the street. Give yourselves a couple more decades or so and you'll (hopefully) see where this silly old fella is coming from!!

For the $5 or so (max) the globes will cost ya, you could just try 'em for yourself and see. If you don't like the blue, just turf 'em out and replace them with normal ones?

'Cept for me maybe - we're a one car family. Although, until reasonably recently, I did also own a very nice, fairly heavily modified 2003 Kwaka Z1000...

Well, thank goodness for that then. I've got a 3.5" MetalCat myself and so far so good! Actually, I did a fair bit of research into cats before buying one and MetalCat kept cropping up as one of the best in the business, for a reasonable price too I might add.

Thought you weren't a fan of mix 'n' match brake combos dingah?! I'm thinking it really is time for me to start thinking seriously about upgrading my brakes too, something a more sensible man would have done a loooong time ago... On that note, Scotty, what sort of brake upgrades do FAS offer?

I have Goodyear F1 GSD3s and have been more than happy with their performance in all conditions. I found that the price between a 235/40/18 and a 245/40/18 differed quite a lot for what seemed (to me anyway) like very little extra tyre. I think you'll find the 235 version (if you're happy to go with that) retails for around the $320 mark?

AFAIK, metal cat is a generic term for a type of cat (metallic substrate), whereas a MetalCat is actually a very good example of a metal cat.

I take my hat off to you Ben, well done on giving it a go and having the courage to post about here in a very humble fashion. I think it's great that you gave it a go and, having never done a track day myself, I'm still sure you'd be plenty faster than me!

Hyena, there's some good advice in there. As has been said, the stock exhaust system on these cars is very good considering it's a factory job. They'll happily support high 200rwkws, although you'd probably get efficiency gains by freeing it up a little. Again, if you want to spend as little as possible and retain a stock look, the best option is to replace the cat only - the 3.5" MetalCat is a good choice. Many others have also replaced the centre muffler, although this is very much more for noise than performance. If you do want a slightly throatier note without driving the missus mad, you could conisder replacing the centre muffler with twin hot dogs - this results in a note somewhat louder than stock, but without being too intrusive and with no droning (straight through pipes instead of hot dogs are more than likely to result in drone). I'm in a similar situation to you and, although I wanted a sportier note (but was adamant that it didn't drone or attract TOO much attention), my wife wanted a car that was quiet and looked standard. So I did the hot dog option and the wife is happy and the exhaust looks stock. I also have the 3.5" MetalCat and, with a number of other mods, am quite easily producing 308rwkw. Hope that was of some help mate. Good luck with the T, and rest assured, you won't have to do too much at all (if anything! ) to make it considerably quicker than your old EF!!

That's a great story Ben, sounds like you did the right thing and got your car repaired to your satisfaction, well done! carazy, sorry to hear about your car and I hope you have a similar outcome to Ben, but I'm not sure your proposed (or at least implied) approach will do you much good - if you take the law into your own hands you may find it's you that ends up in hot water. Stay cool, go through the proper process and hopefully you'll see justice done in the end. Good luck mate!

I see you're pretty modest about your efforts too mate.

Wow, that's pretty good for a standard ute mate!

I agree with all the comments above mate, your mods should be netting you more than 275rwkw with a decent tune. What sort of injectors are you running? As others have said, your valve springs may be letting you down and limiting what power your current mods can achieve. Also, a centre muffler replacement, whilst making the car sound a bit better, will give you stuff all more power. I've got pretty much the same mods as you (injectors, bigger intercooler, actuator, etc, but also have also had the valve springs done), am running a 4 speed auto and, with a good custom tune, achieved nearly 310rwkw. Your sig indicates you're in the Shire? If so, try giving the boys at CV a call mate - that's who did my tune and I'm very happy with their work.

Ghia, I'm not into DIY when it comes to in-car stereos so I can't comment on ease of installation, but for your info I have Focal 5x7 coaxs in the rear and Focal 165 VSlim splits up front. I was told the regular 165s (165 V2?) wouldn't fit due to mounting depth issues but that the VSlim version would be good for the task. Now I know this isn't a direct replacement, but I THINK I remember them saying that Focal may be producing a template for the BAs to enable easier fitment of their range of speakers - this may be worth following up? I have a Focal 11" sub in the boot but, to be honest, am a little disappointed with its performance to date. This could be due to the tiny box it's mounted in, which is why I'm keen to know more about these sub enclosures PIT STOP has mentioned!

Fitting them shouldn't be much, I'd guess around the $100 mark? Retune? Well, it depends on who you go to, but anywhere from about $400 (I understand that CV will do this price for forum members) to around $1K (Nizpro, who many people consider to be the best in the business).

Okay, I've have to agree with that. Once went to a pub in Bruges that sold over 300 different types of Belgian beer - it had to be seen to be believed. Unfortunately, I can't say I tried one of each, but I gave it a good shot!!

I can't believe so many of you blokes are into these fancy imported beers!! I reckon our local brews are great and, like Jimmy, I'm really not too fussy when it comes to a drink. My regular beer is probably Tooheys New. My number one choice if I'm out for a pre dinner drink would be a Carlton Crown. I tend to steer clear of VB and XXXX, but am happy to drink just about anything, from the Coopers range of ales to Carlton Colds, Draught, Boag's, etc. It's all good!!

I think there's plenty of factors insurers take into account when agreeing to insure someone, age, driving experience and location being some of the more obvious ones. I don't think we're really comparing apples with apples when seeing what prices others have been quoted, especially if they're from competing organisations. My understanding is that some insurers are far more likely to pay out than others - the larger companies tend to be (but aren't always) better in this regard. Someone getting a super cheap quote from some fly-by-night company may find their initial saving comes back to bite 'em on the behind in a big way if they need to make a claim. Whilst I don't consider my premium to be a bargain, I'm comfortable with the reputation of the company I'm insured with, the agreed value of the car (which, incidentally, is a good $5K more than NRMA were offereing me! ), plus the fact that they have agreed to insure my car with ALL the mods I have done (lowered, edit, injectors, etc, etc). For the record, I'm 36, am with AAMI and am paying $780.

I don't know why we've had so many questions about a single 3" system for the T recently, why are guys being steered in that direction? I expect it'd be fine for a N/A, but for the T it is a step backwards from the stock system.

Loopy's right - a single 3" is most definitely a step backwards from the stock system and will not support 350-370rwkw (neither will your stock gearbox for that matter! ). If you're serious about making that sort of power you'll need to have a good think about what approach you take and I would suggest that a single 3.5" system would be your minimum exhaust requirement. The X Force system seems to be a popular one with quite a few of the guys around here.

Some good advice in there mate. As others have said, you need to decide what you want to do with your T. If you really don't want to do any performance mods, including edit, then it's best not to go for a full zorst system as this may/will lead to overboost issues. If it's just sound you are after, then the centre muffler mod is the way to go - much cheaper that a full system and will not affect your performance. If you do decide to go down the edit path, then there are probably better things to spend your money on than a full exhaust system. Again, if it's sound you're after, the centre muffler mod works well and you could also consider changing your cat to a better one - I am currently running a 3.5" MetalCat, centre muffler replacement (with hot dogs), and otherwise stock system with 300+rwkw with no issues. If you're dead set keen to do the full system anyway, don't waste your money on a 3" setup - it is indeed a step backwards from the stock 2 1/4" and you will need a minimum of 3.5" to see any flow gains. Good luck, there's plenty of info on the forum!

I'm pretty sure that all you need to do is rotate the hose a bit until it's not being squashed any more. Bit harder than it sounds as getting the stock hoses over the larger intake pipe of the Monza/Wogcooler is quite an art in itself!!!