Mercurial

That is gold! I like to try to provide a service to my fellow telemarketer 'victims' when I get called. I spend about the first twenty seconds sounding really interested and keen, then knock on the wall so it sounds like someones at the front door. I ask the telemarketer to 'hang on a tick' 'There's someone at the front door', and then put the phone down on the bench. I come back five minutes later and listen on the phone to see if they're still waiting for me to come back. (and so one) It's such a liberating feeling to know I'm wasting THEIR time, and it means they're not wasting their next 'victims' time yet either. Records so far for one of these idiots waiting for me to come back to the phone - 17 minutes!

I reckon they'll want the 300 and 320kw donks as targets to keep up with HSV's in the endless 'pi55ing contest' we know and love. A mate went to the unveiling of the new HSV's last Friday, and found out that the Clubbie is now 307kw, 550nm, has 19Inch wheels with 275 boots on the rear as standard, and has all the R8 goodies on the 'normal' Clubbie, with even more goodies on the 'born again' GTS (eg. 20inch! wheels)

It doesn't seem to be comming from the left vent. If I was to describe where it 'seems' to be coming from, I would say- behind the dash, toward the firewall, a couple of feet above and in line with the clutch pedal. I'll check the turbo and manifold bolts. Thanks for the helps guys!

I think the best description of what the Dutton 'can' be about, is that it is a 'weekend out with the boys' disguised as being a motorsport event. You can be as serious, or as 'laid back' as you want. At the end of the day, if you want to win the thing outright, you need an AWD weapon (read: Rex, EVO or GTR) or a serious Porsche. Having said that, you can come away from the weekend with a set of 'Event Wins', trophy's and even a CLASS win through the use of a decently setup vehicle, and some consistent, skillful driving. These events are definitely worth having a crack at, and more often than not, I think entrants find themselves hooked on the concept, and keep coming back for more. I was lucky enough to compete (as a co-driver) in the NSW round a couple of years back in an AU XR8. I won my (co-driver) class, scored a trophy, and had one of the best weekends of my life. I would recommend it to anyone with the opportunity to have a go. All the guys who go along are pretty much rev-heads who appreciate a beast in any form (Especially something like your weapon Geaa) so it's all good - I reckon.

I pretty much always turn off the traction control (90% of the time?) - I actually tried to get the Ford Mechanics to figure out a way to make it so that when you start up, the T/C is OFF, and you need to press the button to turn it ON. Long story short - I'm pretty certain that's not the noise. Thanks for the idea though! The car is bog stock, and I ALWAYS use 98 RON fuel (I think in 108000 k's, I've used 95 RON Premium 3 times and 10 litres of normal unleaded once to get me to a servo with 98 RON fuel in the next country town.) I am pretty familiar with what pinging sounds like (used to get it in my '82 Pulsar all the time, and even had it briefly in my '99 Rex) and I'm 99% sure that it's not a 'pinging' noise either. Another good idea though. Anyone else got any thoughts??

Those are the scientific solutions I've been using so far But, I'd like to see if there's something more 'appropriate' I should be doing

Hi guys, Just wondering if anyone's had this one with their car. I know that you should baby the car for the first few minutes/kays (at least) to get her up to temp, and 99% of the time I do. Every now and then though, there will be a situation where you need to 'give it to her' just after starting up. (eg. pulling out of a tee intersection into flowing traffic not far from where you started up.) Lately, I have noticed a sound that seems to emanate from in the dash somewhere. It only happens at what I'm pretty sure is the same time as when the turbo is spooling up (eg. about 2000 rpm and above, and especially when mashing the accelerator pedal) The best way to describe the noise is that it is like a cicada, or angry budgie. It is reasonably loud, and increases 'in sync' (I reckon) with boost pressure. My guess is that it is a solenoid or something that has to do with controlling the boost or turbo - but then again, mechanically, I have NFI. It goes away once the car is warmed up. What are the guru's thoughts out there? Should I be worried?, racing to a mechanics ASAP? etc. Thanks in advance.

My overall average, which I haven't reset since getting my T in 03 (92000km on the clock) is 13.6 . I mainly drive around greater Melbourne, but manage to get out for 200-400km of highway driving about once a month.

If you look closely - there is o warranty, yet the car is less than 3 years old. I would suggest someones cooked a motor, blown their warranty, gone bust and want to off-load it. (Or something along those line)

I know a bloke who fitted one to get some room for his supercharger kit. At least that's a semi-legitimate reason?

I'm no expert guys, but could the problem be with the LSD? If the LSD wasn't working properly, and acting like a 'Locked' diff, then even at slow speeds the inside wheel may spin and chirp like I've seen drag cars do whilst turning ?

Looks like it works mate. Congratulations. Would this basically have the same effect as putting a larger exhaust on? (And therefore be potentially a cheaper alternative for the same performance gains??)

I saw a tornado in the carpark of Bunnings in Altona a couple of weeks ago too. I figured they must have been released now, so didn't bother to take pics! Doh! If I see it around again soon I'll get some and post them for you guys.

FYI guys, I've had RaceBrakes (here in Melbourne) RB74 pads in my T for about 6 months now, fitted them just after my last (and I think it was sixth) 'anti-shudder' machine, and haven't had a peep out of them since. I've done a good 20000 k's, and two track days at Phillip island, with no shudder at all. Might be worth considering? I used these pads on ny old WRX, and they were great on it too, except for a bit of squeal, but I haven't had any noise at all from them on the T.

You're dead right there. I ran a Bugeye rex recently, and nailed my launched whilst he completely fluffed his. By the time I grabbed second I had a car length on him. By the time I grabbed 3rd, I had about three. Obviously, he wasn't the greatest at launching, but the distance I put on him was surprising. (I'm stock BTW)

Another thing to check is resale. I just had a look in the 'Private seller' area of redbooks website (www.redbook.com.au) and was interested to see that the BA's as a rule, and especially the FPV vs HSV equivalent had better resale value. Mind you, at the price you're getting it, that may not be a valid indicator

I'm starting to wonder wether these foglights are cracking from heat from the globe, rather than impact from stones etc.?? What do you guys think? I remember looking at one of mine that cracked, and noticing that there was no sign of a point of impact, just a long crack from on side right across to the other.

I used snow chains on my XR last season on a trip to Hotham (The scariest drive of 23km over a 1 hour period I've ever had by the way - blizzard conditions). Anyway, I was VERY careful to fit the hire chains firmly and evenly on my tyres (17" wheels btw), and was lucky enough not to cause any damage. - I read that you shouldn't fit chains AFTER I got back from Hotham - DOH!

I use Knox Ford also, and can highly recommend them. Cameron and Mark are great to deal with in servicing, and pretty much everything I've had problems with (and they weren't caused by Knox by the way) have been fixed first time everytime.

At least they're listening to some degree guys. I got a reply back from that email as follows. A bit weak I reckon, but better than nothing! Dear V8 Fans, Thanks for your email regarding Marcos Ambrose's penalty from the weekend. Stone Brothers Racing are currently appealing the Confederation of Australian Motor Sports (CAMS) decision to dock Marcos Ambrose 192 points and fine the team $10,000 after a technical breach was discovered. The appeal hearing will take place at CAMS head office in Melbourne on Thursday. Please refer to the press release on the website for further details. Keep a close eye on the website for further updates regarding this matter. Kind Regards Rachel Skelton Receptionist / Club Coordinator AVESCO PO BOX 607 Southport QLD 4215 Email: reception@avesco.com.au

Just went to the comments page at V8 Supercars.com, and posted the following to AVESCO. Hopefully if a few people do similar they will see the light! Just a brief note to voice my disgust and concern at the penalty SBR have received after the QLD round yesterday. Surely you are aware of the backlash this ridiculous result will create in the Ford camp? Keep it consistent guys, don't you remember - Cameron McConville got only a 72 point penalty for having an underweight crankshaft at Barbagallo - and that breach resulted in a performance advantage! Just FYI, I was going to buy my group of friends 8 grandstand tickets for next years Adelaide round for our annual trip over from Melbourne, but now I'll be waiting to see the results from Thursdays appeal. If you keep screwing things up to the point where a good honest win turns into a shafting that could cost a team a championship and their reputation, we might have to watch more footy I think. (and I get the feeling there's plenty of other fans that make your living that feel the same way.) Sincerely, Scott

G'day Brian, Did you say you'd had your car on a circuit(s)? If so, which one(s). I'd love to see your beast in action when it's full potential is being exploited. (ie. at a racetrack). Have you got any lap-times for circuits you've been to? Thanks Scott

Dunno what this means in terms of the gearbox in the the series 2 BA's, but I know for fact that Ford has sent a BA XR8, and XR6T to Tremec in Mexico in the last 2 months.

Trying to decide whether I go to the drags tonight, but I thought if I knew some of the 'Big Banger' XR6T's are going to be there, it would make up my mind.

Used to do track days in my Rex. Have done one motorkhana in the Turbo. FUN :lol: , but not game to go to a track with the standard brakes. I can't help but go at at least nine tenths, and I know the stock brakes are not up to it. Gotta save my bikkies for some decent ones now :lol: !