pharkit

hi guys, I've had an issue recently where I took my car to a franchise mechanic because the engine warning light came on. I was told it was the oxygen sensors so I got them replaced. It came on again about 1 week later so they told me it was the throttle body (I think) about 3 days later and now $1300 out of pocket it came on again. I took it to another mechanic and he said if it comes on then goes off (which it did once) it was probably an air leak. He said even if the oxygen sensors show up in the diagnostic report that probably means it's an air leak. Anyway he fiddled around under the bonnet for about 5 minutes and found that little black tube that is attached under where it says 'turbocharged intercooled' which he said was to let the turbo breath or something and the prblem is fixed (it's been about 1 week). It was all brittle from the heat and not attached properly. He reattached it and it was like the car came alive as it has been sluggish until then. I have 2 questions for you guys. 1: If it was the hose the whole time, if the first mechanic changed the oxygen sensors incorrectly (just to take my money) would that make the engine warning light turn off - wouldnt it still stay on since technically the problem wasnt fixed? What Im trying to say is was the first mechanic ripping me off do you think? 2: Since it was a franchise mechanic (if anyone wants to know who it was PM me. It's in the lower north-shore Sydney area) do you think they would still have the diagnostic report in the system? Before I go there and ask him for a copy of it (im going to report it to head office if I have a case) I want to be armed with some knowledge. Do you think that information is stored on a server or can he just say 'no we dont keep it.' Thanks for your time. I appreciated informed reposnses. Im pissed off but I still want to give this guy the beneift of the doubt. Andrew.

Take a look at this site. For $23,000 you can get a V6 that makes the same power as an F6 or HSV. For $54,000 you can get a supercharged V8 that makes over 400kw! This is in America of course though. http://www.chevrolet...mance-cars.html

http://news.ninemsn....ng-over-on-bend

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8469516/kids-in-boot-avoid-truck-crash

Was looking at this site (http://www.greenslip...comparison.html) about Green Slips. Overall it looks like GIO covers more categories of severe damage to the body from accidents. Then I realised this is to cover the other party. So does this mean if you cause an accident and the other pary loses a hand they'll only be covered if you're with GIO? Is that how it works?

Seen about 3-4 in last couple of days. Guess I just wasnt paying attention

Ever seen the badges really high up? I've seen a couple with the xr6 and falcon badges way too high. What's up with that?

Starts around 2 min

lol I havent seen any

Haven't seen a Late model camira Highway Patrol around Sydney in ages.. Maybe a year or so? Around the lower North Shore and CBD/East at least all I've seen is XRT's. Anyone else notice this, or maybe in other areas are SS's still kicking around?

Thought you guys might appreciate this story cos my wife doesn't. I was driving down the main road at Bondi Beach a couple of Saturdays ago and I saw a police car in the left lane about 100 metres ahead. On it's neon sign on the roof it was saying: Follow Me. Then I saw a car behind it and realised the message was for him. This guy was driving a VERY modifed car.. Not sure what car it was but if I had to guess I would say Torana. This was the sort of car Satan would drive, it was HARDCORE!! It looked and sounded like a drag car that was never meant to be on the streets. So obviously the police saw him and wanted him to pull over. Anyway I slowed down cos I wanted to see what was going to happen. When they drove ahead I could see a couple of highway patrol cars that had obviously been radioed in to come check it out.. They were up ahead and looked like a couple of wolves waiting for their prey. No idea what the outcome was, I guess a lot of defect notices. But what a site, this cop car with Follow Me on its sign and this beast of a thing following behind. The driver didn't seem to give a damn either. When I went a different way another highway patrol came flying down the road obviously to join up with them.

Can someone explain what it is to me in LAYMAN'S terms. I sort of get it and sort of don't. What are the pros and cons? Do the FGs have it now?? Do you notice a difference compared to car without it.. ?? Yes I'm a dummy. I like fast cars but don't understand what's going on under bonnet. Thank you!

FG XR6T... White. Change the plates (NSW yellow is crap). Remove Turbo badge (sleeper look). Pirellis.

Without wanting to hijack the thread, I think what you said at the start about the GS not feeling as fast as your T is probably true of all turbo vs 8's? A while back I went for a spin in a mate's r33 skyline with 280rwkw and about 2 weeks later another mate took me for a spin in his amg c63.. Similar power but the c63 felt like a slug in comparison. Its the way the turbo dumps all the power on you in one go!

Yeah I reckon the environmental reason is rubbish too. It's all about $$

New video on youtube. Race starts around 2:45

I was tailgating a 4wd drive once back when I was a p plater on the way up to the blue mountains. He was going pretty fast so I thought I was being heaps cool by staying on his arse. Suddenly he slammed on his breaks and the back window lit up with blue and red lights.. Unmarked police car! He drove off and I drove like miss daisy all the way up to the mountains.

Unleaded ban expected to cause rise in fuel prices James Robertson January 2, 2012 NSW drivers could face more petrol price rises this year after the government bans regular unleaded fuel, pushing up demand for ethanol-blended and premium unleaded fuel, the industry has warned. From July, petrol stations will no longer be permitted to sell regular unleaded petrol, because the government wants to promote renewable biofuels. To meet demand, the state's only ethanol distiller, Manildra Group, will need to increase its production of ethanol-blended petrol to 300 megalitres by July, up from 250 megalitres last financial year, according to Ecco Consulting, an energy advisory firm. Advertisement: Story continues below ''We believe demand will exceed supply,'' Jamie Jardine, a spokesman for BP, said. ''Consumers, particularly in rural areas, will have to pay more.'' Manildra did not return requests for comment. An Australian Competition and Consumer Commission report on the issue last month warned of a ''significant impact'' on consumers, particularly those forced to pay for the much more expensive premium unleaded petrol if their cars cannot run on ethanol-based petrol, which is the case with all cars made before 1986. The ACCC also warned of a potential national shortage of premium petrol. In October, the government required 60 per cent of all fuel be ethanol-based. Current and former state governments had previously delayed the quotas because of concerns about the availability of ethanol fuel. Mike Cochran, a director at Ecco, expects Manildra can produce enough ethanol petrol to provide for the government's target to be met by July. ''But it's cutting it very fine,'' he said. Even if ethanol supply falls short, petrol would not be rationed. Under biofuels legislation, the government can give suppliers exemptions that allow them to sell regular petrol. A spokesman for the Energy Minister, Chris Hartcher, said the government expected industry to meet targets but had granted exemptions in the past and would continue to consider them. But there are concerns that ethanol-based fuel is becoming more expensive. The ACCC found ethanol was increasing in price relative to regular unleaded petrol. Last year ethanol was 2.6¢ a litre cheaper; this year the difference fell to 1.7¢. Some motorists argue ethanol is already functionally more expensive because it provides less mileage than regular petrol. The NRMA says ethanol-fuel is between 1 and 3½ per cent less fuel efficient. David Zsynzcak, of Dalby Biorefinery in Queensland, said his company supplied ethanol-blended fuel for 4¢ a litre less than unleaded petrol at some Sydney petrol stations but others did not pass on the discount. ''Clearly the majors are doing anything they can to stop ethanol,'' he said. But the industry says consumers might also choose premium petrol in preference to ethanol, which might raise the price of premium fuel. ''Ethanol has proved very unpopular with customers,'' said Paul Zennaro, of Shell, which says it supports ethanol fuel but not through a mandated quota. Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/unleaded-ban-expected-to-cause-rise-in-fuel-prices-20120101-1ph95.html#ixzz1iDrS6iD8

Bit emotional. Anyone know whether cops get their number plates personalised or not?? Why would that car have personalised plates if its a police car?

Check out this video of some fast cop cars! Notice the car at 1:02, do the cops get personalised number plates? lol

http://smh.drive.com...1006-1la45.html The noise made by a car was once nothing more than the noise made by a car. Now, it is a design element, the subject of much research and development, a leading sales point. Maserati cars have a secondary exhaust system to beef up the growl above a certain engine speed (sure, to increase the performance, too, but that is less important). It is loud enough to ensure you are heard well before you are seen. And you are usually seen pretty early in a Maserati. The Lexus LFA is a low-volume coupe - that's low volume as in numbers, not as in, er, volume - that goes further again. Not only has enormous work gone into tuning the engine frequencies and harmonics, the resulting sound passes through a separate ''surge tank''. This has been tuned like the body of a guitar to create what the company calls an ''Octave Harmony''. But wait, there is more. Three channels leading from this surge tank coil their way through the cockpit, creating perhaps the first V10 to play in 5.1 surround sound. Engine sounds might excite but they are not the only area of acoustic interest. Research into doors goes back at least as far as the 1950s, when marketers realised many buyers associated high quality with the sound of doors that closed with a solid clunk. A string of American cars with heavily clunking doors went on to show what an illusion that was. Gearboxes have to sound right, too. The original Mazda MX-5 had a little arm at the base of the gear lever. It struck a plate when you changed gear, giving that notchy sound of completion but also echoing the complaining tone of the sh*tty old English gearboxes that we somehow came to love. There is a name for such a sound in English: skeuomorph. The A.Word.A.Day website defines a skeuomorph as ''a design feature copied from a similar artefact in another material … For example, the click sound of a shutter in an analog camera that is now reproduced in a digital camera by playing a sound clip.'' Like many fun things, noises are being stamped on from above (bad noises, too, let's be fair). An engineer at Ferrari recently explained with some exasperation about maximum noise standards proposed for Europe in the second half of this decade. He claimed the standards are so strict they fall below the tyre and wind noise that most cars now produce, even if you leave the engine out of it. The strangest, weirdest thing about engine sounds, though, has been an apparently legitimate study to measure their ability to arouse. I am not sure what the study was meant to achieve or what the sponsor (an insurance company) sought other than publicity. But, hey, in the time-honoured tradition of a quality newspaper, let me sneer condescendingly at the study's flippant nature while reproducing its most titillating content. In 2008, 40 participants in Britain listened to engine recordings of three Italian exotics (a Ferrari, a Maserati and a Lamborghini) and a VW Polo. Under the direction of psychologist David Moxon, each participant had saliva samples taken before and after listening to measure levels of the hormone testosterone, which can indicate sexual arousal in men and women. The Maserati sound was the climax, so to speak, provoking a significant increase in 100 per cent of the women and 50 per cent of the men. However, more men (60 per cent of them, to be precise) had their bells rung by the Lamborghini. Moxon said a sports-car engine ''does cause a primaeval physiological response'' and produced ''significant peaks, particularly in women''. The psychologist also concluded that the Polo led to a reduction of testosterone levels in the participants. So, what does this prove beyond the need to recheck the Maserati price list? Maybe it shows nothing more than a study that is silly enough, and mentions sex, will still be discussed years after the fact.

Steve Jobs, billionaire co-founder of Apple and the mastermind behind an empire of products that revolutionised computing, telephony and the music industry, has died in California at the age of 56. Jobs stepped down in August as chief executive of the company he helped set up in 1976, citing illness. He had been battling an unusual form of pancreatic cancer, and had received a liver transplant in 2009. Jobs wrote in his letter of resignation: "I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come." Apple released a statement paying tribute to Jobs: "Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives … The world is immeasurably better because of Steve." Bill Gates, the former chief executive of Microsoft, said in a statement that he was "truly saddened to learn of Steve Jobs's death". He added: "The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come. "For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honour. I will miss Steve immensely." He is survived by his wife, Laurene, and four children. In a statement his family said Jobs "died peacefully today surrounded by his family … We know many of you will mourn with us, and we ask that you respect our privacy during our time of grief". Jobs was one of the pioneers of Silicon Valley and helped establish the region's claim as the global centre of technology. He founded Apple with his childhood friend Steve Wozniak, and the two marketed what was considered the world's first personal computer, the Apple II. He was ousted in a bitter boardroom battle in 1985, a move that he later claimed was the best thing that could have happened to him. Jobs went on to buy Pixar, the animation company behind Finding Nemo, Cars and Toy Story and maker of some of the biggest blockbusters in cinema history. He returned to Apple 11 years later when the company was being written off by rivals. What followed was one of the most remarkable comebacks in business history. Apple was briefly the most valuable company in the world earlier this year, knocking oil giant Exxon Mobil off the top spot. The company produces $65.2 billion a year in revenue compared with $7.1 billion in its business year ending September 1997. Starting with his brightly coloured iMacs, Jobs went on to launch hit after hit. In the process he transformed personal computing. Then came the success of the iPod, which revoltionised the music industry, leading to a collapse in CD sales and making Jobs one of the most powerful voices in an industry he loved. His firm was named in homage to the Beatles' record label, Apple. But it wasn't a complement that the Fab Four appreciated. The two were engaged in a lengthy legal battle which finally ended last year when the Beatles allowed iTunes to start selling their back catalogue. Jobs initially hid his illness but his startling weight loss started to unnerve his investors. He took a six month medical leave of absence in 2009, during which he received a liver transplant, and another medical leave of absence in mid-January before stepping down as chief executive in August. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/oct/06/steve-jobs-apple-cofounder-dies

2012 Nissan GT-R could go on sale in Australia in Q1: 420kW rumoured Details of the 2012 Nissan GT-R have leaked out from a European press event around two months ahead of the supercar’s unveiling at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show. According to the North American GT-R Owners Club (NAGTROC), the 2012 Nissan GT-R will again score a substantial power increase. Although the exact figures are not expected to be revealed until early November, the uprated GT-R was reportedly shown to produce at least an additional 40hp (30kW). With the MY2011 Nissan GT-R currently producing 390kW, it appears the 3.8-litre twin-turbo V6 will generate at least 420kW. Higher boost levels and revisions to the intake and exhaust are also on the cards. Nissan Australia’s Jeff Fisher said the 2012 GT-R could arrive in Australia as early as the first quarter of next year, but admitted the final timing was still to be locked down. The NAGTROC report said there will be no visual changes to the new model, with the engineers focusing on retuning the suspension and transmission logic, and revising the underbody to improve aerodynamics and cooling performance. Despite the power increases, fuel consumption and emissions will fall marginally from the current 11.9 litres/100km and 281g/km levels. The report also suggested the Premium Black and Egoist variants would be offered worldwide, while a Track Edition with carbon panels and slick tyres would be made available exclusively to right-hand drive markets. Mr Fisher said Nissan Australia would continue to offer just one highly specified model of the GT-R rather than individual variants. He said Nissan Australia was in the fortunate position where it could effectively design its own cars for the wants and needs of the market, and said as a result our car would offer “the best of all versions” to Australian drivers. According to the report, the R35 GT-R is likely to continue for another two model years, which should see production roll on through 2014. If rumours are correct, expect the 2012 Nissan GT-R to launch an official Nurburgring lap time assault in the middle of October. http://www.caradvice...420kw-rumoured/

Hi thanks for this. Kind of forgot about this this post since the problem was only there for one day - I guess what youre saying is right then!