seduced

The clutch only seems heavy and the shift work tight because you are used to pressing little buttons with a plastic stick prentending to be sporty in your xrt. All this time your left leg has done nothing. its weakened. Classic signs of being in an auto too long. It aint all about straight line acceleration. There are corners in roads too, tricky ones that require good gear selection and clutch work, going .1 of a second quicker to 100km/h doesn't do it for me. Its the whole control experience that makes manuals such a joy to drive. that is unless you mostly drive in traffic. I dont live in a city, so manual suits me perfectly.

New Tuner. There is no way your tune is safe. 17psi, not enough fuel, and it sounds like they wound back the timing to stop it pinging. Only a matter of time before it drops a leg. Tunehouse will sort it for you, if I were in sydney I wouldnt take it anywhere else.

Manual. While sometmes I wish mine was auto - stuck in traffic, trying to move 1800+kg smoothly at slow speeds, driving around at 60km/h all day etc etc, but as soon as the road opens up or I find some corners, man.... there is nothing like a manual. One thing I have noticed. If you enjoy cruising smoothly at slow speeds, trying to relax, its just not possible to achieve that in these cars with a manual, unless you really concentrate on what you are doing, but then you are no longer relaxing. To keep the shifts smooth and the clutch work unnoticable, you have to drive them at a reasonable pace all the time. These are not luxo-barges, these are sports sedans and only respond to sport driving in manual form. Anyone who tries to drive them otherwise will end up bagging the manual box. If it were me buying the GT, I would decide whether I wanted to relax or actually drive the car. Just keep this in mind: Imagine heel-and-toe downshifting with that supercharged v8 growl.....mmmmmmmmm

yep. what he said. most dealers will cover up to $1k or $1.5k for each warranty claim only. You have to have them fix it, and all your servicing has to stay with them or its void. Basically, they will rip you off fixing it, and then rip you off again servicing it. And they could start replacing all sorts of gear 'trying' to fix the engine light problem, racking up a $6k bill...oh, but they'll cover $1.5k of that under "warranty". Run away. Far far away. And never return....

ok, I found a place with a good reputation (independant mechanic, top bloke) who will do it this time only. In the past I have left the 15k oil change to Ford so there is no issue, and do the 7,500km oil change myself. Next time, I'll leave the 15k oil change to this guy as well....as long as I can supply the oil. All sorted. This is the first non-ford service, now its out of warranty. Soooo much cheaper.

I think some may of misunderstood me. Im just asking the guys who change their own oil - How do you then have it serviced without them changing your oil again, and get a stamp in the book??? I dont claim to have serviced it myself. that's what the dealers are telling me because all I did was change the oil. ITS NOT SERVICED. I WANT IT SERVICED. MINUS OIL. But everyone wants to carry out every item before they'll stamp the book. that's fine, but I dont want to waste $75 of oil I just put in there. Now, the other items (coolant, clutch fluid) were all done by Ford and Mal Wood recently. So they dont NEED re-doing, but it looks as if they'll have to be just to get a stamp.... BTW - its out of warranty.

I take the liberty of choosing my own oil and filter every 7,500kms and changing it myself for piece of mind and I just generally enjoy it. Due for my 60,000kms service, so I decided to change my own oil, tighten all the (fingertight)exhaust manifold bolts, check turbo bolts etc. Items due for 60,000kms are: Clutch fluid Brake flush Coolant Oil General check over. Clutch fluid was replaced 15 months ago when my option 3 clutch was installed, coolant was changed 12 months ago while the engine was pulled down under warranty, and oil I have already done. Only thing I want is someone to flush the brake fluid and stamp the service book... But according to several respected servicing departments of different brands: "you do your own servicing, we wont stamp your book." I said, "its just oil" "Doesnt matter, unless we do all those items, we wont stamp any book because we wouldnt have serviced it fully..." So, how do you guys have your books stamped that do your "own servicing" I.e change your own oil?????

Ford would be fine sales wise if their dealers were up to scratch. Why can't head office lay down the law? I wonder how many customers are lost to Holden/Toyota based on a bad experience from a dealer.

There have been many turbo failures due to the 15k servicing and poorly designed stock turbo oil filter and feed line. Everything may look fine, but you could be mere moments away from a $5k trubo replacement. Best to have these things check/replaced and prevented with 7,500 oil changes and an ETM oil feed line and filter. Good oil will be almost clear on the dipstick, dirty oil wil appear golden/dark brown. The true test is when you empty the sump. What looked golden on the stick is now jet black pouring out your sump. As yours is starting to get some Km's on it, the little things like regular oil changes will save you big $$ down the track.

I wouldnt worry. Just keep on the rust in the boot (everyone has this, I spray wd40 every month or two, seems to keep it in check) and replace your suspension. It will be shot after driving toowoomba to brisbane all the time. If you are only keeping it 5 years or so, I doubt rust will be a problem. Save your money for suspension bushes, gearbox services, aftermarket turbo oil feed line, and oil changes every 7,500km. You'll be right. Oh, and put dynamat underneath the parcel shelf, about 50% coverage is enough. Your premium sound will actually come to life and be somewhat enjoyable.

Usually turbo bolts falling out of the housing is due to small cracks forming. You can replace the bolt, but it will eventually fall out too. I believe the only fix is a new housing? This is what I have read, if I am wrong, I'm sure someone will correct me real quick.

At the end of the day, they want to know what 500rwkw feels like the same as you did when 300 wasn't enough. How many people here stop at 300? Everyone gets used to power and wants to find out what that little bit more would be like. Your mates are the same. If your car made 300, and a friend of yours made 350, you wouldn't say "nah, I dont want to go for a spin, that's dangerous and just stupid..." You all would and have asked to see "what its like". So now you own something powerful, you have obviously told people about it, and secretly proud of its mega power (who wouldnt be..) and now you look down on people who ask you for a ride because they should know better? They should know that 500rwkw is useless under 100km/h? If they knew what is was already like, they wouldn't be asking for a ride would they! So whats the solution? If you are making big power, don't tell anyone. Tell them its stock... because you didn't modify it to impress people, just for personal enjoyment right? that's why we never enter them into dyno comps or power cruises....

So let me get this straight. You forked out $30k for a mid-size 1.4L VW base model, and you are getting excited about its 8.5 sec 0-100 time. Yet for the same money you could have purchased a BF mk II xr6T fully optioned with low kays and had enough to get it tuned for economy, had power to satisfy, had room to actually travel with adults, comfort and to top it all off, you could have remained a member of this forum without any shame. Yes the 1.4L will be fuel efficient, but not when you have to flog the thing around just to get it to move enough to make you smile. Money will make you turn from everything you enjoy just so you can have a few more bucks in fuel money at the end of the week... Sounds like fun. I'm going to go trade my T in for a yaris... think of all the money I'll save in fuel, but spend elsewhere!

Sorry Tab, didn't realise that because you had to slow down on a cruise once that proves the G6ET is quicker than any XR or F6. My bad. In fact, all magazines and reviewers need to talk to Tab before publishing anything on the G6's handling prowness. It seems they've been getting it wrong over an over! What fools! I heard Lotus was actually in talks with Ford about obtaining the rights to run the g6 suspension in their next Elise. And McLaren have pulled in the engineer's that worked on the G6's suspension for advice in their F1 cars. In all seriousness, both are great cars, it really comes down to whether you are actually going to drive the car (using both feet) or whether you are going to dribble on and on about which button does what and where, and how amazing the fake leather seats feel, and how much room there is in the boot for your bowls set and cardigan collection. If you do buy the G6ET, make sure you tick the "pillow and tissues on the back parcel shelf" option. You have to look the part.

Time to buy some scratch and swirl remover...

that's the thing with the G6ET. It can't do anyhting sporty (except overtake and acclerate in a straight line quickly) but it makes up for its lack of fun with distractions like a moving side mirror, and fancy painted plastic bits, and it whispers in your ear that everyone is checking out your car.... but in reality, no one is checking out the car, everyone thinks you are old, but you have discovered that little electronic things make you stupidly proud and happy. That is until you park next an XR6T 50 and you realise what you really wanted.

I was wondering how long it would take before IB showed up. He is right though, if you were speeding, it doesn't matter how much, you will lose in court.

In all seriousness, I'd happily drive a g6et and enjoy it, but after a while the giant chrome grin and soft headlights would make me feel like my father and therefore I would end up hating it. The LSD would seriously be missed no matter how many ways I tried to justify it. Now, an F6E would be perfect imo.

The most pathetic justification for the open over the LSD. Secretly Tab is wishing he had the LSD, but roundabouts might prove a problem eh tab? Get the G6ET. Then go buy an EVO for thrills.

What subs? Ohm ratings? That amp will be only 250wx2 at 4ohms. 500wx2 at 2 ohms. 1100wx1 bridged at 4ohms. Packs plenty of punch, depending on your sub specs, you might be better running one sub on the bridged setting. I am assuming you are running 4 ohm subs, which would only give you 250w in this case. So what model are the subs?

Meh, I stood next to a new SLS Gullwing while I was in Toowoomba recently. Guy even gave it a rev for me. Yep Toowoomba. No need to go to Dubai. Its all happenin in Toowoomba. Astons, Ferraris, Mercs, BMWs, Porsches are fairly common in toowoomba, its a cheap place to live, and the guys making loads of money need something to spend it on.

So the fix is this: In about a year, the GT and GS models will be given a power up to 350 and 330 respectively. This leaves a big enough hole to squeeze in an NA xr8 at 310kw. The F6's power will also increase to 320, allowing the xr6/g6e to come up to 290 or so. There will be a big party, Ford will trumpet that the mighty xr8 is back with power increases across the range and everyone will buy one who can't afford a GS and want a v8 rumble.

Here is the variable. The driver has absolutely no idea what evidence the cop has. He never asked for proof. For all he knows, there could be full radar readings, video camera, voice recording admitting he was speeding etc etc. The risk of taking the cop to court and just hoping he has no evidence is waaay too high. And he is still going to receive a fine because he was still over 60. I'd listen to Henz. Quit now.

Clay bar. Mothers. Not rip off Meguires.

Who will the jusge believe? the Driver who is trying to dodge a fine by claiming he was doing "65-70" (which is still speeding) or the cop who used whatever resource to calculate his actual speed. Also, by the time the wagon hit the lights to pull him over, he may have dropped to 65-70km/h before he looked at his speedo, but the cop could have had him at 80km/h 50m back. No evidence from the driver, apparent evidence form the cop. Cop wins. You pay a LOT more for the privlige of appearing in court, and you're still stuck with 3 points. I know what I'd be doing...