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Get your own Free Home PageThis is the terrible tale of my search for a new car. A lot of this tale takes the form of conversation, between myself and Mykl, in italics.
But first I'll review my earlier studies of the subject. Initially there was My Sports Car Project a theoretical study of how to get a performance vehicle for a low price.
Then there was A different but related theoretical study.
But finally I got the money necessary to do it for real...
26/2/99
Meanwhile, I have been tempted by the automotive dark side. But hopefully I shall resist their foriegn blandishments and buy something sensible like a turbo rotary.
Which was answered by the Question
Which particular dark side - the one that says "go with eight mate?"
Well actually my new flatmate (who actually IS a flatemate now as I live in a flat) has a Ute which got 265 hp at the wheels on a Dyno (according to him) which would be usefull in one of those 260Zs. But it is noisy and coarse and doesn't impress me that much as far as refinement is concerened. However It uses a Supra gearbox, which is a sign of more class than a worked auto.
or the one that says conformance is normality and good.??
Never!... Worse. I'm thinking about a car that has suspension described as "showing that the Italians still know more about handling than any Japanese company", features a fully leather lined interior, climate control, ABS, and the twin cam, 4 valve/cylinder engine (hence not a rotary) is available in various stages of tune (and boost) up to the ubiquitous 208kW from the factory. For $5-7k.
The 13b turbo series 2 Rex would still be faster though. And probably cost much less to maintain. And in Sydney costs about the same.
Neither would be comprehensively insured.
Unlike the soarer they are available with manual gearboxes. I never actually said it was manual but it is. If I was to go auto then I probably would go back to the soarers. But it is not as normal as a maxima...
But soarers are not truely from the dark side, they are merely a supra (surely a power for the forces of good) that has had a moment of weakness in choosing to be automatic. They are still on my list, though way down the bottom.
Notice that I did not actually indicate what form the automotive dark side I was refering to actually takes. A look at a Star Wars short revealled how much better the dark side actually dress, so when on Sunday I got bored, I looked in a paper, made a phonecall, and took a test drive.
Mmmmm. For $6000 I was looking at a car about the size of a Skyline, with the interior room of a Statesman, but more boot space. The power to weight ratio of a Galant VR4 (but no 4wd, otherwise it would be a no questions winner (not a lay down misere, because Misere is when you LOOSE every hand)). Full leather interior with a/c, power everything, trip computer, CD player, electric sunroof, ABS, and the voice of James Earl Jones saying "Feel the Power of the Dark Side...Use the Turbo, Luke"
I'm going to havve to test drive a very good rex or Zed, and soon, before I actually get $6000 in my bank account.
The Rex has the advantage (especially in 13b series V turbo engined form) of having 10 kW more and 300 kg less. Add the much lower centre of gravity and the RWD (oops, that's torn it, now you know what is so evil about it, well half the story anyway) and the Rex should go around a corner much harder. Though I didn't notice any corners in my test drive that gave the slightest trouble at only 10 over the speed limit.
I was in fact looking at a SAAB 9000 turbo. The true dark side, the flip side of the coin on which Nissan GTRs and Hyundai Excels merely form a yin/yang on the first side.
Well I will have to take the Zed for a drive soon. AND a Rex. I'm hoping that 149 kW of turbo rotary in a 1050 kG of car will convince me of my error.
22/3/99
I went for another test drive on the weekend. This time it was a 3 litre turbo Soarer. The TV wasn't working but other than that it was fine, with the engine being slightly worked. Once again, it frustrated me enormously by being automatic and changing up just as the turbo was getting going. It was not as bad as I remember, probably because the modifications to the engine were designed to get the turbo on stream earlier. (Bigger exhaust, cold air intake, computer controlled smart boost control)
I found a local import dealer, but he doesn't have the cheaper Jap stuff, with the lowest being about $17 000 for a 2 litre 180sx. Mind you that is a very good car.
Meanwhile Mykl was forced to admit that... The 9000s do not look that bad. And as you pointed out they do have a lot of stuff in them.... Though not as much as a soarer. But you have to ask, "Will I miss not having electonically adjustable seat positions and steering wheel?" But will you miss being able to SAY that you have electronics seats and steering wheels?
If you are just TALKING, you can mention all the truely useless things like the Saabs electrically heated seats, electrically cooled seats, "European prestige", external ice warnings, leather upholstery...
so how long before you become inextribably Incurably infested with Tribbles? The trouble with tribbles, is terrible quibles and when a tribble, does tremble, the trouble it trebles.
Mykl was still objecting
I think that the Z will feel exactly the same - but you will get less car for the money as fat as condition is concerned.
I feel from a handling and accelleration point of view with the consideration of weight taken into acount. But the Z has an associated price premium that the SAAB would not.
So do the turbo skylines, that are the most direct comparison. As the table demonstrates:
| Car | Skyline | Saab 9000 |
| Weight | 1350 | 1350 |
| Engine | 2 litre | 2 litre |
| Power | 140kW | 140kW |
| Size | medium | medium |
| Max power of available drop-in engine | 205kW | 205kW |
| Same levels of handling, luxury, websites | ||
| Price | $10-12000 | $5-7000 |
The Soarer/Supra OTOH not so much absorbs bumps as squasshes them flat. A Zed is likely to be the same.
The RX should be completely different.... remember that 149kw could very quickly become a lot more.
But that also applies to the Zed, and the Saab, and indeed any car I've though about except the V8 Jag/Zed.
True - but the RX has the advantage of kw increase is substantially more in a power/weight than a soarer, ZX etc.
What was the prioce associuated with this particular vehicle??? (just from a principles point of view I would be looking at a soarer a lot more than the saab)
Low volume import 81000Kays, white, Auto, TV (cannot recieve Australian TV - but has got cool info about the suspension,consumption and when services are due) Climate Control, Power everything, QuikTrak traker alarm/immobiliser. 2 months rego Marsfield, Sydney NSW Australia $10,000 ono - email mplsek@hotmail.com or call 0414 795 717 and ask for Marty
Mykl's drug problem becomes more obvious
- besides that - anything that you learn or find bits for etc is then useful; to me - by the is the selfish bit...
WHAT? Could you try typing that one out again?
After Ruth stopped him getting at the animal tranquillizers, we had a more sensible conversation..
A 180sx for $6000?
Welll, would you believe a Nissan Exa (NOT the turbo ones, the later models with the removable roof circa 1989) with the 180 sx motor in it. Same power as the Series IV RX7 (133kW), same hot up potential, convertible, 1145 kg?
I didn't get to test this as the train system was not operating all weekend. there is nothing like using public transport to look for a car to convince you to hate P.T. and buy a car.
My very first reaction involves cringing as I slam the left hand side of the car into something solid due to the torque steer. After that... the car is a pretty one, has a certain degree of appeal. has the smae sleeper aspect as the RX7 did a car that looks fast that everyone knows is not, that is. I like that. The circularness of it all appeals to me.
Me too. The alternative is the SAAB 9000 look. Boring luxury car that is actually quite fast. Like the M5.
As stock with mine at stock as well there is a possibility that you would beat me in that.....
Take off would be annoying given that it is a FWD... but should be fairly maintainable etc.
I think I'll test a beasty FWD just to see what they're like.
I don't mind the idea at all... you would basically be able to buy that now wouldn't you?
If I max out the mastercard. Not a good position to be in with a new car.
Is it the ubiquitous white?
Haven't actually seen it, but a lot of Exas are not.
True again.,.... But I do like the idea that I can put a passenger in and not really feel the difference... How did the VR4 handle that? Nowhere near as well as the Supra, better than the RX.
Matching the mathematical purity of Newton's laws then. Good to see (if only because NOT matching those laws would require an explanation (but then achieving that explanation might score me a Nobel prize, which would solve the problem of what sub $20k car to buy, and replace it with the problem of what super $100k car to buy. (GTR or M5, 911 turbo or Ferrari 355? Oh the stress!))) There is something happening with the Supra.... it is jus tthat when I do not drive it properly around a corner I wallow....
Wallow: Understeer and body roll? Sounds like you need more rear roll stiffness and damping. Does the TEMS go to hard when you corner? And could it be persuaded to do so?
Mostly body roll, but it does feel like I am having to turn the wheel more than I should need to, But I am nopt slipping on the front wheels or anything like that.
There is a whole bunch of understeer that occurs before anything as gross as slip occurs. In the Statesman (in which understeer was almost the only handling mode, except in the wet) there was a lot of this. The tyres themselves can run at an angle to their actual direction because of flexing in the tread and sidewalls. And possibly even in the suspension itself. (This was more likely in the statesman, but it is one of the reasons that polyurethane bushes up the handling.)
I think "The physics of racing" covers this in the tyres section. Also I am getting a lovely book on handling from Amazon (my Geocities webpage won a gift voucher)
Alternatively, a quicker streering rack? Smaller steering wheel?
As for the TEMS most of the time it goes full hard - and yes ijt can certainly be convinced to stay there... that is one of the reaons that if you are driving hard it corners better. You slam rthe brakes on as you approach the corner and then you are on full hard. I have to get around to sticking a wire or two in to make the TEMS full hard all the time when I want it thusly.
I was thinking of some accelerometers to measure cornering (they only have to be on/off =>Mercury switches?) or microswitches on the steering column.
when I am pushing it it all works quite well... you certauinly could not call it "nippy".
This is in comparison to the RX7 or the VR4? Or the Skyline? Or the Commodore? :)
The RX mostly... I am not able to get the tail to hang out at all - which may be a good thing or a bad thing I am not sure.
Another thing that implies insufficient rear roll stiffness. James was able to increase the effect of his roll bars a lot by putting stiffer bushes on it (4 bushes, about $4 each) Of course then the car would be more likely to do something silly, so it would be best if this was variable. Electronically controlled bush stiffness??
Another way to get the rear out would be to have MORE POWER!
The Skyline I had down pat, the RX I had a reasonable controlled.
Could this difference just be because you had more time on the Skyline?
The VR4 was better in a right hand turn through a round about. But with more roll under serious accelation while doing it.
Well they had an eye on driving off road when they designed the VR4 suspension.
The supra will sit quite nicely in a right turn if you have the guts... it just still feels heavier.
It does feel very nice doesn't it. Although I haven't been in a hard corner in it (but I have in the auto-but-otherwise-the-same soarers.)
All seat of the pants stuff rhater than actual measurable differences.
I think they are measurable, but you need some pretty sophisticated 6 axis accelerometers. Even so, there is no substitue for driving it. Isn't that what the latest BMW add is all about. (though they are talking about the 318i, possibly the wimpiest thing to ever claim to be an Ultimate Driving machine. I think they score 50kW at the rear wheels, slightly less than a HQ Statesman.)
19/4/99
Alleluia and praise, for the lost sheep that was tempted by the ways of the dark side is saved and returned to the ways of the light.
After my 3 test drives this weekend there is no way I am ever going to get a SAAB. OR a Skyline.
1. A turbo skyline. As I vaguely remembered, it is exactly like the SAAB. It feels as solid, it goes the same,(Not surprisingly, they both weigh 1350kg and are being powered by a 2 liter twin cam multivalve turbo engine giving 140kW at 6-7 psi through a five speed box.) it handles the same, the Skyline looks more sporty (not necessarily a good thing) the SAAB is FWD (not a good thing) the SAAB is more luxurious while the Skyline has a few more luxuries (if you get my drift) The SAAB has more room while the Skyline is made in Japan. Both have engines that are apparently simple to get more than 200kW from. Both have later versions with 2.5 ish litre engines with even more power (up to 205 kW stock in both cases) which are bolt in swaps.
It was very surprising how similar they were given the enormous differences. And the SAAB is half the price.
BUT
2. Nissan 300ZX. While walking away from the Skyline place I saw a Zed at another dealer. I went up and checked it out, and Surprise surprise a guy walked up and offered a test drive. (Every other dealer Wanted a firm commitment to buy before they would let me open the windows. Faced with that you are forced to lie. These people are causing dishonesty in our society).
Then he went off to talk to someone else and as I sat in the drivers seat I saw another one across the road. "Perhaps that one is a manual turbo?" I thought, having resigned myself to testing an atmo auto. So I got out and crossed the road. The guy saw me and shouted, so I gave him a cheery wave and continued.
It was a manual, but not a turbo. This dealer was even MORE helpful. (He was a rotary dealer) So he offered a test drive and I said yes. Naturally it wouldn't start. So they got the jumper battery and jump started it. It ran fine.
So I hopped in and stalled it.
Jump started again they waved me goodbye (I was out by myself) with the warning "Don't stall it." And I was off. (At least I THINK it was "stall" it may have been "steal")
Away from the main road and onto the twisty bits around a golfcourse... After 5 minutes I pulled over and checked under the bonnet to see if it wasn't a turbo after all. For real. It felt as strong as the Skyline or SAAB did, and it was an atmo engine rated at 15 kW less in a car supposed to weigh at least 100kg more.
It felt like a Supra/Soarer. Solid as a bank vault, crushing bumps rather than absorbing them (and I deliberately drove over some rather nasty surfaces), silent with the windows up and roof on, and Just as luxurious.
The stock stereo has to go though. Errgh!
BUT when you get into it at the limit, where the Soarers (and I assume Supras) TEMS kick in to give stiffer damping and roll resistance, the Nissan just doesn't have a TEMS system. Hmmm, a call for stiffer springs and maybe a few minties. Sacrificing ride for handling.
Then on the way back I tried a hill start and stalled.
On Paramatta road, one of the top 10 busiest roads in Australia. At 20 to 5.
The battery was too dead to even fire up the hazard lights, let alone the starter motor, so giving all the cars behind me a cheery wave I locked it and jogged back to the dealer to get the jump starter.
We all laughed. Except perhaps the guys stuck behind me.
Conclusion: A manual atmo Zed is as good a car as a manual turbo Skyline/Saab. It is almost as quick and nicer to be in. Especially with the roof off driving around a golf course on a sunny but cool Saturday afternoon.
It is also better than a auto Supra/Soarer. For one reason. That nice Nissan gearbox (more on that later). Pity there's no TV.
So I am very much in favour of a TURBO Zed.
My one concern is that this may have been a modified car. Done well enough so that I couldn't tell just by looking at it. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the engine was a bit more than standard, because it didn't go like it only had 120 kW. If so the Turbo wouldn't have been as big an improvement as I'm hoping. And it might take modifications to get the suspension up to this level.
I think that it is more likely that you were dealing with a 3litre car... so the low down stuff would have been better...
Yeah. I figured that could be it.
That combined with the fact it was a manual would have lead to that impression... i.e. you can take off quite powerfully in the supra with an ounce of boost.
Of course I've only driven the Supra on a wet road, with a stuffed turbo, so I don't know what it is really like.
I hope the Zed was standard. (Because that means that a turbo one with worked suspension should be quite good.)
There is a nice open carpark near a golfcourse where I tested the Zed. It does roll a bit, but the only other thing I tested on a similar place (Indooroopilly water tower) is the Statesman, which is not a good comparison.
How old was the Zed - I take it that it had nothing done to the suspension at all.
Well it was 1985, with 180 000 on the clock (and an hours work would make it look new!) So it is almost certain that the shocks have been changed. At this time it is quite possible that they put in the correct ones, rather than the underdamped American specification ones that they allegedly came with.
Because I did not notice any underdamping, but I did get some body roll going. This merely rolled, it didn't seem to affect the grip on the road.
This is compared to the Skyline however (which was always considered a very good handler and from the looks DID have aftermarket suspension. it certainly had AM other bits (steering wheel, rear wing, exhaust). I Wasn't able to compare other cars to it on the same road.
The main problem with the skyline was the price.
When we first saw them (1994?) they sold for $14 990, now they go for $14 990. They are now a 5 year older car. For that price you can now get a (4 years newer) VR4 or a Series 4 RX7 turbo. The SAAB and Zed go for 1/2 that.
I think they are being pulled up by the price and image of GTRs.
3. THE BEAST. 13b turbo series 2 Rex.
A pity the Zed is so slow.
Advertised for $8.9k, the Rex was caught in a hail storm on Wednesday, so it could probably have been gotten for $5k to $6k.
It flew. There is no car I have even been in, let alone driven, that is nearly as fast as this car. At 150ish kW in a 1100 kg body, you would want to know why if it wasn't. It had big sticky tyres (265/45s) and it would spin them in 3rd without dumping the clutch. It felt like the ZED (and for that matter the skyline/Saab) in at least 1-2 gears higher. i.e.. The Rex in 4th felt like the Zed in 2nd. The Rex in 3rd felt like the Skyline in 1st.
Partly this was because it had a lower dif ratio, so it was effectively about 1/2 a gear lower than it seemed. Partly it was so rattly and noisy compared to the others.
And partly it was just a car that does 0-400m in 13.5 seconds. Compared to 15.0 for the others. I think that gives a 0-100 time in about 5.5 seconds.
Now of course I have to sit down and work out what power the Zed needs to do that (ans. 200 kW, not too unreasonable)
In other respects the Rex sucked. The exterior wasn't too bad except
The car was NOISY, just under the legal limit.
The interior was rough. The seats were threadbare, the dash was cracked, the Microtech ECU was lying on the ground by the passengers feet, the gearbox was atrocious (apparently a standard series 4 gearbox) all rubbery and with the gears hard to find (even he had to double declutch a couple of times). Comparing it to the Zed box was silly.
The only thing that I didn't mind, that he had warned me about, was the clutch. I think Ross's car has prepared me well in that respect.
For just sitting in traffic, or cruising at 60, the Statesman was a nicer car. I want my next car to be better than that.
The RX7 was less rolly than the Zed (on different but similar roads), but probably had lower levels of actual handling because it didn't sit as well, didn't smooth out bumps as well, and if it wasn't for the huge rear tyres would be sideways the whole time anyway.
I got the Rex to 100 (I held the pedal down for a second or 2) It was not handling the rough roads at all well. These were bad roads but the Zed was cruising over them. On smooth northern suburb roads (ie. where I live and tested the SAAB and Soarer) the Rex may have done much better.
I might look around to see if there are any nicer Rexes out there.
Did I mention the RX7 engine was STOCK. Except for the exhaust of course ( there is no stock exhaust for that engine in that car).
True - that was the problem we were falling into [with buying a house] - something we can live with and the animals will think is cool - then we decided they weren't putting any money towards it... so we got something we thought was cool and something the animals could live with....
I feel the same way about the government and my next car. Instead of going for something totally government approved that I wouldn't not complain about...
so you are going for a lotus 7 with a 20B rotary twin turbo then?
Well that fails on 2 counts.
1. I will NOT be happy with a Lotus seven. Oh I would on a Day like today. But not if it was raining, or stinking hot. Actually a 20b rew powered Lotus 7 might be very bad on a day like today (7 degrees, not a cloud in the sky) because I'd be on my way to work and then accidentally leave 50 metres of tyre marks as accidentally I turn off and go for a accidental blast through the Blue mountains.
2. The Government WOULD complain about a 20B rew powered lotus 7.
Of course if I found a 20B rew Lotus 7. or even a 13b rew. Hell a 4agze powered one, for $6-8k then I might go ahead anyway.
If you want power/weight without other considerations then:
Mitsubishi Cordia, Galant VR4 race motor, microtech computer system, massive anti cooler, centreport clutch, heavy duty gearbox, turbo timer, alloys, lowered, new paintwork, $6900 negotiable Page: 11/17 Ad: 174/260 02-9838 9253 SEVEN HILLS
I imagine we are dealing with a car that can do 360s using the torque steer alone.
I had a look at a car on the weekend. And simply I wouldn't buy it simply because it was frontwheel drive. It was a Cordia. The Add led me to believe it was one with a 2 litre dash/VR4 engine, but it only LOOKED like it did.
There were other reasons not to buy it.
Stock engine, large rear wing, the stench of (metaphorical) rice, wires hanging out of the dash, extensive signs of bog in the panels. No intercooler etc... gets ugly. Funny how much rice smells - you tend to think of it as fairly neutral - but no way...And the owner was selling because it was too fast. Well too fast for his teenage son anyway.
What put me right off was the autospeed article about the Cordia. There was a 1050kg car with a worked Dash engine (stock 149 kW, say ~200 kW) and it was hoping to break 14 sec. in the quarter. A 1300 kg RX7 with 179 kW does 13.9. The culprit? FWD wheelspin.
I had some more test-driving fun over the weekend. Not quite as much as I wanted to though. The trading post had a 300ZX turbo manual, with (wait for it....) 22 000 km on it, for $9000. My thoughts on that ran to three different possibilities.
As both 1 and 3 would possibly be worth buying, I wanted to see it, but the phone was never answered. So I was forced to try some other vehicles.
First: a Starion. Running the 2 litre Mitsu engine with a 3 inch mandrel exhaust, 12 psi of boost, high flowed turbo and NO intercooler, this car was running on about the limit of detonation. Several squirts of power was enough to heat the engine up so that pinging appeared. Then you had to cruise until it cooled down. The owner kept going on about how much better it would be with an intercooler. I agreed.
Even so, it was fun. A bit quicker than the (stock) turbo skyline or SAAB. And it had the basic luxo features of power windows, mirrors, sunroof, boot and petrol release, and VERY good seats. For the money ($3500) it was the best value sports car I've seen, and I've seen them advertised for less than that. Those probably weren't in as good a condition though.
It was, however, below the sort of cars I've been looking at. It was all right when cruising, but with revs it got very noisy. It looks like a cheap, old, sports car, and although the interior was very good, (with a fair amount of carbon fiber paneling) there was definite wear around the seals and on the seats that just says it is an old car. The turbo lag was atrocious, though this is partly a combination of
a)Short streets, so I didn't have much time. These were the same streets as the (atmo) Zed, the Skyline and the TT soarer (see next test) though.
b)A high flowed turbo, always a way to increase lag.
c)Retarded timing, to stop (almost) detonation. This decreases off boost power. An intercooler would help there.
In day to day living, it would be far more pleasant than the 13b turbo RX7 I tested, and probably more so than 12a turbo RX7 was.
The rev limiter engine cut out was rather severe :) :) :)
Second test: A twin turbo Soarer. This is the same shape as the 3 litre one, and hence the same chassis and suspension etc. as the Supra. It was at a car yard so it took a bit more bluffing ( lying) to get a drive.
The interior was not as nice as the 3 litre one (which was going for a lower price, but that was a private sale). It didn't have a TV, there was more plastic and less leather, and the interior was BROWN. On further inspection it was just the seats that were brown, but they lent a brown atmosphere to the rest of the car. Some seat covers should help that. The rest of the car was the same, except of course for the twin turbo, 2 litre six under the bonnet, 156 kW(also available on the Supra).
Impressions, well compared to the Starion it was silent, but what did you expect. Compared to the other Soarer/supras I've driven, it was the same, but it did NOT have the infuriating habit of the 3 litre of reaching power band about 0.5 seconds before changing up a gear and loosing boost. This kept boost for much longer. I think this was due to two things:
In all I suspect that, in a stock automatic, the two litre may well be quicker. The dealer claimed it was but that's irrelevant. It was probably not quite as relaxed though, as it does need some boost to do things the 3 litre can do off boost. It also did not give the overwhelming impression of being in a Lexus that I got from the 3 litre ones I've looked at, which was one of the main attractions. However for a luxury car that I've seen advertised (two litre version) for $7-8 k, it wasn't bad. Auto though.
The dealers then steered me into a room and tried to get me to sign a contract there and then. I said I had to ring my girlfriend, did so STD on their phone, had a bit of a chat and said I'd come back with her tomorrow. I wouldn't have been so outright deceptive but they were really piling it on and feeding me a lot of garbage about deposits and some other guy already having a deposit on that car and so I needed to put one on or it could be sold. I reasoned that if the other guy had paid a deposit, then accepting one from me meant that a deposit was worthless, and they were straight out lying. Like I did.
On Sunday I did NOT go back, but instead, inspired by a friend's idea of building a chest, I build a chest.
Rule of thumb: If you can punch your fist through a board so that it breaks ACROSS the grain. Don't be surprised if it splits when you are trying to pull a nail out of it.
And speaking of nails, when you are using a sledgehammer to break apart cargo pallets for the wood, keep your finger from between the hammer and the wood. :0
21/6/99
Following the disappointing standard of the first 13b turbo RX7 that I tested, I was interested in testing another of better condition. I knew that they could be better because of Mykl's.
So on Saturday I went to see another Rex.
Mazda RX7 Series II, 12A turbo, mild portered, inter cooled, turbo timer, too many extras to list, fully engineered, excellent condition inside and out, $7200 or near offer, BLACKTOWN
This one was a 12a turbo, rather than a 13b, but being worked it promised to drive like a 13b at least. Well I turned up and the place was a lighting shop, with the guy a salesman. He was busy so he just gave me the keys and said it was out the back.
It was in near perfect condition, with one bit of panel damage that I could find (on the lower front spoiler). The seats and interior appeared to be brand new, except for the stereo (which had been removed.)
The computer on the previous test Rex was lying on the floor, this one was mounted solidly on the back of the glove box, with the reprogramming controls available to anyone in the passenger seat. Presumably this means that the passenger could reprogram the EFI while you drive along, but I wouldn't advise it. For particularly fidgety passengers you should probably lock the glovebox.
It started after about 0.05 seconds of cranking, but it was still warm.
The gear box was a major improvement after the previous one. It was still not as positive as the machine tool like precision of the 300ZX or the Supra, but compared to the vague, "holding a rubber band that is sort of connected to the gear box", "is that 3rd, 5th or 1st" bowl of porridge that was in the black BEAST, this was great. The car was quiet, without the machined-from-a-single-lump-of-steel-and-then-coated-with-300kg-of-sound-damping that the big Jap cars can achieve, but very respectable for something this light. The exhaust was quieter, (87dB vs. 92.8 dB) than the previous one, though still a bit much for me. The handling was much better.
This was one the same sort of roads that the Zed, Skyline, and earlier Rex were tested on. While the previous Rex was bouncing and skipping all over the bumps, this was sitting quite nicely, even if the thumps were transmitted into the cabin.
And it was just as fast. Maybe even more so because the previous one had a lot of noise and vibration, which tends to make it seem faster than it actually is. A friend of the owner went with me for the test drive, and from the way he kept using expletives he had never been in a fast car before. (Either that or he was specially trained to try to fool prospective buyers, still even a well trained decoy would baulk at asking how many cylinders a RX7 had, or what the "pthlblbth" sound was on every gearchange..)
And while it did have an intercooled 12a, the job of running the piping was a bit crude to my mind. There where a couple of places where 2 90 degree bends were used where a straight pipe could have done if a bit more thought had been used. I'm sure that cleaning those up, and getting an intercooler that used more than 20% of the available space, would make it even quicker.
Based on this the turbo Zed better be real good, or I'll be driving a Rex.
28/6/99
Well the above implied question was well answered, as I now have a turbo Zed. 
As with almost all the above cars, I found it advertised on the Online Version of the Trading Post.
To see how this went and my continuing story of owning it, go to my diary.
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