SimonR

Thats a lot of power Neil. Where can I see a spec of your car?

Not now that I have my new suspension installed, it won't. :D

I haven't seen anything about this. What is it? Can you post a link please?

I looked into this and it's not as easy as it sounds. Looks to be in excess of £2k once all the ancillaries have been purchased and everything has been put in. I have seen some stuff about people drifting auto Soarers. Maybe I'm just old but I don't see the attraction of this. Mind you, lots of people I know think I'm mad for drag racing. :D

I've found that the best value for money performance upgrade was a boost controller. I went for an electronic one but there are plenty of guys who use manual ones. You can pick these up for £20 off ebay. You would need a separate boost gauge too. Next best upgrade was a free-flowing exhaust, which is more expensive. The BFI costs nothing but I've not seen any actual evidence that it makes a difference. After that you're heading for big money: FMIC Fuel Cut Defencer Replacement or piggy-back ECU Bigger injectors Better spark plugs More powerful fuel pump Replacement turbos You can get to 300-320bhp with the cheap options. If you want more then you need to have deep pockets. Knowing what I know now, I should have bought a Skyline in the first place!

Now that is interesting . Do we know anyone who has done this? Rough cost?

£1800 - looks as though that's just for the big single and manifold? There are going to be other bits you'll need as well if your car is currently standard - exhaust, boost controller, intercooler, better spark plugs, air/fuel controller, uprated fuel pump (maybe) and fitting it will cost you unless you are handy with spanners like Bedlam. He's a v nice bloke and I'm sure would give you some tips but I wouldn't want to try it. I'm currently running 350bhp (dyno'd at Thor) at 1 bar on stock turbos. That cost me about two grand. The best bang for the buck came from the electronic boost controller (£250) followed by the exhaust (£500).

- is no uk history an issue? Well, it would always be preferable but these cars rarely come with any history from Japan anyway. The closest thing to a UK history is to be from a caring owner who has done all the bits. - reading the forum the GT-TL should have 'tems' suspension, this doesnt but has 'active' suspension. Does this mean its not a GT-TL? Unlikely that it has active suspension if it’s a TT. Active suspension comes on the top of the range V8 (UZZ32) only AFAIK. Why do you think that it has active? Dealer tell you? They usually don’t know anything about these cars. - if 'tems' suspension goes wrong does the credit card take a major hit? You’ll be able to buy used bits for reasonable money. If you buy new bits you will need a second mortgage. - what does it cost to change the cam belt? If you go to the main man Steve Smith you might get change from £200. - the dealer offers 12 months warranty, is that worth anything? Are they ever? - the car has usual extra's plus a sun roof and new tyres what price for such a car? Impossible to say without knowing what needs doing. You can pick them up on eBay for £3,000 or a good one recently went on an owners club for £6,750. I bought cheap and paid the price. If you want one of these cars you should check out the specialist sites or better still give Steve Smith a call. If you PM me I’ll send you his number. - does the active suspension mean the cars is significantly heavier/slower and more thirsty than a non active car? If it had active suspension then yes. Weights range from 1560kg for the GT-T to nearly 1800kg for the UZZ32. As I said, I doubt if it has active, though. Carlos has a very nice UZZ32. He should be along soon.

I'm running Pirelli PZero on the 245/35/18 front and Khumo Ecsta on the 275/25/18 rear. I'm happy with the Pirellis but I don't think that I'll go for Khumos again when the time comes.

Good find! Thanks.

Try this: http://www.lextreme.com

Steve Smith is selling his V8. It's well known in the Soarer Community. It has had all the bits done. I would suggest that anyone looking for a V8 Soarer contacts him asap. It won't be available for long.

Sounds good to me. Do you do lockables as well?

I've just bought some very nice GS300 Sport alloys from a member. They are to go on my Soarer. When I went to try them on I found that they require "tapered" wheels nuts rather than the "constant circumference" ones that I have. Lexus will sell me some for £5 per nut but that's a bit pricey. Can anyone suggest cheaper sources? Halfords don't stock them, by the way.

I bought my Soarer in March and wish someone had told me the following beforehand: 1/ If you are going for a TT, get one with TEMS (whizzy suspension gizmo) – which usually means that GT-TL rather than the GT-T. 2/ Don’t go for a cheapie. I did and it worked out more expensive in the end. 3/ Don’t take it drag racing. You’ll get hooked and spend a fortune on tuning bits.

They might. I've PM'd Dave. Thanks for pointing them out.

What are the widest tyres that you can get on an 8" rear wheel?

I was advised to run 32psi on all wheels (225's all round). Haven't had any problems.

Geoff, Paul Whiffin (Whifbitz) installed my boost controller. Certainly made a big difference. The kit cost me £245 and Paul charged just over half that to install it and a fuel cut defender.

Don't buy a TT if you are concerned about fuel consumption. I get low to mid teens. I could get more if I didn’t drive it hard but why bother having a TT then? There is a lot of misunderstanding about comparative acceleration of these cars. The TT will demolish a V8 in any full-on acceleration test. A group of us had a meeting at a drag strip and tried it. No V8 beat any TT all day. In-gear acceleration is a different matter, though. The V8 has lots of low torque which the TT can’t match. It doesn’t start flying until 3,000 rpm generally. There is now a V8 in London with a supercharger installed. It’s sure to be quicker than a stock V8 but we won’t know how quick it is until we can get some proper timings. Finally, the stock TT is supposed to run 280bhp. With a boost controller (£25-£250 depending on manual or electronic) you can get another 30-50bhp. You are then getting a similar power/weight ratio to an M3 Evo. That represents great bang for your buck. :D

We are having another one on 5th September. Everyone's welcome.

I don’t think that I have anything that complicated. I’ve never noticed the steering stiffen at any speed on the TT. I have no idea if I am delimited or relimited. And when we say speedo conversion, are we talking about something other than the black blobs covering the “k” in “kmh” that I have?

S’funny, I had the delimiter taken off my TT by PowerHouse, Camberley and I had no side-effects that I am aware of.

Marcus, Are you asking whether you should go for a Soarer TT or an LS400 (from your profile)? I have both, perhaps I can answer any specific questions that you have. Fire away.

The 2.5 TT Soarer is a fantastic car but don’t think that you will be able to run it on the cheap. I get low teens mpg. Some people say that you can get that higher by staying off the boost but what’s the point? You’d be better off with a V8 version. Also, don’t forget that this car was never officially imported to the UK so parts are expensive and if the turbos die then it’s mortgage time. I don’t believe that navigation came as standard, certainly on earlier models. I paid £2,850 for mine off eBay, but since then I have spent more than that bringing it up to scratch and there’s still more to do. Only buy one if you are prepared to spend. It's terrific fun, though.